Locked On Mariners - Daily Podcast On the Seattle Mariners - Could Steven Kwan Be the Seattle Mariners' PIVOT From Brendan Donovan?! | Fan Fiction Friday

Episode Date: December 26, 2025

It's Fan Fiction Friday! Ty and Colby grade your Seattle Mariners trade ideas, including deals for Miguel Vargas, Steven Kwan, and Edwin Uceta.Click to learn more about the Everydayer Club!Check out our Patreon!Follow the show on Twitter: @LO_Mariners | @TyDaneGonzalez | @CPat11Follow the show on Bluesky: @lockedonmariners | @tdg | @mlbcolbySupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONMLB for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FanDuelToday's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. The NBA and NFL seasons are here, visit the FanDuel App today and start planning your futures bets now.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It's fan fiction Friday. Let's see what Mariners trades he cooked up. Colby, hit it. You are Locked-on Mariners, your daily Seattle Mariners podcast, part of the Locked-on podcast network, your team every day. Ahoy, Sailors, and it is Friday, December 26, 2025. You're listening to the Lockdown Marers podcast, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network. now the number one sports podcast network my name is tining azales and i'm joined as always by my co's

colby patnode we're two lifelong marries fans who've been covered the team for over half a decade and today it's fan fiction friday the show where you submit your marriage trade ideas and we grade them on the 2080 scale based on creativity uniqueness and if they make sense for both clubs before we get into this week's batch i want to shout out our title sponsor today game time download the game time app create an account and use the promo code locked on melb that's l oc ked o nmlb for 20 dollars off your purchase kicking us off here on fan fiction friday is benjamin who has a deal with the chicago white socks there's get miguel varius kai bush and jordan leisure for felon sellison and michael morales jordan leisure is nice he's the prize of this deal it's coming off of a half-win season he struck

out like 11 guys per nine you look at his savant page there's a lot of red i mean leisure alone probably cost you. It fell in Celestin. Plus right now. Yeah. I'm sure I'm doing that though. But like yeah. But like so like Vargas and and

Kai Bush on top of that probably cost you even more. Probably more than just Michael Morales. So I don't think that the the comp is all that accurate with this. And Vargas to me like he shouldn't be the answer for

this third base DH role that the Bears are looking to fill right now because like yeah he hit a little bit last year but like he was a one one player 234, 316 401 you know and while that was in 5169

played appearances we also have like 600 played appearances let's say that he's terrible that he's almost unplayable as a hitter and he can't even really play third base like he was negative 7 ounce above average there last year. So like, I know that he played some third and he played, you know, first base and he

deached a little bit, but there really isn't actually that much versatility there. So I just don't really like Fargus, even though that I've thought that, you know, he's a guy that, you know, the marries could possibly acquire in years past. He just kind of feels like a mariner guy a little bit. It's just he's out of options. So he has to be on the roster. therefore he's probably going to be the answer there to that to that role that the mayors are looking to fill and i just that's not good enough to me so i like the leisure aspect of this i just i don't think for everything else that's getting at it and by the way kai bush to me because he's coming off the elbow injury he's just like nothing to me in this deal um so but because like leisure i think alone would cost felon and sellison and maybe michael morales like that might be the package to get leisure on his own like i don't think think this is enough to get also Vargas and Bush on top of him. And I don't really want either of

those guys on top of them, frankly. Like if this deal was just Celestin and Morales for leisure, I'd probably give you like a 50, 55. Yeah, I just, to me, like I like leisure. I liked them last year. I still like him this year. But when I look at where the bullpen is right now and I look at the, you know, small track record, Leisure wasn't good in 2024. There was just some promising signs. And then this year, it kind of popped for him. But he's still pretty unproven. But then again, kind of Ferrer is too.

But Ferreir was better than even leisure last year. So it might cost fell in. But like for me, I think I just look elsewhere. If that's the cost, it's like, okay, well, let me see what else I can get. Because I think I can get somebody close to him for less. so I think there it kind of I'm out on it even if that's what it costs like I'm not saying it shouldn't cost that or it doesn't cost that it's just like if that is what it costs I'll look elsewhere and then maybe I end up circling back but I'll look I'll look elsewhere and then you know like you said Vargas doesn't really get on base it doesn't really play third base either so I don't know I just this feels like a bunch of spare parts to me and I think I'd prefer more impact even if I am just giving up Celestin.

I think there's a potential you get nothing out of this deal. But yeah, like as the roster sits right now, this feels like the last move you would make and I just I don't think you're there. So yeah, yeah.

Just a little bit off on everything. Yeah. Again, if this was leisure alone then that still leaves that, you know, offensive role that I'm looking to fill open with someone better, you know, hopefully. So I'd be fine with the steel. And again,

I'd give you like a 50 to 55 because I think Solicin Morales for Leisure alone would be at least close. But yeah, I'm going to give you like, I'll give you a 45. Next trade here from Adam. Mariners get Stephen Kwan.

Guardians get Luke Rayleigh, Gerangelo Sanger, and Taipei. Yeah, been a minute since we talked about Stephen Kwan. The, the rumor is about him have really died over the last month. We haven't really heard him brought up by anybody. Although we heard that they were very close to trading him at the deadline. And, you know,

at the beginning of the off season, we heard like, oh, he'll definitely be traded this winter. So, yeah, just hadn't talked about Kwan in a little bit. So I thought we'd bring it back up now. The Mariners have said repeatedly, they really like their outfield. They're fine with it. They don't feel like they need to make any upgrades there. I think they're wrong. But relative to what they need in the infield right now, outfield's fine. So, yeah, it's an interesting trade idea. I think Stephen Kwan might be a little bit overrated because he's had two years

where he's been an average hitter and two years where he's been above average. So it's not like you're getting a 135 WRC plus bat here. You're not getting, you're getting a guy who might be league average offensively. You're getting plus outfield defense, plus corner outfield defense. So it's not, you know. And I mean, the reason that he's graded out as a league average hitters because he isn't slugging. Like he's sitting for a high average.

He's getting on base a nice amount. It's just he doesn't slug. He's a good player. But is he like, I don't know, is he like an actual true all star? I mean, like, you'll like compile his way to all star status. But I question how much impact there really is. Cleveland's had him for how many years and they've never been in elite offense. That, all that being said,

Rayleigh, you know, I like Rayleigh. Kind of tough to figure out how to get him at bats a little bit right now, unless you want to roll with multiple platoons like we talked about last week. Tai Pete, just a lottery ticket at this stage. And Sanja is a guy who I like more than Thai, certainly, but is also a guy that, yeah, I would move for two years of an above-average player. So I think from a Mariners perspective, you have to be interested in this, even with all the things I pointed out about Kwan,

from a Cleveland perspective, they might do something like this. They get a major league impact now, well, impact, whatever, in Luke Rayleigh. But they also get the pitcher. And we know Cleveland loves getting pitchers and basically every trade they make. Do they like Sanja?

I don't know. I don't know if he's their type of guy or not. But yeah, overall, it's, you know, you basically swap out Sanja, or you swap out Kwan with, you know, Donovan. and this is a trade package that we've talked about basically for Donovan

and I think that's fair so I don't have any problems with this really I just Stephen Kwan I think is just a smidge overvalued just because you know there is the possibility

that he is fringe league average offensively and whereas a guy like Donovan for example he's pretty steadily 15 to 20% above league average and so

there is a little bit of a difference there. But yeah, overall, I don't even a more versatility. Right. Like, Kwan is a better defender overall, but Donovan can play in the infield and the outfield. Kwan is outfield only. So, uh, yeah, it's an interesting trade.

Kwan's a fun player to watch, uh, but there are some, some, you know, downsides to Kuan. He also doesn't steal a lot of bases, which you would think you would for kind of a, the slap hitter that he is, but, uh, yeah, he's, he's, he's good player. So I wouldn't, I wouldn't, I wouldn't mind this package. If the mayor's made the steal, I'd be like, oh, oh, nice but uh you know i'd still probably rather have donovan honestly even though kwan's probably by war a better player uh my guess is uh the guardians would need one more significant piece

involved here to get out of bed for this one um because they're going to try and you know sell kwan as like this four four and a half one player that he's been you know for a couple of years yeah yeah yeah so um yeah i don't think just sanger alone because you know who knows if luke raleigh is going to bounce back and who knows what the hell type heat is so it's really sanger doing a lot of the heavy lifting here and you're kind of hoping that ralee is doing some heavy lifting as well but you just you don't know um i don't think that's enough to get you kwan so i think they would have to be another like corbin dickerson someone like that involved here in this deal you mean like what have you added a royo but then

cleveland also gave you like math yeah yeah maybe that maybe that works yeah you know the guardians are weird too right because like some of the trades that they take they'll take bulk sometimes yeah some of the trades that they take just don't really make sense to me so um yes i don't know it's a tough one to assess but i i think you're one piece short here so i'll go i'll go 45 you get the last one 45 it feels like maybe you should give that one 40 and this one 45 yeah okay yeah yeah yeah retroactively we'll give the last one of sure i'll go 50 i think you're like in the right ballpark but i do think that ultimately i mean again it really depends on do does cleveland think that saint jay

is, you know, more of a top 50 prospect. Do they think Luke Rayleigh helps them in 2026 probably does? And then it really comes to, like, if they think Tai Pete, if they're buying into the tools of Tai Pete, they might do this deal. If they're looking at the swing and miss and all that stuff with Tai Pete, they're probably like, we need something else. And so, yeah, but I think you're in the right ballpark.

All right, well, look at more of your trades in just a moment. But first a reminder, this episode of the Locktime Errors podcast is brought to you by Game Time. World Cup is coming back to North America for the first time since 1994. And with 48 teams for the first time ever, it's going to be massive. But let's be honest, getting tickets is usually the hardest part. That's why the GameTime app is clutch. Finally giving fans a real advantage when it comes to snagging seats. With game time, you can track price drops in real time, get alerts when great seats open,

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that's LOC, KED, O NMLB for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, download the app, make an account, and use the promo code Lockedon MLB. That's LOC, KED, ON, MLB for $20 off. Swipe, tap, ticket, go, game time. And you're listening to the Lockdown Mariners podcast, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Thank you so much for making us your first listen for all things,

Mariner's. And also thank you for making lockdown the number one. one sports podcast network you already live your team every day now take it up a level and go ad free join the every day or club today and get locked on mariners with no interruptions members only discord access and more all for just five dollars a month or 50 dollars a year go to locked on mariners that supercast dot com or check the link in the show notes to learn more it's fan fiction friday jeff has a deal here with tampa says a typical tampa trade for not the usual seattle offers Johnny Farmello, Teddy McGrath, Michael Morales, and Rylan Thomas, to the raise for Chandler Simpson and Ian Seymour.

So here's the deal with Chandler Simpson. He's really only good at one thing. He's very fast. Although not the fastest player in the game, according to Statcast, but very fast. He also, you know, yeah, 97% of my hunch would beep off. be wit right now but I don't have sprint speeds but so yeah basically Chandler Simpson what he does is he makes a lot of contact like he doesn't swing and miss he doesn't strike out because he's literally just trying to put the ball in play and then

sprint down to first base like that is the whole game plan and I don't love the one trick pony players because you're not even getting good defense with him keep that in mind either you would think with his speed you would be getting at least plus defense to go along with it. But no, he's not Billy Hamilton. Great example of athleticism doesn't necessarily equate to good defense.

Now, he could get better out there. I'm not saying it's impossible. He certainly has the tools to do it. But like even Billy Hamilton, who is kind of like Chandler Simpson's like comp has to be, like he could go get it in center field.

Simpson doesn't. He had a negative five outs above average last year. Like, it's average arm. He doesn't slug at all. He doesn't put up exit villos at all. He had no barrels last year in 415 plate appearances. Like this isn't a small sample. This is almost an entire season. So what he does, he slaps the ball on the ground and he runs like heck. And he's safe enough that he puts up, you know, a 295 average, which is nice. You figure with a 295 average, he'd probably have a much higher on base, but it's about league average, a little bit above

league average. And that's because he's fourth percentile in walks. Chandler Simpson is like a great bench player because he does one thing very well. But it's like, so did Tim LaCastro. So did Terrence Gore. You know, it doesn't mean that you treat

them like big trade targets. So you have to believe that there is more, not only offensively to Simpson's game, but also defensively. And by the way, he stole 44 bags last year. That's great. He also got caught 12 times, which led the league. So, you know, he's a very fast base runner. He's a very good base runner. You'll take that.

That's not a bad percentage. It's just like there are some downsides here. And I don't think he's that good of a player overall. I think he's an overrated player because he's so fast. People want him to be. And he has $2.95 average. People want him to be really good. There's no slug. He doesn't put the ball. He doesn't do any damage. He's not that hard to pitch to. And he doesn't help you defensively, really at all. seymour is interesting i like seymour obviously the big thing of seymour is the change up it's a very good change up uh you get him for i believe five years uh yeah he literally just debuted so yeah it might be six actually you might actually get him for the might have to super two him but whatever yeah

but yeah he was a one-one reliever in his rookie year so that's going to cost quite a bit yes i'm not willing to pay Johnny Farmello for it, though. Again, I will look elsewhere to find a, maybe not as good, maybe less club control, but I'll look elsewhere to avoid paying that tax for a reliever. To me, like, Chandler Simpson, he's not nothing in this trade, but I don't think he's a very good player overall. No, Seymour is the prize of the steel. Right.

Yeah, absolutely. You know, it's funny, you talk, you sometimes like to call Sanger the sideshow or whatever. because of his whole switch pitching thing. Chandler Simpson is a side show in Major League Baseball. There's not much thump for what you're actually getting there. And I'm not giving up Farmello for him. And I think, honestly, you probably would have to to get the raise interested at this point,

especially, you know, Ian Seymour, like you said, is the prize of this deal. You probably have to give up Farmello to get this guilt on, and I'm just not doing it. I'm not giving up a potential five-tool player. for Chandler Super player. Yeah. And well I mean it wouldn't be for Simpson specifically, but it would

mostly be for you know, Seymour I would assume here. Yeah. I mean, let me ask if you took Formello and Seymour out would you even do this bulk package for for Chandler Simpson? So what is it again? It would be Rylan Thomas, Teddy McGraw and Michael Morales for Chandler Simpson. That's fine. It's fine. But like, like isn't there a non-zero chance

Ryland Thomas basically gives you the same value that Chandler Simpson does it's a possibility he's also another one of those guys that just goes up there swinging trying to put the ball in play just flat like he's not as fast but then like Teddy McGraw has some upside here like I wouldn't be opposed to it but like

I'm not excited about it it's like oh you know that that's a fine trade so yeah overall I don't know that your valuation is that far off I just wouldn't pay it that's my only thing and I don't think the Mariners would either uh personally but i don't think it's like a bad offer no no i like i think the offer is it's fine it's just the marers shouldn't slash wouldn't do this so uh yeah um 55

yeah it's a couple names we haven't talked about it's yeah yeah it's pretty good valuation i think so yeah I think it's got to be like a 55 I just wouldn't do it that's the only thing yeah I mean that's fine yeah it's 55 I think next trade here from raise the trend never heard of them

there is get Edwin Euseeta from Tampa for Felden Selson and Teddy McGrath from this stranger yes he probably has like really bad live streams that he doesn't invite

you know his friends on do. Probably makes no money for charity either. Scrub. Oh, man. This wannabe. Raise the Trident, L.O.L.

It's a pretty good name. But, yeah. I like E. I know the Rays like Felman. I also know a little bit about what the Rays wanted for. Yseda earlier this winter and it was more than this and I don't think I want to pay what they

apparently were asked. Apparently they were well let me tell you this last winter I heard they wanted Harry Ford and Feldman Celestin for Yondi Diaz both of them and the Mariners said no to that I think it's something similar to get you said out like and I just obviously Harry Ford's not here, but, you know, Felnan and Oroyo or something like that. And again, I just, I like you say it a lot. I like all these relievers that we talked about today. It's just like, I'll just go elsewhere. I think I can get somebody who's almost as good for a little bit less.

And when you're talking about a reliever, yeah, I'm willing to shop a little bit on the discount aisle. Just because. So I think, like, if I were Tampa, I would strongly consider this. Absolutely. Will the real life Tampa Bay raise? I don't know. I don't know. I also heard earlier this winter that Tampa doesn't want to take a step back. And yet they just traded Shane Bosz and, you know, they traded quite a bit of, you know, just quality major league talent to get a AAA player, Jacob Melton. So, you know, they're kind of taking set. And they've said, oh, yeah, we took a couple steps back to be better in 2027. So it's like, I don't know. Things change. You know, teams can kind of, you know, read the market. decide oh well actually we should be selling a little bit so i'll say you know this trade could happen but based on what i've heard i don't think that it's i don't think tampa takes this not enough not enough i i think we're talking about a young reliever who's finally coming into his own gets a ton of strikeouts he's still under club control for what four more years i believe

yeah yeah um this is probably going to be a royo and solston a royal and saint yeah it's gonna be like it's gonna be like top you know two top 100 guys now back of the top 100 more so probably but like it's probably gonna be like two top 100 guys so yeah um just not enough and i'm not paying that if i'm the meritor's like i said i'll go see what i see if i can get what's his name the guy from colorado that you like mehia yeah yeah yeah yeah i think i might be able to get him for less than this and, you know, if I have to go at the deadline and try to get a reliever to patch, you know, the six, seven, eight spots in my bullpen, fine. I want to take that shot in the bullpen more so than I am in the infield and in the outfield, blah, blah, blah.

See, I know the Mariners like Yseda. I know the rays like Felman, but based on what I know or what I've heard, I would go ahead and say that, yeah, Ty's right. It's probably going to cost Arroyo, too. Yeah. Or Jake, you don't, Jake, you don't get a grade for me. You just get an L. L, Jake.

That's what you deserve for that garbage cahoot. Tie needs to learn more about salmon. Shout out to Casper Welsa. There you go. If you know, you know. All right. We will look at more of your trades. just a moment but first a reminder this episode of the lockdown errors podcast is brought to you by

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It's called Control the Zone. And on there, we talk Marys. We talk Seahawks, all that good stuff. For more information, go to patreon.com forward slash control the zone link in the description of this episode. Our next trade here on Fan Fiction Friday comes from Isaac. Mayers get Jeremiah Jackson and trade Gibson from the Orioles for Luke Rayleigh, Logan Evans, and Michael Morales. Yeah, interesting trade because it involved, your return is prominent.

I'm prominently minor leaguers. Now, Jeremiah Jackson had a little bit of a cup of coffee at the end of the year, and he was very good. So, you know, that's not to say you don't get anything here, but I actually think the most interesting piece of this trade is, is the arm. It's, it's Trey Gibson. There's a really great article on Gibson that I found on prospect savant that talks about some of the changes that he's made this year and just, you know, to kind of give you a brief breakdown, because I'm sure like you guys, I didn't know much about Gibson before I looked into this. Six foot five, about 240 pounds, gets downhill, but throws from that 27-degree arm angle that the Mariners seem to really love from their guys.

It's a big pitch mix. He's 95 to 97 with both a four-seamer and a sinker. He throws a really good kind of cutter-slider hybrid type that he really trust. He also has kind of a separate slider, maybe a sweeper, to differentiate the two. He throws a curveball, and then he throws something that they're calling a death ball that is, kind of change upy, I guess, but yeah. I like that. Yeah.

It's apparently modeled by Jordan Montgomery's signature out pitch. But yeah, you throw six pitches, lots of good data on them. He's a data, he's a data guy too. Like, he really digs into the numbers. Like, we know the Mariners like. So, yeah, the size, the extension, the low arm slot, the stuff is ticking up. It's trending in the right direction. He got hit around when he got, you know, put up to AAA last year.

So you kind of have to dig a little deeper than the numbers to really get an idea of who this guy is. But there's a lot to like there. And I could see why the mayors would like him. They're very much, you know, enamored with data-driven starting pitchers. And this guy apparently is. So it might be buying a little low on him. But that also, Baltimore is not stupid. They know, like, hey, we see the same things you guys see.

And Baltimore is going to need starting. pitching sooner rather than later so i don't know how available this guy is uh yeah that's that that's kind of what my thought here was like i mean if there's this guy with all this exciting underlying data and the orioles are a team that hasn't really invested much into their rotation i know that they traded a lot for shame boss but they still need pitching help outside of shame boss and uh it doesn't seem like they're going to go spend more significant resources to go out and get it like couldn't they use tray gibson more than I mean, like, it depends on how they feel about Logan Evans compared to trade Gibson.

But, like, might they just like Gibson more than Logan Evans? Is that enough to take on Rayleigh and Morales? Or, like, or what I should say is, is Rayleigh and Morales enough to, like, overcome that if they like Gibson more than Evans? And also, like, they're trading Jeremiah Jackson, who's coming off of a really good debut season. season he says so I just I don't I don't see how this works for the Orioles but again

it's like who knows if Rayleigh's going to bounce this is just I feel confident that Rayleigh is going to bounce back but like yeah do other teams feel that way you know I mean you just kind of look at the Orioles lineup though and it's like okay Pete Alon's was going to play first base left field is Taylor Ward

right field is Dylan Beavers who they like a lot Colton Kouser's playing center and is it Basayo that we pronounce on this? The young 21-year-old backup catcher slash DH is ready to go and they really like him and he can hit or the least they think he can hit. So it's like, okay, how does Rayleigh crack the lineup? I don't know. So it's kind of a weird.

They definitely need a left-handed bat, but they have a lot of, they have a, you know, a couple switchies in there as well that they can use. like is he better is really better than leoti taveris yes okay fine i'm just i'm not sure if the lefty bet that they need though if they need one is that like it should be an outfieler like it seems like it needs to be a guy that can play some infield for them because again like they have cows or they have beavers so yeah you know bisayo is going to get all the dh reps or at least that's you know the plans so yeah uh the jeremiah Jackson thing is fun like he is a bench player probably who can play third also played a lot of right field last year so he kind of is the Dylan Moore replacement that's kind of the

thought process here I would assume he's got a ton of data the Mariners will like including high exit velos you know and hard hit rates and he doesn't strike out he also doesn't walk at all and he chases a lot he's swing he's a swinger like he's up there swinging he's not looking to take walks. He's trying to put the ball in play, do some damage, which in more of a bench roll is fine. You know, he's also above average runner, but not anything

plus. Like, these are two really interesting pieces. I just don't know that, like, what is the incentive for the Orioles to do this trade? Like, what is getting the Orioles to the table to be like, actually, yes. Like, this is, we'll trade some roster depth, some org depth, who might actually help us at the big league level this year.

For a guy, we can't really see getting at bats. Logan Evans, who isn't better, at least I don't think, than Gibson, and Morales is just kind of a throw-in. So maybe there's like a bullpen arm that you could give them, but then you have to go out and replace a bullpen arm. So I like Gibson and Jeremiah Jackson. Those are two guys we hadn't talked about.

I didn't really, you know, never thought about them. So bringing them up is going to help your score here, Isaac. But I just don't see the fit, you know, from the Orioles perspective. would you give up these two pieces that are kind of trending up for Luke Rayleigh just doesn't make a lot of sense agreed yeah so I'm going to give you 45 again like the uniqueness the creativity behind it bringing up Gibson and and Jackson that that brings the score up a bit but I just don't get how this works for the Orioles if by the way I would do this steel if I were the mares.

Yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah. If the Mariners had like a little bit deeper bullpen, maybe you could give them some help on the bullpen. That's kind of where they need it right now. But it's like, you just, you can't trade bizardo right now.

You can't trade Gabe Spire right now. And, you know, even if you could, you probably get more than those guys based on what bullpen arms are going for in the trade market. it's just as we've said a lot because we talked about Baltimore a lot as a trade partner with Seattle they really don't line up all that well no despite what people try to make you know true it just it's not really there yeah well especially with like what the Orioles are trying to accomplish this off season what they've done so far with like Alonzo and ward and those guys like yeah

yeah they're just kind of both teams are kind of headed in like the same direction and because of that I just, it's hard to line up on a trade. Yeah, it's a fun trade. I like the players that you brought up. Definitely guys, I'll keep an eye on as the year plays out, but it just, I don't see a fit between Baltimore and Seattle. I would really like it if they could make this trade, though. That'd be awesome.

All right, last trade of the day comes from Campbell, Ezekiel Tovar to Seattle for Logan Evans, Tai Pete, and Corbyn Dickerson. Yeah, we had a couple people ask about Tovar this week. Was there an article or something that said that maybe is? I don't know. that's what I thought that was kind of weird usually that's what happens when we get a bunch of you know trades about same guy I guess it was only two right so yeah I mean like just coincidence but maybe maybe but yeah um so now he's fantastic defender but he doesn't get on base so like how marinery is he and like never posted a 300 on base and like are they going to to not give Cole Young

or Ben Williamson playing time for the sake of Ezekiel Tovar and also spend resources to go get him probably not plus he's also making money right now it's like a $9 million AV I'm not sure how that breaks down yearly off the top of my head

but yeah he was injured this year he only posted a 78 WRC plus again he's a plus defender at shortstop so it's not like he doesn't have value of course he does um but again this year making five next year he's making eight the year after that he's making 11 this goes all the way up to him making 16 and then there's a 23 million dollar club option in

2031 which like whatever i'm not worried about that but like 16 million dollars in 2030 guaranteed yeah the mariners aren't signing up for that the the deal is dead right there we don't even have to talk about anything else with the deal like the contract alone for the player that tovar is that kills it immediately for the Maris? Probably. Yeah, Tovar, again, he's the guy who makes highlight real defensive plays. He's got pop. He'll hit home runs. He was actually better in his breakout year. He was better away from

Corse Field than he was at Corse Field. But the fact that at Corse Field, he had like an 85 WRC Plus, that's, you know, not great. Now, again, obviously you play at Corse Field. If you're not putting up godly numbers, your WRC Plus is going to be lower, but I just I look at this 24 like that's great so the contract I don't know if it's prohibitive quite yet just in general and I don't think that would be for a 24 year old but we're talking about a guy who you know in 2023 was a 1.7 win player in 153 games in about two thirds of that time in 2025 he was a 0.8 win player so really it's one year where he was a 3.5 win player

3.7 wins. He had 26 homers, but he had a 28% strikeout rate, 28.8, to be exact, and a 3.3% walk rate. So this is a guy with those numbers. If he is not hitting 300, he's not putting up a league average on base.

And he's not going to hit 300. There's no way. He strikes out way too much to hit 300. He obviously has a chase problem as well. So like, I look at Tovar and I say like, hey, that is a fun player. a guy who probably every once in a while will break out and have these four-win like all-star caliber seasons based mostly on defense. But when that defense starts to fade, he's going to not be as

great of a player. But again, he's only 24. So I thought this was an interesting name to bring up. And I think I get why he's a young, controllable player who's got a four-win season under his belt but he really is shortstop defense and then you're hoping for a little bit of pop and that's kind of the value there if you don't get the pop you're just not getting a very good player it's it's not a coincidence the two years that his slugging percentage was 400 or in the low 400s he was okay but not really an everyday player the one year he slugged 469 he was a three and a half one player so a lot he doesn't have tremendous bat speed either again. He chases a lot. He swings and misses a lot. He doesn't walk. Yeah. He's a fine player.

Yeah. It's just, you know, yeah, yeah. Just the mirrors are going to look at the 291 career on base percentage and the contract and they're going to go, nope. Tell you what, he goes out this winter. He puts up a 330, 340 on base. We can have a different conversation next one. He'll be more expensive, but we'll have a different conversation next winter. I do wonder maybe Tobar was brought up because there's a new regime in Colorado. They didn't give him that contract. It was the previous one, so maybe that's why. But overall, let me see be a good offensive player one year before I invest in you,

because that's what I need right now more than anything. I need a bat. And Tovar is not a bat right now. Yeah, so I'm filling 35, 40 on this one. I don't know. If you assume that the Mariners were, like, interested in Tovar and that Colorado was willing to trade him. which I don't know if either

those things are true but if you did would you give this up this package up for him Tai Pete Corbyn Dickerson Logan Evans I mean

probably yeah because there's just enough upside there yeah but even then I'd be like I don't know like yeah

plus the way But is he going to play third base? You're going to move JP to sec? Like, you're not moving JP off a shortstop this year. Yeah, even then I just can't foresee that the Mariners, you know, given what their plan is and how apparently, you know, they won't move off of this idea of giving Cole Young and Ben Williamson some runway even for better players than Ezekiel Tovar.

So why would they do it for Ezekiel Tovar? Yeah. So I don't know. He just doesn't feel like a Mariners type of guy. so yeah I'll give you a 40 I guess all right that's going to do up for our show thank you so much for joining us here on the lockdown mirrors podcast part of the lockdown podcast network your team every day for colby pet node I'm tennie gazellis be sure to give us a follow on twitter at l o underscore mirrors you can follow me at tini gzalc and colby at cpat 11 that's CPAT 1 1st we're also on blue sky you can follow me at lb colby in the show at lockdown mariners you can also find us on instagram at lockdown mariners have yourself a beautiful baseball day and we'll see you next time peace Thank you.