Locked On Mariners - Daily Podcast On the Seattle Mariners - As Colt Emerson Kicks Off MLB Career With a BANG, Are Better Times Ahead For Seattle Mariners?

Episode Date: May 19, 2026

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The Marrists have obviously been incredibly frustrating this year, but everything they set out to accomplish this season is still very much possible. Jordan Schusterman of Yahoo Sports joins us to talk about it all coming up. You are Locked-on Mariners, your daily Seattle Mariners podcast, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Ahoy, sailors, it is Tuesday, May 19th, 2026. My name is Tiding Gazzalas, and on today's show, my co-ist, Colby Patneode, and I sit down with Yahoo! Sports MLB writer, Jordan Schuesterman, to talk about the state of the Mariners,

the Luis Castillo piggyback situation, expectations for Colt Emerson, Logan Gilbert's future in Seattle, and a lot more. So let's get into it. Been a little while since we've had today's guest on, but stoked to have them back. Joining us now, Yahoo Sports MLB rider and one half of Cuspedus family barbecue and the baseball barbecast, Jordan Schusterman. Jordan, thanks so much for hopping on today. How's it going? Always a pleasure, gentlemen. Thank you so much for the invite. I do not remember the last time I was on exactly, but who cares? I'm here now, and we get to talk about Cole Emerson, Big Leager, and Robinson Ortiz, and all kinds of other fun, like Johnny Parada. I'm sure we didn't talk about him the last time I was on the show.

So plenty of new topics to get to. Johnny Parada, number one on my list of topics for us to go over today for sure. But I actually want to start with hockey, Jordan. Do we have to? Yes. I'm sorry. I forget when, but for those that don't know, you and your buddy Jake adopted the Buffalo Sabres as your NHL team. And unfortunately, we're talking not even 24 hours after the Sabres were eliminated.

My condolences. But obviously, you know, that's a team that just ended a very long postseason drought. Their magical run just ended in heartbreaking fashion sounds a lot like a mess. other team we know. So I want to know how would you how would you compare the Sabres experience so the Mariners experience? We love a game seven don't we folks? Yeah. Especially against a Canadian team. Oh true. That's just really just dig in there. So you know it's interesting for those who are unaware and that's totally fine because this is one of the dumber subplots of our professional experience that we've ever really had. But yeah, so, I mean, it is kind of in some ways tangentially

related to, you know, my Mariners affinity because Jake and I, we, you know, Jake grew up an Orioles fan and, you know, I adopted the Mariners in high school, whatever, we don't have to review all that. But the point is, is that like, as we've started to do this for a living, which we're very fortunate to do, our fandoms have certainly evolved. they've kind of had because it's the job. And I now covered the Mariners in the postseason. I covered them in the postseason last year. I covered them in Game 7 in Toronto.

Like that's part of the gig. And so watching the team has become a different exercise for me. It's still the team I watched the most. And I think that, you know, I will admit I care more than others. But it's definitely a different exercise. With that in mind, that evolution has sparked us to be like, you know, it would be cool to just actually root for a sports team in a genuine. way again. And we spent so much time on baseball that other sports have generally fallen by the

wayside in ways. It's just like I don't, we don't have time and don't really care. I never cared to, I never had a, we certainly don't care about football whatsoever. Basketball, I'm more into the Jake. And so hockey was just always the sport that kind of called to both of us as just like this would be fun to like root for a hockey team. And a year ago, we were trying to pick a team and we just decided to pick a team that we thought we were getting in at the bottom because they had this playoff drought and this weird tortured history. And it seemed like they had some young talent that they shouldn't be this bad. But we were not expecting them to be good right away. And then they just have this magical season, which just was amazingly fun to follow all year long.

And then to get to game seven overtime in the playoffs. It just be sitting there watching and caring and just being like, why did we choose this? Like it's so funny. I remember, over the years, I would watch playoff hockey because it's incredible. I mean, there's really nothing, you know, as much as special as playoff baseball as than it is, but different kind of tension and just like frantic, oh my God, in hockey. And I remember thinking it over the years being like, oh, my God, this is ridiculous to watch and I don't even care. Now to have a team that I've been watching all season playing that game was crazy.

So like I said, I mean, I can't pretend like I'm feeling a fraction of the hurt of the actual Sabers fans, but I think in the same way as the Mariners, more so in 22 than how this past season went, I still think as, as painful as the ending was, you can still kind of look at it and be like, damn, like, that was freaking cool, you know, like that was really something else. And I think now, maybe the next time the Sabres are back in it, and who knows with hockey, because it just seems like it's a completely absurd amount of parody, which is cool. Also, the next time, it will probably feel a little bit more like the Mariners last year, where it's like, okay, now you're good.

Now they're expectations. And now now you're supposed to do something a little bit more. So we'll see where it goes from here. But it was a hell of a hell of a time following Sabres. And it was really cool to get into it and just watch it and enjoy it. Well, hopefully for your sec, they don't pull a 2023 or 2024 mariners. Hey, but if they do, I'm ready for it. Yeah, you're prepared.

You've gone through this before. So let's talk a little bit about this current. Ameriners team, 23 and 26 after beating the White Sox last night. It's been frustrating, obviously. Very high expectations going into the season for this club, not just locally, but also nationally. They were widely regarded to be the American League favorites going into the season, and they haven't been above 500 yet. So far, they've been at 500 a bunch of times, but they just can't seem to get over that hump. It's kind of like the Red Sox, what, last year, where they just couldn't escape 500 for so long.

So what do you make of all of this? Because obviously there's injuries that play a role here. There's just straight up underperformance. There's just a lot that's happened so far through these first 49 games. So what do you make of all of it? Yeah, man. It's been, it's been a weird season. And I do think that I'm not sure if they were.

were widely regarded nationally as the American League favorite, but they were certainly in that tier in a way that was interesting because it did feel like for the first time in a long time, the national perception was maybe higher than the local perception, or at least that, I mean, I literally can't remember that ever being the case since I've been following with the team in over many years. And so there was reasons to be excited and reasons to be optimistic.

And I think that a lot of those are still in place, But that did create a very different energy coming into this season than I can ever really remember. And of course, how last season ended as a big part of that, but also just what the roster looked like, the moves that they made in the off season to build on a roster that already looked really strong, to add the Brendan Donovan piece that they so clearly were desperately trying to do. That was like, all right, they did it. To add, this one's going to sound a little funnier, Rob Rev Snyder, What a perfect fit.

That's exactly what they needed to add Jose Ferrer, which I thought was a perfect fit. And I think that's one that has been about as good as you could hope. So, you know, some positive returns there. I think with the super cold start and now injury for Cal, that has kind of recalibrated our expectations for the offense. And then Julio as well to start. And then now you're just dealing with injuries, obviously with Cal, but also just to the rest of the bullpen and now Donovan being kind of in and out after you sort of saw him the impact that he could make at the top of the lineup but especially with the bullpen being

thinned out and with Munoz's struggles haven't really gotten that that complete picture of what this team is really capable of now that doesn't excuse some of the stretches of play where it's been like oh my god you still have so much more talent than the other team and you're playing like garbage that said it's still kind of hard to to really judge them and the reality is and i've said this on you know seattle radio and on my own pod like this american league and particularly this american league west is just not going to make you sweat and so it doesn't like i said it doesn't excuse it but i mean you saw that game in anaheim last night i mean yikes yikes for the angels yikes for the ayes you know yikes are whatever the rangers are not good at

The Astros are just a total mess. And so, you know, that's not a reason to just be like everything's fine. You still got to take care of your own business. And the Marrists have not done that yet. But as far as being worried about where they can get to, it's really hard to really actually feel that concern. More from our conversation with Jordan in just a moment. But first a reminder, this episode of the Locked-Omaris podcast is brought to you by Fandulul and Five Hour Energy.

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which they haven't done. But they are still very well positioned to make the playoffs despite that. But what's their brand? Is it the starting pitching? Because that's been up and down. Is it the offense? Is it like what is their identity as a baseball team? Do you feel like you know what that is almost a third of the way through the season?

No, I think that that is a totally valid question. And I think I can still point back to what I see. said where you haven't seen the whole team together healthy. The pitching is weird because you have like the George Kirby season kind of sums this up too. And you look at it, some of the things that we've been talking about for years with this team is, okay, control the zone, dominate the zone. They're doing that. I mean, they are throwing it over for the most part, certainly in the rotation. And in George Kirby's case, that means a lot more contact. And that's where it's like, okay, that's incongruent with this defense that you have built, right?

And so I think we're starting to see Julio, just one of the strangest stretches of defensive gaffs we've ever seen from him. And I think now even in the last week or so, we're starting to see him come out of that and make some better plays. And I said even when he was in that funk that his defense was the least of my concerns of any of the rest of the team, which had a much larger sample of poor defensive showing and that even includes Donovan a third and certainly J.B. Crawford, as we know, and now Cal kind of being out of the mix, you know, what are you getting from catcher,

nailers, kind of, of, of course, the corner outfield spots, certainly without Robles and Randy's not awesome out there. So that's what's been difficult is, okay, sure, to your point, Colby, okay, you feel like you are getting sort of the pitching that you want, the style of pitching dominating zone, but you don't have the defense to back it up. You're, you're, you're not getting the whiffs that you necessarily are normally getting from some of those guys. And Logan certainly has been disappointing it from like a homer prone standpoint. So I think it's still been a strength. You know, they still on the whole rate pretty well in terms of the pitching categories.

But when the offense has been this inconsistent, it hasn't really gelled together. And when the bullpen has been this injured and you weren't getting elite Munoz, that hasn't been a strength either. So you're asking the right questions. What is this team great at? And they have clearly have not demonstrated anything to this point. I think there's still reasons to think that it can be and it can get there. But yeah, they have not proven that in any sense.

Yeah, I mean, it's hard to criticize the roster because this is largely the same roster that got to Game 7 in the ALCS and was eight outs away from going to the World Series, not even, you know, what, you know, eight months ago. Like, but there was a clear tradeoff that worked with that roster. And right now it's not working this roster. and obviously that is magnifying the issues with it specifically, like the defensive issues and just kind of how bad they are at some of the little things. So it's just really frustrating. And a big part of that is like, you know, again, like the offense needs to hit. Like this offense needs to be a top five, top 10 unit.

And while individually a lot of guys are having really good seasons, you know, a big reason for this is like they're really bad against left-handed pitching. Like overall, the offense is, really, really stumbling and it's maddening, maddening to watch. Now, tonight, the Mariners are deploying this piggyback situation with Bryce Miller and Luis Castillo. We have been very vocal that we don't like that idea at all. But, you know, I do have a theory that this is, in a way, just kind of like a scheduled bullpen appearance for Luis Castillo. And this is kind of their way of just like pushing him to the bullpen. And,

We'll see if that winds up being the case here. But what do you, what do you make of just this whole situation and, and how they're handling Luis Castillo right now? It's a great question. And I do want to kind of throw it back to you because, um, and I'm not saying I have any good solutions and we can not,

I'll talk through it because I, I, this is like a important mariner subplot that I've seen and followed, but haven't really formed my own opinions yet about, especially since we haven't seen anything change yet. at now this is the first time where it's like, okay, they're actually going in some sort of direction, whether that's a good idea or not. I guess we can debate. But just to throw it back to you, the not liking that, not liking the piggyback sentiment? Like, are you just in favor of like,

just put them in the bullpen, just suck it up? Or what are you, or six-man rotation? Like, what are you? I'm not saying that you're right. I'm curious where you're at. Yeah, no, the piggyback situation specifically. I mean, I don't think Bryce Miller needs a piggyback partner right now. Yeah, I just, I think at the end of the day, they're kind of delaying the inevitable here. I think they've already kind of made a decision internally on Luis Castillo. But, you know,

this is obviously a guy that they've won a lot of games with, who's incredibly respected, not just in that clubhouse, but in the organization. And they don't want to disrespect him or what have you, right? But he's clearly been the weakest link of this rotation. And I just, I don't know how much a six-man rotation long-term, especially for the sake of keeping Luis Castillo,

given all of his struggles this year, how much that actually helps anyone in this situation. And so, again, my theory with this piggyback situation that's happening tonight is that they are essentially scheduling a bullpen of first bullpen appearance for him, kind of getting him used to getting his clock started a little bit later, you know, going out to the bullpen, hanging out for a while, going through the whole routine of warming up, all that coming out of the bullpen, which is not something that he's done really a lot. He did that and the ALDS, of course. But yeah, that's kind of what I'm hoping here because I just don't see how a piggyback

situation really helps. I don't see how a six-man rotation really helps for the sake of Castillo specifically. Now, if we want to talk about a six-man rotation around like the All-Star break with like a Kate Anderson or something like that, that's kind of a different conversation. But yeah, I just, I don't really understand the piggyback. thing because I other than I just think they're kind of delaying this decision with it. I think that that's I think that's probably right. And it is a delicate, it is a delicate thing. And what I'm trying to think about is just other examples around the league where something like

this has happened where you have a pitcher in Luis Castillo situation who is still under contract for a lot of money and has earned a lot. One that comes to mind that isn't really fair to him because this guy did not accomplish nearly what Luis Castillo did, but it was still this strange dynamic that they had to manage is Taiwan Walker in Philadelphia. Now, that got really, really, really, really bad for a lot of reasons. But I just think about that as a situation where I was like, well, man, we're still paying this guy and he's been a starting pitcher for a long time, but we have better options now. We have to just slowly move him to the bullpen. I use it as a comparison because, again, he was so clearly the weak link. And yet he also was so

clearly not going anywhere. And so you just had to find a way to make him fit. In this case, Castillo has, I do think, earned an amount of respect to have to go through it. But listen, this is, we talk about this with a lot of teams now, but what kind of urgency are you showing? Are you defaulting to what is comfortable, which is, I guess, just letting Louis Castillo stay in there and jerking Emerson Hancock around because that's the guy you've just done that to. But as we've seen Hancock has earned it. I think saying that Bryce Miller has clearly earned it and deserves it is also maybe a bit of a stretch considering his recent track record. But I do think that the stuff we saw so far is more encouraging than what we've seen from Luis Castillo. So would it surprise me

if Luis Castillo finds his way back into the rotation because Bryce Miller also struggles or Bryce Miller can't stay healthy? I hate to say that, but let's just be honest about what he has been the last few seasons. That's also possible. So sometimes these things work themselves out, but this is just a tough decision that they're going to have to make. And unfortunately,

something that Dan Wilson is going to literally have to manage. That is both from a clubhouse standpoint, and that is potentially, if you are putting yourself in a piggyback situation, an actual in-game decision that you're having to make in a way that is effective towards winning games. Now, of course, it depends. Are you up by five?

Are you down by five? Are you, you know, you tell, okay, maybe we'll use a reliever in between. all these things influence that, but frankly, I'm not super thrilled to be, you know, throwing something else on Dan Wilson's plane right now. So in that way, you're giving him another thing to worry about. Maybe it would just be easier to be like, hey, Luis Castillo, you are not one of the five best starters right now. So thanks for your service. You're not going anywhere, but you have to, you are a long reliever now. Thank you. That's what the team needs. And maybe they just decide to do that,

and that's what's best. And I think sometimes in these situations, it's much easier for us fans to be like, yes, just do that. It is that simple. And I don't think that that's a wrong perspective, but it usually isn't that simple. So that's why I think they are kind of slow playing it.

Our conversation with Jordan continues in just a moment, but first a reminder, this episode of the Locktime Marys podcast is brought to you by Neutroful. Baseball's full of routines and superstitions. I'm talking rally caps, lucky jerseys, all of it. And honestly, it can be the same when it comes to products for hair thinning, too. You know, a lot of hype, not always a lot of confidence behind it, though. That's why there's Nutraful, the number one dermatologist's recommended hair growth supplement brand

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and free shipping when you visit Nutraful.com and enter the promo code Locked on MLB. I mean, you mentioned him earlier. Emerson Hancock has a completely new guy. Like, there is no way anybody could have seen this coming based on what we watched. for three years and what he is now, do you remember another time or another player where there was this significant of a change in his profile? And he now all of a sudden looks like he might be a long-term feature of the team

rather than a for a back-and-forth type of player. Do you remember anybody like that in recent memory? I mean, honestly, yeah, like pitching nowadays, man, like teams are, and first of all, we shouldn't be that surprised at Seattle of all teams is figuring it out. We got so comfortable because we felt like we did see a large enough sample with Hancock where it was just that's what he was going to be. I think that whether it was him driving it, whether it was, I mean, I don't know if we know

exactly which pitching minds were behind these adjustments in terms of the arm angle, in terms of waning into the sweeper. You know, whoa, what took so long? Why didn't he try this sooner? It's not always that simple. But man, you just look around the league. Like, there are pitchers that go from really bad to really good, like kind of all the time. And that's just kind of a feature of modern baseball, which is pretty cool.

And of course, in Hancock's case, it's, this is not some random 12th round pick that they are turning into something. I mean, this is a guy with, with real armed talent that they have turned into something. So in that sense, we shouldn't be that shocked. But, but I also get it because to your point, you know, the last two years, we really just, it was like, all right, well, this is what he is. But the other thing you can say about the last few years is that they were jerking him around. He was going up and down. He was going bullpen starting. He was never really in any sort of consistent routine.

And so, you know, maybe that kind of stifled his ability to find some, find some consistency. And he clearly ran with this opportunity so far this year. And I think he has shown enough to also to also earn it, to earn this continued opportunity in a way that, I mean, is this, by the way, is this still true? Because I made this, I pointed this out like three weeks ago, and I'm wondering if this is still true. Yeah, I think it's, yeah, he's still. the highest strikeout rate on the team. Like, I don't know what odds you could have gotten on Everston, Ancock having the highest strikeout rate in the rotation,

let alone that he would be in the rotation, let alone that he would have these numbers. But, like, to me, that's even crazier than him having the lowest DRA, right? Like, just based on the kinds of pitcher that he was. He was as hitable as it gets. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know if this is, if this has changed or not, but, like, for a while there, he had the only 14 strikeout game

the league this year that's insane like emerson hancock i think it's i think it's just him and dillan cease um but yeah no i think you're absolutely no you're right nope never mind it dillan cease has a couple of 12s uh christopher sancho just had 13 so yeah emerson hancock is still he is the the the high it's absurd i mean did he ever even like okay let's i'm just going to quickly scan the game logs like last year his high was seven, which he did twice. My guess is that says his career. Yeah, I would assume. So maybe in the minors, he did more than that a couple times.

Oh, yeah, yeah. No, it's crazy. So I think to that point, Colby, right, like that is the part where it's just like a total reinvention. And I do think from a dramatic upgrade standpoint, it is pretty unique. But yeah, but he's, again, in that sense, it's still a good problem to have because the other version we could be saying is Emerson Ancock is the same kind of guy, and Luis Castillo is just, he's just going out there getting crushed and he ain't going,

you know, and there's no other alternative. So in that sense, you can look at it as a positive, even if it does create some strange, maybe difficult conversations. Now, Cole Emerson is obviously getting a lot of attention right now, rightfully so. And we'll talk about him in a second, but I want to ask you about Cole Young, who at times this year has performed like one of the better second baseman, and maybe a best second baseman in the American League. Just statistically, now he's cooled off a little bit as of late, but the defense has been pretty good and pretty consistent.

You know, WRC Plus now down to 97, but he's had some big hits for this club, especially with two outs. What do you make of his year so far? Yeah, I mean, you guys know, you talk to people with the team and around the team. I mean, the level of conviction that they had in him this year, even with all the Cold Emerson talk and Brendan Donovan coming in, And they really seemed, you know, intent on letting him win the second base job and really run with that. And I think what he showed by last summer is why, you know, that there was a five, six week stretch where it looked a lot like this.

Now, the difference is that the defense was atrocious last year. And now is suddenly, you know, plus plus. And certainly in an early season small sample is what was driving his ridiculous war total. early on, particularly on baseball reference. I think on Fair Gras, it's been a little bit more modest. But, yeah, I mean, I don't know what he was doing to trick the D-Wore gods into thinking he was Andres Jimenez or whatever. But that was really what gave him that lead. And so, you know, to say he's, you know, the best second baseman in the American League is partially an acknowledgement that there are not any good second basement in the American League.

In fact, if you look at fan graphs and you sort by F-Wore, a second baseman, you have to, the first nine names are all in the National League before you get to jazz and Chase Midroth, another one of my favorites, and then Cole Young. A bit of a fluke there, right? Altube has also been, you know, injured and not very good. I think when Young was leading the league in F-War, which was, I think, around that Minnesota series. Was it F-W or B-Worp? definitely be war he was i think i think i think it was also afor i think it was also afor or maybe jazz jazz might have been ahead of him by like point one or something like that but yeah he was like eighth or ninth on the list and then it was like seven national league second base so you know that's a that's a fluky thing where uh i know nowadays we don't i i i kind of struggled with this

sometimes in my writing where it's but but i do it too i'm totally guilty but i'm all happily do it where it's like okay is this point going to be stronger if i only mention it's the american league I only made it. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Yeah. And then B more wise. Bore wise, wasn't he like second in the entire American league regardless of position for like a little while there?

Like that's insane. So we know he's cooled off. But I do think that he has, he's, it's just been a really encouraging showing. I just, I don't really know how else to put it. I mean, the defense alone has obviously made him closer to just a plus player. I think that the at-bats that he has. is Cole Young's never going to light up the stat cast page. It's just not going to ever happen because he's never hitting the ball that hard.

But you can just tell by the quality of at-bats. I mean, if you're watching every day, and especially when you compare him to some of the other guys in the lineup who are so boom or bust or just like go hot and cold, he just looks like he knows what he's doing, which is going to be relevant as we talk about Cole Emerson here. But it just goes a long way. And I think that that's what Cole Young has done well

since he was 15. And so that's why he was a first round pick. And that's why I think that the Mariners had a lot of conviction in him. And frankly, just back to the defense, we really shouldn't be surprised because he was like a decent shortstop. So I think him making this transition

and becoming a really good second baseman should not be a shock. So that's been nice. I still think offensively, he's not someone I really expect to ever be a fixture atop the lineup. But there's just so much value in having someone down in the bottom,

half that can can give you quality at bats and i think he's he's given that do you think he could essentially be oh go ahead go ahead go ahead i was going to say my favorite bit about cole young's offensive profiles that he's only going to hit like 12 home runs but they're all going to be nukes they're all going to be 400 you know plus feet i just it's it's wild yeah i mean he doesn't have cheap ones but he doesn't get a lot of them last year was so the 480 or whatever like which like a version of emerson hancock having the most strikeout of anyone Like he had the longest home run of any hitter last season Or at least in the top five farthest home runs of the season.

So yeah, no, it's it's a weird one. But yeah, it's just think that his two strike approach, Just like two out hitting, he's guys in scoring. Like I just feel like he's someone that, I mean, you know this. Well, this has been true for the Mariners forever. But anybody that watches or two, they just know that sometimes is okay, it's two outs guy in second. You're like, someone comes up and you're like, all right, well, this runs not scoring.

And Cole Young, there's usually you come up and you're like, all right, I think they got a pretty good chance to score. Maybe. Yeah, yeah. I was going to ask, though, you know, J.P. Crawford, obviously, this is last year on his contract. You know, he's been a very clutch hitter for this club for many years. Kind of feels like maybe Cole Young could take that, you know, torch, essentially. And the numbers could look very similar offensively to J.P. Crawford. down the line.

Do you think that that's a like a legitimate like statistical comparison for Cole Young? I think that that's valid and and again like the underlying plate discipline stuff with Cole Young has not been elite yet but that is the part of his game that you can imagine getting there.

But that's the thing that's that JPs had the whole time that it has just been exceptional. and even when he's been good, when he's not chasing, and he's going to take his walks. And he's also someone that can occasionally give you the no-douder in a way that's pretty compelling, even if he's not actually hitting the ball very hard.

So, no, I think that's a totally reasonable comparison. And ironically, you know, it will be interesting with JP, presumably not in Seattle, but maybe in Seattle. I mean, I don't know how this would happen, but if the next chapter of his career is being an awesome second baseman. That would not be shocking, I don't think. And that approach is going to give him a floor that teams are going to covet. And not to mention, you know, off the field stuff.

But yeah, I mean, if Cole Young can get to his on base to 3.50 every season, regardless of the power, then yeah, that's going to be a heck of a player to have at the bottom line. A couple more questions here for you, Jordan, before we let you go. So, Cole Emerson, a little bit of a weird situation on Sunday. Brennan Donovan, we're not sure what's going on with him. He gets scratched on Saturday. Dan Wilson says that they're going to see how it looks pregame and all that. He might be available off the bench.

And then we hear Cole Emerson's getting called up like three hours before first pitch. And it's like, okay, sure. Yeah, all right. And then Donovan, of course, goes on the IL and then we see the video of Colton getting the news like he's already in full uniform you look at the clock it's like three hours

before first but it's like he basically found out when we did and so he makes his way over to the ballpark has himself you know kind of a non-descript debut you know the mayor's get smoked on Sunday night baseball yada yada yada but last night in his first head bat

has a hard hit ball against against Schultz against a tough lefty unfortunately goes right to the glove of Miguel Vargas and then obviously hits the three run home run last night. So obviously a lot of excitement about Emerson who I mean this is probably the biggest mayor's call-up we've we've seen since Wiliot made the opening day roster back in 2022.

So what are your realistic thoughts, expectations, et cetera for Emerson this year? Yeah, I mean the chaos of Sunday is kind of a tough look, but also like speaks to the circumstance and I think lends some insight into how the team views the depth chart, which is you could say, oh my God, this is a panic move, but you could also much more simply say, because people say, well, why don't just call it Brock Rod and why are we rushing him if he isn't tearing up AAA, regardless of how exactly Emerson's performing AAA.

I hope Brock Rodden gets his chance at some time either. With respect to Brock Rodden, like clearly the team viewed Cole Emerson as the next man up for a situation like this. He is their next best infielder for the situation that arose, which was Brendan Donovan being injured again, right? And Leo Rivas no longer being a viable everyday here. Yeah. Right.

And so here he is, right? And so I think we knew all along that the Mariners were going to, that they are counting on Cole Emerson to contribute this season. So I'm sure there was a conversation where they said, okay, well, we could call up Brock Rodden and hope that in two weeks or in three weeks by the time, you know, we have another spot. And Rivas is still whatever. We can just now we're really excited.

He's ready to go. And now we can join this and join the Donovan group and whatever. I also think they probably viewed as an opportunity to say, listen, we believe in this kid from a talent from a makeup standpoint. We think that he is going to help us. Why not get him an extra 50, 70 at bats, even if it's not going to go awesome? And trust that that adjustment period will just happen sooner. Now there's risk to that because he could get exposed to a level that he becomes a detriment

to the team and you have to consider sending him down again. And that's where you have very difficult conversations. And that's something that you invite when you get. give a 20-year-old $100 million more he debuts, right? Like, that's all part of it. But I also think it still just speaks to the organization's confidence in him and the opportunity to let him to start to figure this out. And something that I think we've seen across the league,

and not just with Cole Emerson, not that these have all gone well, but teams are looking at their top prospects and saying, you know what, if we think that they can help us, even if it's sporadic in the beginning, the long-term payoff of getting this, we believe this guy's going to be a great major leaguer. That's why they just gave $100 million.

If we can expedite that process, even if that means some bumps at the beginning, it's probably just as valuable for him to be learning it here than in AAA. Now, sometimes it's not. Sometimes, as we've seen, there have been some cases where it's like, oh, this was too much too fast,

and we got to send it back down and that creates some difficult circumstances. But I also am not surprised, as we know he was competing for a spot on the opening of a roster, we know he was already considered close. We know they had a lot of trust in him. I think that that speaks to the fact that they're just going to want to see how it goes and trust that he's just in the way that he was going to make those developments in AAA.

Let's give him a chance to make those developments in the big leagues and see if he can help sooner rather than later. So as for realistic expectations, I think honestly, probably similar to Cole Young last year, where you're going to see the glimpses of it. and I think the talent will come through. And I think defensively, if he can make an impact, that is where I think he can provide instant impact to third base, right? And I know some people are going to be screaming,

well, why is he like shortstop? But we'll move that conversation to decide for now and just hope that JP continues to contribute offensively and cold can start to figure things out offensively too. I think the last thing I would just say about Emerson just on his debut and then get your guy's thoughts for those expectations is, I just wanted to talk about the home run. I think that like that at bat,

when you're facing Trevor Richards, and there is no secret what Trevor Richards is doing. He's been doing it for 10 years. He is going to throw you the change-up. And sure, he's going to try and sneak a fastball by you because you're sitting change-up, change-up, change-up, change-up, and he did try that, and Emerson fouled it off. And even on a well-executed change-up,

to have that kind of bats of all skills, that pitch recognition, kind of barrel maneuverability to get to that pitch and hit it well he didn't hit it 110 it was you know 98 exit velocity but yeah that's that's the kind of special stuff you're talking about that when you see stuff like that that's i mean that's that's where you're a difference maker and so he's not going to do that all the time but uh it was cool that that was like a good encapsulation of of what he's capable of so yeah yeah i mean he's 20 years old he's the youngest player in the American League is the second youngest player

in all the major league baseball. We're not worried about the remember. That's right. The National League does not exist. Yeah, yeah. That's right. He's the youngest player in baseball. All those second baseman in the National League, fake. They don't exist. Ozzy Albies is not real.

Never heard of him. Never heard of him. This is Connor Griffin. It sounds like a great, well, I don't know. It sounds interesting, but I've never heard of him. So, Cole Emerson is the youngest. He is the only 2005 baby in the American League, for sure. In the, in, he's the only hitter.

I think the only other 2005 is Fuentes with Atlanta, the pitcher. But we got Connor Griffin, 06, Emerson, 05. And yeah, it's crazy. It's crazy to what, 20 years old is absurd. And yeah, so we'll see how this goes. Yeah. So, you know, again, like, there's. obviously going to be the ebbs and flows and all that but by all accounts kid has a great head on his

shoulders he has a great work ethic like i i feel confident and just hearing people talk about him i feel confident his ability to be able to handle those abs and flows a little bit better than most prospects that come through yeah yeah and the last thing i'll say about emerson and this is like such a basic point but um it's something i think about it and honestly i've thought about a lot with the White Sox this season. It's just another reason to want to tune in. Now, you guys are going to watch all the games anyway because it's your job and whatever. But with all due respect to Leo Rivas and so a lot of the, I, no matter what happens,

I am, if I see the Cole Emerson is coming up the next ending, I'm like, I got to tune in. I got to watch this. You know, I mean, that that eight or nine spot comes up in the mayor's lineup. I'm like, oh, yeah, yeah, I want to see that. What happens? Let's see what happens. And I mentioned the White Sox because in a year and a half, they've gone from. one of the most brutal watches of any team in recent memory from an offensive standpoint to

like, I got to see what Murakami does. I got to say, I love watching Chase my drop. Like, let's see what Colson Montgomery is going to do. Like, let's see, you know, they got some real guys. And so just from a watchability standpoint, it's just the intrigue. And any top prospect early in their career, that's, there's just nothing like it in sports. It's just so exciting to just see every at that. So I think that's clearly true for Emerson. I got one last question for you. I don't know if Colby has anything. thing for you, but this is more big picture long term going back to the rotation. Going into the season, probably not even two months ago, I think a lot of Maris fans,

us included, were thinking, yeah, Logan Gilbert's going to be here long term. But now it's been, you know, obviously last year with the injury and everything, you know, and that has to be acknowledged here that he was, you know, dealing with an elbow thing last year, even after he got back from the injured list. But, you know, it's, it's been 40 plus starts now, including the ALCS, of him either not being able to get deep into games or just straight up, just not living up to the standard

that he himself set. And so I do wonder if the money that we kind of assumed the merits had set aside for an extension for him is still on the table. Yeah. now obviously with the lockout looming he's only got you know a year and a half now left on his deal colby and i were just talking about this on our on our patreon show like if you if you wanted if the mayors want to trade them they kind of have to do it sometime between now and like December 1st

or else you really start to you know uh the the the value starts to just decline and decline and decline so what would you do with Logan Gilbert Yeah, I mean, you could also say this is exactly when you should go offer him an extension that's a lot less than you thought it was going to cost. Yeah. Now, you could say that's stupid. He's not pitching well and he doesn't deserve it. But there are so many dynamics that go into these negotiations. And especially for pitchers, we've just seen that frankly, their own mortality sometimes comes into play.

sometimes very blatantly in the way that they talk about it, whether it's a garret crochet situation, sometimes a little bit more subtly, and you wonder like, okay, well, why would, or we saw like with Lance McCullors,

the extension he took with Euston, essentially acknowledging, like, yeah, I have not stayed, like, let's get some money in the bank because, you know,

staying healthy has been an issue, and we've seen that's proven to be the case. So I, both from a performance standpoint, and from an extension calculation standpoint, for both the player, and team, I do wonder how that impacts Logan Gilbert. And that's part of it that's hard to say.

And then you just, and I think you're tweeting about this, but it's just part of the conversation too is just the other pitchers in your rotation and George Kirby and Brian Wu, frankly, not that he's anywhere near free agency, but Brian Wu is another one that you could say, well, maybe he's someone that would be more excited to sign an extension because of his, you know, his injury history. Bryce Miller, same thing. So it's hard. It's really hard.

And maybe the answer is that this has told you to just stand pat. And unless the Gilbert camp comes to you with an offer that is essentially going to be fair, even if he does settle into being more of a mid-rotation starter than like an all-star level guy, then you just hold on. Because this is where the depth that you now have, because the lottery gods said, here you go. Kate Anderson is in Seattle Mariner. You know, now you have a little bit more of a cushion of like,

okay, we're not looking at this cliff. And by the way, also Emerson Hancock, right? I mean, before the season, you were looking at this just like cliff after these top four guys are like, who is right? You know, obviously before they drafted Kate, it was like, okay, they have these four or five guys, but then after that it's like, what is there?

And you also have Ryan Sloan that might factor into the equation here in the next year. Yeah. He's part of that conversation. So not that you should be counting everything on Anderson and Sloan whatever. And, um, but there has to, it has to be part. You can't, especially with Cade, like, you can't pretend like he's not part of the calculus when it terms, when it comes to allocation of resources and stuff.

So, yeah, it's hard. It's hard. So I'll give you that non-answer. But, uh, but yeah, I don't know where you're out with that Colby in terms of just any of these pictures you should invest. And I know because we've seen all these extensions, we just assume that they're working on more and that's a good idea. But I don't know, you know, maybe you,

with pitchers, it's just, it's really hard and you kind of got a hold to it. And by the way, with Castillo, hello, we're kind of finding out that sometimes just going all in on any picture for any reason. It's not always the best idea. Colby, you got anything for Jordan

before we get out of here? I was going to ask about Logan, but you just did. Is it too early to ask for, yeah, no, it's too early to start talking trade. So I think we'll end it. I don't want to put you on the spot like, that.

Yeah. We're the American who's trading for in July. Yeah. I don't know. I mean, it does, you know, and I've seen a little buzz here and there of like, oh, more trade talk than usual. We have this funky Patrick Bailey trade. Yeah.

I mean, you just look at some of the injuries around the league. And I do wonder if that could kickstart at least some movement on the, from like the starting pitching and certainly the reliever market. I mean, some of these teams, like if you're the Cubs, I just don't know how you can wait much longer before you start to address. some of these things, but you got to find a willing partner. So I am even come July pretty bad at coming up with trade that usually don't like it.

That's why we ask our listeners for them. Right, right. Those are always good. Yeah. That is undefeated content, and I respect the content game. I totally get it. But it is also some of my least favorite because everyone is so bad at it all the time. We are so bad at predicting it. We are so bad at assessing prospect cost. And in some ways,

that's what makes it fun and funny. But also, I'm just like, kind of like, you know what? I mean, look at the Gino-Swaris situation last year. Oh, my God. Right. Exactly. And it's like, they're going to get a top 100%. They might get two. And then it ends up being Tyler Locklear and a couple of relabors. Like, yeah, it's like, you know what? It's like, sure. Okay. We wish we had Brandon Garcia right now. It's like, it's fine. I'm pretty sure. that Gino Zwar's grand slam in the playoffs was, boy, cool. Yeah, yeah.

Anyway, it's hard to say. And I think they're going to make a trade because they usually make a trade or two or three. Yeah. So I look forward to finding out what that is. I look forward to seeing what prospects they're willing to part with. There are certainly some

other problems on this roster that I am happy we didn't get into because I was in a good mood and I still am in a good mood. but yeah so we'll see and i think that um their the opportunity is still there for them to be one of the best teams in american league kind of sounds like you're saying Alex Hoppey for byron Buxton is that what i'm hearing i like the idea of the twins finally being like all right we will finally address our bullpen by trading our best player trading byron boston for someone that we could have acquired for essentially free.

Yeah. That's how this much, right? Yeah, exactly. That's what baseball trade value said was, you know. You know what? You're right. You're right. Thank you for reminding me that baseball trade values exist.

Truly one of my favorite. I think they put it behind a paywall, right? Because like for the last year or so, we haven't gotten screenshots. I haven't seen any screenshots. What a shame. I was really. really missing. If there was something on, I wish I had more off on my timeline, it was, it was those. But I guess I'll have to settle.

Well, Jordan, you were supposed to tell us who the next DeNard Span and Alex Colombe are going to be. But I'm disappointed. Wait, sorry, what did you say? Remember in 2018 in May, they traded for DeNard Span and Alex Collabay. Colby and I have this joke every year. We're like, so who's that going to be this year? And then it never happens. dude i freaking loved Alex Colome

Alex Colome like I I still bring him up all the time because it's like Edwin Diaz god bless him complete edwin d. The Edwin d.S season does not happen without Alex Colomey it does not exist he does not even he probably doesn't even get to like 45 saves without Alex Colomey and nobody nobody gives him a love but I will

I love Alex Colome This is the Alex Colomé episode. I'm putting Alex Colomé on the thumbnail. Please, dude. You'll get a lot of people. You put Steve Seishak on the thumbnail. Yeah, let me just make sure is he still pitching in the Dominican or Mexican League? No, but he's still in the winter league last year.

So I assume he'll still be in the mix for a rest of you. You know, it's interesting. I could have gone and seen Fernando Rodney's pitch in the year of our Lord 2025 last year. And he chose not to. He's playing right down the road. Fake fans. Yeah, he was playing out in what, Hamilton, I think, which is like 20 minutes away from me.

Hey, can I just indulge you? Can I just talk? Can I finish on a story? Because you mentioned for that and rounding. So one of my great, one of my closest, just because this is fresh in my mind. And then I'll say goodbye.

I don't know if I've ever talked to you guys about this specific Mariners memory, but my first time ever going to Seattle game was 2015. End of our road trip. We drove from San Diego to Seattle in college. And we sat in Kings Court. This is like the end of, you know, Felix being awesome. And Felix was amazing.

They were playing the race. In fact, I believe the crazy thing about that is that I think Alex Colome started that game. So Alex Columet against Felix. What a freaking battle. Okay. So Columet is awesome. Felix is awesome.

Surprise, surprise. It's a Felix leaves. and the Mariners are not winning. What a shock. So it's 1-1, and they go to the bottom of the 7th, and Austin Jackson hits a go-ahead home run. And it was just like, oh, it was just like the coolest thing ever. And I'm bringing this up now because last week,

Austin Jackson was in Cleveland doing Cleveland pre-impost game. And I basically went up to him, and I was like, dude, I just have to talk to you about this random-ass home run. He hit 11 years ago. He, like, didn't remember any of it, But he, he's awesome was awesome. He was, we were just reminiscing about the 14 and 15 mariners.

It was great. Yeah. I bring all that up because what was also memorable about that game is that this was when Fernando Rodney was going through it. Like he had blown a ton of saves in a row and people had signs up in the left field that said, impeach Rodney. It was like, we're done with Rodney. We can't do Rodney.

as the closer. And that game after Austin Jackson took the lead, Carson Smith, God bless him, come out for his first ever save appearance. And he shut it down in the ninth. And it was just like the coolest thing ever. It was like,

oh my God, Carson Smith. And Carson Smith will just always hold it. And they, speaking of abusive, I mean, they were just like, that guy gave it all for one season of awesome pitching.

that was it. He walks so Edward Bizarro could run. Exactly. And Bizarro has already lasted far longer than Carson's trip. And then they traded Carson Smith for Wade Miley. They sure did. But that is, yeah, that was like my first time I was ever in Seattle

and still a memory that that means a lot to me because of Fernando's involvement in Felix and Austin Jackson. And yeah, I was just reliving it with Austin Jackson last week. So I figured out some people who care about the 2015 Mariners would maybe enjoy that. Here on the end of this episode of blocked on Mary.

Shout out to the 2015 Seattle Bears. Yeah, 76 and 86, baby. What a bunch. Shout out to Seth Smith. I was in line for a game when they traded for Andrew Albers. I'll never forget it. Nice. It's also crazy because that's like three months before Jerry gets hired, right?

Like, that's the, that is, that's the end of Jack. So anyway, good times. So thanks for indulging me. I appreciate it. Thanks for having you on. Thanks so much. Yeah. Yeah, man.

Thanks so much for hopping on real quick. What are you writing about? What are you podcasting about? What can people check out from you? So writing about the draft this week. Hell yeah. Which again, a little bit less interesting for the Mariners this season compared to last, but still.

Yeah, we haven't talked about it at all. I think we talked about the draft a billion times like around this time last year. But yeah, this year is just like whatever. We'll get to it. So yeah, no, I'm ramping up my draft coverage with, of course, the college postseason starting up. We'll have some Dodgers-Padre stuff coming later this week. And also looking at, this is actually maybe Mariners-related. I think later on this week going to be looking at just the teams whose playoff odds have changed the most.

The Mariners, I actually don't think they've really changed that much. It feels like it, but they've gone down a little bit. But compared to some of these other teams, it hasn't been as just dramatic. dramatic. So yeah, Yahoo Sports, baseball barbecast three times a week. That's where you can find me. Oh, yeah. Appreciate it, Jordan. Thanks so much. Do it again soon. Thanks, guys. Thanks for coming on. All right. That is going to do it for our show. Thank you again to Jordan for joining us. And thank you so much for joining us here on the Locktime Airs podcast, part of the Locktime Podcast, network, your team every day. Once again, if you never miss an episode, it's time to make it official. Join the Lockdown Every Day or Club and get ad-free audio, access to our members only Discord and more, all built for our most loyal fans.

fans. Colby Pat note, I'm Tadeng Gazzalus. Be sure to give us a follow on Twitter at LO underscore Marrers. You can follow me at Tadig and Colby at C-Pat-I-L-L-Liverrins. We're also on Blue Sky. You can follow me at TDG, Colby at MLB Colby, and the show at Locked-on Mariners. You can also find us on Instagram and TikTok at Locked-on Mariner's. Have yourself a beautiful baseball day and we'll see you next time. Peace.