Locked On Mariners - Daily Podcast On the Seattle Mariners - Emergency Bonus Pod: Mariners Trade Kyle Lewis to Diamondbacks For Cooper Hummel

Episode Date: November 18, 2022

The Seattle Mariners have traded 2020 AL Rookie of the Year Kyle Lewis to the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for catcher/outfielder Cooper Hummel. In an emergency episode, Colby and Ty discuss why Lewis was deemed expendable by Seattle, what they could get from Hummel, what other 40-man players could get swapped, and what their favorite Kyle Lewis play was. All of that and more on this special episode of Locked on Mariners!Be sure to follow or subscribe to Locked On Mariners wherever you prefer your podcasts! For questions and other inquiries, email: [e-mail] the show on Twitter: @LO_Mariners | @danegnzlz | @CPat11For more of Ty and Colby, check out their Patreon: patreon.com/controlthezone/SimpliSafeWith Fast Protect™️ Technology, exclusively from SimpliSafe, 24/7 monitoring agents capture evidence to accurately verify a threat for faster police response. There’s No Safe Like SimpliSafe. Visit SimpliSafe.com/LockedOnMLB to learn more.BetOnlineBetOnline.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.

Kyle Lewis has reportedly been traded to the Diamondbacks. Our thoughts on the deal coming 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. It is once again Thursday, November 17th, 2022.

This is Tadang Gonzalez and Colby Patnaut for an emergency episode of the Lockdown Mariner's podcast. Thank you so much for making us your first listen. Subscribe, like, and turn on alerts. If you're watching on YouTube or Subscribe and leave a five-star review on your preferred podcast platform if you like what you hear. And if you want to hear from us even more, please consider signing up for our Patreon on the link as well as our social accounts is in the description below. Per ESPN's Jeff Passen, the Mariners have agreed to trade 2020 AL rookie of the year, Kyle Lewis to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Utility Man, Cooper Hummel.

Let's get straight into the deal. What do you think about it, Colby? Yeah, it's a trade that. I would I would classify as inevitable, I think is probably the best way. Obviously, we didn't know who it would be for, but I think we all kind of were working under the assumption that Kyle Lewis had very likely played his last game with the Mariners.

That was amplified when he wasn't added to the playoff roster. He wasn't, you know, he never got called back up after they sent him down for the final time. We had heard there were some, some hurt feeling, some, uh, fracturing of the relationship that dated back to, you know, last off season. And, and, and we had also heard that the knee was essentially done. Um, so just kind of add up, is, is what we were told. Yeah. Right. Uh, so you just kind of add that all up. And Kyle Lewis seems like a guy who's destined to DH for his entire career and maybe

give you 40 games in the outfield. If you're really lucky. Um, and that's not counting. he injures it yet again. So yeah, it's a bummer that Kyle Lewis is no longer in the organization. Seemed like a great dude. You know, I know his teammates really liked him. And there's, there's legitimate, you know, bat skills there. I think he's going to be at least a, you know, an average, solid average major league hitter. So even with the knee, but there's just, he's such a limited player now because of the injuries. And obviously when you pile on top of that, the fractured relationship, it just, it seemed to, inevitable that Kyle Lewis would

get traded and now we just the only real surprise here is what came back to Seattle. Yeah and it really doesn't surprise me that this is the kind of return that the Mariners got for Kyle Lewis that they basically got a fringe major

leaguer because that's unfortunately what Kyle Lewis has become himself. He's been a fringe major leaguer and he and it's really just because he unfortunately cannot stay healthy and most of that is really just not his fault, but that's just the reality of it. And, you know, this year he finally comes back from the knee injury,

gets concussed five games back and misses more time. And, you know, you, when he was ready to start his rehab assignment, you know, we heard Scott Service say, you know, he's going to get time in the outfield, but then you look at the game logs and he's just de-hing, de-hing. d-hing de-hing and like he maybe played

outfield just for a handful of games in the minor leagues overall and that didn't fit within the you know the the construction of the Mariners major league roster so there

just wasn't really a place for him and then when he finally came back up for a time there in the late summer he just he did not look major league quality and so and then when he went back down to the minor leagues

he had an awful month of September so he was even challenging really for the major league roster he wasn't challenging for the playoff roster so you add all those things in and it was just a recipe for this to happen the writing was on the wall here yeah this deal like the only thing that surprised me was that it just happened out of the blue tonight you know all of a sudden that was the only surprise the rest of it the return the fact that it's happened the fact that lewis is no longer a seattle mariner is not surprising at all so you know because it's just these are the things that we have continued to hear for the last year or so about that rift between him and the organization how he kind of you know i was told at one point that he uh had basically been doing his own rehab and that uh rubbed the mariners the wrong way they wanted to you know have some say in that and how that process went and it just there was no you know there was no mutual ground there between player and team.

And so, you know, these things happen. It's just it's such a bummer, man, because like I really enjoyed watching Kyle Lewis play. When he first came up, uh, there in at the end of 2019 and just he went on that absolute tear and then, you know, the, the first half of the 2020 COVID season, you know, I mean, that first game when he goes yard off of Justin Verlander, like you really thought that, you know, maybe the Mariners finally struck gold here because, you know, this is before Julio. This is before Kellnick. This is before all that stuff. And it's just, you know, Kyle Lewis was really one of the first examples of depoto and companies rebuilds, you know,

rebuild working, right? And the process that they were, that they were going through with all that. And it's just, you know, I, during that 2020 season, I named him, you know, I nicknamed him the plan, right? Like Joel M. B being the process. And, you know, because I just, I thought like, hey, That's like the first signal. Like it's working. The plan is working. Like Kyle Lewis actually is good. Like they've developed this guy and they've,

you know, gotten him back on track after his first knee injury. And it just seemed like there was such a hopeful future for him in Seattle. And it sucks the way that it ended. But I wish nothing but the best for him in Arizona. He's got a great opportunity to, uh, opportunity to succeed now.

There isn't much of a log jam there that's, you know, uh, keeping him from playing. I think he's probably mostly going to be. at DH down there. And we'll see how much he's able to play in the outfield, if at all. But that's going to be one that I keep a close eye on this year.

So we're going to talk about what the Mariners are getting in return with Cooper Hummel in just a moment. But real quick, a reminder of this episode of Lockdown Mariners is brought to you by Simply Safe. If you've thought about securing your home with home security, but have been putting it off, you'll want to listen up right now. Locked on Mariners listeners can order the number one rated Simply Safe home security system for 50% off.

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Super Utility, man. Cooper Hummel, who has absolutely raked at every, level of the minor leagues came up this year as a 27 year old rookie really really struggled 31% k rate he was worth negative 0.8 f4 and 201 plate appearances but colby i'm hearing some good things from our colleague lindsay crosby over at locked on MLB prospects that there's actually some hope for hummel to be a useful super utility guy off the bench he can catch he can play pretty much every other position on the field, including all the positions on the infield.

He's got a plus arm, plus speed, and strikeouts really haven't been the issue for him in the past. It was just an issue for him at the Major League level this year. And 201 plate appearances is a small sample size. So it doesn't seem like the Mariners traded Kyle Lewis here for just nothing. Hummel seems pretty interesting, right? Yeah, you know, it's interesting. The first thing I did when I saw the trade was look up who Cooper Hummel was.

And you see the initial numbers and you go, wow, like this is just a, you know, this is just a get what you can and move on type of trade. But when you start to look at, when I started to look at a little deep breath of numbers, including the minor league numbers, I saw a guy who walks a ton. we're talking 15 to 20% walk rates. A guy who struck out some, but never, never as much as he did in the major league level, it wasn't an issue. So that seems like, you know, it's possible he was just overwhelmed, but it also seems like maybe that's just an outlier here. And then you go to his baseball savant page and you see like 93rd percentile in arm strength and you see like 88th percentile in sprint speed. and you just you kind of look at what the numbers tell you if you look at the minor league numbers at least and you say hey you know this guy's pretty good and oh he's a catcher and oh he's apparently

pretty fast for a catcher and you look at and you say oh well he's also a switch hitter and you know he had some he had some legitimate power going for him lots of doubles and obviously he runs well and you kind of start to piece that together and then you read some of the reports from from people who know, you know, people who, who had followed Hummel for a while now. And they're pretty much saying the same thing that the stats tell you. So we'll see, you know, the overwhelming odds are is that he's, you know, just in AAA and he's depth. I think that's what's most likely to happen. But again, this is a guy who can handle the outfield.

He can handle catching. He's a switch hitter. He's got a lot of CTZ qualities, particularly in the walk rate. you know he has hit the ball hard in the minor league level there's a lot of interesting breadcrumbs that I think probably stops you from just saying you know Lewis that they gave him like they're just trying to get something for him but I think it's fair if you want to say that that Hummel is a a 4A player I think that's totally within the realm of possibility but there is enough here to be intrigued and to wonder, you know, can the Mariners get something out of this guy?

And they've done it before. They did it with Sam Haggurty. They've done it with Dillamore. They did it with, they did it with Osse Nola. So the Mariners have had some success turning these type of guys into quality big leaguers. And we'll see if they can do it again. But if you're going to try and do it, then you probably should try to do it with athletes. And it sounds to me like Cooper Hummel is a pretty darn good athlete.

And when the Mariners add guys like this, you have to pay at least a modicum of attention to it. And, you know, for me, the switch hitting aspect is really interesting. Now, I got to look a little deeper into the numbers and everything because we are recording this literally like 15 minutes after Passer reported it. And I didn't even know that Cooper Hummel was a human being until 15 minutes ago. So I'm, you know, I'm catching up on all this. but it's really interesting. And, you know, if anything, it gives them a little more catching depth with maybe a little more upside than someone like Brian O'Keefe

who's still on the roster at the moment. I also kind of wonder if maybe this puts Luis Trens in jeopardy again of being DFAed if they actually think that Hummel is a viable catching option for them. But the ability to play pretty much any position, that's going to have some value. At the very least, it's good 40-man depth because you are going to have injuries. We saw this year. We saw the types of players that came through, especially earlier on in the year.

Hummel seems like a guy that he can at least provide value defensively and potentially on the base pass. Because again, reports are plus speed. If you can have that guy coming off the bench, you know, when you got maybe Dillamore on the IL or someone like that, that seems like you might actually be able to get something out of that. I don't know how much you're going to be able to get out of the bat, but, you know, Jerry Depoto loves his minor league performers.

And sometimes that's worked out for him. And this guy, listen to these WRC pluses down in the minor leagues. 117, 136, 147, 155, 148, 138. He breaks. And so maybe there's something in there. Maybe it's a swing change. Who knows?

That can unlock that kind of success. well, maybe not that kind of success, but some of the success that he found down at the miners and let that translate to the majors. So he's an interesting guy. We'll be keeping an eye on him as we build up to the regular season. So I want to talk more about Lewis

and kind of just where this leaves the Mariners, what's next, all that stuff. And just a moment, but real quick, a reminder of this episode of Locked-on Mariners is brought to you by BetOnline. Betonline.net is your number one source for sports betting info, stats, news, and analysis. Get the latest odds and trends for every professional and amateur league out there from football to basketball to soccer and esports. We've got it all at betonline.net.

And if you love sports podcasts, you can find those at BetOnline as well. We're always the fastest and easiest way to get your betting fix. Head to the website today or use your mobile device to learn more. that online is where the game starts. So Colby, I don't think this is the last time we see the Mariners make a trade like this, this off season where they're more so, you know, selling off pieces from the 40 man roster for, you know, pieces like, you know, we just talked about how Hummel is interesting, but certainly not something that you're going to get excited about. I think we're going to see more of these trades where they trade guys from the 40 man for guys that are not really that, you know, exciting. Maybe interesting, but not that exciting. Do you agree? Yeah, I would say so.

The Mariners are kind of in a spot right now, too, where they might sacrifice a little bit of talent for fit, right? They're no longer in the era of their rebuild or their build now, I guess, since they've kind of finished it. where they're worried about, just get as much talent as we can. It has to fit, right? You have to, the puzzle pieces have to fit now. And, you know, a guy like Hummel does fit this 40-man roster better than a guy like Kyle Lewis. And you start looking at other guys who are on the 40-man who might, you know, suffer, quote-unquote,

similar fates, you know, Taylor Tremel, Jared Kelnick, Justice Sheffield. Yeah, so there's quite a few guys. So it's about fit. It's about, it's about taking. making shots with the back end of your 40 man. And that's what the Mariners are going to do. And so I do think that, you know, this isn't the last time we'll see a, a prominent name for Mariners fans traded for somebody who is pretty much unknown.

I think we're probably going to see it at least one more time. It's just, you know, it's part of baseball and it's part of what good teams do. You know, sometimes good teams make trades where they trade a recognizable name for depth and people go what and then oh well look at that Tom Murphy got hurt again Luis Turenz is is you know got DFAid or whatever and well we could call up you know Brian O'Keefe but hey we have Hummel and Hummel's got upside so let's give him a shot and then Hummel pops and all of a sudden oh well look we have we have the switch in and catcher now so yeah I think we're going to see more trades like this I don't think it's going to be

a ton of them I think maybe one or two more but we are going to see some smaller trade like this and the Mariners are going to continue to shuffle the back end of their 40-man roster. And that is unfortunately what Kyle Lewis is to the Mariners right now. He's back into the 40-man roster type of guy. So we'll see more deals like this. And honestly, they're kind of fun. You get past being bummed, you know, that it didn't work out with Kyle Lewis. Hummel's kind of a fun prospect to think about and to kind of, I don't want to say dream on,

but like he's, I think. he's not a waste of a 40 man spot. No, he's a solid, if he's your third catcher, you're in good spot. You're in a pretty good spot. And that's exactly what he is right now for the mayor's. Maybe even fourth, we'll see what they do with Luis Turenz, who could be a 40-man trade for, you know,

for another 40-man guy. So I think it's interesting. I don't think, just to answer this question, which I'm sure is coming. I don't think this means that the Mariners are going to all of a sudden be a lot more open to trading somebody like Tom Murphy. I don't think that's what's happening here. I think this is just about let's get a third catcher who has some upside, but also some athleticism. So maybe we can carry three catchers, but one of them is actually an outfielder.

They did that in the past with Narvaez, Murphy, and Nola, right? Well, that's what I was going to say. I wasn't going to ask about Murphy because I think it's really, you know, they use him like they used Austinola. And that's what you kind of hope that he is, right? And it's kind of hard not to make that comparison when you hear what he can do. And you just hear that profile.

So, you know, probably more speed than Nola, maybe a little bit better defensively just at more spots. But like, it's hard not to make that comp. And, you know, I was a pretty big Austin Nola fan. So that makes me happy to hear those kinds of reports on him. And so if they have that, kind of player i mean that's a massive massive win for the mariner's but that's just you know that's kind of dreaming here um but yeah i don't think that murph this says really anything about tom murphy

um maybe louis turenz but i could also see them you know carrying the four catchers on the 40 man you know you can't have enough catching time you have like four actual legitimate major league catchers on your 40 man roster you're in a good spot you're a really good spot so yeah that's uh that's totally fine by me now before we hop off of here because you're losing daylight and you really need to buy a ring light but let's uh let's let's let's let's let's bully uh colby in the chat to get him to buy ring light uh i don't actually i don't actually condemn bullying that's a joke that's a joke. To be fair, we often only record at like

noon. Yeah. So lighting is never an issue. That's an example of too much lighting right there. Yeah. So yeah. All right. I want to ask you which was the better catch? Robin Ramon Luriano of a

grand slam or that catch he had in talking about Kyle Lewis, that catch he had in L.A. I think the catch in L.A. He had a little less time to get there. than the one in Luriano. Luriano, he was kind of able to chop his feet and jump, and he timed it perfectly.

It was a great catch, don't get me wrong. But the one in L.A., he kind of, like, jumped to the side and up, and he stuck his glove out. And, like, I just think that one was a little better. And what's interesting about those two catches, too, though,

is that they both have great reaction, like gifts built around them. Yeah. Yeah. The L.A. one has Kike with a, ah, like, like, blah, reaction. And then obviously the Ramon-Loriano slam catch has the galloping. of Kyle Lewis running in smile on his face. So yeah, those are two great catches.

Those are probably, I would say those two catches and the home runoff of Erlander, probably the first things that come to mind when you think of Kyle Lewis. And, you know, if those are the top three highlights, when you've only played like 110 games for our team, that's pretty good. That's pretty good. Obviously, I guess the big highlight would be winning rookie of the year, right? but when I think of Kyle Lewis, I certainly think of those two catches,

but I probably think of that Dodgers catch first. I think it was just a little bit better. Yeah, the Dodgers catch is pretty remarkable. And yeah, like you said, the Kiki reaction afterwards is priceless. The one against the A's is great too, and especially considering the moment and what that, you know,

I mean, they ended up losing that game anyway because that was the Jimmy Yakubonis game. And I really don't want to remember that. I really did not want to remember the Jimmy Acabonis game or Jimmy Acabonis himself today, but alas, here we are. But yeah, that was a great catch, especially, you know, with the

smoke and everything. That was, that was a wild looking game. They were still in the playoff hunt. Yeah, they were still in the playoff on it. Yeah, that's what I was saying in terms of like, you know, what that meant because I basically, like, that was a massive game for them. And they started Jimmy Acobotinus in it. Anyway, they got smoked. I believe final score was nine to nothing. They got literally smoked. Yes, the smoke was not from wildfires.

It was from the Mariners' playoff chances going up in the mornings. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, on that note, that's going to do it for our show. Thank you so much for joining us here on an emergency episode of the Lockdown Mariners podcast. For Colby Pat node, I'm Tadangonzalez. Be sure to give us a follow on Twitter at LO underscore Mariners. You can follow me at Dan Gonzalez. plus it's D-A-N-E, G-N-Z-L-Z, and Colby at C-P-A-T-E-P-E-P-E-P-A-T-1.

You can also find all that stuff in the description of this episode. And thank you again for making us your first listen. For your next listen, check out the Lockdown Sports Today podcast, featuring the biggest stories of the day, plus instant reactions, big game recaps, and the take of the day. It's available on the Odyssey app, YouTube, and wherever you get your podcast just like us. And with that, have yourself a beautiful baseball day,

and we'll see you tomorrow. Peace.