Locked On Mariners - Daily Podcast On the Seattle Mariners - Fan Fiction Friday: Riley, Marte, Westburg, and More

Episode Date: October 4, 2024

Fan Fiction Friday is back! Ty and Colby react to your Mariners trade ideas, including deals for Ketel Marte, Austin Riley, Jordan Westburg, and more. Ask us questions!Follow the show on Twitter: @LO_Mariners | @TyDaneGonzalez | @CPat11For your next listen, check out the Locked On MLB podcast. Prepare for the Fall Classic with Sully, who has it all covered every single day. Click HERE to listen now. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Your Team. Every Day.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Arena ClubWhether you’re buying, selling, trading, or displaying—Arena Club is the card-collecting platform you have to check out. Right now, you can get 10% off your first Slab Pack or card purchase by going to ArenaClub.com/lockedonmlb and use code lockedonmlb. RobinhoodRobinhood Gold provides the privileges of a high net worth for any net worth. These generous benefits are now available for only $5/month. The new gold standard is here with Robinhood Gold.Sign up at robinhood.com/gold   Terms apply, for product specific disclosures visit robinhood.com/gold. Investing involves risk. Rate may change. Gold membership is offered by Robinhood Gold, LLC.   PrizePicksGo to prizpicks.com/lockedonmlb and use code lockedonmlb to win $50 instantly when you play $5. You don't even need to win to receive your $50 bonus, it's guaranteed! Prizepicks. Run Your Game. IbottaIbotta is a free app that lets you earn cash back every time you shop. Right now, Ibotta is offering our listeners $5 just for trying Ibotta by using the code LOCKEDONMLB when you register. Just go to the App Store or Google Play store and download the FREE app to start earning cash back when you use code LOCKEDONMLB. eBay MotorsFrom brakes to exhaust kits and beyond, eBay Motors has over 122 million parts to keep your ride-or-die alive. With all the parts you need at the prices you want, it’s easy to bring home that big win. Keep your ride-or-die alive at EbayMotors.com. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers.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. FanDuelNow through September 22nd, ALL FanDuel customers can bet FIVE DOLLARS and get a THREE WEEK free trial of NFL Sunday Ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV. Visit FANDUEL.COM to get started. 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.

Could the Mariners trade Andres Munoz for an all-star third baseman? What if Kittel Marte made his way back to Seattle? We'll explore all that and more coming up here in the return of fan fiction Friday. Colby, hit it. You are Locked-on Mariners. Your daily Seattle Mariners podcast. Part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Oh, hooy, sailors.

It is Friday, October 4, 2024. This is Ted and Giz Austin. Colby Patnaud for the Lockdown Marries Podcast. part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team, every day. Fan Fiction Friday is back, folks. And if you're new to the show or you just need a reminder of what fan fiction Friday is, very simple. Our listeners send us their Mariners trade ideas and we react to them.

And we grade them on the 2080 scale, 20 being the worst, 80 being the best, of course. Before we get into this week's bat, shout out to our title sponsor today. Booking.com. Booking. Yeah, the right state can make you a fan. of any city, even your baseball rivals. Book today on booking.com, the official accommodation partner of Major League Baseball.

Get the booking.com app today. And if you want to hear from me and Colby even more and help support the show, check out our Patreon. The link is in the description. And you can sign up for a free seven-day trial. And I just want to extend my congratulations to Kevin Martinez, who has been named the Mariners new president of business office. operations, an excellent, excellent choice by the Mariners organization.

And no matter how you feel about the rest of the Mariners organization, Kevin Martinez is a lovely, lovely person. We've had him on the show before. And he truly cares about this fan base. He truly cares about the Mariners. And, yeah, again, I couldn't think of a better choice for this role. And he is absolutely going to crush it. So congratulations once again to Kevin Martinez.

So let's get into your trades here. Chum the Hammerhead is going to kick us off. They have a deal with the Cincinnati Reds, which includes Michael Morales, Harry Ford, and Ben Williamson heading to Cincinnati for reliever Fernando Cruz and utility man,

question mark, Spencer Steer, who probably should just play for a space, but he has played multiple positions. Now, before we get into steer and cruise Colway, we are going to get a lot of Michael Morales trades, aren't we? Like, he kind of feels like the new, like, Gabriel Gonzalez this off season. Like, he's just going to be in a lot of these deals that we get. Sure, because he's kind of that, like, ringy top 10 and, like, some people really like him, some don't. He's not Logan Evans.

He's not Brandon Garcia. Right. He doesn't have that hype. But I think what a lot of people know is that when you're talking about trades, particularly, like, significant ones for, like, everyday player types or like really good starting pitchers. Typically, the team that's giving up the major league talent almost always demands an arm back in return in that deal because young pitching is the most precious commodity in baseball because it's cheap and it's hard to find.

And that's a very interesting thing that you bring up because last off season, you know, Miller and Wu had graduated, right? When we were talking about trades that involved pitching, it was almost exclusively about the guys in your starting five, you didn't really have anything on the farm system. I mean, even Michael Morales at the time was a fringe top 30, 25 guy,

fringe top 30 guy, because he hadn't really taken that next step that you were hoping to see. And finally, this was that year. So now Morales has kind of built up or built back his, his profile a bit here. And I think he's definitely a guy

that teams are going to have interest in. So I totally get why he's going to be in a lot of these. deals that we get over the course of doing fan fiction Friday this off season. But yeah, I just, you know, if I had to take my shot, take my guess at who's going to be like the next Gabriel Gonzalez, who just

pops up in basically every single one of these trades, it's definitely Morales. Yeah, it'll be Morales or Garcia. Yeah. I'd say this. The gap between those two guys and Logan Evans, not as big as some Mariner fans think it is.

But that's mostly because a lot of Mariner fans think Logan Evans is something that he's not. yet that he hasn't shown yet yeah i think i think all three of those guys are basically in the same group yeah yeah um you could tell me that garcia's better than evans and i'd be like okay yep yeah i get up um so anyways uh yeah back to the trade uh spencer steer like he said kind of a utility guy in that he'll stand in a lot of different positions but no matter where he's standing he's he's going to hurt you he is an aggressively poor defender uh pretty much every including first base by the way

aggressively poor at first base even. So what you're really trying to buy here is the bad. And when you look at some of the positives first year, you know, he's been an everyday player for the last two years. He's played in 156 and 158 games the last two years, durable, plays all over the place,

like it will stands in multiple positions, I think is a more appropriate way to say it. You get him for four years. He's only going to be 27. He's got a pretty good pop, 20 home runs this year, 23 the year before. also quite a few doubt 37 doubles in 2023,

34 doubles this year. And he even managed to steal 25 bags this year after last year he stole 15. He also walks a ton over 10% in all three of his, you know, well, one, you know, kind of cup of coffee and then the two full seasons. It's been over 10, 11%. Career 10.6% walk rate. The strikeout rate is really good, only 21.1%. So in theory, you would think this is a guy that.

that yeah, like this is this is exactly the type of bat you need. The problem is that he was bad this year, particularly when compared to last year, because the slash line 225 319, 402 batting average down about 45 points on base, down about 45 points, slugging down about 60 points across the board. He was only a 96 WRC plus this year. And keep in mind, this is a guy who plays half of his games at the Great American Ballpark, which is a band.

So, you know. Do you know what his splits are? Do you have them there? I don't. I can get them real fast. Memory serves. He was pretty good away last year from a great American ballpark, but I'm not quite sure this year. But anyways, you look at it, he's the prize in this deal.

Cruz is a nice addition. He misses a lot of bats, but. Great splitter. Yeah. He's probably, he's not a high leverage guy because you can't trust him to throw strikes frequently enough. So he is, well, not a throw. in and he helps the middle of your bulb and he's not a high leverage arm he's not significantly

swaying this deal one way or another so um yeah uh this year steer uh yeah better on the road than at home yeah pretty significantly too 107 w rc plus on the road 86 at home and keep in mind wrc plus does take into account the ballpark so uh on the road you know obviously it's it's harder to hit on the road uh than it is here here are the slash lines just for more contact right away slash line 234 325 412 at home 216 312 3992 yeah it wasn't even slugging at home not that he was slugging much more on the road but at least it was north of 400 yeah yeah um so yeah it's a guy still 107 wrc plus you want to give up harry for that you want to give up uh michael morales for that like i look at this deal

and I say it's not an egregious overpay, but I don't think that I trust Spencer Steer enough. I don't think he provides enough value defensively. To be a valuable everyday player, keep in mind, he played 158 games last year, couldn't crack two war because that's how bad the defense is, despite having a 117 WRC plus,

despite hitting 38 doubles and 20 home runs and 15 stolen bases, he's just that poor of a defender. So this is a flawed player. And you're talking about giving up Harry Ford, Michael Morales, and Ben Williamson, three guys who could be Major League ready this upcoming season.

I think this is a bit too much. And honestly, I think if you ask the Reds, they'd probably say, hmm, not really enough because we don't know what Williamson and Ford are going to be. So I don't see this deal getting done. I just, to me, steer is, I don't trust the bat to rebound well enough.

and for him to be an acceptable everyday player, I think he's got to be, you know, a 130 WRC plus type of guy because the defense is that bad. I think the compensations in the ballpark, because we're talking about a 26-year-old guy who's still pre-arb. Right. In 2023, he slash 271, 356, 464 is 117 WRC plus. He's got some, you know, nice things here.

like even this year, 20.9% K rate and then a 10.2% walk rate. Awesome. 20 plus home run pop. Again, has been better on the road than at home. So there's definitely going to be some pretty high selling points

on Steer from Cincinnati. So if you want Spencer Steer, you're going to probably have to pay something similar to this package that you're presenting here. For me, though, I'm probably out and I think you're probably targeting the wrong Reds infielder. Yeah. I'm going to give this deal like a 45.

Like it's in the ballpark. I'll give it a 50. I wouldn't make this trade of our Seattle. I think I can do better for that package than Spencer Steer just because I don't trust that the bat is going to be good enough to overcome the issues of his defense. And before we move on to the next trade time, we had some news. Yeah, yeah, I just saw that as well.

Yeah. The Randy Rosarana trade is complete. Yeah. It is literally somebody none of us talked about whatsoever. It's not Teddy McGraw and it's not Walter Ford. No, it is a pitcher. Yep. And it is Ty Cummings.

Yeah. Who I know Ty, I believe you had in your top 30. I think he snuck in there. He was in my top 30. I forget if he made the master list or not. So the final trade ends up being Brody Hopkins, Aidan Smith, and Ty Cummings for two and a half years of Randy Rosarina.

Ty Cummins is also a 2023 draft pick. Yes, I believe so. day three, I believe. Yeah. I still feel great about that trade. Oh, amazing. Yeah. That's,

yeah. I mean, like, honestly, not Thai-Ped, it's not, you know, even it had been Teddy McGraw. All right. Now that it's complete in the spirit of fan fiction Friday,

let's grade it. Uh, for the Mariners end of things. Yeah. 70. 70. Yeah. Like,

and again, it's not because we don't like Brody Hopkins and Aiden Smith. We like those guys a lot. No, that's why it's not an 80 because it hurts losing Aiden Smith and Brody. They gave up significant assets to get him. It's just they got him for two and a half years. He was pretty good when he was here for the first, you know, half a year. And now you still have a really good, you know, all-starish quality player for a couple of guys who have a ton of tools, but still have a lot of risk about even getting to the big leagues.

It's a no-brainer deal for Seattle. You do that 100 times out of 100. If you can do that again this winter a couple times, do it. Don't even think twice about it. Yeah. All right. So we have more of your trades to react to in just a moment. But first, a reminder, this episode of the Lockdownerror's podcast is brought to you by Tonal. For those of us who thrive on getting stuff done, including workouts, every minute counts. That's why you need Tonal, the smart strength training system that takes the guesswork out of working out so you can make sure you're making the most out of every rep. Tonal is the world's smartest and most effective strength training system that helps you get stronger. Powered by AI, Tonal learns with every rep. so it can deliver workouts personalized just for you.

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That's tonal.com and use promo code Locked-on MLB. That's L-O-C-K-D-O-N-M-LB for $200 off your purchase. That's tonal.com promo code locked-on MLB for $200 off. And you're listening to the Locked-on Mariners podcast. It is Fan Fiction Friday. We are reacting. to your Mariners trade ideas and grading them. We just discussed a deal from Chum the Hammerhead with the Cincinnati Reds,

which landed the Mariners Spencer Steer and Fernando Cruz. Now we turn our attention to this trade from RC. It's another deal with the Reds. This time, Emerson Hancock is going to Cincinnati. Michael Arroyo is going to Cincinnati. And Ben Williamson for the second straight trade is going to Cincinnati. Maddie for Noelvie Marte and Sam Ball. It was a left-handed reliever for those not familiar.

Okay, so what do you think? I think if the Reds did this trade, they would be giving up on Noelvi Marte awfully quick. Now, Marte did miss half the season with the substance, whatever they call it now. It's not a PED. I thought it was PEDs.

It is, but they call it like a substance, whatever, fan substance test or whatever, whatever the official wording is, whatever, don't matter. Hancock has no value. Toss him out of this deal. Hancock for Sam Mull, fine, whatever. Yeah, that's about right. Arroyo and Williamson for Noelvi Marte. Yeah. I don't know that the Reds are interested in this.

They just hired Terry Francona to be their manager. That's not something you do when. And you know, when your plan is to be like, oh, you know, we're still a couple years away and we'll grind through this. And so like I think they're going to want now impact if they're trading, you know, no LV Marte. Now, they do have some options on the corner infield. Obviously, Matt McClain will be back next year. Jonathan India is still there. Spencer Steer is still there.

Cam Collier is coming up pretty quick. Do you see Matt McLean's going to be in the Arizona Fall League? Nice. That's cool. I can't remember the last time we've seen a guy that's already played in the majors go to the Arizona Fall League. I don't know. That's pretty cool. Yeah. So yeah, it's I don't think like to me, and this is just me, I think the Reds, they're going to look at this and they're going to be like, oh, you want Novi Marte?

Give me Brian Blue. And of course, that's an absolute no, no start, non-star. Not happening. But it's not impossible because the Reds do have a lot of infield talent. Obviously, they have L.A. Dela Cruz. They have India. They have steer. They have, they'll have McLean coming back. Cam Collier, again, like is charging fast. Edwin Arroyo is a guy that they like. So they have some infield depth. And Noelvi-Marté had a very bad year on top of the PED suspension. So, you know, it could make sense that they could dangle Noelvi-Marté out there to go get better. But if they're going to dangle Marte, it's not going to be for prospects. They're going to want. So I, like, I think Marquis. would be like a really nice like get for the Mariners like yeah go get him put him at third base see what happens it's not ideal because again not a track of him right you had some sort of vision for him not a track record of success in the big league level he was okay in 2023 but obviously he was a disaster

this year as the one punishment on the rap sheet already uh and you know if you're going to go with a huge question mark at third you kind of have to go get a veteran second baseman that would more or less quash the whole Cole Young opening day second basement thing or should at the very least. But the upside is real. So I don't mind the idea of getting Noel V Marte. I just think that if the Reds are going to trade Noel V. Marte, they're going to go trade them for somebody like Jesus Lazzardo, somebody to help their rotation right now. And I just don't think Seattle has the pitching like, like.

Yeah, I just don't think this works for Cesson, for Csainti. I mean, like, if this was a Luis Castillo trade, which would be hilarious if they traded Luis Castillo for Noel V Marte, I think that probably works. Yeah. I think they're going to want like a mid-rotation starter for no Lv-Marte. Yeah. So because it doesn't work for the Reds, at least in my opinion, that's where the steel kind of ends for me. The compensation in general isn't awful, so I'll give it still like a 40. But, yeah.

I'm thinking 35 just because like trading a 22 year old with the upside of Marte and getting, you know, a 19 year old who's kind of a, at least nationally seen as like a fringe top 100 prospect. It just doesn't make any sense for Cincinnati. So like they're not trying to reset the clock a little bit here by getting a little bit younger. So yeah, it just doesn't make enough sense for Cincinnati for me to go much higher than 35 or 40. Yeah, I think I stumbled upon the correct trade, actually. No Lv-Marte for Jesus Lazzardo. That's something I could see happening. The Mariners don't have a Jesus Lazzardo.

And don't tell me Emerson Hancock is, because I'll laugh at your face. But, yeah, I like the creativity of going, you know, with no LV Marte is your third baseman. But it's just, I don't think you line up well to get that deal done. Next trade here from ZZ Jam. Marisgettee from the Arizona Diamondbacks

for J.P. Crawford Cole Young, Tyler Locklear, Michael Morales, and Reed Van Scudder's in here too. All right. So where to begin with us? Cotel Marte is coming off of like a fringe MVP season.

He's still under club control for what, three more years on a very team friendly contract? might be four I can't remember I think there's an option at the end I think the only way you're getting Cattell Marte straight up

is if you're trading Logan Gilbert George Kirby to Arizona I don't even know if they would do Marte for like Miller or Wu maybe Miller I mean I feel like at the bare minimum it would be Miller yeah and they'd probably be like give us Logan Gilbert

he's got three years of club control left Martea has three years of club control left Logan Gilbert and Cotel Marte are they roughly the equivalent in terms of like performance? Plus the Diamondbacks have major pitching issues. They just fired their pitching coach

last night. So yeah, I think it's Logan Gilbert. I think and but if by some miracle they're willing to trade Marte and not require any of those four starting pitchers, you're not getting out of that without giving up Colt Emerson.

Like you're not going to do it with bulk. You're not getting to tell Marte for both. Now, Col Young. Marte has four years left of club control. That includes a club option in 2028. Yeah,

you're just, you're not getting him for anything less than Gilbert, Miller, Wu, or Kirby. Like, one of those four has to be in the deal. That club option is $13 million for a player that, here let me bring up his numbers this year,

uh, slash 292, 372, 560 for a 151 WRC plus, a 6.3 F4 season. Uh, yeah, that is a steal and a half.

of a deal on Ketalmarte. It's going to cost you Logan Gilbert or George Kirby. Yeah. And again, even if by some miracle, it didn't, it's going to cost you Colt Emerson. He has to be in the deal. Like there's no

question Arizona's going to demand that much. And that's just to start. Yeah. So Ketalmarte making $16.6 million next year and in 20206, 2007, making $14.6 million. The deal, the

the A. gets the a v gets less and less as you get in get later into the deal that is just i don't even know how they pulled that off frankly yeah so yeah yeah uh just on that basis alone your trade is kind of invalid but uh i tell you what if the mariners could get kettle martay for this trade package uh 80 for the mariners yeah um but they can't a hundred it breaks the scale. Yeah, they can't. J.P. Crawford's not going to carry that much value in this trade. Cole Young's a nice prospect, but he's not an elite prospect. Ty Locklear is fringe top 100 guy. I'm sure the idea is like, well, they're going to lose Christian Walker. They need a first baseman.

Probably one who's performed at the big league level. I really don't think that the diamondbacks are going to hit a reset button because Christian Walker left in free agency. So, yeah, kudos for going big. Appreciate it. But it's just we're not even in the same like galaxy in terms of starting point. Like it's going to cost one of your four one of your big four pitchers. So. So 25. Uh, I'll go 30 just because he swung big and like. Sure.

You know, it's it's a J.P. Cropper trade. I didn't know how many of those we'd see this year. So I go 30 like 32 and a half maybe. 32 and a half. All right. It's just so like. like wishful thinking. There's too wishful thinking for me to

give it much more than that. Appreciate the effort, but yeah, it's just not a reasonable starting point. All right. So we got a few more of your trades that we're going to be reacting to here in just a moment. But first, a reminder of this episode of the Locked-on Marys

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podcast. Once again, it is fan fiction Friday. We are reacting to and grading your Mariners trade ideas. And we've got this one from Ham Swaggerty, 69, who has a deal with the Atlanta Braves that I teased earlier on in this

show. It involves Andres Munoz. going to Atlanta folks along with Michael O'Royo Josh Rojas and Mitch Hanager to quote unquote offset some of the costs for All-Star

Third Baseman, Austin Riley. I think the Braves are a really interesting team for Seattle. Yes. These are too aggressive I think fair to say. These are two aggressive GMs

who are not a afraid to think outside the box. Remember, Atlanta did a lot of, you know, salary eating for other teams this last winter to facilitate trades. So they're certainly willing to think outside the box. The Braves didn't have Riley for a large chunk of the second half of this year. Could they think that they could survive without them? Maybe. The Braves have a lot of money already committed to their roster next year. So it's possible that they could be looking to trade one of their bigger players. They also have some questions in the rotation.

Max Fried's going to be a free agent. The bullpen, a lot of question marks there. So I do wonder if maybe just maybe the Braves are going to be trading probably one of their infielders, Alzi Albies, Matt Olson, or Austin Riley. I don't think you're going to get anything for Rcia right now. But, you know, and they do have some interesting young infielders that are coming up, not Joe Alvarez comes to mine right away. So yeah.

Yeah. I dismiss this deal offhand. And I don't think that the Rojas and Hanager thing is going to really do much. Oh, I can easily dismiss it because he's signed through 2032 and has a club option in 233. And it's a 10 year $212 million contract. Right. And John Stanton owns the Seattle Mariners. And also, hold on, Mitch, Mitch Hanager and Josh.

Rojas, like including their money in this deal. That takes care of year one, but there's nine other years after that. Right. So the problem with Riley is that, like you said, he's owed a lot of money down the stretch. And if the, if the Braves are trying, if they're willing to make this deal because they're trying to shed some salary because they do it. They have a lot of money tied up already over the next couple years. They paid so many of their guys already early. And now those numbers are starting to climb. They're starting to hit that threshold. So could they look to trade O'Reilly? Sure. The problem is to the Mariners, are they willing to take that money? No. And even if they are willing to take that money long term, what's the benefit to the Braves for

trading? If a big part of the reason you're open to trading the guy like Riley is that you want to get rid of that money off the books, why would you take Hanager and Rojas, right? It's, it kind of defeats the purpose. And you're doing it for Munoz and Arroyo. Royo is a nice prospect. And Munoz obviously helps right away. But I just think the money,

when you start to involve all of that, what goes into that, it just shuts the deal down right away. I just think that there is too much money, uh, exchanging hands here. I don't think this is something that John Stant would, would eat.

Uh, and I don't think Jerry would want to be tied down, uh, to this contract long term. and then by the way he has to go out and he has to replace Andres Munoz now. So I think this is a really creative deal. And if money, if money wasn't involved whatsoever,

there was no like, you know, money complicating things. Like if Riley was like just like, I don't know, ARP 2, like this would be a really fun deal, like a really creative fun deal that I could see happening.

I think just once you start adding in Riley's contract, it just gets to the point where it's just like, I don't think the Mariners are making that commitment. So, I mean, Rojas and Hanager, even if we lob them, like, lop them off of this trade. Munoz and Arroyo for Riley, pretty interesting.

But I think the Braves are probably going to say no to that just in terms of the value they're getting. And I think the Mariners are going to say no to that just because of the cost, the contract to acquire, that you'd have to take on to acquire, to acquire Riley. I think that they would view that as

limiting, debilitating, unfortunately. I'm conflicted on how I want to grade this because it is really creative. It is very interesting. But it's also a 50. But it's also a non-starter for the Mariners. Right, but it's a non-starter in a way that's a lot more fun and creative

than the Cotel Marte one. Oh, 100%. So I'm not going to give it like a 20, like I'm not debating that, right? but do I want to give it a 50? I'm like some, I'll just give it a 40. I'll just give it a 48 because I'm in between a 45 and a 50. I think it's a 50 at least.

Really fun deal. But again, I just think things get really sticky with the money. And, you know, unfortunately, it's really hard to overlook that when your owner is John Stanton. and one of the things that we do great here is realism, right? That is baked into our grading process along with creativity and all that.

So because it's not super realistic, I can't give it any more than a 50, but it is very creative and it's a fun deal. It would be a really fun deal if it came down that way. So kudos. Yeah. All right.

So Jenny has two trades here. They're both Luis Castillo trades. So we can kind of tackle these at the same time. We got a lot of Luis Castillo trades. Yeah. So you wound up, by the way, Colby picked all these trades out. So you wound up picking this one,

or these two rather, from Jenny. So the first one is Castillo, Ford, I assume, Harry, right? I would think so. And Ty Pete for Matt Olson. The second one is Castillo for Jordan Westberg. Trade with the Orioles, of course.

And then use the money to sign Santon Dair, Christian Walker. That part will ignore regarding the trade because that's just a hypothetical. I mean, these are all hypotheticals, but you get what I'm saying. So, all right, so Olson, so

Castillo, Harry Ford, Tai Pete for Matt Olson. I know you've had the idea of swapping Castillo for Matt Olson in general. Yeah. So what do you think about tacking on Ford and Pete to that deal. I'm out. I think Castillo for Olson straight up is pretty fair. Olson is not a 55 home run guy like he was in 20, 23. That's not who he is. But both guys are making about $23 million, about 22 on the payroll over the next few years.

Castillo has four years left on his deal. Olson has five, but length of contract for guys who are both over 30 years old, like Castillo, I think pitches next year at third. 31, if I'm not missed, 31, 32. Olson will play next year as a 31 year old. So age, remaining money, all that stuff, pretty similar. You're just getting an extra year of Olson, which may not be a good thing. Like, I know that it's like, oh, well, you get more club control with Olson. It's not a good thing if you're talking about a 20 or a then 35 year old who's set to make $22 million.

And then there's a club option for another year. But yeah, so I think Olson for Castillo. straight up. It's pretty interesting because again, the Braves do need some pitching. The Braves do have, you know, I don't want to call it excess offense, but their lineup is their strength. The rotation is a bit of a problem. So I do think that, you know, Castillo for Olson, the money works out just totally fine. The Mariners could really use some thump in the middle of their lineup. The Braves could really use some starting pitching, especially if they lose freed this winter. I think it makes a good deal since. But when you start tacking on like legitimate prospects like Tai Pi,

and Harry Ford. I just think now you've swung too far in one direction. Because I think that, you know, Castillo for Olson is pretty much a fair swap. They're roughly the same style or same type of player like in their tier list. They're roughly in the same grouping there. And ultimately, the Braves would shed about $22 million of future payroll off the books by doing it. And that $22 million is so far down the line for the Mariners. that it's really not going to be that much of a factor.

So I was with you right until, you know, if you want to add like Harry Ford or Tai Pete and they give up like, you know, one of their prospects that maybe you like to that pitch your mold a little bit better, fine, but straight up adding to, you know, top 100ish prospects to get this done.

I'm out, particularly on the, after the year that Matt Olson just had. Wasn't that great. But again, now there was Castillo. I really do think Castillo for Olson is in a vacuum. is fair without knowing what the other two teams,

without knowing what the two teams actually want to do this off season. I think that's a fair trade. So I'd give this one a 40. Just a little too unbalanced for me. Yeah. So I'll go 40 on it as well. It's just, yeah,

it's a little too much on the marries into things for me, given that it's just going to be basically a straight up contract swap. And I still have to include Ford and Pete on top of that. Yeah. All right. So Castillo for Jordan West. Castillo to the Orioles for Westberg, which Castillo and the Orioles could make sense here if they, if they lose Burns. Yep.

And it does seem like this Orioles new ownership group is more willing to spend than the last ownership group. Now the last ownership group had to pay a bunch of money to the nationals because of a whole lawsuit. Again, we'll see. But yeah, we'll see. I think if you're, if Baltimore is trading for Castillo, they're dipping into their prospect ranks, not their major league. roster. So I think this is a little too optimistic on what Castillo can get you. And again, obviously, the money is going to be something that comes into play for the Orioles as well, even with new ownership, right? It's like it's not ownership's willing to spend fine. But like in

addition to giving up Westberg for Castillo, I'm also adding $22 million in salary, which means the Mariners probably have to give more on top of Castillo to get Westberg. And at that point, it's just like, okay, if it's Castillo and Las Montez, or you could just give up Brian Wu straight up. Like at that point, don't the Mariners even be like, hey, let's just give up Wu? You know what I mean? So it's a sticky trade. I think Castillo, if he goes to Baltimore, it's going to be for prospects.

And maybe the Mariners get a major leaguer, like a Cedric Mullins or something like that to kind of add some solid. So it's not Baltimore eating just adding 22 million 24 million whatever it is right but I don't think Westberg's I don't think Westberg is is going to be available for Castillo if it is take it laugh run and yeah but I would do that I would do that deal a hundred times out of a hundred but look even even for how how worth that contracts Castillo still is the Orioles would still be doing you a favor in that regard and they know that and they're not going to trade Jordan Westberg while also taking on all that salary.

Now, if you're willing to take on like half of the salary, maybe they'll trade you Jordan Westberg for Luis Castillo, but... Yeah, maybe. Probably not, but maybe. Yeah. But that probably defeats the purpose of why you're trading Castillo in the first place, even if you still are able to get some savings out of it. And again, you trade Castillo, you have to replace him, and you can't replace him with the cadre of number five starters you have in your minor league system right now.

It's going to, you have to go out and get somebody else. And that's going to cost money. So, you know, as the trade was presented to us, no money changing hands or anything like that. I'm going to get it a 40, 35, 40 somewhere in that range just because. Yeah, I'm going to go 35 on this one. Yeah, it just, it's not that realistic of a expectation with trading Castillo right now. Agreed. All right.

So that is going to do it for a show. Thank you, everyone, for your trade submissions. Sorry, we weren't able to get too many of them. but there will be many more opportunities for us to get to your trades here over the course of the off season. We're going to be doing this every single Friday unless something happens on a Friday that takes priority over it. So before we get out of here, a reminder that Lockdown has launched the first ever national sports 24-7 streaming channel on YouTube. And now it's also available on Amazon Fire TV and the free Fire TV channels app. Lockdown Sports Today is here for you 24-7 covering the top sports stories of the day with the local experts of locked on.

our national shows covering every league. Find the Lockdown Sports today now available in the free Fire TV channels app. Thank you so much for joining us here on the Lockdown Marrars podcast for Colby Patnode. I'm Tiding Gonzalez. Be sure to give us a follow on Twitter at L-O-N-Hourner-Nor-Darrors. You can follow me at Tiding Gazzolus and Colby at CPAT-11. You can also find all that stuff in the description of this episode. Have yourself a beautiful baseball day and a beautiful baseball weekend.

And we'll see you next time. Peace.