Locked On Mariners - Daily Podcast On the Seattle Mariners - Division Day: Crossover With Locked On Angels

Episode Date: March 17, 2021

Brent Maguire and D.C. Lundberg join forces for this crossover episode. D.C. talks about the Seattle Mariners' rebuilding project, looks ahead to how the team might shake out in 2021, and also talks about what the team might do in free agency upon the conclusion of the season. Brent talks about the Angels' Jeckyl-and-Hyde 2020 season, the greatness that is Mike Trout, and throwback player David Fletcher. 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.

Welcome to Locked-on Mariners, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Here's your host, D.C. Lundberg. You bet. It's another Division Day crossover. Not only is this Locked-on Mariners, this is also Locked-on Angels, both parts of the Locked-on Podcast Network, or T-L-O-P-N or T-Lopin, as I like to say, of course. Please remember to download, rate, and subscribe to both of these great programs using whichever podcasting app that you personally care to use. Ask your smart device to play Locked on Angels podcast and Locked on Mariner's podcast, but not at the same time. That'd be ridiculous. But subscribe to them both and also, of course, any other program on Slop and ask your smart device to play that as well.

Yes, two shows recording at the very same time. Locked on Angels audience, I am D.C. Lundberg. You've heard me a few times before, though in probably better condition than I am now. And Locked on Mariner's listeners, I present to you the more competent host of the day. That would be Mr. Brent McQuire. How are you doing today? I'm doing fantastic. I'm glad to talk some Angels and Mariners baseball. Absolutely. Why don't you go first and ask me some stuff about the Mariners?

Will I figure out what I'm going to ask you about the Angels? Yeah, of course. I think my first question is really just around the Mariners offseason as a whole. It felt like it wasn't quite as active as we're used to seeing from a Jerry Depoto led offseason. So I want to get your thoughts on some of the additions or maybe the lack of additions that they made and how the team currently stands heading into the season. Well, I'm actually not surprised that they had a pretty quiet offseason. The previous few off seasons, they were really trying to reload the farm system to be in position to have a successful rebuild. And that rebuild seems, that project seems as if it's starting to be completed.

So the need to acquire a bunch of younger players for a bunch of veterans just wasn't there. Plus, the veterans just were not there because the roster is very young. So that doesn't surprise me at the least. I'm also not surprised that they decided to focus on the bullpen because that was definitely the biggest weakness the Mariners had last year. Kenan Middleton, former Angel, is now a mariner. I'm very excited to see what he can do. In the regular season, I know he had a poor 2020,

but at the same time, he knows what he needs to do to improve. My listeners have heard this a few times before. He felt like he was too reliant on his fastball. He knows he needs to mix his pitches better. So he knows what he needs to do. So for that reason, I'm excited to see if he can improve. But I guess that's kind of really the reason why there wasn't as much activity as there was in previous offseason, since the rebuild project is starting to be completed and the need to acquire a bunch of young players just as not there anymore.

Yeah, that all makes sense to me. And kind of just looking at their outlook for this season, this kind of feels like the last year of this rebuild that's been kind of going on. Is that how it feels to you? Because it feels like this is kind of the transition year of sorts. you've got those really high-level blue-chip prospects who are starting to make their way up to the majors, guys like Jared Kellanick, Julio Rodriguez, should be up in the majors at some point this year?

Does this kind of feel like the last year and then things are going to really get rolling? I think that depends on how the pitching staff does. And I also think Julio Rodriguez probably is maybe a year or two away. I think he's only 20 years old. He's very, very young. Kelnik, before he got injured, was making a case to be the starting left-fielder.

He's much closer to the major leagues than Rodriguez is. So Rodriguez is one to keep an eye on for maybe 2022, maybe 2023. I'm not exactly sure. But the pitching was just so bad last year. It was that bad, the worst bullpen in the American League. The middle of the bullpen this year, I still have, I think it's still questionable. The back end, I think a little bit more solidified than it was last year. And the back end of the rotation I'm also not quite a fan of.

I want to see how the pitching shakes out before I make a prediction on 2022. but if the pitching can greatly improve and just be adequate, they don't even need to be an asset, they just need to be adequate because the offense I think is going to be fine. If that can be the case, then I think that they can put themselves in a position to contend in 2022. And if the pitching continues to struggle, then they've got some more work to do. That all makes sense. I think my last like real, like broad level question I have for you is just regarding the job that Jerry Depoto and company have done with the Mariners and it's, you know, he was very, very active when he first came over from the Angels.

He's kind of embarked on this rebuild over the last couple of years. Do you agree with the process that they've kind of taken to get to this point? I do now. When they first, you know, kind of tore it down, I was left scratching my head a little bit. I was very happy to see Mike Zanino trader tried away, quite honestly. I wasn't the biggest Mike Zanino fan. And then when Paxton was traded, James Paxton to the Yankees, I was pretty pissed off, but then when I realized that they were in the middle of a rebuild, I was like, oh, okay, that makes sense.

I was not happy to see Edwin Diaz go. I was very happy to see Robinson Cano go. Edwin Diaz has not had the best career as a Met so far, so that trade is looking like it's pretty good. Besides, they got Jared Kelnick in that particular trade. And I said at the time that for this trade to be viewed as a success, that the Mariners need to get a perennial all-star out of it, considering the historic season that Edwin Diaz had the year before. Kellnick is looking like he might be that perennial All-Star that obviously remains to be seen. Justin Dunn also came over in that trade, and right now he's at the back of the rotation. And I'm not real high on him only because he walks way too many hitters and gives up way too many home runs.

But if he reins those numbers in, then I think he can be a successful starter, but he has to correct those issues. Gotcha. Okay, I do have one last question for you. It's kind of ties in with the Angels as well. Maybe we can talk about this at the end as well. But I'm curious to know, who do you think is going to make the playoffs first? The Angels or the Mariners? Oh, my goodness. I thought the Angels were a much better team than they showed in the first half of the season last year. I'm surprised that they got up to such a poor start. And I was actually going to ask you a similar question in B Block about what you thought the Angels were. going to do this year. I really don't know. I mean, the Mariners are not going to make the playoffs this year. Obviously, I think they're a 500 team at best this year. And I really can't make a prediction

because I'm waiting to see how the pitching staff for the Mariners does. And beyond that, I'm really waiting to see how that shakes out before I can make any sort of prediction. I'm sorry. Nope, that totally makes sense. I think that's all I got from my end regarding the Mariners. It does feel like this is the team that's going to be extremely active next off season. Like, yeah, they were a little, it was a little underwhelming this offseason for obvious reasons, but I am looking forward to see what they do next offseason with the amount of talent that's going to hit free agency and kind of where they're at in their process right now. I think next off season, I'd be looking at a few different positions that the managers might

be looking at through free agency. Obviously pitching, you can never have enough pitching. And I'm saying this, not knowing who the potential free agents are, obviously. But they could probably be looking at another starting pitchers just to really solidify that rotation. James Paxton has only been resigned on a one-year deal, and I don't know if they're going to want to sign him to an extension or not if he has a good season. Left field is a bit of a question mark right now. Jared Kellnick, as I said, might have been on track to be the starting left fielder before he got hurt. Taylor Tremel has had a very good spring. He might be in the mix for left field. The biggest question marks are third base and second base, where Dylan Moore is

probably going to be the starting second base when come opening day. Shed Long Jr. has not played at all spring training. He's coming off leg injury, and he just hasn't been able to play. He also had a very poor 2020. And third base, this is the final year of Kyle Seeger's contract, and I would be very surprised if they assign him to an extension given his age and declining

skills. But at the same time, it's much easier to find an outfielder in free agency than it is a third baseman or second baseman. It kind of depends on, and also, Dylan Moore can play third base. So Dylan Moore and Shed Long Jr., if they both have good years, might be your starter

at second base and third base respectively or some combination thereof. So left field, third base, second base and pitching is where I'd be looking to see what the Mariners do in free agency this off season. All right, good stuff. If you want to, we want to switch over doing Angel stuff now? Well, I think this is actually a good time to take a break. We're actually right on schedule for a change. And this is the part of my program where I have a trivia corner.

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Built bar, it's finger licking good. Answer to the trivia question, the last angel to lead the AL and earned run average. Brent, do you have any sort of guess of who this might be? I've got a couple names at the top of my head. Try him. This is tough. I want to say Jared Weaver back in 2011,

but I feel like I might be wrong. Right era wrong pitcher. So who was... Dan... Just a few years prior to that. But not many. So we're talking... Are we talking John Lackey?

Are we talking Irvin Santana? We were actually talking John Lackey. You're right. It was John Lackey in 2007, whose 301 earned run average was tops in the junior circuit. Coming up, I ask Brent questions about the Angels

while I slowly sink into a giant bat of molasses. Now, back to Lockdown Mariners and your host, DC, Lundberg. Yes, indeed. A Locked-on Angels, Locked-on Mariner's crossover today. And while we've got you covered on the M's and Angels, what about the rest of sports? Well, here is Brent McGuire to tell you about a great podcast to which you should be subscribing. We're covering everything that you need to know about both the Angels and the Mariners, but what about the rest of sports? Now the Locked-on podcast

network has you covered there as well with Locked On Today. It's hosted by the great Peter Grukowski, and it's all the sports news you need every morning under 20. minutes. Follow the Lockdown Today podcast wherever you get your podcast from. Now talking about the Angels just a little bit and to get the Lockdown Angels, listeners up to speed, my listeners are going to get so tired of hearing this, but I did not pay a whole lot of attention to the off season because of some health issues, which I'm still kind of going through, which is why I sound so horrible. So I just have kind of more general questions than I do specific questions.

And I guess the first one I'll ask was I was very surprised that the Angels got out to the poor start that they did last season. I thought they were going to be a lot better. They picked it up in the second half of the abbreviated season. And I was wondering what you thought was attributing to both the poor start and the follow-up, which was much stronger. So like everything else in 2020, it was a very weird year. It was a weird season for the Angels. They had a couple of things that were plaguing them right from the beginning. But, I mean, the obvious answer is pitching. The pitching was not there. It hasn't been there. And it just killed them pretty much for most of the season.

Yes, they made that little run at the end, but this is still a team that finished near the bottom and basically every possible category for pitching. The offense has been there. We all know that at this point. We've talked about it time and time again. Mike Trout, other players are able to produce runs, but the pitching just absolutely derailed everything once again.

So we'll see if it changes this year. This would be the first time that if they are actually able to put out a competent staff, it'd be the first time in about a half decade or so. And do you think that there is a chance that the pitching will improve for the Angels this year? I'm a heck of a lot more optimistic than I was even two weeks ago, and I'll be the first to say that spring training stats pretty much don't mean anything. Right.

That being said, Shohei Otani looks very good, looks reminiscent of 2018. Shohei Otani, Alex Cobb, who I was very critical of in terms of just acquiring him, has looked a lot better after going to drive-line this offseason fixing his mechanics, a little bit. So I'm a little more optimistic right now, but I also recognize that I'm an Angels fan and I've been down this road before. So cautiously optimistic at the moment. You did mention Mike Trout on the offense. And I'll ask you this. Is it possible to bar Mike Trout from ever playing against the Mariners again? Because I feel like if he never played against the Mariners, his career OPS, would be about 85 points lower. It's a great question. And it's really like

right from the very beginning of his career, he's just killed the Mariners. I mean, his first multi-home run game came in Seattle. I vividly remember those two home runs. And he's, I mean, he's done that since that. I mean, he's hit some of his farthest home runs in Seattle. And, I mean, at home. And I'm sure you recall all the home runs against Felix Hernandez. And we're talking peak Felix Hernandez, not like the current form of Felix Hernandez.

We're talking Mike Trout, taking one of the best pitchers in baseball deep, just felt like every game. So, yeah, I, for your sake, I would help you out, but it kind of helps the angels out that he continues to do this. Oh, of course. No, I'm a Mike Trout fan, gang. You cannot, you cannot follow baseball and not love Mike Trout. He should be the face of the game. There's another angel who is a personal favorite of mine, David Fletcher. I love the way David Fletcher plays the game. And in 2019 or, it was either 2019 or 2020, I don't remember that the angels were kind of planning on having him being something of an everyday utility player playing multiple positions. And I was just kind of wondering what the plan was for him going forward. I love the way he plays the game.

He's not going to strike out very much. He puts the bat on the ball. He can run. He can run the bases pretty well. And he plays defense. The only thing that's short for him is home run power, which I don't really care about. And his arm might play a little short for shortstop, but he's still adequate there, I think. What's the plan with David Fletcher in terms of what position he'll be seeing him most at this season, even though that grammar was very poor?

So this is the first year. He's kind of penciled in at one specific position. He's going to be their second baseman. And he could play some shortstop depending on how the season shakes out, but they did go out and acquire Jose Iglesias. So the plan is to have David Fletcher at second base. But just touching on him as a player, he's a complete anomaly in this era. This is not the type of guy you see in this day and age. He is the game's premier bat to ball hitter.

And it's not just making contact in the zone. I swear to you, he has made contact on pitches that are two feet above his head, two feet below the zone, out of the zone. It's remarkable that he's able to do this in this era where everybody is throwing just absolute gas and these killer breaking balls. It's quite remarkable. I love watching them play. For those reasons, I mean, those are the players I like,

the guys who are not going to strike out, who put the bat on the ball. I'm not a big proponent of the modern power game, as so many players are. And David Fletcher certainly fits that profile. To a T, I get, maybe that's why I enjoy watching him as I do. We're actually coming up on our second break, and at this time I ask my listeners to email the show if they got a question or a comment,

and I'll extend this invitation to Locked on Angels listeners as well. If you have a question or a comment, send an email to Lockedon Mariners at gmail.com. I will reply to it on the air in a future mailbag episode. Questions and comments on any subject are not only welcome, they are encouraged. There was one episode where me and my guest spent the entire higher time answering a question about rock and roll. I've answered questions about bowling. I've

answered questions about curling. Ask bizarre silly questions. Send in jokes. If they are clean, they will make it on the air. But do bear in mind that this is a family show. So please do keep it appropriate. Coming up, I watch the Roth Holman PBA doubles championship that aired Sunday afternoon, but not until Brent and I have finished the show. We'll continue our conversation after this vital word of importance from betonline.ag. Take it away, Brent. Bet Online is the fastest and easiest way to bet on all of your sports action. Football might be over, but the NBA, college basketball, and NHL are in full swing. We've got baseball coming very soon.

Bet Online even covers awards, TV shows, and reality TV. You can get real-time, updated odds, and props on almost anything that you can imagine. Bet Online has you covered for all the news, scores, and odds, and it is the best place to place your bets and free to sign up. So head to the website or use your mobile device to sign up today and receive your 50% welcome bonus on your first deposit by using the promo code Locked On. Bet Online, your online sportsbook experts. Welcome back to Locked on Mariners. Here once again is your host, D.C. Lundberg.

You bet another Division Day crossover gang, Brent McGuire and D.C. Lundberg back with you to hosts of Locked on Angels and Locked on Mariners, respectively. And you fantasy baseball addicts now have a new resource to help give you. an advantage in your leagues that is none other than Locked-on Fantasy Baseball. It's a daily fantasy baseball podcast hosted by veteran fantasy analyst. Scott Cullen, still don't know if he's related to Bill Culler or not. I don't think so, but he uses data and nearly two decades of fantasy experience to offer the strategies and waiver-wire pickups that will lead to League wins gang. Season-long fantasy dynasty DFS, Locked on Fantasy Baseball covers it all.

Subscribe to Locked on Fantasy Baseball wherever you get your podcasts. Yes, we are back, Locked on Angels, Locked on Mariners, another crossover. Brett McGuire is one of the newer hosts here on the Locked On Podcast Network. This is his first appearance on Locked on Mariner's. I've been on Locked on Angels a few times with Taylor Blake Ward. So Brett McGuire, please take the opportunity to kind of introduce yourself to the Lockdown Mariners listeners. Yeah, so how's it going? Everybody, like DC just said, this is my, really this is my first full regular season coming into Locked on Angels.

and I was kind of thrown into the shuffle late last season, so I definitely felt a little out of place for a couple months, but I feel like I finally got myself a little bit grounded. We're coming into a full season, and it kind of feels like we have normal baseball coming. So yeah, I'm really excited to be here at the network. I have just grown to love everything that the Locked-on Network is doing and just so excited to be continuing to meet new people like D.C. today.

Excellent. Thank you very much. It's a pleasure to have you here as well, sir. And, you know, I'm just shooting from the hit today, ladies and gentlemen. I'm not exactly sure what else I can ask Brent about the angels that doesn't involve the mid-90s when he was not very old. So I don't know. He does not have any memories of 1995. I am sure. I've got a few years on him.

So anything else about the Mariners or anything else about the angels that you would just like to say off the cuff, Brent? Yeah, so I, like we were just talking about before, I'm sure. Mariners fans are sick of Mike Trout and all of the home runs. But I will say the Angels are going to be a lot of fun to watch this year just because it does look like Shohei Otani is going to do the two-way thing again. So I'm very much looking forward to some of the matchups between the Angels and Mariners this year. But I guess on a long-term basis, I'm really looking forward to the Mariners here in the next couple of seasons. I have obviously mixed feelings about Jerry Depoto.

There were some issues between him and both the front office. and the managerial stuff going on in Anaheim when he left. But I will say, I think he's done a great job. In Seattle, I think he's built up a very, very good and deep farm system. And, yeah, I'm excited to see the Mariners get back to the playoffs. And maybe that's going to get me into some hot water with the Locked on Angels crowd. But I think it's time for the Mariners to kind of make that next push. It's certainly been a while.

I mean, we're not talking Pittsburgh Pirates levels of bad here, but we are talking, the last time they made the playoffs was 2001, and they had two good seasons after that where the rest of the West was just that much better. The Angels included in that mix, I think they won 93 games in 2002 and finished third in the West. That's how good the division was back then, gang,

if you don't remember. And as far as the Angels go, there was last time they made, no, the last time, they've made the playoffs since winning the World Series in 2002. a few times, haven't they? They have. They haven't made it back since 2014,

and since that time it's been nothing but pain. So hopefully that changes soon. Was Mike Trout a part of the team at that time? He was. That was his first MVP award season. Okay. If there's one player in baseball right now who I would like to see win a World Series,

I would say that it has to be Mike Trout because, as I said, he should be the face of baseball. He is super fun to watch, super talented, and he's good with the fans. He's got the right attitude to go along with the skill set. That's why I feel like he should be the face of baseball.

And Mariners fans might be sick of Mike Trout's production. I don't think they're sick of Mike Trout as Mike Trout. Does that make sense? It totally makes sense. But like I totally, I get it. I've talked to fans from other fan bases within the division. And they're all, they're sick of seeing Mike Trout, Homer against them, but they also respect just how phenomenal he's been.

Yeah, I mean, I would much rather see Mike Trout do well against other teams. I feel like the Mariners kind of have it the worst. I've gone over his numbers against the Mariners on a previous show last season. And I think that if memory serves, his slugging percentage against the Mariners is the highest versus any other team. He's got the most career home runs against the Mariners than any other team. So while the other hosts, while the other teams into the division, might be sick of it. The Mariners fans have every reason to be sick of that.

Now, if he has a bad season against the Mariners, I'm not going to complain, obviously. But I do want Mike Chodd to be successful because I think baseball needs them. Agreed. And my bias take is I agree with you. I want Mike Gout to win that World Series so the Angels could win that World Series. I'm ready for it again. Absolutely.

I'm not exactly sure what else we can be talking about, Brent, anything else that's on your mind? because we do have a few minutes to chew up here. So before we even came on the show, I wanted to ask about Kevin Mather, but at this point, I feel like whatever you've said about him is already over, and I feel like it takes away from everything

that the Mariners have built up over the last couple of years. And like I said, I'm very much excited to see what Seattle does in the next couple of seasons. They've got a farm system that is just very exciting. They don't have a lot of payroll on their books for the next couple years. And again, next season,

I would not be shocked if they were like, the most active team in all of baseball and adding talent. Because of the low pay roll, I agree with you. Next year, I was asked a question prior to, I don't remember when this was. I think it was just after the off season about, you think it was before the free agent, you know, it was before the winter meetings.

And somebody asked me, what do you think the Mariners are going to do in free agency? You know, they can go after this position. They can go after that position. And I kind of said, you know, hold your horses. Let's see how 20, 21 goes first. and then this off season, this upcoming off season, might be the one where they add that piece to resistance free agent

that can put them over the top. So I agree with you completely. Yeah, like I said, I'm really looking forward to it. I don't know if they necessarily are going to go in the shortstop market, but even the pitching market, yes, Clayton Kershaw, Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, they're all going to be older, but those guys are available. And I'm very much excited to see what Seattle does. I don't know if the Mariners are going to be able to afford talent like that,

but it would certainly be interesting if they could. And I don't think they're going to be in the shortstop market unless J.P. Crawford just has an awful season. Last, I was, he was one of the ones that suffered most from the shortened season. In 2019, he really faded in the second half of the season. The Mariners were after him to bulk up and to get stronger so he could last a full season. Last year should have been that test.

But this year's going to be that test. So it kind of remains to be seen if J.P. Crawford can, handle a workload for a full season. I'm really not sure. I hope he can because he's awfully fun to watch play shortstop when he doesn't suffer from mental lapses. Yeah, that totally makes sense. He still throws too many balls away, but he also knows this, and he's working on that to stay more focus so he won't make so many throwing errors. Yeah, no, that totally makes sense. You want to wrap up by doing some win predictions for both teams this year? I know that's not very fun, but we'll put each other on the spot.

Sure. So how many wins do you see Seattle obtaining this year? Can I give you a range instead of a specific number? You absolutely can. I would say 79 to 82. Okay.

That sounds about right. I think they're around a 500 team. Yeah. And if the pitching surprises me, it's going to be more, but I don't really have faith in the middle of the bullpen right now. Okay.

Or the back end of the rotation. Gotcha. In regards to the Angels, I think I've got them a little bit above that. I think their low end is, I mean, it could be below 500. I hope not. I have them between 81 to 85 wins, but their range of variance is, it's quite extreme. So we'll see.

All righty. I think that's just about to wrap it up, ladies and gentlemen. Next time on Locked-on Mariners, I will be joined by Dr. Jason Seaver, Fuzzy Bear, and a pitcher of Huckleberry Ice Tea. You will not want to miss that conversation. So download, rate, and subscribe. look for both Lockdown Mariners and Locked on Angels on any podcasting app that springs into your brainhead. Brent, thank you very much for appearing on Lockedon Mariners.

It was a pleasure appearing on your show simultaneously. Take us home. Yeah, so listeners of Locked on Angels, stay tuned for more Angel Spring training coverage. Most likely we'll be talking about more show Hey Otney later on the week and everything else that Mike Trout is doing. So, yeah, just make sure to stay tuned for that. This is Joey Martin, speaking for Locked on Mariners, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network. Thank you.