Steve Phillips on the Mariners struggles, the trade deadline, MLB lockout

Baseball analyst Steve Phillips joins the show to talk about the Mariners trades, what he thought about the "piggyback", whether Dan Wilson is to blame for the disappointing season so far and the chances of a work stoppage in MLB.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now back to Safdie and Dick at the Virginia Mason
Athletics Center and our special coverage of Seahawks training camp
brought to you by the Boeing Classic on Sports Radio
ninety three Food three KJR FM.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
All right, big thanks to the Boeing Classic for covering
all of our coverage down here from the Seahawks training
camp at the Virginia Mason Athletics Center. Freddie Couples, by
the way, is going to play and this year is
Boeing Classics. So great news there. Jump on the web
Boeingclassic dot Com get your tickets today. But joining us
right now on the radio show. Former Major League general

(00:35):
manager with the Mets, ESPN Baseball analyst with us right
now on the air in Seattle, our old friend Steve
Phillips joining us on the Beacon Plumbing Hotline.

Speaker 3 (00:44):
Steve, how are you man, I'm doing great, Thanks for
having me well.

Speaker 2 (00:48):
Thanks for doing this. I know you're busy, probably getting
phone calls right and left from producers all across the world,
so I appreciate you taking a few minutes to jump
on with us. Why don't we before we kind of
get into what the Mariners did here, Steven the deadline,
sending Castillo to the White Sox, getting Taylor Award from Baltimore.
Give us your take on a Mariner baseball team with
Josh Naylor, Julio Ky Roley, Randia Rose Arena, all these

(01:10):
great starting pitchers and Dress Munno's being three games under
and struggling so mightily in maybe the worst division in baseball.
What's happened out here this year?

Speaker 3 (01:19):
You think, Yeah, it really makes no sense, right, I mean,
offense always seems to be the big issue in Seattle,
and it's been that way it feels like forever in
the stadium, and they just can't seem to get consistent
offensive production going. The pitching, you know, has been better
this year than last year, even although it had se
some guys have have had some have been dinged up

(01:40):
a little bit and haven't quite dound themselves. But uh,
it still makes it think that they can make a run.
But it's just so interesting how the Blue Jays and
the Maritors, the two teams that I think just about
everybody thought would have the best shot at going back
and going to a World Series and you know, winning
the al Pennant, have struggled and they've it's you know,
sort of the hangover from last year that they can't

(02:02):
get things going. There's no real traction. Uh, there's no
real obvious explanation. Some days guys hit, some don't. For
the Blue Jays, it's obvious it's vladimirk Grow junior and
there I mean, you know, I mean, Julio has been
not quite had the second half yet, but I mean
it's we're just getting into it where he normally turns
it on. But cal Raley hasn't been cal Rally. The

(02:22):
overall production or rose rain has been really good, but
nobody else has really contributed. The young guys I think
are gonna be good players, but there's some growth there
for them still. So it's been a bizarre year all around,
particularly in the American League, and there's so much parody
and so much disappointment in the way teams have played.
And we saw how everybody interpreted who they are a

(02:43):
bit differently at the trade deadline. Teams with you know,
similar standings and records, some sellers, some were buyers, some
stood pat and there was no real rhyme or reason
to it for any one team.

Speaker 2 (02:55):
Well, Steve Phillips with US and Steve, I was a
huge critic of a piggyback and the six man rotation
here in Seattle. I wonder what your thoughts were on that,
on that kind of outside the box idea by the
Mariners and how they handled that conundrum here this year.

Speaker 3 (03:13):
Yeah, you know, I think that there's a number of
different ways you can do it, and I've seen it
handled in different ways, like I would have been okay
with a six man rotation and and uh, and I
think that that players probably prefer that too. None of
them really want to come in and relief in a situation,
especially if you're a veteran guy who's been around for
a long time, its signed as a starter. You don't
want to be at the back end of the piggyback

(03:33):
on that. But I think that that, to me, that's
kind of excuse making for players in the end. If
you don't like it, pitch better put yourself in a
position where you're the guy that they have to give
the ball to for seven innings and not the guy
to be not part of the piggyback. And so, you know,
I think that that you know, it's it should not
have been the reason that there have been struggled, and

(03:54):
there shouldn't have been that much of an issue. Uh.
And when you're a team player, you do what you
are asked to do, and you do it with a
smile on your face even if you're not liking it,
because you know, the reality is, every player during the
course of the season does something selfish everybody. Relievers are mad,
they're being overworked. They're mad they're being underwork. Guys are
mad they're not in the lineup. They were not communicated

(04:16):
that they're getting a day off. There. They need a
day off, but the manager doesn't want to give them one.
They're getting pinch hit for. They're you know, they're they're
being pinch run for. There. There's everybody's got something that
they're selfish about during the year, and how that gets
managed in the clubhouse impacts the chemistry and the energy
of that team. Uh And and you know what the

(04:36):
total impact was of the way the players reacted to
that issue. They made it bigger than it should have been.
Uh And it could impact others. But but ultimately, you know,
I think oftentimes hitting is contagious. That part has certainly
been leading this team down the wrong path offensively.

Speaker 2 (04:53):
Well, let's get your thoughts, Steve, Steve Phillips with us
on the air what they ends of the deadline.

Speaker 3 (04:57):
You know.

Speaker 2 (04:57):
Book Krueger, the former crafty left handed pitcher of the Mariners,
does a weekly show with us, and he was on
the air with us yesterday and he called the Castillo
deal a massive win because he was surprised that Jerry
was able to get anybody to take all of Castillo's
contract for next year. They got Sir Anthony Dominguez the reliever,
a couple are players, but Castillo's contract is off the books.

(05:19):
And then Taylor Ward from Baltimore in exchange for Alex
Hoppey and a couple of minor leaguers. And Ward is
in the lineup tonight by the way, at DH with
Donovan Back playing third. So give us your thoughts on
what Jerry did at the deadline.

Speaker 3 (05:34):
Yeah, I think that getting anybody to take the Castile
money was genius. Like, I honestly have no idea what
the White Sox were thinking with that. I mean, if
they've been watching, they realize and just look at some
of the analytics and the metrics of his pitches. They
don't move the same, they don't break the same. They
don't have the vertical the same and they don't the

(05:54):
hitters don't react to them the same as they used to,
and so I was surprised. And you know, the the
vesting option for twenty twenty eight. You know, the thing
to keep in mind for that is if there's a
work stoppeds and we lose some part of the season
next year, they then pro rate the vesting option. And
you know, it's much easier to stay healthy for sixty

(06:15):
games or eighty games than it is one hundred and
sixty two games, and that may vest the next year.
And so, like, I don't understand it at all. And
my guess is they would have taken some of the
money on it, and if they had asked properly, I
think you could have gotten the Mariners to pick up
some of the money just to clear the majority of
it off the books. And the other part of it

(06:36):
is Boston Smith, the one player that got back in return.
I mean, sar Anthony Demnos is what he is. He
needs to throw more strike, He always needed to throw
more strike. And Nolan Jones is, you know, the guy
who's bounced around. But Boston Smith is a legitimate player
like this dude can hit, And so I was shocked
that in addition to taking the money, that the White

(06:57):
Sox also gave up a player of some stuff Sup's
in the deal. So I thought that was a big win.
And Taylor Ward, you know, it's so odd. He was
a thirty seven homer guy in twenty twenty five and
this year he's an on base percentage guy. It's like
he decided to change who he was as a hitter.
And you know, he's got a great on base percentage,
but he's slugging less than his on base percentage this year.

(07:18):
And maybe that's okay that not many hitters slugged the
way they normally do anyways in Seattle. So if you're
able to get on base, that might be exactly what
they need for this offense.

Speaker 2 (07:28):
Yeah, Steve Phillips with us, and Steve, before you go,
I gotta ask you, what do you make of all
the Dodger hate towards that organization after they landed Trek
Schouble for really not a lot, by the way, in
a trade with the Tigers.

Speaker 3 (07:43):
Yeah, so it's interesting, sire, Hope's going to be a
thirty homer twenty five Stile the base guy, the lead
prospect in the deal. He's great. He just happened to
be their fifth best prospect because they're loaded with talent.
They have four other guys just like him, so that
didn't hurt them. River Ryan, seven year old prospect, and
how many times do we see a twenty seven year
old prospect. You know, he had injury mister year with

(08:06):
Tommy John, but he didn't The Dodger didn't be him
worthy of pitching him in the big leagues for them
at all this year. But if he turns out to
be a good picture, and Detroit liked him better than
they liked Emmitt Shean, and so if he turned if
they're right and he turns out to be a good
picture and Zayer Hope turns out to be an All Star,
which I think he can be, then they did okay

(08:26):
in the deal, and the third picture has got a
chance to be a more than serviceable major league pitcher.
So I'm with you. I thought it was a little underwhelming.
I would have you know. They they're sort of scoffing
at this. Scott Harris is their general manager and president
of BIF co Operations, that people don't know what they're
talking about it. A deal like this with the with
a superstar player, you know you don't prolong. I'm like, no,

(08:48):
you control the time, You control the market when you've
got that guy. And I would have waited till Monday morning,
like when they got the offer on Saturday. I would
have let the Dodger sit without any conversationsoever on Sunday,
nothing darkness and no sound whatsoever, and then got back
and said, listen, I've had a lot of conversations yesterday.

(09:08):
I know you think this is where you want to
go with it, but I'm getting so much play right now.
And then I would ask my assistants interrupt me and say,
oh wait, hold on, Matt Arnold the pull, let me
call you back. And then I'd get back on the
phone later with him on Monday and start talking and
I'd say, hold on a minute, Eric Neander the gym
for the raises on the phone, I may call you back.
And I would have squeezed him a little bit more
for it. At the very least, you could have gotten

(09:30):
Eric Lauer back, who they picked up from the Blue Jays,
and it would let you keep competing this year. You
know they don't have a spot for Eric Flower. Now,
so I don't think they you know, they might not
have gotten more. I think they could have, but in
the end, if Ryan turned out the good player, then
made a good deal.

Speaker 2 (09:47):
Yeah, yeah, Steve, wrap it up with this. Steve Phillips
for a MESSGM with us on the air, and you
mentioned the impending workstoppings. You know, Scott Boris was on
the air with us about a week and a half ago.
He was in town with the obviously you know Kate
Anderson's story, the Randy Arisa Randy a Rose Arena story.
Mariners drafted one of his clients and signed him, obviously,

(10:09):
So he was in town and we asked about a
salary cap and his answer was exactly what you would expect.
It was kind of along the my dead body, you know,
a type of thing. There's no way he would ever
endorse it. And you get the feeling that the players
would the last thing they would ever endorse as a
salary cap. How concerned are you that we are heading
for a prolonged workstopage when this season's over.

Speaker 3 (10:31):
Yeah, I still think cooler heads are going to prevail.
I do. I think that there's a way to get
to what each side wants without calling it a salary cap.
We already have a competitive balance tax for our sould
at the top. If you make the punishments for that extreme,
like draconian extreme, like nobody would do it, then you
effectively have a salary cap without calling it that. And

(10:53):
then we're talking about you know, the player's proposal was
put a little bit of a penalty at the bottom
for teams that don't spend the floor. You know, we're
not gonna call the floor that just you know, there's
there's a competitive balance level that teams have to go
to to compete, and if you don't do it, make
it an extreme penalty for that too. And therefore you

(11:13):
can have the tax at the top the tax at
the bottom. They can both serve as a salarycap and
nobody has to call it that. And I think there's
a way to arrive at some structure that both sides
can agree to that that serves the purpose of what
both the players and the owners want to accomplish.

Speaker 2 (11:32):
Yeah, Steve, great stuff. Let's just make a deal. If
them has ever made the World series, you come back
on the show, so I'll see you in twenty sixty.

Speaker 3 (11:38):
All right, Okay, good, good. We'll see you then I'm
gonna market them. Put it in my calendar and my
phone right now. You're the best. Thanks man.

Speaker 2 (11:45):
Steve Phillips with us on the radio show. Great to
have him on, former Mets general manager, ESPN Baseball analyst,
giving us a few thoughts and what the Mariners did
have to trade that line, and again, I mean, just
another guy, and he's exactly right, you know, for a
team this talent, we can talk about Dan Wilson, we
can talk about clubhouse chemistry. Maybe the Randy cal thing
at the WBC was kind of maybe a bigger problem

(12:07):
on this team than we realize. Whatever, there's just no
reason for a team with this much talent to be
three games under five hundred and struggling this mightily in
a freaking division. This bat, We're gonna break a little
fun with Audio Baby next on ninety three to three
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