April 3, 2025 • 31 mins
In the second hour, Dave Softy Mahler and Dick Fain chat with Bret Boone about the Mariners start to 2025 and strikeouts, plus Shohei Ohtani and torpedo bats, then they discuss Geno Smith’s new contract in Vegas and compare Seattle’s situation to theirs.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Coming to you live from our Elliott Avenue studios of
Sports Radio ninety three point three KJRFM.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
It's time for.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Our weekly conversation with former Mariners all star Brett Boone,
brought to you by Venue Kings. Visit venue Kings dot
com for all your ticket needs. Now with Booney, here's
SOFTI and.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
Dick seventy four million for trade McBride. I think Brett
Boone may have made that in one season. By the way, well, now,
eight nine million bucks is last year in two thousand
and five. You want to really embarrass me, I'll take it.
Take a wild guess at how much money he had
made in his career total.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
By the way, before he comes to well, you just
give me one hit?
Speaker 4 (00:36):
Was nine million the most?
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Or not? The mon I was the most in his
final year? Nine million bucks? Uh fifty eight point eight
million dollars.
Speaker 4 (00:44):
I'll take it.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
And now he's with us on the radio. Where's our
cut taking Mariners?
Speaker 3 (00:48):
Brett Boone? Courtesy of Venue Kings. How are you fella read, Softy?
How much have you made your career?
Speaker 5 (00:54):
I want to know. I want that for public consumption.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Sixteen dollars.
Speaker 5 (01:00):
At least you got me a rink. By the way,
I'm really impressed with this new setup. We're actually in
the in twenty twenty five. We have a nice connection.
It's clean. I don't have Softy wearing me out that
he can't hear me. My phone's going in and out.
So this is you know, without Jackson, we wouldn't get
it done. But we're we're in good We're in good standing.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
Now does that does that bother you that anybody can
go online and look up how much money you guys made.
Speaker 5 (01:26):
You're absolutely not. No, it's it's part of it. You know.
There's a lot of pros and a lot of pros.
I'd say the pros outweigh the cons on what I
got to do for a living. And if one of
the cons is you're gonna know, yeah, I'd rather be private.
But it is what it is, you know, and you
know you know what you're signing up for. So now
(01:47):
that's just one of the little negatives that really isn't
that big of a negative.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
I mean, if you told me you can make forty
eight million bucks but everybody knows, he's like.
Speaker 4 (01:54):
Okay, well, what are the cons?
Speaker 6 (01:57):
Because I think there's probably a lot of people listening
right now, going, you know what, the life of a
major league baseball player sounds pretty good. So what are
some of the major cons of being a baseball Well, then.
Speaker 5 (02:07):
The cons are when you're when you're in your city.
It depends who you are. You know, the more money
you make, there's gonna be a few more cons because
people are gonna want your time. You're going to be
out in the city with your family and everybody. You
really can't go anywhere without, you know, having to interact
with everybody signing autographs. You sign fifty autographs and that
(02:29):
fifty first person. Sometimes they don't realize that you have
a job to do, you have a family to go
home to, and you're going to get some negativity for that.
But I would say with all that, having to face
the press on a daily basis, I always felt that
I had an obligation as an athlete, especially when I
was making a lot of money in Seattle at the end,
that I had an obligation to answer to the press
(02:52):
day in, day out, rain or shine, good game, bad game.
I just felt that kind of came with the territory
and I had an obligation. I think I had an obligation.
I love Charles Barkley, but I disagree with him. I
think you have an obligation to do the best you can,
to be a good role model for kids. Yeah, because
(03:12):
you're given this platform, Yeah, you earn it, you go out,
you prove that you're one of the best players in
the world. But at the same time, there's something that
comes with that and people are watching it. I couldn't
imagine Softie playing in today's game, with the social media
and so many eyeballs on every single thing you do.
It's a different world. We could we could kind of
move in the shadows a little bit and hide when
(03:33):
I played and kind of stay out of the public light.
But today everything is just you're under a microscope. The
guys today have it a little bit worse. That being said,
average players make a ton of money and the stars
make stupid money. So that's part of that's part of
the deal. You want to make a lot of money.
Your life's going to be on our microscope, and you
know what you're signing.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
Up for, no doubt. Well, mariners are three and four
after week one.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
The positives I guess the pitching staff, no out, they're
not two and five. They're three and four. They had
to beat Scooball to get to three and four. Negatives
are they're not hitting, they're striking out a lot. Man,
they're hitting a buck seventy two. What do you make
of this team after seven games?
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Man?
Speaker 5 (04:13):
I make of this team? They are the same exact
team they were.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
A year.
Speaker 6 (04:20):
Why should we expect anything different? They are the same.
Speaker 5 (04:23):
They are the exact same team. And I think there's
gonna be stretches through the through the course of the
year where the offense is gonna get a light up
and they're gonna hit some home runs. They got some
power through at that lineup. But I don't see a
real difference. I don't think they're gonna go from the
from the bottom of the American League as an offense
to the top. There was really no turnover. It's the
(04:44):
same players, and I think it's a solid team. Obviously,
we always talk about we talk about the pitching staff
to nauseum. But if you'd have told me, and we
talked about this at the end of twenty twenty four,
that you lead the league in pitching. They had the
best pitching era in the American League a year ago
(05:05):
and did not make the postseason, that's almost impossible. I
think they're that good again this year. You know, I'm
hearing Matt Brash coming back at the end of the
end of the month. That's a huge That will be
a huge boost to that bullpen he was missing a
year ago. I think that really helps Munio's at the
end of that at the end of game. So I
think that's going to be a definite plus just to
make their pitching even better. But with the offense, if
(05:28):
it continues to be the offense that we've come to
know in the last few years, it puts a lot
of emphasis on that pitching staff and they've got to
pitch number one, number two, or number three in the
league to get a berth in the postseason. Probably that
is today's game. There are so many injuries, so many
guys go down, so it's a lot of pressure. Like
(05:49):
these five guys and Kirby's been out early. We're gonna
get him back, uh, thank you know, thankfully, It's not
going to be a long situation to get Kirby back.
But it just is so important that these guys all
stay healthy and they take their turn, because one or
two guys go down, look at the look at the Yankees.
What happened to him? Hole and Rookie of the year,
(06:09):
he'll go down to start the season. Well, that's a
completely different ball club now with those two guys missing.
Somebody like if a Gilbert and a Kirby went down
at the same time, forget the Mariners. Mariners will be
in a lot of trouble. So do you really as
long as that starting rotation stays healthy, I can't see
them leading the league and pitching or being one of
the best pitching staffs in baseball and not making the
(06:32):
postseason this year.
Speaker 4 (06:33):
One area they are a little bit different is the
infield defense.
Speaker 6 (06:36):
You got Planco moved over to third, you got a
new first baseman, you got Solano inserted in there, and
at least to my eyes and Softi's eyes, are the
first seven games it's looked worse than last year.
Speaker 4 (06:47):
Is this How big of a problem do you think
this is?
Speaker 7 (06:50):
Well?
Speaker 5 (06:51):
I think by Polanco going over to third base, and
I don't think it's that big of a deal. I
think it's definitely an adjustment. But he's played second. But
if you can play the middle, you can play third. Yeah,
it's gonna take a little time for him to get
used to that. The angles, playing the hot corners just
get's a step in a dive. Now we're at second base,
you have a little more time. But a guy that
can play second base can play third. I think he's
(07:11):
gonna shore that up as time goes on. It'll be
interesting to see, you know. I just I really wanted
these guys to get off to a hot start swinging
the bats. They're not. It's a weekend. I mean, it's
we can't get too ahead of ourselves. It was really
I think you said at the top, softy beaten school,
wel that final game to just three and four is
a heck of a lot better than two and five.
(07:34):
You go two and five, You're you're at home right
now thinking, wow, here we go. So getting that win,
especially against one of the best pitchers in baseball, I
thought it was huge. Munyos made it, made it exciting
in the ninth. But the bottom line is get the
job done, and they did. So who knows, I mean, hopefully,
I'm I'm I'm wrong in this and we have a
(07:54):
completely different offense and they and they offense right around
the middle of the pack to the American League with
this pitching staff that they can If they can hit
in the middle of the pack, well then it's an
easy playoff Berth. But uh, I don't know. So far,
I see, I see a lot of the same.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
They're on pace to strike out a ton.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
I mean, it's better than it was a year ago,
at least for now, but it's still not very good.
I mean, when the when the baseline is the worst
in the history of baseball, there's only one way to go,
and that's straight up the air, right, So why do
these guys keep striking out? I mean, we can't blame
the marine layer, right or the ballpark for K's And
I told Dick this in the first segment of the show.
I've never seen a team but that puts so much
(08:33):
emphasis on trying to do something better and then actually
get worse at it for the next two three seasons.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
Why do these guys keep striking out so damn much?
Speaker 5 (08:44):
It's the players. I mean, you are what you are,
and you can always improve on it, and there's and
there's things you do you embrace, But once you're a
big league you're supposed to be a finished product, and
you are what you are. And yeah, you look every
year to improve. What can I do to improve my
game individually? It's a it's a team game, I get that,
but it's an individualized The better I do at my
position makes my team better. So what do we do collectively?
(09:08):
How do we cut down on strike? Well, everybody's different
on how they approach that. My two strike approach was
ridiculous and it looked silly, but for me, it worked.
And it's not that I struck out a lot less.
I've just got more hits with two strikes. But that
was my personal, individual way of doing it. Everybody doesn't
have to have you have to here's what I found
with two strikes. If your goal is I don't want
(09:30):
to strike out as much with two strikes, you got
to find something in your repertoire that hicks a message
to your brain without having to think about it. I've
got two strikes. I've got to be I've got to
protect this plate right now. It's not something that, oh,
i've got two strikes, Okay, let me think about it.
What I used to do is i'd crouch over, I'd
(09:50):
choke up on the bat, and automatically my brain knew
I don't let anything close go by. I got to
at least fallid off. That was my trick and that
worked for me. Doesn't mean it's for everybody, but I
think everybody I talk to young players, You've got to
find something that triggers your brain, that knows, Okay, there's
two strikes and I'm not gonna get I'm not gonna
let the umpire take the bat out of my hands
(10:11):
in this situation. Everybody has their own way of doing it.
I'm not on the ground with them. I'm not with
Edgar and Sitzer, but I have no idea. But this
has been a problem with Seattle. As far as the ballpark.
I look at the ballpark, the ball that's always been
a tough ballpark. I loved hitting there for some reason,
but I didn't like hitting at Camping Yards, and that
(10:31):
was a bandbox. Back when I played, everybody couldn't wait
to go to Camdy Yards. I for some reason didn't
see the ball good. Didn't hit well there. I hit
good at Safeco at the time. Now t Mobile. But
the ballpark, it's your home ballpark. It is what it is.
They've moved defenses in from what I see. The buildings
have a different have created a different wind pattern, and
(10:52):
if anything, over the years, I've seen the ball carrying
better than back in the early two thousands. So I
don't know if you can complain about the ballpark that much.
It is what it is at your home field. You
got to play eighty one games there, and if it
is tough to hit it, that's that's a home field
advantage for the guys coming in because they don't want
to hit there either. I think when it comes to strikeouts,
go ahead.
Speaker 4 (11:12):
Yeah, I'm just gonna say.
Speaker 6 (11:13):
The one adjustment you can make though, is the roof.
And the roof was open on Sunday. And I don't
know if you saw a rose Orina's blast a center field,
but now we have the analytics that tell us how
many feet it was knocked down by the wind. His
home run was robbed twenty eight feet by the wind.
I mean that is almost ten paces from the wall.
So should the roof be required to be closed at
(11:35):
this time at Team.
Speaker 5 (11:36):
Mobile when it's cold? It If Chuck Armstrong's listening, oh
he's gonna be rolling over now here we go again.
He's gonna be reliving. Two thousand and one, two thousand
and two, We've been complaining about that roof and opening
and closing that roof since the time of Griffy, and
then it went to Alex and then and then the
(11:56):
onus got put on me by my teammates, and I
would have to ussions about opening the roof closing the roof.
As a player, as a hitter, we would like the
roof closed all the time. It controls your environment. There's
no wind patterns, uh, and the ball does carry better
when the roof is closed. That being said, the Mariners
are are kind of famous for Hey, we were in
(12:18):
the Seattle Kingdome for years and years. Our fans want
to be outside, so what by all means we are
going to keep that roof open no matter what. So
that's a that's a fight that I had many times,
and and I'm glad I don't have to do it anymore.
I can just look from the outside. But I know
as a player, as a hitter, how frustrating it can be,
(12:38):
because it's it's nice when that roof is closed. It's
just a better environment. Offensively, the ball goes better and
and all the all the hitters are really happy. But
that's a that's a fight I've had toosh. I got
the twitch, I got well.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
I got vivid memories, Booney of Alex Rodriguez coming into
the dugout realizing the roof was open and getting pissed off.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
I remember, the damn roof's open again.
Speaker 3 (12:59):
I remember he complain about that and scream about it
all the freaking time. I mean a lot of those
guys like you came from the Kingdome directly to safeg Field,
so it was like night and day.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
And I'm totally with you.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
I'd like to see the roof close more often in
early April, especially when it's cold out there. But uh,
Brett Boone is with us on the on the radio
show show Aotani Man last night, First pitch, home run Bang,
game over on Bobblehead Night. Dodgers are undefeated, Braves are winless.
He's the biggest show in.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
Baseball by far, and the Dodgers are the best team
by far. What are you making? What we're living through
with this guy and that team down there?
Speaker 5 (13:34):
Man, Joey's unbelievable. He's gonna be pitching in another month,
just to solidify how big of a unicorn he really is.
I was listening to it on the way home that
home run you're talking about, And I just said, and
they you know, the build up was there, the announcer saying,
and it's show hey, bobblehead night. Are they gonna walk
them off? Swinging along drive? And I just would of
(13:54):
course he hit a home or and he did.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
Uh.
Speaker 5 (13:57):
It made that Braves trip home going oh and seven it.
On the trip they ran into two tough teams, the Braves, uh,
with the San Diego Padres, who was hot as a firecracker.
They're seven and oh and then they had to go
to La to face, my opinion, the best not only
the best team in baseball, but the best team I've
ever seen on paper to start a season.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
Wow.
Speaker 5 (14:16):
So uh, they're they're they're so good, Softy, it's it's
not that they're they're so good, and their stars are
so good, that's obvious, but it's just their depth and
they and and what if a star goes down, they've
got another start to replace them. You know. That pitching
staff just goes on for days and it's like, oh,
we have you know, we've pitched, we've we've won five games,
(14:38):
and oh, let's dust off the make it come back.
He's throwing one hundred mile an hour two seamer and
he's like their sixth or seventh starter. So it's like,
it's unbelievable that that Dodger team. I think, man, they
could they could make some history this year with with
that roster if they stay pretty healthy. But uh, yeah,
(14:58):
it show Hey unbelie well.
Speaker 6 (15:01):
I brought up to day at the beginning of the show.
Do do we buy the Braves at oh to seven?
I mean, this was a team that was supposed to
be a lock for the playoffs. You might get some
value there, or do you think that you know what
they've shown, even though it's only been a week, they've
shown too many holes.
Speaker 5 (15:15):
I think it's going to come down to the Braves
in the Phillies. I'm not buying the Mets. The Mets
with their starting rotation. I know they had a lot
of fan for this offseason starting with the Sodo sign,
but I look at that starting rotation and I don't
think it's enough. Even in that division. You've got to
beat the Phillies, who I think are the class of
that division. But I picked the Braves number two tough
after an oh and seven start. But Spencer Strider's coming,
(15:37):
but they lost to Max Freed last year in the offseason.
So you have a Spencer Strider coming back to compliment
Sale at the top of that rotation. You got Murphy
their catcher who's been out, and the best player on
their team, which is Robert Akunya. He'll be back at
the end of April. So you get those guys back
in the mix, and you're going to be the Braves
that I think we all expect. But in the meantime,
(15:58):
you know, you start off zero and two, no big deal.
You start off oh and four, Hey, guys, oh and seven, Wow,
they're starting to look around, go let's write this ship
right now. A lot of times when you have injuries,
you've got to hold serve and just kind of play
five hundred baseball if you're a really good team, until
you get your your your horse is healthy, and then
you can make that playoff push. But it's getting a
(16:19):
little you go, oh and seven, you're putting yourself behind
the eight ball early. I still think the quality of
that Braves team, the talent on that roster in the
end is going to be right there. Buying for that
division with the Philadelphia Phillies, and you know, the Mets
should should be in it, But I think in that
division it's it's the Phillies and the Braves, and it's
tough for me to say that when they're oh at
(16:39):
seven seems like they're never gonna win another game.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
Well, no teammates started oh and seven has ever made
it ever in the history of baseball. So we'll see
if they can be the first ones. But Boonie, before
you go torpedo bats, talk.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
To me, peas yep, talk to me.
Speaker 3 (16:54):
Is this something you want to Piaster go out and
jump on the torpedo bat train right away, because it
just kind of felt. I think you're with me that
people were kind of going a little nuts up for
just one series against the Brewers.
Speaker 5 (17:04):
By the way, well well yeah, I mean I think
a lot of us didn't have any information, you know,
myself included. I snooped around a little bit. I talked
to Chuck Shupp on on my podcast with the UH
with Louisville Slugger for twenty five years. He was my
bat guy when I was here. He brought us all
our bats. He said, this started three years ago. Come
to find out, it's not just the Yankees, the Minnesota
Twins are using some there's some teams around the league
(17:26):
that are that are tinkering with this torpedo bat. I guess,
but I guess it comes down to this, and I'll
try to be as quick as I can. It's like
the PGA Tour. Everything at the top level, Major League Baseball, Football,
the NBA, it's all going to metrics, angles, data points,
and a PGA Tour player. You go in softy when
you're going to get fit for clubs, what do you do.
(17:47):
You walk into a room the computer, They hook you
up to the computer, You swing at it, You hit
golf balls for ten minutes. Computer gathers all the data,
gets all your specs, all your measurements, and they send
you a brand new dry ever built for you personally.
I think that's the way of sports. I think that's
what they're gonna do with baseball bats. I think as
a player, you're gonna go in, they're gonna take all
(18:08):
your metrics down. They're gonna shoot you about at batout
that says this is perfect for your swing, at angle,
your size, how your bat enters the zone, how it
exits the zone. And I think it's gonna be very individualized.
In the short term. I think guys like Aaron Judge,
shoey Otani, Freddie Freeman, Betts, the stars of the game,
the Harper's, the trouts. They're gonna say, you know what
(18:30):
I'm doing just fine with my bet. Aaron Judge is
gonna say, well, I hit fifty home runs every year.
I don't think I need a torpedo. But I think
you're gonna see younger players. I think you're gonna see
guys that are kind of at a crossroads in their career,
looking for a little boost, experimenting with it. But I
think twenty years from now it's gonna be the norm.
I think it's gonna start at fifteen years old and
travel ball. Everybody's gonna get their own individual bat. And
(18:52):
I think one day we're gonna be sitting there and
it's just everybody has their own bats. There's not even numbers,
it's just your name on it, what the computer spits
out for your individual swing. I think it's pretty cool technology.
I think too much is being made of it. The
sweet spot isn't bigger, it's just moved around to where
you tend to hit it, so it's not like you're
getting this super bawl, big sweet spot. It's just man,
(19:14):
if that sweet spot's there, you move it down a
couple centimeters and that's a better sweet spot for you.
So I don't see it being It's far from illegal.
They're making a lot of it because the Yankees hit
all those home runs and had the big opening series.
But things have settled down a little bit. It's not
the bat, and I've heard it a lot of times
on the internet. Now, it's not the Indian, it's the Arrow.
(19:35):
I tend to be in that camp. I think it's
just a lot. I'll tell you what. It's a big
boom for that for the bad industry. They're gonna be
making a lot of custom bets for a lot of
kids out there. They're telling Mom, I want the torpedo.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
Booney good stuff. Not bad for a guy that made
forty eight million baby in his career.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
You got it.
Speaker 5 (19:51):
You got it all right, guys.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (19:53):
You're talking a week Brett Boone with us courtesy Avenue
Kings dot com, uh use Coadsaftia checkout for a disc
count no more fees by the way at venue Kings
dot Com. Sporting events concerts all across the world whatever
you're looking for venue Kings dot com and coach Softie
at checkout for a discount. Well, we know the Geno
Smith contract. Does the Sam Darnold deal look even better
(20:16):
now than it did maybe two weeks ago?
Speaker 2 (20:17):
We'll chat about that.
Speaker 3 (20:18):
Coming up live from Husky Stadium for day two a
Husky Springball, Demon Williams joining us in the six pm hour.
Right here on ninety three three KJRFM, you're.
Speaker 7 (20:27):
Listening to the exclusive home of the Huskies, the Kraken
and March Madness. Now back to Saftie and did proudly
brought to you by Emerald Queen Casino on Sports Radio
ninety three point three KJRM.
Speaker 3 (20:43):
All right, boys and girls, back here at u dub
Husky Stadium, Day two of you dubbed Springball. We're here
from Demon Williams. He'll join us coming up in the
six pm hour. As a textra pointed out, his name
is no longer Damon, it's the Heisman who will join
us at six pm. I mean, why not go crazy? Right,
You've already thrown it out there. Jed's already thrown it
out there. You can blame the head coach. You can
(21:04):
blame Dick what the hell, why not. Let's just go
nuts with this. Let's go crazy, Let's have some fun.
Let's start booking trips for New York City.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
Let's do it.
Speaker 3 (21:11):
Let's start looking at hotels. So I mean, let's put
some money on the odds. What are the odds right
now for demonth He's not on there, seventy five to one.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
One more.
Speaker 4 (21:20):
I'm gonna look, not even on the list.
Speaker 3 (21:22):
I'm gonna put one thousand dollars on de Mine Williams
to win the Heisman Trophy.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
I would wait he wins, we're gonna retire.
Speaker 4 (21:26):
I would wait till twenty twenty six.
Speaker 6 (21:28):
But the problem is, if you wait till twenty twenty six,
the odds are probably gonna be like ten to one.
Speaker 3 (21:33):
Well, I'll tell you what, man, I'm trying to think
of the last second year player that was a finalist
for the Heisman Trophy and got to New York City,
right like true, second nineteen year old kids second year
guy Tebu college football. No Tebow was because remember Tebow
was a backup to Chris Leak when he first got
to Florida. Remember that they were using him as a runner,
and so he kind of became right the second year.
(21:55):
Year the second year, how many second year guys were
finalists for the highest and trophies.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
Is what Jake?
Speaker 4 (22:05):
Hey, Jeff, what was Jake seventh or eighth president?
Speaker 2 (22:09):
He didn't to make New York No, but he was
eighth in the would I would just sign up for.
Speaker 3 (22:15):
The part of the reason why Jake Browning was eighth
in the Heisman is because the Husky's played in the
final four that year.
Speaker 2 (22:21):
I mean they had a really good team.
Speaker 8 (22:22):
Yes, Tim Tebow won the Heisman in his second year.
Speaker 2 (22:26):
Okay, I was wrong, you were right.
Speaker 5 (22:27):
Good job there you go.
Speaker 3 (22:28):
Well, okay, then it's possible. So I'm gonna bet him
right now. Why wait, I'm gonna bet.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
Him right now. You can.
Speaker 3 (22:33):
I'm gonna find out the field. I'm gonna bet him
right now. I'm gonna put some money on it. Well,
the Raiders have Geno Smith locked in for a couple
more years. They signed him to a two year extension,
so they now have him for three seasons in Vegas.
You're gonna send that off to Pete Carroll. Maybe you
don't want to use that in the PA system in
the stadium. By the way, uh, and I don't know
about you, but the first thought that I have is
(22:54):
that the Darnold thing, to me, in case I'm missing something,
which apparently I was missing Tebow the second year guy,
it looks even better. I mean, you get a third
round draft pick, you saved eleven point five excuse me,
fourteen point five of guaranteed money, You got seven years
younger at the quarterback spot.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
Frankly, I don't even know what the argument is there.
Speaker 6 (23:18):
We have been in cahoots on this, We have been lockstep,
and I don't see what folks out there, you know, like, Hey,
I respect Jackson bevans opinion on football a lot, but
I don't understand his side of this one. I mean,
I just don't see how you are worse off at
quarterback right now with a seven year younger guy coming
(23:38):
off a far better season making less money. I mean,
I just don't understand how it's even possible to argue
the other side.
Speaker 3 (23:46):
Yeah, well, I mean the only side that you could
argue is that Sam Darnold's gonna go back to being
the guy that he was when he was with the
Jets in Carolina, which I'd be pretty surprised if he
was that bad, you know, for a guy to have
that kind of year and then just totally fall apart fold.
Do I expect them to be the guy he was
in Minnesota? No, mostly because they don't have the talent
that Minnesota had, right. They just don't have those guys
(24:08):
right now. And there's a lot of injury prone dudes
on this football team that we're gonna take some chances on.
Speaker 5 (24:13):
Dick.
Speaker 3 (24:13):
I mean, Cooper Cups one of them. Kenny Walker might
be another, right, So we'll see. But I think if
he's somewhere in between, if he's eighty percent of the
guy that he was a year ago, for less money,
you get the draft pick, and you get younger, and
if he doesn't play well, you can get out of it.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
This to me feels like an even better deal than
it was two weeks ago when they made the deal.
Speaker 3 (24:35):
I don't but what I don't want to have the
Seahawks do is look at Sam Darnold with time and
think that they've got their guy bar none, and there's
no reason to look at any other quarterback in the
draft if they believe that they had a star on
their hands that could potentially like let's say John Schneider
was sitting around over the offseason, going, man, that sher
Sanders is gonna be a stud bro, but there's no
(24:56):
way we'll get him right, And all of a sudden.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
Boot you wake up and he's there. Take them, yeah,
take them?
Speaker 4 (25:00):
If he really thinks, yes, yeah, take them.
Speaker 2 (25:02):
Who cares who you got playing quarterball to? You agree
with you? And you know my expectations pretty simple.
Speaker 6 (25:07):
I took I took his game average at Jets and Carolina,
his his per game average, and I took his per
game average for Minnesota because I think you're right. I mean,
I think you what he did last should count much
more than what he did six years ago with an
awful team, because a he's a much better quarterback, much
more mature quarterback, and he's in a situation more similar
(25:31):
an organization, a healthy organization, more similar to Minnesota than
he was in just that awful organization in the New
York Jets. If you split the difference between what he
did last year, which is thirty five touchdowns twelve interceptions,
and his average at Jets Carolina, it's a twenty seven
touchdown fourteen and a half interception season.
Speaker 4 (25:52):
Well, that's way better than what Gino was last year.
Speaker 3 (25:55):
Money last year for less money. When you're younger, guys,
this is a win. I mean, come on, I mean,
what is the four nine four or five one? Are
there any hangers on? Are there any? Is there anybody
left on Geno Island? I know that Jackson Evans is
one of those guys. But I'm talking to this audience,
right I'm not talking to hippies that live up in
billing him. I'm talking to this audience, okay, all right,
(26:15):
not people that you know just sit up there and
just stare at the sky all day long.
Speaker 2 (26:19):
Is there any downside to this? I mean the the look.
Speaker 3 (26:22):
The one downside would be if Gino goes to the
Raiders and just kills it, which I.
Speaker 2 (26:26):
Don't see that happening. I don't see the talent there
right now.
Speaker 4 (26:28):
But I think it's a nice fit.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
Will be fine.
Speaker 3 (26:31):
Reason why yeah, Well, the reason why he's fine is
because they had nothing before him. They're going from Aidan
O'Connell and Gardner Minshew who's now with the Chiefs right
to Geno Smith. So Rider fans love Pete. It's an upgrade,
of course, it's an upgrade for Pete Carroll because he
had nothing there. I mean, you got to you got
a guy with a beating heart, you got a corpse.
Now you got a guy that's at least you walk
and shoo gum. So from that standpoint, it absolutely is
(26:53):
an upgrade for them. And oh, by the way, Michael
jenn Eddi pointed this out that Gino Smith contract makes
them the seventeenth highest paid quarterback in the NFL.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
Literally right smack in the middle mediocrity.
Speaker 6 (27:05):
Right, we've said he was now I actually have have
ranked Gino somewhere in the twelve to sixteen range.
Speaker 4 (27:11):
So from my.
Speaker 6 (27:12):
Standpoint, he's probably underpaid based upon what he's done. Hugh
has said every statistic, every film study he's done. He says,
you throw a target and half the NFL starters are
going to be better, and half the NFL starters are
gonna be worse.
Speaker 4 (27:25):
And he's paid right where.
Speaker 3 (27:27):
He should be pay well. This is the reaction to
the deal, at least on Twitter. I just kind of
tossed it out there, repeating the same stuff I told you.
By the way, David Pearl writes, it was a terrible tray,
but we thought it was a ten million dollars average
per year gap. Now it looks like an Eric Pedard
Heathcliff's slocum caliber blunder. I think this is what ends
(27:50):
up getting John Schneider fired. So to that end, I
guess it's a good move because he wants John Schneider out.
Speaker 4 (27:56):
I don't understand his He's comparing this.
Speaker 3 (27:58):
Move to when we gave up Verite for a Heathliff slocum. Well,
veritek never played a game.
Speaker 6 (28:05):
Does he just think Sam Donald is the worst quarterback
on the planet, I don't know, or he just loves
Geno Smith is an MVP candidate.
Speaker 2 (28:12):
I don't know. I don't know.
Speaker 3 (28:14):
I I becky recky Rodriguez will revert back to his
typical horrible play this season.
Speaker 2 (28:21):
I'm not sure if they're talking about Gino or Sam Donald.
I have no idea. Joe says, yeah, he's not worth
that at all.
Speaker 3 (28:27):
Uh kJ, Thank god Seahawks didn't give Geno that type
of contract and guaranteed money. And then Tom writ s
and without the attitude, did you know, have a bad attitude?
Speaker 6 (28:36):
No, but he got Poudy on the sidelines quite a bit.
I mean there was not a lot of you know,
quite used to We used to make fun of Russ
for being, Hey, how you doing.
Speaker 5 (28:44):
I'll get let's go away, yeh yeah.
Speaker 2 (28:46):
But I mean Gino, I don't know, I saw quite
a bit.
Speaker 3 (28:49):
I saw a couple of times where he was irritated,
for sure, like when he throws a pick six in
the red zone or saying in the red zone.
Speaker 2 (28:55):
But I don't think it was Jackson. You agree him
throw that.
Speaker 4 (28:59):
You see him throw the tablet like Gino did some
not very quarterback like things on the sideline. I'm not
saying he was a problem, but there was some.
Speaker 6 (29:08):
There were times, and I can only watch when I'm
watching on TV because I can't see that stuff from
the from the sidelines at the game. So the road
games where he would struggle and you'd see the you know,
you'd see the chucking of the and I'm just like,
you know, Gino, dude, bad luck man, bad book.
Speaker 3 (29:24):
I mean, it's gonna happen every now and then. For me,
I maybe they'd just just stand out. But I never
thought of that as a real issue for him.
Speaker 5 (29:31):
No, I mean not to mention.
Speaker 8 (29:34):
Listen, Yeah, I think a couple of times you saw
him get frustrated on the sideline and throw the tablet.
But like, listen, if you just threw, you know, a
horrible interception in your own red zone or in there whatever,
like you're gonna get mad at yourself too. So I
don't mind him throwing a tablet once, you know, or twice. Sure,
Tom Brady's done it.
Speaker 3 (29:52):
To Peyton Manny tried to kill an offensive lineman in
like a second year of the NFL when he went
after Jeff Saturday. But I think if you're if you're
a starting quarter back in the NFL and you have
that much pressure, I think you should be allowed to
break one tablet.
Speaker 2 (30:04):
Okay, one time.
Speaker 3 (30:05):
We should we should we should make that a thing
on this show. Well, once a year one of us
gets to punch another guy in their face.
Speaker 2 (30:11):
Wow, I choose Dick.
Speaker 6 (30:14):
While I do not want Gino Smith on my football team,
and I'm glad he's not on my football team, I
don't want to contract. I think he is going to
be a very good fit with Pete Carroll, and I
think they're gonna be competitive. I think they're gonna I
think they can be a nine win team knocking on
the playoff door.
Speaker 4 (30:30):
I don't think they're gonna make the playoffs. I think
they could be right there, though.
Speaker 2 (30:34):
They're gonna be at best the third best team in
that vision. That's best.
Speaker 3 (30:37):
All right, We're gonna break text of adios four nine
four five one after the Geno contract came out?
Speaker 2 (30:43):
Uh?
Speaker 3 (30:43):
Are you even more pleased with the same Darnold deal?
Four nine, four to five to one. We'll get to
that Mariners after a week. Should Demand Williams really be
in the Heisman conversation? Or is that just us being
crazy Homers here land Zerline joins a five twenty courtesy
at Queen Ann Beer Hall as well, coming up on
ninety three three kJ RFM
Coming to you live from our Elliott Avenue studios of
Sports Radio ninety three point three KJRFM.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
It's time for.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Our weekly conversation with former Mariners all star Brett Boone,
brought to you by Venue Kings. Visit venue Kings dot
com for all your ticket needs. Now with Booney, here's
SOFTI and.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
Dick seventy four million for trade McBride. I think Brett
Boone may have made that in one season. By the way, well, now,
eight nine million bucks is last year in two thousand
and five. You want to really embarrass me, I'll take it.
Take a wild guess at how much money he had
made in his career total.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
By the way, before he comes to well, you just
give me one hit?
Speaker 4 (00:36):
Was nine million the most?
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Or not? The mon I was the most in his
final year? Nine million bucks? Uh fifty eight point eight
million dollars.
Speaker 4 (00:44):
I'll take it.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
And now he's with us on the radio. Where's our
cut taking Mariners?
Speaker 3 (00:48):
Brett Boone? Courtesy of Venue Kings. How are you fella read, Softy?
How much have you made your career?
Speaker 5 (00:54):
I want to know. I want that for public consumption.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Sixteen dollars.
Speaker 5 (01:00):
At least you got me a rink. By the way,
I'm really impressed with this new setup. We're actually in
the in twenty twenty five. We have a nice connection.
It's clean. I don't have Softy wearing me out that
he can't hear me. My phone's going in and out.
So this is you know, without Jackson, we wouldn't get
it done. But we're we're in good We're in good standing.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
Now does that does that bother you that anybody can
go online and look up how much money you guys made.
Speaker 5 (01:26):
You're absolutely not. No, it's it's part of it. You know.
There's a lot of pros and a lot of pros.
I'd say the pros outweigh the cons on what I
got to do for a living. And if one of
the cons is you're gonna know, yeah, I'd rather be private.
But it is what it is, you know, and you
know you know what you're signing up for. So now
(01:47):
that's just one of the little negatives that really isn't
that big of a negative.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
I mean, if you told me you can make forty
eight million bucks but everybody knows, he's like.
Speaker 4 (01:54):
Okay, well, what are the cons?
Speaker 6 (01:57):
Because I think there's probably a lot of people listening
right now, going, you know what, the life of a
major league baseball player sounds pretty good. So what are
some of the major cons of being a baseball Well, then.
Speaker 5 (02:07):
The cons are when you're when you're in your city.
It depends who you are. You know, the more money
you make, there's gonna be a few more cons because
people are gonna want your time. You're going to be
out in the city with your family and everybody. You
really can't go anywhere without, you know, having to interact
with everybody signing autographs. You sign fifty autographs and that
(02:29):
fifty first person. Sometimes they don't realize that you have
a job to do, you have a family to go
home to, and you're going to get some negativity for that.
But I would say with all that, having to face
the press on a daily basis, I always felt that
I had an obligation as an athlete, especially when I
was making a lot of money in Seattle at the end,
that I had an obligation to answer to the press
(02:52):
day in, day out, rain or shine, good game, bad game.
I just felt that kind of came with the territory
and I had an obligation. I think I had an obligation.
I love Charles Barkley, but I disagree with him. I
think you have an obligation to do the best you can,
to be a good role model for kids. Yeah, because
(03:12):
you're given this platform, Yeah, you earn it, you go out,
you prove that you're one of the best players in
the world. But at the same time, there's something that
comes with that and people are watching it. I couldn't
imagine Softie playing in today's game, with the social media
and so many eyeballs on every single thing you do.
It's a different world. We could we could kind of
move in the shadows a little bit and hide when
(03:33):
I played and kind of stay out of the public light.
But today everything is just you're under a microscope. The
guys today have it a little bit worse. That being said,
average players make a ton of money and the stars
make stupid money. So that's part of that's part of
the deal. You want to make a lot of money.
Your life's going to be on our microscope, and you
know what you're signing.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
Up for, no doubt. Well, mariners are three and four
after week one.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
The positives I guess the pitching staff, no out, they're
not two and five. They're three and four. They had
to beat Scooball to get to three and four. Negatives
are they're not hitting, they're striking out a lot. Man,
they're hitting a buck seventy two. What do you make
of this team after seven games?
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Man?
Speaker 5 (04:13):
I make of this team? They are the same exact
team they were.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
A year.
Speaker 6 (04:20):
Why should we expect anything different? They are the same.
Speaker 5 (04:23):
They are the exact same team. And I think there's
gonna be stretches through the through the course of the
year where the offense is gonna get a light up
and they're gonna hit some home runs. They got some
power through at that lineup. But I don't see a
real difference. I don't think they're gonna go from the
from the bottom of the American League as an offense
to the top. There was really no turnover. It's the
(04:44):
same players, and I think it's a solid team. Obviously,
we always talk about we talk about the pitching staff
to nauseum. But if you'd have told me, and we
talked about this at the end of twenty twenty four,
that you lead the league in pitching. They had the
best pitching era in the American League a year ago
(05:05):
and did not make the postseason, that's almost impossible. I
think they're that good again this year. You know, I'm
hearing Matt Brash coming back at the end of the
end of the month. That's a huge That will be
a huge boost to that bullpen he was missing a
year ago. I think that really helps Munio's at the
end of that at the end of game. So I
think that's going to be a definite plus just to
make their pitching even better. But with the offense, if
(05:28):
it continues to be the offense that we've come to
know in the last few years, it puts a lot
of emphasis on that pitching staff and they've got to
pitch number one, number two, or number three in the
league to get a berth in the postseason. Probably that
is today's game. There are so many injuries, so many
guys go down, so it's a lot of pressure. Like
(05:49):
these five guys and Kirby's been out early. We're gonna
get him back, uh, thank you know, thankfully, It's not
going to be a long situation to get Kirby back.
But it just is so important that these guys all
stay healthy and they take their turn, because one or
two guys go down, look at the look at the Yankees.
What happened to him? Hole and Rookie of the year,
(06:09):
he'll go down to start the season. Well, that's a
completely different ball club now with those two guys missing.
Somebody like if a Gilbert and a Kirby went down
at the same time, forget the Mariners. Mariners will be
in a lot of trouble. So do you really as
long as that starting rotation stays healthy, I can't see
them leading the league and pitching or being one of
the best pitching staffs in baseball and not making the
(06:32):
postseason this year.
Speaker 4 (06:33):
One area they are a little bit different is the
infield defense.
Speaker 6 (06:36):
You got Planco moved over to third, you got a
new first baseman, you got Solano inserted in there, and
at least to my eyes and Softi's eyes, are the
first seven games it's looked worse than last year.
Speaker 4 (06:47):
Is this How big of a problem do you think
this is?
Speaker 7 (06:50):
Well?
Speaker 5 (06:51):
I think by Polanco going over to third base, and
I don't think it's that big of a deal. I
think it's definitely an adjustment. But he's played second. But
if you can play the middle, you can play third. Yeah,
it's gonna take a little time for him to get
used to that. The angles, playing the hot corners just
get's a step in a dive. Now we're at second base,
you have a little more time. But a guy that
can play second base can play third. I think he's
(07:11):
gonna shore that up as time goes on. It'll be
interesting to see, you know. I just I really wanted
these guys to get off to a hot start swinging
the bats. They're not. It's a weekend. I mean, it's
we can't get too ahead of ourselves. It was really
I think you said at the top, softy beaten school,
wel that final game to just three and four is
a heck of a lot better than two and five.
(07:34):
You go two and five, You're you're at home right
now thinking, wow, here we go. So getting that win,
especially against one of the best pitchers in baseball, I
thought it was huge. Munyos made it, made it exciting
in the ninth. But the bottom line is get the
job done, and they did. So who knows, I mean, hopefully,
I'm I'm I'm wrong in this and we have a
(07:54):
completely different offense and they and they offense right around
the middle of the pack to the American League with
this pitching staff that they can If they can hit
in the middle of the pack, well then it's an
easy playoff Berth. But uh, I don't know. So far,
I see, I see a lot of the same.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
They're on pace to strike out a ton.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
I mean, it's better than it was a year ago,
at least for now, but it's still not very good.
I mean, when the when the baseline is the worst
in the history of baseball, there's only one way to go,
and that's straight up the air, right, So why do
these guys keep striking out? I mean, we can't blame
the marine layer, right or the ballpark for K's And
I told Dick this in the first segment of the show.
I've never seen a team but that puts so much
(08:33):
emphasis on trying to do something better and then actually
get worse at it for the next two three seasons.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
Why do these guys keep striking out so damn much?
Speaker 5 (08:44):
It's the players. I mean, you are what you are,
and you can always improve on it, and there's and
there's things you do you embrace, But once you're a
big league you're supposed to be a finished product, and
you are what you are. And yeah, you look every
year to improve. What can I do to improve my
game individually? It's a it's a team game, I get that,
but it's an individualized The better I do at my
position makes my team better. So what do we do collectively?
(09:08):
How do we cut down on strike? Well, everybody's different
on how they approach that. My two strike approach was
ridiculous and it looked silly, but for me, it worked.
And it's not that I struck out a lot less.
I've just got more hits with two strikes. But that
was my personal, individual way of doing it. Everybody doesn't
have to have you have to here's what I found
with two strikes. If your goal is I don't want
(09:30):
to strike out as much with two strikes, you got
to find something in your repertoire that hicks a message
to your brain without having to think about it. I've
got two strikes. I've got to be I've got to
protect this plate right now. It's not something that, oh,
i've got two strikes, Okay, let me think about it.
What I used to do is i'd crouch over, I'd
(09:50):
choke up on the bat, and automatically my brain knew
I don't let anything close go by. I got to
at least fallid off. That was my trick and that
worked for me. Doesn't mean it's for everybody, but I
think everybody I talk to young players, You've got to
find something that triggers your brain, that knows, Okay, there's
two strikes and I'm not gonna get I'm not gonna
let the umpire take the bat out of my hands
(10:11):
in this situation. Everybody has their own way of doing it.
I'm not on the ground with them. I'm not with
Edgar and Sitzer, but I have no idea. But this
has been a problem with Seattle. As far as the ballpark.
I look at the ballpark, the ball that's always been
a tough ballpark. I loved hitting there for some reason,
but I didn't like hitting at Camping Yards, and that
(10:31):
was a bandbox. Back when I played, everybody couldn't wait
to go to Camdy Yards. I for some reason didn't
see the ball good. Didn't hit well there. I hit
good at Safeco at the time. Now t Mobile. But
the ballpark, it's your home ballpark. It is what it is.
They've moved defenses in from what I see. The buildings
have a different have created a different wind pattern, and
(10:52):
if anything, over the years, I've seen the ball carrying
better than back in the early two thousands. So I
don't know if you can complain about the ballpark that much.
It is what it is at your home field. You
got to play eighty one games there, and if it
is tough to hit it, that's that's a home field
advantage for the guys coming in because they don't want
to hit there either. I think when it comes to strikeouts,
go ahead.
Speaker 4 (11:12):
Yeah, I'm just gonna say.
Speaker 6 (11:13):
The one adjustment you can make though, is the roof.
And the roof was open on Sunday. And I don't
know if you saw a rose Orina's blast a center field,
but now we have the analytics that tell us how
many feet it was knocked down by the wind. His
home run was robbed twenty eight feet by the wind.
I mean that is almost ten paces from the wall.
So should the roof be required to be closed at
(11:35):
this time at Team.
Speaker 5 (11:36):
Mobile when it's cold? It If Chuck Armstrong's listening, oh
he's gonna be rolling over now here we go again.
He's gonna be reliving. Two thousand and one, two thousand
and two, We've been complaining about that roof and opening
and closing that roof since the time of Griffy, and
then it went to Alex and then and then the
(11:56):
onus got put on me by my teammates, and I
would have to ussions about opening the roof closing the roof.
As a player, as a hitter, we would like the
roof closed all the time. It controls your environment. There's
no wind patterns, uh, and the ball does carry better
when the roof is closed. That being said, the Mariners
are are kind of famous for Hey, we were in
(12:18):
the Seattle Kingdome for years and years. Our fans want
to be outside, so what by all means we are
going to keep that roof open no matter what. So
that's a that's a fight that I had many times,
and and I'm glad I don't have to do it anymore.
I can just look from the outside. But I know
as a player, as a hitter, how frustrating it can be,
(12:38):
because it's it's nice when that roof is closed. It's
just a better environment. Offensively, the ball goes better and
and all the all the hitters are really happy. But
that's a that's a fight I've had toosh. I got
the twitch, I got well.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
I got vivid memories, Booney of Alex Rodriguez coming into
the dugout realizing the roof was open and getting pissed off.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
I remember, the damn roof's open again.
Speaker 3 (12:59):
I remember he complain about that and scream about it
all the freaking time. I mean a lot of those
guys like you came from the Kingdome directly to safeg Field,
so it was like night and day.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
And I'm totally with you.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
I'd like to see the roof close more often in
early April, especially when it's cold out there. But uh,
Brett Boone is with us on the on the radio
show show Aotani Man last night, First pitch, home run Bang,
game over on Bobblehead Night. Dodgers are undefeated, Braves are winless.
He's the biggest show in.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
Baseball by far, and the Dodgers are the best team
by far. What are you making? What we're living through
with this guy and that team down there?
Speaker 5 (13:34):
Man, Joey's unbelievable. He's gonna be pitching in another month,
just to solidify how big of a unicorn he really is.
I was listening to it on the way home that
home run you're talking about, And I just said, and
they you know, the build up was there, the announcer saying,
and it's show hey, bobblehead night. Are they gonna walk
them off? Swinging along drive? And I just would of
(13:54):
course he hit a home or and he did.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
Uh.
Speaker 5 (13:57):
It made that Braves trip home going oh and seven it.
On the trip they ran into two tough teams, the Braves, uh,
with the San Diego Padres, who was hot as a firecracker.
They're seven and oh and then they had to go
to La to face, my opinion, the best not only
the best team in baseball, but the best team I've
ever seen on paper to start a season.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
Wow.
Speaker 5 (14:16):
So uh, they're they're they're so good, Softy, it's it's
not that they're they're so good, and their stars are
so good, that's obvious, but it's just their depth and
they and and what if a star goes down, they've
got another start to replace them. You know. That pitching
staff just goes on for days and it's like, oh,
we have you know, we've pitched, we've we've won five games,
(14:38):
and oh, let's dust off the make it come back.
He's throwing one hundred mile an hour two seamer and
he's like their sixth or seventh starter. So it's like,
it's unbelievable that that Dodger team. I think, man, they
could they could make some history this year with with
that roster if they stay pretty healthy. But uh, yeah,
(14:58):
it show Hey unbelie well.
Speaker 6 (15:01):
I brought up to day at the beginning of the show.
Do do we buy the Braves at oh to seven?
I mean, this was a team that was supposed to
be a lock for the playoffs. You might get some
value there, or do you think that you know what
they've shown, even though it's only been a week, they've
shown too many holes.
Speaker 5 (15:15):
I think it's going to come down to the Braves
in the Phillies. I'm not buying the Mets. The Mets
with their starting rotation. I know they had a lot
of fan for this offseason starting with the Sodo sign,
but I look at that starting rotation and I don't
think it's enough. Even in that division. You've got to
beat the Phillies, who I think are the class of
that division. But I picked the Braves number two tough
after an oh and seven start. But Spencer Strider's coming,
(15:37):
but they lost to Max Freed last year in the offseason.
So you have a Spencer Strider coming back to compliment
Sale at the top of that rotation. You got Murphy
their catcher who's been out, and the best player on
their team, which is Robert Akunya. He'll be back at
the end of April. So you get those guys back
in the mix, and you're going to be the Braves
that I think we all expect. But in the meantime,
(15:58):
you know, you start off zero and two, no big deal.
You start off oh and four, Hey, guys, oh and seven, Wow,
they're starting to look around, go let's write this ship
right now. A lot of times when you have injuries,
you've got to hold serve and just kind of play
five hundred baseball if you're a really good team, until
you get your your your horse is healthy, and then
you can make that playoff push. But it's getting a
(16:19):
little you go, oh and seven, you're putting yourself behind
the eight ball early. I still think the quality of
that Braves team, the talent on that roster in the
end is going to be right there. Buying for that
division with the Philadelphia Phillies, and you know, the Mets
should should be in it, But I think in that
division it's it's the Phillies and the Braves, and it's
tough for me to say that when they're oh at
(16:39):
seven seems like they're never gonna win another game.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
Well, no teammates started oh and seven has ever made
it ever in the history of baseball. So we'll see
if they can be the first ones. But Boonie, before
you go torpedo bats, talk.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
To me, peas yep, talk to me.
Speaker 3 (16:54):
Is this something you want to Piaster go out and
jump on the torpedo bat train right away, because it
just kind of felt. I think you're with me that
people were kind of going a little nuts up for
just one series against the Brewers.
Speaker 5 (17:04):
By the way, well well yeah, I mean I think
a lot of us didn't have any information, you know,
myself included. I snooped around a little bit. I talked
to Chuck Shupp on on my podcast with the UH
with Louisville Slugger for twenty five years. He was my
bat guy when I was here. He brought us all
our bats. He said, this started three years ago. Come
to find out, it's not just the Yankees, the Minnesota
Twins are using some there's some teams around the league
(17:26):
that are that are tinkering with this torpedo bat. I guess,
but I guess it comes down to this, and I'll
try to be as quick as I can. It's like
the PGA Tour. Everything at the top level, Major League Baseball, Football,
the NBA, it's all going to metrics, angles, data points,
and a PGA Tour player. You go in softy when
you're going to get fit for clubs, what do you do.
(17:47):
You walk into a room the computer, They hook you
up to the computer, You swing at it, You hit
golf balls for ten minutes. Computer gathers all the data,
gets all your specs, all your measurements, and they send
you a brand new dry ever built for you personally.
I think that's the way of sports. I think that's
what they're gonna do with baseball bats. I think as
a player, you're gonna go in, they're gonna take all
(18:08):
your metrics down. They're gonna shoot you about at batout
that says this is perfect for your swing, at angle,
your size, how your bat enters the zone, how it
exits the zone. And I think it's gonna be very individualized.
In the short term. I think guys like Aaron Judge,
shoey Otani, Freddie Freeman, Betts, the stars of the game,
the Harper's, the trouts. They're gonna say, you know what
(18:30):
I'm doing just fine with my bet. Aaron Judge is
gonna say, well, I hit fifty home runs every year.
I don't think I need a torpedo. But I think
you're gonna see younger players. I think you're gonna see
guys that are kind of at a crossroads in their career,
looking for a little boost, experimenting with it. But I
think twenty years from now it's gonna be the norm.
I think it's gonna start at fifteen years old and
travel ball. Everybody's gonna get their own individual bat. And
(18:52):
I think one day we're gonna be sitting there and
it's just everybody has their own bats. There's not even numbers,
it's just your name on it, what the computer spits
out for your individual swing. I think it's pretty cool technology.
I think too much is being made of it. The
sweet spot isn't bigger, it's just moved around to where
you tend to hit it, so it's not like you're
getting this super bawl, big sweet spot. It's just man,
(19:14):
if that sweet spot's there, you move it down a
couple centimeters and that's a better sweet spot for you.
So I don't see it being It's far from illegal.
They're making a lot of it because the Yankees hit
all those home runs and had the big opening series.
But things have settled down a little bit. It's not
the bat, and I've heard it a lot of times
on the internet. Now, it's not the Indian, it's the Arrow.
(19:35):
I tend to be in that camp. I think it's
just a lot. I'll tell you what. It's a big
boom for that for the bad industry. They're gonna be
making a lot of custom bets for a lot of
kids out there. They're telling Mom, I want the torpedo.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
Booney good stuff. Not bad for a guy that made
forty eight million baby in his career.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
You got it.
Speaker 5 (19:51):
You got it all right, guys.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (19:53):
You're talking a week Brett Boone with us courtesy Avenue
Kings dot com, uh use Coadsaftia checkout for a disc
count no more fees by the way at venue Kings
dot Com. Sporting events concerts all across the world whatever
you're looking for venue Kings dot com and coach Softie
at checkout for a discount. Well, we know the Geno
Smith contract. Does the Sam Darnold deal look even better
(20:16):
now than it did maybe two weeks ago?
Speaker 2 (20:17):
We'll chat about that.
Speaker 3 (20:18):
Coming up live from Husky Stadium for day two a
Husky Springball, Demon Williams joining us in the six pm hour.
Right here on ninety three three KJRFM, you're.
Speaker 7 (20:27):
Listening to the exclusive home of the Huskies, the Kraken
and March Madness. Now back to Saftie and did proudly
brought to you by Emerald Queen Casino on Sports Radio
ninety three point three KJRM.
Speaker 3 (20:43):
All right, boys and girls, back here at u dub
Husky Stadium, Day two of you dubbed Springball. We're here
from Demon Williams. He'll join us coming up in the
six pm hour. As a textra pointed out, his name
is no longer Damon, it's the Heisman who will join
us at six pm. I mean, why not go crazy? Right,
You've already thrown it out there. Jed's already thrown it
out there. You can blame the head coach. You can
(21:04):
blame Dick what the hell, why not. Let's just go
nuts with this. Let's go crazy, Let's have some fun.
Let's start booking trips for New York City.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
Let's do it.
Speaker 3 (21:11):
Let's start looking at hotels. So I mean, let's put
some money on the odds. What are the odds right
now for demonth He's not on there, seventy five to one.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
One more.
Speaker 4 (21:20):
I'm gonna look, not even on the list.
Speaker 3 (21:22):
I'm gonna put one thousand dollars on de Mine Williams
to win the Heisman Trophy.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
I would wait he wins, we're gonna retire.
Speaker 4 (21:26):
I would wait till twenty twenty six.
Speaker 6 (21:28):
But the problem is, if you wait till twenty twenty six,
the odds are probably gonna be like ten to one.
Speaker 3 (21:33):
Well, I'll tell you what, man, I'm trying to think
of the last second year player that was a finalist
for the Heisman Trophy and got to New York City,
right like true, second nineteen year old kids second year
guy Tebu college football. No Tebow was because remember Tebow
was a backup to Chris Leak when he first got
to Florida. Remember that they were using him as a runner,
and so he kind of became right the second year.
(21:55):
Year the second year, how many second year guys were
finalists for the highest and trophies.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
Is what Jake?
Speaker 4 (22:05):
Hey, Jeff, what was Jake seventh or eighth president?
Speaker 2 (22:09):
He didn't to make New York No, but he was
eighth in the would I would just sign up for.
Speaker 3 (22:15):
The part of the reason why Jake Browning was eighth
in the Heisman is because the Husky's played in the
final four that year.
Speaker 2 (22:21):
I mean they had a really good team.
Speaker 8 (22:22):
Yes, Tim Tebow won the Heisman in his second year.
Speaker 2 (22:26):
Okay, I was wrong, you were right.
Speaker 5 (22:27):
Good job there you go.
Speaker 3 (22:28):
Well, okay, then it's possible. So I'm gonna bet him
right now. Why wait, I'm gonna bet.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
Him right now. You can.
Speaker 3 (22:33):
I'm gonna find out the field. I'm gonna bet him
right now. I'm gonna put some money on it. Well,
the Raiders have Geno Smith locked in for a couple
more years. They signed him to a two year extension,
so they now have him for three seasons in Vegas.
You're gonna send that off to Pete Carroll. Maybe you
don't want to use that in the PA system in
the stadium. By the way, uh, and I don't know
about you, but the first thought that I have is
(22:54):
that the Darnold thing, to me, in case I'm missing something,
which apparently I was missing Tebow the second year guy,
it looks even better. I mean, you get a third
round draft pick, you saved eleven point five excuse me,
fourteen point five of guaranteed money, You got seven years
younger at the quarterback spot.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
Frankly, I don't even know what the argument is there.
Speaker 6 (23:18):
We have been in cahoots on this, We have been lockstep,
and I don't see what folks out there, you know, like, Hey,
I respect Jackson bevans opinion on football a lot, but
I don't understand his side of this one. I mean,
I just don't see how you are worse off at
quarterback right now with a seven year younger guy coming
(23:38):
off a far better season making less money. I mean,
I just don't understand how it's even possible to argue
the other side.
Speaker 3 (23:46):
Yeah, well, I mean the only side that you could
argue is that Sam Darnold's gonna go back to being
the guy that he was when he was with the
Jets in Carolina, which I'd be pretty surprised if he
was that bad, you know, for a guy to have
that kind of year and then just totally fall apart fold.
Do I expect them to be the guy he was
in Minnesota? No, mostly because they don't have the talent
that Minnesota had, right. They just don't have those guys
(24:08):
right now. And there's a lot of injury prone dudes
on this football team that we're gonna take some chances on.
Speaker 5 (24:13):
Dick.
Speaker 3 (24:13):
I mean, Cooper Cups one of them. Kenny Walker might
be another, right, So we'll see. But I think if
he's somewhere in between, if he's eighty percent of the
guy that he was a year ago, for less money,
you get the draft pick, and you get younger, and
if he doesn't play well, you can get out of it.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
This to me feels like an even better deal than
it was two weeks ago when they made the deal.
Speaker 3 (24:35):
I don't but what I don't want to have the
Seahawks do is look at Sam Darnold with time and
think that they've got their guy bar none, and there's
no reason to look at any other quarterback in the
draft if they believe that they had a star on
their hands that could potentially like let's say John Schneider
was sitting around over the offseason, going, man, that sher
Sanders is gonna be a stud bro, but there's no
(24:56):
way we'll get him right, And all of a sudden.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
Boot you wake up and he's there. Take them, yeah,
take them?
Speaker 4 (25:00):
If he really thinks, yes, yeah, take them.
Speaker 2 (25:02):
Who cares who you got playing quarterball to? You agree
with you? And you know my expectations pretty simple.
Speaker 6 (25:07):
I took I took his game average at Jets and Carolina,
his his per game average, and I took his per
game average for Minnesota because I think you're right. I mean,
I think you what he did last should count much
more than what he did six years ago with an
awful team, because a he's a much better quarterback, much
more mature quarterback, and he's in a situation more similar
(25:31):
an organization, a healthy organization, more similar to Minnesota than
he was in just that awful organization in the New
York Jets. If you split the difference between what he
did last year, which is thirty five touchdowns twelve interceptions,
and his average at Jets Carolina, it's a twenty seven
touchdown fourteen and a half interception season.
Speaker 4 (25:52):
Well, that's way better than what Gino was last year.
Speaker 3 (25:55):
Money last year for less money. When you're younger, guys,
this is a win. I mean, come on, I mean,
what is the four nine four or five one? Are
there any hangers on? Are there any? Is there anybody
left on Geno Island? I know that Jackson Evans is
one of those guys. But I'm talking to this audience,
right I'm not talking to hippies that live up in
billing him. I'm talking to this audience, okay, all right,
(26:15):
not people that you know just sit up there and
just stare at the sky all day long.
Speaker 2 (26:19):
Is there any downside to this? I mean the the look.
Speaker 3 (26:22):
The one downside would be if Gino goes to the
Raiders and just kills it, which I.
Speaker 2 (26:26):
Don't see that happening. I don't see the talent there
right now.
Speaker 4 (26:28):
But I think it's a nice fit.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
Will be fine.
Speaker 3 (26:31):
Reason why yeah, Well, the reason why he's fine is
because they had nothing before him. They're going from Aidan
O'Connell and Gardner Minshew who's now with the Chiefs right
to Geno Smith. So Rider fans love Pete. It's an upgrade,
of course, it's an upgrade for Pete Carroll because he
had nothing there. I mean, you got to you got
a guy with a beating heart, you got a corpse.
Now you got a guy that's at least you walk
and shoo gum. So from that standpoint, it absolutely is
(26:53):
an upgrade for them. And oh, by the way, Michael
jenn Eddi pointed this out that Gino Smith contract makes
them the seventeenth highest paid quarterback in the NFL.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
Literally right smack in the middle mediocrity.
Speaker 6 (27:05):
Right, we've said he was now I actually have have
ranked Gino somewhere in the twelve to sixteen range.
Speaker 4 (27:11):
So from my.
Speaker 6 (27:12):
Standpoint, he's probably underpaid based upon what he's done. Hugh
has said every statistic, every film study he's done. He says,
you throw a target and half the NFL starters are
going to be better, and half the NFL starters are
gonna be worse.
Speaker 4 (27:25):
And he's paid right where.
Speaker 3 (27:27):
He should be pay well. This is the reaction to
the deal, at least on Twitter. I just kind of
tossed it out there, repeating the same stuff I told you.
By the way, David Pearl writes, it was a terrible tray,
but we thought it was a ten million dollars average
per year gap. Now it looks like an Eric Pedard
Heathcliff's slocum caliber blunder. I think this is what ends
(27:50):
up getting John Schneider fired. So to that end, I
guess it's a good move because he wants John Schneider out.
Speaker 4 (27:56):
I don't understand his He's comparing this.
Speaker 3 (27:58):
Move to when we gave up Verite for a Heathliff slocum. Well,
veritek never played a game.
Speaker 6 (28:05):
Does he just think Sam Donald is the worst quarterback
on the planet, I don't know, or he just loves
Geno Smith is an MVP candidate.
Speaker 2 (28:12):
I don't know. I don't know.
Speaker 3 (28:14):
I I becky recky Rodriguez will revert back to his
typical horrible play this season.
Speaker 2 (28:21):
I'm not sure if they're talking about Gino or Sam Donald.
I have no idea. Joe says, yeah, he's not worth
that at all.
Speaker 3 (28:27):
Uh kJ, Thank god Seahawks didn't give Geno that type
of contract and guaranteed money. And then Tom writ s
and without the attitude, did you know, have a bad attitude?
Speaker 6 (28:36):
No, but he got Poudy on the sidelines quite a bit.
I mean there was not a lot of you know,
quite used to We used to make fun of Russ
for being, Hey, how you doing.
Speaker 5 (28:44):
I'll get let's go away, yeh yeah.
Speaker 2 (28:46):
But I mean Gino, I don't know, I saw quite
a bit.
Speaker 3 (28:49):
I saw a couple of times where he was irritated,
for sure, like when he throws a pick six in
the red zone or saying in the red zone.
Speaker 2 (28:55):
But I don't think it was Jackson. You agree him
throw that.
Speaker 4 (28:59):
You see him throw the tablet like Gino did some
not very quarterback like things on the sideline. I'm not
saying he was a problem, but there was some.
Speaker 6 (29:08):
There were times, and I can only watch when I'm
watching on TV because I can't see that stuff from
the from the sidelines at the game. So the road
games where he would struggle and you'd see the you know,
you'd see the chucking of the and I'm just like,
you know, Gino, dude, bad luck man, bad book.
Speaker 3 (29:24):
I mean, it's gonna happen every now and then. For me,
I maybe they'd just just stand out. But I never
thought of that as a real issue for him.
Speaker 5 (29:31):
No, I mean not to mention.
Speaker 8 (29:34):
Listen, Yeah, I think a couple of times you saw
him get frustrated on the sideline and throw the tablet.
But like, listen, if you just threw, you know, a
horrible interception in your own red zone or in there whatever,
like you're gonna get mad at yourself too. So I
don't mind him throwing a tablet once, you know, or twice. Sure,
Tom Brady's done it.
Speaker 3 (29:52):
To Peyton Manny tried to kill an offensive lineman in
like a second year of the NFL when he went
after Jeff Saturday. But I think if you're if you're
a starting quarter back in the NFL and you have
that much pressure, I think you should be allowed to
break one tablet.
Speaker 2 (30:04):
Okay, one time.
Speaker 3 (30:05):
We should we should we should make that a thing
on this show. Well, once a year one of us
gets to punch another guy in their face.
Speaker 2 (30:11):
Wow, I choose Dick.
Speaker 6 (30:14):
While I do not want Gino Smith on my football team,
and I'm glad he's not on my football team, I
don't want to contract. I think he is going to
be a very good fit with Pete Carroll, and I
think they're gonna be competitive. I think they're gonna I
think they can be a nine win team knocking on
the playoff door.
Speaker 4 (30:30):
I don't think they're gonna make the playoffs. I think
they could be right there, though.
Speaker 2 (30:34):
They're gonna be at best the third best team in
that vision. That's best.
Speaker 3 (30:37):
All right, We're gonna break text of adios four nine
four five one after the Geno contract came out?
Speaker 2 (30:43):
Uh?
Speaker 3 (30:43):
Are you even more pleased with the same Darnold deal?
Four nine, four to five to one. We'll get to
that Mariners after a week. Should Demand Williams really be
in the Heisman conversation? Or is that just us being
crazy Homers here land Zerline joins a five twenty courtesy
at Queen Ann Beer Hall as well, coming up on
ninety three three kJ RFM
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