Locked On Mariners - Daily Podcast On the Seattle Mariners - Mailbag: Do the Mariners Have a Leadership Problem?

Episode Date: June 26, 2023

On the heels of another disappointing road trip, Colby and Ty back to answer listener-submitted questions on another Mariners Mailbag episode! In today's episode, they discuss whether the team should make a trade now and what they should value: leadership or production? Plus, the two hosts discuss whether there's too much pressure being placed on the young players, how the Mariners might tackle the upcoming draft, and if Emerson Hancock is ready for the big leagues.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 | @CPat11Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!eBay MotorsFor parts that fit, head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. Stay in the game with eBay Guaranteed Fit. eBay Motors dot com. Let’s ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONMLB for $20 off your first purchase.FanDuelMake Every Moment More. Don’t miss the chance to get your No Sweat First Bet up to ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS in Bonus Bets when you go FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON.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) 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.

Do the Mariners need a veteran presence in their clubhouse like Carlos Santana? And on that note, did they rely too much on their young core to carry them to October? We'll answer that and more coming up here on the Lockdown Marries podcast. Colby, hitting. You are Locked on Mariners. Your daily Seattle Mariners podcast. Part of the Locked on podcast network, your team every day. Ohoy, sailors.

It is Monday, June 26, 2023. This is tighting as Allison Colby Patton Ed for the Lockdown Marries podcast. Thank you so much for making us your first. 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're part of the crew and rock with us every single day, let us know in the comments below. And if you want to hear from us even more, please consider sending up for our Patreon. You can now get a free seven-day trial to check out the show.

The link as well as our social accounts is in the description of this episode. And on this episode, you're going to be answering your Mariners questions. It is Mailbag Monday. and we're going to start with Mark today. This team is a sleeping giant, Mark says, and if it ever wakes up, we know that it can be one of the best teams in baseball. Mark goes on to ask,

do they need to make a trade for a captain type to keep them loose like Carlos Santana did last year? Colby, what do you think? Do they need a Carlos Santana type? And let's pretend like this is the first time we're answering this question. This is the first time We're recording this episode, guys.

Totally. Definitely. I don't want to. For the third time, the answer is no. They don't need specifically a leadership type. They need a productive hitter. Add to their lineup, that above everything else is what the Mariners need. And Santana, you know, I know a lot of people, they love to like,

you come to Seattle and you get one big hit. it in your entire career and you're a fan favorite forever and you can never say anything negative about that guy ever again otherwise people in the comment section will jump all over you but carlo stanta i wasn't very good he hit some big home runs that's literally it was a league average bat ignore the batting average ignore the on base percentage yes if we only focus on the fact that he had 15 home runs and 200 played appearances which is not something he's done since like 2009 okay if we ignore that fact or that's the only fact we focus on rather carlo san was the best player of Mariners history, okay?

But he wasn't. He wasn't very good. Did he bring some leadership qualities to Clubhouse? Yes. Did he get those big home runs and do they count? Yes, absolutely he did. Did he, you know, help the Mariners win some games that they otherwise would not have won? Yes.

But you needed a better hitter than Carlos Santana. You needed to add another bat that was better than Santana to really take on the Astros. But to answer Mark's question, to me it's not about leadership. To me, it's about go get the bat. And I am willing to pay right now 15 to 20% more than it might cost me in July to go and get that bat and get him here this week before the All Star Break. I think that idea is totally worth it. Whether or not the guy has leadership qualities, I don't really care as long as he's producing at the plate right now.

So to answer Mark's question, yes and no. Yes, I think the Mariners should go out and add a veteran bat before the trade deadline like they did last year around this time with Carlos Santana. But it's not because of leadership. I don't think. I think you just need a productive bat. You need just even a league average bat right now. Because like last year, you need a bat and you do have the bats to give Santana like you did last year. So you have the DH that's wide open.

Nobody's really taking it run with it. Mike Ford is essentially poor. He's Adam done. He's either going to get hit on run or he's going to make it out. Like that's what Mike Ford is. You need more more consistency out of the DH spot than that. So yes, go get a go get a hitter, right? Go get a veteran early like you did with Santana.

But keep in mind, the Mariners didn't even acquire Santana for his leadership abilities. They needed a first baseman because Ty France had wrecked his elbow a few days before. That's why they went and got Santana. And the leadership was a bonus. And it was certainly factored into why they went out and got him. But ultimately, they got Carlos Santana because he was a first baseman who was on a bad team, who didn't want to pay him the money. And you needed a first basement. And it was June.

And there just wasn't a lot of guys available. That's why they got Carlos Santana. And it worked out for them. Great. Fantastic. So yes, the Mariners need to do something like that, in my opinion. But it's not because of leadership. And Santana wasn't even acquired because of leadership.

That was a bonus. And that's how you should treat this guy that you acquire. hopefully in the next week or before the All-Star break. If it gives you leadership, great, fantastic. But ultimately, you just need a bat with a track record. And that's what I hope the Mariners go and get leadership or not. You got to take what you can get. Now, there might be an actual leadership issue within the Mariners Clubhouse,

especially when you hear Jerry DePoto say things like we have distracted young players. So maybe you do need someone in there that can get those guys on track and get them, you know, refocus back on baseball and solely baseball. But on paper, you should have guys who are capable of doing that. You have guys that have been there that have done that. You got Teoscar Hernandez. You got A.J. Pollack. You've got A. E. E. E. Hennio-Swarz and Tom Murphy.

Now, we're not there. We're not in the clubhouse. We don't know if those guys are actually capable of doing that or not. But again, on paper, they should be. They have a lot of knowledge to pass down to young guys. but to that point as well of us not knowing of us not being in the clubhouse we also really don't know

outside of a few exceptions like Joey Votto Andrew McCutcheon etc guys out there that are good clubhouse fits the Mariners are obviously more privy to to that information than we are but if you're just asking us for like a name who's not Carlos Santana who's not Andrew McCutcheon

that the Mariners could add that would add a or that would add a significant boost in leadership, I couldn't name you that guy, to be quite honest with you. So, yeah, you know, if they can get, you know, a leader in here, great. But like Colby said, you know, just from our perspective, you need the, you need production. And so production over everything for me right now, because, again, you should have guys in place who can take on those leadership roles. So.

Next question here comes from Josh. What position groups are you expecting the Marrers to be targeting in the draft next month? So the general indication right now is bats over pitchers. This isn't a great class for pitchers. And middle infield bats more specifically, that's obviously a weakness of the Marers farm. You know, they don't have a lot of middle infielders. But also, you know, everyone in the league is looking for up the middle players as well. So and generally speaking, when you go into a draft, you're not looking to fill any need.

That's not really how any team should operate. Maybe there are teams out there that operate like that, but they shouldn't. That's not what you're supposed to do. You're supposed to collect assets, collect interesting balls of clay that you're going to try and mold over the next three to five years. And a lot of a lot of guys that get drafted, they enter the draft playing a position that they're not going to end up playing at the major league level if they're, you know, fortunate enough to make it that far. some guys are also two-way players when they enter the draft and teams have to decide you know

if they value them more as pitchers or more as position players or you know in that particular instance more so value the bat over the arm right so yeah but early on I think you know for the Barroner's first three picks

they're essentially their first or their three first round picks that they have I think one of those guys I think it would be a safe bet to say that one of those guys is going to be a middle infielder, you know, entering the draft at least. Sure. What do you think? Well, first of all, again, the Major League Baseball draft is so different from the NFL draft. It's so different from the NBA draft.

It's not really about just, you know, picking the player that's going to help you this year because none of these guys are going to help you this year. And only like one or two of these guys are going to help you next year and those are going to be bullpen guys. So you're not drafting those guys early. unless you know you pick at the top end and you get a chance at paul skeins or dillon crew which the mariners don't have a shot at so um you just take you know the play you have to take it's partly best player available it's partly what can uh what what what is that player demanding i give them to sign because the player can just not sign with you particularly if they're

prep guys they can just go to college so you have to keep an eye on the money you have to keep an eye on your board and you have to listen to your player development system who will tell you what players they think they can and can not help. And it's a big thing. So that's why you don't specifically say, I have to get a third basement in the first round because that's how you end up reaching for a guy who doesn't deserve to be drafted in the first round because your player development system doesn't think that they can help him reach the big leagues. So you just have to go in and it has to be best best available player that you can afford and that fits in your organization. So in general, yes, teams are always going to, you know, value up to middle guys.

And when you look at early in the draft, you see a ton of catcher, shortstop, you know, center field pitchers, a ton of those guys go in the first round. How many of those guys actually end up at those positions? 10%, 20%, you know, it's just you guys, they get bigger, they get stronger, they slow down a little bit, they move to the corners. If you're already a corner guy when you enter the draft, you're not moving to the middle. It doesn't work that way.

You go closer to the foul lines as you get bigger and stronger. So that's why short stops are in such high demand. That's why second basemen earned such high demand in the draft because they can possibly stay there long term. And obviously, if you play up the middle, there's less pressure on your bat because you can help them on the base as you can help them in the field, blah, blah, blah. That being said, I'd be pretty surprised, honestly,

if the Mariners took a pitcher with one of their first three picks. You never know how the board's, going to fall. Maybe somebody falls to them that they love. Great. Fine, whatever. But I think they're going to go bat. I think they're probably, this is just, again, my guess, maybe we could ask Joe this tomorrow. My guess is that they end up walking away with two prep bats and a college bat. And then they're going to draft pitching in this draft. I just think they're going to wait until the fourth fifth, sixth round. And they're going to trust their player development and their scouts to go to say, hey, go find us another Brian Wu, who was a sixth round pick. Go find us another Bryce Miller, who was a

fourth round pick. Go find us. find us another Darren Bowen who's the 13th round pick you know go find us another Taylor Dollar who was a fifth round pick and like that's how they'll build their pitching staff but early on I expect them to invest pretty heavily in bats what positions they play they're probably all going to play up the middle at least initially because that's just the way the draft works yeah now this hasn't really been the indication so far but also maybe they like this pitcher class more than other teams and people who cover the draft do it's always a possibility as well. So maybe it still is a pitcher heavy effort from them this draft. I doubt it. I think

that it's going to be bat heavy. And I think that they are going to aim up the middle a lot. But again, catchers, second baseman, shortstop, centerfielders, everyone wants those guys. Everyone wants them, especially the guys that they think can actually stick at those positions. So, you know, that's not a really a unique need or want that the Mariners have going into this draft. so something to keep in mind there. Like Colby mentioned, we're going to have Joe Doyle, a future star series, join us tomorrow. So we're going to ask him all about the draft. We'll ask him maybe something about Michael Oroyo,

who's having a hell of a time right now in Loe-Madesto. He's just crushing it down there. So we might talk some Mariners prospects and some future Mariners prospects as well on tomorrow's show. So look forward to that. But for now, we're going to answer more questions in just a moment. But first, a reminder, this episode of the Lockdown Marrars podcast is brought to you by eBay Motors.

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We got one from Cody, who asked, do you think the Mariners have been relying too much on their young talent to lead the team this year, specifically on offense? Seems like there's a ton of pressure on the young bats to perform. I don't think they hitched their wagon to the wrong horse here. like I just want to get that out of the way. The roster built, look, hindsight is 20, 20, right? We have all the information in the world now.

We can say, oh, yeah, I could have seen, you know, Colton Wong completely falling off of cliff. I could see, you know, Tay Oscar Hernandez taking a massive step back for the first two months of the season. I could have seen a Johanio Swares, you know, dropped down by like 40% from what he was last year. Look, that all makes sense in hindsight. but at the time that they built this roster and we're not going to shy away from the fact that they needed to add an extra bet that they needed at least one more above league average hitter that they needed to add at least one more of those guys before exiting the offseason

and therefore their off season as a whole was incomplete but adding guys like Tayoscar Hernandez Colton Wong AJ Pollock I know a lot of those you know at least two of those three guys Antonio's been really good for the last month, but two of those three guys have been complete utter disasters. At the time, it made a lot of sense. You can't tell me that four months ago, you knew that AJ Pollock was going to go from a 161 WRC plus

against lefties to like a 12 WRC plus. You can't tell me, even if you were the biggest Colton Wong hater, even if you were one of those guys that was telling us, oh, he's just a lateral move from Adam Frazier. Even if he was just Adam Frazier last year, that would be a significant improvement over. what he's been this year. Like that makes no sense for Colt Wong coming off of two of his best

offensive seasons of his entire career to just fall off a cliff like he has. So all of these like again, you had enough protection in place in theory for, you know, the Julio regression that we've seen for, you know, if Thai France significantly regress, if Cal Raleigh significantly regress. if all of your if your young core wasn't able to take that next step you still had protection in place but on top of your young core regressing in a multitude of ways your veteran guys have also regressed in a multitude of ways and nothing is really going right for you and sometimes that's just the way it goes unfortunately it's a huge bummer but that's like again going back to all

the information that I had four months ago I would do this again obviously hindsight 2020 you would do it a completely different way but that's not reality that's not the world we live in so it sucks i don't know what to say other than that really yeah um and by the way if you were gonna bank on one young player to sustain success you probably bank it on hulio um i mean even this weekend we we saw literal us literally a superstar game from julio rodriguez and we're probably banked on julio rodriguez and we which he had a home run, robbed a home run, stole a base, had three hits. You know, it was literally exactly. It was the $400 million game. Like, that's what you're paying Julio for. And that's the guy you bank on. So I don't have a problem with that.

And I disagree with the premise that they, you know, they were too relying on young guys. Like, J.P. Crawford and Thai France, they're not young guys. I mean, they're young, but they're not like rookies or second year players. They're established veterans. Yeah. Yeah. Especially JP. Yeah.

Yeah. They are established veterans and they've been fine. And you look at Jared Kelnick overall has been more than you could hope for. It's been a real struggle for him in the last month or so. But overall, you look at the numbers, fine, totally fine, totally within the acceptable range for you. And, you know, T. Oscar, his numbers look a lot better because he's had such a great month. And really, it's been about six weeks now. But the first six weeks were rough.

He wasn't very good. You know, and it's just sometimes you go and you get the veteran guys because you don't want to rely too much on young guys. And it's the vets who are the problem, not the young guys. I'm not telling you that J.P. Or that Julios had a great year. He hasn't, right? He's been below what we expected. Still overall, it's been fine.

But it's been below what you expect and below what you need. But ultimately, that in and of itself isn't what's killed the Mariners. What's killed the Mariners is inconsistency. from A. Eugenio Suarez and getting anti-Oscar nantes and getting absolutely nothing outside of a few clutch home runs from A.J. Pollock from Pollock and Wong, who have fallen off to a level that literally nobody in their right mind would have suggested or anticipated. So no, I don't think that they've relied too much on their young guys. I think the reason the Mariners are where they are right now is because the veterans that you were counting on to help protect the young guys

haven't held up there into the bargain because Cal Rale and, you know, Julio really are the only two young guys in this line, and Jared, are really the only young guys in this lineup. And all three of them have been fine. Not great, not amazing, but they've been fine. They have not been the problem.

It's Gino, it's Wong, it's Pollock, and to a lesser extent, it's Teosker. They have been the problem. Yeah, you're getting above league average protection, especially out of, you know, Julio and even Cal if you're going relative to what other catchers are doing offensively around the league. But, you know,

Julio's playing at more like a fringe All-Star level rather than like an MVP level, which is like what like, look, Julio's going to take your, your team is going to go as far as Julio can take you. That's just the reality of your roster build. And if Julio is not performing at that level, I mean,

you need like Teosca Hernandez to pick up a lot of the slack. You need a Eugenio-Souris to pick up a lot of of the slack. You need Colton Wong and AJ Pollack, etc. You need all these guys to make up for that. And they just have it. But again, four months ago, you had to feel at least semi-confident that they would, at least to a better degree than they are right now, right? Because this is, especially in the case of Pollock and Wong, an unmitigated disaster. And one that's completely inexplicable. I have no explanation for it. I have no idea what's going on. Like, I, it blows my mind, frankly.

So, yeah, it just, again, it just didn't work out. And, you know, maybe it's still, you know, it gets turned around. Who knows, whatever, blah, blah, blah, blah. They're only four and a half back of a playoff spot, etc, etc, etc. We're not going to have that conversation today, though. Like, right now, the reason that you're 37 and 39, a lot of it, I don't know how we got to this point, frankly. Because just a lot of these things, like, no one could have predicted it. If you got Colton Wong from last year and you got AJ Pollock from last year and you had a. E. E. E. E. E. E. Hineos Juarez from last year. If you just plugged in those numbers into this lineup, the team's at least three or four wins better. And three or four wins right now is the difference between being four and a half. Oh my God, is the season over to being like a game back of the last wild card and chasing down Houston and New York. And like we're legit like the vibes are completely different with three more wins, four more wins.

wins. And that's pretty much right at the feet of, you know, some Julio regression. Sure, you have to give some of the blame, so to speak to him. But that's squarely on the feet of Gino, Colton, AJ, and to the lesser extent to Oscar Hernandez. All veterans. So no, I don't

think so. Next question here comes from Peter. How would you guys realistically address the offense in the immediate? What do you see Jerry doing internally to buy time before the trade deadline? Frankly, you're running out of options internally like you're running out of shots to take in general i mean you could go

see if jake shiner is something you could see if maybe kade marlow who's been better lately has something that he can contribute to you you can see if taylor tremeld who's really you know hitting right now in triple a if like you could try that again but like you've given him multiple opportunities it hasn't panned out marlowe isn't really that exciting Shiner as much as you know I joke and rib Colby about him like that's probably not a good it's not a that's probably not a thing so again you're running out of shots to take like don't disrespect Colin Moran but yeah I mean kid Marlow basically the only reason people are interested in bringing him up is because he had like a stretch where he went eight for eight with like three doubles in a home run in the last few days his numbers have been putrid and that's AAA. That's the Pacific Coast League, which is hitters paradise. And Marlowe hasn't hit major red flag. So he's not the answer. Taylor Tremel, who cares if he hits in AAA? We've seen him hit in AAA. That's not the issue. The issue is has he made any significant changes

so that he can actually hit in the big leagues? Probably not. I don't think you can feel good about it since he's only been down there for what? Two weeks, three weeks now? Like, I don't think you feel great about it. so he's probably not an option. Jake Shiner's nothing. He's for a depth. Mason McCoy's the same thing. Like you're kind of out. You're kind of out.

You know, and so yeah, you kind of have to go outside the org to find a fix. And I think you can. I think you can go make some deals right now that at least improve the fringes of your roster. And the Mariners need that

because they are running their starting nine into the ground. They refuse to use their bench really at all. once the starting nine is in the game, like that's who they play. Dylan Moore hasn't gotten back to back starts yet. That's kind of an issue. They're not using Murphy as a DH, despite him being one of your best hitters right now. AJ Pollock has gotten six plate appearances in the last 14 days. He's gotten one start in the last 14 days.

What are we doing? And it took a literal J.P. Crawford injury for them to use Colton Wong for the first time in 11 days. they're not using their bench. That's not fair to Caviero, who's regressed significantly because, of course, he has. It's not fair to Crawford, who's banged up and is trying to battle through things. That's not fair to Kelnick, who doesn't need to be playing 150 games right now. You're just not fair to those guys to expect them to play every single day

because you refuse to use your bench because you don't trust them to produce. Not trusting them to produce. That's fair. They haven't. But you can't just sit around and wait until July and expect to make five minor trades to solve the entire bench problem. By the way, Sam Haggarty also not an option. He's been terrible in AAA.

And you can't play for the next, you know, three weeks. You can't buy time with nine to ten guys. No. You're essentially, if you're not willing to use AJ Pollock against Rites ever, if you're not willing to use Colton Wong ever, if you're not willing to D.H. Tom Murphy, you're essentially, and we already know they're wasting the spot on Chris Flexen, you're essentially going 23 against 26.

it just it doesn't work so you have to do something but the options probably aren't internal which is why i think jerry should be aggressive go pay 10 20% more than maybe you want to and go get a couple of guys who at the very least you feel comfortable playing three or four days a week so that you can take some of the pressure off of these other guys and so that you have a bench that you can actually use that's an actual weapon because they don't have that right now and they're short in the lineup too they need an everyday player fine, go get the everyday player when you can. Maybe you can do that now.

But I think what's more likely is now you can go get, you know, the, the guy who replaces A.J. Pollock essentially. I don't know who that is. But like, go get that guy. If you don't trust A.J. Pollock anymore, go get his replacement. You don't trust Colton Wong anymore. Go get his replacement. And spend the extra quarter on the dollar that it would normally cost you to get that player in a month. So you can have them now and you can maximize your roster for the next 25 games.

so that maybe you even get into a position where it makes sense to add the everyday player to begin with. That's what I think the Mariners need to do. We're two weeks away from the All-Star break. You're listening to the Lockdown Mariners podcast. Thank you again for making us your first listen here on Mailback Monday. Again, Mariners Nationals getting underway at T-Mobile Park tonight. You can catch all the action on the Mariners hometown broadcast with SiriusXM via the SXM app. Chris here wants to know with Michael Oroyo's essential.

into Modesto and his active nine game hitting streak. How high is he climbing in your prospect rankings? How does he project and compare to Cole Young? So as for, you know, where he's rising in the ranks, like I said, we're probably going to talk about Arroyo with Joe tomorrow. A royal, I mean, he's really caught my eye because he's, you know, 18 years old and doing what he's doing in Modesto. And, Coley, what do you think about him ending the year?

in Everett. I think there's a shot for that. Feels really aggressive, but... It does, but he looks like he might be too good for low A right now. Right. You want him to go around the league. You want scouts to see him. You want pitchers to kind of counteract what he does well, which doesn't always happen because pitchers are more concerned about their own development than, you know, blah, blah, blah. So, yeah, it feels aggressive to me. I don't think there's any reason to rush the kid, but if he shows that he's just simply too good for A ball.

He's probably not getting a lot out of it. He's not being challenged. Then maybe you could consider it. But I think it's pretty aggressive. And I think you want to, there's no reason to rush a Royo or even think that you might be rushing a Royal. Just play it safe. There's no reason to push the guy before you're absolutely certain he's ready.

But I wouldn't rule it out. I just, I think it seems a little a tattoo firm on Arroyo right now. So as for how he is rising in my ranks, I haven't done my re-ranks, to be honest with you. So I couldn't really tell you. But I'm sure he's going to get a bump. I think he was what, 10, 9, something like that on my preseason list. I would assume he's probably on the fringes of the top five at this point. I have him six, but that's with Miller still on the list.

Miller's about to exhaust that status if he hasn't already. But at the beginning of the month, I had him six. So once Miller, you know, comes off, then he will be five. And then we'll see where the draft, who gets added in the draft, there's a possibility. He's still top five even after the draft. But I think he's probably going to land for me somewhere in the top seven, more than likely somewhere in the four to seven range, would be my guess. Yeah. How does he stack up to Cole Young?

I mean, for one, he's likely not going to stay up the middle, whereas Young is. a royals probably going to play on a corner probably play third base if i had to guess i mean he's got a hit for more power you know in order for him to stick there or to play there at the major league level yeah he's got time well and that and also the power there's more power potential i think there than there is with young so um that's also the the key difference there right more but i get it i get what you ask though hit tool guy who currently is playing up the middle i get it uh but yeah Young's going to stay up the middle, whereas Arroyo, I'd be pretty surprised if that's the case for him. Yeah, you could tell me you have Arroyo over Young.

I would, like, I get it. Okay. But I still prefer Young at this stage, but it's really close. And Arroyo, you know, probably if Arroyo is playing like this at the end of the year, probably doesn't stay that way. But Ty and I are planning on doing reranks and releasing those right after the draft. So in a couple weeks, we'll be doing that. either post draft post

deadline somewhere in there. Yeah, Ty always changes it. But yeah, it'll be solidly in the top 10 for sure. I think there's a good shot. He's top five and he's about to be top five in my ranks now. It's just we'll see who they draft

and they've any of those guys that clips him or not. But yeah, I like my Michael Young call on Michael Royo as a ceiling comp. So, yeah, that's what I'm open for. All right. Last question of the day comes from Rye.

If Brian Wu is on a pitch count, does that mean Emerson Hancock could get a shot if Marco is still down? Maybe. You know, Wu at some point here is he's either going to get shut down for the whole year or he's going to get moved to the bullpen just to limit his pitch count. But the biggest variable here is Marco's health, right? They think that, you know, Wu's next few starts or his final few starts here bides them enough time for, for Marco to get healthy and get back on the bump. Now there's the whole other question of Marco being able to stay healthy once he returns.

But then that's probably just the answer there is that it's Marco. Maybe Chris Flexen's spot start occasionally or maybe they go out and they add someone. But yeah, if Marco's not healthy, look, I think this is the way that Emerson Hancock gets to the major league level if they continue to lose.

if they continue to lose and they're not as incentivized to go out and add that veteran starter if marco is not like they need to continue to lose and marco also has to stay unavailable essentially um if both if both of those things happen then i i think hancock gets involved here if not i think he either gets traded or they go out and they get someone who blocks him for making his debut i think it is just as likely that hancock gets traded the summer as it is that he pitches for Seattle and gets, you know, a handful of starts. But I think both of those are more likely than Hancock stays in the Mariners system and gets fewer than five starts this year. I think we're going to see Emerson Hancock pitch for the Seattle Mariners and not just as a spot starter. I think we're going to see that at some point this year unless he gets traded. He was on a nice little run.

His last outing was a half step back, but he was on a little three game stretch there where he was just dominating in AA and, you know, fast while had more life, the slider was showing a little bit more pop and the change up is as good as ever. So I think he's like this idea that like Cancock's like not a polished product. I think that's from people who are still holding out hope that there's more upside than there actually is.

He looks like a number four starter to me right now. Like that's the stuff he has. And that's kind of where I have is upside ever since, you know, last winter. I just, I think he is who he is. He's the number four starter. at this league. And I think the stuff as it currently sits along with the command and the control, it profiles perfectly as the number four. So I do think he's going to get starts with the Mariners. You know, Wu's already passed his career high and innings pitched. So I think like we said,

last week or so, he's probably only got six to ten starts left, probably closer to seven or eight, at which stage if Marco isn't back and you haven't acquired a starting pitcher, yeah, it's without question, Hancock is the next guy up because he's better than Chris Flexing right now. dollars hurt he's better he's the next best pitcher in the mariner system he is the sixth best starting pitcher in the seattle mariner's system right now who's healthy so all right well that's the extra start it's going to be hancock i got picked out by colby i thought he was done all right well now if you're done but actually not that's going to do a far show thank you so much for joining us here on the locked on a rass podcast for colby pat node i'm tidang gonzalez be sure to give us a follow

on twitter at l o underscore mariners you can follow me at dain gonzalez's c a g and e g and and ZLZ and Colby at CPAT 11. That's CPAT 1-1. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok as well over at Locked-on Mariners. That's one word, Locked-on Mariners. You can also find all that stuff in the description of this episode. Again, you can catch the Mariners and the Nationals on the Marriss hometown broadcast with Sirius XM v, the SXM app tonight. Thank you again for making us your first listen. Have yourself a beautiful baseball day and we'll see you tomorrow. Peace.