July 10, 2026 • 17 mins
KJR baseball expert Chuck Powell joins the show to talk about the Mariners first half struggles, is this more frustrating that previous iterations of the Mariners?
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Oh, Chuck, how are you, man?
Speaker 2 (00:02):
I'm good. What's going on? No?
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Nothing, Evidently you and Anders are having a hell of
a conversation off the air while I'm trying to talk
to you. So that's what's going on.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Yeah, apparently someone's making light of the grit of soccer
players on our radio station, and I'm wondering what's going on?
And does that bother you? Chuck? What's your feelings? Well,
I've been very impressed with Killian and Boppe, but he's
kind of an baby to be quite on it.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
Baby, Okay, I like that.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
I like that. Oh well, Chucky didn't like the bones
are broken all the time. That's pretty good.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Well, we didn't have you on to talk soccer. We
had you on to talk a lot about this, this
frustrating Seattle Mariner baseball team, and Chuck, this last series
has just been a microcosm of a good chunk of
this season. I mean, were the Mariners of the prior
years this frustrating at least in like particularly the sloppiness
(01:06):
of how they're going about doing things. I mean, you
pointed out that there was a gaff in every single
one of these games. The West and Wilson gaff in
Game one, the Cole Young gaff in Game two, and
the Colt Emerson gaff in Game three. I mean, it
just doesn't seem to me that the prior iterations of
the Mariners this decade. Yeah, they pissed us off, but
they pisses us usually because they couldn't hit the baseball,
(01:27):
not because they looked horrible.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Uh well, I think maybe, yes, you might, there's some
truth to that that this might be a sloppier version
of the recently frustrating Mariners first half baseball teams. But
I promise you these are I mean, we've gone through
worse frustrations in the first half of Mariners seasons and
the Jerry Depoto era. I don't know why this team
(01:53):
plays so poorly in the first half, and you're right,
it's usually because of offensive woes or a couple of
years ago, is starting pitching or was last year starting
pitching injuries that are rare for this organization that they
had to work their way through a season ago, and
this year again, it's just another example of another team
(02:13):
that is having a hard time getting into a groove.
And yet I guess the silver lining and all of
that is they haven't really put a hole for themselves.
As frustrating as we all are again about a Mariner's
first half, Unlike past years where you were looking at
it's games under five hundred at this time of the year,
(02:35):
or eight games back of the Astros at this time
of the year, your half being game out of first place.
For goodness sake, It's a good thing that the American
has been down, but it's not going to stay down.
There's going to be a lot of American League teams.
You've already seen it. The Tigers are back on track,
the Red Sox are back on track. The Blue Jays
are going to be better in the second half. So
(02:58):
you're going to have to pick their game, there's no
question about it. I think they will because as much
as they've repeated embarrassingly frustrating first halves in the Depoto era,
they've also almost every year got hot in the second half,
and so I'm just anticipating that that's going to happen again.
And I think that they're the most talented team in
(03:20):
the American League. I think that the most talented team
in the American League, and I'm just gonna trust that
they're going to get it together after the All Star
break and start the process of pulling away.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
Well, you've got history on your side, and Chuck Powell
with us are our anchor of the six to ten
morning show, as you all know. And I'm just curious
when I hear you know, you know, I try and
look really closely at a underperforming baseball team, and I
know that on some of these games, you know, the
(03:55):
description is that it's listless or you know, they're just
not non competitiveness, as if as if the players are
kind of semi checked out, like they're just a competitiveness problem.
And I think for me, it's hard to identify that
because baseball is unique in that well it's actually it's
not a unique but baseball is it you know, if
(04:18):
you're up there at the plate and you have a
bad at bad is it because you don't care or
because maybe you care too much and it's just hard
to hit? You know, like a guy misses a free throw,
is it because he's just non competing or is it
because you know, maybe he's just a little tight and
(04:39):
he doesn't feel comfortable at the line. Like I find
it hard to always to identify the difference between poor
baseball and listless baseball. What's your thought on that.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
I mean, I don't think and it's really hard for
me to go to like it being an effort problem.
I do think this team sometimes lacks focus. I think
Josh Naylor is key among them. The double play that
turned into an air in five runs last night was
started because Josh Naylor bobbled a ball and Colt Emerson's
(05:15):
timing was off coming across the second base bag. I
think that when you are especially struggling offensively, it comes
off as if you're not really giving full effort. But
if you're not getting on the base paths and making
things happen, then it kind of may play that way
as listless. But I think there is a focus issue
(05:39):
with this team, and to me, that stems from management.
It really does. And I'm not saying that Dan Wilson's
got to sit there and give a Herb Brooks raw
Ross speech or closed door meetings or anything like that.
But a manager's job in the modern day, more than
at any time really in baseball, because there's so much
(05:59):
strategy that's been taken away from a manager. We don't steal,
we don't, I mean, excuse me, you don't really call
for the steal. Everybody's got a green light. Josh Naylor's
never gotten a stolen based signal entire life. You run.
The analytics have taken away a lot of the strategy
(06:20):
that the manager employees. So they're single purpose, their single job,
and what they're judged by is the talent that I
give you. You've got to make the most of it.
And there's no question that he's not. They have not
played to their capabilities. And so to me, some of
that lack of focus and that listlessness that we perceive,
(06:42):
I mean, I got to I got to have a
manager somehow ringing that out of them, and I've got
to get them playing better baseball. And I think that
some of this, you know, lackluster accusations, accusations of playing lackluster,
will start to fay away. But I don't think it's effort.
I think it's more focus. And if it's focused, I
(07:05):
think that that falls on manager, coaching staff, and certainly
the players as well. But something's got to change a
little bit because it does seem like make field. They're
kind of taking it for granted that things are going
to work out instead of making them work yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
I just want to follow up on that because because
when you say the Naylor and look, I'm perfectly you know,
prepared to accept that you're right in this, but I
just want to challenge a little bit chuck in. Because
you're you're the station's baseball dude, we all kind of
defer to you.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
And I would.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
Say that if you're saying, well, Naylor bobbled the ball
at the onset of the would be double play. Did
he bobble the ball because he wasn't focused? How can
we infer that maybe he was too much focused? I mean,
I've thrown to wide receivers and coached wide receivers and
(08:04):
sometimes they drop the ball. Now it's my job, I
can I kind of Sometimes it's because they're looking, you know,
the focus, they're looking to make run after the cats,
they take their eye off the ball. But sometimes they
they want to catch it so bad and they they're
wigged out, they're trying too hard and they drop it
out of nerves.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
Like so, so, just.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
Because he bobbled it doesn't mean he was he wasn't focused.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
Right, right, No, no question about it. And maybe that's
a bad example. But I think everybody listening and I
think both of you would agree that he's had a
number of us this year. It's the frequ he's like
side armed things and thrown balls away and kind of
look like he was not fully committed to digging balls
(08:47):
out of the dirt, and then you know, the next
three he'll dig out beautifully. So I think that there's
been a pattern of this with him. And so maybe
last night's play was just a simple bobble of the
ball and it's threw off the timing of Emerson and
it led to the five run inning. But I do
believe when you've created a pattern of sort of what
(09:09):
appears to me like lackluster play, then I'm going to
start attributing thing or I think that's more of what
I've written to the entire first is that sometimes this
team on the bass pads, not just defense on the
bass pads lazy at that's I mean, even Cal had
(09:32):
a lazy at that the other night. I mean, you know,
up two to Oho in the count, and everybody in
the league is trying to beat him with fastballs up
and in. And if you're up to to Oho in
the count late in the game, down one the most
important thing for you to do is to get on base.
And I'm not saying he shouldn't swing on two to oh,
(09:52):
but get your pitch. Don't swing at the pitch. They've
been trying to get you out with this entire season.
And yet he does that and he flies out the
right field. I mean, that's not an effort thing. He
obviously wants to come through in that situation for his team,
But that to me is the lack of focus that's
not doing the job at hand in that moment. And
(10:13):
I think JP Crawford's been guilty of lazy at that's
I think that we've seen a pattern of this with
this team, other guys more so certainly than Cal or JP.
But I think that we've seen a little bit of
a pattern of either lack of focus or lack of
not understanding the moment, and it is frustrating. And I
(10:34):
think that it's grown over this entire first half and
has been a contributor, maybe not be a contributor to
why this team's sitting here at five hundred and not
ten games over five hundred.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
Chuck, it seems like the piggyback is done, at least
for the time being, maybe forever.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
We don't know.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
Depends maybe on the trade deadline and what happens there.
Did it help, did it hurt or did it have
no impact on the starting rotation, because you know, do
you take away the Miller and the WU starts the
last few games. I mean you go back like twelve games,
and about nine or ten of them have been really good.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
I think more good came from it than bad. Like
you said, Miller and Castillo both pitched well in those games.
You did get to save your bullpen a couple of
times for a night through those rotations. While it was
an action there, the drawback to it is when a
pitcher is rolling and you know he's got a lot
(11:33):
of gas left in his tank, just because you committed
something before the game, it's really hard to see that
starting pitcher come out of the game. And I think
that's when they chose to abandon it. I mean they
were going to do it a couple more times, and
they looked at Logan Gilbert's most recent starts and the
dude suddenly on a roll, and like, we don't want
(11:54):
to be in that situation again, like we were with
Miller back in the Boston game. So I think some
good things came of it, and believe me, it was
no permanent solution. It was sort of a creative way
to solve a good problem, too many good starting pitchers
for too few of spots. But I'm ready to move
on from it. And what's crazy about it is that
(12:18):
we knew when Bryce Miller was activated who the sixth
best starting pitcher on the roster was, and it was Castillo.
And I think we've gone through piggybacks and six man
rotations and all sorts of other things just to arrive
at the conclusion that Luis Castillo is the sixth best
starter on the roster. And I think they're going to
(12:40):
reset the starting rotation for a five man rotation coming
out of the All Star break. That could be wrong.
I don't have any inside information, but I gotta believe
that's the direction that they're heading in. And I think
Castile could be a fine reliever. I think he embraces
the role could be effective, and so I'm hoping that's
(13:01):
what they do. I can't imagine they're going to continue
with the sixth man, and I can't imagine they're going
to experiment with the piggyback anymore. Chuck Powell with this.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
So, Chuck, I'm gonna put you in the position in
Jerry Depoto's seat behind his desk from now until the
end of July. You love that, you let you want
you Okay, So you're in there. You're unilateral decisions in
every regard lineup. Now, if you're gonna make trade proposals,
make them be reasonable here, right, I mean, don't be
(13:33):
getting mon Soto for you know, a seventeenth round draft pick,
you know, in twenty forty seven. But but what are
you trying to get done? What are you trying to
do with the current players? What changes are made? You
mentioned Castillo. Do you think that that may happen? That's
that's projecting what will happen. I'm saying, what would you do?
(13:54):
And would that be a long relief? Would that be
a leverage like eighth inning? Setting up Moon? You knows, like,
give some detailed that what would be top of mind
for you? Top three or four or five things you
want to accomplish between now and the end of July.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
Well, what I'd certainly like to accomplish is I want
an everyday hitter that there's no it's fool proof. I mean,
he doesn't have to dominate left handed pitching, but this
team has a real big problem hitting lefties, and so
I need somebody. I need to acquire somebody that is
doing it actively, not last year, not historically. I don't
(14:29):
need another thirty seven year old who's been good at
that in the past. I need somebody who is actively
crushing left handed pitching. And the problem is that because
the American League has been down and because the National
League is up, they're almost everybody is in the race.
So I don't know if like a Byron Buxton is
(14:52):
a name that keeps coming up. Well, I've got three
stretch against now being available. Number one, the Twins got
back in the race. Number two, he's got no trade clause,
and number three a guy with an injury history is
currently on the injury list, so I don't even know
if he can trust him. Wilson Contreras is another name
that's come up from the Boston Red Sox. Well, guess what.
The Red Sox are the hottest team in the American League.
(15:14):
All of a sudden, they've won six straight games, they're
back in the race, and he has turned into their
strangely enough leader of that group. I mean, I could
see him really anchoring the middle of this order and
giving you somebody that crushes lefties, and you'll deal with
the attitude that comes with him. But I'm not sure
he's going to be available. Somebody like a Spencer Steer
(15:36):
from Cincinnati who's hitting well over a thousand against lefties,
probably wouldn't cost much in a trade. You would have
to platoon him. He's not a guy that hits Righty's two,
which I know is a horrifying notion for a lot
of Mariner fans right now. But he at least is
twenty eight years old, actively crushing left handed pitching, and
I see why they would also want a relief pitcher
(15:59):
to add the core. And I'll do this quickly, guys,
But I mean, you've got the potential here if you
make the playoffs, if having one of the great bullpens
we've ever seen me, if you've got the four guys
that you have now that you trust Freer and Munios
(16:20):
and Spire and Bizarredo, you get brash back, then you
add something at the trading deadline. There's six, Then Anderson
and Sloan get called up to work out of the bullten,
there's eight, and then you get two starters from your
six that can't make your rotation in the playoffs. I mean,
that could be one of the greatest bullpens. Yeah, so
(16:41):
I'm not sure you need a relief pitcher, even though
it feels like we do right now. I'm not sure
by the time the playoffs roll around that that's going
to be something that we have to have. But if
they get one, fine, I don't think you can have
enough of them. So I think that the batter that
can crush lefties is the number one priority. I don't
(17:02):
know if you can find a special player and all
star type, so you might have to get a little
creative and who you do acquire, But that's what I
go after.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
The scenario you painted as Dan Wilson's dream because he
loves using leverage relievers for six to eight pitches, so
that's exactly what gives him.
Speaker 3 (17:17):
No chance to bring in a non leverage reliever. Everyone
will be leverage.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
Cleah, Hey, Juck, we appreciate it. We'll talk you next week.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
Have a great weekend, all right. You guys are the
best
Oh, Chuck, how are you, man?
Speaker 2 (00:02):
I'm good. What's going on? No?
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Nothing, Evidently you and Anders are having a hell of
a conversation off the air while I'm trying to talk
to you. So that's what's going on.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Yeah, apparently someone's making light of the grit of soccer
players on our radio station, and I'm wondering what's going on?
And does that bother you? Chuck? What's your feelings? Well,
I've been very impressed with Killian and Boppe, but he's
kind of an baby to be quite on it.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
Baby, Okay, I like that.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
I like that. Oh well, Chucky didn't like the bones
are broken all the time. That's pretty good.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Well, we didn't have you on to talk soccer. We
had you on to talk a lot about this, this
frustrating Seattle Mariner baseball team, and Chuck, this last series
has just been a microcosm of a good chunk of
this season. I mean, were the Mariners of the prior
years this frustrating at least in like particularly the sloppiness
(01:06):
of how they're going about doing things. I mean, you
pointed out that there was a gaff in every single
one of these games. The West and Wilson gaff in
Game one, the Cole Young gaff in Game two, and
the Colt Emerson gaff in Game three. I mean, it
just doesn't seem to me that the prior iterations of
the Mariners this decade. Yeah, they pissed us off, but
they pisses us usually because they couldn't hit the baseball,
(01:27):
not because they looked horrible.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Uh well, I think maybe, yes, you might, there's some
truth to that that this might be a sloppier version
of the recently frustrating Mariners first half baseball teams. But
I promise you these are I mean, we've gone through
worse frustrations in the first half of Mariners seasons and
the Jerry Depoto era. I don't know why this team
(01:53):
plays so poorly in the first half, and you're right,
it's usually because of offensive woes or a couple of
years ago, is starting pitching or was last year starting
pitching injuries that are rare for this organization that they
had to work their way through a season ago, and
this year again, it's just another example of another team
(02:13):
that is having a hard time getting into a groove.
And yet I guess the silver lining and all of
that is they haven't really put a hole for themselves.
As frustrating as we all are again about a Mariner's
first half, Unlike past years where you were looking at
it's games under five hundred at this time of the year,
(02:35):
or eight games back of the Astros at this time
of the year, your half being game out of first place.
For goodness sake, It's a good thing that the American
has been down, but it's not going to stay down.
There's going to be a lot of American League teams.
You've already seen it. The Tigers are back on track,
the Red Sox are back on track. The Blue Jays
are going to be better in the second half. So
(02:58):
you're going to have to pick their game, there's no
question about it. I think they will because as much
as they've repeated embarrassingly frustrating first halves in the Depoto era,
they've also almost every year got hot in the second half,
and so I'm just anticipating that that's going to happen again.
And I think that they're the most talented team in
(03:20):
the American League. I think that the most talented team
in the American League, and I'm just gonna trust that
they're going to get it together after the All Star
break and start the process of pulling away.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
Well, you've got history on your side, and Chuck Powell
with us are our anchor of the six to ten
morning show, as you all know. And I'm just curious
when I hear you know, you know, I try and
look really closely at a underperforming baseball team, and I
know that on some of these games, you know, the
(03:55):
description is that it's listless or you know, they're just
not non competitiveness, as if as if the players are
kind of semi checked out, like they're just a competitiveness problem.
And I think for me, it's hard to identify that
because baseball is unique in that well it's actually it's
not a unique but baseball is it you know, if
(04:18):
you're up there at the plate and you have a
bad at bad is it because you don't care or
because maybe you care too much and it's just hard
to hit? You know, like a guy misses a free throw,
is it because he's just non competing or is it
because you know, maybe he's just a little tight and
(04:39):
he doesn't feel comfortable at the line. Like I find
it hard to always to identify the difference between poor
baseball and listless baseball. What's your thought on that.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
I mean, I don't think and it's really hard for
me to go to like it being an effort problem.
I do think this team sometimes lacks focus. I think
Josh Naylor is key among them. The double play that
turned into an air in five runs last night was
started because Josh Naylor bobbled a ball and Colt Emerson's
(05:15):
timing was off coming across the second base bag. I
think that when you are especially struggling offensively, it comes
off as if you're not really giving full effort. But
if you're not getting on the base paths and making
things happen, then it kind of may play that way
as listless. But I think there is a focus issue
(05:39):
with this team, and to me, that stems from management.
It really does. And I'm not saying that Dan Wilson's
got to sit there and give a Herb Brooks raw
Ross speech or closed door meetings or anything like that.
But a manager's job in the modern day, more than
at any time really in baseball, because there's so much
(05:59):
strategy that's been taken away from a manager. We don't steal,
we don't, I mean, excuse me, you don't really call
for the steal. Everybody's got a green light. Josh Naylor's
never gotten a stolen based signal entire life. You run.
The analytics have taken away a lot of the strategy
(06:20):
that the manager employees. So they're single purpose, their single job,
and what they're judged by is the talent that I
give you. You've got to make the most of it.
And there's no question that he's not. They have not
played to their capabilities. And so to me, some of
that lack of focus and that listlessness that we perceive,
(06:42):
I mean, I got to I got to have a
manager somehow ringing that out of them, and I've got
to get them playing better baseball. And I think that
some of this, you know, lackluster accusations, accusations of playing lackluster,
will start to fay away. But I don't think it's effort.
I think it's more focus. And if it's focused, I
(07:05):
think that that falls on manager, coaching staff, and certainly
the players as well. But something's got to change a
little bit because it does seem like make field. They're
kind of taking it for granted that things are going
to work out instead of making them work yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
I just want to follow up on that because because
when you say the Naylor and look, I'm perfectly you know,
prepared to accept that you're right in this, but I
just want to challenge a little bit chuck in. Because
you're you're the station's baseball dude, we all kind of
defer to you.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
And I would.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
Say that if you're saying, well, Naylor bobbled the ball
at the onset of the would be double play. Did
he bobble the ball because he wasn't focused? How can
we infer that maybe he was too much focused? I mean,
I've thrown to wide receivers and coached wide receivers and
(08:04):
sometimes they drop the ball. Now it's my job, I
can I kind of Sometimes it's because they're looking, you know,
the focus, they're looking to make run after the cats,
they take their eye off the ball. But sometimes they
they want to catch it so bad and they they're
wigged out, they're trying too hard and they drop it
out of nerves.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
Like so, so, just.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
Because he bobbled it doesn't mean he was he wasn't focused.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
Right, right, No, no question about it. And maybe that's
a bad example. But I think everybody listening and I
think both of you would agree that he's had a
number of us this year. It's the frequ he's like
side armed things and thrown balls away and kind of
look like he was not fully committed to digging balls
(08:47):
out of the dirt, and then you know, the next
three he'll dig out beautifully. So I think that there's
been a pattern of this with him. And so maybe
last night's play was just a simple bobble of the
ball and it's threw off the timing of Emerson and
it led to the five run inning. But I do
believe when you've created a pattern of sort of what
(09:09):
appears to me like lackluster play, then I'm going to
start attributing thing or I think that's more of what
I've written to the entire first is that sometimes this
team on the bass pads, not just defense on the
bass pads lazy at that's I mean, even Cal had
(09:32):
a lazy at that the other night. I mean, you know,
up two to Oho in the count, and everybody in
the league is trying to beat him with fastballs up
and in. And if you're up to to Oho in
the count late in the game, down one the most
important thing for you to do is to get on base.
And I'm not saying he shouldn't swing on two to oh,
(09:52):
but get your pitch. Don't swing at the pitch. They've
been trying to get you out with this entire season.
And yet he does that and he flies out the
right field. I mean, that's not an effort thing. He
obviously wants to come through in that situation for his team,
But that to me is the lack of focus that's
not doing the job at hand in that moment. And
(10:13):
I think JP Crawford's been guilty of lazy at that's
I think that we've seen a pattern of this with
this team, other guys more so certainly than Cal or JP.
But I think that we've seen a little bit of
a pattern of either lack of focus or lack of
not understanding the moment, and it is frustrating. And I
(10:34):
think that it's grown over this entire first half and
has been a contributor, maybe not be a contributor to
why this team's sitting here at five hundred and not
ten games over five hundred.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
Chuck, it seems like the piggyback is done, at least
for the time being, maybe forever.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
We don't know.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
Depends maybe on the trade deadline and what happens there.
Did it help, did it hurt or did it have
no impact on the starting rotation, because you know, do
you take away the Miller and the WU starts the
last few games. I mean you go back like twelve games,
and about nine or ten of them have been really good.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
I think more good came from it than bad. Like
you said, Miller and Castillo both pitched well in those games.
You did get to save your bullpen a couple of
times for a night through those rotations. While it was
an action there, the drawback to it is when a
pitcher is rolling and you know he's got a lot
(11:33):
of gas left in his tank, just because you committed
something before the game, it's really hard to see that
starting pitcher come out of the game. And I think
that's when they chose to abandon it. I mean they
were going to do it a couple more times, and
they looked at Logan Gilbert's most recent starts and the
dude suddenly on a roll, and like, we don't want
(11:54):
to be in that situation again, like we were with
Miller back in the Boston game. So I think some
good things came of it, and believe me, it was
no permanent solution. It was sort of a creative way
to solve a good problem, too many good starting pitchers
for too few of spots. But I'm ready to move
on from it. And what's crazy about it is that
(12:18):
we knew when Bryce Miller was activated who the sixth
best starting pitcher on the roster was, and it was Castillo.
And I think we've gone through piggybacks and six man
rotations and all sorts of other things just to arrive
at the conclusion that Luis Castillo is the sixth best
starter on the roster. And I think they're going to
(12:40):
reset the starting rotation for a five man rotation coming
out of the All Star break. That could be wrong.
I don't have any inside information, but I gotta believe
that's the direction that they're heading in. And I think
Castile could be a fine reliever. I think he embraces
the role could be effective, and so I'm hoping that's
(13:01):
what they do. I can't imagine they're going to continue
with the sixth man, and I can't imagine they're going
to experiment with the piggyback anymore. Chuck Powell with this.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
So, Chuck, I'm gonna put you in the position in
Jerry Depoto's seat behind his desk from now until the
end of July. You love that, you let you want
you Okay, So you're in there. You're unilateral decisions in
every regard lineup. Now, if you're gonna make trade proposals,
make them be reasonable here, right, I mean, don't be
(13:33):
getting mon Soto for you know, a seventeenth round draft pick,
you know, in twenty forty seven. But but what are
you trying to get done? What are you trying to
do with the current players? What changes are made? You
mentioned Castillo. Do you think that that may happen? That's
that's projecting what will happen. I'm saying, what would you do?
(13:54):
And would that be a long relief? Would that be
a leverage like eighth inning? Setting up Moon? You knows, like,
give some detailed that what would be top of mind
for you? Top three or four or five things you
want to accomplish between now and the end of July.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
Well, what I'd certainly like to accomplish is I want
an everyday hitter that there's no it's fool proof. I mean,
he doesn't have to dominate left handed pitching, but this
team has a real big problem hitting lefties, and so
I need somebody. I need to acquire somebody that is
doing it actively, not last year, not historically. I don't
(14:29):
need another thirty seven year old who's been good at
that in the past. I need somebody who is actively
crushing left handed pitching. And the problem is that because
the American League has been down and because the National
League is up, they're almost everybody is in the race.
So I don't know if like a Byron Buxton is
(14:52):
a name that keeps coming up. Well, I've got three
stretch against now being available. Number one, the Twins got
back in the race. Number two, he's got no trade clause,
and number three a guy with an injury history is
currently on the injury list, so I don't even know
if he can trust him. Wilson Contreras is another name
that's come up from the Boston Red Sox. Well, guess what.
The Red Sox are the hottest team in the American League.
(15:14):
All of a sudden, they've won six straight games, they're
back in the race, and he has turned into their
strangely enough leader of that group. I mean, I could
see him really anchoring the middle of this order and
giving you somebody that crushes lefties, and you'll deal with
the attitude that comes with him. But I'm not sure
he's going to be available. Somebody like a Spencer Steer
(15:36):
from Cincinnati who's hitting well over a thousand against lefties,
probably wouldn't cost much in a trade. You would have
to platoon him. He's not a guy that hits Righty's two,
which I know is a horrifying notion for a lot
of Mariner fans right now. But he at least is
twenty eight years old, actively crushing left handed pitching, and
I see why they would also want a relief pitcher
(15:59):
to add the core. And I'll do this quickly, guys,
But I mean, you've got the potential here if you
make the playoffs, if having one of the great bullpens
we've ever seen me, if you've got the four guys
that you have now that you trust Freer and Munios
(16:20):
and Spire and Bizarredo, you get brash back, then you
add something at the trading deadline. There's six, Then Anderson
and Sloan get called up to work out of the bullten,
there's eight, and then you get two starters from your
six that can't make your rotation in the playoffs. I mean,
that could be one of the greatest bullpens. Yeah, so
(16:41):
I'm not sure you need a relief pitcher, even though
it feels like we do right now. I'm not sure
by the time the playoffs roll around that that's going
to be something that we have to have. But if
they get one, fine, I don't think you can have
enough of them. So I think that the batter that
can crush lefties is the number one priority. I don't
(17:02):
know if you can find a special player and all
star type, so you might have to get a little
creative and who you do acquire, But that's what I
go after.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
The scenario you painted as Dan Wilson's dream because he
loves using leverage relievers for six to eight pitches, so
that's exactly what gives him.
Speaker 3 (17:17):
No chance to bring in a non leverage reliever. Everyone
will be leverage.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
Cleah, Hey, Juck, we appreciate it. We'll talk you next week.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
Have a great weekend, all right. You guys are the
best
Popular Podcasts
Betrayal Weekly
Betrayal Weekly is back for a new season. Every Thursday, Betrayal Weekly shares first-hand accounts of broken trust, shocking deceptions, and the trail of destruction they leave behind. Hosted by Andrea Gunning, this weekly ongoing series digs into real-life stories of betrayal and the aftermath. From stories of double lives to dark discoveries, these are cautionary tales and accounts of resilience against all odds. From the producers of the critically acclaimed Betrayal series, Betrayal Weekly drops new episodes every Thursday. If you would like to share your story, you can reach out to the Betrayal Team by emailing them at betrayalpod@gmail.com and follow us on Instagram at @betrayalpod and @glasspodcasts. Please join our Substack for additional exclusive content, curated book recommendations, and community discussions. Sign up FREE by clicking this link Beyond Betrayal Substack. Join our community dedicated to truth, resilience, and healing. Your voice matters! Be a part of our Betrayal journey on Substack.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com