Chuck Powell's Crystal Ball, Josh Naylor signing, Polanco next?

Anderson Hirst and Chuck Powell react to the signing of Josh Naylor, what it means for the rest of the Mariners offseason, and more.  Chuck Powell goes over his Crystal Ball predictions and Anders responds. If it played out exactly as Chuck predicted, would you be happy with that offseason as a Mariners fan?

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Stove.

Speaker 2 (00:02):
What a kind of name is that?

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Hey, welcome into another edition of Stove, our Mariners off
season podcast that Anders Hurst and myself Chuck Powell record
for you every week, and normally we do it later
in the week, but today we rush in here and
on the heels of a huge announcement from the Mariners
to talk about Josh Naylor and his signing, and we're

(00:27):
going to get into a lot of other things today
as well. But we couldn't wait anders until later in
the week to discuss absolutely not.

Speaker 3 (00:34):
I think we had to move, had to make the
moves across the giant conglomerate that is Sports Radio ninety
three point three KJR to make sure we could record
on a Tuesday instead of later in the week.

Speaker 1 (00:46):
That's right, that's right. And we're getting used to our
dark surroundings.

Speaker 2 (00:49):
Yes, just continues my ole mind.

Speaker 1 (00:54):
We podcast in the dark by candle light because we
have flickering lights that are c you're inducing, So we're
getting a little used to that as well.

Speaker 3 (01:04):
Yeah, maybe that's what our little tradition or our kind
of prayer circle so to speak, here is what brought
on the nailor signing as early as it did.

Speaker 1 (01:13):
Yeah, maybe that's what it is. We joined hands last
week around the campfire. Yeah, like an old pot stove.
This isn't some you know, revolutionary, new fangled thing now,
this is we got just a hot stove in the
corner that we warm our hands by. But yes, we've
got movement already in the off season, earlier than we anticipated.

(01:36):
Part of today's podcast. And also I'm going to go
through you with you through my twenty twenty six Crystal
Ball forecast. Yes that I came up with. It's an
annual tradition where I marry what I think they'll do
with what I want them to do. And the point
behind it is that I'm not going to spend more

(01:59):
money on the roster. Then they tell me they have
to spend. So you got to make it work within
the financial ramifications. It's easy just to put together a
wish list and then be angry that we don't have
Kyle Tucker and Kyle Schwarber and any other thirty five
million dollar player named Kyle. This is this is an

(02:21):
exercise I do every year to try to read their
minds a little bit, also infuse some curious moves that
might make us into finally a world champion. So we're
going to get into those two subjects and those two
subjects alone today.

Speaker 3 (02:35):
Yeah, I'm excited. This is you know, we got some
response on social media regarding your release of the Crystal Ball,
the annual tradition, so to speak, and it's a lot
of people say it's one of.

Speaker 2 (02:46):
My favorite reads on the kJ Ara website.

Speaker 3 (02:48):
I couldn't agree more personally, because I'm agreeing with you.
I think that one of the reasons we like this
this stove season, the off season of Major League Baseball
almost more than the end season, is because we get
to kind of fit the puzzle pieces together within the confines.
As you just mentioned, of the so called salary constraints,

(03:10):
I won't even say salary cap, but the constraints at
the soundary are self imposed.

Speaker 1 (03:13):
Yeah, exactly, there's self imposed constraints and we all accept that.
But I'm just I don't when I do my exercise.
If you want to do whatever you want to do,
put together a wish list and put together a payroll
that's one point five billion dollars, then you can do that.
It's not going to happen. But I accept the challenge
that I know John Stanton's not going to go over

(03:34):
that threshold that Jerry and Justin mapped out for us
at the end of the year last year, and so
what can what kind of team can we create within
those parameters?

Speaker 3 (03:44):
Yep, I think it's and it's a fun little exercise,
and so I'm excited to go through it.

Speaker 2 (03:49):
I purposely haven't read it yet. I did this.

Speaker 3 (03:53):
I did this on purpose, not because I disagree with
you or anything, or I don't value your analysis. It's
because I really want to react cold to your crystal
ball predictions. So let's go through them. Unsurprisingly, the first
one here is Josh Naylor getting resigned, and I don't know,
did you write the number and him getting resigned before

(04:17):
the news got released?

Speaker 1 (04:18):
No, but I thought I had time, Okay, I thought
I didn't. I mean, I'm really surprised, and I think
it says a lot when Josh Naylor signed. I mean,
obviously why is the biggest question that he'll answer at
the press conference. But I think it's also just as
interesting that he is the first guy to sign, so

(04:39):
I didn't quite beat him, but certainly this was going
to be the first step. This is the move of
the offseason. This is how the off season begins for
the Mariners, and it's exactly how I wanted it to begin.

Speaker 3 (04:51):
Yes, I completely agree. It's they told us it was
the priority and this I've put this out on social
media as well. Obviously I won't really wanted Josh Naylor.
But it's not the fact that the Mariner's got Josh
Naylor that has me so like happy and excited and
feeling good about this team. It's the timing of it.
It's the fact that basically as soon as you could

(05:12):
possibly do it, they got it done. That tells me
that it actually was a priority for the Mariners.

Speaker 1 (05:18):
And they didn't low ball them. No, they didn't insult
him with an opening offer that he ran to the
free agent market, he and his agent to try to
prove how much better it could be.

Speaker 3 (05:28):
Right, It just tells me like, and obviously we won't
know how these conversations actually go, but from how it
seems like to me from the outside, it's like, hey,
how much how much do you think you're worth? And
then the Mariners matched it because they felt like that
was about the value that he was and that's I
think it's a great sign for the Mariners or.

Speaker 1 (05:46):
They just read it right now. I mean, I think
I think it's three things. I think number one, I
think credit to the front office and ownership. They clearly
didn't come out with an insulting offer. They gave fair
market value and and so you kept him in the conversation.
I think the other thing that it says is that
Josh Naylor really wanted to be here, yes, which I

(06:09):
know for Seattle fans, maybe more so than any other
fan base in the country, how they want their athletes
to choose Seattle. And you know, it's why Felix Hernandez
is as beloved as any Mariner that has ever lived.
And so I think that I don't know if Josh
Naylor knew that, but I'm glad to see that that

(06:30):
was important to him because, and I'll tell you anders
the free agent market that he was facing. Think about this.
The Yankees need a first basement, The Mets need a
first basement, pending on what happens with Alonzo, the Red
Sox name, those are three of the biggest spending teams
in the sport. Josh Naylor and his agency could have
very easily said that's a fine offer, Seattle, but as

(06:55):
soon as Alonso comes off the board, somebody's going to
crap their pants and they're going to overbid for my guy.
I don't think that would have been a good fit
for Josh Naylor's personality. I think he knew that as well,
and so I think it's a great sign that Naylor
and his Naylor ran the show. Because agents are always

(07:15):
going to try to get into bidding and get top dollar,
and Naylor said, Nope, that's a fair offer. That's what
I was looking for. That's a dream come true. Give
me the fifth year, don't limit it to a fourth year,
and I want to be a Seattle Mariner. So I
think that's a phenomenal sign in all of this.

Speaker 3 (07:33):
Yeah, and like another point that was brought up yesterday,
I forget who it was. I wish I could give
them credit. But he's bounced around quite a bit in
his career. He was at San Diego, then he went
to Cleveland, then he went to Arizona, and then he
went to Seattle, all before he hit free agency. So
maybe there was this kind of feeling, Hey, I found
a place that I really like. It's a team that's

(07:54):
on the rise. They value me, they need a first baseman.
I'm clearly going to be the guy. It just made
sense to me. There were too many parts of this
that matched up well, and me, as my old Mariner
fans cynicism coming through, was expecting something to go wrong.
But it just now that we look at it kind
of after it happened, it makes too much sense from

(08:16):
all sides that this got done, and I'm glad it
did and we can kind of focus on the rest
of the off season now. The only thing that I
will say is I really hope that it's not Robbie
Ray two point zero. And the fact that if you
remember in twenty twenty two, the Mariners actually in twenty
twenty one, leading into the twenty twenty two season, the
Mariner signed Robbie Ray is one of the first big

(08:36):
free agent signings, and then did nothing else the rest
of the off season. And I'm not saying that, you know,
you have to go and get the big name also
coupled with Josh Naylor, but you got to continue to
add to this roster in little pieces, fill some holes,
and you know, some smart ads here and there, trades

(08:56):
free agents however you want to do it. So I
really hope that they don't just kind of on their
hands now that they feel like, all right, we got
Josh Naylor, are jobs done?

Speaker 1 (09:04):
I'll say two things in response to that. Number one,
I think this is a really big part of this.
If they didn't get Josh Naylor, this could have gotten
really sticky, really fast. They would have had a major
hole at first base. They traded the only guy in
their organization looked major League Baseball ready to get Naylor
and Tyler Locklear. Luke Rayley did not work out as

(09:26):
a even a platoon first baseman a year ago. He
was terrible. So was Donovan Solano, so that didn't work out.
And Pete Alonso and Cody Bellinger are probably out of
their price range. Max Munsey came off the board right
at the end of the regular season. The Dodgers locked
him up, so he wasn't available. This could have been
a major hole and they could have had to overpay

(09:47):
for something, over trade for something at first base. And
it works out that you don't have to give up
anything additional. Well, you gave up Tyler Locklear, you now
gave up for Naylor, not for two months, but for
five years and two months, and so it really did
satisfy a significant hole. The other thing. To address what

(10:08):
you said, I'm probably gonna say this every single episode
of Stove. I wouldn't expect them to do a lot.
I think this was the major piece. I think they're
going to try to sign Polanco or Suarez, and I'm
not convinced they will do much beyond that of significance.
They'll do their little things. They did a little thing

(10:28):
at the end of last week. They had a lefty
reliever who might be major League ready from the Los
Angeles Dodgers. They'll make a couple of other they got
to get a backup catcher, particularly if they trade forward
at some point in the offseason. But I don't know
if they're going to do anything financially significant beyond what
they did with Naylor and what they I'm assuming they're

(10:48):
going to do with either Polonco or Suarez, Polanco being
the priority.

Speaker 3 (10:52):
Yeah, I think, and I should preface this. We always
have to kind of clarify if we think this is
what I think they're going to do versus what I
want them to do.

Speaker 2 (11:01):
Right, So I agree with you.

Speaker 1 (11:03):
I think what was that wanting them to do? Gotten you?

Speaker 3 (11:06):
Yeah, it's not much, but I still think there's a
reality where the Mariners can not add a ton to
their payroll but still make I don't even want to
say significant moves, but like the second tier moves where
you know it's a player that's gonna make an impact
for you on a semi daily basis. I think Polanco

(11:29):
falls into that category. And if you know that happens,
then that's great or something along the same lines as that.
You don't have to go trade for Trek Skooble, you
don't have to go trade for Katel Marte, you don't
have to go sign Kyle Schwarber, the big name guys.
But I'm just saying I hope that the vibe and
the Mariner's front office isn't that. Okay, we we got

(11:52):
basically everything that we needed, not everything, but we we
did what we needed to do in the big parts,
and now we can just kind of make the small
lefty reliever ad for the rest of this offseason. And
I said, I'm not saying I think that'll happen, but
I just hope that there's something else to kind of
add to this team, because.

Speaker 1 (12:10):
Everybody wants an offseat, everybody wants a new face. Yeah,
many wants to see some new blood come into the
onto the roster. I would just temper it a little
bit because Josh Naylor's eighteen and a half million per year.
If you bring back Polonco, that's probably going to be
in the twelve to fifteen ye million per year range.
I mean, the we add roughly about thirty million, and

(12:33):
the numbers can be confusing sometimes, not like NFL math
because that's just made up. Yep, yeah, that's just fantasy.
But Major League Baseball math is a little bit more
obvious to read unless you defer all your payments to
the year six thousand, like the Dodgers do. But if
you go that's thirty one and a half million potentially.

(12:54):
If the crystal ball's right and Polanco signs two years
twenty six, you're already over. You're already over the cushion.
And they told us to our faces, we're gonna start
next year with a payroll where we finished this year.
We're already there with those two guys. Now. The only
way to get more, The only way to get new

(13:14):
faces is to start getting creative with some of the
players that you have in house. And that remains to
be seen. So I did make a couple of other moves.
I do have a couple of other things in mind
for this offseason that are I think in play. But
I'm just tempering everybody's expectations. If this is Naylor Polonko

(13:35):
right out of the gates before Thanksgiving, that might be
our off season feast right there. Sure, just to warn you,
you know, it might not be anything else major coming
those little tiny moves.

Speaker 3 (13:46):
Yeah, And like I wouldn't be incredibly like, oh, off
season failure if it was already a better off season
than last off season. Yes, but I also you could
compare it to last season, or you can compare it
to the team that you just had, right, I still
want to try and improve the team that you just had,

(14:07):
So you want to add to that, not just bring
back the same guys. And even if that's a small improvement, right,
even if that's a I know you're looking at looking
at your crystal ball here, whether you know it's a
different starting pitcher. I think the starting pitching is something
I really want to bolster because that was everyone's looking
at the lineup and like that's where you need to add.
Your lineup was better than your rotation was last year

(14:30):
like turned out to be, which is weird to say
from a Seattle Mariners fan, But I think there are
still ways that you can, you know, both extend your
window or go raise your ceiling right now.

Speaker 1 (14:42):
Yeah, so no, I think that absolutely has to be
the goal. I'm just going to repeat this from last week, okay,
and that is they liked how this season unfolded. Yeah,
keep in mind, I gave them an f last off season.
We got Donovan Solano last off season, okay, Yeah, and
that was a fail. Yeah, but they had a good

(15:04):
enough foundation, nucleus and team that they stayed in the
race that was watered down because of Houston and Texas
and we can't count on that to happen every year.
And then they got to the trading deadline and then
they made their aggressive moves and it worked to the
degree that we won a division, got a first round

(15:24):
by made it with an eight outs of the World Series.
I think they fell in love with that script a
little bit. And so that's why I'm saying, even if
they don't do much more beyond Naylor and Polanka, we're
going to hold them to that. Yep. Then don't expect
too much more, and if we get more great, we
get more great. But that doesn't mean that we won't

(15:49):
end up next year at the end of the season
with a better roster than what we have at spring training. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (15:54):
No, I completely agree, and that's that's kind of the
roadmap that I expect them to and next Like I said,
I don't I wouldn't go into next season feeling like,
oh my god, you didn't do anything. I would feel
good about them, you know, re upping what they did
in the uh in the trading deadline from this past year,
and as long as you know, we continue to add
to that team moving forward, I think you have a

(16:17):
foundation for a successful twenty twenty six as well. I
also will point out because I can hear everyone saying, you.

Speaker 2 (16:24):
Didn't trade Tyler lockleyer for Josh Naylor. You traded him
for au Heno Suarez.

Speaker 3 (16:28):
It was within ten days of each other, so it
was all it's all the same, right, Theoretically, they traded
Tyler Locklear probably with the Josh Naylor discussions underway, knowing
that that was gonna get done.

Speaker 2 (16:42):
So I understand what you're saying.

Speaker 3 (16:43):
It's like when we said, right, I had that wrong,
but it's it's the same thing you got.

Speaker 1 (16:48):
He ended up at the same point exactly.

Speaker 3 (16:49):
Yeah, that's that's all I wanted to clarify because I
can get people that would be like specifically, but I'm
with you. I'm saying that theoretically you did trade Tyler
Lockleyer for Josh Snayler. All right, so what's next on
your crystal ball list, because I'm curious to hear what
you have to say. Is it Horae Polanco coming back
to Seattle?

Speaker 1 (17:07):
Well, I think it is, okay. I think you got
three guys that we'd all like back, and I think
we're going to have to accept that only two of
them are going to come back. I don't rule out
Gino Suarez coming back next year, but I do think
that they'll make Polonko the priority in this situation. I
think that they will probably use him as a primary

(17:28):
DH next season now that we're out from underneath Garver.
But I don't want him to put away his glove either.
I mean, Cole Young, I have high hopes for two,
but that doesn't mean Polonko won't have to rescue him
again because he's floundering at the most important time of
the year, and you got to have him play second base.
I don't even rule out the possibility of trying him

(17:49):
at third again, because if you recall back in spring training,
he was coming back from an injury. He was reabbing
throughout most of spring training while trying to learn a
brand new position. I don't want to do that, but
I'm going to at least work with him at second
and third so he's not just always dhing. But he's
thirty three years old, he has an injury history, and

(18:12):
he probably does need to be preserved a little bit,
and so I want to bring him back. I think
most people want to bring him back, and I think
he's the priority over Gino.

Speaker 2 (18:21):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (18:22):
I have a couple of questions regarding this, because I
know we discussed it a little bit on our last episode,
but I kind of want to follow up because especially
now with Naylor done, so you can kind of you know, picture, Okay,
my I agree with you. I think it's going to
be one of the two. I don't think you're going
to get both. You have Jorge Polanco here, who's thirty two,
will be thirty three before the start of next season.

(18:43):
You have Gino Suarez here, he's thirty five. One has
shown that he can't play third base in au Heno Suarez,
even if it is a declining ability to one, has
not shown that he can yet. Maybe he can, but
has what we've seen is not something that I think
we can feel confident in.

Speaker 1 (19:04):
You guess.

Speaker 3 (19:05):
I guess you need a second basement and a third basement.
It just depends on how you feel about Cole Young
and Ben Williamson respectively. So I guess on the open market,
how where who do you think will get more money?

Speaker 1 (19:18):
As far as if it's even up Gino, you think
so if it's even money.

Speaker 3 (19:24):
Even if it's thirty five versus thirty two for Joe Polonco.
Everyone saw what Polanco did in the playoffs last year.

Speaker 1 (19:30):
Thirty three with injury history and not a clarified position.
Gino's thirty five doesn't have an injury history and still
hit forty nine home rights a year ago and is
an absolute fan favorite. Yes, I think it's Polonko because
Gino and his agent are going to say he hit

(19:51):
forty nine home runs. Now, keep in mind Chris Carter,
formerly of the Milwaukee Brewers, once led the National League
in home runs and didn't get a job. The next
year he was unemployed, he led the National League in
home runs. So Gino Swarez has always been treated since
he came into our lives and was the throwing in

(20:13):
the Winker trade as somebody that might be on his
last leg. And here he is, what two hundred and
fifty home runs late, two hundred home runs later since
since we traded for him. I mean, he just keeps clicking.
So look, I mean I would rather have Polanco. I
want the guy that puts the ball in play. Sure,
But if Geno Swarez comes in at that same threshold

(20:36):
two years twenty five, two years twenty six and is
tired of moving around and loves Seattle and loves being
teammates with Josh Naylor and loves being teammates with cal Raley,
which he seems to be, I mean, are you gonna
hate it if Polonko is the guy that leaves and
we've got a third base salved for opening Day? Yeah?

Speaker 3 (20:56):
And I think a lot of I know is the
answer to that question at all. I think a lot
of Mariners fans will just kind of see the last
two months of the season, and Gino did struggle after
the trade and especially in the playoffs as well, and
be like, oh, it's just Polanco, it's just way more important.

Speaker 2 (21:13):
You need to get him. He's younger.

Speaker 3 (21:14):
Boom, there you go. It's he's gonna get more money.
I think a lot of teams will look at the
entire picture here. Polonco has the injury history. Like you said,
Gino had the better year overall last year in terms
of offense. And I think the defensive part is huge.
Even though he's older, he has a set position that
he's shown that he can at least, maybe not at least,

(21:36):
but at most be a league average defender on now,
maybe slightly below, but he's around that league average range.
You won't be a huge detriment to you playing their
base every single day. So and now my second question
to you is.

Speaker 1 (21:49):
If it's Mariners, if Gino's like one year fifteen, I
think the Mariners take that over two years Polonco. Okay,
if if Gino wants to play that game, man and
the Mariners like, we'll take a year by year, you
hit another forty home runs, sign you again. We'll sign
you again, and you can just play out your career
here in Seattle. We also have the potential to make
you the DH. Yeah, absolutely, no, you know, if we

(22:10):
can if Williamson is our best third base, and we
can make you the DA. Right, So, I mean, I
think it's still in play. I'm just from my what
I gather, I think Polonko is the priority. Yeah, but
I'm hearing rumors with Polonko that there are teams in
the National League Pirates and Brewers keep coming up. Yeah,

(22:30):
three years forty five. If they go three years forty
five on Polanco, the Mariners aren't going to do it. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (22:35):
Yeah, I think I agree with you on that, and
I guess take Polanco on Suarez out of it. If
you were to choose third base and second base, which
is a more important place to fill up a player.

Speaker 1 (22:49):
Well, I believe in Cole Young a lot more. I
think Cole Young's got a really high floor. Yeah. I
think Cole Young's gonna have it end up being a
really good, solid player for years to come. Third to
me is right now Ben Williamson, and I can live
with that. Yeah. I know there are people that scream
about that, but I mean, I if I've got myself

(23:10):
a catcher that it's sixty home runs then I can
have a third baseman that hits five. Yeah, as long
as he catches, he takes runs away defensively, and he
gives me a gritty performance between the lines, which we
know Ben Williamson can do. And I do think there
is some growth for hitting. He uses the whole field.
But you also, if we start the season with Ben

(23:32):
Williamson at third base, we're gonna spend the whole season
saying that can be upgraded. Yeah, that can be and
that's fine. Yeah, that's fine if he ends up being
your starting third baseman and maybe it clicks with him.

Speaker 2 (23:43):
Sure.

Speaker 1 (23:43):
The other thing to keep in mind, Anders is cold
Emerson's coming absolutely, and cold Emerson might be ready in
twenty twenty six. And cold Emerson is going to be
our shortstop starting in twenty twenty seven. So if cold
Emerson is ready and he could start, he could replace
Williamson before we even get to the trading deadline. And

(24:06):
then with the idea that JP plays out the last
year of his contract, Emerson moves to shortstop before he's
too far removed from the position, like Manny Machado got
too far removed from the position to ever go back
where Emerson's so young he can spend a half a
season at third base as a rookie and then take
over shortstop for the next ten years in Seattle.

Speaker 3 (24:26):
Yeah yeah, And I guess I didn't even think about
asking this, but let's let's go there. I'm assuming, by
the way you described that, that JP's are shortstop coming
into this year.

Speaker 1 (24:36):
I'd rather not be. I would like to upgrade that position.
I think of all the positions out there, that's the
one I would I feel needs upgraded. I agree. I
think they like him. I don't think he's going to
go anywhere, and I don't think the organization wants to
eat a twelve million dollars salary. And you can't trade
him for anything. So I mean, if his play declines

(24:57):
even more, you have no choice. He's got to be removed.
And maybe it's Williamson stays at third and Emerson gets
called up to replace JP. Right, his game can't decline
any more than what it was this past year. I mean,
we were looking at a limited defensive player who is
still trying to hit too many home runs. Put the
damn ball in play. Yeah, yeah, that's all you can
do offensively right now? Put the ball in play and

(25:19):
occasionally turn on one. Yeah, that's it. He can't run,
and he can't and he has no range. But from
what I've heard, the Mariners still believe in him and
want to get that one last year out of him. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (25:32):
I think I agree with you there on the JP conversation.
That's one of those that the likelihood of it happening
is different than my wishes.

Speaker 1 (25:40):
Of it happening, right, So I don't blame him.

Speaker 3 (25:42):
Yeah, And to be honest, it's not the end of
the world if he plays out one more year.

Speaker 2 (25:47):
I don't know.

Speaker 3 (25:48):
Maybe I'm saying that now, But then when you have
a short stop with limited range and limited armability, with
limited offense, it's tough to really justify that being in
your lineup.

Speaker 1 (25:58):
But I don't know if I reviewed him as a liability,
But I mean, he was a ninth place hitting average
fielding shortstop, yeah, and making twelve million a year. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (26:10):
And there are some metrics, and I'm defensive metrics can
get really weird.

Speaker 2 (26:15):
Let's say he was a bad shortstop last year, so.

Speaker 1 (26:17):
It has no range, no, Yeah, and then his arm
was weak and Josh Naylor bailed him out a lot
teen times a lot in two months.

Speaker 2 (26:25):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (26:25):
Yeah, So to me, I'm with you. Yeah, I'm one
hundred percent with you, and a lot of people listening
right now. I would love to see that upgraded. I
just don't think that's a priority this offseason. Yep.

Speaker 3 (26:37):
I think it's just it's doesn't make a ton of
sense to move that around.

Speaker 1 (26:41):
I especially when Emerson's coming. Yes, yeah, I mean, like
I said, there's a chance that it maybe it's Williamson
that's the better third. At least he.

Speaker 2 (26:48):
Can defense, got range.

Speaker 1 (26:50):
Yeah, yeah, so he stays at third, and the Mariners
might get to June and say, man, JP, you've had
a great run here. But I mean they did it
with ty Franz and they love ty France. But you
got to the point with his game you were like,
you are just a double play waiting to happen every
get back. I don't know why it happened so quickly,
but you went from a really productive hitter to a liability.

(27:12):
If JP's crosses over and he's not that far away
from it into liability territory, then you have an obligation
as an organization not to stand on loyalty. You have
to improve the baseball team, and if Cold Emerson's the
better shortstop at some point twenty twenty six, then JP's out.
But I don't think they're going to try to find

(27:33):
a shortstop because they know how close Emerson is.

Speaker 3 (27:36):
Got it okay, And there's a lot of reports saying
that Emerson's like he's tearing the cover off the ball
right now.

Speaker 1 (27:42):
Number nine prospect on the entire sport right now.

Speaker 3 (27:44):
So it could be pretty close to being ready, maybe
at some point next year, which would be great.

Speaker 1 (27:49):
And Cole Young played shortstop, to remember, he's a natural
shortstop who moved over to second, right.

Speaker 3 (27:55):
I just really don't want to go into next year
with the rest of your infield after Josh Naylor being
Cole Young, JP Crawford and Ben Williamson. I think one
of those needs to at least one. So whether that's
Polanco coming in and playing second, whether that's Geno coming
back and playing third, or wherever else, I just I
would feel a little bit iffy about the rest of

(28:17):
that infield.

Speaker 1 (28:18):
If I wrote down the opening day lineup, it might
very well feature those three. But again, I think that
they would view that as we'll start here, we're good
enough to make the playoffs with this roster. But that's
at least two of the three that you could circle

(28:39):
as we can upgrade these at any moment during the
course of the year.

Speaker 3 (28:42):
Yeah, I think a lot of that's built on the
success of the Seattle Mariners starting pitching. Knowing that you
have elite starting pitching makes you feel a little bit
better about some places.

Speaker 2 (28:54):
You can feel good about.

Speaker 3 (28:55):
Upgrading, like we just talked about, But that wasn't necessarily
one of the main strengths that we were used to
it being last year. So what's your third step in
the crystal ball? For Chuck Powell?

Speaker 1 (29:10):
All right, well, the third step has to be this.
And Andrews is not gonna like this. This is one
of the things that we teased on the first episode.
If you are going to add something of significance, and
I'm not sure that they will again said that numerous times,
then you have to clear money. Because one thing that
I believe when the Mariners tell me is that we're
not spending money. So I trust them when they say that.

(29:35):
I might not trust them to get me home after
a night at the bars, but I trust them when
they say we're not going to We're not going to
spend beyond this threshold, and as I mentioned, we're already there.
So if you've got to clear money in order to
afford something else of significance, there's only two possibilities. Randy

(29:55):
rose Arena, who's making sixteen million dollars this upcoming year
on an expired contract, or Luis Castillo, who's two years
twenty two and a half for the next two seasons
with a third mutual option year that he'll never see.
But to me, for the second year in a row
in my crystal ball forecast, I am trading Luis Castillo

(30:16):
to the Philadelphia Phillies. H Apparently they shot me down
last year, but we're trying it again, and they're down
a starting pitcher and Ranger Suarez, Aaron Nola's coming off
a terrible year, and Zach Wheeler finally showed some his
achilles heel. He had some injuries this past year. So yeah,
so they could probably use a veteran starting picture. This

(30:40):
is the truth about Luis Castillo. They did try to
shop him around. I'm not saying they got close to
trading him, but they did try to shop him around,
and everybody they talked to wanted them to eat money. Well,
the Mariners are like no, So the Mariners valued Louis
Castillo more than anybody else some major league base that's

(31:01):
a fact. We are one year later and Luis Castillo's
trade values even lower. So if you trade Castillo, which
I have in the Crystal Ball forecast, don't expect that
you're getting some stud in return. You're probably going to
get somebody who has a salary that that team doesn't

(31:21):
want either. And yet they can get a really solid
veteran starting pitcher with playoff experience, and you got to
get what you can get for him because he makes
twenty two and a half million dollars a year. So
I traded Luis Castillo for Matt Stram, the left handed
reliever of the Philadelphia Phillies. That's all. We got a

(31:41):
couple of prospects maybe thrown in there, but nothing that
we nothing worth researching to write down. That would be
just total guess work. One.

Speaker 3 (31:50):
Yeah, so it's kind of a one for one for
you in terms of Okay, well, and it's worth pointing
out before I give my Castio thoughts. Mats Matt Strom,
Matt Stram, I don't know either way. Good lefty reliever,
really good lefty reliever who I think the Mariners would need.
They lost Caleb Ferguson. Maybe they'll bring him back, will see,
but they need a lefty reliever. I think that was

(32:11):
one of the weaknesses in the team during their playoff run.
They didn't have like besides Gabe Spire, it was not
much else. And I loved the trade for Caleb Ferguson.
It just didn't turn out as well as I had
expected it to. So I liked Matt Strom as a player.
Here's the thing about Luis Castiu. I've gone back and
forth on this because he's one of my favorite Mariners.

(32:32):
I think just the way he goes about his business
similar to Aheno Suarez. Just a great guy in the clubhouse.

Speaker 2 (32:39):
Everyone loves him.

Speaker 3 (32:40):
He reverberates positive vibes all the time. And you mentioned
we've talked about durability before. He has just made every
single start. Whether it's you know, he's not the ace
that we traded for him in twenty twenty two.

Speaker 2 (33:01):
I understand that.

Speaker 1 (33:02):
But.

Speaker 2 (33:04):
Innings matter, putting up innings.

Speaker 1 (33:07):
And because of our unexpected injuries we had this year,
he was very valuable to this team.

Speaker 3 (33:13):
There's an argument he was your second best starting pitcher
after Brian would last year in terms of results. Maybe
you can look in the predictive metrics.

Speaker 1 (33:20):
Results and durability and availability. Yeah, you're right, and.

Speaker 2 (33:23):
He made thirty two starts. Uh, it's I don't know.

Speaker 3 (33:27):
He was above average in an average against slugging against
WOLBA ex wOBA, top twenty innings, pitch starts, quality starts,
and era like he I don't even know if his
value went down.

Speaker 2 (33:41):
I'm not saying it went up because he's another year old.

Speaker 1 (33:43):
Trade value went down right old?

Speaker 3 (33:46):
Yeah, I understand, but they look at the year he
had and maybe like, Okay, the production I don't want
to say increase, but steadiness offsets the fact that he
is another year older. In my opinion, because I think
coming off of twenty twenty four, everyone was like, oh,
he took a pretty big step down from twenty twenty
two and twenty twenty three. He's going to keep going down.

(34:08):
He didn't. He kind of, if anything, took another step
back up. So I don't know if his I agree.
I think you're not going to get much for him
if you are going to trade him. I just would
find it tough to replace that durability, that availability. But
with the thought that Kate Anderson's ready to go, and
from all signs he theoretically could pitch for the Mariners

(34:32):
on opening Day. I know he's not going to.

Speaker 1 (34:34):
But I think, yeah, I think I'm with you.

Speaker 3 (34:36):
Yeah, he could and absolutely be one of the five
best starting pitchers in the Mariner's rotation.

Speaker 1 (34:40):
Look, I mean you're not You can go into next
season with Gilbert, Kirby, wou Miller and Hancocker Evans and
we're still going to have one of the better, if
not best starting rotations in Major League Baseball. Yeah. So, yeah,
Castile makes it look even fuller and better and certainly

(35:03):
is your insurance in case you have the same injuries
that you did a year ago. But I don't know
if anybody's counting on that. I think that there's still
a feeling that Kirby and Gilbert and Miller have another
level that they can reach. I mean, there is a
chance that we have we can be an even better

(35:25):
rotation next year than we were in twenty twenty four.
It's because of development, even without Castillo, because everybody stayed
healthy and everybody and we're not going to have that
expectation of Wu, but everybody had another level to reach.
There's no question Kirby absolutely, and Bryce Miller showed you
at the end of the year. There's no question that

(35:47):
he is a better pitcher than what he Shouldwan Gilbert
for most of last season. Yeah, I agree. So if
I'm sitting here and I'm thinking, Okay, how do I
upgrade this baseball team? Well, if I can subtract a
twenty two and a half million dollar pitcher and still
end up with one of the better to best starting

(36:07):
rotations in Major League Baseball with Kate Anderson on the way, yeah,
that's got to be something that I entertain. And so
for the second year in a row, I'm trading Louis Castillo.
Even though I don't like to, I really like him.
And I'm gonna tell you this right now. The pictures
love Louis Castilla all they worship that dude. But it's

(36:28):
also time for those guys. I mean, you're not freshman
and sophomores anymore. Your upper classmen now, so it's time
for you guys to step up into those leadership roles.
Let's see Brian Wu and Logan Gilbert and George Kirby
not need to rely on Luis Castillo's steady presence in

(36:49):
order for them to become better than what they are.

Speaker 3 (36:51):
So my question to you is, and this is going
to be obviously a follow up, because I think I
know what the answer is. Does this trade in a
vacuum Louis Castillo for Matt Strom make the Mariners better
or worse? That trade step back to take two step forward? Okay,
so what's the two steps forward?

Speaker 1 (37:06):
The All right, so I take the fifteen million I
save yep, because Philadelphia wants to dump Strom's salary seven
point five. He's thirty five year old left hander coming
off a really good year, but not the phenomenal year
he had the year before, so obviously he's probably reaching
the end. Plus he collects baseball cards for a living.

(37:27):
It's he's a really weirdo. He's got really long, stringy hair,
so he spends a lot of money on conditioner. But
all right, so they wanted to get rid of that.
So that's what you're doing. You're saying, we'll take on
your seven and a half million dollar player that you
think is overpriced. You take our twenty two and a
half that frees up fifteen million. Now I would take
that money, okay, and then I would take and even

(37:48):
if I can't clear anymore, I'm going after Murcama. That Murakami.
That's who I want. And I know everybody's like, what
about the strikeout rate and all that stuff. I don't care.
When's the last Japanese superstar that came over here and
fell on his face? They've all been at least good.

Speaker 2 (38:11):
No response because it hasn't happened yet, right, I mean.

Speaker 1 (38:14):
It happened once upon a time, Hideki Arabu and then
the mets what was his name, Matsui kas Matsui, not
not Hideki but Kazmatsu. There have been, but it's been
a while since. And I'm not talking about I mean,
I realized that not all Japanese players have come over
here and succeeded. But I'm talking to the ones that

(38:34):
have been labeled superstars. Yoshida from the Red Sox, I
don't think was labeled a superstar, but he was certainly
supposed to be better than he's best.

Speaker 2 (38:42):
Saya Suzuki, he's been really good, been really good.

Speaker 1 (38:46):
He certainly hadn't fallen on it. No, it's not and
he's getting better, yeah, which is scary. So I don't know. Yeah,
I see a strikeout rate that's really high. But I
also see somebody that has an eighty grade hog Our
scouting report. You know how rare that is. That's like
John Carlow Frickin' Stanton. So I would take a chance

(39:08):
on him. I don't know where the salary's coming in at.
It's going to be more than the fifteen million dollars
I just created in the Castillo trade. But maybe that
is the guy that Jerry and Justin go to John
and say I need nineteen I need four more million
a year. This is the piece we put him at
third Baseye, it's fourth for us this upcoming year, and

(39:30):
we have not only one of the best starting rotations,
best bullpens because I've added Strom to it. Now I
have got a lineup from the beginning of the year
that is scary.

Speaker 2 (39:41):
Yeah, and he's twenty five. That's the other thing. There's
no age concerns there.

Speaker 3 (39:46):
He can give him a seven year deal, six year deal,
something like that in that range five to six seven
year deal, but he'll probably want on the upper end
of that. Yeah, I to be honest, I don't know
a ton about when to talk Amy. All I know
is there are people drooling over him and there are
people like stay away. So it's it's it's so wonder

(40:07):
side of the other that I don't have an I
haven't watched film or anything on him. I've looked at
some stats that you know that say exactly what you're saying.
He does strike out a lot, like he's over a
thirty percent k rate in the NPO, which, by the way,
a lot of people think, oh, that's going to go
up at MLB, not necessarily because I understand Major League

(40:29):
Baseball is a is a better league than the Japanese
Baseball League. But there are some strikeout heavy pitchers in
the NPO, especially the young ones we saw where rookie
Sasaki just came from like.

Speaker 1 (40:42):
It's no longer everybody over there change up gyro bawls.

Speaker 2 (40:46):
Absolutely not.

Speaker 3 (40:47):
And I would argue if there's one, if you're talking
raw power or a plate discipline, if one of those
two is more coachable, I'll take the plate discipline and
try and work that up a little bit. Now, my
my counterpoint to that is, okay, so you're basically getting
a Heno Suarez.

Speaker 2 (41:08):
Years younger.

Speaker 3 (41:09):
When you take that though, yeah, absolutely, But if you
if it's that, if it's only Munatakamurakami or Suarez and
not having to trade Castillo, right, there's there's a balance
balancing act to be made here. Maybe maybe someone values
this site a little bit more, maybe not. So I

(41:29):
don't know.

Speaker 1 (41:30):
Well, we don't have to make any more moves, and
we can stick with Stillo, I re sign Naylor, and
you can go Polanco or Suarez yep. And you can
just go fight next year with that that group. And
like I said, and then the trading deadline, you may
recognize your holes and then you make splash moves. But
to me, getting the twenty five year old and and

(41:52):
if he ends up being if he ends up being
the weakness, all right now, now you're gonna suffer for
a while. If he ends up being the strength, you're
gonna be really good. You've got a cheap third basement
hitting fifty to sixty home runs a year in the
same lineup with cal Raley and Julio Rodriguez.

Speaker 3 (42:12):
So I actually don't know anything regarding his defense. Can
you share what we got there?

Speaker 1 (42:17):
Just what I've read? I mean, from what I understand.
I mean, he's a big he's a thick dude, and
so probably he doesn't move as well as you want
him to. And you can't move him to first base
anymore because we've already got that decided. So it's a
Perry Hill project, and we've got the best infield coach
in the world. So I'm gonna go ahead and trust
that I do it. I would do it. I don't

(42:39):
know if they will. I mean, if they make the
financial investment in Polonko and Naylor or Polonco and Suarez,
then maybe they don't make a further long term financial investment.
They don't like signing free agents as much as other
teams do. But I do have an alternative prize for you,
since you will and Luke Arkins.

Speaker 2 (43:01):
And we love our starting pitch half our listeners.

Speaker 1 (43:04):
Don't like starting pitching being traded. So let me throw
this one at you. Let's go the Mariner's package Harry Ford, Okay,
Dom can Zone, Logan Evans, and Carlos Vargas to the
Minnesota Twins for Joe Ryan and catcher Ryan Jeffers. Six

(43:28):
million dollar All Star Joe Ryan twenty nine years old,
three years of control remaining on his original contract. He's
certainly on the trade block right now. Really, maybe it
would cost more than what I'm entertaining. Maybe you would
have to throw in another one of your better prospects.

(43:50):
Um so we can we can cross that bridge if
you'd like. But the idea being that we just took
a twenty two and a half million dollar pitcher, cleared
some space, added a six million dollar pitcher, added a
six took six million dollars off the Twins books that
they don't want, and Ryan Jeffers. So I have my
backup catcher settled for cal Rawley this year, even though

(44:13):
I'm paying him more than I would want to. But
I also have a thirty million dollar pitcher that I'm
paying six million dollars to. And now I've got a
starting rotation, all in their twenties, Ryan, Gilbert, Kirby, Wu Miller,
all with multiple years left on their deals.

Speaker 2 (44:29):
I love that. I honestly, I'm a huge J.

Speaker 3 (44:31):
Ryan fan personally, I think as much as I love
Luis Castillo, this is a significant upgrade, especially now he's
twenty eight, right, twenty nine?

Speaker 1 (44:40):
Excuse me?

Speaker 2 (44:42):
He The only thing is he has a little bit
of an injury history.

Speaker 1 (44:47):
I would say Luis Castillo at one he did.

Speaker 3 (44:49):
You're right, and he's been incredibly durable since he's come
to the Mariners.

Speaker 2 (44:53):
I love this.

Speaker 3 (44:55):
He's high k guy, doesn't walk very much people, has
a really interesting side arm release.

Speaker 2 (45:06):
Ish sort of area that he's.

Speaker 3 (45:09):
Had around a one whip the last two years, like everything.

Speaker 1 (45:13):
One hundred and ninety four k's and one hundred and
seventy innings.

Speaker 3 (45:16):
Yeah, he's He's the real deal. I think he's Minnesota's
best pitcher. To be honest. I know they have Pablo
Lopez two and a couple other guys, but he, Joe
Ryan's like the guy there and.

Speaker 1 (45:29):
Four or five war this year. Now that's baseball reference,
that's not fangrafts. Four to five.

Speaker 3 (45:33):
WU had a four to two war. Yeah, I mean
the thing about how great at season WU had. I know,
Joe Ryan's the real deal. I'm telling you guys right now,
I completely agree with you on this. I think maybe
you'd have to give up a little bit more because
I think they value him. But but you have it
to give. Yeah, if it's in that range that you
just mentioned, I'm all four that.

Speaker 1 (45:50):
I mean, keep can Zone then because we could probably
use him, yeah, for this upcoming year. But then you
part with one of your middle endfielders, ty Pete Felman Celestian,
you know, Michael Arroyo. I mean, you're probably not gonna
move Emerson. You wouldn't move Emerson period. But you've got
such depth at middle endfield. I mean, what do you

(46:10):
have it for if not to make moves like this
and to make yourself significantly better. Yeah, Now you go
down this road, and we're pretty much at the end
of the road. I've now traded away Castillo just to
get financial flexibility. I've replaced him with Joe Ryan, and
I've added a backup catcher who probably isn't worth six
and a half million dollars. So I probably tied up
all my finances. And guess what I'm left with because

(46:33):
we didn't go the more comedy route.

Speaker 3 (46:34):
Yes, so you're left with Cole Young, JP Crawford and
Ben Williamson. That's the rest of your field, which I
don't know, like to start the season, Yes, to start
the season. I the more I think about this, the
more I think the Mariners need to at least somewhat

(46:55):
bolster their pitching. Rotation because I know we mentioned at
the start of this episode that, like, I like, I
think you need to make that elite again. I'm not
saying it's not good. It's it's still really really good.

Speaker 1 (47:08):
But I saw it. There's the Trek School exactly.

Speaker 3 (47:12):
I saw the cracks in it last year, and I
think one of the main reasons they lost the series
to the Toronto Blue Jays is they didn't have a
true ace. A true ace. Now I realize Brian Wu
wasn't necessarily a huge factor in everything there.

Speaker 1 (47:25):
But it's great to have options, but sometimes it's great
not to have options. It's so obvious, like Scooble's pitching
Game one, yes, and then he's pitching Game five.

Speaker 3 (47:34):
And I'm letting him in there, no questions asked until
he tells me he's done right.

Speaker 1 (47:39):
And I don't know if Joe Ryan satisfies that he's
not on that level, but I know you were one
to talk about Schooble, yes, And so compare the two
getting a Joe Ryan who's probably in the.

Speaker 2 (47:50):
Gilbert rang colass agree versus.

Speaker 1 (47:53):
A schoolbul who I think is gonna be traded this offseason.
But you only get for one year. Yes, you gotta
pay him twenty two million dollars for this season arbitration.
And there's no way they are resigning Trek Scuoble at
ten years, four hundred. That is not happening in Seattle.

Speaker 3 (48:10):
No, And like it's it's more of a pipe dream
than anything else. I would be happy for a Joe
Ryan consolation prize in terms of because I really want
Trek Scooble. I think he is that ceiling razer. Obviously,
he's one of the two best pitchers in the sport
that it's like head and shoulders above almost everyone else.
And I think he's gonna be good for years to come.
And I agree with you. I don't think the Mariners

(48:31):
would be re signing Trek scouble based on his demand.
So it would be for one year, one year. But
but my thought process on this, and you could tell me,
and this is kind of Ander's mini crystal ball here.

Speaker 1 (48:44):
And by the way, one year probably a similar trade
package to what it would take to get Ryan. Maybe
not as much, but Ghos, yeah, I think it would so.

Speaker 2 (48:56):
Maybe.

Speaker 3 (48:56):
Okay, I know this is going to sound a little
out there, but I'm curious on your thoughts on a
Logan Gilbert for Terrek Scouble trade because let me give
you my thought process here. For a second, Logan Gilbert
has two more years before he's a free agent, so
the thought process is, okay, it's two years of Logan
Gilbert versus one year of Trek Scuble. The money that

(49:19):
you would have spent on Logan Gilbert to extend him,
you can now spend on George Kirby or Brian wu
or Bryce Miller or whoever to make sure that you
lock down the rest of those guys while also capitalizing
on one year and not having to overpay like a
giant free agent contract to go for it this year.
You are basically sacrificing one year of Logan Gilbert to

(49:43):
make sure you can get Trek Scubel for this year.
And that money would be a little bit more for Schooble,
but it wouldn't be massive. It would be something that
could take on for one year, like I said, and
it just like I said, it raises that ceiling. Like
you just said about the Ace thing, it it's better
almost to not have options. And I think if you

(50:05):
have someone like that, I know it's really easy to
say you have one of the two best pitchers at sport.
It gives you a better chance to win. But something
of them round along those lines, for me, I think
would be something i'd be looking for. So what do
you say, like and what do you think about the package?
Just one for one Logan Gilbert for Trek Scooble. I
don't think they would do it because they isn't the Tigers.

Speaker 1 (50:27):
Yeah, I don't think the Tigers would do it because
if you're going to trade Trek Schooble, you are looking
for something that sets you up for the future. I
think there's actually a better chance because the Tigers aren't
balking at paying Terrek Scooble twenty two million. They're balking
at paying Krek's scouble four hundred million.

Speaker 2 (50:46):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (50:47):
So, if you've got one year left on a deal
and you've kind of maximized where you're going to go
as an organization with this guy as your ace, if
you had an I think you could and I might
just be made this upright. They might take on Castillo, Like,
we're not scared of twenty two million dollars salary for
a good starting pitcher, but with Castillo, you're going to

(51:11):
give us prospects, right right, So if with Castillo you're
gonna give us as opposed to a one for one,
you're gonna give us Cole Younge, you're gonna give us
Harry Ford, and you're gonna give us yeah, Emerson Hancock. Oh,
I don't think it would have to be there, okay,
that much. I don't think you're gonna have to give
up three price prospects. But you're probably gonna have to

(51:31):
give up one great prospect and then two good prospects, okay,
in order to get schoobled just for one year.

Speaker 2 (51:39):
One year.

Speaker 1 (51:39):
But you as the Mariners get to all right, we
didn't at any payroll, No, we were taking on a
twenty two million dollars seth. We just gave one up. Yeah,
and we have prospects to move, yes, so yes, it's
one year to really take a shot at a World
Series with a true ace, and all right, we'll take that.

(52:01):
So maybe that makes more sense than just Logan Gilbert,
who the Tigers in two years time are gonna have
to go through the.

Speaker 3 (52:07):
Same thing thing unless you know they want to recable
right right, right exactly, So he'll probably a twenty five
to thirty million dollars a year. Absolutely, So that was
my whole thought process with it, just thinking like and
I didn't even think about the Luis Castillo part of it,
that it does make sense. I was just thinking value wise.
The Tigers aren't rebuilding, No, they're not. They want to
win now.

Speaker 1 (52:26):
They yeah, they've made the playoffs two years in a row.
They want to win right now. And and yet they
just don't think Trek school is going to be a part.
So do we just let him, like show a Otani,
play out his contract and we don't get anything for
him going forward, or do we take maximize him. He's
got one year left and we can still get a

(52:46):
really robust future trade package for the guy.

Speaker 3 (52:50):
And everyone's expecting they're going to ask for the moon
and the stars if they actually are thinking about trading
Trek scoobl, it's exactly like you said. They they realize
it's just one year left. And even if it is
just one year left.

Speaker 1 (53:05):
U's the Kyle Tucker trade. That's your take, exactly exactly
Kyle Tucker, and you got Cam Smith isak parades. Yeah,
and there was another prospect. I'll look at the exactly
Traden west Nesky, Yeah, so it was you know, it
was a proven, really good prospect, proven player. That's Castillo. Yeah,

(53:25):
all right, and then Cam Smith is one of their
top prospects, and then Aiden west Nesky was one of
their average prospects. Or at least it was the Logan Evans. Yeah,
that's Logan Evans, that's Cole Young, and that's Luis Castillo.
For now, you might have to give a little bit
more because they're taking on the salary. Yeah, but that's
your ballpark. It's Kyle Tucker. Kyle Tucker who the Cubs

(53:47):
got for one year from the Astros knowing that he
probably isn't going to sign long term, and the Astros
still got a really good package. Yes, I mean the
Astros believe they got a great package out of that. Yeah,
probably miss Kyle Tucker, but they that I mean, that
was their starting right fielder, starting third basement and a
future starting pitcher for them.

Speaker 2 (54:06):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (54:06):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (54:07):
And I would you do that?

Speaker 3 (54:10):
Would you do that for Terry Schoogle, the Castillo Pluscio Young?

Speaker 1 (54:15):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (54:16):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (54:17):
For one year? I mean I don't I don't think
the Mariners like doing that.

Speaker 2 (54:20):
Now they probably don't, but.

Speaker 1 (54:22):
They might have changed. They might have turned over a
new leaf after what they did with Josh Naylor.

Speaker 2 (54:27):
And even as far as yeah they don't bring him back,
look at the big moment that he had.

Speaker 1 (54:30):
Rentals do work on the right occasion, you shouldn't be
just completely opposed to it. And look what the good
Tucker did for the Cubs. Yes, they made the playoffs
this year. Yeah, and honestly, I think didn't win the division.
But the Brewers somehow win a thousand games every year.

Speaker 2 (54:47):
It's true.

Speaker 3 (54:47):
I don't know how, but I honestly think that there
I agree with you. I think there's a slight change
in thought process, at least with the front office. Because
if you're not going to be if you're if you're
not going to pay those giant, ten year, three hundred
million dollar contracts, if you believe those hamper you down
in the future with the money, then you should all right, well,

(55:09):
we're going to just take advantage of little one year
gaps or trade deadline gaps where we don't have to
just destroy the rest of our future. We give up
some prospects that we can easily restock because I believe
in our talent evaluation to get really good players without
having to have the back end of their contract that
really weighs us down.

Speaker 1 (55:31):
I mean, John Stan told me that right to my face. Yeah,
he said, I don't want to pay aging players. No,
I want guys in the prime of their career. I
am willing to pay guys big money and the prime
of their careers, but I don't want long term deals.
And it's actually a really smart practice. And the only
ones that get away with it are the ones that

(55:51):
we print money. It doesn't even matter even if we
get out from it later. Yeah, even if we have
a five hundred million dollar contract, we'll sign an other
five hundred million dollar contract the next offseason. Those are
the only ones that get away with it under the
current structure. Or if you defer all your payments into
the next millennia, you can do it. You can do
it too. But it's just frankly, I mean, for as

(56:14):
much as much angst as they are, much criticism as
they receive the Mariners organization, it's really smart business. Absolutely,
it really is. Now, you know, I'd like to see
a little bit more of a go for it mentality.
So we got it this.

Speaker 2 (56:28):
Year, Yeah we did, and look what happened, And look.

Speaker 1 (56:30):
What happened, and now they have Josh Naylor long term
five years and everybody's happy.

Speaker 3 (56:34):
And that's where you can all right, you know, we
have this player on like a you know, kind of
we bought him as a kind of rental piece, but hey,
he made such a good impact. He's we can get
him at a reasonably good price, and I still believe
it's going to be good for years to come. At
a position that we need, let's resign him so then
you can kind of make those decisions as it goes along.
But yeah, I think if you are going to trade

(56:56):
Castillo one of those second two options, I like muracmm.

Speaker 2 (56:59):
I'm not saying I wouldn't want him at all.

Speaker 1 (57:01):
I don't know.

Speaker 3 (57:01):
It's I would tend to go the route of I
think we need to bolster our rotation as much as
we possibly can. I know Kate Anderson's there, I know
he's coming, and I know he's as you know, hyped
as they come. But I still really believe in getting
that ceiling razor. And hey, maybe Schoobles like the perfect answer.
You You have him for this year and then Kate

(57:23):
Anderson steps into that for the next year.

Speaker 1 (57:24):
So I don't know, well, I do think George Kirby
will eventually be traded. Yeah, and I'll hate to break
the news to everybody. I think Logan's the more likely
to give you that team friendly extension and then and
you're not gonna be able to keep all of them. Yeah,
so I think that. So maybe Kate Anderson replaces that.
Actually I mean so, but we'll cross that bridge when

(57:45):
we come to it. But uh, yeah, I mean that.
This is the crystal Ball episode and we got a
little extra benefit with Josh Naylor signing here recently. Again,
the exercise is not a wish list entirely, and it's
not this is what they're going to do list entirely.
I do try to marry the two together. And so

(58:07):
if you do want to check out all the details,
you can do that ninety three three KJR dot com.
The crystal Ball Forecast has written out there for you.
And and so you know, chew it over. One quick
thought on cal Rawley not winning the MVP. Wrong but
not a bad decision, but the wrong decision. I agree.
That's the second time I've used that phrase in two months.

(58:29):
Did the same thing with the who should be the
number one starter for the Mariners in the postseason. I
don't think George Kirby's a bad decision, but I do
think it's the wrong decision. So I think the same
way with cal I think he deserved to be the MVP.
Certainly would have gotten my vote, but Aaron Judge would
have finished close second.

Speaker 3 (58:47):
Yeah my ballot, Yeah, completely agree. I think that wraps
it up pretty well here.

Speaker 1 (58:51):
All right, Well, thank you very much for joining us.
Thank you, Andrews, appreciate it. My name is Seth Chuck Powell.
Will do this again at some point before the Thanksgiving holiday.
You have a great one and I hope you enjoyed
stove