July 13, 2026 • 19 mins
Former Seattle Mariners pitcher and analyst Bill Krueger joins Dick Fain and Alyssa Charlston-Smith to talk about the M’s now at the All Star Break including Dan Wilson’s job as the manager, Randy Arozarena playing hurt but also playing poor defensively, Brendan Donovan’s potential return, and Emerson Hancock fielding a ball bare-handed.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's time for our weekly conversation with Bill Krueger, brought
to you by the brand new Occidental Hall next to
Lumenfield on Occidental, Seattle's newest hot spot for sports fans,
with massive HD screens and a menu packed with Seattle's
best smash burger, wings and the best local craft beers
in town. Now with Bill Krueger, Here's SAFTI and Dick.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Bill Welcome, how are you?
Speaker 3 (00:25):
I'm yours?
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Good to be absolutely All Star week? Here we go
Home Run Derby coming up in a few moments. We
got the All Star Game coming up tomorrow. Kind of
a chance to kind of breathe and reflect and maybe
grade out our beloved Seattle Mariners for the first half.
If Professor Krueger, who has graded all the papers he
(00:48):
has taking a look at the midterm tests he is
grading those, how does your Seattle Mariners grade out with
their forty and forty nine record here at the All
Star break, Bill.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
Well, the good news is we get the gray and
the curve, and the curve is soft and the right.
Aren't we happy about that? You know, like when you're
looking around the room and going, I feel okay on
the curve in this room school. Anyways, you know, I
think you'd have to say, honestly, after what they put
up last year and what they did in the off season,
(01:20):
you'd have to say C minus. I think you probably
give them a little bit more than that. When you
sort of say, well, what about an effort, I'd say
it's more like B because they played through a myriad
of injuries and they were all over the place and
little ones that nagged, but they sort of struck the
club in a lot of places, and of course in
(01:41):
some critical places. When your MVP level catcher missus a
month and probably played most of the first half injured,
and you're probably premiere setup guy has been out most
of the first half and the guy you basically traded
for that was going to ignite the off that's play
for like what two weeks. So I think when you
(02:04):
sort of tally that all up, you give them a
better grade and the minus it's more like B. But
you know, I'm a glass half full guy, so I
think they've got a lot more gas in the tank.
And this is sort of like when you play an
uneven first nine, And maybe there were a lot of
reasons why it didn't go well, but you shot forty five.
I'm just using forty five as a number. I don't
(02:24):
know why. That probably a good score for me, but
you're seeing yourself. Well, I'm starting over in the back
nine because I want to break ninety, right, and so
I got to put up a pretty good score. So
I think it's a good time to sort of regroup
and hopefully they start to get some better news around
their health and guys get a breather, and maybe they
can sort of say to themselves that same sort of adage,
(02:46):
I'm much better than this. Didn't go right the first
nine holes, but I got nine more to play, so
and it's certainly getting Julio right back at the start
of the second half is pretty big.
Speaker 4 (02:58):
God having him, yeah, take off second half as he's
done every single year of his career in the MLB
would be helpful. But I am curious Bill, as a
former player, you've been in these clubhouses. When you look
at the Mariners right now, they're number twenty eight in
slugging this time last year they were seventh, tied for
fourteenth and home runs right now this time last year
they were sixth. They're twenty two in OBP this time
(03:19):
last year they was seven. A big part of that
is cal Rawley. We know that obviously having the big
drop off, But when you're in that clubhouse as a player,
how much does a message of urgency help? And what
time of year for a guy like Dan Wilson does
that need to come into play when you're below five hundred. Yes,
you're still a wildcard team right now, but severely underperforming
(03:41):
compared to last year.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
Well, it's a long journey and you're playing a game,
a long game of players that have to regroup each
day and start a new day fresh with a good mindset. Dan,
I think has done everything in his power to put
this team in a position of in He's been positive
with the players, He's taken all the slings and arrows.
(04:04):
There's been lots and lots of interesting conversations behind the
scenes that he tucked into himself. Okay, what it had
to do with things that had to do with the
craziness of the starting pitching staff and the craziness that
they tried to emplay on the team, which they did.
And honestly, I think there's four games right there that
they kicked away, four of them. So you might be
(04:25):
in a lot better shaping right now if you hadn't
decided to piggyback or play six man. And I don't
know what they're going to do with that going forward,
but he's pretty much had to swallow all that. And
you know, when you lean on right hand hitters that
weren't up the speed and didn't have good half, but
you're sort of committed to them, and he stuck behind him.
He stuck behind the players. That's what you hired him
(04:47):
to be, okay, And I think he's done an excellent
job in that regard. I think you're going to pay
dividends with players when you stay behind in and believe
in them in the long run because they're good players.
They haven't been hundred percent. Now should he be pointing
out things when guys are making the same mistake over
and over? He has the big leagues. You know you're
(05:07):
making base running mistakes, you're making bad reads, if you're
not hustling on plays. Yeah, I think he should let
those guys know that's not going to be tolerated. We
don't know what he says because he doesn't tell us
a lot, and I wouldn't say razor sharp media. Of course,
I'm part of media asked a lot of tough questions.
To be frank, Yeah, maybe you find out a little
(05:30):
bit more if you wouldn't just you know, if you
do to cut through the veneer a little bit and
bore down a little bit more on questions that you
really want answered. I think that in today's game, the
manager is a foreman. He's a foreman that needs to
talk to the media. Oh, I don't know, twice a
day for one hundred and sixty two plus thirty in
(05:52):
spring training, what's that three and four hundred times? That's
his job. Make sure the players are positive, make sure
that there's communication, and you stand behind him, and then
you've basically followed the script that's being handed to you
by the front office. That's pretty much the way it's
played today.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
Bill Krueger joining us just here. Yeah, no, you're right.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
Bill.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
You mentioned a bee for effort, and you alluded to
the Randy A. Rose Arena situation. We have seen three
balls now down the line. I think maybe the first
one can be more explained. Of Randy just doesn't read
fly balls very well. I can probably give him a
pass for that one. I have a tougher time giving
up him a pass for the second one. I've got
(06:40):
no tolerance for giving him a pass for the third one.
What we saw on Friday, I mean that guy pulled
up three seconds before the ball even hit the ground,
and the ball hit the ground six feet in front
of him.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
So how did I mean that?
Speaker 4 (06:55):
To me?
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Seems like one for an ass chewing after the and
probably a benching at least the next game. We don't
know if an ass chewing happened, we know a benching didn't.
So how would you have handled that situation with Randy
a Rose Arena.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
Well, he's your best player right now offensively. If you
don't have him in the lineup, you're you're you're a
little bit criokeety. That's such a word a lot of crickets.
So you know, he's been a good player offensively for him,
and I think he's playing less than hundred percent. He's
playing on a hamstream. It's not not right. And he
played every game up until that point. He has just
(07:34):
stole the base since today that he went on the
il for that, so he's not the same player. Plus
he's a below average defender. And right now, when you
start to play the music and you put people in
the chairs. There's not a lot of outfielders to be
had right now. Dominic knslone probably can't play the outfield
because he's got a bad handing MM. We've got people
like Kennedy out in the outfield or Wilson and Wilson
(07:57):
Wilson in the outfield. I mean that's and we've seen
the cast, the thousands that have played in the corner.
Who knows how healthy really is. He's had a bad back,
his arm isn't right to say, and then you got
your best player out for a week who covers everybody's mistakes,
and that's Julio. So there's a lot there. And it's
a big outfield in Miami at a big outfield in Tampa,
(08:17):
I'm sort of I'm not saying that you you tolerate
effort is something that everybody can can can can do
and so hopefully that message was delivered. He's he's a
little tricky. I think when you sign up for Randy Rosarini,
you're not sure you know exactly where he's coming from.
Every day. He certainly seemed distracted in Tampa. He certainly
(08:40):
seems to love being in Tampa. He almost didn't want
to leave. You wanted to just sit in the stands
and hope maybe the move didn't really happen right when
he when he when he was told that he was
leaving Tampa. So I don't know how to put your
finger on him. Look at what happened at the beginning
of the year, you don't think you think that was
just easy, easy gliding for Dan to deal with that one, right,
(09:01):
you know, and honestly, to be honest with you, you know,
there's obviously a disagreement on what who should have done
what in that situation, and the media is constantly microscopping
all that stuff. And maybe you know, Cal felt like
he was doing the right thing at the time, and
Randy took it, took offense. But here if you would
have heard what he said in spanishing English and they
(09:22):
had have played that every day, I don't think there
have been as many people supporting Randy on that one, because,
no matter what, you can't say those things about your teammate. Okay,
So that was that was a rocky ship that had
to be settled early in the season. So I think,
you know, there's probably a lot of he has to
be pretty tactful with Randy, I would I would think, yeah.
Speaker 4 (09:44):
And this is really I mean, the first full full
season that we get I mean, if Randy isn't the
best teammate, this is really the year where you start
seeing affect others. I feel like it takes a little
bit of time, and there are moments where I've seen
where I'm like, oh, that doesn't really look like they
get along so well. Oh I don't know how much
those two get it. Just it's been in my mind
(10:04):
a few times, and not criticizing who Randy is, but
I think you're right, Bill. The way that was translated
was that was sharp from Randy early in the season.
I'm curious going to third base. We don't know really
when Brendan Donovan could come back, if he's going to
be the same guy he was. He was your leader
in on base percentage. He was supposed to be your
leader at the top of the lineup. I think, what
twenty three hits in twenty five games this season, so
(10:27):
at least productive if he were to come back. Best
case scenario, what happens with JP the Colt Emerson, Like
Colt Emerson has had multiple rough stretches. Do you mess
with him at all at short stuff you leave him there,
or what happens if Brendan Donovan comes back and can
be a contributor at third base.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
Well, I'm probably not as familiar with where Brendan plays best.
I mean, he's got a reputation for being a guy
that can move all over the field. He's probably his
best spot a second base, and he's not playing there. Okay,
the probably do his play caate. So he's at third,
he's in left, he's the DH. He gives a once
(11:08):
in a while blow to Cole Young, Right, that's what
they're going to do. Because if you decide to put
him in left, and you've got material Randy out there
that thinks said if he's a DH, he's not going
to make his premium effort on the free agent market,
then maybe he gets a little dabber down and gets
a little upset, right, And then if he's the DH
(11:29):
all the time, then what happens in the real league
can zone equation. You want to take your best slugger
and send him a trip away. And if you put
Donovan at third, JP's a better defender. Even though he's
been a little inconsistent with his arm. He's a much
better defender than Brendan Donovan. We've seen Brendan third. He's
he has to work hard to be average. Okay, he's
(11:50):
a really good offensive player. I don't know how good
a left fielder he is, but it can't He can
play better than what we've seen in left field, that's
for sure, because Randy hasn't played it very well. I
think it's going to be some kind of hard to
put your finger on it. But he's in the lineup
every day, right. I think that's kind of how it's
going to look. And Donovan's good enough and he knows
(12:12):
that's his his kind of his card. He didn't come
in and say, well, you know, I expect you know
to play this position. I'm a big deal coming over here.
I don't think he just wants to play and he
doesn't care where he plays. I don't think so. I
think you'll see him move around a bit, but he's
going to infuse some energy and some ability. Energy is
(12:33):
such a nice word, but what you really wanted guys
that can deliver and we need a lot more back
to ball skill in our lineup, and he certainly can
provide that. Well.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
This picture that you're painting, which is an accurate one
of kind of this land of misfit toys on the
Mariner defense and consequently the Mariner offense. I mean, is
this a poorly constructed baseball team on that side of
the of the roster bill.
Speaker 3 (13:01):
Well, it's just that they're not very right handed. That's
the big problem. I think that you know, Donovan would
find his place and maybe it wasn't third, Maybe it
would have been third the whole season. I don't know,
but they are just not very right handed and it's
really stung them. They're like dead last against left handed pitching.
I mean, hit the kid on Sunday, but they just
(13:24):
haven't been able to find right handed bats. They kind
of didn't address it, and maybe they're hoping much like
they did last year lightning in the bottle, you get
two bangers at the deadline, but man, I don't think
that's going to be as easy this year. I think
they were fortunate to sort of stumble into those two
guys when the Arizona Diamondbacks slipped out of playoff possibilities
(13:46):
and just at the right moment where the marriage could
sweep in and get both those guys and they were huge,
but right now nobody seems to know whether they're in
it or out of it, so it's hard to guess
who who the sellers are going to be and what's
exactly available. So I have to wait and see on
that one. You know, you're solid up the middle. I mean,
(14:10):
Cole Young has proven to be an excellent second basement.
Cole Emerson can really play short even though he made
a mistake. It was a mistake of commission. You know,
he was trying to make a double play to in
the inning and he made a mistake, but he's played
very well at shortstop, very confident twenty year old. He
doesn't let bad it back to the in his defense,
he's played excellent. Okay, you got the center field or
(14:32):
he can really play, of course I talked about the catcher.
You got a first basement that can really play, although
he hasn't been as good the first half as he
was last year. So and you know JP's going to
play fine at third. Yeah. I mean, I think their
corner Ralph Field is not as good as you would
you would like to be. They're not a supreme defensive
defensive team, but they're fine. I think the big problem
(14:55):
is that when you try to tilt the lineup, they
just don't have any answers on the right hand side
of the play bill.
Speaker 4 (15:00):
You know what it's like to be on the mound
potentially when a one hundred mile an hour hit is
coming your way. Yesterday with Emerson Hancock, I was shocked
that he put his hand out. I know, it's a
one hopper, and you're like, he is a you know,
pictures are athletes. I believe it, but are you sticking
your hand out to potentially get in the way. I
(15:20):
mean that, Like I looked at my hand and I
was like, Emerson Hancock's right hand is literally worth millions.
That was a scary moment. Is that something that you
I'm just curious out of your own instinct. Is that
something that you would have potentially reached out for you think?
Speaker 3 (15:34):
I don't know if it's because I was a position player,
you know, my whole life and really didn't become a
regular patriental. You know, after college I played first base.
I always played with my gloves, so I never ever
reached for a ball with my bare hand because I
was always reaching with my gloves. Okay, that's how you
play the game with the glove, right, So, yeah, you
(15:57):
don't reach out with your hand. I mean I got drilled.
They are with a line drive. I did get but
I've never had one hit my hand because I never
reached with my hands. So that's something you train yourself
away from. You know. Hey, every once in a while
someone snags one with their hand and they make the
highlights in the twenty four hour news cycle, but it's
(16:18):
not the right play. You always use your gloves, even
on a slow unless the ball is absolutely dead stopped.
You always go down with your gloves always. If you
want to be a good field there as a pitcher,
you should love.
Speaker 4 (16:31):
Yeah, I'm glad he's okay. X rays were negative.
Speaker 3 (16:34):
I was just be fine. Yeah, he's going to be fine.
He's because he got tight. It just tightened up on him.
I don't think it was because if they were really worried,
they wouldn't let him continue. Yeah, so he's gonna be
all right.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
Bill, One quick one for you before we let you go.
A non Mariner related I had let off the segment
with this Zach Wheeler turning down the opportunity to play
in an All Star game. I mean, yes, he's a
multiple dime All Star. He had a great first half
of the sea and his numbers indicate that he absolutely should
have been earlier awarded the All Star Game. For me, though,
it just kind of turned me off when he eventually
(17:09):
was given the All Star nod and he turned it
down saying he's not going to participate. The process was
a pity party. Just what do you think about that?
Speaker 3 (17:20):
Well, he doesn't look good, but I kind of I
kind of feel for him. I do because it's a wrong.
They missed it by a mile. This guy is one
of the premier pitchers in our league. You should always
think about that too. It can't just be numbers. It's
got to be who the premier guys. This is the
All Star Game that people we want to see. In
(17:41):
my opinion, I think he's the best right I think
he's the best right hander in the game and maybe
the best pitcher in the National League. Okay, that's what
I think. So how in the world could he be
left off more than once? Yeah, it's a huge swing
in this ten and one with a two, one, three,
eighty nine sixty one hits plus he's he's great. He see,
(18:02):
he's baseball stupid. What is this when everybody gets the ribbon,
we don't even they don't even wear your uniform. So
who in the hell knows who doesn't represented exactly right?
We've got teams that don't even have a city attached
to them. So what I mean, you know, are we
really trying? I get kind of miffed and and so
I kind of I kind of tend to feel my
(18:25):
feelings are I kind of leaned toward him a little bit.
Maybe he should have taken a couple more deep breasts
and then let him let him know that that that
they should they need to get it right, but that
he would come, you know, that would have been the
right thing to do, for sure.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
I think, Yeah, Bill, always a pleasure. We'll talk to
you next week.
Speaker 3 (18:43):
Okay, thanks, guys, You've got me.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
Bill Krueger has always some great thoughts there, and I think,
you know, some interesting thoughts on on Dan Wilson. I
can hear people throwing things at the radio with some
of the things that Bill said about Dan Wilson, but
I want to I'm back in chew on it a
little bit because some of it spoke to me. He
brought up a lot of good points about kind of
(19:07):
the potholes that this franchise has had to deal with
over the last three or four months. We'll talk about
that next on ninety three point three kJ
It's time for our weekly conversation with Bill Krueger, brought
to you by the brand new Occidental Hall next to
Lumenfield on Occidental, Seattle's newest hot spot for sports fans,
with massive HD screens and a menu packed with Seattle's
best smash burger, wings and the best local craft beers
in town. Now with Bill Krueger, Here's SAFTI and Dick.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Bill Welcome, how are you?
Speaker 3 (00:25):
I'm yours?
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Good to be absolutely All Star week? Here we go
Home Run Derby coming up in a few moments. We
got the All Star Game coming up tomorrow. Kind of
a chance to kind of breathe and reflect and maybe
grade out our beloved Seattle Mariners for the first half.
If Professor Krueger, who has graded all the papers he
(00:48):
has taking a look at the midterm tests he is
grading those, how does your Seattle Mariners grade out with
their forty and forty nine record here at the All
Star break, Bill.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
Well, the good news is we get the gray and
the curve, and the curve is soft and the right.
Aren't we happy about that? You know, like when you're
looking around the room and going, I feel okay on
the curve in this room school. Anyways, you know, I
think you'd have to say, honestly, after what they put
up last year and what they did in the off season,
(01:20):
you'd have to say C minus. I think you probably
give them a little bit more than that. When you
sort of say, well, what about an effort, I'd say
it's more like B because they played through a myriad
of injuries and they were all over the place and
little ones that nagged, but they sort of struck the
club in a lot of places, and of course in
(01:41):
some critical places. When your MVP level catcher missus a
month and probably played most of the first half injured,
and you're probably premiere setup guy has been out most
of the first half and the guy you basically traded
for that was going to ignite the off that's play
for like what two weeks. So I think when you
(02:04):
sort of tally that all up, you give them a
better grade and the minus it's more like B. But
you know, I'm a glass half full guy, so I
think they've got a lot more gas in the tank.
And this is sort of like when you play an
uneven first nine, And maybe there were a lot of
reasons why it didn't go well, but you shot forty five.
I'm just using forty five as a number. I don't
(02:24):
know why. That probably a good score for me, but
you're seeing yourself. Well, I'm starting over in the back
nine because I want to break ninety, right, and so
I got to put up a pretty good score. So
I think it's a good time to sort of regroup
and hopefully they start to get some better news around
their health and guys get a breather, and maybe they
can sort of say to themselves that same sort of adage,
(02:46):
I'm much better than this. Didn't go right the first
nine holes, but I got nine more to play, so
and it's certainly getting Julio right back at the start
of the second half is pretty big.
Speaker 4 (02:58):
God having him, yeah, take off second half as he's
done every single year of his career in the MLB
would be helpful. But I am curious Bill, as a
former player, you've been in these clubhouses. When you look
at the Mariners right now, they're number twenty eight in
slugging this time last year they were seventh, tied for
fourteenth and home runs right now this time last year
they were sixth. They're twenty two in OBP this time
(03:19):
last year they was seven. A big part of that
is cal Rawley. We know that obviously having the big
drop off, But when you're in that clubhouse as a player,
how much does a message of urgency help? And what
time of year for a guy like Dan Wilson does
that need to come into play when you're below five hundred. Yes,
you're still a wildcard team right now, but severely underperforming
(03:41):
compared to last year.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
Well, it's a long journey and you're playing a game,
a long game of players that have to regroup each
day and start a new day fresh with a good mindset. Dan,
I think has done everything in his power to put
this team in a position of in He's been positive
with the players, He's taken all the slings and arrows.
(04:04):
There's been lots and lots of interesting conversations behind the
scenes that he tucked into himself. Okay, what it had
to do with things that had to do with the
craziness of the starting pitching staff and the craziness that
they tried to emplay on the team, which they did.
And honestly, I think there's four games right there that
they kicked away, four of them. So you might be
(04:25):
in a lot better shaping right now if you hadn't
decided to piggyback or play six man. And I don't
know what they're going to do with that going forward,
but he's pretty much had to swallow all that. And
you know, when you lean on right hand hitters that
weren't up the speed and didn't have good half, but
you're sort of committed to them, and he stuck behind him.
He stuck behind the players. That's what you hired him
(04:47):
to be, okay, And I think he's done an excellent
job in that regard. I think you're going to pay
dividends with players when you stay behind in and believe
in them in the long run because they're good players.
They haven't been hundred percent. Now should he be pointing
out things when guys are making the same mistake over
and over? He has the big leagues. You know you're
(05:07):
making base running mistakes, you're making bad reads, if you're
not hustling on plays. Yeah, I think he should let
those guys know that's not going to be tolerated. We
don't know what he says because he doesn't tell us
a lot, and I wouldn't say razor sharp media. Of course,
I'm part of media asked a lot of tough questions.
To be frank, Yeah, maybe you find out a little
(05:30):
bit more if you wouldn't just you know, if you
do to cut through the veneer a little bit and
bore down a little bit more on questions that you
really want answered. I think that in today's game, the
manager is a foreman. He's a foreman that needs to
talk to the media. Oh, I don't know, twice a
day for one hundred and sixty two plus thirty in
(05:52):
spring training, what's that three and four hundred times? That's
his job. Make sure the players are positive, make sure
that there's communication, and you stand behind him, and then
you've basically followed the script that's being handed to you
by the front office. That's pretty much the way it's
played today.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
Bill Krueger joining us just here. Yeah, no, you're right.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
Bill.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
You mentioned a bee for effort, and you alluded to
the Randy A. Rose Arena situation. We have seen three
balls now down the line. I think maybe the first
one can be more explained. Of Randy just doesn't read
fly balls very well. I can probably give him a
pass for that one. I have a tougher time giving
up him a pass for the second one. I've got
(06:40):
no tolerance for giving him a pass for the third one.
What we saw on Friday, I mean that guy pulled
up three seconds before the ball even hit the ground,
and the ball hit the ground six feet in front
of him.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
So how did I mean that?
Speaker 4 (06:55):
To me?
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Seems like one for an ass chewing after the and
probably a benching at least the next game. We don't
know if an ass chewing happened, we know a benching didn't.
So how would you have handled that situation with Randy
a Rose Arena.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
Well, he's your best player right now offensively. If you
don't have him in the lineup, you're you're you're a
little bit criokeety. That's such a word a lot of crickets.
So you know, he's been a good player offensively for him,
and I think he's playing less than hundred percent. He's
playing on a hamstream. It's not not right. And he
played every game up until that point. He has just
(07:34):
stole the base since today that he went on the
il for that, so he's not the same player. Plus
he's a below average defender. And right now, when you
start to play the music and you put people in
the chairs. There's not a lot of outfielders to be
had right now. Dominic knslone probably can't play the outfield
because he's got a bad handing MM. We've got people
like Kennedy out in the outfield or Wilson and Wilson
(07:57):
Wilson in the outfield. I mean that's and we've seen
the cast, the thousands that have played in the corner.
Who knows how healthy really is. He's had a bad back,
his arm isn't right to say, and then you got
your best player out for a week who covers everybody's mistakes,
and that's Julio. So there's a lot there. And it's
a big outfield in Miami at a big outfield in Tampa,
(08:17):
I'm sort of I'm not saying that you you tolerate
effort is something that everybody can can can can do
and so hopefully that message was delivered. He's he's a
little tricky. I think when you sign up for Randy Rosarini,
you're not sure you know exactly where he's coming from.
Every day. He certainly seemed distracted in Tampa. He certainly
(08:40):
seems to love being in Tampa. He almost didn't want
to leave. You wanted to just sit in the stands
and hope maybe the move didn't really happen right when
he when he when he was told that he was
leaving Tampa. So I don't know how to put your
finger on him. Look at what happened at the beginning
of the year, you don't think you think that was
just easy, easy gliding for Dan to deal with that one, right,
(09:01):
you know, and honestly, to be honest with you, you know,
there's obviously a disagreement on what who should have done
what in that situation, and the media is constantly microscopping
all that stuff. And maybe you know, Cal felt like
he was doing the right thing at the time, and
Randy took it, took offense. But here if you would
have heard what he said in spanishing English and they
(09:22):
had have played that every day, I don't think there
have been as many people supporting Randy on that one, because,
no matter what, you can't say those things about your teammate. Okay,
So that was that was a rocky ship that had
to be settled early in the season. So I think,
you know, there's probably a lot of he has to
be pretty tactful with Randy, I would I would think, yeah.
Speaker 4 (09:44):
And this is really I mean, the first full full
season that we get I mean, if Randy isn't the
best teammate, this is really the year where you start
seeing affect others. I feel like it takes a little
bit of time, and there are moments where I've seen
where I'm like, oh, that doesn't really look like they
get along so well. Oh I don't know how much
those two get it. Just it's been in my mind
(10:04):
a few times, and not criticizing who Randy is, but
I think you're right, Bill. The way that was translated
was that was sharp from Randy early in the season.
I'm curious going to third base. We don't know really
when Brendan Donovan could come back, if he's going to
be the same guy he was. He was your leader
in on base percentage. He was supposed to be your
leader at the top of the lineup. I think, what
twenty three hits in twenty five games this season, so
(10:27):
at least productive if he were to come back. Best
case scenario, what happens with JP the Colt Emerson, Like
Colt Emerson has had multiple rough stretches. Do you mess
with him at all at short stuff you leave him there,
or what happens if Brendan Donovan comes back and can
be a contributor at third base.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
Well, I'm probably not as familiar with where Brendan plays best.
I mean, he's got a reputation for being a guy
that can move all over the field. He's probably his
best spot a second base, and he's not playing there. Okay,
the probably do his play caate. So he's at third,
he's in left, he's the DH. He gives a once
(11:08):
in a while blow to Cole Young, Right, that's what
they're going to do. Because if you decide to put
him in left, and you've got material Randy out there
that thinks said if he's a DH, he's not going
to make his premium effort on the free agent market,
then maybe he gets a little dabber down and gets
a little upset, right, And then if he's the DH
(11:29):
all the time, then what happens in the real league
can zone equation. You want to take your best slugger
and send him a trip away. And if you put
Donovan at third, JP's a better defender. Even though he's
been a little inconsistent with his arm. He's a much
better defender than Brendan Donovan. We've seen Brendan third. He's
he has to work hard to be average. Okay, he's
(11:50):
a really good offensive player. I don't know how good
a left fielder he is, but it can't He can
play better than what we've seen in left field, that's
for sure, because Randy hasn't played it very well. I
think it's going to be some kind of hard to
put your finger on it. But he's in the lineup
every day, right. I think that's kind of how it's
going to look. And Donovan's good enough and he knows
(12:12):
that's his his kind of his card. He didn't come
in and say, well, you know, I expect you know
to play this position. I'm a big deal coming over here.
I don't think he just wants to play and he
doesn't care where he plays. I don't think so. I
think you'll see him move around a bit, but he's
going to infuse some energy and some ability. Energy is
(12:33):
such a nice word, but what you really wanted guys
that can deliver and we need a lot more back
to ball skill in our lineup, and he certainly can
provide that. Well.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
This picture that you're painting, which is an accurate one
of kind of this land of misfit toys on the
Mariner defense and consequently the Mariner offense. I mean, is
this a poorly constructed baseball team on that side of
the of the roster bill.
Speaker 3 (13:01):
Well, it's just that they're not very right handed. That's
the big problem. I think that you know, Donovan would
find his place and maybe it wasn't third, Maybe it
would have been third the whole season. I don't know,
but they are just not very right handed and it's
really stung them. They're like dead last against left handed pitching.
I mean, hit the kid on Sunday, but they just
(13:24):
haven't been able to find right handed bats. They kind
of didn't address it, and maybe they're hoping much like
they did last year lightning in the bottle, you get
two bangers at the deadline, but man, I don't think
that's going to be as easy this year. I think
they were fortunate to sort of stumble into those two
guys when the Arizona Diamondbacks slipped out of playoff possibilities
(13:46):
and just at the right moment where the marriage could
sweep in and get both those guys and they were huge,
but right now nobody seems to know whether they're in
it or out of it, so it's hard to guess
who who the sellers are going to be and what's
exactly available. So I have to wait and see on
that one. You know, you're solid up the middle. I mean,
(14:10):
Cole Young has proven to be an excellent second basement.
Cole Emerson can really play short even though he made
a mistake. It was a mistake of commission. You know,
he was trying to make a double play to in
the inning and he made a mistake, but he's played
very well at shortstop, very confident twenty year old. He
doesn't let bad it back to the in his defense,
he's played excellent. Okay, you got the center field or
(14:32):
he can really play, of course I talked about the catcher.
You got a first basement that can really play, although
he hasn't been as good the first half as he
was last year. So and you know JP's going to
play fine at third. Yeah. I mean, I think their
corner Ralph Field is not as good as you would
you would like to be. They're not a supreme defensive
defensive team, but they're fine. I think the big problem
(14:55):
is that when you try to tilt the lineup, they
just don't have any answers on the right hand side
of the play bill.
Speaker 4 (15:00):
You know what it's like to be on the mound
potentially when a one hundred mile an hour hit is
coming your way. Yesterday with Emerson Hancock, I was shocked
that he put his hand out. I know, it's a
one hopper, and you're like, he is a you know,
pictures are athletes. I believe it, but are you sticking
your hand out to potentially get in the way. I
(15:20):
mean that, Like I looked at my hand and I
was like, Emerson Hancock's right hand is literally worth millions.
That was a scary moment. Is that something that you
I'm just curious out of your own instinct. Is that
something that you would have potentially reached out for you think?
Speaker 3 (15:34):
I don't know if it's because I was a position player,
you know, my whole life and really didn't become a
regular patriental. You know, after college I played first base.
I always played with my gloves, so I never ever
reached for a ball with my bare hand because I
was always reaching with my gloves. Okay, that's how you
play the game with the glove, right, So, yeah, you
(15:57):
don't reach out with your hand. I mean I got drilled.
They are with a line drive. I did get but
I've never had one hit my hand because I never
reached with my hands. So that's something you train yourself
away from. You know. Hey, every once in a while
someone snags one with their hand and they make the
highlights in the twenty four hour news cycle, but it's
(16:18):
not the right play. You always use your gloves, even
on a slow unless the ball is absolutely dead stopped.
You always go down with your gloves always. If you
want to be a good field there as a pitcher,
you should love.
Speaker 4 (16:31):
Yeah, I'm glad he's okay. X rays were negative.
Speaker 3 (16:34):
I was just be fine. Yeah, he's going to be fine.
He's because he got tight. It just tightened up on him.
I don't think it was because if they were really worried,
they wouldn't let him continue. Yeah, so he's gonna be
all right.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
Bill, One quick one for you before we let you go.
A non Mariner related I had let off the segment
with this Zach Wheeler turning down the opportunity to play
in an All Star game. I mean, yes, he's a
multiple dime All Star. He had a great first half
of the sea and his numbers indicate that he absolutely should
have been earlier awarded the All Star Game. For me, though,
it just kind of turned me off when he eventually
(17:09):
was given the All Star nod and he turned it
down saying he's not going to participate. The process was
a pity party. Just what do you think about that?
Speaker 3 (17:20):
Well, he doesn't look good, but I kind of I
kind of feel for him. I do because it's a wrong.
They missed it by a mile. This guy is one
of the premier pitchers in our league. You should always
think about that too. It can't just be numbers. It's
got to be who the premier guys. This is the
All Star Game that people we want to see. In
(17:41):
my opinion, I think he's the best right I think
he's the best right hander in the game and maybe
the best pitcher in the National League. Okay, that's what
I think. So how in the world could he be
left off more than once? Yeah, it's a huge swing
in this ten and one with a two, one, three,
eighty nine sixty one hits plus he's he's great. He see,
(18:02):
he's baseball stupid. What is this when everybody gets the ribbon,
we don't even they don't even wear your uniform. So
who in the hell knows who doesn't represented exactly right?
We've got teams that don't even have a city attached
to them. So what I mean, you know, are we
really trying? I get kind of miffed and and so
I kind of I kind of tend to feel my
(18:25):
feelings are I kind of leaned toward him a little bit.
Maybe he should have taken a couple more deep breasts
and then let him let him know that that that
they should they need to get it right, but that
he would come, you know, that would have been the
right thing to do, for sure.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
I think, Yeah, Bill, always a pleasure. We'll talk to
you next week.
Speaker 3 (18:43):
Okay, thanks, guys, You've got me.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
Bill Krueger has always some great thoughts there, and I think,
you know, some interesting thoughts on on Dan Wilson. I
can hear people throwing things at the radio with some
of the things that Bill said about Dan Wilson, but
I want to I'm back in chew on it a
little bit because some of it spoke to me. He
brought up a lot of good points about kind of
(19:07):
the potholes that this franchise has had to deal with
over the last three or four months. We'll talk about
that next on ninety three point three kJ
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