Locked On Mariners - Daily Podcast On the Seattle Mariners - Assessing Mariners' 5 Most Likely All-Star Candidates

Episode Date: June 8, 2022

The Seattle Mariners had an uneventful night on Tuesday and play at a weird time on Wednesday, so Locked On Mariners hosts Ty Dane Gonzalez and Colby Patnode go more big picture and look at the import...ance of Seattle's road trip as a whole, assess the team's five most likely All-Star candidates and discuss some trade possibilities in the bullpen.Be sure to follow or subscribe to Locked On Mariners wherever you prefer your podcasts! For questions and other inquiries, email: lockedonmariners@gmail.comFollow the show on Twitter: @LO_Mariners | @danegnzlz | @CPat11 | @InsideMarinersFor more of Ty and Colby, check out their Patreon: patreon.com/controlthezone/Blue NileMake your moment sparkle with jewelry from Bluenile.com, and LOCKED ON SPORTS listeners get $50 off purchases of $500 or more using code LOCKEDON.Athletic GreensTo make it easy, Athletic Greens is going to give you a FREE 1 year supply of immune-supporting Vitamin D AND 5 FREE travel packs with your first purchase. All you have to do is visit athleticgreens.com/MLBNETWORKBetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:00 How's it going, everyone? This is Taday Gonzalez for the Lockdown Mariners podcast. Just wanted to hop on here before the show begins to apologize for the technical issues that we experienced during this episode. Just keeps on happening this week. This time, it's internet connection problems on both of our ends, and that led to some pretty noticeable lag that you will unfortunately experience and some popping of the microphones as well. Tried my best to Frankenstein this episode together with some cuts, but yeah, there's going to be some issues throughout this episode. So apologies for that, hoping to have it fixed by the next time we record. But with that out of the way, let's get on into the show. Last night was surprisingly uneventful, and the Mariners have a weird start time today.
Starting point is 00:00:41 So we're going to be talking trades, all-star candidates, and the importance of Seattle's successful road trip on today's episode of Lockdown Mariners. Colby, hit it. On Mariners, your daily Seattle Mariners podcast, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. It is Wednesday, June the 8th, 2020, and this is Locked-on Mariners podcast, brought to you by Blue Nile. Make your moment sparkle with jewelry from Blue Nile.com, and Locked-on Mariners listeners get $50 off purchases of $500 or more. This podcast exclusive includes engagement jewelry as well. Use promo code Locked-on at checkout. Thank you so much for making us your first listen of the day.
Starting point is 00:01:26 We are free and available on all platforms. I'm Tidea and Gonzalez. He's Colby Patnode. We cover the Mariners over at Inside the Mariners. be sure to follow the show on Twitter at LO underscore Mariners. You can follow me at Dame Gonzalez and C-A-N-Z-L-Z and Colby at C-E-E-P-E-E-P-A-T-L-Z. And Colby at C-E-P-A-T-E-E-P-A-T-1. Be sure also check out our Patreon at patreon.
Starting point is 00:01:45 com forward-slash control of zone. We typically post two additional shows on there every week and get into some bigger ideas and bigger topics, whereas Lockdown Mariners covers more of the day-to-day with the EMS. We also get into some non-baseball discussions on control of zone as well. It's a fun time. So be sure to check it out. Again, that's patreon.com forward slash control of zone. And if this is your first time joining us here on the Locktime Meriters podcast, welcome to the show.
Starting point is 00:02:07 If you like what you hear, give us a follower, subscribe wherever you're listening to this. And if you're watching us on YouTube, hit the subscribe button, turn on the notification bell and give this video a thumbs up. We greatly appreciate it. So as I mentioned in the cold open, we are going to be not talking about last night's game. Not going to be talking about today's game because last night was really uneventful. And what's the point in talking about that when it's just a pretty, boring game. The Mariners got dominated by Justin Verlander. He was really good. He did Justin Verlander things. There, there's your recap for the day. And then today, they got a weird start
Starting point is 00:02:40 time at 340 Pacific time, and that just didn't really work out with our schedules. So, instead, we're going to be doing more of a general show today. We're going to be doing some trade talk, specifically looking at the bullpen. Colby's written about a couple of relievers that the Mariners could target. So we might talk about those guys, maybe some other names. We're also going to be looking at the Mariners all-star candidates. They're five most likely all-star candidates now that the all-star voting has officially open. But first, we're actually going to be talking about this road trip overall for the Mariners, which has been very successful for them. They won two or three in Baltimore. They won two or three in Texas. And now they're aiming to win their fourth consecutive
Starting point is 00:03:22 series down in Houston later today. And if they do that, they're looking pretty good. They'll be heading back to Seattle, just five games under 500. That's really something, considering where they were at and the way that they were kind of tumbling here as of late. But after that big series win against Houston to wrap up the last homestand, they've been kind of on a roll here. And Colby, I mean, this is exactly the kind of road trip that they needed, right? Yeah. Obviously, the thing that matters now is following it up with a pretty good homestand. And you, you, you You've got some tough teams coming in. The Red Sox are playing really well right now.
Starting point is 00:04:04 You know, the Angels lost their 13th in a row. But, yeah, it's the Angels, you know, they're clearly better than losing 13 in a row. It doesn't mean they're good. It doesn't mean they're horrible. They're playing horrible right now. But you do have to take on those two teams and they're both ahead of you in the standing. So it's been a very good road trip. And it's certainly one that the Mariners needed.
Starting point is 00:04:30 It would go from good to great with a win today, but we'll see how that goes. But again, just like momentum, and we talk about this all the time, if there's, you know, go eight and three on your next 11, and then, you know, you go four and seven in the following 11. You really didn't do anything. So it's all about, you know, just maintaining that momentum. And it's certainly better than the alternative, but, you know, until we see two, three weeks of this, it's tough to really say that they've definitively turned the corner. And, you know, the homestand lines up a bit favorably for them. They got the twins. They got the Red Sox, as you mentioned.
Starting point is 00:05:16 Those teams are going to be very tough. The twins are obviously first place in the central. The Red Sox are starting to figure some things out as well. But they also get the Angels for five, a whopping five games here on this homestown. And obviously the angels have been scuffling mightily. They just fired Joe Madden. They've lost 13 in a row now. So there's a pretty good opportunity for you to get hopefully at least three out of that series.
Starting point is 00:05:43 And who knows, maybe play with some house money there and get four or five. But yeah, the Mariners are in a much better position than they were a couple weeks ago to be sure. and it seems like they've established some confidence in themselves now with this road trip. There's a little bit of a different vibe with this team right now. Especially, you know, you finally saw some fight out of them on Monday night with the altercation between them and the Astros. And there was some of that fire that was there in 2021 that had frankly kind of been missing from this team thus far. And it seems like this road trip has reignited. that it seems like they've gotten a little bit of that magic that made their 2021 so special
Starting point is 00:06:30 back on this road trip i mean you look at the comeback wins in texas i mean how could that not fire you up and that was a very 2021-esque uh performance by the mariners in general to you know be down in the way that they were down uh just a couple of outs remaining in uh in the ninth innings of both of those wins and to be able to come back and win both of those games was huge uh that doesn't ton for your confidence that does a ton just for the clubhouse and how everyone feels around there, the confidence that everyone has about being able to go out and go in toe to toe to with any team on any given night because they're talented enough to do that, right? You said yesterday, you know, every time that the Mariners have played against the Astros
Starting point is 00:07:15 doesn't really look like those teams are too far apart from one another. Even though the record says differently, much differently, those teams really don't look that far apart. And obviously the Mariners still have some glaring holes on their roster, but they are very, very talented. And we are starting to see that talents to show up more. And so you get that paired with some of the magic that they had last year. Special things could be coming here in Seattle for the Mariners. Yeah, I agree.
Starting point is 00:07:45 It's, you know, Mariners have outscored the Astros in their 11 games this year. They're 5 and 6. They have a shot to win their third consecutive series. I would give them three or four series wins. It's, you know, the Astros are still very good, and they're definitely a World Series contender. And I don't know that the Mariners are a World Series contenders. I would say, no, probably not.
Starting point is 00:08:09 But the fact that we're having this discussion about how, well, they're playing the Astros would suggest that they're not that far off. And, yeah, it's clearly a message being sent by the Seattle, Mariners that, you know, coming for you. And even if we can't get you this year, we will, we will overtake you. It's only a matter of time. And I think the Astros are feeling that. Hence, the, let's be nice and call it chippiness that they've had towards the
Starting point is 00:08:42 Mariners over the last calendar year or so. Yeah, certainly seems. And again, you know, we don't want to jump to any conclusions here because it seems like every time we have the Mariners pegged down, they do something completely off the rails. So I'm not going to say here that they are turning the corner just yet, but there are some positive signs here that better days are ahead for the Mariners. And the schedule also starts to lighten up quite a bit here in the coming weeks. Pretty much after that twin series, it's going to start to lighten up quite a bit for the Mariners.
Starting point is 00:09:20 So see how it goes. They just got to keep on playing good ball, keep on winning series, and they should be in a good spot. We'll see how everything plays out. So we're going to be talking about the Mariners' All-Star candidates because I believe there are five that are actual possibilities here for the Mariners. And also voting opened up today. So a lot of All-Star talk going on just around the league right now. So we'll be talking about that in just a moment. But real quick, a reminder of this episode of Lockdown Mariners is brought to you by Blue Nassar.
Starting point is 00:09:51 Nile. Whether you're ready to pop the question or you're celebrating a milestone moment, find jewelry as unique as them with the modern convenience of online shopping at blue nile.com. Blue Nile has simple online tools that let you choose the diamond shape, size, and clarity as well as setting style. Blue Nile's bench jewelers will then handcraft their perfect engagement ring and each ring is one of a kind. Looking for fine jewelry, but having trouble choosing, Blue Nile has jewelry experts on hand 24-7, available via phone or chat to help you find a memorable gift at every budget. Make your moment sparkle with jewelry from blue nile.com and locked on mariners listeners get $50 off purchases of $500 or more. This podcast exclusive includes engagement jewelry as
Starting point is 00:10:32 well. Use promo code locked on. That's L-O-C-K-D-O-N. Plus every order is insured, ships free, and arrives in discrete packaging that won't give away what's inside. So shop stress-free and find your forever piece. Go to blue nile.com today. You're listening to Lockdown Mariners. Thank you again for making us your first listen of the day. Now before we talk about the Mariners, all our candidates. We have an important favor to ask you. We've put together a survey so we can learn more about listeners like you and make your favorite locked on podcast even better. This is your opportunity to tell us what you like and don't like about locked on podcast. Go to lockdown podcast.com slash survey right now to get started. It won't take very long and everyone that completes the survey
Starting point is 00:11:10 can qualify for a chance to win one of 10, $100 ticket master gift cards. To take our audience survey, go to lockdown podcast.com slash survey. Thank you for your help. So I'll start voting, opening open today for fans, and that's obviously just for the starting lineups for both the National League and American League. And no pitchers will be voted on either that is completely decided upon by the coaches of the respective teams. So that doesn't really apply to one of the discussions that we will have here. But I believe that the Mariners have five legit all-star candidates.
Starting point is 00:11:51 Thai France, Ehuhenio Suarez, J.P. Crawford, Julio Rodriguez, and then Logan Gilbert. And again, pitchers are not being voted on right now. So that's kind of a different discussion here. But let's just go one by one here. Starting with Thai France, we kind of already talked about his star probabilities about a week ago, I believe, on this show. So we won't linger too long on this. But Colby, what does Thai France have to do to make the All-Sart team? or rather what has to happen for Ty Francie to Lass our team because frankly I think he's done enough already. Yeah, I mean, if the slumpies currently in goes another month, it might be a different discussion. Sure. As everything stands right now, yeah, he's the best first basement in the American League.
Starting point is 00:12:37 It's not particularly close. For him to be the starters, Mariner fans just have to get out and vote. I mean, there's really no way around it. You know, I've already talked to somebody today who covered. baseball who voted for Vlad Guerrero Jr. over Thai France. And when I asked somebody, he goes, no, I actually really like Thai France, but, you know, I just can not vote for Vlad because reasons, like, that's going to happen. So you want Thai France to be the starter.
Starting point is 00:13:06 You have to get out and vote. It's kind of an interesting format this year, apparently. Whoever wins the first round, they just, they're the starter automatically. and then the next two highest voters go on the second ballot, and then that's how that works, I guess. So, yeah, France has to continue to hit a few weeks ago, or just find a level. And he will eventually.
Starting point is 00:13:34 It's Ty France. He can't keep him down forever. So, yeah, he just has to kind of keep playing well, and he'll get on. And then, again, the Mariners are guaranteed at least one. And if they only do get one, it's Thai France. There's just no other candidate who's more deserving on the Mariners than him. He just pretty much has to avoid going in the tank and he'll be an All-Star.
Starting point is 00:13:56 But if Mariners fans are anxious to see him start, then they have to get out and go out some ballots for him because that's the only way it's going to happen. And then, Eh, E. E. E. E. E. E. E. E. E. E. E. Horez, we talked about him two days ago and kind of the possibility of him making the All-Star team as well right now. As of June 8th, he is tied for third in the American League and third base F4. Obviously, two MVP candidates are at the top there with Raphael Devers and Jose Ramirez. But then it's after that, it's Suarez and DJ LeMayhew who are tied right now. And then Alex Breggman is a little bit behind both of those guys in F4 right now.
Starting point is 00:14:39 But typically, you know, all-star teams, they carry three third baseman. So there's going to be a third, third base in here for the American League. Could it be Suarez? I doubt it. Swariz has to hit, like, a lot. It's not enough to just maintain what he's doing over the next few weeks. He has to, you know, get on one of those hot streaks, probably like he was September of last year. There's just, there's a lot of talent at third base.
Starting point is 00:15:09 There's a lot of bigger names at third base. and Suarez, you know, been very good. I don't know that I would call him an all-star this year. I think he definitely warrants consideration, but I don't think I would pick him to be an all-star personally. So if he hits really well for the next three or four weeks, you know, 300, 400, 800, whatever he did last September, then he can definitely crawl his way back in.
Starting point is 00:15:34 But unless he's going to go on a home run tear and, you know, hit nine in the next three, four weeks, I just, it seems unlikely that he's got to. shot at it. J.B. Crawford's had some bumps in the road here a little bit, just some minor ones, though, but he's been able to maintain a 147 WRC plus. He is fourth in the American League in shortstop F-4 behind Tim Anderson's and Bogarts and Jeremy Pena, of course. What does he have to do to get out ahead here and make his first All-Star team? He's got to be April. And honestly, he probably needs one of those guys to be injured for the game.
Starting point is 00:16:11 you know, Pena, he's definitely deserves to be an all-star. You look at Anderson and Bogart, they play for huge markets. They're names that are well-known. And that's kind of the issue with, you know, being a Mariners, that you're not going to have the name recognition of other candidates. And so you need to be even more deserving than these other candidates to even have a shot. And JP's not more deserving. He is as deserving, but that's not more.
Starting point is 00:16:39 And so that's a real uphill battle for JP. Like I said, they'll usually carry three. Tim Anderson is hurt right now, I believe. So maybe that's the way JP can sneak in there. But basically the only way I see JP making the All-Star team is if Mariner fans get out and vote, or if there is an injury or one of those short stops out, which does happen. And so it's certainly not a 0% chance. But again, he has to be so above and beyond those other three guys just to, you know,
Starting point is 00:17:09 catch people's attention. and he's not going to do it with home runs, he's not going to do it with stolen bases. So it's a tough spot for JP to try and make a team like this when the only thing that really matters is how recognizable you are in the face of baseball fans. Yeah, unfortunately, I think the smaller market compared to the other three, particularly Boston and Chicago with Anderson and Bogart's going to be Crawford's downfall in this race. I think he has done a lot here to put him in the conversation. and I think that, you know, under different circumstances, he probably is a short, he probably is an all-star.
Starting point is 00:17:48 I mean, the dude's been great for most of this season. Outfield is where things kind of get interesting here. Because Julio Rodriguez right now is fifth in the American League and Outfielder F4 behind, or sorry, six, behind George Springer, Kyle Tucker, Yordan, Alvarez, Mike Trout, and Aaron Judge. Obviously, you know, there's three outfield starters. They tend to keep a few reserves on the roster as well. Could Julio get in as a rookie? It's possible. Yordon isn't going to be on the ballot as a DH, so that would eliminate one of them.
Starting point is 00:18:26 So, yeah, it's possible. Again, name recognition. I wonder Otani is he, he's probably on the ballot as a DH, but they might, you know, try and like Otani's definitely going to make it as a DH. age so it's possible he has to continue to play like he has and he has to you know it's kind of tough I don't know exactly when the voting stops to be honest with you but if Huli still keeps pushing at an average to around 300 which he has a shot to do between now and the all-star game and you know continues to play as good defense he's going to be on some highlight reels because he's a big name prospect it's definitely possible I would consider it unlikely
Starting point is 00:19:08 But again, if we're sitting here in three weeks time and he has, you know, 12 home runs and 20 steals and he's already worked two wins or two and a half wins or something, yeah, it's definitely possible because he does carry a little bit more of the national recognition than somebody like, say, JP Crawford does. So possible, I'd say it's unlikely. Outfield is so quite, it's so good. But there's so many bigger that it just feels unlikely that he's going to be on that team. You know, he definitely belongs on an All-Star roster. He's going to be to many of these games in his career. But this is a tight fit. I think also, you know, kind of the dark horse here is how well are Mariners playing over the next few weeks?
Starting point is 00:19:59 Do they continue the stretch? Because then as more and more people, you know, realize how, good the mariners are they're more likely to get more than that and so we'll see he's definitely a candidate but uh yeah it's it's really impressive as a rule i would say he's probably got the second shot of anybody even though probably should be jp yeah i uh i kind of feel like hulio might end up getting into the final vote kind of seems like he's in one of those spots where and at that point uh i think that would actually bode pretty well for him because he is just so marketable.
Starting point is 00:20:37 And plus, I mean, if the Mariners can send Gene Cigura to the All-Star game via the final vote, they definitely should be qualified to get Julio there as well. So finally, Logan Gilbert, and again, his chances don't hang in the balance of the fan vote. This is completely up to those that are going to be making the decisions during the All-Star game. He right now is one of the top. 20 pitchers in baseball. He obviously won AL pitcher of the month in in April and regressed a little bit from there. But over his last couple starts over his last 15 innings of work, he's only allowed one earn run. So it seems like he's kind of getting
Starting point is 00:21:20 back on the horse here. And he hasn't really had one necessarily abysmal start the most runs he's allowed and a single start was four against the Phillies. He's been really good this year. So what do you think about Gilbert's chances of making the all-star? our team. There's so much competition. There are teams that are going to have their alone, all-star representative, be a pitcher for Oakland. It's probably Paul Blackburn or Frankie Montas. For Detroit, it's probably going to be Tric Scuba. And those are going to take two spots that, you know, Logan needs to make this team. Now, it's, what's interesting here is that the coaching staff, the manager gets to kind of pick the pitching staff. Um,
Starting point is 00:22:04 And the manager for the All-Star team this year, the American League All-Star team, I should say, is Dusty Baker. So we'll see, you know, Dusty, does he want to take a shot at the Mariners or does he like what Gilbert does against him? You know what I mean? It's just one of those things. And obviously Dusty's going to take his guy like Burlander. So it's just, I think the biggest issue right now with Gilbert is just that scubal and, you know, and Montes are going to get spots, and they probably bullshit, but they're going to get spots because they're going to be the lone rep, and because of that, somebody's going to get squeezed
Starting point is 00:22:44 out, and it would be pretty easy to squeeze out. Logan Gilbert, who's been really good, but I would say fall short of elite. But, again, he's got a shot, especially since it's not fan voted, but I just have a hard time believe in that he's going to be one of the I don't know how many they carry 15 pitchers but because they also are going to carry some believers too so who knows but if he keeps pitching well he's definitely going to be in the conversation and that's really all you can hope for you know all-star appearances are nice for the players for me they don't matter at all but yeah it'd be nice to see the Mariners
Starting point is 00:23:23 couple of the marriage young guys get rewarded but it does still feel to me like next year it's the year the Mariners are going to have five six all-stars which makes a lot of sense considering where the game is actually being played yeah uh yeah in a year's time we're going to be talking about all-star game at team mobile park that's going to be uh that's going to be a lot of fun so you know we'll see how it plays out for these guys particularly gilbert i think uh this is one of those situations in gilbert's case where uh just if he can string together a few quality starts here over the next uh few weeks that might actually greatly boosts his case because they're not going to have to
Starting point is 00:23:59 decide on those pitcher spots for a while. So we'll see how that all, uh, how that all goes. Uh, we're going to be talking about a couple of trade targets and maybe some other guys in just a moment to help the Mariners build out their bullpen a little bit better than, uh, than what is currently looking like. Uh, but real quick, a reminder of this episode of Locked on Mariners is brought to you by Athletic Greens. I started taking athletic greens because I just don't have the time to research every single amazing thing that's going to make my body feel great and I'm sure neither do you. So what is athletic greens? Well with one delicious scoop of athletic greens, you're absorbing 75 high quality vitamins, minerals, whole food source superfoods,
Starting point is 00:24:39 probiotics and adaptogens to help you start your day right. This special blend of ingredients supports your gut health, your nervous system, your immune system, your energy, recovery, focus and aging, all the things. And it only costs you less than $3 per day. You're investing in your health and it's cheaper than your cold brew habit. It's also lifestyle friendly. whether you eat keto, paleo, vegan, dairy-free, or gluten-free. And for every purchase, Athletic Greens donates to organizations helping to get nutritious food to kids in need, including no kid hungry here in the U.S. So right now, it's time to reclaim your health and arm your immune system with convenient daily nutrition.
Starting point is 00:25:17 It's just one scoop and a cup of water every day. That's it. No need for a million different pills and supplements to look out for your health. And to make it easy, Athletic Greens is going to give you a free one-year supply of immune-supporting vitamin D and five free travel packs with your first purchase. All you have to do is visit athletic greens.com forward slash MLB Network. Again, that is athletic greens.com forward slash MLB Network to take ownership over your health and pick up the ultimate daily nutritional insurance.
Starting point is 00:25:42 This episode of Lockdown Mariners is also brought to you by BetOnline. Betonline.net is your number one source for all your betting stats and sports info. Find all the latest sports developments, news and odds, including this year's basketball championship matchup, the NHL Hockey Conference Finals, Major League Baseball, and, of course, all the latest fighting news from MA and UFC to boxing. Bet online is your continued source for all your sporting wagering information, including live betting, e-sports, and more. Heads of the website today or use your mobile device to learn more about the trends and action.
Starting point is 00:26:11 Bet Online is where the game starts. So before we talk about the Mariners' bullpen situation here and how to make it better, just a reminder of that tomorrow we are not going to be recording. There is going to be no episode of Lockdown Mariners tomorrow, but we will be back on Friday. So with that all of that. the way. Let's talk about improving this bullpen because right now, frankly, the Mariners have maybe two, three guys that they can trust out of the bullpen. That would be Paul Sewell,
Starting point is 00:26:39 Diego Castillo, maybe Sergio Romo after he had a pretty good outing down in Houston after his brutal couple of outings in Baltimore and Texas. The Texas one, though, I don't really blame him for. I mean, it was kind of a, as you described it the other day, a Chensy home run there by Mitch Garber. So really, it's one bad outing, the three home run, five run outing that he had in Baltimore. But yeah, outside of those three guys, really, or maybe just two guys, depending on how you feel about Romo, the Mariners don't have a lot of guys that they can trust right now. And they are going to be getting Eric Swanson back soon in the next couple of days. They also expect that Ken Giles is going to be joining them in the next couple weeks.
Starting point is 00:27:27 here. He's on a rehab assignment right now. But even then, this bullpen could use some more probability. And Colby, you've written about a couple of trade targets on inside the mariners.com. So let's get into those. First up, David Robertson, 37-year-old Ritey with the Chicago Cubs, having a nice year. Obviously kind of fell off over the last couple of years, but he's kind of had a career revitalization there in Chicago. What do you think about Robertson and the potential for trading for him? Yeah, I would say it's unlikely, but he is a great reliever, huge track record. You know, really pretty much lost the last three years of his career to injury. He's back with the Cubs.
Starting point is 00:28:11 And he's been amazing. Honestly, it might be the Cubs representative at the All-Star game. He's been that good. But because of the track record, because he's a rental, and because every single team is looking for bullpen help. in July, he's going to be insanely expensive. He's probably the best reliever that gets moved unless there's some surprise coming down the pipeline here.
Starting point is 00:28:36 But he's probably the best guy that gets moved and teams like the Yankees and the Astros who aren't even thinking about are we going to make the playoffs or thinking about how do we get to the World Series? They're going to be very, very interesting in a guy like Robertson. And so there's going to be bidding wars. And the Mariners, while they can afford to get in bidding wars, based on what we're seeing right now, they're probably not going to be in a position on deadline day
Starting point is 00:29:01 or the day Robertson is traded in like five weeks. The odds of them being in a position where they're even thinking, like, we're probably going to be a wild card team. That's, I mean, we're probably not even going to be there. Maybe we will. Who knows? There are only, what, three and a half back? And this stage, a lot can happen.
Starting point is 00:29:17 But it's just one of those things where it's like, look, does Robertson help us get to the World Series? are we there yet? No. Then the price does matter. You know, like, you're not where the ashes are last year where you can give up Abraham Toro for two months of Kendall Graveman because, you know, can Graveman help us win the World Series? Yes. Okay. Then the cost doesn't matter as much. The Mariners aren't quite there yet. But Robertson is great if he was a reasonably price reliever. I'd be all over it. He'd be number one on my board. As things stand right now, I think the Cubs who are not looking like they're interested in a rebuild of any kind.
Starting point is 00:29:55 I think they're asking for Luis Terrens. I think they're asking for Abraham Toro. I think they're asking for Taylor Tremel. I think they're asking for major leaguers. And the Mariners, while they could do that, I have a hard time imagining they will because then the mayors have to go out and replace that major leaguer on their roster too. So I just have a hard time to imagine if they do that.
Starting point is 00:30:19 but he would be number one on my list of relievers if they were willing to pay what I think it will cost to acquire him. And then you also wrote about Michael Fulmer today, the former AL rookie of the year, who is now pitching strictly out of the bullpen for the Tigers. What do you like about Fulmer? Yeah, man, he's, you know, I would say he's king of the sliders, but there's a guy who literally throws a slider 90% of the time. But, Bowmer throws a slider 57, 58% of the time, and it is a very good one. He's allowed four hits on it all year. He's not an elite middle reliever. He certainly is not a high leverage, regular high leverage use guy like Robertson is.
Starting point is 00:31:02 But he is a very good middle reliever. Average is about a strikeout or almost exactly a strikeout for any. Wocks are a little high right now. That's been an issue for him this year. It has not been an issue in the past. and it's something the Mariners are you know they've never been afraid to to work with so it's it's a slider-heavy approach with him it's you know fastball sinker he throws two distinguishable pitches but yeah it's this year it's been mostly sinker um or mostly slider rather
Starting point is 00:31:35 and it's been a very very good pitch it for him uh he gets this year he's getting a 40% with rate on the on the slider. And by the way, 36% lift rate on the basketball. So two pretty good pitches there. And you look at his Savon page, it's, you know,
Starting point is 00:31:55 81st percentile and hard hit percentage, 94th in XWBA, 94th and XERA, 97th and X RA, 97th and X batting average, 97th and X slugging, 97th in barrel percentage, 59th in K percentage, and 96th percentile in a whiff percentage.
Starting point is 00:32:13 Does need to work on the walks, like I said, but right now they're at 12%. And through his career, he's been a 7% guy. So it seems like that's probably going to work itself out. But even despite the walks, he's been very good, a 236 XERA this year. And look, there's not going to be a shortage of middle relievers or even some high leverage guys as well.
Starting point is 00:32:39 There's going to be quite a few of those. guys out there available. But even middle relief types, you know, I think about Tanner Rainey, Dylan Tate, Chris Stratton, just a few guys that could be options there as well. A lot of guys that fit that bill. Is there anyone else that we should be keeping an eye on here? You know, Andrew Chaffin, Derek Norris, Daniel Bard, you know, just
Starting point is 00:33:06 pretty much anybody. as Scott Essoff, I believe is his name from the Cubs. He's had a really good year. There are plenty of guys who can fill that role. And where the Mariners might look at it, honestly, and they might say, look, these guys, we don't quite trust them as high leverage guys. So maybe we just ignore this. I don't ignore them.
Starting point is 00:33:33 Maybe we just kind of trust that, you know, swan. is going to help us there and maybe second do for us and maybe that's all Charles is that's all Charles is is the middle relief it's totally possible maybe they look at it and they say hey we also have Travis Coon and and Andrew Moore or whoever it is down on the minor to we think we can turn it to and they still have brash down there so it's only possible they're just not interested in the middle relievers but I think they should be it's also possible that they do nab the middle reliever, but they do it as a secondary piece to a larger, you know,
Starting point is 00:34:16 Lutrovino attached to a Frankie Montes trade or whatever, something to look at. And I think, again, like you said, there's no shortage. Plenty of guys, whatever you really want is going to be, you want to, you want to, you know, the lefty sidearm or you can go find one. You want a curb ball guy to, to mix up the all the sliders you have in your bullpen you can go find that it's it's not going to be that hard and there's one thing we should trust jerry to do it's built out of bullpen well that's we so much for joining us here on the lockdown mariners podcast for colby pat note i'm tithing gonzalez be sure to give us a follow on twitter at l o underscore mariners you can follow our website over at inside mariners you can follow me at dan gonzalz and colby at c pat i love and c pat i'm
Starting point is 00:35:07 You can also find all that stuff in the description of this episode. And thank you again for making us your first listen of the day, just like you do here every day. Now make your second listen on the day locked on MLB. That's where Paul Francis Sullivan and please call him Sully brings you his unique perspective on the major leagues present and pass. It's free wherever you get your podcast just like us. So have yourself a beautiful baseball day and we'll be back on Friday.
Starting point is 00:35:28 See you then. Peace.

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.