Locked On Mariners - Daily Podcast On the Seattle Mariners - Fare Thee Well

Episode Date: July 30, 2021

This is D.C. Lundberg's final episode of Locked On Mariners, but much of the show is largely the same as it ever was. The Mariners executed another trade Thursday night, acquiring relief pitcher Diego Castillo from the Tampa Bay Rays for JT Chargois (whom D.C. dubbed "The Avocado") and minor league infielder Austin Shenton. D.C. talks about the three players involved. Unfortunately, the Mariners have another PED suspension on their hands, and it's a man who's had a very rocky season: Hector Santiago. After glossing over that news, D.C. talks about the Cleveland Indians' impending name change, and also ties it in with a northwest team, his hometown Spokane Indians. At the end of the show, D.C. explains why he is leaving the show, and also thanks those who have made his tenure on Locked On Mariners possible and enjoyable. 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.

Today on Locked-on Mariners, it's all-blank sign time. Welcome to Locked-on Mariners, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. And now here's your host for the 259th and final time, V.C. Lundberg. Yes, gang, this is it. My final episode of Locked-on Mariners. I'm sad to see my tenure here come to a close. I'll explain why I'm leaving at the end of the show. But for the first couple of segments, it's going to be business as usual here on

Locked-on Mariners, part of the Locked-on podcast network, or T-L-O-P-N, or of course, Tlopin. Wasn't it going to let the last show go by without saying Tlopin at least once or twice. We're brought to you, by the way, by the Spotify Green Room. Please remember to download and follow this program on whichever podcasting app that you personally care to use. Ask your smart device to play Locked-on Mariners podcast or any of the other great program. here on Tlopin. There's actually quite a lot to get to. As I said, it's going to be business as usual for the most part today.

I'm going to set aside the final segment for some parting words and some thank yous. But first, another trade. This one was announced yesterday afternoon, way before this show was published, but long after it had been recorded. If I didn't have school last night, the show would have been published maybe five hours earlier than it was. But anyways, the Mariners have acquired themselves a new. closer. Diego Castillo was traded to the Mariners from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for J.T. Chagua and minor

league infielder Austin Shenton. Mr. Castillo may not have as low an ERA as Kendall Graveman has this year, but he does have one thing that Mr. Graveman doesn't. Several more years of team control. M's general manager, Jerry Depoto, described the timing of Tuesday's trade with Houston as quote unquote, wonky, but necessary. He also said on Tuesday that the Graveman trade was the first in a series of deals he would be making over the course of the week and said, and he said last night of the acquisition of Castillo as part of the larger picture, last night's trade, quote, was the next part of that. We felt like there was a chance that we could get this across the gold line and today it really picked up, end quote. He also said of the possibility of more deals, quote again. Hope so, but we're not going to empty the coffers to try to keep up with what

others are doing on trade deadline day. As the week has gone by, the you know prices appear to be getting more reasonable, which is typically the case. If we can add another bat to this club, we're going to be pretty active in the hours ahead to see if we can do that. And again, we're doing what we can do to make sure that we are as good as we can be in 21, well, not taking away any meaningful part of what we're doing, building for the future, end quote. There is the strong possibility that at least one more trade's going to go down sometime today, which is one reason I'm staying up late to get you a morning show, because I don't want to record something and then have it be obsolete five minutes after it's been published.

The trade deadline today is at 4 p.m. Eastern Time, 1 p.m. in Seattle and Spokane, 10 p.m. in Luxembourg. And remember, gang, no more post-deadline waiver deals, which is kind of a bummer. Diego Castillo is in his fourth Major League season. Over his career, he has appeared in 167 games, 183 in the third innings. He has a 2-99 earn run average, a whip of 1.080, and an opponent's batting average at an even 200. This season, he's appeared in 37 games, 36 in a third innings. He's got a 272 ERA, 14 saves, a 1.4.5. whip under 1 at 0.991 and an opponent's batting average, the exact same as his career

opponents average 200. He's allowing 6.4 hits per 9 innings this season, 2.5 walks per 9, 1.2 home runs per 9, and 12.1 strikeouts per 9. All of those ratios are better than his career ratios, save for home runs per 9, which is actually almost identical. He's been pretty consistent season to season in that regard. guard. He's a big guy, too. 6.3.250. He was originally signed by the raise as an amateur free agent out of the Dominican Republic on March 5, 2014. He is 27 years old, his birthday's January 18th. One day before mine, different year, obviously. He made his Major League debut on June 6th, 2018. Going to Tampa Bay is J.T. Chagua, the man that I like to call the avocado. He was

The minor league free agent signing for the Mariners this last offseason was invited to spring training but did not make the club and began the year in AAA Tacoma. He appeared in 31 games for the M's this season after being recalled and did pretty nicely. He appeared in 31 games, 30 innings, and had an ERA exactly at three. There's a lot of threes in that. A whip of 0.967, 6.9 hits per nine innings, 1.8 walks per nine, only 0.6 home runs per nine. and he struck out 8.7 per 9. The avocado is 30 years old and was also in his fourth major league season. Best of luck to Mr. Chagua with his new team.

Also going to Tampa Bay is minor league third baseman Austin Shenton. He was a fifth round draft choice by the Mariners in 2019 and made his debut with the organization that summer. He spent time in low A and A ball that year slashing a combined 298, 376, 510 in 53 games. No minor league statistics last season, as there was no season. But this season, he spent most of the year in Advanced 8 Everett, slashing 295, 418, 576.

Those numbers earned him a promotion to AA Arkansas, where he slashed 326, 396, 512 in 10 games. He's a third baseman by trade, but has also seen time at first base, second base, left field, and right field, only one game in right. Of trading away, Mr. Shenton, Jerry Depoto called it, quote, unquote, painful, and went on to say, quote, again, we really like Austin. He can really hit. He's a great kid. But you have to give to get, and I've said all along, that we're focused on doing what we could to improve our team now and to continue to improve our team for, 2022 and beyond, end quote.

I saw Mr. Shenton when the Aqua Sox came to Spokane, and if memory serves, he had a great game. I think he hit at least one home run. Could be two. I might be thinking of somebody else, though. I don't exactly remember. While I'm sorry to see the avocado go, I'm also sorry to see Mr. Shenton go. But at the same time, Diego Castillo is a very good reliever with a track record and World Series experience, and he'll be under team control.

until 2025. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see the mayors execute another trade before today's deadline. And ordinarily, I'd say that I would talk about any trades pulled off after the show's publishing on Monday, but I'm not going to be here on Monday. There was some other news that broke last night that I don't want to talk about. But I must. I won't spend that long on it, though. So I'll also spend some time talking about a team other than the Mariners regarding a major change. But right now we've got the trivia corner, the final trivia corner on Locked on Mariners, and this trivia question. And I think this is a getable one. A fair number of you out there will know this. 25 years ago today, Woody Woodward pulled off one of the best trades in

Mariners history. Fourth outfielder Darren Bragg was sent to the Boston Red Sox for a pitcher who was expected to shore up the back end of the rotation. Who did they get? Out of tell you after this word from bet online, the fastest and easiest way to bet on all your sports action. Ladies and gentlemen, the script still says baseball season is in full swing. It's been in full swing for quite some time now. I think we all know that the trading deadline is today. More than half the season is gone and they still haven't rewrote the script. But you can track all the action at bet online. Get all the latest news, odds, and info for all your sporting needs, including Major League Baseball, the NBA, which has been done for a while now, the NHL free agent Benenza in

place, the Cracken pick themselves up quite the goalie from what I understand, and all your UFC slash MMA action. Before the next pitch, head on over to bet online on your laptop or mobile device and check out all the great sporting news, sign up bonuses and contest info. Don't sit on the sidelines any longer, gang, as this is your chance to get into the game as teams prep for their runs to the playoffs. Head to the website or use your mobile device to sign up today and receive your 50% welcome bonus on your first deposit. Bet Online, your online sportsbook experts promo code locked on. The answer to the trivia question, on July 30th, 1996, exactly 25 years ago,

the Mariners traded Darren Bragg for left-handed pitcher Jamie Moyer. While Mr. Bragg was a very productive fourth outfielder, whom you could start three or four days a week, the return on investment was huge. Jamie Moyer is a Mariners Hall of Famer and pitched with the M's for a decade. He's only second to Felix Hernandez for career wins as a mariner with 145. He's number nine on the ERA list for the M's at 397 and third in Mariners history in walks per nine innings ratio at 2.253 behind Hisashi Iwakma and Marco Gonzalez. Mr. Moyer made his first and only all-star team as a mariner in 2000.

2003 at the age of 40. He's also one of the classiest gentlemen ever to wear a Mariners uniform. Coming up, did the Cleveland Indians accept guardianship? I'll explain this clever play on words in a jiff. Now back to Locked-on Mariners and D.C. Lundberg. Thank you very much, Joey Martin. The following piece of news is pretty much the last thing I want to talk about on my final episode, a PED suspension. Yes, indeed.

Mariner's pitcher, Hector Santiago, has certainly had an interesting season, and his season is now finished as he has been suspended 80 games by Major League Baseball in accordance with its Joint Drug and Prevention Treatment Program. Why couldn't I say that? Anyways, quote Mr. Santiago, Today I have accepted an 80-game suspension imposed by Major League Baseball. Recently, I was notified that I had tested positive for, testosterone. In 2020, while I was not on the roster of an MLB club, I consulted a licensed physician

in Puerto Rico who diagnosed me with a condition and recommended hormonal replacement therapy. Because I did not play in 2020, I did not consider that this therapy could ultimately lead to a positive test under MLB's joint drug program. That said, I alone am responsible for what I put in my body, and I was not careful. Therefore, I have decided to forego my right to an appeal in this matter and accept the suspension. I apologize for any harm this has caused to the Seattle Mariners, Mariners fans, my teammates, and most importantly, my family. End quote. You know what, gang, make up your own minds about this. I don't want to talk about this. I did my job, sort of. I reported it. I know I'm also supposed to analyze it, but I'm not going to.

What are they going to do? Fire me? I'm going to be gone anywhere. way. Geez, you know, I got nothing on this. So I'm going to talk about a big change coming to Cleveland. This is old news by now, but I'm going to tie this into the Northwest. You'll see what I mean in a minute. But as I'm sure that you know by now, the Cleveland Indians have decided upon a new name. They announced last year, I think, that they would discontinue using the Indians

moniker after this season, but they had not, at that. time decided on a name. Now they have. Last Friday, they announced that beginning after the 2021 season, they will be known as the Cleveland Guardians. The team's president of business operations Brian Barron said, quote, we think Guardians is unique and authentic to Cleveland. It's less about the guardians of traffic and more about what the guardians represent and that idea of protection. For us and our research, Cleveland folks are very protective of one another. They're protective of our city. They're protective of the land and everything about it.

That's one key component. The resiliency of the people here in Cleveland and Northeast Ohio and the loyalty. The loyalty to Cleveland, the loyalty to one another as teammates, as coworkers, as family, and as friends. Those all became part of what Guardians really starts to evoke from an emotional standpoint, end quote. The Guardians of Traffic to which he made reference, are 43-foot statues on the Hope Memorial Bridge over the Cuyahoga River. And now for the Northwest tie-in. I live in Spokane, as you may or may not know.

And our minor league team here is the Spokane Indians. And I wanted to talk about the partnership the Ball Club has with the Spokane Tribe of Indians. And yes, that is their official name, ladies and gentlemen. In 2006, the Spokane Tribe of Indians and the Spokane Indians Ball Club began a unique collaboration. At that time, they worked together to rebrand the team. For years and years before that, the ball club had not used any Native American imagery in its logos and its uniforms and whatnot, but this rebranding incorporated some Native American imagery at the suggestion of the Spokane tribe.

They submitted a list of things that were sacred to them, including a salmon, an eagle, and the Spokane River. Ultimately, an eagle feather was chosen to be part of the new logo. In 2014, the ball club began using an alternate jersey with the word Spokane written on it in the tribe's native language, Salish. The men's and women's restroom doors at the ballpark have the word men and women in Salish as well. Outside the main gates of the ballpark, there are, I don't know what you call them. They're not monuments. But you could read about the tribe's partnership with the ball club and read a little about the history of the tribe's.

itself. I'm going to read one of them to you now. In 2006, the Spokane tribe and the Spokane Indians baseball team came together to design a new Spokane Indians baseball logo as a way to highlight our partnership. Our modern day relationship is based on a mutual respect and the shared desire to provide family-oriented activities. It is believed to be the first time in history that a professional sports team has collaborated with a native tribe to establish a new logo. The new logo was created to honor the first peoples of the Spokane area by incorporating the Salish language into the brand. Tribal markers, such as this one, were installed around Evista Stadium in 2016 to acknowledge the tribe's rich culture and history. Additional markers

will be added each season. Both the Spokane Indians baseball team and the Spokane tribe of Indians welcome you and hope you find this endeavor fun and educational. The Spokane tribe and the ball club signed a 10-year extension to their partnership in 2019. I'm very proud of my local team for honoring its native people in this way and also for providing a learning experience for fans coming to the ballpark. I had never heard of the Salish language before. I went to an Indians game, quite honestly, and now I kind of want to try to learn it, although I have so much trouble with English that I don't think I could. Sailors is almost a dead language. I think there are only a few dozen or so.

People left who speak it. And through the Spokane Indians Ball Club, at least one part of this area's history will be kept alive. Coming up, my final segment as host of Locked-on Maritors. But first, this vital word of importance, and it's only appropriate that the final ad is for BiltBar. When Biltbar joined on as a sponsor to the Lockdown Network over a year, ago, April 2020, I believe it was. They sent all of us hosts a sample, and they were fantastic.

I have been and will continue to be a built bar customer in the future. Us hosts, we do not get any sort of special discounts. We have to use the same promo codes you do, but I have turned my mother into a built bar customer, my housemate Shannon, my aunt. Lockdown Mariners contributor John Miller and his wife are also Built Bar fans. Everyone to whom I've recommended Built Bar has loved them. Go to built.com to place an order to try them for yourself. If you want to sample a little of everything, you can order their

mixed box, or you can compile a box of the three flavors that you would most like to try. My personal favorite is peanut butter brownie. That is a great one. But mint brownie is also terrific. Double chocolate, coconut, raspberry is great. There really isn't a bad one in the bunch.

The promo code to use is locked 15, and that'll get you 15% off your order. Order. Order yourself a box of the greatest protein bars in the history of hexahedral prisms, and you can thank me later. Welcome back to Lockdown Mariner's. Here for his final segment is your host, D.C. Lundberg. Thank you very much, Joey. This is something that I am not looking forward to. This is it. This is the final segment I'm going to record for Locked on Mariners. It's hard to let it go. It's been a privilege to bring you this show for a year and a half. half. I never thought that I would get paid to do what I love. Talk about baseball. It was a great

part-time job. But it's really been my only job for a while now for various reasons. I just had to find something else. When I first announced that I was leaving the show a couple weeks ago, I said that the reason I was leaving was economics. There just isn't a whole lot of money in this line of work unless you have a huge audience. And I don't. I don't even have a big audience. Listenership went up quite a bit in July as the team was getting better, and thank you very much for that. I know it's because of the team improving, not because of me. As the team was getting better, the show was faltering and I know it. But the main reason, really the only reason that I'm leaving was because I needed to find a job that paid better.

That's what it boiled down to. I'm going back to my old field, early childhood education. I'm going back to being a preschool teacher. My back has healed to the point where it should not be. issue, I hope. And honestly, gang, I really do miss working with those little ones. So I'm looking forward to that opportunity, but I also know that I'm leaving behind something that I might never be able to do again. I'd love to be able to return to the airwaves someday if circumstances allowed in the future. There are a lot of people that I want to thank and acknowledge. First and

foremost, God, for blessing me with a broadcaster's voice and a very odd sense of humor. but of course for also creating the pathways that led to the opportunities that I've had over the years, including my first podcasting gig nine years ago, for which I also must thank Cindy Sidelman, who first contacted me about this gig, Carl Schenier, Jason Block, and so many others who I'm leaving out over at what's now, 83 Studios.com, and the late Jim Williams, who was the host of a baseball show they had called Touch Amal. I'm technically not allowed to say the name of that show since it's considered competition with Locked on MLB, but it has not been in production for over a year. And frankly, I don't care about the conflict of interest right now. It's my last show and I want to give credit

where credit is due. And I owe Touch Amal, Mr. Williams, Mr. Sheenir, and all the rest, a big thank you for giving me a chance nine years ago. I've spoken about Jim Williams on the show at least once before. I really do miss him, gang. I would have loved to have had the opportunity to have him come on Locked on Meritors and just talk baseball. He was a good man. He passed away in 2017 at a very young age. We all miss him. Jason Hernandez came into the fold a couple years after Touch him all started, and the two of us became quite good friends. We have things in common outside of baseball as well. You've heard him on this show many, many times, including yesterday. He's also the host of Locked-on Anaheim Ducks right here on the Locked-on Podcast Network, or T-L-L-O-P-N-O-P-N-O-T-Lopin.

I'm glad that he stole that from me, so the use of the word Tlopin will live on after I go away. When Mr. Williams became too ill to continue touch them all, Mr. Hernandez and I became the co-host of that program. And he's also friends, Mr. Hernandez, with Taylor Blake Ward, former host of Lockdown Angels. Mr. Ward appeared on Touch-Mall a few times, and when the Lock-On Mariner's job was available last January, Mr. Ward recommended me to MLB channel coordinator, Sean Woodley. And after an interview where I had a rip-roaring case of laryngitis, I was hired and I published my first show on January 20th, 2020, one day after my 35th birthday. So it was kind of a nice birthday present. My first guest was Don Shelton on my second episode, former executive editor for the Seattle Times. He's a family

friend, and the two of us discussed the Hall of Fame voting, which was announced at that time. In addition to Mr. Shelton, I want to mention the other guests who have appeared on this program. Of course, a number of colleagues here at Tlopin, including the aforementioned Mr. Woodley, all the other hosts here in the AL West, Brett Chancy, Brent McGuire, Bryce Paderick, Jason Burke, one of my favorite guests. Stacey got Suleas as well, kind of disappointed that we never got to discuss music on the air. Arm Layton's been on this show, Sully, Paul Francis Sullivan. I know I'm probably leaving some of you out, and if I, I,

And I apologize for that. But also a big thank you to Lockdown Mariners contributor, John Miller. He's one of my best friends, and he's appeared on the show more times than I can count. He's also guest-hosted a bunch of times, nine times, to be exact. There were 34 episodes of this program in its first season in 2019, hosted by Andy Patton, and 278 episodes after I took over. Of those 278, I hosted 259 of them, as Joey Martin, alluded to at the top of the show. Mr. Miller hosted nine times. Jason Burke hosted three times.

Clive Braithwaite to the fourth hosted three times as well. Yes, I had to have a text to speech engine host my show. It was pretty much a last resort if I needed to get something on the air, but couldn't find a real guest host in time. Our announcer, Joey Martin, has hosted twice. Taylor Blake Ward took the reins for one episode, as did Jason Block. I wish that I could have had Mr. Block on more often as I did. I wanted to have him on during the Yankee series a couple weeks ago. My schedule just would not allow that, unfortunately.

Thank you also to Joey Martin for all his good work, our announcer on this program. And finally, thank you out there for listening. I got a lot of kind words from a lot of you, which we read on the show yesterday. It was very, very touching. I hope that you'll continue to listen to Locked-on Mariners once it

reboots in a couple weeks, and I hope you'll continue to listen to the other shows here on Tlopin. Well, gang, it's got to end at some time. Might as well be now. I'm not exactly sure what else to say. There are no future guests to plug, obviously. So I'll just remind you to download and follow Lockdown Mariners. Look for us on any podcasting app that springs into your brainhead. Leave a rating and review of your podcasting app of choice so allows. And check out the other great programs here on the Locked On podcast network or T-L-O-P.

E.N. Or Tlopin. I'm D.C. Lundberg. Thank you very much for listening. Maybe I'll get the chance to talk to y'all again at some point. But until that day comes, goodbye, and may God bless you. Get all the sports news you need in under 20 minutes with the Locked On Today podcast. Host Peter Kukowski will keep you updated on the latest news in every major sport with Lockdown's team of local experts. Follow the Locked On Today podcast on the Odyssey app or wherever you get podcasts. This has been Joey Martin for Locked-on Mariners, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network.