Roki Sasaki to Dodgers, Still No Moves, Ichiro HOF

Roki Sasaki goes to the Dodgers, so Chuck and Anders once again visit the conversation on a possible Salary Cap in the MLB.  Mariners couldn't even get an interview with Roki, is that a sign of the reputation of the Mariners?  Donovan Solano signs so Chuck and Anders break down what that means, and what else is on the board to salvage the off season.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Stove.

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

Speaker 3 (00:03):
Well, welcome in to another episode of Stove, our off
season podcast Chuck Powell and andrews Hurst with you haven't
done one in a couple of weeks.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Then again, we haven't really missed any Mariner.

Speaker 3 (00:15):
Activity to speak of. There was one minor move, which
we'll get to in our time together on this episode
of Stove. But certainly a lot of baseball things to
bandy about.

Speaker 2 (00:27):
No question about that. Yeah, And you know, even if
the Mariners aren't doing anything, there's still a lot of
talk about in Major League Baseball kind of circles. You know,
we got a Hall of Fame announcement to get to,
and we do have one signing. But I think the
first thing we need to get to is, you know,
we ended our last episode on the hopes of any

(00:49):
sort of hope that the Mariners signing Roki Sasaki. That
has proven to be not true as he has gone
to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Wow. Man, I'm glad they
got him. They really needed him, right, Yeah, So goodness. Yeah,

(01:09):
let's kind of dive into it because we spent a
pretty long, extensive segment last episode talking about the Dodgers,
and if what they are doing is good for baseball,
I think you can make an argument. Yeah, okay, if
you want to spend the big contracts on Otani and
then they were in on Soto and like the Blake
Snells of the world. Fine, But then I think the

(01:30):
biggest point you made was if they're the ones that
are still getting the cheap guys that everyone can afford,
there's an issue in baseball. Well, I think there is
a major issue.

Speaker 3 (01:39):
And believe me, there are a lot of different sites,
including MLB Trade Rumors, which is one of my favorite websites.
I refresh it about every nineteen seconds during the course
of my day, that they're writing numerous articles and poll
questions about whether or not we should have a salary cap.
And there was even one of those pole questions went

(02:00):
as far as asking the question, would you be willing
to sacrifice the twenty twenty seven season because I'm guessing
that some sort of elective barging agreement there's an opt
out maybe after twenty twenty six, would you be willing
to sit out as a baseball fan missed the entire
twenty twenty seven season in order to implement a salary
cap going forward. So it's becoming a pretty heated debate.

(02:24):
And look, you're talking about somebody. I'm fifty three years old.
I have been doing this radio thing since I was nineteen,
all right, and so thirty four thirty five years of
having this discussions, and so for thirty four, let's say
it's thirty five. For thirty four years, I have been against.

Speaker 2 (02:43):
A salary cap because I kind of liked the fact that.

Speaker 3 (02:49):
There were different ways to win and those ways were
within reach. And yes, there are some teams that can't
win consistently and that do have to think about finances,
and then there are some teams that are built to
win consistently and have that financial advantage. So I understand that.

(03:10):
And then the Mariners should be somewhere in between. But
lately they're acting like the Rays and the Oakland A's,
but they should at least be somewhere in between that.
So I've always been opposed to it. I sort of
understood why Major League Baseball you wanted their big market
clubs to make the playoffs and be relevant more often

(03:31):
than not. I kind of understand that in a business model,
kind of like the capitalism approach that this sport has
taken throughout its history, and I've always been okay with
living with that. It's kind of unfair, but not so
much unfair that the little guy doesn't have a chance.

Speaker 2 (03:51):
We've got numerous examples of that.

Speaker 3 (03:53):
I mean, how many teams made the playoffs this year
that had lower payrolls than the Mariners.

Speaker 2 (03:57):
I think there were six, yes, And that just goes
to show that there's, like you said, multiple ways to win.

Speaker 3 (04:01):
You can compete, you can win, and so we live
with the advantages that the Yankees and the Mets and
the Cubs and the Dodgers and others have over most
of the rest of the league.

Speaker 2 (04:15):
And it's a sliding scale too. It's not like, oh,
you're either the Yankees or the Mets or the Dodgers
or you're the race, right, there's teams in between, and
I think that's what you're saying about the Mariners.

Speaker 3 (04:23):
And we have a postseason which anything can happen. It's
the craziest tournament that there is in our professional sports.
And so there's I mean, in a short series. There's
the reason why we play out in sixty two games
is because we want the cream to separate but in
a short series, seven game series, I mean, there's nothing
stopping from the worst team in Major League Baseball from

(04:44):
beating the best team if the dice roll.

Speaker 2 (04:46):
A certain way.

Speaker 3 (04:48):
And right now that looks like the only saving grace
for the small market club because of what's happening. So
we've kind of lived with this being on the edge
of it being unfair in this sport, and I've been
okay with that, but talk about the slippery slope. You
can't move that too much further in the direction of

(05:08):
the big market clubs without it suddenly becoming blatantly unfair.
And suddenly Andrew's advantages now feel like abuses, you know,
between being able to defer money which should not be
allowed what you suggested that now even the affordable guys,

(05:29):
especially those coming over from Asia, they just want to
be on the best teams or it's been a master
plot all along because they couldn't play together there. But
they can hear if they all sign with the same
team as a free agent. And then I would also
put in that category the fact that we now have

(05:53):
some owners in the league that aren't running it like
a business anymore. They aren't running it like a hobby,
and I don't want this league to turn into live
sports because or live golf. I should say yeah, because
I'm a baseball fan first. This is not as a
Mariner fan that is jealous of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
I am a baseball fan first. And if you're going

(06:15):
to run a professional sports league, you have to run
it with some form of believable, conceivable competitive balance. And
I'm not saying we've reached the point of complete imbalance,
but I think we are moving in that direction. We
are going from on the fringe of being unfair for
the last thirty five forty years to suddenly those teams

(06:40):
are going from advantages to abuses. And if we're not
careful managing this, we're going to blow it out of
the water and it will become live golf, and it'll
become disgusting. It's whoever gets the richest owner, It's whoever
gets Elon Musk, and he pays a billion dollars for
everybody he wants.

Speaker 2 (06:57):
I don't want it to get that way.

Speaker 3 (06:58):
I wouldn't even enjoy that Elon Musk took over the
Mariners tomorrow and we had a forty billion dollar payroll.
I would not enjoy it. I would not be a
Mariners fan. I would find somebody else to root for,
or I would stop watching baseball altogether.

Speaker 2 (07:11):
And I'm not even kidding. Yeah, And there is like
I think a lot of fans want their owners to
act as if it's a hobby, as if it's like, oh,
this is this is a passion project for them. They
shouldn't care about money. It's like, but then you get
to that point where you know, it's it's hard to conceive,
like is this what we've been rooting for? Is this

(07:33):
what we've been watching the past thirty forty years, however
long you've been watching baseball? And I think you live.
Golf is a good comparison. There's a lot of It's
not just in golf either. Is that going on in
soccer as well? The Saudi Arabian League they're trying to
get all the players. Usually it would be like just
you know, you get the players at the tail ends
of their careers or someone that may be like flamed

(07:54):
out and like they can kind of revamp them. But
they're getting players in their primes at this point going
in just taking the highest salary and going to Saudi
Arabia and they're becoming irrelevant.

Speaker 3 (08:04):
No one watches live golf, No, it's unwatchable. No, I
won't watch baseball if that's where we're going. And if
it's just a bunch of billionaires paying, what is the
argument out there that people have. I mean, I keep
hearing this salary floor. I'm with that, Yeah, salary floor.
But I hope it's not because you feel so bad

(08:26):
about players they don't make enough money. I mean they
are making enough money. Yeah, the marketplace is created a
boon for Major League Baseball players. We don't need to
pay them more money. We don't need to bring in
owners who aren't operating it like a business. And we
can't have a league where seventy five percent of the

(08:47):
league is forced to run it like a business because
they don't have billions of dollars and then there are
three or four teams that are running it.

Speaker 2 (08:56):
Like a hobby.

Speaker 3 (08:57):
Yeah, we're heading in the wrong direction. I'm not saying
we're at a crisis point, but we are heading in
that direction. And so Baseball needs to get on this
as soon as possible. And I hope that that idiot
Manfred doesn't think this is cool because he's the guy
responsible for not letting it get out of control.

Speaker 2 (09:16):
I wouldn't. I wouldn't put your hopes into that, to
be honest, because you the word you use before his name,
it is true. Uh, it is like one more thing
from it is a weird dichotomy. Though you bring this
up and I hadn't even thought about this. Is like,
there's so many people that, like I said, want their
owners to run their teams as if like they're fans

(09:36):
of the team and not that it's like a business.
But then a lot of the same people are arguing
about the money that's involved in sports now, so like, oh,
I know, it's it's it's the it's the guys that
complain about nil but then complain when the their team
doesn't spend enough on nil. It's like, what which one

(09:58):
do you want here?

Speaker 3 (09:59):
I have no problem with the players making giant salaries.
This is one of the most coveted jobs in the world,
and one of the most coveted jobs of the world.
Should pay you a lot of money, no matter yeah,
no matter how unimportant.

Speaker 2 (10:14):
That it is.

Speaker 3 (10:14):
I mean, we're not saving lives out here, We're not
helping children get health.

Speaker 2 (10:18):
Entertainment it's just entertainment.

Speaker 3 (10:20):
But if that's one of the most coveted jobs in
the world, then it should pay a lot of money
in order to do it. But it has to be
contained within revenue being made to pay employees. It can't
be that Steven Cohen and whoever's owning the Los Angeles
Dodgers and deferring all these payments and handing it over

(10:42):
in ten years to somebody who's going to have a
three trillion dollar payroll. Like our national deficit is less
than what the Dodgers defer payments are going to be.
Payroll is going to be ten years from now if
they're going to field a competitive team then and pay
all the players from ten years ago. Yeah, so, I mean,

(11:03):
I don't know what how how crazy that's going to get,
But certainly I'm a little concerned. My antenna up and
we have to put we had to rain this thing in.

Speaker 2 (11:14):
Yeah, well, well that's something to keep an eye on
for the next couple of years. I would say, Uh,
I don't know when Rob Manfred's contract is up, or
does the commissioner even have contracts in MLPAK. I know
they do an NFL.

Speaker 3 (11:26):
He has suggests I don't know when it's up, but
he has suggested that he's he's on his last leg,
close to being with all of them. And let's give
him a little bit of credit. The last things that
he did for Major League Baseball, I mean, he saved
this we didn't have a work stoppage, and the things
that he introduced that were supposed to be so controversial,
but they certainly haven't made the sport worse, And I

(11:47):
would argue that in a lot of cases they made
the sport better and more watchable for the average fans. Certainly,
so we got to give him some credit as well.
But I just think in sports. We do this in
college sports, professional sports, we do this.

Speaker 2 (12:02):
In little league we.

Speaker 3 (12:03):
Let something get disastrous without realizing, hey, that's moving in
the wrong direction. We can't have that occur and call
ourselves a league. So I don't know what they're gonna
do with the new Dodger problem, but it's not going
to be enjoyed. They won ninety eight games last year
anders their entire starting rotation was on the injury list.
How many are there going to win this year? I mean,

(12:26):
it is absurd what they they They won ninety eight
games last year with their entire starting rotation on injury
list for most of the season, and they have since
added Roki Sasaki, Blake Snell, Michael Confordo. People forget about that.
That Just throw in that fourth outfielder for seventeen million,

(12:46):
high Song Kim.

Speaker 2 (12:48):
A couple of relievers to Tanner Scott. Scott is eighteen
million a year.

Speaker 3 (12:54):
Nobody's gonna pay that third eighteen million dollars a year.

Speaker 2 (12:58):
Good, he's a good real eighteen mil. Come on.

Speaker 3 (13:02):
And then they are like, oh, well Kirby Yates, Well
we're deciding between why not have them both? So then
they signed Kirby eights. Hey, how many games they're gonna win?
One hundred and forty five? How are you going to
beat them? Yeah, I mean, I get it that it's baseball,
and maybe in a short series we see some big,
major upset, but it shouldn't be a four gun conclusion

(13:25):
that they're a playoff team to begin with.

Speaker 2 (13:27):
Yeah, I agree.

Speaker 3 (13:28):
I mean, we in the National Football League because they
have competitive balance rules set in place. Even though baseball
historically puts more different teams in the playoffs from year
to year and has had more different champions over the
last twenty five.

Speaker 2 (13:44):
Years, right, So that's fact. But there is at least a.

Speaker 3 (13:50):
Feeling in the NFL is of competitive balance, and you
could at least have a story where the San Francisco
forty nine ers were certainly going to win the NFC
West this year and ended up with six wins. Well, yeah,
and I think the Dodgers are not going to end
up with sixty wins.

Speaker 2 (14:05):
I think one of the reasons that you point out
the stat about the different champions and different teams in
the playoffs is because there is like three four year
stretches where teams are going to the playoffs every year.
That doesn't happen as much in baseball. You have maybe
like a San Francisco Giants that win one hundred and
seven games one year and then fall off the face
of the earth the next year. Or you have the

(14:27):
Houston Astros that you know, they're one of the only examples.
I think that they're going to be consistently in the
playoff on maybe not this year. We'll see what happens.
They're probably significantly worse than they were last year. It's hard.
I tried to write them off last year, didn't didn't
end up working out for me. But the NFL, like
you get the Niners, you know, there are four or
five year dominance and then they're kind of, you know,
going back into the flux of you know, having to rebuild.

(14:50):
Same thing with the Patriots dynasty. You're seeing that now
with the Chiefs. But with MLB, it just kind of
seems like you have those couple of teams that you
are are above every one else, and then everyone else
is just kind of jockeying for position and it can
kind of switch between years.

Speaker 3 (15:04):
Yeah, I think they're like eight to ten who have
no excuse forever needing to rebuild, but there are everybody else.
You do have to do it every once in a while.
You kind of got to reset your marketplace. Right now,
we've got a pretty competitive field. I agree there aren't
many teams rebuilding right now. I think there might be
two or three. About five years ago, half the league

(15:24):
was doing it. But now all of those teams are
too pretty healthy point and so so but we we
we can't let it get too far out of control.
Otherwise I think the product is going to become unwatchable
the base that it's on right now, and I I mean,
I'm just going to be rooting against the damn Dodgers

(15:45):
the entire time.

Speaker 2 (15:46):
You and I both, let's do this. And look, Mike Benton,
you heard that right.

Speaker 3 (15:50):
And look, I mean everybody can sit there and think
and every small market out there that our owner is
a cheap skate and that we don't you know, we
don't spend any money and we have it. I know
he's sitting on a a mountain of gold and he
just won't spend it. I don't know, I don't know anymore.
I mean because half the league is not spending money.

(16:12):
There are six teams in the sport who haven't spent
a dollar yet, like the Mariners with Donovan Solano have
outspent six teams in baseball.

Speaker 2 (16:22):
Yeah, in clearing the Atlanta piece.

Speaker 3 (16:24):
Thirty percent of the league, we've had a more productive
financial offseason than thirty percent of the league at this point.
So it's got to be to some degree an issue.
And we as fans who think we know it all,
can't just blow it off. As they have money, they
just won't spend it there pocketing it. Mariners might be

(16:46):
guilty of that, Yeah, but when the when third of
the league won't spend anything and half of the league
is spending the exact same way, and then you've got
three teams that have unlimited budgets.

Speaker 2 (16:58):
That's a problem. Yeah, you know you say that. I'm
looking at the money spent this offseason. At this point,
according to spot track, there's five who have not spent
a dime, but the Mariners have outspent six teams. Because
the Atlanta Braves made a one point six million dollars signing.
I don't know who that would have been. Yeah, but anyways,
either but no, and I look at the teams that

(17:20):
haven't spent anything. Saint Louis Cardinals surprising that they haven't
spent anything. Yeah, fans are furious. Yeah, Miami, yeah, fine,
Milwaukee fro they should be spending there. There in similar situations.
The Mariners, they're a competitive team organization, they spend. Yeah,
Minnesota known as being pretty cheap, so yeah, okay, San

(17:44):
Diego has not spent a dime in free agency. And
then the Alanta Braves I just mentioned, they have only
made a one point six million dollars signing. So you
have teams like that that haven't spent anything. But then
you have teams like the Arizona Diamondback spending two hundred
and ten million.

Speaker 3 (18:03):
And do you know what happened when they signed Corbyn
Burns to a free agent? Do you know what the
entire con press conference was about. Corbyn Burns was sitting
there like shaking his head, like, is anybody gonna ask
me a question? Because all the Arizona press did was
ask Ken Kendrick, their owner, why he hasn't spent like
this in the past.

Speaker 2 (18:21):
Yeah, this is a problem.

Speaker 3 (18:23):
Yeah, the pr the belief between the media to the
fans that everybody is cheap because we don't have competitive
balance rules that convince our fan base that teams are trying.

Speaker 2 (18:36):
The athletics eighty point nine million dollars spent this free agency.
Where does that come from?

Speaker 3 (18:43):
Hey, well, I'm gonna tell you right now. I'm not
counting on the Mariners finishing ahead of them in the
no standings.

Speaker 2 (18:48):
No, they're a good team. I did Jeffrey.

Speaker 3 (18:51):
Springs and Luis Severino are both really good pitchers.

Speaker 2 (18:54):
They just added to that rotation. Totally agree, and Brent
Rooker is a great piece to build around. Offensively, they
got some I have always liked. Uh, Yeah, you know,
what's their right fielder's name, I forget it, like Lawrence Butler. Yes, yeah,
he's a good player. Yeah. They just have a lot
of good young pieces.

Speaker 3 (19:10):
They weren't bad, they were competitive last year and now
they actually are experienced and are adding pieces to the team.

Speaker 2 (19:17):
So it's weird that like teams that are at the
bottom are at the bottom, and then the teams that
are spending are spent. We're in a weird spot.

Speaker 3 (19:26):
And let me say one more thing about this, and
we can keep talking about it if you want, but
I just want to say, because you brought up the Padres,
and I want everybody to hear this, because a lot
of you were sitting there saying, the Padres can spend,
why can't we. Well, the truth of the matter is
they couldn't spend, not the way that they did. They
did because their owner was not healthy and he wanted

(19:48):
to see a championship before he was done, so we
spent wildly.

Speaker 2 (19:52):
He gave aj pell or whatever he wanted.

Speaker 3 (19:55):
And then as soon as he passed away, and he
sadly passed away, apparently he was a wonderful person. His
brother and his wife took over the Padres, you know,
and they immediately looked at the books, crapped themselves and said,
we can't do that, and so they're now trying to

(20:16):
run it like a business again. So they're not spending
any money until they can play catch up with the finances.
So you can sit there and think that they all
are worth billions and they should spend a billion dollars
every year on my baseball team to make me happy.
But there's a lot of evidence out there that suggests
that major League Baseball teams, yes they make money. Yes,

(20:39):
their bottom line is that the value of the franchise.
If they sold it, they would make a lot of
money off of it. But there's enough evidence out there
to suggest that it's not some big cash cow like
you think it is. And the Dodgers and the Mets
are the ones making a mockery of it, not teams
like the know, the Padres and the Cardinals, Right, Okay,

(21:03):
So that's what we've got to concern ourselves with. I
wish they'd reveal the books and so we knew this
once and for all, just how many cheapskate owners there
were in the sport. That would make a lot easier
for it. But right now baseball's got a terrible perception problem,
and if for no other reason there they might have
to consider a salary cap and might have to get
very serious about it just so their fans think that

(21:26):
their team is doing what it takes to try and
make them happy.

Speaker 2 (21:30):
Yeah, because I think that one of the main big
topics here in Seattle, and we can get to don
and Salono here in just a second, is I mean
just the classic like, oh, they're not even trying to win,
you know, they don't care about winning. Show show the
fans that they care about winning. And I, as someone
who is a Mariner fan, I can't, like, I don't

(21:52):
want to say defend it because like I've oh, I.

Speaker 3 (21:54):
Think we're cheap. Yeah, but I mean we got one
of the cheap organizations.

Speaker 2 (21:58):
Yeah, for sure. But it's just like I don't even
know at this point, Like I don't know what they're
really capable of spending. But I do believe in the
current climate, there's enough evidence to suggest they should be
spending more, a little bit more than what three point
five million dollars on Donovan Slano.

Speaker 3 (22:13):
If they're a top if they're a top fifteen, I
can live with it. They should be top twelve payroll.
I mean we are not a small market. We're not
a big market either. I don't care how much money
we have with Amazon. It's not like Amazon's chipping in,
you know. All right, So, but you know we're a
media market.

Speaker 2 (22:33):
There are money in the region. That doesn't mean the
market is bigger.

Speaker 3 (22:37):
Right, So we're a media market club who should spend
like a media market club, and media market clubs when
they have a chance to win a world series get
a little uncomfortable financially in order to push the team
over the top. And that's what our ownership group is
obviously refusing to do. And you have every reason to

(22:57):
be angry about that. Yeah, every reason. Yeah, well, Chuck,
I don't know what you're talking about. They signed Donovan Salano.

Speaker 2 (23:03):
That pushes them over the top, new first baseman three
point five million dollars one year. What do you think
about him?

Speaker 3 (23:12):
That exhales all I need to know if he's if
he's an off if he's a move at the end
of the offseat of a productive offseason. Look, you've added
a guy who is chubby and marsh mellowy as.

Speaker 2 (23:26):
He is, but doesn't have power for some reason, does.

Speaker 3 (23:29):
Put the ball in play. I don't think that that
will stop this year. But then again, I didn't think
Hora Polonko was going to hit a wall and Colton
Wong was going to hit a wall, and Mitch Garver
was going to hit a wall in their early to
mid thirties. This is somebody who's thirty seven years old.
He can't run, he doesn't hit for power, he can't field.
He's a short sighted platoon at first base. It's awful.

(23:52):
I would have been embarrassed to announce this. I would
not that he's part of the Mariners, but considering how
much people have been waiting, I mean everybody refreshing MLB
trade rumors with me every nineteen seconds, how long we've
been waiting to discuss an impact offensive player added to

(24:13):
this team. I would have reached an agreement with Donovan
and then just said we're going to announce this later.
I would have been embarrassed to make this my announcement
after all the time that had passed. Because even though
I see bring him off the bench to pinch it,
he'll probably put the ball in play, which is something.

Speaker 2 (24:32):
That we need.

Speaker 3 (24:33):
You know, he does hit lefties pretty well. I don't
see any reason why that should stop, and he shouldn't
be atrocious defensively if you stick him over there at
first base. But and at three point five million dollars,
that's a really cheap player.

Speaker 2 (24:47):
But that's all.

Speaker 3 (24:48):
He is a really cheap player that you paid a
really cheap amount to find a roster spot for. That's
all Donovan Solana is.

Speaker 2 (24:56):
Yeah, I mean, I don't know. The first kind of
thought I was is like, Okay, what does that mean?
Does that mean they're probably going to run a platoon
of him and Luke Railey at first base? That's my assumption.

Speaker 3 (25:05):
Yeah, because he's not a third base He's certainly not
an everyday third baseman and he hasn't played second base
in three years.

Speaker 2 (25:11):
And he's not I mean, he has okay hitting stats,
but he's not a good enough hitter to be an
everyday DH.

Speaker 3 (25:21):
He's see a lot of people are comparing this to
Wong and Polonco.

Speaker 2 (25:26):
And being angry.

Speaker 3 (25:27):
Totally different, not anywhere close to being that good of
assigning this is more Tommy Lostella.

Speaker 2 (25:32):
Yes, this is more there's.

Speaker 3 (25:34):
A veteran guy out there that we think can serve
a role on the team, but there is an outside
chance he won't even make the opening gay roster and
then lo and behold because of a couple of injuries.
Your opening gay lineup had Tommy Lostella dhing and made
you look foolish. Same thing could end up happening here.

(25:54):
But Solano is in the Lostella category. It's wishful thing
to think he's in the Polonko Wong category.

Speaker 2 (26:02):
Yes, and once again we're gonna remind people. We know
that the Polonko Wong things didn't work out. But hindsight,
looking ahead when they did make that sign you didn't
like the Wong signing. I did. I didn't. Okay, you
didn't expect it to be that bad, Yes, let me
address it. I didn't love it because I wanted an

(26:23):
upgrade on Adam Fraser. I was just like, all right,
we just got another Adam Fraser. I thought it was
an upgrade.

Speaker 3 (26:28):
He was a three and a half war player the
previous year and had always been solid.

Speaker 2 (26:34):
But he didn't. He couldn't defend or hit no, and
neither could Polanco.

Speaker 3 (26:37):
No.

Speaker 2 (26:37):
And I did like the Polanko trades. I loved the
Polanka trade. Yeah uh yeah, hindsight looking back at that, well,
I don't know. We'll see what ends up happening. Solano's
gonna have a spot on the roster.

Speaker 3 (26:49):
Yeah, and and there will probably be a few times like, ah, right,
you know what, it's late in the game, Oh, Solano's
coming up.

Speaker 2 (26:54):
I bet you he's going to get this run in. Yeah.
That's that's what he is. That's it, that's all he is.

Speaker 3 (27:00):
But to feel excited about that move, there's no chance
to feel excited about that move.

Speaker 2 (27:04):
So I guess that fills the first base whole ish
kind of.

Speaker 3 (27:11):
I think what they're doing is he can play first
or third or DH. So it just gives them a
piece that if we end up, let's say Pete Alonzo
for example, you got Pete Alonzo and that's not happening.
Now you get Pee Alonzo, and then now Rayley becomes
fourth outfielder DH type E spells Alonzo at first piece,

(27:35):
and then Solano becomes total bench player. Maybe we have
a platoon at third now if you can get a
left handed stick to play third base, and so that's
what he becomes right now, because you haven't added anything else.
To me, he looks like your platoon first baseman.

Speaker 2 (27:54):
Okay, So of the free agents left, take money out
of it. Who would you want.

Speaker 3 (28:02):
I would take Bregman, Okay, that's who I like to have,
and I think that solves a lot. But it doesn't
sound like that's even a possibility. Yeah, Alonzo's salary might
have come down low enough that maybe they'll get in
on it. I mean they were in on Christian Walker.
I don't know what they were offering him. I don't
know what insult they offered him, But I mean maybe

(28:26):
Alonzo's number does come down to twenty million a year,
and at that point I would think they'd be interested.
And even though I know you don't like him and
I really don't love him, certainly wasn't a guy that
I circled heading into the offseason, at this stage, you
better believe I'd do a backflip in the middle of
traffic if we could get Pete Alonzo, put him at
first base, have a legit, cleanup hitter, and and then

(28:50):
just roll with it.

Speaker 2 (28:50):
I mean I would too. I think going into the season,
I thought there were better options, but at this point
there's not. There's not. I would have even been interested
in Santander. Oh yeah, I would have loved Anthony Santander
and that deal, and that deal was doable, what was it?
Let me let me five.

Speaker 3 (29:06):
Years ninety two and that's a little over eighteen. I mean,
I wouldn't have wanted to go five years on him either,
but I definitely would have gone three years sixty for him,
or three years sixty five to make the per year better.

Speaker 2 (29:19):
Damn. I don't know.

Speaker 3 (29:22):
I might've even gone like two years fifty and then
he could become a free agent.

Speaker 2 (29:26):
And I get like, yeah, okay, he's an outfield SLASHDH right,
You're more looking at infielders, so maybe you can make
the argument he's not a position of need, but you
got to get make room for a hitter like that
in your lineup. I would think, yeah.

Speaker 3 (29:40):
I would, especially at this stage in the process. But
I mean, it's very evident that they are not being
allowed to spend last year. Despite what everybody says, they
ended up with the same payroll that they were planning on.
They just went about it in a really funky way,
and it looked like they were trimming payroll, which they were,

(30:03):
but trimming payroll to add so they didn't add to
the payroll, which is what they promised us. They were
going to do, so they renegged on their promise. But
they didn't cut payroll like everybody suggests. They cut some
players because of their salaries to create payroll space their
payroll because we don't have a salary cap, their designated

(30:24):
payroll limit. They created space for that to add different types.
Now it blew up in their face because Suarez went
out and had another gray year or at least a
very good year, and Polonko was a disaster and so
was Garver so it didn't work out their machinations.

Speaker 2 (30:40):
But they did not.

Speaker 3 (30:41):
Cut payroll last year. At this point the misnomer this
year they've cut payroll.

Speaker 2 (30:46):
Oh yeah, unless they make a you know, Peter Alonzo
Alex began signing.

Speaker 3 (30:50):
And it's inexcusable and I think borderline unforgivable. I mean,
we'll find out. I'll say this. I mean, they've got
time and I will forgive. I will forgive the offseason
to this point if they can make Hey, here while
the sun is shining. But right now, you're not as
good a team as you were at the end of
last year, and that team missed the playoffs.

Speaker 2 (31:13):
Why do I feel like this is just a random feeling?
I had. I was talking about this with Ian yesterday.
Why do I feel like we're gonna come into this
season with a bunch of like, like you said, a
less talented team than we had last year, and then
all of a sudden, exactly all of the players that
we had, like Julio's gonna turn into an MVP type player,
and then Randy's gonna be the player we traded for,

(31:35):
and then like all of a sudden, Mitch Haniger finds
out that he can play baseball again. Like I'm read,
I'm glad you brought this up. I have a weird
feeling that's gonna happen.

Speaker 3 (31:46):
I don't know what happens In Bucky Jacobson's Weird Hit.
He misconstrues a lot of the points that it's really
important to listen to. What point is being made because
I say they had an f F minus off season,
and he says, I still think they're gonna be good.

(32:07):
That's not what I'm saying. I think they're going to
be good and competit. You can't not be competitive with
this starting rotation. I love the foundation of Julio and
Cal at the heart of this team, and so I
think that they are good. That's that's the irritating part.

(32:28):
You did great things to build a foundation upon which
to develop a championship team. Why are you now stopping short?
You did the hard work. This is why the national
people are destroying the Mariners. It's not just the local
you know commentary. The national guys are like, what are

(32:51):
you doing? Seattle? I mean, I just heard a conversation
the other day on what's the worst off season in baseball?
And Mariners was coming up more often than anybody else,
and I think I might agree with it. It's not
that we're going to feel a bad team on opening day,

(33:12):
but the off season the opposite, almost right, Yeah, they
have a really competitive team, and with that kind of pitching,
you probably could rattle off twenty and four to start
the year and really chart an incredible.

Speaker 2 (33:25):
Path and we could have a hell of a year.

Speaker 3 (33:28):
But grading it just on the off season, on what
you had and what you needed to get you where
you need to go, it is an absolute failure. It
is an F minus. It's the worst off season in
baseball to this point, and that includes five teams that
haven't spent a dime.

Speaker 2 (33:47):
And three of them are probably in this similar boat
as the Mariners where there should be playoff contenders. But
I think you're right because of the position that they're in.
It's very unique. You have this core together, most of
them aren't making any money. You gotta supplement that with
pieces around the rest of your roster, especially in the lineup,

(34:07):
to make sure that you capitalize on this opportunity because
a couple of years from now, you're probably not gonna
have all these guys. In fact, you definitely will not
have all these guys, oh, no doubt.

Speaker 3 (34:18):
And what's the most important thing you said in that
is especially in your lineup. Yes, not only are you
supposed to be in a championship window.

Speaker 2 (34:25):
Not have you.

Speaker 3 (34:26):
Not only have you only added Donovan Solano, the state
puff marshmallow man, you also have the most glaring needs
to fill in this offseason. The Cardinals. I mean, they
don't have near the starting rotation that we have and
probably aren't better than what we are, right, but they

(34:47):
don't have the starting rotation that we have. And then
the obvious hole in the offense and on the infield
that we have holes. Yeah, and so it looks even
worse for the Mariners because you're in a championship window.
You've done squat and you have monstrous holes that you

(35:08):
have to fill and you're running out of time and
players to do it.

Speaker 2 (35:11):
Okay, so let's kind of let's go into problem solving
mode here. For the Mariners, you missed out on Roki Sasaki.
You did make the Donovan Solano sign, and that pushes
you over the top in some people's eyes, but in
the people's eyes that it doesn't. According to Adam Jude,
the Mariners are still planning on making a big move.
What would that big move entail? Are we talking trading

(35:32):
starting pitching once again? Is Alex Bregman in the cards?
Is Pete Alonso in the cards? I'd like to think
they're in the cards. I don't think they are. Okay,
if you did that, then you don't have to trade
Luis Castillo. Jackson profar.

Speaker 3 (35:46):
I don't know where he plays, but you're right, per
our Santander conversation, fine room for him. He's definitely improves
your offense, especially off the season as he's coming off
of I felt it when we start to the stove
in the off season, I certainly feel it. Now your
only choice is to trade Luis Castillo and even that

(36:07):
you obviously weren't getting the offers you thought you were
going to get for him, So it might be circling
back to Castillo straight up for Cassus that sort of move,
or Castillo straight up for Alec Boom.

Speaker 2 (36:19):
I mean, at the beginning of.

Speaker 3 (36:20):
The year, I'm creating a much more bigger return than
just Alec Bohm. But if the market says that's all
he's worth and that's the best offer you can get,
then that's something that you might have to do.

Speaker 2 (36:34):
Here's the thing.

Speaker 3 (36:35):
If you made that move and you just went Castillo
for Boom, not that they need starting pitching, they may
be out of the starting pitching market. But if you
got a Boom and you satisfied third, and you've saved
sixteen million dollars, now all of a sudden, you probably
can't afford Alonzo and you can put him at first.
Not my dream off season to add Alonzo and Boom,

(36:56):
but it certainly gives satisfies two giant holes on your team.
Raley can now be your fourth outfielder. You can just
mix and match at DH and then at second base.
We live with hoping that Ryan Bliss breaks through and
can actually hit.

Speaker 2 (37:12):
A fast ball, high fastball.

Speaker 3 (37:14):
So I mean, I think Castillo is the big move
that they're talking about, and I would be surprised if
that's not the case.

Speaker 2 (37:23):
Yeah, I just wonder if you get what he's actually worth,
if you get more back than you give up. It
sucks that we have to even entertain this, but I
I'm even starting to come around to the idea on that.
And you know how against that I was in the
beginning of the offseason. But you just have to fill
some holes on your offense. I would hate it, but.

Speaker 3 (37:44):
I would love the idea if it's Bregman and keep
the rotation and tax. Yeah, but that means you're adding
a lot to payroll, which obviously is something that you
know makes them want to throw up.

Speaker 2 (37:55):
So that's kind of something I want to bring up,
is like the supposedly there's still more to spend, right
because they haven't used it.

Speaker 3 (38:04):
Well, they created space. Yeah, Polanco is off the payroll,
and Turners off the payroll, and Ross is off the payroll,
and so they did create space. Now everybody a lot
of arbitration numbers and now you're paying a Rose Arena
for a full year and Victor roeblaz got a pay
raise from a year ago.

Speaker 2 (38:25):
But the notion was, and what was.

Speaker 3 (38:28):
Being spread by Ryan Divish, who does an excellent job
follow in this team, was that that money that they
cut was going to be used. They had around twenty
million dollars they could spend for the season on free agents. Well,
we've spent three and a half of it.

Speaker 2 (38:47):
So where's the other seventeen millers sixteen and a half million?

Speaker 3 (38:51):
And by the way, if we're two million dollars short
on a really good player and we signed on ven Solano.

Speaker 2 (38:57):
What a waste. I mean, if the budget is really
that tight that you don't go a couple million over,
Like if I'm.

Speaker 3 (39:04):
Going to get in trouble by the wife because I
bought a pack Ofmentos and we don't have that in
our budget.

Speaker 2 (39:10):
God, that's not a world I want to live in. No,
it's not. And yet we might be living in that world. Yeah.
I mean, you tell any Mariner fan that's followed this
team for forty five years that they'll say, oh, nothing
new here, nothing to see here. This is how they've
been operated for a long time.

Speaker 3 (39:28):
Well, it certainly caught me off guard. I mean, I've
been here for a while now, I've supported the rebuild.
I think that there are a lot of great aspects.
I mean, the national people wouldn't be saying up in
arms about the Mariners not spending if they didn't believe
in what Jerry has done to build this program to

(39:48):
where it is. Yeah, almost everyone that I respect as
a national voice of baseball. And I don't mean to
like point to the national guys a lot. I'm just saying,
if you get outside of your own anger about your
own baseball team, the people that judge this from afar
and don't have any bias one way or the other

(40:10):
aren't a fan of the team. Everybody thinks that this
foundation is spectacular. Yeah, everybody that I trust loves this
foundation too, and they cannot understand what is happening when
they're so close to being special and ownership won't step

(40:31):
up and get the job done. It's maddening. It's maddening.
And so here I am thinking that these were the
years where I'd get to sit back and say, I
told you all, you know, here we go World Series.
Glad you got your World Series paraphernalia. Did you enjoy
that parade? Let's have another one this year. I thought

(40:53):
that's where I would be sitting at this point in
twenty twenty five, and instead I'm sitting here wondering what's
going on? What is going on? What about all those
empty promises that you've made, And you're going to waste this. Yeah,
you're going to waste some really excellent work that you did.

Speaker 2 (41:12):
Yeah, And this is this has been Jerry Depoto's And
like you said, there's a combination of blame here, but
this has been Jerry Depoto's m when he was in
LA too, he had Mike Trout had a decent foundation
in a different way, but they could get over the
hump there. And it's it's I don't know if.

Speaker 3 (41:33):
That's another part of it. This isn't just about money.

Speaker 2 (41:35):
Right, I Mean, there are tours that spend less that
are able to go to the playoffs pretty consistently.

Speaker 3 (41:40):
There were players that were available this offseason that were
traded yep, that you certainly could have swung those deals.
Josh Naylor for a top twenty pick and a competitive
competitive balance draft pick between the you know, second and
third rounds. You couldn't have pulled that trade off, but.

Speaker 2 (42:02):
You were like, well, I can't do that for one
year of Naylor. Yes you can, Absolutely you can.

Speaker 3 (42:07):
That's what you do when you're in a championship window.

Speaker 2 (42:10):
And you are in a championship window.

Speaker 3 (42:12):
The Orioles signed, traded for Corbyn Burns and gave up
two good prospects. Now great but good, Yeah, and it
was worth it. It didn't work out, and now they've
got to sit there and wonder how good Joey or
Teazer dal Hall is going to be for the Brewers
for the next year six years. Who cares you got
to give to get something? You got one of the
best pitchers in the world to try to help you

(42:34):
win in the World Series. For make it to the
World Series for one year, that's worth it. Those are
the moves that you make, and they won't make those either.
Throw a fence around your nine or ten favorite guys
in the organization that you deem untouchable. You don't want
to trade Lazarro Montes. Don't trade love Zarro Montes. But
you can't feel a lot about Montes, can't feel about

(42:57):
everybody in your organization the same you feel about Montes
or Celestin or Young or Emerson. Yeah, you've got to
find somebody to move, but they're just so hung up
on Oh gosh, oh man, what if that guy grows
four inches this offseason? Yeah, what if he developed seventy power.

(43:18):
He's at forty five right now, justin what if he
developed seventy power and he's gonna play for the Giants
and we don't have oh and we only had one
year to show for it.

Speaker 2 (43:30):
Get over it.

Speaker 1 (43:31):
Yeah, particularly if ownership's not going to give you money,
You've got to move pieces that other people will value.

Speaker 3 (43:41):
For their future so that you can win. Now the
president and it's just not happening.

Speaker 2 (43:47):
And Jerry is absolutely wide open.

Speaker 3 (43:50):
As much as I've defended him in the last five
years in the rebuild, I'll continue to defend those things.

Speaker 2 (43:56):
Yeah, but you have to finish.

Speaker 3 (43:59):
Nobody hangs back because you have a number one ranked
farm system. You've got to finish this. And right now
it's in serious question, and I think Jerry's jobs in
serious jeopardy, or at least should be. And if he
doesn't make the playoffs some with everybody else, he's got
to go.

Speaker 2 (44:16):
Yeah, this is it. This is your last chance. And
that's a that's a good point. I think this year
is it should be again, should be we'll see where.

Speaker 3 (44:24):
I mean, there was a conversation, a real conversation there
off season.

Speaker 2 (44:28):
Yeah yeah, yeah, but I think this is kind of
his last go round if things go similarly that they
have the last couple of years. Even if it's a oh,
you know, you're one or two games short, that's your
job to make up those one or two games.

Speaker 3 (44:43):
That is your job. Yes, your job is to read
the market and not be caught off guard by what
trade value is, what free agent dollars are going to
be owed. That's your job as much as anything else.
And you seem to have been caught flat footed this
offseason and what might be and I'm not saying this
as hyperbole, the most important off season in the history

(45:07):
of this franchise.

Speaker 2 (45:08):
Yeah wow, wow. I hadn't thought about it that way before,
But I think with the upcoming you're one year closer
to have wasted this starting attention. Yeah yeah, I mean
you did last year, like straight up, you did. You did?
Uh yeah, you have Julio locked up, but who knows
what's gonna happen with cal Who knows what's gonna happen

(45:31):
with George Kirby? Who knows what's gonna happen with Logan Gilbert.
Who knows what's gonna happen with Brian wu Brice Miller.

Speaker 3 (45:36):
Like, Well, the way they're operating that right now, it
feels very much like it's Julio here for the long term.

Speaker 2 (45:42):
And that's it. Yeah, I mean that's the way they're
operating right now. What a crying shame. That would be
an absolute to come out of all of this positivity
that I think Mariners fans. And that's the other thing
is you mentioned this before. There's a lot of things
to think about. I think Marrier's fans have been more
have had more angry feelings towards this last three four

(46:05):
years than they have in a long time because they've
had a good team, because that they should be better
than they are and they have a good foundation. But
now people care. You've brought them in to care about
Mariner baseball once again.

Speaker 3 (46:18):
Well that's all I'm asking. Keep that perspective. Yeah, this
team's not lost. This team hasn't been terrible. They're not
terrible right now. God, it is frustrated, maddening that the
moves are not being made. And I say by both
ownership and management to push this team over the top,
because there were moves to be had this offseason that

(46:40):
would have satisfied exactly what this team needs. Why weren't
they made. I didn't even want Gavin Lucks. Gavin lux
was doable. That was a trade that we could have
easily made, and that guy could have played second or
third or even shortstop if we wanted to get rid
of JP. Yeah, so there were a lot of moves
that were available to this team. And then and then

(47:00):
years into Roki Sasaki and you don't even get a
phone call, You don't even get a meeting with the guy.
What are you doing with all that year's worth of preparation?
That better be a wake up call to you as well.
You're going to invest that much time, energy, and effort,
and your reputation has become so sour for not going
for it. That a prized free agent who should want

(47:23):
to be here, considering how much success you've had with
developing pitching and keeping it healthy. He should want to
be here more than anywhere, particularly Los Angeles where they
blowout elbows as a hobby. He should want to be here,
And you couldn't even get a flip and interview with him.
You couldn't even get him to see all of the
posters you made for him, and the banners and the

(47:43):
confetti that would fall on his head.

Speaker 2 (47:46):
That's embarrassing.

Speaker 3 (47:47):
So that's two embarrassing things that have happened since last
we did a podcast. Donovan Solano and not getting an
interview with Rochi Sasaki despite years of preparation to chat
with him.

Speaker 2 (48:00):
Yeah, And then I think one of the other reasons
it should have even been a foregone conclusion that you
at least get a phone call is because of the
guy that set the precedent from his country, and that's
e Tro Suzuki. We can kind of shift modes here
a little bit. We could sense the frustration amongst Mariners
fans about the offseason. Let's go to something a little

(48:20):
more positive. Echiro, he's a Hall of Famer all but
one vote, all but one vote, yeah, to get into
the Hall of Fame. Does it mean anything to you
that he's not unanimous?

Speaker 3 (48:35):
Nothing of all the things to be upset about. I mean,
obviously there are a few turds in the punch bowl
here when it comes to this voting process, and they've
always existed Mariano Rivera is the only unanimous player. He's
not the best player of all.

Speaker 2 (48:51):
And that's the thing that bothers me, is like, if
there is going to be one unanimous guy, like I
love Mario Rivera, he's best closer of all time, surefire
Hall of fair Yeah right, but that's the guy that
you give it up for, really, really well.

Speaker 3 (49:08):
And it just shows you how absurd the whole process is.
I mean, this started with when they started voting for this.
Babe Ruth did not get voted unanimous. Okay, so because
we invented a Hall of fame, and who knows what
the thinking was back then. So then there was a
faction of people that said, well, if Babe Ruth's not unanimous,

(49:28):
no one ever will be. And so a bunch of
crusty old bastards decided they weren't going to vote for
anybody on the first and yeah.

Speaker 2 (49:37):
Hank Aaron, And so we wasted all of.

Speaker 3 (49:40):
Those surefire Hall of famers and now we've got ghost
voters who don't even follow baseball and we don't know
what their agendas are. We had Dan Shaughnessy a few
years ago, if he believed you used steroids, he didn't
vote for you. Yeah, it didn't even have to be proven.
If he thought with his eyeballs that you who use steroid.

Speaker 2 (50:01):
Yeah, I just got a feeling that you used steroids.

Speaker 3 (50:03):
Yep, he wouldn't vote for you. And I think he's
still voting, by the way, probably still is, And so
there's no reason to be angry about it. It's a
flawed system. He clearly overwhelmingly got in about a beat.

Speaker 2 (50:20):
A sweat, and that's the only thing that matters to you.
That's the only thing that matters.

Speaker 3 (50:23):
I could care less that he missed by a vote,
because even if he would be the first unanimous player,
I'd be like, that's ridiculous.

Speaker 2 (50:30):
Oh yeah, I see. And that's the other thing. I Like,
everyone's off the arms, like, oh, how can Iro not
be unanimous? I'm like, well, if you look at all
the other players that weren't unanimous, I wouldn't have put
him as the number one guy, right, But Petro's.

Speaker 3 (50:43):
Not even in the top twenty five greatest. He's not
even the greatest Mariner of all time. I mean, you
should be more angry about Junior than you were about Echiro.

Speaker 2 (50:51):
Ding ding Ding.

Speaker 3 (50:54):
I Randy Johnson wasn't unanimous. Randy Johnson had a much better.

Speaker 2 (50:58):
Career than each hero.

Speaker 3 (50:59):
Yeah completely not as a Mariner, right is the better Mariner.
But Randy Johnson's in the conversation for best picture ever?

Speaker 2 (51:07):
Each hei Row is not in the conversation for best
who is?

Speaker 3 (51:13):
Who is your best picture ever? Just now you say,
in my lifetime it's between Randy Johnson and Pedro.

Speaker 2 (51:17):
Martin those of the two, I was gonna say, yeah,
now before that, yeah, I didn't.

Speaker 3 (51:22):
I'm not nearly old enough to have seen Walter Johnson
or Lefty Grove. And I'm not old enough to have
seen Sandy Kofax or Bob Gibson.

Speaker 2 (51:31):
But in my lifetime to have seen so young Uh sorry,
that was that was too far.

Speaker 3 (51:40):
Too far, So I I will I will say that
Lefty Grove and Walter Johnson probably have the best numbers,
and then Sandy Kofax for a short period of time,
is the most dominant. But but Randy Johnson and Pedro
Martinez are the two best I've.

Speaker 2 (51:58):
Ever seen in this era I think modern near my lifetime.

Speaker 3 (52:00):
Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, okay, my lifetime, and I saw
Nolan Ryan and Randy Johnson and Pedro Martinez are better.

Speaker 2 (52:07):
That's awesome. Yeah, yeah, Randy Man, I was a little
young to know him during his Mariner days.

Speaker 3 (52:14):
I'm also a little too young, believe it or not,
for Tom sever because when I was old enough, he
was already a Cincinnati read So I missed the New
York Mets years where apparently.

Speaker 2 (52:23):
He was as filthy as they could be.

Speaker 3 (52:25):
Oh yeah, so I'm I'm even in my advanced age. Okay,
I'm still too young to have seen Tom sever Who's
another one.

Speaker 2 (52:32):
I wouldn't say advanced age, by the way, so random thought. Okay, so,
but also there's another Mariner on this ballot. It was
Felix Hernandez. I almost think the bigger development. Obviously, the
bigger story is that Ichio got in and was almost unanimous.
But Felix Hernandez stays on the ballot. I think it's

(52:53):
a that's a pretty good first turnout. What was it
twenty point six percent or something like that, need five
to stay on. Yeah, so I that's a good for
year for fulixs Hernandez. I wonder if there's a lot
of people like, oh, we got to make sure he
stays on the ballot, and then maybe that number goes
down next year or something like that because there's less
of a contingency to keep him on. But I think
that's a good first year for Fulis Hernandez because I

(53:13):
think he should be a Hall of Famer. He's my
personal favorite Mariner of all time. Oh and I know
that personally favorite, not say the best, but my favorite.

Speaker 3 (53:21):
I've got him going. I think he's Hall of Famer
as well. But then again, I've always wanted to reward greatness.
The Hall of Fame voters historically have been more akin
to reward longevity.

Speaker 2 (53:35):
Yeah, legacy sort of thing.

Speaker 3 (53:37):
Yes, And so guys like Craig Bigio get in without
any difficulty, and you know where, give me Don Maddingly,
give me Dale Murphy. Give me guys who were in
the conversation for best at what they do for a decade.
And I think that's more Hall of Fame worthy than

(53:58):
somebody who was really good Rafael pal Merrow combined compiled
a bunch of stats, really good player, right, but never
in the conversation for that's the best at what he
does in the sport.

Speaker 2 (54:11):
Totally agree.

Speaker 3 (54:11):
So to me, that's always been a flaw. But we
have transitioned with the voters. I'm st younger, still some
turns in the punch bowl, but we have a lot
more voters that go analytics.

Speaker 2 (54:23):
Yep, Analytics love Felix, and.

Speaker 3 (54:25):
Analytics loves Felix, Yes and so, and a lot more
are starting to kind of like tip their cap to
the greatness.

Speaker 2 (54:32):
So I think he will get there.

Speaker 3 (54:35):
I thought his numbered actually be a little bit higher,
really than twenty percent.

Speaker 2 (54:38):
I was. I was pleasantly surprised at how high it
was for me. I thought it would be close for
like a ten twelve range. But yeah, I think it's
great for Felix. I really hope he gets in. He's
an awesome dude. I think the combination of his greatness
within like what a seven to eight year stretch from
two thousand and seven, two thousand and eight to about
twenty fifteen, he was Him and Clayton Kershaw are the

(55:02):
two best pitchers in baseball, like, no question about it
at that all. It was him in the American League,
Kershaw on the National League, and Kershaw is probably a
first ballot Hall of Famer first ballot, uh so, I yeah,
it just if he played for any other team during
that time, I think it would have been four young
maybe he would have been first ballot at that point.

Speaker 3 (55:19):
They'll take that in consider it well, so many voters now,
I mean, the big knock against.

Speaker 2 (55:23):
Him was the lack of wins.

Speaker 3 (55:25):
And now voters don't even look at him. Yeah, and
I think that they should a little bit. Yeah, you know,
maybe not as much as they used to. But but
I think he will get there and and so, and
I think spreading it out is better. I mean, we
could have had an entire Mariner cooper'stown July or August.

Speaker 2 (55:44):
When do they do it? July July? I think, yeah,
super flipping hot. Yeah, we could have had that.

Speaker 3 (55:50):
But I think it's better that Iro gets his day
and then Felix gets his days.

Speaker 2 (55:55):
Like Griffian Egger, same thing.

Speaker 3 (55:56):
And it probably will be like eight years from now.
He's not gonna I don't think he's gonna have to
wait the entire ten years.

Speaker 2 (56:01):
But okay, I don't think he gets in. I do
think he gets in. Okay, that's awesome. I would be
very excited if that happens. I love fix Fernandez. I
just I loved his aura on the mound. I loved
his like half unbuttoned shirt. I love his like King's Court.
I love played with the King's Court. Yeah, like he was.
That's the other thing is like he gave personality to

(56:22):
a team and a sport that did not have a
lot of personality at that time. Uh. Very kind of
opposite of Etro Eachro's personality, but in a much different way.
Do you have any memories of Intro? What what year
did you come to Seattle? Oh?

Speaker 3 (56:35):
Gosh, yeah, he was long gone after that. Yes, I've
been here now going on I think nine years.

Speaker 2 (56:43):
So he was he was out of Seattle by the
time he got here. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (56:46):
I did see him play at Tea when it was Safego. Oh,
I came here to visit one time and got to
see him play here. But I mean, he was a sensation.
It was just an absolute sensation. People love the phrase
now of days one of one, and maybe we overuse it.
Definitely over us that yet, but he's certainly one of

(57:06):
those that it's that category.

Speaker 2 (57:08):
And yeah, I think from the stories that I've heard
the last couple of days from just shows and everything,
and you know, everyone's kind of tipping their cap to
him at this point, not even in like, yes, he's
very uber talented, and he was the correct choice to
be kind of the first guy to come over here
and blaze the trail for Japanese and Asian players coming west.

(57:31):
But I think it's more just like his preparation and
his style of play. Well in an era where it
was juiced guys left and right bombing, Barry Bonds just
left like just total steroid, and he comes in and
just I'm gonna slap it down the third baseline and

(57:52):
then run it out and steal second and third almost
to a fault. Is there were some critics, There was
criticism in his career. Yes, oh you had Wait a minute,
let me get this straight.

Speaker 3 (58:01):
You have power and you're not don't use it, and
you won't use it because you're so obsessed with how
many hits you can get. Wait, wait, wait, bit, let
me get this straight. You have a great eye at
the plate, but you refused. You're swinging out of the
strike zone on purpose just so you can collect hits.

Speaker 2 (58:17):
Is that what's happening here?

Speaker 3 (58:18):
I mean, Ricky Anderson has a four to oh one
career on base each has.

Speaker 2 (58:22):
A three fifty five. That's a big difference.

Speaker 3 (58:24):
And that's with a three to eleven batting average and career.
So there were some things about him that came off
a little selfish. Yeah, he had a mindset. This is
what he thought made him valuable, And a lot of
people were like, we could really use some of that
power that we see you show off in batting practice
every day. I mean, when you got here, you we

(58:45):
had a loaded lineup and playing the way you did
work perfectly. But for his ten years he was here,
they didn't have a loaded lineup every year, as we
could have used some of that middle of the in
the middle of the order.

Speaker 2 (58:59):
Yeah, I'm glad you brought that up because I think
if he were to play in today's MLB both you know,
him being the first guy to kind of do it,
I think was a big reason why he was such
a big had such a big number for the Hall
of Fame voting. I think if you played now with
the same numbers, same style of play, Like, I'm not
saying you wouldn't be a Hall of Famer, but he
definitely would not have had the same impact as he

(59:21):
did when he came. So, and I had this conversation
with Ian yesterday and I'm not trying to take anything
away from Etro, He's someone who you know well, I
think one of the best mariners ever. When we talked
about this, that we.

Speaker 3 (59:33):
Should bring up the pros and the cone. I mean,
clearly the pros outweighed the cons. Only one person didn't
move for him for the Hall of Fame. Yeah, goodness sake, exactly.
Sensational player, unique player, I mean, a tremendous defender. Oh
my gosh, was he a great defender.

Speaker 2 (59:49):
I think that was his best attribute. Hot take was
his defense.

Speaker 3 (59:53):
I think his barrel accuracy was his best thing because
he could hit anything, anything on the barrel. I don't
know if we've ever seen anyone like him from that standpoint.
And then I'll go second in his defense. His arm
strength was ridiculous.

Speaker 2 (01:00:07):
His range too, made every catch ranging left and right,
absolute fly.

Speaker 3 (01:00:12):
Oh yeah, and especially that rookie year when he came over,
he just ill little chopper into the infield and that he.

Speaker 2 (01:00:19):
Waited it out by three steps. Crazy crazy, So yeah,
I think, uh yeah, congratulations to i Tro well deserved.
I cannot wait to see how busy his Cooperstown induction
is going to be with Japanese media. Gosh, I do
not envy anyone who has to go to that, because
that's going to be a zoo because he is a

(01:00:41):
superstar who who is a bigger superstar in Japanese media
intro when he came over or sohoo TONI now.

Speaker 3 (01:00:51):
Well, I just asked that question of a guy who
covers Japanese baseball for a living this week and he
said he could not decide. Really, it's it's so even,
and so I'll just put it this way. I would
like nothing more than to walk down the streets of
Tokyo with each your row on one side and show

(01:01:13):
hey on the other side, and just see what happened.

Speaker 2 (01:01:16):
Oh God, I don't know if you'd be able to
lock fine, yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:01:20):
And I'm not you know, I'm just saying, right, yeah,
the ultimate fly on the wall experience. I want to
see what happens if those two walk down the street
together and how people responded.

Speaker 2 (01:01:33):
So and I think he also represents something that I
think a lot of people take for granted in baseball
and other sports, to be honest, is how diverse and
worldly and global this game really is. And being the
first guy from that part of the world to kind
of come over here and have a ton of success.
That's something that I think is very valuable, not just
to me obviously born and raised in Seattle, but to

(01:01:55):
other people who you know, want to whether that's the
big Dominicans in s whether that's the sport doesn't get
enough credit for. People in Europe are starting to like
kind of pick it up a little bit, Harry Ford's
British for gosh sakes, Like it's like there's it's it's
becoming a thing where I think, and that's something I've
always loved about soccer. That's one of the reasons why

(01:02:16):
it's my favorite sport. But baseball, I think, like you said,
it does not get enough credit for that. And I
think kind of a.

Speaker 3 (01:02:22):
Matter of fact, it's so far off like people that say,
just you just watching white guys you know that are
still exists today other than soccer. More countries are represented
in this sport.

Speaker 2 (01:02:35):
It's just not true.

Speaker 3 (01:02:37):
I think it's I think, gosh, I used I used
to know these numbers. I think that the Latino was
up to around twenty percent.

Speaker 2 (01:02:46):
Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if it's more at this point,
might be more at all the different countries that are represented.

Speaker 3 (01:02:52):
I mean, we got New Zealanders, We've Got's on there,
we got Ausi's on there. We got now several different
countries in Asia that are being represented, including you know
type type A. Yeah, I mean player just recently with
the Orioles played played for them or was from there.

Speaker 2 (01:03:08):
And I love how I'm don't take this from people listening.
I'm not gonna stereotype, but there are different like kind
of personalities associated with where you are from in the world.
Right The Japanese in Koreans and and other Asian countries
come in and they're they they like to kind of
be in their circles. They're very like hard working, They're gonna,

(01:03:33):
you know, play the game in a very kind of
quieter traditional way, and they're gonna usually play really good defense,
by the way. Uh. Then you got the the Latinos
come in with a ton of personality flair, Yeah, the
jewelry everywhere, and like they're very uber talented. We see
that with with Julio. Uh. And I just and I

(01:03:56):
love the all different kind of blending pots of baseball,
and I love how you can have success having a
totally different style of play. And that's one of the
things I love about the sport.

Speaker 3 (01:04:04):
I think, yeah, I think it's in a I think
it's in a great spot. Yeah, So just full circling it. Yeah,
don't ruin it by letting the Dodgers and Mets do
whatever they want. You know, as two teams out of
thirty in the sport totally agree.

Speaker 2 (01:04:19):
Before we get out of here, last question, Yeah, is
there anyone on the current roster of the Seattle Mariners
that is a Hall of Famer?

Speaker 3 (01:04:25):
I will just I think there are several candidates, Okay,
and they got a lot of work to do.

Speaker 2 (01:04:29):
Yeah, I mean a lot of young players, you know,
a lot of the young pitchers.

Speaker 3 (01:04:33):
And then Cal no reason to think that he couldn't
put that kind of career together.

Speaker 2 (01:04:38):
He's best catching the game right now.

Speaker 3 (01:04:39):
Honestly, I don't know even though I realized it until
I started like breaking that down this offseason. You know,
he's in the conversation at least. And then Julio is
the most obvious choice. And I'll just I'll just put
it this way, yeah, and then we'll close it out.
Julio better be a Hall of Fame type player because

(01:04:59):
the investment made in him and obviously this organization is
never going to turn over a new leaf and.

Speaker 2 (01:05:06):
Just create what it takes. They need him to be.

Speaker 3 (01:05:11):
They made a major investment in him at a very
early age, and so he better be Otherwise, you know,
the future might not be so bright. It might not
be as bright as what they think it is. I
know a lot of fans have a hard time convincing
themselves that the future is bright with the Mariners. It
should be bright, and he should be a major part

(01:05:31):
of it. So if nothing else happens this season, we
need Julio Rodriguez to start hot and play like an
All Star from the beginning of the year to the
end of the year.

Speaker 2 (01:05:42):
I think the best way to put it is they
need him to be. They need him to be they
kind of at this point. If they're not going to
put the roster around him that we want them to fully,
then he needs to be a Hall of Fame, you know,
competing for the MVP year in and year out every
year type of guy. And I think he can be.
He has a talent to do that. How's the talent? Yeah?
I really really hope he ends up, you know, doing

(01:06:03):
that every year. All right, let'll do it for us,
Thank you. Very much for joining us, so we appreciate
it for Andersharst. My name is Chuck Powell. Hope you
enjoyed this latest episode of Stove. Will do it again
in a week