Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best of Halford and Brough 8/11/25

Episode Date: August 12, 2025

In hour one, guest hosts Josh Elliott-Wolfe and Jamie Dodd dive into the Whitecaps loss to LAFC, and if the officiating is to blame. Then, the guys recap the Jays thrilling win in LA yesterday and the Mariners hot streak. Then, Josh and Jamie are joined by ROOT Sports' Jen Mueller. Jen talks about the red-hot Mariners and the vibes in Seattle. What are the expectations for the Seahawks this season?  This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da. You're listening to Halford and Brough. Round ball to third. Barger to second, and the Blue Jays win the ball game. Mason Flew Hardy, with the two biggest outs of his last. Life. And the next pitch. One got belted. Deep to right field. The line shot. And it's gone. Goodbye baseball. There's number 45. And Cal Raleigh didn't waste any time. Good morning. Welcome to Halford and Brough. No Halfford. No Brough. Still. It's Josh Elliott

Wolf and Jamie Dodd. Good morning, Jamie. Good morning. And we also have No-A-Dog. It's Elon in. Good morning, Elon. Good morning. Good morning. Laddie. You're still here. I'm still here. Hello, hello. One of four remaining Halbro component. Just Laddie, the culture carrier. Finally, all that's left. The culture from the show to us doing it now. We are coming to you live from the Kintech Studio. Halford & Brough is brought to you by Sands and Associates,

BC's first and trusted choice for debt help. With over 3,000 5 star reviews, visit sands dash trustee.com. And we are, of course, broadcasting live from the Kintech studio, Kintech, footwear, and orthotics working together with you in step. You can also text it. on the 650-650-Dumbar lumber tax line Metro Vancouver's trusted choice for contractors and Reno Warriors for over 50 years visit them at one of their three locations to serve you or online at Dunbarlumber.com. A lot to get into on the show today. You've been off for a while.

I have, yeah. So you missed a lot of stuff. I did. I missed like a golden summer sports radio week last week. I was jealous. It was a good run. We had Thomas Mueller. Yeah. We had Vicki and Boko winning the MBO. What a time it was. Incredible. I missed all of it. And now we're not even going to talk about it.

I'm back for all the slow stuff now. Yes. We called in the closer. That's right. So today on the show, we are going to get into what happened over the weekend. But guest wires, we're going to speak to Jason Bukla at 7 o'clock from Sportsnet. We're going to talk prospects and the Halenka-Gretzky tournament starting today as well. so we'll get into that with Bookes.

Your guy at 7 o'clock. Love Booges. 7.30, Joshua Cloak from the athletic covering Canadian soccer. And also, he had a big piece up on Thomas Mueller. So you do get to talk about him. Coming to Vancouver and how that all went down. So we'll talk to Joshua at 7.30 about that. And then at 8, it's Jen Mueller from Root Sports.

The Mariners have been real, real hot. Red hot. Seven in a row. They've only lost one game this month. And we'll also get into some Seahawks talk with her as well at 8. So working in reverse, Jamie. There you go. At 8 o'clock, Jen Mueller from Root Sports, 7.30, Joshua Cloak from The Athletic.

And at 7, it's Jason Bukla of Sportsnet. That's what's happening on the show. Laddie, let's tell everybody what happened. Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No. No. What happened? I missed all the action because I was.

We know how busy. What happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance, making safety simpler by giving construction companies the best in tools, resources, and safety training. Visit BCCSA.com.com. So we will start with the Vancouver Whitecaps without Thomas Mueller. No Thomas Mueller yet. He will be a week from now. You and Dan Riccio will be Breaking down the big performance. And hopefully a win. This was not a win for the Vancouver Whitecaps against the San Jose earthquakes.

It was a 2-1 loss and a controversial one because of referee shenanigans. Yeah, Tim Ford. So first of all, sends a player off for the White Caps in the first half. And then there's a penalty given and not a penalty, just clearly not a penalty. They go to VAR and they're still like, yeah, no, we think that's a penalty somehow. that they award to San Jose. The credits of the white caps for tying the game, Brian White with the late one to tie the game.

And it looks like, oh, man, are they going to be able to salvage a point on the road from this one? Even with all of the calls going against them. But San Jose gets the winner. And the conversation really coming out of this one. I mean, I think for me, there's two conversations. One is it's hard to care. I think even for the really committed white caps fans,

too much about this result. When you know, it's just, okay, but we want to get to the Thomas Mueller stuff. That's what we're focused on. That's what we want to see. We want to see how he fits, how he's going to impact the team, the big debut, all of it. This is just a stop on the way to that destination. The other conversation, though, is crooked Tim Ford, cost them another game, which is basically where it's going.

And you and I were just chatting before the show. And this comes up with the Knox all the time, right? Where it's like, oh, they never win when this ref is doing their games. He's got it in for them, right? and other teams in the NHL think that as well. And I always just think, always just assume the ref, the official, the ump, whatever is bad at their job. Never assume that they have it out for your team. Just assume that they're incompetent.

And I think in MLS, that goes double. MLS not known for having an incredible roster of Sterling sharp officials. So I get where this is coming from with the Tim Ford stuff and the way he refereed that whitecaps game. I'm just guessing he's not very good at his job. That would be my first assumption. The phrase, I think, is don't attribute to malice, what it's easily explained by incompetence. That's exactly what I'm going for.

We did it for Tim Ford. And so what's come up when it comes to Tim Ford in the past couple days, especially when it relates to the Vancouver Whitecaps, is you think back to 2023 in the playoffs against LAAFC, where he got in the way of a white cap trying to get back on defense the white cap fell it was an odd man rush the other way for LAFC

just like they say in soccer an odd man rush the other way and LA scored they win the game 1-0 and that ended the white cap season I'm in my element right now I am locked in so Jesper So yesper Sorensen

did talk about Tim Ford post game and he said you mentioned the penalty that definitely was not a penalty and he said, everybody who watched the game saw a man slip, one man saw a penalty. That's how it is. Luckily, we play with VAR, so they saw it differently, but then it was still a penalty. So that's what Sorensen had to say about that.

He obviously wasn't upset, and then there were also multiple injured white caps, like Ryan Gould, kind of questioning Tim Ford on social media. So obviously a lot of these players as well, not big fans of the referee again. And they're not saying like, oh, it's, he's out to get the white caps. They might just be saying he is a bad referee. They're not saying that. But people on social media are very much saying that. And there were some pictures dug up of him going to LAFC games with his family as a supporter and cheering them on.

And I mean, again, it's not a good look. I am pretty reluctant to hang, especially last night's result. I mean, or this weekend's result. It's one thing if you want to go back to the playoff game and say, well, that's pretty fishy. because it was against L-A-F-C, but it's not like, I mean, L-A-FC is like eight points back of them in the standing. It's not like their neck-and-neck in the playoff picture or anything like that. So I think this was just a case of this happens in MLS. You get some truly, it happens in Conca Cap as well, right?

Like you see it all the time. Just some baffling, baffling, baffling refereeing decisions going against you. And again, you know, I was kind of joking about, well, this is all just leading up to Thomas Mueller. But the thing with the Whitecaps is they've had such a successful season to this point. that they can shrug off a result like that, especially on the road and yeah, it's against a team you'd love to beat and all that, but they're still second in the Western Conference, right?

They still have a chance to win the Western Conference and put themselves in a really good position going into the playoffs. And especially now with the Thomas Mueller acquisition, it really feels like the rest of the season is about figuring out how you're going to use him, getting him acclimated, hopefully getting Ryan Gould healthy, and then just getting your ducks in a row to go on a long, run and try to win the MLS Cup. And the results from here until the end of the season aren't going to matter as much as setting yourself up for success once it turns to that point.

Yeah. And so the only thing that I would bring up in terms of, you know, losing that game and what it means for the standing. So prior to that game, the White Caps, and they do still have a game in hand on first place San Diego in the Western Conference. But now they no longer lead on points percentage. So they're four points back, one game in hand. So it does. get a little bit tougher to get the top seed in the Western Conference from here on out. But again, you mentioned that it is all kind of leading up to the debut for Thomas Mueller next weekend, August 17th, against the Houston Dynamo, which is going to be a game with a lot more attention on it.

Before that, by the way, the Whitecaps do play the semifinal of the Canadian Championship against Laddie's Forge FC in Hamilton. You big Forge Fuge Fierce. Forge. Forge, Forge. I know they're popular in Hamilton It's too bad they couldn't get Mueller in for that one The Forge players would be like, are you kidding me? This isn't fair!

You have Thomas Muller now? Why did you bring him to Hamilton? Wow, they have to go to Hamilton? Yeah. You bring him to Canada and then you force him to see Hamilton? He's not sticking around. First stop, Hamilton. Stop on the way.

You're not coming to Vancouver first or you're stopping in Hamilton. We'll see you in Vancouver after. He is, I believe, Axel Schuster said he was supposed to arrive on Thursday. So, yeah, just missed it. That's a tight. So, like the game's Saturday, no? Sunday. Sunday?

That's a quick turnaround. Arrive on Thursday. He's a pro. I guess. He's also around me like, guys, it's the MLS. I'll be fine. Don't worry. I can do this.

Okay, so that's what's going on with the Vancouver Whitecaps in their schedule for the week, Wednesday, semis of the Canadian championship in Hamilton. Sunday, they take on the Houston Dynamo in a big game, Thomas Mueller's debut. you, hopefully, Tim Ford, I assume he's not. Probably not doing that one, yeah. Okay, moving on. The Jays, it was a tough start to the series against the L.A. Dodgers. L.A. won the first two pretty convincingly, and it was like,

ah, you know what? Maybe the Jays had a lot of help when they were playing the Colorado Rockies. Yes. Because the Rockies are very not good, and the Dodgers, most of the time, are very good. Or at least they have the upside of being very good. The record maybe doesn't reflect their true ultimate talent level, but they're the Dodgers. We know how good they can be.

But yesterday was a thriller. And the Jays came out on top. It was five for the final result. It was a rare disappointing performance from Eric Lauer. He only made it through three innings, gave up three runs. Bullpen got tested. And it did feel like the Jays. They couldn't really get much going the whole series.

And then they were down one run, heading into the eighth inning. Seemed like it might be it for them. And then it was Vladdy hitting a solo bomb. Addison Barger comes up next in a tie game. He hits a home run. Jay's on top in the top of the eighth. And then they go into the bottom of the eighth. Yario Rodriguez says, hold on.

Let me give that lead right back. And he walks in a run. Game tied up four. Heading to the ninth inning. And then it is, do we have the clip of Ernie Clement? Hitting a solo home run, really put you on the spot. But here we go. Ernie Clement hits a solo home run in the top of the ninth.

And the pitch to Ernie Clement. Swing and a high drive. Left field. Moving back to the fence. It's out of here. Ernie Clement with a go-ahead shot on the first pitch of the ninth. And the Blue Jays lead again, five to four. And so you might think, wow, that's the end of the drama.

For the Toronto Blue Jays. Ernie Clement hits a home run in the two. top of the ninth. No, Jeff Hoffman, he stumbles his way through a few batters to load the bases with one out. Surely nobody dangerous is due up. Oh my goodness, it's Shohei Otani. And Jeff Hoffman gets pulled because he was struggling to find the zone. Mason flew hardy. He comes in in a huge spot. Not usually who you want to come in in a huge spot. He has a nine-pitch strikeout of Shohei Otani, gets mooky bets to ground out. earns his first career save, and the Jay's, uh, they wrap up the series with a win in L.A.

And that moment against Otani in particular, I know it wasn't the final out of the game. He gets bets after it, but I mean, you've got to show Hey Otani coming up, bases loaded. You're leading by a run in the ninth inning. In the regular season, it doesn't get much bigger, more high profile than that. And I saw after the game, Flew already said, I basically blacked out. I don't know what I was doing there. And even, I mean, the final, the pitch he got him on, like, it's well outside the zone, right? He fooled Otani and got him to swing on it.

If Otani lays off, he's, walking in the tying run. It took guts to throw that pitch. No kidding, right? Like, he's not, he wasn't like, oh, I'll just throw a strike and pray here. He's like, I'm trying to get this guy out and he did it. And it succeeded. And that, by the way, Jeff Hoffman, five walks in two-thirds of an inning of work.

Not great. That's a record, by the way. But gets credit for the win. That's the record. It's the first pitcher in MLB history to walk five batters in fewer than one inning and get the win. And get the win. I would have Jeff Hoffman and be like, guys, you're welcome. I won the game.

Chalk one up for the Hoffman. You guys, is the win stat for pitchers a little bit flawed. Chalk the dub up for Jeff Hoffman in this one. He got it done. Yeah, maybe just slightly flawed. They obviously really needed that one to salvage the series and avoid the sweep. And I think if they had got swept, and maybe this is still the conversation coming out of the series,

but just if they had got swept and the way their bats were struggling to really get anything going through the first two games, and really until late in the third game as well, it all would have been about the dichotomy between, the Rockies series and just how absolutely ridiculous and hilarious that was and then oh and then you go play a real team and all of a sudden it looks a lot

a lot different I do still have concerns about the ultimate ceiling for this Jay's team like they feel a little bit still like a scrappy team punching above their weight and that's great and that can be really fun to watch and obviously they they've had a really impressive season so far

but you know yesterday it's Mason Flew Hardy coming in Ernie Clement hitting the go-ahead home run? Are those the types of players you want to be relying on in October? You need those contributions, sure. But I feel like it's been a lot of, you know, Eric Lauer, guys like Mason Fleurty, Clement, Nathan Lucas, right? Like Joey Loprifido's had moments.

And I am a little concerned about is that kind of pixie dust going to wear off at a certain point? I think it's really hard to ride that kind of team makeup to a World Series victory unless you have just elite pitching. on the other hand Vladdy has been really heating up since the all storm break he has a double and a home run a huge clutch home run if he continues to be on fire

and the power really finally starts to come for him then I think you're talking about okay if he's that kind of superstar bat in the middle of the order it makes all of the other like hey we've got a different guy contributing every day and hey we play small ball and all that it makes all of that stuff more palatable if you have the really legit bat in the middle

of the order. So I think as it so often does, it comes down to can Vladdy be one of the best hitters in baseball for the next couple of months here? If he can, then I think they've got as good a shot as anyone. I would agree. And the thing I've been kind of talking about with the J's is like it feels it's great when you watch them and they're playing small ball and they're working in runs. They're doing all that. But you do want it to like, you want to have the guys that can like hit a home run. Get a clutch home run and like kind of finish the rally. And that's kind of what I want to see more of from Vlad. And obviously we'll see what actually happens come playoff time.

But it feels like his approach has been for most of the season. He's like, I'm one of the guys on the team. And that's really good. Like you look at his numbers and they are, they're awesome. He hasn't had a bad season whatsoever. But you do expect more from him. And maybe it's unfair to expect more from him considering how good his numbers have been. But I think it mainly just comes down to like, hey, hit a few more home runs.

Yes. and people will be fine. And he's done that since the All-Star break, to his credit. Like, his numbers are outstanding since the All-Star break, and I don't expect him to keep quite up at that pace. But if he, again, it's the difference between being, you know, like an All-Star and a fringe MVP candidate. And he's not going to get into the MVP conversation this year,

obviously with what Judge is doing and what Cal Rally is doing. But if he can play at kind of that pace, which we've seen him do before for a couple of months, it completely changes the dynamic for the Jays. So the Jays do lose the series. They have today off. They start a series against the Chicago Cubs in Toronto tomorrow, who have been pretty good this season as well.

Jays do still sit atop the American League with a one-game lead, four games up on the Boston Red Sox. Do you know how I know they're a good team? How's that? Because the last week and a half felt extremely painful, and they're six and four in their last 10. That's how you know they're a good team. I know the Rockies helped with that,

but even if they lose one of the Rockies, that's still a 500. And it felt like they couldn't do anything outside. of that Rocky series. So I'm a little less worried against the Rockies. I wouldn't say I'm super worried, but I do,

yeah, I do have some question marks that'll probably just persist until we see what actually happens. And I do want to see it with Springer back in the lineup as well, right? Because he's been so good for them.

And that makes a big difference. Having that extra legitimate power bat in the lineup. Yeah. Moving on, the Seattle Mariners, we mentioned they have won seven in a row and they completed a sweep

of the Tampa Bay raise yesterday. They've won 9 of 10 in the month of August, and they've been doing this with their big deadline acquisition, Gino Suarez, struggling at the plate. He has one home run, 5 RBI, batting just slightly over 100 in 10 games since coming back to Seattle. So more to give there, but the pitching, that's what's been the strength for the Mariners this month. They're holding opponents to an average under 200. They've been really good in the month of August. And the question for me has come up, Jamie, of like, when you look at the American League, there aren't a lot of standout teams, right?

We talk about the Blue Jays. They're first right now, and we just outlined all the- We went through all of their flaws. Yes, all the question marks around them. And you can maybe bring up a team like the Tigers. I mean, Terrick Scoobal is someone I trust, but again, I don't know if I trust the Tigers as a whole. Come playoff time. Astros, they loaded up.

maybe they're intimidating. But I do look at the Mariners. And I kind of wonder if they have the most potential of any of these teams come playoff time in the American League. So you put that in the rundown and I was looking at it. And my initial knee-jerk reaction was like, come on, Josh. Like get serious. Stop being dumb. It's the Mariners.

But you're right. You look at it. And the AL is just so wide open at this point. There's really no team that you look at and think, oh, they're head and shoulders above everyone else, right? And Detroit looked like that team for a while. And Scoobel, of course, is an incredible weapon to have at the top of your rotation. But I think similar to the J's, it's not like they have the clear cut, you know, All Star MVP type bat in the middle of their lineup, right? They've got question marks. They've got question marks elsewhere in their rotation as

well. They've also, like, since July 1st, they're like six games under 500 or something. So there's, they've, in this long stretch of, of subpar baseball. I mean, the Yankees have completely crashed out. They're in, in danger of missing the postseason of this. this point. Like the Red Sox got really hot, similar to the J's had that really hot stretch, but also a flawed roster. I do agree with you about the Astros being a potentially really interesting team, especially after getting Correa back at the deadline. But the Mariners, all of a sudden with the season that obviously what Cal Rale is doing to anchor the lineup, but then you look at Julio Rodriguez having, you know, a decent year, a Rosarena having a good year at the plate.

Nailer's been a really great fit there early. If Suarez, gets it going. All of a sudden, as you say, like, that lineups better than they've had in a long time. And we know what they're pitching can do, what they're starting pitching can do for the Seattle Mariners. I think you're right at least to say, like, there's no reason you should be looking at the Mariners as clear underdogs against any of the other teams. And it feels like, we'll see what the bracket ultimately ends up being. But it feels like there's going to be a lot of coin flip series in the AL where it's like, yeah, both these teams are interesting, flawed and everyone has a chance here.

Yeah, and again, for the Mariners, for me, you mentioned it. The lineup is deep and especially if they do get Svara's going. And then the pitching, the starters, like, if you roll out in a series, Brian Rue, Luis Castillo, Logan Gobert, like, you're in a pretty good thought. And we'll see what the mariners are able to do. And you're right, what the bracket shapes out to be. Right now, they would take on the Red Sox. And Red Sox are pretty hot, but the Mariners are even hotter.

So it's going to be interesting to see how it shakes out. But this is the year that I look at for the Mariners. And I'm like, this is your shot. Well, there's got to be so much, I mean, I'm certainly from the fans. There has to be so much desperation almost for them to take advantage of this year. But you got to think even internally, when you see your teammates having the kind of magical year that Cal Rally is having, and you know about the frustrations to kind of get over the hump. Yeah, they've been to the playoffs and they beat the Js.

But it never really went any. you know, I think they got swept after that and they haven't been back. There's been so much frustration with this team. I think even internally, there must be an awareness of we can't let this go to waste. We, okay, the front office finally stepped up, went out. They were aggressive. They added bats for us, which is exactly what we needed. You know, everyone pretty much looked at Suarez and said that is the perfect fit for the Mariners.

The front office goes out and gets them. You have the pitching. Like, if it's, if it doesn't happen, if you're not at least going to the ALCS this year, I think both from the fan base in Seattle, but probably also internally, there's got to be a sense of like, if we couldn't do it this year, when are we going to do it?

Like, it does seem like the stars are aligning for them. Yeah. Okay, so the Mariners, they are off today as well, but they start a series in Baltimore, Baltimore against the Orioles. What is that? Baltimore.

That's how the locals sit. Sure. In Baltimore against the Orioles tomorrow. And they'll be on a bit of an extended road trip. So that's what's going on in the world. of baseball. On the other side, we will talk Canucks. Let's do it. And a prospect conversation because we have Jason Bucla on at 7th, so we will have some

conversations of our own surrounding some of the Canucks prospects on the other side. It is Halfer and Brough. No Halfer, no brough. It's Josh L.A.Wolf, Jamie Dodd on Sportsnet 650. And the next pitch, one got belted, deep to right field, a line shot. And it's gone. Goodbye baseball.

There's number 45. And Cal Raleigh didn't waste any time. Welcome back to Halford and Brough. No, Halfer, no Brough. It's Josh L.A. Wolf. Jason. Jason. Jamie Dodd.

Oh. You fool. I always get, I'm extra messed up in the morning. I'll iron it out. He's in the Jason's chair. That's right. True. I got confused.

Anyway. J. I get it. Yeah, it's all right there. Halford & Brough is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Learn how a consumer proposal reduces your debt by up to 80%. With no more interest, visit sands-trustee.com. This hour of Halford & Brough is brought to you by Campbell & Pound Real Estate Appraisers.

Trust the expertise of Campbell and Pound. Visit Campbell-Dashpound.com today. We are broadcasting live from the Kintech Studio, Kintech, footwear, and orthotics working together with you in step. And guests on Sportsnet 650, call in on the hotline. Powered by PowerWest Industries. Don't get caught in the dark when it matters most. Visit them at powerwest.com.com. They keep the lights on. We go to the hotline now and we welcome in Jen Mueller from Root Sports. I appreciate you taking the time, Jen. How are you?

Yeah, well, I'm well after the homestandamers put together. I mean, how could you not be? Yeah, it's getting everybody swept up in the excitement. They've won seven in a row, 9 of 10 this month. How is the excitement level in Seattle around the team right now? It is electric. I mean, the ballpark was full for Eitro's number retirement ceremony. There have been

great crowds, of course, as you guys know, it is the best time of year in Seattle, but it is really been electric. And the number of fans who have messaged me or have come up to me in the ballpark and say, this feels like 2022 when they made the playoffs, or the older

fans, this feels like 95 in 2001, they can tell that there's something different and it is really fun to be at the ballpark. Yeah, and that feeling of it just feeling a little different, I think is a great way to put it. And you reference some of those magical years from the past for the Seattle Mariners. And part of that is, you know, the AL looks pretty wide open right now. But part of it is the talent on the team. And I thought it was really interesting, the reports that when Ichiro talked to the team, he kind of said, hey, guys, like this is the moment, sees the moment. You have the ability here. The path is open. How much do you think,

Internally, that's kind of the mantra and the headspace that the team is in, that, hey, why not us? We have the ability to go out and do this right now. Yeah, it definitely resonated with the team. And you could see all of them on the top step watching the speech. Now, that's to be expected, right? You are honoring one of the all-time greats in the game, and certainly in franchise history, but they were watching him so intently. And they see each row.

And I thought the most interesting thing that he said in that entire address, to the team was that in 2001, when they won 116 games, he thought winning was easy. And he kind of took it for granted. And that was the other part of the message. Like, don't take any of it for granted. Don't take the pressure for granted. Don't take the wins for granted. Don't take your teammates.

Because this is a special type of year and season. And so you've got to soak all of that in. But when Julio takes that message and really takes it to heart and starts talking about it and Gino. It landed. It is definitely the feeling that they are carrying into this road trip. We mentioned how hot they've been in the month of August. What's been going right for them since the trade deadline? Just about everything. But quite honestly, it's the depth of the lineup and it's the length of the lineup. There is no chance for an opposing pitcher to catch their breath. And there have been points in the year where that was the case. And certainly early in the year, you know, you're not

going to get an accurate sample size because of the way the ballpark plays in April and just kind of the way that people are getting into the season, but they don't have any holes in the lineup. You know, you're looking at J.P. Crawford batting eighth or ninth. J.P. Crawford had the game winner during this homestand, right? And he's a really productive at bat. Josh Naylor could be batting a little lower in the lineup sometimes. He's a really good at bat. And I think that that combined with what you expected to see from the starting pitchers, that has made a huge difference. Yeah, and that point about the depth of the lineup,

Jan, I think is a really good one. And of course, when you have not only a deep lineup, but then one that is anchored by Cal Raleigh having, you know, an MVP type of season. I don't know if he's going to win it, considering what Aaron Judge is doing, but certainly in a lot of years he'd be the frontrunner for MVP, given what he's doing from the catcher position and his power numbers.

Where does this performance this season kind of rank in comparison to some of the great individual seasons we've seen, especially offensively in years past from the Mariners. Yeah, well, for Cal, he has already passed some of the marks that Ken Griffey Jr. For a number of home runs before the All-Star break. You know, yesterday he ties Johnny Bench with the most home runs by a catcher in a single season. He is going to blow past Salvi Perez's mark of most home runs by a catcher. It truly is remarkable.

And, you know, I don't know with the way Judge's season is going with the injury, and I know that he's back, but I don't, I think that there's a really strong case to be made. I think the other part of this Cal Raleigh discussion, and I mentioned this to him on field the other night, not all home runs are equal. And when he homered, and I can't remember which night it is because all of the winds run together, the number of home runs that he has hit to give his team the lead late is astronomical and leads the league by a wide margin. So we're not talking about 45 home runs, but, oh, you're not. just getting the extra runs at the end of the game.

No, no, no. You are the game-changing home run more often than not. And I think that is part of what's going to separate him, that in his work behind the plate, when you start talking about MVP's. Yeah, he's having a really special season, and I think that informed a lot of what the Mariners did at the deadline. And usually the issue with the Mariners that we've seen in the past is like, hey, they have these good seasons, but maybe don't go as all in as some fans might want at the trade deadline. It was a different story this season. How much is that contributed to, you know,

more belief in this team moving forward? A hundred percent. I mean, you could feel it everywhere. And getting Gino Svarez back, and I know if you look at the number since the trade, he has not been producing at the same level he was in Arizona. You knew that Gino was a streaky player to get his personality back and his leadership back in the clubhouse. And he was beloved here in Seattle, which is a really strong word to use because he was only here for two seasons, right? He made such an impression in two seasons that that was kind of the lynchpin. When that news dropped, everybody in the city went, okay, we're in it. Like, this is good. You know, we really liked Naylor. Yeah, you needed the extra arm in the bullpen in Caleb Ferguson,

but going after Gino, that was the one that signal to everybody else, okay, like that we're going for it. And just the presence in that clubhouse now, it's an entirely different feeling with those three. Well, and you talk about him being beloved by the city, right? But I'm sure for the clubhouse and the team to not just get him back, but he really was one of the most high profile bats available on the market. So you go make that statement by getting that deal done. That's got to send an incredible message and just give a jolt of energy to the players there that, hey, we're serious about this. The front office has our backs. And they went out. and showed it. Yeah. And, you know, it is truly how to handle everything down the stretch, right?

It is the, it really is the presence that he's going to bring. And, you know, you count on Cal Raleigh for a lot of those things. Cal is being pulled in so many different directions, right? Hitters meetings, pitchers meeting, his own catchers meeting. To have somebody like Gino who's been there, who's done that, he is a high energy guy in a very different way than Victor Robles is. He is not going to be the one that is bouncing off the walls, but he is going to bring you the right energy at the right time. That's what fans fell in love with. That's part of what teammates fell in love with, and you are right. When the front office made that trade a few years ago to unload the salary, and then you decide that he's worth that money, yes, it sends a very strong message.

So we've talked a lot about the lineup, but looking at how wide open the American League is, when you factor in how deep the lineup is now, combining that with the starters and what the upside is with the rotation, what is the ultimate upside, I guess, for the Mariners this season? Well, I mean, you're half a game back right now from Houston in the standings.

And, you know, the Astros certainly have a knack for turning things on down the stretch, but they are looking at winning the division. You know, if you maintain this pace, there is no reason. not to believe that you could be playing for the ALCS and then, you know, have the World Series in your sights. The one thing I will say is August is a very long month in baseball. And so I don't want to temper anybody's excitement.

I do just want to say things are going to shake out quite a bit in the next couple of weeks because they always do. Like this is, it is the dog days of summer. The grind is real. You can see the fatigue. Yes, you can see the excitement and the energy. But around baseball, this is. is a really, really tough time of year. So it's true for every team, which means it's also true for the Astros and for the Red Sox,

who are right there in the wild card standings. But, you know, the Mariners are looking at the playoffs, but they are eyeing Houston. They are eyeing that division title and that something that is more definitive than just kind of sneaking in or be in that wild card team. Yeah, it's always interesting to see, especially now. I mean, it used to be obviously the division crown in baseball was paramount. It was the thing, and it's changed a lot with the playoffs. format, but it's always interesting to see

how teams kind of approach that and address that. And in the case of the Mariners who have had these really close calls in the AL West recently, but it's been a while since they've won the division. How much does the division title, the regular season division title, mean for this team?

Well, the last time they did it was 2001. That was each year's rookie year, and it means a lot. And you can't get away from that mantra or that narrative, because Dan Wilson, and the manager was on the 1995 team that had that incredible comeback and that ended up winning the division. And it was Jay Buneer, who was in our booth, former outfielder, who had said,

you know, screw the wild card, we want the division. You've got these former players who are part of the best era of Mariners baseball, arguably, certainly for the city and what it did, just in terms of keeping baseball in Seattle. That has been their mantra, you know, going back, you year. So it's hard to ignore that now, especially when you have a reminder all the time in your manager. It is Alfred and Brough. Josh Elliott Wolf and Jamie Dodd joined by Jen Mueller from Root Sports, but you also are a sideline reporter for the Seattle Seahawks and the preseason underway for the Seahawks. And it felt like the headlines from the last game was the hype surrounding Jalen Milrow. What were your first impressions of the new QB for the Seahawks?

Well, I had the pleasure of meeting Jaylen a few months ago, and he is just an incredibly dynamic person. Take football away. He is an incredibly, you just gravitate towards him, right? He is just the leader that walks in the room and has a presence. And, of course, you know, the background of his parents being military, you can see that. He is extremely respectful. He goes out of his way to make people feel. seen and welcomed and he just kind of does all of those things right i got to be honest with you

the thing that stood out most to me on the sideline was the fact that they said they were going to run the ball and they ran the ball yep i love seeing jalen milro in the second half i don't think that there's any debate as to where he falls on the depth chart i don't think that there's any question as to where they want him to get to in his career progression but for me to see the starters, or some of the starters, right? You had some of the offensive line starters out there. Running the ball like they said they were going to do, that's what I wanted to see. And that's a great point about just kind of trying to glean what we can about the offensive philosophy

and what it might look like, because it's such a changing of a guard on that side, or changing of the guard, I should say on that side of the ball, right? Obviously with Gino Smith, D.K. Metcalfe, Tyler Lockett out, Sam Darnold, Cooper Cup, and new offensive coordinator as well. What do you kind of expect the philosophy, the mindset for the Seahawks on the offensive side of things to be this year? I mean, they have consistently said every single offensive player that we have talked to, whether it is an offensive lineman, whether it is a wide receiver or a quarterback.

Every single one of them has said, we are going to run the ball. And I've heard that a lot. I've been with the team 17 years on the sideline. I've heard that a lot. There have been years that we have done that really well. There have been years that that has not been a strong suit. but when you run the ball, I think people assume that it's going to be a boring offense, that you're just going to take handoffs and you're going to run it straight up the middle, right?

You are not going to be in shotgun quite as much as we saw last year, but it's the way that everything gets set up off the run. It's the type of running. They're going to stretch the field and defenses are going to get worn out. They are going to have some play options off of that, and you are not going to know where the tight end is going. The number of times, two tight ends, are on the field, it's like mind-blowing with fullbacks.

And going back to the whole thing that you said about changing of the guard, the fact that the offense looked in sync, and it's a preseason game, I'm not going to read too much into it, but I will say when you watch training camp practices and you know that this is the second year for the defense under Mike McDonald, there is a huge difference in what the defense looks like and what the offense looks like in the first year under Clint Kubiak as the offensive coordinator. to watch them go out against an opponent and just be in sync. It is a really complicated offense for some of these guys to learn,

like complicated play call. That gave me the most encouragement that things were on the right track because sometimes it's hard to tell when you're just beating up on your own guys in practice. Yeah, and it's a big change at quarterback two moving on from Gino Smith, bringing in Sam Darnold. What are the expectations for Sam Darnold this season? I think that that's a tough question to answer now because I don't know that you expect exactly what you saw last year. I do know that in talking to Sam, he doesn't believe that last year was just a fluke because it's not just about the performance on the field.

It's how he has grown as a player behind the scene, how he prepares, how he understands the system, how he can see the field differently. And just some of those little things that you have a different vantage point on when you get to be the vet. in the room when you have been on different teams and in different systems and with different coordinators, you know, just kind of that knowledge that comes with time on task, I think that's where his growth has been, I don't know, the most evident, but certainly the most impactful. It has led to the results on the field. They want him to execute the offense. He is the leader on offense. And that sounds like a no-dust statement, but he has been in this offense before. He's got a lot on his shoulders. He and Cooper Cup, the guys who have been there

before to make sure that this works come week one against the Niners. Hey, Jen, we really appreciate you taking the time. Enjoy the rest of the Mariners season here. Hopefully it goes on for a long time and the Seahawks season as well. Thank you very much, guys. There is Jen Mueller from Rootsports and Seahawks sideline reporter joining us on the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet 650, Josh Elliott Wolf and Jamie Dodd. I do find the Seahawks really interesting this season from a, you know, a neutral perspective. I guess the NFC West as a whole just is going to be really interesting to track because you

can almost make the case that any team in that, like, you could slot them in any slot. And I would kind of get where you're coming from. Now, as a former Sam Darnold. Love the guy. Love the guy. Except for two weeks at the end of the season. the end it didn't go so well. What is your perspective on Sam Dahl? Because now correct me if I'm wrong here, but the way that Jen was kind of describing how the offense is going to work sounds like a lot

of similarities to Minnesota, right? With the play action and building things off the running game, getting him those kind of open look or easier looks as a result of the play action and the under center stuff. Does that give you more confidence in the Sam Darnold experiment in Seattle? I think a lot of it, like when I looked at Sam Darnold last season, I was like, man, Kevin O'Connell can do anything. Yes. Yeah. And so I do wonder how. How much of that is like, okay, now he has the Kevin O'Connell experience that he can transfer over to Seattle and now it's just with him? Or is it going to be like, this is the Sam Darnold we've seen prior to Minnesota. And because he's away from O'Connell, it's different.

I do think that the most frustrating aspect of Sam Darnold's game that I think is going to be something to keep an eye on this season is he holds on to the ball for a long time. And he'll take some sacks. And the Seahawks offensive line. Well, that's the big thing. And I think if you're going to be concerned about anything with Sam Darnold, it's not necessarily Sam Darnold himself. It's for a quarterback like him, as you said, right? It was the coach in Minnesota.

He's also thrown to Justin Jefferson. They have a good offensive line. So he's in the environment to thrive, to succeed. Man, a bad, I don't say a bad quarterback, but a non-elite quarterback behind a bad offensive line. Like, that can get ugly in a hurry. And if that is the case, if the Seahawks O line is as bad as a lot of people are projecting it to be or at least as

as much of a problem, that gives me a lot of concern for Sam Darry. I will say that new offensive coordinator, Clint Kubiak and Seattle loves to run, his plays under center. So you're going to see a lot of handoffs, right? You got Ken Walker, you got Charbonnet, JSN, Cooper Cup, a lot of short routes. That could feed into Sam Strings. Yeah, definitely. It could be a help. And like, look, I don't think he's

going to be as bad, like even worst case scenario. I don't think he'd be as bad as he was prior to Minnesota. I just don't know if the upside that we saw, like last year felt like best case scenario for Sam Donald any season. And then the other thing is going to be like, if you do make the playoffs, he had no clutch factor. No. It was tough to watch.

And if maybe it's different in Seattle, I don't know, but that's why a lot of Vikings fans were like, you know what? It's okay, buddy. You can go. Yeah. See ya. Yeah. Thanks for the year.

But now there's a lot of hopes in Minnesota on JJ McCarthy. And I think a lot of that is due to what Sam Darnold did at the end of last season. Where do you think the, like, if you were to pick right now, where do you think the Seahawks finish in the NFC way? I truly have no idea. I have done zero research into it. But here, I'll say something for you. All right. I'll say third.

How about that? Okay. And I'm not going to tell you which two teams are finishing ahead of them. That's a mystery. That's the secret. Fair enough. I think I I think I may have picked the

I think I picked them to be third too There you go We both did a ton of research And really poured over it And we came to the same conclusion Third Because I think I had the Rams Now like Stafford

Has had some like complications And training camp and stuff So that might change But I had the Rams And the Niners above the Seahawks But again I feel like it's going to be A wide open division And anything can happen

In the NFC West It's going to be one of the more competitive divisions to keep an eye on in the NFL this season. And then we also talk Mariners with Jen Mueller. And again, I legitimately think of any team in the American League, they are the team that if, if as a Blue Jays fan, if the Blue Jays were to go up against the Seattle Mariners,

which I hope is like an ALCS match. That would be incredibly hyped. But I would be the most afraid of the Seattle Mariners. I think that's fair with the rotation. And again, you start to try to look for the other options. Like, no, there's got to be a bad, a scarier team. There's no like Dodgers in the A. No, there's no elite team.

Like even the Tigers of Scoobel, it's like, okay, yeah, if you can, you survive his starts and you feel pretty good about your chances against the rest of the team. But the depth of the rotation for the Mariners is maybe what pushes it over the edge. Yeah, and the Astros are the team that we'll see how they go into the postseason. But they, again, with their, with their deadline, acquisitions they could be a scary team too the Yankees ahead of the season I would have put in that conversation now I'm like well

they're just going to make five errors man what an absolute disaster are the Yankees it's incredible to watch yeah because they keep doing it they just keep finding really stupid ways to lose games the one where Chisholm got like picked off

on the pop fly it was a pop out to second and he was like halfway for some reason what are you doing yeah it's your first time playing baseball it is incredible and then like the first base coach gets chewed out by Aaron Boone. It's like, I don't even know. I feel like that's on Chisholm, man. Yeah, but like you, it's on both of them.

It's on both of them. Because you're right. Like, why is the player doing something absolutely insane? But if you're the coach and you see your player doing something absolutely insane, you're like, hey, man, get back here. Like, the kids you coach wouldn't be doing this. Well, no, they would. But I'd be telling them to get back.

Yeah, you wouldn't be doing what the first base coach was doing. Yeah, the Yankees find themselves only half a game up on the Cleveland Guardians for that final wildcard spots. The Red Sox are two and a half games up on the Yankees. Mariners, three and a half games up, only half a game back of the Houston Astros for first in the AL West, by the way. So a lot to keep an eye on down the stretch in Major League Baseball, especially in the American League.

650, 650, Dumbar Lumber Tech Line. Keep the text coming in there. We'll get to what we learns on the other side. Before we go, Jam Pro, from waiting rooms to exam rooms and everything in between, jam pro keeps workplaces tidy, clean, and disinfected for a free, quote, visit jampro.ca. It is Halpertambrough, Josh L8 Wolf, Jamie Dodd on Sportsnet 650.