May 6, 2025 • 29 mins
In the second hour, Dave Softy Mahler and Hugh Millen talk to Jon Wilner about the UW Spring Game, Demond Williams, the football calendar, and the Ncaa-House settlement, and then discuss Jorge Polanco’s hitting splits, his spot in the lineup tonight, and more.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's time for our weekly Pac twelve conversation with San
Jose Mercury News reporter John Wilner, brought to you by
Simply Seattle. Our friends at simply Seattle dot com have
the most amazing collection of all things Seattle Seahawks gear.
UW had some of the largest selection of Sonnix gear
anywhere in the world. Learn more at simply Seattle dot com.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
All right, you got your eye on something marinergeartt Boys,
or Hot Baby, jump on the website simply Seattle dot
com and use code kJ R fifteen for fifteen percent
off whatever you have your eye on at simply Seattle
dot com. Tonight, here he is joining myself, Hugh Mellon,
Jackson Feltz, the Pope of the Pack, the Big ten Baron,
(00:40):
our friend from the San Jose Mercury News, and the
Wilder and Gonzano Podcast, all brought to you by our
friends at simply Seattle dot com.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
It's our pal, Johnny Wilner. John. How are you man?
Speaker 4 (00:50):
I'm good? Thanks?
Speaker 3 (00:50):
How you guys good? Good? Where do we start? How
about we start with what we saw Friday night?
Speaker 5 (00:55):
Right?
Speaker 2 (00:56):
You and I were talking yesterday about a lot of
guys that played in the spring game on Friday. Demon
Williams plays the first half, it sets out the second half.
I'm sure you watched the broadcast on the Big ten network.
Would you make it what you saw from the Dogs
on Friday?
Speaker 4 (01:09):
Man?
Speaker 5 (01:10):
I did, Yeah, you know, there was some interesting stuff.
I was disappointed that, you know, so many of their
top receivers were out. I had kind of wanted to
see those guys with Williams, but you know, it is
what it is with springball, right. I thought, uh, Coleman
looked faster. I thought Williams looked bigger. But I was
(01:32):
a little disappointed, you know. I kind of was hoping
to see Williams make some dynamic plays downfield, and there
really wasn't a.
Speaker 4 (01:39):
Whole lot of that. It's it seemed like his.
Speaker 5 (01:42):
Offensive line he was in purple, I think, right, or
his team was purple.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
He was in black.
Speaker 4 (01:50):
His team was purple.
Speaker 5 (01:52):
They it seemed like his line had a little bit
of trouble keeping him giving him time to throw. So uh,
but you know, there's so much that goes on by
behind the scenes with that stuff, in terms of who's
playing and who's not, and.
Speaker 4 (02:03):
The stuff they're calling.
Speaker 6 (02:04):
Uh.
Speaker 5 (02:05):
I thought it was fine. If I'm a Husky fan,
I walk away thinking, okay, that was that was perfectly acceptable.
Speaker 7 (02:11):
Well, the offensive line was the story a year ago.
But but uh, and talking about Demon Williams. So you're
a little disappointed and not much development down the field.
I want to ask you, because we had David and
I had a nice discussion about this yesterday on the
subject of quarterback twitchy twitchiness? Uh, that define you define
maybe a short area of quickness. The last guy you
(02:33):
want to play tag with on the at recess can
Where does he rank in terms of all the quarterbacks
you've ever seen? Does somebody come to mind a legitimate
quarterback that's more twitchy than him? Just kind of when
you see him? How does that impress your eyeballs?
Speaker 5 (02:51):
You know who comes to mind? Is you remember Khalil
Tate from Arizona?
Speaker 4 (02:55):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (02:56):
Yeah, yes, yes.
Speaker 5 (02:58):
Now he did not develop as a downfield pass or
pocket pass or he talked about twitchy.
Speaker 4 (03:04):
His first game.
Speaker 5 (03:05):
Didn't he have like two hundred and fifty yards rushing
against Colorado? I think it was a conference record.
Speaker 7 (03:10):
Yeah, he had a lot against Washington too. I think
it was what Dave wasn't there like an opener or
uh yeah, I don't remember the exact numbers.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
Just I just remember that guy giving me a big headache,
by the way, is what I remember.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
So yeah, but go ahead, John.
Speaker 4 (03:23):
Now that's that's kind of what I think.
Speaker 5 (03:25):
And to me, the big question with Williams is going
to be how does he develop, you know, from the pocket. Ultimately,
you know, if Washington is gonna become a big ten
uh title contender, a playoff contender, he's gonna have to
deliver the ball from the pocket in you know, third
down on the road, that kind of thing. And to
(03:47):
what degree is he going to mature into that, you know,
in this coming season and then in later years certainly
outside of the pocket or you know, just zone read
stuff where he's running the ball, he's you know, you
can't ask for anything more. But to me, it'll be
all about his pocket development, which is part of the
reason why I kind of wanted to see him with
Boston some of those other receivers, but you know, they
(04:09):
can't play, they can't play.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
Yeah, him and Amari Evans were both out. Neither one played.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
Those are your presumably number one and number two receivers.
Certainly number one, number two in regards to experience, There's
no question about that. But I mean, I just feel
like the hype train for Demon Williams is full throttle
right now, and I don't know if it's fair, unfair, relevant, irrelevant.
I mean Jetfish has been feeding into it, obviously with
(04:36):
some comments he made even last year, obviously about him
maybe one day getting to New York City. So I mean,
how much should this guy be getting pumped up right now?
Right Like a lot of teams like to, you know,
spend money on marketing campaigns over the offseason. I'm not
saying you dubb should do that, but how much should
Husky fans be pumping the brakes or stepping on the
gas for DeMont Williams right now?
Speaker 3 (04:56):
In your mind?
Speaker 5 (04:58):
I think that part of the reason for the hype
is he played so much last year. Yeah, he got
in basically every game, so you kept giving the fans
a taste here, a taste there, and then he played
so well in the Bowl game.
Speaker 4 (05:11):
Right.
Speaker 5 (05:12):
I think it's hard to answer because I wonder what's
going on behind the scenes with Nil right and are
you are they trying to pump him up because they
need to make sure they're going to be able to
keep him after next season, because you never know these
days with the highest offers, that plays a role now
(05:33):
that never used to happen. Right before the hype was
like Heisman Trophy or just to sell tickets. Now you
have to consider the nil component with the hype and
you know, giving your donors.
Speaker 4 (05:46):
A taste of what's there. So I do wonder about that.
Speaker 5 (05:50):
For just for him as a quarterback, I think that
it is it's gotten a little bit ahead of the situation,
given what you know, his minute experience and the fact
that they've got a rebuilt offensive line and and the
Big ten's gonna be tough. But with those other factors involved,
building a brand has a you know, a different importance
(06:13):
than it did before.
Speaker 7 (06:14):
John Wilner with and John, you expressed a little frustration
you didn't see the the headline receivers for the Huskies.
But there's a guy there and and I don't do predictions,
but I'm gonna aventure on that.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
You just did. You just did yesterday. You made a
prediction yesterday, No, I did. What about Raydon vines Bright?
You said he's gonna be a day.
Speaker 8 (06:33):
One or day two draft, I'm gonna get John's opinions.
So raiding by Softy's interrupting Raydon Vines Bright, I'm saying,
this guy is he's getting drafted barin Injury's getting drafted
for sure, and I think more probably than probable than
not first or second day. I'm stepping out and saying it,
what'd you think of number seven out there, the young
(06:54):
receiver for Washington?
Speaker 4 (06:57):
Yeah, what's his eligibility situations here?
Speaker 2 (06:59):
True, he's a pure freshman. He just got here. He
enrolled in January.
Speaker 5 (07:06):
Uh, so we're talking about two years he's got. He's
got at least three years to play. So a boy,
I don't know, but he's got what he's got what
you were looking for for sure?
Speaker 4 (07:16):
How does he develop as a route runner?
Speaker 5 (07:19):
What's he gonna run because the you know, the forty
time is so important for receivers and corners to get
into day one.
Speaker 4 (07:26):
I don't know. I mean, if Hugh, if you could
tell him the combine.
Speaker 7 (07:30):
He was a top he's top ten and one hundred
meter in high school, a sophomore in the high school.
Speaker 4 (07:36):
So he's like a four to four guy.
Speaker 7 (07:38):
Probably he's a fourth. Absolutely, there's a good chance he'll
break for four. I mean he's he's a ten eighty
two hundred meter guy as a sophomore in high school.
Speaker 5 (07:47):
Well, I mean you know, with that, with that talent
and that speed, he could end up becoming a your
second day pick.
Speaker 4 (07:54):
There's no doubt.
Speaker 5 (07:54):
I mean, receivers are so in demand these days in
the NFL.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
John Wilners with us on the radio show going back
to Friday, and I thought the atmosphere was great. You know,
nobody really has embraced the spring game and trying to
pump it up more than Jed Fish.
Speaker 5 (08:12):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
You know, obviously Kaylin, Chris Peterson, guys like that were
great for the program. But I don't ever remember those
guys getting behind this the way Jed Fish has, and
it kind of maybe is paying off. And in their defense,
they never had the game on a Friday, right, It
was always on a Saturday. When those guys were here,
they would do like a joint, you know, Windermere Cup
spring game thing going on, and I think moving it
(08:34):
to Friday has been phenomenal. But Pat shown John the
ad at Washington, was on the show Friday, and I
asked him flat out, is there a chance down the
road that the spring game for Washington might be a
thing of the past.
Speaker 9 (08:45):
Yeah, I could see that happening. Yeah, I think the
whole calendar is going to change. That's my opinion with
these with these new contracts and what happens to spring
football in general, I think is going to be impacted
by got.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
You, got you?
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Okay, So when he says the whole calendar is going
to change with the new contracts with a meaning for players,
and the whole spring calendar could be impacted, what is
he talking about? Phillis in on what he might be
referencing there.
Speaker 5 (09:11):
Well, there's a lot of folks that want to get
rid of spring practice and create OTAs that are similar
to the NFL, And I don't you know where you
put those in the calendar. I don't know, but essentially
it would be, you know, you'd have a session in
maybe April and the session in May or June, and
(09:31):
you get rid of that block of four weeks of
spring practice. What they do with the transfer the spring
transfer portal is part of that calculation. What they do
with training camp is part of it, and then what
they do with the regular season. It's all under this
one big umbrella of the college football calendar that includes
(09:54):
the CFP and the overlap of the NFL in January.
So they they've got a lot to figure out, you know.
And you've got different factions, right because the the a
f c A, the Coaches Association, you know, they have
their priorities, The athletic directors have priorities the athletes, and
the agents represent the athletes.
Speaker 4 (10:15):
So there's all these.
Speaker 5 (10:16):
Competing dynamics, and you have the legal hurdles as well,
and it's just one big question mark. But there's a
lot of movement to get rid of spring practice kind
of as it has been traditionally. UH placed in April
and go to more of an OTA mini camp. Thanks.
Speaker 7 (10:39):
Well, let's stay in that arena, John uh And, and
give us an update on the house settlement. What are
we expecting there and then and from a fans perspective,
how is this gonna impact us at all in terms
of what we see, are players coming and going and
and and how it's it's liable to significantly impact the game.
Speaker 5 (11:00):
Well, I think that any day the UH and it
might even be tomorrow. The defendants, which are the five
power conferences and that includes the PAC twelve and the
NCAA are gonna submit their final proposal to the judge
to get this thing to approved by Claudia Wilkin, and
then it would start. The hold up is roster, you know,
(11:24):
basically for Olympic sports athletes grandfathering them in in July one,
it would start, and then we have the era of
revenue sharing. They're still going to be true nil. So
demm Williams can get a million or two million bucks
from Washington as part of revenue sharing, and he could
still get however much he can earn from selling cars
(11:47):
on Mottlake. I think it will slow down the transfer
portal a little bit because the true nil is going
to be a higher bar than the under the table
stuff that we've had. There still will be under the table,
but it's gonna a decrease, so it should slow down
player movement a little bit. Yeah, we'll still get some,
(12:09):
but it's gonna basically come down to which schools are
gonna be able to max out and then which schools
are gonna be able to provide the true nil. And
so your donor base and enthusiastic donor base that has
a lot of business opportunities for these athletes is gonna
be gigantic, and Washington set up well because of all
(12:30):
the giant corporations in Seattle. I think the whole Big
Ten is set up very well.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
Yeah, there's no doubt that the possibilities are there. I
wonder if the wherewithal is there, right, I mean, those
are two different things. There's no question about that. This
is one of the richest counties in the country, without question,
in the entire world, right in King County. So the
possibilities are absolutely endless. And by the way, Hugh, I'm
(12:57):
glad you brought that up. John Wilner was with us.
Courtesy is simply Seattle. Kurt Signetti, John, I don't know
if you saw this. A couple of days ago, the
head coach of Indiana claim that there's six teams that
are going to spend over forty million dollars on their
rosters going into twenty twenty five, as as if this
is some kind of criticism. By the way, like I
love for my team to spend forty million dollars on
(13:19):
a roster. But he mentioned Miami, Notre Dame, Texas, Ohio State,
Texas Tech.
Speaker 3 (13:23):
And Oregon.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
Do you buy that that those six teams, including the
Ducks in Ohio state in the Big Ten, are going
to spend forty million plus on their roster.
Speaker 5 (13:34):
It's easy to say there's a lot of numbers getting
tossed around. I always tend to be, you know, think
that it's inflated because agents want those numbers to get
you know, they want the highest numbers out there possible
to drive up prices. But you know, certainly everybody is
(13:55):
spending like crazy.
Speaker 4 (13:56):
Right now before the revenue sharing starts.
Speaker 5 (14:00):
The revenue sharing will create kind of a soft cap.
Right now, there's no cap, so everybody's chucking money at
their players because that's not going to count towards the
cap July first. That's shooting the market up. We see
that with Washington Basketball as well. Right Basketball said they're
doing the same thing.
Speaker 4 (14:20):
So I would say.
Speaker 5 (14:22):
Forty maybe more probably My guess is it's more.
Speaker 4 (14:25):
Like thirty thirty five.
Speaker 5 (14:26):
But it's a lot of money right now, there's no
doubt about that because of the revenue sharing that's come
in July first.
Speaker 7 (14:32):
Well, if you go back thirty years ago, there's a
lot of I don't know hu and cries from the
owners saying, hey, look if we get free agency, everybody's
going to want to play for the Raiders and the Cowboys,
and there's good, you know. And then and we're not
going to have connection with our players over a long period,
and that's going to hurt the product. And then with
(14:53):
all the hand ringing there's been for fans about the
changes that have occurred, correct me if i'm but I've
seen a lot of numbers twenty twenty four. In many ways,
college football is as popular and robust as ever, so
some of these warning signs haven't really materialized. What's your
what's your take about how the just the interest in
(15:16):
the game as we see these numbers that they've just
cited continuing to mount and impact the game.
Speaker 5 (15:25):
Well, a couple of things. One is the NCAA said
for years, it was part of their argument in court
against nil that.
Speaker 4 (15:31):
If players get paid, that's going to.
Speaker 5 (15:34):
Hurt the hurt the game because fans love the pure
amateurism of it all. And that was kind of a
cockamamie argument, right. So my thoughts are, one, everybody's gotten
alma mater, and you root for your alma mater. Two,
gambling has helped immensely in the popularity of both the
NFL and college football. I think more, probably more than
(15:57):
any other sport, football has benefited from gambling. Uh and
you know this, The desire to win the playoff has
I think elevated interest, especially expansion.
Speaker 4 (16:07):
Right you think you you know, if I could.
Speaker 5 (16:09):
Just spend this extra X number of dollars to get
that receiver for us, we could make the playoff.
Speaker 4 (16:16):
Right. That has plays a role in it for sure.
Speaker 5 (16:19):
And and yes, it is incredibly popular and there's no
sign of it slowing down despite the NC double hays,
you know, constant face planting.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
Hey John before you go real quick, Notre Dame Clemson announcing.
I think it was a twelve year deal, right for Yeah,
for a series between those two schools. Why is that
important you think for the average college football fan to
know about?
Speaker 5 (16:44):
I think that anything that happens that gives Notre Dame
a reason to stay independent is arguably good for the
sport because it will prevent an you know, a great shakeup, right,
because if Notre Dame says, you know what, we want
to join a conference, all of a sudden, there's a
giant pitting war for Notre Dame, and that sparks you know,
(17:06):
a huge round of realignment. If Notre Dame is content
being independent, then the number one chip, you know, the
number one.
Speaker 4 (17:15):
Pick is off the table.
Speaker 5 (17:17):
And I think that that kind of helps things stay calm,
so to speak. And right now, the Irish have zero
reason to join the conference. I mean, the playoff is
made for them. If they're in the top twelve, they're in.
Speaker 4 (17:29):
They get to.
Speaker 5 (17:30):
Keep all their money, they don't have to share it
with anybody. And now they're getting better schedules from the ACC,
so they got it made and I think that kind
of just keeps peace across the land.
Speaker 2 (17:42):
John Wilner, phenomenal job as always. Take the rest of
the week off and we'll talk on Tuesday.
Speaker 4 (17:47):
Pal thanks a lot of guys.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
All right, John Wilner with us on the radio show
We've Gotta Break. I want to kind of go back
to the Mariner conversation a little bit. Uh Seattle is
going to start Hora Palanco at second base in the
infield for the first time since April, and he's also
facing a lefty tonight, by the way, Will Jorge Polanko.
We'll get to all that and the conversation about the center.
(18:10):
Did the Seahawks simply do enough to upgrade or potentially
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Speaker 6 (18:19):
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Now back to Softie and Dig powered by Emerald Queen Casino,
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Speaker 2 (18:36):
You know, it's really funny you look at the lineup
guys that Dan Wilson and the Mariners have put out
for tonight's Game two against the elkon Days and you
kind of ask yourself, how the hell is this baseball
team twenty and fourteen?
Speaker 3 (18:50):
Right?
Speaker 2 (18:51):
I mean Crawford leading off Polanco, it's second base, first
time he started in the infield since April early April,
Julio a Rose Arena and then Garver, Dylan Moore, Solano,
Ben Williamson and my favorite last name to say, Mashterra
Bony and left field hit at night. So it's like,
(19:11):
what the hell are they doing? It's like smoking mirrors, man,
but the magician and Dan Wilson keeps pulling a rabbit
out of as you know what. Last night didn't go
the way he wanted it to, obviously, But a couple
of things stand out about tonight. First of all, Polanco's
at second base, which Boonie, before he quit to be
the Rangers hitting coach, would always tell us that if
you got a bum knee, playing second base is harder
(19:33):
than playing third base because of the pivot involved at
second base, obviously, so that was always Boonie's thing. He's
back at second tonight. He's also facing a left handed pitcher,
by the way, Hugh, and a guy named Jeffrey Springs
who has absolutely been terrible at home. He's just like
Louis Severino. He's been very good on the road, but
terrible at home. So I don't think we're gonna see
(19:56):
Hore Polanco hitting lefty against the lefty, because, as we say,
he's only done that one time in his life. We're
gonna see Polanco hit from the right side tonight against
this I.
Speaker 7 (20:05):
Think you've I think the Mariners have a Jorge Polonco
dilemma because if you go back to a year ago
when he played second base, thirty seven evaluated second basement
in all of baseball. For the twenty twenty four season,
the number one defensive second second basement Under his Jimenez,
(20:26):
he had an outs above average of plus twenty one.
Second place was Marcus Simeon with plus nineteen. At the
bottom of the list, number thirty seven out of thirty
seven was Jorge Polonko negative ten. You want to go
runs prevented him and his sixteen Simeon fourteen. Polonko was
(20:52):
bottom of the list on that number as well, negative eight.
Going to his right, polom negative five in terms of
outs above average.
Speaker 3 (21:05):
To his left it was just negative one.
Speaker 7 (21:06):
So so there's some just some limitations, some range issues
in right and you're gonna say, maybe he's more healthy, Well,
he's he's been injured.
Speaker 9 (21:15):
So I.
Speaker 7 (21:18):
Think that that's a concern for you, right if if
you've got literally the worst defensive second basement from a
year ago. Sure, you know Ben Williamson, you know he's
not third basement PLANCO. I think you feel pretty good
about whatever's developing with Williamson. But how about that tonight?
You know, I don't know if DH is the answer
or or what is first base the answer, but but
(21:41):
you just kind of hold your breath with that type
of defensive statistics recently.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
Yeah, they need to they need to really kind of
fit this square peg into the round hole. It seems
like every single night, right depending on what the other
team is doing, whether it's a lefty or a riting
on the mountain. Tonight it's a lefty. So I again,
I assume that what we saw and what we heard
a few days ago, a week ago, that Hore Polanco
was taking some cuts in the cage as a right
(22:07):
handed hitter, that he's now maybe ready to get back
out there and start facing lefties from the right side
of the plate. So if that's the case and he
can switch depending on who's going for the opposite team,
then obviously you've solved a potential issue. But yeah, the
DH spot versus the second base spot, I mean, Kyle
Rowley needs to play as much as he can, but
he can't catch every single day because he'll break if
(22:29):
he catches every single day.
Speaker 3 (22:30):
The guy led the.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
Damn Major leagues and games caught a year ago, and
led the American League two years ago, like up until
I mean, is recently his Friday night now. Granted it
was eight to nothing when they did this, when the
Rangers pulled lighter and they brought in lats from their bullpen.
They went from a righty to a lefty, and Polanco's
out of the game and they went to Mitch Garver. Now, again,
(22:52):
it was eight to nothing, so they may have done
that anyway. But I'm just really curious to see how
effective he is from the right side to night and
what he looks like at second. Because he can't play third.
His days of playing third base are over. I mean
we identified that from the get go. Anybody with functioning eyeballs,
you know, could see that Horiy Polanco could not play third.
Is the reason why the guy barely played third at
all in his career. And there's a reason why he
(23:13):
was his second basement because he can't play third. It's embarrassing.
So that's done. The only question now is where does
he play full time? And I'll tell you what my thought, Hugh,
up until about a week ago, was that the Rowdy
to Les experiment was going to get blown up and
that Hore Polanco would eventually be maybe a first basement. Well,
(23:35):
the way Rowdy Teles is playing right now, he's hitting
four to thirty in the month of May. He's been
on fire the last couple of weeks. Had the big
game winning hit Saturday night in Texas. I mean, this
guy's getting a stay of execution for me for the
time being.
Speaker 7 (23:50):
Will he is? But you know, just to close the
loop on Polonco, what I feel like is a dilemmo
because you had those defensive numbers from a year ago
at second base. What were we told all through spring training?
He's not a second baseman. You know, he's not healthy,
he doesn't he doesn't have the range the combination of
(24:11):
the injuries. So so now let's put him at third base. Well,
now we've learned and why did we go to third base?
Because he doesn't have the range to play second. So
third base didn't work, and so now we're getting an
injured Polanco back at second base. Look, you know, I guess.
I mean, if just as long as you are aware
(24:32):
that you're likely to be getting defensive second baseman work
from him that is going to be near the bottom
of Major league.
Speaker 3 (24:40):
Baseball, well you can't take us bad out of the game.
I mean, that's why it's a dilemma.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
Yeah, I mean, I just I mean, to me, he
kind of feels like a full time d H at
this point, right or a first baseman because of where
his knee is at, and he can't play third because
he's got a noodle for an arm. But like I
said writing to Lez, the last two weeks has been
playing pretty damn good baseball.
Speaker 3 (24:59):
So I don't know.
Speaker 2 (25:00):
I mean, it's just these little intriguing things. Right like
tonight's game, it's kind of in the grand scheme of things.
It's the sixth of May, it's game two of three
against the A's. It feels like overall kind of a
meaningless night. But there's a lot of reasons to run
home and flip this thing on and see how Hori
Polonco handles the right side. The other topic I want
to get to, and we'll get to Brett Boone, by
(25:22):
the way at five and a full disclosure, okay, because
I never want to lie to the audience.
Speaker 3 (25:25):
I want to be totally honest about this.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
I had this conversation with Brett Boone about seven hours ago.
He was waking up in Boston getting set to go
back to Fenway Park with the Rangers to put on
a major league uniform for the first time in twenty years.
Since he retired in two thousand and five, Brett Boone
has been doing this radio show as a Thursday guest
for the last three years, and he quit. He left
us behind to go be the hitting coach of Texas.
(25:49):
So we're gonna talk to Boonie. We're gonna hear that
at five, and then when the interview's over, we're gonna
look up. We're gonna see how the Texas Ranger offense
is doing in Boston against the Red Sox. So that's
coming up at five o'clock. But the conversation that you
and I had by the way about Big Olu, I
kind of feel like, and I'm asking myself, God, why
haven't we talked more about this? I mean, look, I
(26:11):
think to your eyes, my eyes tell me, and you
know better than me, Hugh, big Olu at center it
was okay. I mean, there's a reason they went out
and made the move for the kid from Miami who
quit halfway through the year, because they weren't convinced that
Big ol Lou could be the guy. But you look
at the depth chart right now, and it's his job.
I mean, there's no competition at center at all for
(26:33):
Big Oldu and PFF, hang on you. PFF had him
as the nineteenth best center in football. And I'm watching
Drew Dolman, I'm watching Ryan Kelly, I'm watching Josh Myers,
who was the starter for the Packers a year ago.
I'm watching all these free agents, you know, hook up
with other teams and the Seahawks for whatever reason, and
maybe they'll be proven right when it's all said and done,
have said, no, we've got our guy.
Speaker 3 (26:54):
Did they make the right call? Well, here's the thing.
Speaker 7 (26:58):
I probably have been a lot off on him because
studyment in Michigan. Here's a guy not only did he
win the Reminton Award for the best center in college football.
Speaker 3 (27:07):
But why did he fall? And you and you always.
Speaker 2 (27:09):
Said he felt because he was at a position at
the Senior Bowl, remember that, right, Well.
Speaker 3 (27:14):
That was a contributing factor.
Speaker 7 (27:15):
I mean I was throwing stuff that that, trying to
find an answer, So I thought more highly of him.
You made the point that under Carrol there would have
been more competition, don't you. There's been times where there
there wasn't competition under him. Look, the whole competition thing
(27:37):
with Pete Carroll, I think is mostly a myth because like,
what do you think Mike Holmgren thinks when when all
this to talk about competition.
Speaker 3 (27:51):
I just think this question. I think that every team
is competing.
Speaker 7 (27:56):
Like tell me, tell me ways that Pete Carroll is
competing that other coaches because you have a basketball hoop
in the in the uh in the auditorium and you
shoot free throws like like the in all of the
important ways, wasn't competing any harder than other.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
But let me ask you this, though, let me ask
you this getting down to the center situation. We got
one minute left in this segment. When when Big o'lu
goes to Seahawk mini camp, which I assume is going
to be what next week or the week after.
Speaker 3 (28:27):
One, Jalen Sandel He'll be pushing, He's going to show up.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
He's gonna look around and who would Who does he
really think, honestly in reality, has a chance of grabbing
his starting center job.
Speaker 3 (28:37):
Jalen Sindell. He's the number two guy, right in reality?
You think he's concerned about it. I don't know in
his head. Look, look, I think you you raise a
good point.
Speaker 7 (28:45):
How often did we talk about the offensive line and
particularly the guys in the the three guys on the inside.
So so you get a first round draft pick for
the left guard but that still leaves center and right
guard his big giant question marks going into camp.
Speaker 2 (29:02):
Let's get a break, a little text amonials, and then
Brett Boone he's quitting us to go join the Rangers.
Who would ever want to do something like that? Next
come it up on ninety three to three KJRFM
It's time for our weekly Pac twelve conversation with San
Jose Mercury News reporter John Wilner, brought to you by
Simply Seattle. Our friends at simply Seattle dot com have
the most amazing collection of all things Seattle Seahawks gear.
UW had some of the largest selection of Sonnix gear
anywhere in the world. Learn more at simply Seattle dot com.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
All right, you got your eye on something marinergeartt Boys,
or Hot Baby, jump on the website simply Seattle dot
com and use code kJ R fifteen for fifteen percent
off whatever you have your eye on at simply Seattle
dot com. Tonight, here he is joining myself, Hugh Mellon,
Jackson Feltz, the Pope of the Pack, the Big ten Baron,
(00:40):
our friend from the San Jose Mercury News, and the
Wilder and Gonzano Podcast, all brought to you by our
friends at simply Seattle dot com.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
It's our pal, Johnny Wilner. John. How are you man?
Speaker 4 (00:50):
I'm good? Thanks?
Speaker 3 (00:50):
How you guys good? Good? Where do we start? How
about we start with what we saw Friday night?
Speaker 5 (00:55):
Right?
Speaker 2 (00:56):
You and I were talking yesterday about a lot of
guys that played in the spring game on Friday. Demon
Williams plays the first half, it sets out the second half.
I'm sure you watched the broadcast on the Big ten network.
Would you make it what you saw from the Dogs
on Friday?
Speaker 4 (01:09):
Man?
Speaker 5 (01:10):
I did, Yeah, you know, there was some interesting stuff.
I was disappointed that, you know, so many of their
top receivers were out. I had kind of wanted to
see those guys with Williams, but you know, it is
what it is with springball, right. I thought, uh, Coleman
looked faster. I thought Williams looked bigger. But I was
(01:32):
a little disappointed, you know. I kind of was hoping
to see Williams make some dynamic plays downfield, and there
really wasn't a.
Speaker 4 (01:39):
Whole lot of that. It's it seemed like his.
Speaker 5 (01:42):
Offensive line he was in purple, I think, right, or
his team was purple.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
He was in black.
Speaker 4 (01:50):
His team was purple.
Speaker 5 (01:52):
They it seemed like his line had a little bit
of trouble keeping him giving him time to throw. So uh,
but you know, there's so much that goes on by
behind the scenes with that stuff, in terms of who's
playing and who's not, and.
Speaker 4 (02:03):
The stuff they're calling.
Speaker 6 (02:04):
Uh.
Speaker 5 (02:05):
I thought it was fine. If I'm a Husky fan,
I walk away thinking, okay, that was that was perfectly acceptable.
Speaker 7 (02:11):
Well, the offensive line was the story a year ago.
But but uh, and talking about Demon Williams. So you're
a little disappointed and not much development down the field.
I want to ask you, because we had David and
I had a nice discussion about this yesterday on the
subject of quarterback twitchy twitchiness? Uh, that define you define
maybe a short area of quickness. The last guy you
(02:33):
want to play tag with on the at recess can
Where does he rank in terms of all the quarterbacks
you've ever seen? Does somebody come to mind a legitimate
quarterback that's more twitchy than him? Just kind of when
you see him? How does that impress your eyeballs?
Speaker 5 (02:51):
You know who comes to mind? Is you remember Khalil
Tate from Arizona?
Speaker 4 (02:55):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (02:56):
Yeah, yes, yes.
Speaker 5 (02:58):
Now he did not develop as a downfield pass or
pocket pass or he talked about twitchy.
Speaker 4 (03:04):
His first game.
Speaker 5 (03:05):
Didn't he have like two hundred and fifty yards rushing
against Colorado? I think it was a conference record.
Speaker 7 (03:10):
Yeah, he had a lot against Washington too. I think
it was what Dave wasn't there like an opener or
uh yeah, I don't remember the exact numbers.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
Just I just remember that guy giving me a big headache,
by the way, is what I remember.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
So yeah, but go ahead, John.
Speaker 4 (03:23):
Now that's that's kind of what I think.
Speaker 5 (03:25):
And to me, the big question with Williams is going
to be how does he develop, you know, from the pocket. Ultimately,
you know, if Washington is gonna become a big ten
uh title contender, a playoff contender, he's gonna have to
deliver the ball from the pocket in you know, third
down on the road, that kind of thing. And to
(03:47):
what degree is he going to mature into that, you know,
in this coming season and then in later years certainly
outside of the pocket or you know, just zone read
stuff where he's running the ball, he's you know, you
can't ask for anything more. But to me, it'll be
all about his pocket development, which is part of the
reason why I kind of wanted to see him with
Boston some of those other receivers, but you know, they
(04:09):
can't play, they can't play.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
Yeah, him and Amari Evans were both out. Neither one played.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
Those are your presumably number one and number two receivers.
Certainly number one, number two in regards to experience, There's
no question about that. But I mean, I just feel
like the hype train for Demon Williams is full throttle
right now, and I don't know if it's fair, unfair, relevant, irrelevant.
I mean Jetfish has been feeding into it, obviously with
(04:36):
some comments he made even last year, obviously about him
maybe one day getting to New York City. So I mean,
how much should this guy be getting pumped up right now?
Right Like a lot of teams like to, you know,
spend money on marketing campaigns over the offseason. I'm not
saying you dubb should do that, but how much should
Husky fans be pumping the brakes or stepping on the
gas for DeMont Williams right now?
Speaker 3 (04:56):
In your mind?
Speaker 5 (04:58):
I think that part of the reason for the hype
is he played so much last year. Yeah, he got
in basically every game, so you kept giving the fans
a taste here, a taste there, and then he played
so well in the Bowl game.
Speaker 4 (05:11):
Right.
Speaker 5 (05:12):
I think it's hard to answer because I wonder what's
going on behind the scenes with Nil right and are
you are they trying to pump him up because they
need to make sure they're going to be able to
keep him after next season, because you never know these
days with the highest offers, that plays a role now
(05:33):
that never used to happen. Right before the hype was
like Heisman Trophy or just to sell tickets. Now you
have to consider the nil component with the hype and
you know, giving your donors.
Speaker 4 (05:46):
A taste of what's there. So I do wonder about that.
Speaker 5 (05:50):
For just for him as a quarterback, I think that
it is it's gotten a little bit ahead of the situation,
given what you know, his minute experience and the fact
that they've got a rebuilt offensive line and and the
Big ten's gonna be tough. But with those other factors involved,
building a brand has a you know, a different importance
(06:13):
than it did before.
Speaker 7 (06:14):
John Wilner with and John, you expressed a little frustration
you didn't see the the headline receivers for the Huskies.
But there's a guy there and and I don't do predictions,
but I'm gonna aventure on that.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
You just did. You just did yesterday. You made a
prediction yesterday, No, I did. What about Raydon vines Bright?
You said he's gonna be a day.
Speaker 8 (06:33):
One or day two draft, I'm gonna get John's opinions.
So raiding by Softy's interrupting Raydon Vines Bright, I'm saying,
this guy is he's getting drafted barin Injury's getting drafted
for sure, and I think more probably than probable than
not first or second day. I'm stepping out and saying it,
what'd you think of number seven out there, the young
(06:54):
receiver for Washington?
Speaker 4 (06:57):
Yeah, what's his eligibility situations here?
Speaker 2 (06:59):
True, he's a pure freshman. He just got here. He
enrolled in January.
Speaker 5 (07:06):
Uh, so we're talking about two years he's got. He's
got at least three years to play. So a boy,
I don't know, but he's got what he's got what
you were looking for for sure?
Speaker 4 (07:16):
How does he develop as a route runner?
Speaker 5 (07:19):
What's he gonna run because the you know, the forty
time is so important for receivers and corners to get
into day one.
Speaker 4 (07:26):
I don't know. I mean, if Hugh, if you could
tell him the combine.
Speaker 7 (07:30):
He was a top he's top ten and one hundred
meter in high school, a sophomore in the high school.
Speaker 4 (07:36):
So he's like a four to four guy.
Speaker 7 (07:38):
Probably he's a fourth. Absolutely, there's a good chance he'll
break for four. I mean he's he's a ten eighty
two hundred meter guy as a sophomore in high school.
Speaker 5 (07:47):
Well, I mean you know, with that, with that talent
and that speed, he could end up becoming a your
second day pick.
Speaker 4 (07:54):
There's no doubt.
Speaker 5 (07:54):
I mean, receivers are so in demand these days in
the NFL.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
John Wilners with us on the radio show going back
to Friday, and I thought the atmosphere was great. You know,
nobody really has embraced the spring game and trying to
pump it up more than Jed Fish.
Speaker 5 (08:12):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
You know, obviously Kaylin, Chris Peterson, guys like that were
great for the program. But I don't ever remember those
guys getting behind this the way Jed Fish has, and
it kind of maybe is paying off. And in their defense,
they never had the game on a Friday, right, It
was always on a Saturday. When those guys were here,
they would do like a joint, you know, Windermere Cup
spring game thing going on, and I think moving it
(08:34):
to Friday has been phenomenal. But Pat shown John the
ad at Washington, was on the show Friday, and I
asked him flat out, is there a chance down the
road that the spring game for Washington might be a
thing of the past.
Speaker 9 (08:45):
Yeah, I could see that happening. Yeah, I think the
whole calendar is going to change. That's my opinion with
these with these new contracts and what happens to spring
football in general, I think is going to be impacted
by got.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
You, got you?
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Okay, So when he says the whole calendar is going
to change with the new contracts with a meaning for players,
and the whole spring calendar could be impacted, what is
he talking about? Phillis in on what he might be
referencing there.
Speaker 5 (09:11):
Well, there's a lot of folks that want to get
rid of spring practice and create OTAs that are similar
to the NFL, And I don't you know where you
put those in the calendar. I don't know, but essentially
it would be, you know, you'd have a session in
maybe April and the session in May or June, and
(09:31):
you get rid of that block of four weeks of
spring practice. What they do with the transfer the spring
transfer portal is part of that calculation. What they do
with training camp is part of it, and then what
they do with the regular season. It's all under this
one big umbrella of the college football calendar that includes
(09:54):
the CFP and the overlap of the NFL in January.
So they they've got a lot to figure out, you know.
And you've got different factions, right because the the a
f c A, the Coaches Association, you know, they have
their priorities, The athletic directors have priorities the athletes, and
the agents represent the athletes.
Speaker 4 (10:15):
So there's all these.
Speaker 5 (10:16):
Competing dynamics, and you have the legal hurdles as well,
and it's just one big question mark. But there's a
lot of movement to get rid of spring practice kind
of as it has been traditionally. UH placed in April
and go to more of an OTA mini camp. Thanks.
Speaker 7 (10:39):
Well, let's stay in that arena, John uh And, and
give us an update on the house settlement. What are
we expecting there and then and from a fans perspective,
how is this gonna impact us at all in terms
of what we see, are players coming and going and
and and how it's it's liable to significantly impact the game.
Speaker 5 (11:00):
Well, I think that any day the UH and it
might even be tomorrow. The defendants, which are the five
power conferences and that includes the PAC twelve and the
NCAA are gonna submit their final proposal to the judge
to get this thing to approved by Claudia Wilkin, and
then it would start. The hold up is roster, you know,
(11:24):
basically for Olympic sports athletes grandfathering them in in July one,
it would start, and then we have the era of
revenue sharing. They're still going to be true nil. So
demm Williams can get a million or two million bucks
from Washington as part of revenue sharing, and he could
still get however much he can earn from selling cars
(11:47):
on Mottlake. I think it will slow down the transfer
portal a little bit because the true nil is going
to be a higher bar than the under the table
stuff that we've had. There still will be under the table,
but it's gonna a decrease, so it should slow down
player movement a little bit. Yeah, we'll still get some,
(12:09):
but it's gonna basically come down to which schools are
gonna be able to max out and then which schools
are gonna be able to provide the true nil. And
so your donor base and enthusiastic donor base that has
a lot of business opportunities for these athletes is gonna
be gigantic, and Washington set up well because of all
(12:30):
the giant corporations in Seattle. I think the whole Big
Ten is set up very well.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
Yeah, there's no doubt that the possibilities are there. I
wonder if the wherewithal is there, right, I mean, those
are two different things. There's no question about that. This
is one of the richest counties in the country, without question,
in the entire world, right in King County. So the
possibilities are absolutely endless. And by the way, Hugh, I'm
(12:57):
glad you brought that up. John Wilner was with us.
Courtesy is simply Seattle. Kurt Signetti, John, I don't know
if you saw this. A couple of days ago, the
head coach of Indiana claim that there's six teams that
are going to spend over forty million dollars on their
rosters going into twenty twenty five, as as if this
is some kind of criticism. By the way, like I
love for my team to spend forty million dollars on
(13:19):
a roster. But he mentioned Miami, Notre Dame, Texas, Ohio State,
Texas Tech.
Speaker 3 (13:23):
And Oregon.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
Do you buy that that those six teams, including the
Ducks in Ohio state in the Big Ten, are going
to spend forty million plus on their roster.
Speaker 5 (13:34):
It's easy to say there's a lot of numbers getting
tossed around. I always tend to be, you know, think
that it's inflated because agents want those numbers to get
you know, they want the highest numbers out there possible
to drive up prices. But you know, certainly everybody is
(13:55):
spending like crazy.
Speaker 4 (13:56):
Right now before the revenue sharing starts.
Speaker 5 (14:00):
The revenue sharing will create kind of a soft cap.
Right now, there's no cap, so everybody's chucking money at
their players because that's not going to count towards the
cap July first. That's shooting the market up. We see
that with Washington Basketball as well. Right Basketball said they're
doing the same thing.
Speaker 4 (14:20):
So I would say.
Speaker 5 (14:22):
Forty maybe more probably My guess is it's more.
Speaker 4 (14:25):
Like thirty thirty five.
Speaker 5 (14:26):
But it's a lot of money right now, there's no
doubt about that because of the revenue sharing that's come
in July first.
Speaker 7 (14:32):
Well, if you go back thirty years ago, there's a
lot of I don't know hu and cries from the
owners saying, hey, look if we get free agency, everybody's
going to want to play for the Raiders and the Cowboys,
and there's good, you know. And then and we're not
going to have connection with our players over a long period,
and that's going to hurt the product. And then with
(14:53):
all the hand ringing there's been for fans about the
changes that have occurred, correct me if i'm but I've
seen a lot of numbers twenty twenty four. In many ways,
college football is as popular and robust as ever, so
some of these warning signs haven't really materialized. What's your
what's your take about how the just the interest in
(15:16):
the game as we see these numbers that they've just
cited continuing to mount and impact the game.
Speaker 5 (15:25):
Well, a couple of things. One is the NCAA said
for years, it was part of their argument in court
against nil that.
Speaker 4 (15:31):
If players get paid, that's going to.
Speaker 5 (15:34):
Hurt the hurt the game because fans love the pure
amateurism of it all. And that was kind of a
cockamamie argument, right. So my thoughts are, one, everybody's gotten
alma mater, and you root for your alma mater. Two,
gambling has helped immensely in the popularity of both the
NFL and college football. I think more, probably more than
(15:57):
any other sport, football has benefited from gambling. Uh and
you know this, The desire to win the playoff has
I think elevated interest, especially expansion.
Speaker 4 (16:07):
Right you think you you know, if I could.
Speaker 5 (16:09):
Just spend this extra X number of dollars to get
that receiver for us, we could make the playoff.
Speaker 4 (16:16):
Right. That has plays a role in it for sure.
Speaker 5 (16:19):
And and yes, it is incredibly popular and there's no
sign of it slowing down despite the NC double hays,
you know, constant face planting.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
Hey John before you go real quick, Notre Dame Clemson announcing.
I think it was a twelve year deal, right for Yeah,
for a series between those two schools. Why is that
important you think for the average college football fan to
know about?
Speaker 5 (16:44):
I think that anything that happens that gives Notre Dame
a reason to stay independent is arguably good for the
sport because it will prevent an you know, a great shakeup, right,
because if Notre Dame says, you know what, we want
to join a conference, all of a sudden, there's a
giant pitting war for Notre Dame, and that sparks you know,
(17:06):
a huge round of realignment. If Notre Dame is content
being independent, then the number one chip, you know, the
number one.
Speaker 4 (17:15):
Pick is off the table.
Speaker 5 (17:17):
And I think that that kind of helps things stay calm,
so to speak. And right now, the Irish have zero
reason to join the conference. I mean, the playoff is
made for them. If they're in the top twelve, they're in.
Speaker 4 (17:29):
They get to.
Speaker 5 (17:30):
Keep all their money, they don't have to share it
with anybody. And now they're getting better schedules from the ACC,
so they got it made and I think that kind
of just keeps peace across the land.
Speaker 2 (17:42):
John Wilner, phenomenal job as always. Take the rest of
the week off and we'll talk on Tuesday.
Speaker 4 (17:47):
Pal thanks a lot of guys.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
All right, John Wilner with us on the radio show
We've Gotta Break. I want to kind of go back
to the Mariner conversation a little bit. Uh Seattle is
going to start Hora Palanco at second base in the
infield for the first time since April, and he's also
facing a lefty tonight, by the way, Will Jorge Polanko.
We'll get to all that and the conversation about the center.
(18:10):
Did the Seahawks simply do enough to upgrade or potentially
even provide any competition for Big Olu. Next on ninety
three to three KJRFM, What.
Speaker 6 (18:19):
Casting Live from the R and R Foundation Specialist broadcast Studio.
Now back to Softie and Dig powered by Emerald Queen Casino,
the vetting capital of the Northwest, on Sports Radio ninety
three point three KJR FM.
Speaker 2 (18:36):
You know, it's really funny you look at the lineup
guys that Dan Wilson and the Mariners have put out
for tonight's Game two against the elkon Days and you
kind of ask yourself, how the hell is this baseball
team twenty and fourteen?
Speaker 3 (18:50):
Right?
Speaker 2 (18:51):
I mean Crawford leading off Polanco, it's second base, first
time he started in the infield since April early April,
Julio a Rose Arena and then Garver, Dylan Moore, Solano,
Ben Williamson and my favorite last name to say, Mashterra
Bony and left field hit at night. So it's like,
(19:11):
what the hell are they doing? It's like smoking mirrors, man,
but the magician and Dan Wilson keeps pulling a rabbit
out of as you know what. Last night didn't go
the way he wanted it to, obviously, But a couple
of things stand out about tonight. First of all, Polanco's
at second base, which Boonie, before he quit to be
the Rangers hitting coach, would always tell us that if
you got a bum knee, playing second base is harder
(19:33):
than playing third base because of the pivot involved at
second base, obviously, so that was always Boonie's thing. He's
back at second tonight. He's also facing a left handed pitcher,
by the way, Hugh, and a guy named Jeffrey Springs
who has absolutely been terrible at home. He's just like
Louis Severino. He's been very good on the road, but
terrible at home. So I don't think we're gonna see
(19:56):
Hore Polanco hitting lefty against the lefty, because, as we say,
he's only done that one time in his life. We're
gonna see Polanco hit from the right side tonight against
this I.
Speaker 7 (20:05):
Think you've I think the Mariners have a Jorge Polonco
dilemma because if you go back to a year ago
when he played second base, thirty seven evaluated second basement
in all of baseball. For the twenty twenty four season,
the number one defensive second second basement Under his Jimenez,
(20:26):
he had an outs above average of plus twenty one.
Second place was Marcus Simeon with plus nineteen. At the
bottom of the list, number thirty seven out of thirty
seven was Jorge Polonko negative ten. You want to go
runs prevented him and his sixteen Simeon fourteen. Polonko was
(20:52):
bottom of the list on that number as well, negative eight.
Going to his right, polom negative five in terms of
outs above average.
Speaker 3 (21:05):
To his left it was just negative one.
Speaker 7 (21:06):
So so there's some just some limitations, some range issues
in right and you're gonna say, maybe he's more healthy, Well,
he's he's been injured.
Speaker 9 (21:15):
So I.
Speaker 7 (21:18):
Think that that's a concern for you, right if if
you've got literally the worst defensive second basement from a
year ago. Sure, you know Ben Williamson, you know he's
not third basement PLANCO. I think you feel pretty good
about whatever's developing with Williamson. But how about that tonight?
You know, I don't know if DH is the answer
or or what is first base the answer, but but
(21:41):
you just kind of hold your breath with that type
of defensive statistics recently.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
Yeah, they need to they need to really kind of
fit this square peg into the round hole. It seems
like every single night, right depending on what the other
team is doing, whether it's a lefty or a riting
on the mountain. Tonight it's a lefty. So I again,
I assume that what we saw and what we heard
a few days ago, a week ago, that Hore Polanco
was taking some cuts in the cage as a right
(22:07):
handed hitter, that he's now maybe ready to get back
out there and start facing lefties from the right side
of the plate. So if that's the case and he
can switch depending on who's going for the opposite team,
then obviously you've solved a potential issue. But yeah, the
DH spot versus the second base spot, I mean, Kyle
Rowley needs to play as much as he can, but
he can't catch every single day because he'll break if
(22:29):
he catches every single day.
Speaker 3 (22:30):
The guy led the.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
Damn Major leagues and games caught a year ago, and
led the American League two years ago, like up until
I mean, is recently his Friday night now. Granted it
was eight to nothing when they did this, when the
Rangers pulled lighter and they brought in lats from their bullpen.
They went from a righty to a lefty, and Polanco's
out of the game and they went to Mitch Garver. Now, again,
(22:52):
it was eight to nothing, so they may have done
that anyway. But I'm just really curious to see how
effective he is from the right side to night and
what he looks like at second. Because he can't play third.
His days of playing third base are over. I mean
we identified that from the get go. Anybody with functioning eyeballs,
you know, could see that Horiy Polanco could not play third.
Is the reason why the guy barely played third at
all in his career. And there's a reason why he
(23:13):
was his second basement because he can't play third. It's embarrassing.
So that's done. The only question now is where does
he play full time? And I'll tell you what my thought, Hugh,
up until about a week ago, was that the Rowdy
to Les experiment was going to get blown up and
that Hore Polanco would eventually be maybe a first basement. Well,
(23:35):
the way Rowdy Teles is playing right now, he's hitting
four to thirty in the month of May. He's been
on fire the last couple of weeks. Had the big
game winning hit Saturday night in Texas. I mean, this
guy's getting a stay of execution for me for the
time being.
Speaker 7 (23:50):
Will he is? But you know, just to close the
loop on Polonco, what I feel like is a dilemmo
because you had those defensive numbers from a year ago
at second base. What were we told all through spring training?
He's not a second baseman. You know, he's not healthy,
he doesn't he doesn't have the range the combination of
(24:11):
the injuries. So so now let's put him at third base. Well,
now we've learned and why did we go to third base?
Because he doesn't have the range to play second. So
third base didn't work, and so now we're getting an
injured Polanco back at second base. Look, you know, I guess.
I mean, if just as long as you are aware
(24:32):
that you're likely to be getting defensive second baseman work
from him that is going to be near the bottom
of Major league.
Speaker 3 (24:40):
Baseball, well you can't take us bad out of the game.
I mean, that's why it's a dilemma.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
Yeah, I mean, I just I mean, to me, he
kind of feels like a full time d H at
this point, right or a first baseman because of where
his knee is at, and he can't play third because
he's got a noodle for an arm. But like I
said writing to Lez, the last two weeks has been
playing pretty damn good baseball.
Speaker 3 (24:59):
So I don't know.
Speaker 2 (25:00):
I mean, it's just these little intriguing things. Right like
tonight's game, it's kind of in the grand scheme of things.
It's the sixth of May, it's game two of three
against the A's. It feels like overall kind of a
meaningless night. But there's a lot of reasons to run
home and flip this thing on and see how Hori
Polonco handles the right side. The other topic I want
to get to, and we'll get to Brett Boone, by
(25:22):
the way at five and a full disclosure, okay, because
I never want to lie to the audience.
Speaker 3 (25:25):
I want to be totally honest about this.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
I had this conversation with Brett Boone about seven hours ago.
He was waking up in Boston getting set to go
back to Fenway Park with the Rangers to put on
a major league uniform for the first time in twenty years.
Since he retired in two thousand and five, Brett Boone
has been doing this radio show as a Thursday guest
for the last three years, and he quit. He left
us behind to go be the hitting coach of Texas.
(25:49):
So we're gonna talk to Boonie. We're gonna hear that
at five, and then when the interview's over, we're gonna
look up. We're gonna see how the Texas Ranger offense
is doing in Boston against the Red Sox. So that's
coming up at five o'clock. But the conversation that you
and I had by the way about Big Olu, I
kind of feel like, and I'm asking myself, God, why
haven't we talked more about this? I mean, look, I
(26:11):
think to your eyes, my eyes tell me, and you
know better than me, Hugh, big Olu at center it
was okay. I mean, there's a reason they went out
and made the move for the kid from Miami who
quit halfway through the year, because they weren't convinced that
Big ol Lou could be the guy. But you look
at the depth chart right now, and it's his job.
I mean, there's no competition at center at all for
(26:33):
Big Oldu and PFF, hang on you. PFF had him
as the nineteenth best center in football. And I'm watching
Drew Dolman, I'm watching Ryan Kelly, I'm watching Josh Myers,
who was the starter for the Packers a year ago.
I'm watching all these free agents, you know, hook up
with other teams and the Seahawks for whatever reason, and
maybe they'll be proven right when it's all said and done,
have said, no, we've got our guy.
Speaker 3 (26:54):
Did they make the right call? Well, here's the thing.
Speaker 7 (26:58):
I probably have been a lot off on him because
studyment in Michigan. Here's a guy not only did he
win the Reminton Award for the best center in college football.
Speaker 3 (27:07):
But why did he fall? And you and you always.
Speaker 2 (27:09):
Said he felt because he was at a position at
the Senior Bowl, remember that, right, Well.
Speaker 3 (27:14):
That was a contributing factor.
Speaker 7 (27:15):
I mean I was throwing stuff that that, trying to
find an answer, So I thought more highly of him.
You made the point that under Carrol there would have
been more competition, don't you. There's been times where there
there wasn't competition under him. Look, the whole competition thing
(27:37):
with Pete Carroll, I think is mostly a myth because like,
what do you think Mike Holmgren thinks when when all
this to talk about competition.
Speaker 3 (27:51):
I just think this question. I think that every team
is competing.
Speaker 7 (27:56):
Like tell me, tell me ways that Pete Carroll is
competing that other coaches because you have a basketball hoop
in the in the uh in the auditorium and you
shoot free throws like like the in all of the
important ways, wasn't competing any harder than other.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
But let me ask you this, though, let me ask
you this getting down to the center situation. We got
one minute left in this segment. When when Big o'lu
goes to Seahawk mini camp, which I assume is going
to be what next week or the week after.
Speaker 3 (28:27):
One, Jalen Sandel He'll be pushing, He's going to show up.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
He's gonna look around and who would Who does he
really think, honestly in reality, has a chance of grabbing
his starting center job.
Speaker 3 (28:37):
Jalen Sindell. He's the number two guy, right in reality?
You think he's concerned about it. I don't know in
his head. Look, look, I think you you raise a
good point.
Speaker 7 (28:45):
How often did we talk about the offensive line and
particularly the guys in the the three guys on the inside.
So so you get a first round draft pick for
the left guard but that still leaves center and right
guard his big giant question marks going into camp.
Speaker 2 (29:02):
Let's get a break, a little text amonials, and then
Brett Boone he's quitting us to go join the Rangers.
Who would ever want to do something like that? Next
come it up on ninety three to three KJRFM
Dave 'Softy' Mahler and Dick Fain News
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