Locked On Mariners - Daily Podcast On the Seattle Mariners - Mailbag: How Do the Mariners Stay Relevant in AL Playoff Picture?

Episode Date: September 18, 2023

Following a brutal weekend sweep for the Mariners, Colby and Ty return to the mics to answer some listener questions, such as: Is the upcoming A's series a "must-sweep?" Do strikeouts really matter? Will the front office be more aggressive in free agency? And more!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!Jase MedicalSave more than $360 by getting these lifesaving antibiotics with Jase Medical plus an additional $20 off by using code LOCKEDON at checkout on jasemedical.com.  eBay MotorsKeep your ride-or-die alive at ebay.com/motors. 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.Make Every Moment More. Right now, NEW customers can bet FIVE DOLLARS and get TWO HUNDRED in BONUS BETS - GUARANTEED. Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON to get started.SleeperDownload the Sleeper app and use promo code LOCKEDON and you'll get up to a $100 match on your first deposit. Terms and conditions apply. See Sleeper’s Terms of Use for details. Currently operational in over 30 states. Check out Sleeper today!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.

What do the Mariners have to do in order to stay relevant in the American League playoff picture this week? How big was the loss of Tom Murphy? And do strikeouts really matter? We'll answer that and more coming up here on the Lockdown Marries podcast. Colby, hit it. You are Locked on Mariners. Your daily Seattle Mariners podcast. Part of the Locked on podcast network.

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is in the description of this episode. This is Mailbag Monday, the show where we answer your Mariners questions. Let's see what you want to know after a brutal weekend for the M's. We're going to start with Gregory here, who wants to know is the only elixir for this horrible sweep at the hands of the Dodgers, a sweep of the athletes.

I really don't think two or three is enough right now. Yeah, on Friday's show, Colby and I both said that you needed to go at least three and three during the stretch against the Dodgers and the A's and well, your own three, so you should probably win the next three games. If you don't, you're going to be in a tough spot heading into that gauntlet going up against the

Rangers, the Astros, and then the Rangers again. And this is not going to be a walk in the park for the Mariners. The A's, while they're still one of the worst teams of baseball, are playing a whole lot better. They're playing good teams really well.

They're giving them a hard time. I mean, they just took, what, two or three against the Astros down in Houston, like last week. Their pitching staff is performing a little bit better. Zach Gelloff has been great. And the Mariners, most importantly here, are not playing good baseball, fully. No, they've been playing bad baseball for three weeks. And it's really hard to say right now that they're not, sorry, that they're not a bad baseball team just in general because they have lost five of their last 19 or they've won five of their last 19 I think it is five of their last 20 I don't know exactly what it is but they're they're bad like they've lost uh sorry they've won five of their last 17 I believe is is the technical um but they're bad like they're a bad baseball team right now so do they have to sweep uh Oakland like I guess in like

the grand sense of things because you have these last seven games against Texas and they've kind of become the only team you're chasing because you've blown all the other opportunities you've had. I guess technically no, but reality is yes, you need to win these games and you kind of, you know, you take wins however you get them, but like you kind of want to see them, I don't want to say dominate, but you want to see them play good, clean baseball, get the hits they need to get, have the pitching staff go deep into games like you want to see them play good ball because we haven't seen that um you know for pretty much the entire month of september uh there's been a few games where they played well but they've come up on the short end of the stick uh and then but then there's also

been games where they have not played well but they happen to be playing a bad team and so they win an annaheim uh so yeah this team is an absolute mess right now and at the end of the day the only thing you can't worry about is stacking wins but you're going to need every single win you can get because right now you're like not even in the same league as Toronto and Houston based on how you're playing. So yeah, I think you do have to win all these games because you're a full game back of Texas. And in reality, you're two games back because they're probably going to have the tiebreaker on you. Now, again, because you have those seven games left against them, you know, you go five and two while you make that up. But what are the odds they're going to go five and two against Texas with the way they're playing right now?

not great. So yeah, I think they do have to win these, these, uh, these three games against Oakland, um, you know,

depending on what Texas does, it's totally possible. You just need us, you just need to win the series, but, uh, I think I would say this. If you lose this series,

it's the season's over. It's over. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, and you have,

we'll have successfully choked away your best opportunity to win, win the division in 20 years. Uh, and that's what it is. It's a choke. Okay. Stop, you know.

you guys were all so quick to make fun of, exes for choking, and they did, but if they get in and you don't, guess who choked worse? You did, because you didn't get in. And you had every opportunity to not only win the division, you had three playoff spots up for grabs, and you had two and a half game leads at least two times this month.

You had at least a two and a half game lead on that last wild card spot, and you've blown them both times. And now you're full game back of Toronto. So, yeah, yeah, you need to win. And you need to beat bad teams. This is the last bad team you're going to face this year. You have to beat them. And I think in reality, too, you also just need to start playing better baseball.

I think you need to win these games somewhat handily. You don't have to win them eight to nothing. But can you win them five to two and just kind of coast? You know, can you play good defense? Can you get the big hit once in a while for the love of God? Can somebody hit a dang double in the gap with the bases loaded? Does every single run have to be scored on a solo home run? and we just, or we just pray to God that somebody took a walk and that, like, you have to have

to have better at bats. You have to pitch better. You have to play better defense. You have to run the bases better. You have to play better baseball. It's really hard right now to look at this team and say, like, yeah, they're going to make the playoffs based on what? Because they're the first team looking out right now and they do not look like they are like,

like, even, like they could go 0.13 and I would not be shocked. Honestly, that's how bad they're playing right now. they yeah so they have to go nine and four over their final 13 and uh here to uh to finish at 90 wins and look that's not impossible certainly uh they're more than talented enough to to do that but what have we seen over the last two and a half weeks that suggests that they're capable of doing that yeah and that's just that's just what it is right um this is a great opportunity this series to get right right the opponent dictates that out of all the other series that you have remaining on the schedule that this is the one where you can get

right and it comes at the best possible time before you head into that gauntlet you need to be able to feel good about yourself before you go into that off day on thursday your last off day of the season and then head into you know that a really really really crucial series against the texas rangers um can we stop scapegoating scott service by the way this is on the players the rotation needs to pitch better. The hiters need a hit better. That's just what it is. And we can talk all day long about, you know, having guys bun and situational hitting and using relievers in certain situations and all that. But why were you in that situation to begin with, right? Why are you in those situations to begin with? And really, the answer to that for the most part, over the last two and a half weeks has been either because your rotation hasn't put you in the best position to succeed or your offense has screwed around too much against a lot of bad pitchers, too. So that's really what it comes down to you. The players need to perform better. They are the ones that are choking this away, ultimately, at the end of the day.

And, yeah, it's really sad to see. It's been really frustrating to watch. All right. Next question here comes from Michael. The Mariners have four quality young starters, 26, 25, 25, and 23 with years of club control remaining. Can you think of a comparable Major League staff in recent history? Assuming these guys stay healthy, how good could the staff be a few years? from now. A comparable staff.

I tried thinking about this. The closest that I could come to, and this was more of an idea. It's not really how it actually played out, but this was the idea, was the Mets, the mid-2010s Mets with like Matt Harvey and Jacob de Grom and Noah Sendergarde and Zach Wheeler and Stephen Matt's, what those guys were supposed to be. It's pretty similar to what the Mariners have right now, but I can't think of a rotation that's built, that was built like the Mariners that actually had the level of success that the Mariners rotation has had on the whole, right? Obviously, they've been really disappointing

in the last couple weeks, but on the whole, right? The pitching staff in Detroit had Scherzer, Verlander, Porcelo, Mr. That's good one. And Bill Sanchez. And while, you know, Scherzer, really didn't explode until the year after he left. He did have a really good final year. And in Detroit, obviously, you know, we know how good Verlander is.

Annabelle Sanchez had a fantastic career. So did Fister. So I think that's the one that jumps to mind right now. I, I remember that 2017 Astros rotation. It had McCullors. It had Kichol, but I don't think it had much. I don't think it was four deep necessarily at that time. So I think that.

I want to say 2012, 13, 14, somewhere in that range, that Detroit Tigers rotation, I think, is pretty similar. I think that's the closest that comes to mind. What was the other part here of the question? Assuming these guys stay healthy, how good could the staff be a few years from now? I mean, I think we've already seen that on the high end this year when things have been really clicking for the risk rotation. I mean, there are at least three potential Siyang contenders in this rotation when they're at best in Castillo and Gilbert and Kirby. So yeah, I think that's how good they can be.

And I think that Miller and Wu can also have very, very good seasons as well. I think this rotation definitely has the potential to be the best in the league by far. But again, that's if everyone's, if everything is clicking and if everyone's staying healthy, which, you know, health and a rotation across the board, that's an incredibly difficult thing to accomplish. It's an incredibly rare thing to accomplish. That's what made the 2022 Mariners so, you know, insane, right? And how we talked about all this off season, like, that's probably not sustainable.

Like, that's definitely not something that you can count on. And lo and behold, that's been the case this year. Right. You also have to factor in the odds that one of those guys gets traded or falls off a cliff. But, yeah, I think all four of those young guys have at least at the bare minimum, their ceiling is. number three starter and a good one. So, and obviously we know Kirby and Gilbert certainly have higher ceilings than that. So yeah, they could be really good.

They have to stay healthy. They have to stay together. And they do still have to improve though. I mean, they're not finished products. None of them are. But yeah, they can be very good and probably the best in baseball if they continue to develop and stay healthy. Yeah, the only finished product really in that rotation is Luis Castillo because he's been in a league for so long. But I think, you know, there's still the potential for Logan Gilbert

get better. I think there's definitely the potential for George Kirby to get better. Bryce Miller, Brian Wu, etc. I think there's a lot of room for growth here, which is what makes this rotation so exciting at the end of the day, right? It's like they're already having great success, again,

on the whole, not really talking about the last two and a half weeks or so, but on the whole, this team, or this rotation has really performed at a very high level, but they can even be better than that, and more consistent than they've been over the course of the season as well. And I think that's very important.

All right, we're going to answer, rather, more of your questions in just a moment. But first, a reminder of this episode of the Lockdown Marys podcast is brought to you by Jace Medical. Modern medical care and treatment are important, but our global supply chains are fragile. Things like pandemics, natural disasters, and foreign travel may cut you off from the treatment you need. Jace Medical is your solution for that. Just fill out our online form and one of our board certified physicians will review it to determine whether medications are safe and appropriate. then they will send your prescriptions to one of our partner pharmacies where your Jace order will be filled and mailed directly to your home. Everyone should feel empowered to care for themselves and their loved ones during the unexpected.

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Sirius XM via the SXM app. Let's get back into your questions here on Mailbag Monday. D. Panky 827 wants to know is Mike Salk out of his mind by saying strikeouts don't matter. For reference, 22 M's K-home-run ratio was 1,300. 197 strikeouts to 197 home runs for a 1200 difference. 2023 pace so far 1,605 strikeouts to 210 home runs. If the M simply matched last year's total, doesn't it seem like a lock they win the division? I mean, maybe, but also I don't really care about the ratio between strikeouts and home runs.

I don't think that really that really matters. But do strikeouts matter? Absolutely. They do. Absolutely strikeouts matter 100%. because most of the time when you put the ball in play, better things are going to happen than, or at least you give yourself a chance of better things happening

than if you strike out, right? I mean, yeah, there's the instance where, like, if you hit a ground ball with a runner on first or whatever, and you generate two outs instead of one, yes, that is worse than a strikeout, right, because a strikeout is only one out, but also there's a chance of driving in a run on a double play as well. So just generally speaking, yeah, put the ball in play, and you're putting yourself in a better position to succeed than striking out.

I think that's common sense. Also, I mean, if we look at the last few World Series winners, 2022 Astros had the second lowest strikeout rate in the league. The 2020 Dodgers had the third lowest strikeout rate in the league. The 2019 Nationals had the fifth lowest strikeout rate in the league. The 2018 Red Sox had the third lowest strikeout rate in the league. And the 2017 Astros had the lowest strikeout rate in the league. The only outlier here is the 2021 Braves who had the ninth highest strikeout rate.

But again, there is evidence that suggests that if you don't strike out as a team, you're going to have success, that you're going to be able to get into the postseason, that you're going to be able to make a deep run into the postseason, and possibly compete for a championship. Yeah, strikeouts are bad, right? All of this is to say that strikeouts are bad if you're in offense. They're certainly not ideal. I didn't hear the context of which the original statement was made.

So I don't know exactly in which way he was referring to. But what I will say is that strikeouts can be a little bit overrated. There are certainly times where strikeouts don't matter. Like run around first, nobody out. You strike out, fine, whatever. Base is loaded, nobody out. You got to put the ball in play. Right.

So there's certainly times, not every strikeout is as bad as all the other ones. But like just listen to listen to those lists. This is the list of players. These are the, let's see, two, four, six, eight. These are the eight players with the lowest strikeout rates on the Mariners. Tell me how I would group most of these guys together. Dom Canzone, Sam Haggertie, Thai France, J.P. Crawford, Tommy Lestella, Colton Wong, AJ Paula, Cozay-Cabiero.

One good bat in that entire list. One. So is Domcanzone a good? hitter because he doesn't strike out. Is he a better hitter than J.P. Crawford because he strikes out less? No. So I think the thing that you have to be careful with is that you can't say that strikeouts don't matter because striking out is the worst thing you can do

baseball because you didn't give yourself a chance to get on base. Are all strikeouts bad or all strikeouts created equal? No, is the team that has, you know, the lowest strikeout rate? Are they going to win the World Series every year? No. I think the bigger issue right now is that Seattle, really is missing some power from some obvious spots. They need power because Ty France is going to finish the year with 12 home runs.

If he's lucky, Gino's going to finish with under 25. Those are two massive power spots that you need to get more power from. They're not getting any power from left field either. Those are three spots where you need to generate home runs and they're not. So do strikeouts matter? Yes, you want to avoid strikeouts? Sure. Are they like the easy fix-all like, oh, well, the marriage is just,

struck out less they would win this division no no that that's not how that works so i would say no and the idea that they would just easily win this division if they struck out at the same pace they did last year i disagree because the pitching hasn't been good like it's not just one thing you can't just say this team sucks because they strike out it's not that because they were running these strikeout rates but they were still putting up five six runs a game like they were in august would anybody care about the strikeouts no sure um yeah i would say individually speaking strikeouts don't matter as much, but if you're talking about a team as a whole and if you're talking about situationally, because again, not every strikeout is created equal, but if you are, again,

if you're striking out a lot with like the bases loaded or runners in scoring position with, you know, less than two outs, right? That has a trickle down effect on the other at bats, right? If you have bases loaded, nobody out and the first guy up strikes out, then that changes the complexion of the next set bat, which is basis loaded one out. And if that guy strikes out, that changes the complexion of the next step bat, which is baseload to two outs. So yeah, so in those situations, absolutely. And again, I think, you know, just on the whole, if a team strikes out a lot, yeah, it does hurt your chances of having a healthy, productive offense because I feel like that, you know, and I don't, I haven't done enough research on this to really support this. but I feel like that does lead to more unsustainable

or reliance on more unsustainable production or unsustainable methods of run production. Because you just really, the name of the game at the end of the day is put the ball in play. You got to put the ball in play, especially in key situations when you have runners in scoring position. And I'm just saying that if Ty France had hit, you know, did what he did last year and hit 20 home runs and Gino has hit 30

like he did last year. That changes a lot too. Yeah, we probably don't notice. Like, why is it you have to strike out less? Why is it not you have to hit more home runs? Right. So I think that also has a factor. And so offense is tricky.

You just can't build a team full of guys who don't strike out because you might not have enough power. You can't just build a lineup full of guys who are going to hit 30 home runs because you're probably going to strike out 40%. Like, you can't have Joey Gallo and draw Dyson and build a team out of those guys and expect those teams to be good. There's a balancing act here. All right. Next question here comes from MC Square. How big of an impact do you think the loss of Tom Murphy was? Huge. Huge. I don't think it can be overstated, really. I think it was a massive loss of this team because he was hitting very well. But really, most importantly, he was able to get Cal Raleigh off of his feet now. And then Cal Raleigh looks like he is going through it. I can't even begin to count how many times I've seen him wince and pain as he gets hit on a comebacker.

you know, behind the plate. I think it's been like five or six times over just the last week or two. He's getting beat up back there. And on top of that, he's, you know, being asked to go out there and perform at the plate as well as one of the better hitters in this lineup.

He's being relied on to be one of the better hitters in this lineup. On top of being a great catcher, it's, uh, yeah, uh, it's honestly no wonder that he's struggled as of late. Really,

I mean, he's, he's going through it. He's putting his body on the line just like he did last year. as well with, you know, playing through the broken thumb and all that stuff. You know, I know at a certain point, there's, there's no excuse you got to perform at the end of the day. But, yeah, I think the loss of Murphy really did hurt you in a pretty big way. And plus, you know, from a leadership perspective as well, that's one of the main leaders in that clubhouse.

And I know that those guys, you know, hate that Tom isn't around right now. Sure. It certainly hurts. And it's definitely time for Luis Turin's to get a start, probably. tonight against Sears, the lefty, probably a pretty good night to get Terenz, you know, his first start of the year. But one thing I do want to address here, I think it's going to be very important for us, not just you and I, but just the community in general, to really differentiate if this

thing does go sideways. And I would argue that it already is going sideways. We're in the middle of it, not the end of it. it's going to be really important i think that we look for um we we don't try and and like insert excuses into why the mariners season fell down the drain instead of reasons like and it seems like that's like a very narrow margin but like saying like they lost their backup catcher that's why they they fell in the tank that's an excuse that's not an explanation right saying like, well, the mayor started pitching went into the tank and that's when the team started to struggle.

That's an explanation. Right. So let's just be careful as, you know, maybe maybe they go on and they win, you know, like you said, they go nine and four or whatever down the stretch and they win 90 and they get in. And then we're not even talking about the first couple weeks of September. That would be incredible. And maybe that happens. But if it doesn't, I think one thing we really have to protect against in our conversation. conversations is, no excuses.

Explanations, not excuses. So saying, you know, did Tom Murphy, losing Tom Murphy is that like the thing that's not no? Did it hurt? Yeah, it's a contributing factor. But it's, it's definitely not the, the main, it's not the top, it's not one of the top five reasons that this thing fell apart. If it does ultimately fall apart. Right. Explanations, not excuses.

Just remember that over the next two weeks. Right. All right. We got a few more questions to go over here in just a moment. But first a reminder, this episode of Lockdown Mary's podcast is brought to you by Sleeper. All right folks, the MLB playoffs are right around the corner,

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There you can pick the players you want and call your shot. And when you use the promo code Locked On, that's L-C-K-D-O-N, you'll get up to $100 matched on your first deposit. Terms and conditions apply. See Sleeper's terms of use for details currently operational in over 30 states. Check out Sleeper today. You're listening to the Lockdown Marys podcast. Thank you again for making us your first listen here on Mailbag Monday.

again, you can catch the Mariners and the A's tonight on the Mariners hometown broadcast with Sirius XM. Let's get back into your questions here. Got one here from Scott who wants to know, do you have any data on the M's ability or lack thereof to bunch hits together? Seems like that is a major offensive issue right now. It's like a one or maybe two hit inning, but when there's multiple innings like that, we're not plating runs, need to get hits together. No, I personally don't have any data on that. I don't know if Colby does. We'll get to him in a second, but generally speaking, yeah, you need to string hits together.

And I think, you know, eye test wise, yeah, that has been a pretty big issue for the Mariners. It's, you know, again, like I haven't seen what their bases loaded numbers have looked like in a while. I know that, you know, Ryan DeVish and those have posted the numbers where it's like, hey, they're actually pretty good with bases loaded. But lately, that certainly has not been the case. I mean, they've lost a couple of games because of their lack of execution with the bases loaded and fewer than two outs. So, yeah, situationally speaking, the Mariners have been very poor. And so that has to be something that improves. And again, that goes back to the whole strikeout conversation, right?

They've been striking out a lot with the bases loaded and nobody out or with runners in scoring position in less than two outs. They have to put the ball in play. You have to put the ball and play. That's because, look, if you put the ball in. the ball in play and you ground out, whatever. I don't really care at that point, right? At least you put the ball in play, right? That's just baseball.

That all happen. But when you strike out consistently and when you're striking out and you're swinging and missing on bad pitches and putting yourself an unfavorable account, an unfavorable accounts, that's what really gets me. That's what really pisses me off. And the mayors have done that far too often. They do not put themselves in the best position to succeed in those situations. So, yeah, that's something that they have to.

fix. I don't know how you fix that. I don't know if it's just get better players. I don't know if it's something, you know, philosophically with the organization. I don't know. That's only something that Jerry DePoto and Scott's service and those people know. And that's only something that they can fix. But yeah, Colby, thoughts? I mean, the players can fix it too by doing the job. Well, the players, too. Yeah. Right. Yeah. I don't know because I know the numbers say that the mirrors are pretty good with the bases loaded. They're pretty good with runners in scoring position. They're pretty good with runner on third less than two outs.

I know statistically they're good at those, but it does seem like they've had more opportunities this year in those spots. And so maybe that's why it seems like they failed more in those spots, but make no mistake. The Mariners aren't dire straits right now because J.P. Crawford, Julio Rodriguez, and Teoscar Hernandez struck out with the bases loaded in the 8th. And, you know, Tay Oscar couldn't do it again in the 10th. He had the bases loaded two outs, chance to walk off the game and you couldn't get it done.

So, you know, it seems like the upbats are getting worse. We see them, you know, do yourself favor. Don't watch game day as you're watching the game because you'll see a lot of pitches down the middle of the plate that they'll swing through or their foul off. They'll miss it. And then they'll expand the zone and they'll chase up at their eyes or they'll pop up a hanging curve ball in the middle of the plate. They're all pressing right now. They're all really bad right now. So that's part of it.

And I don't know how you fix it. I mean, how do you fix it? Because it's either a mental thing right now and guys are trying to do too much or you don't have a deep enough lineup. And maybe it's both. I think a big part of it is you don't have a deep enough lineup. And the reason you don't have a deep enough lineup is that Thai France and Auh and Eugenio Suarez have been really bad, particularly in the last couple of weeks. They've been bad. And those guys are supposed to be hitting three, four, five for you.

and you're just putting more stress on everybody else. Dom Kanzone hasn't been very good recently. I know people love him, but he has not been very good. No. Josh Rojas, not been all that good recently. Like, Mike Ford is probably your third best,

fourth best hitter right now. That's a problem. That's a huge problem. So, I think it's just that the lineup's not deep enough because you have veterans who have done, you know, X,

you know, for the last five years of their career. This year they're coming in, and they're doing X minus 20%. Like, I think that's the biggest problem. So I don't have any data for you on that, but just watching these at bats are getting worse and worse. The deeper hole, the deeper the hole is dug.

And to me, that says that as some kind of like mental, like you're pressing and you're trying to be the guy. And it's just instead of just staying within yourself and doing what you need to do, you're trying to be, you're trying to, you know, play hero ball, so to speak. Yeah. Well, this is what I warned against a couple of weeks ago. Back when they, you know, they lost a couple of games. Don't let it snowball. Don't let it snowball because now guys are going to start to press because now you get panicky.

Guys are going to start to panic a little bit. It doesn't mean the whole team is going to, but there are going to be at least a couple of guys that feel like they need to do more than they really need to do at the end of the day. And I think we're actually starting to see that play out. I mean, I don't know for sure, right? I'm not in the clubhouse. I'm not in those guys's heads, right? So I have no clue. But it does come off that way.

And common sense would say that, yeah, when things are going poorly, when you, because it's not just us, right? Like the players know, like that this thing is falling through their fingers. Like, they had a great opportunity. And now they might end up watching the playoffs from home because of what's going on this month. That because of that, they might, you know, be pressing a little bit. they might be a little too in their head.

And again, I think we're starting to see that play out at low. Anyway, all right. Two cups right once in now. Would you swap Leon and Thornton for Baroa and Carlson right now? Sam Carlson? He's not pitching like higher than IA right. No. No, not Sam Carlson.

Baroa, yeah. I think Baroa for Leon is a no-brainer. I look, I know Barrowa hasn't been, you know, what they've wanted him to be this year down in AA, but... Can't be much worse than Dominic Leone, who's given up, what, five home runs now since joining the team, four home runs since joining the team. Give up another one yesterday, James Outman, like, it's, this has been a week and a half overdue moving on from Dominic Leone. I would take literally anyone.

Hell, give Colby a spot on the roster instead of Dominic Leon. I don't, I don't care at this point. I honestly think I'd be less likely to give up a home run because these guys haven't seen 68 mile an hour heaters in a long time. Now, give me three weeks. up to 80. I promise you that, but like that's probably where I max out. Well, I think probably get up to 80 like once before I blow my shoulder out. I haven't played catch in a while. But I went to the arcade a couple of weeks ago. I did one of those like speed pitching things and you know, topped out at 66. There we go. It's not bad. I mean like,

you know, considering like that you're not playing regularly and all that stuff like you know. But I haven't done anything athletic besides like walking. Yeah, sure. Same. Same. I know, Ty, congratulations. Your right-handed now is just a little bit higher than my left-handed when I was 18. So I threw 60 miles an hour left-handed in high school. Pat Vindetti? No, no. I'm not, but I could crank it up to 60 because I used to throw a left-handed sometimes.

That's crazy. In case I hurt my right, I'd like throw a left-handed. And it's like, I like, I could throw it in your general, like, direction, but in terms of accuracy. I can not do anything. I can not do anything left-handed. I am stupid trying to do anything left-handed. I could throw 60 left-handed. I could throw back in high school when I was playing every day.

I could throw about 80-81 right-handed. Yeah. So not to brag, but, you know, no scouts were interested. I do think that obviously, Burrow is kind of the guy. I think you need some swinging miss stuff in this bullpen, and you're just not getting that from. Leon in particular. Bizarro's been better his last few times out,

but they've used them multiple innings for a few times. He's probably not available for the next couple days. I think he should probably make a move there too. But not with Carlson. Carlson hasn't pitched above high A ball. And while he's figured some stuff out, there are some, let's just say,

non-baseball related reasons why he wasn't moved up at all and why he's probably pitching for a different organization. this winter as he's a minor league free agent. So yeah, there's some, let's say maturity issues there that the team's concerned with. One guy that I think might be worth calling up, maybe Casey Sadler. You know, he's throwing strikes. He's progressing. It's 91 to 93 with a fastball, but he does have a cutter and a pretty good curveball.

He's not high leverage, but, you know, in that middle inning spot, like, you know, instead of going to Sauceto or instead of going to Campbell in the fifth, or sixth because you don't trust Bizarro or Thornton or Leone to pitch in the spots they should pitch in. Maybe Sadler's that guy and you know that he works well in the clubhouse. You know that he, you know,

you can trust him, you know, relative to those other guys. So I think maybe it's time for Casey Sadler to get the call, which is not something I wanted to say a few weeks ago, but that's the situation we're in. So yeah, I think Sadler and I think it should be saddler. If you should have added another arm at the

deadline. Yeah, who would have ever saw or said anything about that. But anyways, yeah, let's, uh, not, not relitigating that again. Um, but yeah, I think sad. I'm called an idiot for saying that, hey, Mark Kana could help you. I wonder what Mark Kana is doing in Milwaukee right now. Anyway, it's okay. Tom Kahn zone is putting up an 80 WRC plus, but he does this every time he does something.

So it's a great trade. He's epic. Yeah. I actually do like Dom Kanzone, but I do too, but you people are making me hate him because you won't acknowledge that he's not a good major leaguer right now. Just accept it. He's,

reality is right in front of you. He's average of us right now. And as we say this, he's going to go off the series, by the way. Just like that is a guarantee of now. Like, that's guaranteed now.

I really hope so. Yeah. Yeah, I really hope so too, honestly. I would love for anyone on this team to make me look like a giant more on the next few days. All right. Next question here. We're already

at 35 minutes. We need to wrap this thing up. But Jace wants to know, regardless of whether or not the team makes the playoffs, will the front office learn their lesson from this season and go more aggressively after good bats and future free agency and trade in the future? Yeah, I certainly hope so. I certainly hope that they go after good players

and that they acquire good players. Yeah, I would love for my favorite baseball team to acquire good players. That would be great. Yes, please do get aggressive. Please absolutely get aggressive. please do not avoid free agency like the plug if you think that there is a good fit out there for you but this isn't a like at least as far as free agency goes that to me still isn't a jerry depoto jesson hollander issue that is a john stanton issue is he going to be willing to spend the money right

is he going to restrict depoto and hollander heavily are they going to have to account for that because that's ultimately why right or at least in theory that you would be so heavy on the draft developed trade thing. Obviously, that is a thing that has worked for a lot of teams, but still, even those teams are not, they don't avoid just outright going after certain free agents that fit. They've been supplemented. Yeah. So, so supplement your roster, at the very least, supplement your roster and free agency. Not asking for Shohei Otani, not asking for Cody Bellinger. Would love those guys. Absolutely. Would be more than like, I would be over the moon if you sign one of those guys, obviously, for obvious reason.

But don't be afraid to supplement your roster via free agency. Don't be afraid to spend the $12 million on a one-year deal or whatever it takes to sign X player, right? Don't be afraid to do that. And if it takes, you know, Michael Morales and Axel Sanchez to go out and get you a reliever that helps you more than Edward Bizarro next year, do it. Do it without hesitation. Right.

I would say I hope the lesson that was learned. particularly at this deadline and last winter is that trade prices are not what they were two years ago. Everything is more expensive, except that reality and be willing to pay the freight because you've done the hard part. You've built your core. Julio, JP, the four young pitchers, cow, like, you have your core in place. And all those guys, like, in general, like, if you hit or miss months or weeks here and there, but all those guys in your core are having really good years. Cal's having a good year.

JP's having a good year. Julio, Kirby, Gilbert, Miller, Wu. Like, they're all having good years. Castillo, like, so don't be afraid to go supplement. You don't necessarily have to go get another core player. Be great if you did. But you can't just sit here and be like, oh, well, this year's J.D. Martinez wants $15 million, but he's willing to take 10 from the Dodgers.

Like, why would we pay a 50% markup? Because you have to. like sorry don't be afraid don't be afraid to give the extra year really don't be afraid to give the extra year at this I just and part of that is is that are you afraid to give an extra year because stanton won't swallow money if you have to trade the guy at the end of it and that's the thing right i don't think that jerry de potto and justin hollander are just outright like yeah i just don't want the extra year it's no it's because we have to plan for the next five years rather than just this year what makes us what is the immediate gratification here we want the immediate gratification screw what happens down the road, right? They do have to account for that. And if Stanton is restricting them in some way over like a five-year window,

then they just have to work within that, right? There's nothing else they can do about that. They can beg and plead and all that stuff with Stanton for him to, you know, help them out a bit more. But if he's just not willing to do that, they just have to play by his rules, essentially. So this ultimately all falls on Stanton

at the end of the day and the off season. We really have to go. but I do want to say one last thing. And then Ty, when I finish this sentence, you go to wrap. Okay. No adding on. Yes. Be careful this winter because they didn't give an extra year to a guy saying like,

oh, that's because they're cheap. There was nothing wrong with the Mariners not giving Mitch Hanager the third year that he wanted. There's nothing wrong with that. That is a calculated risk. That is not cheapness. That is a risk. Just be careful. Not every time they don't come up with a deal isn't because they're cheap,

even though the deal seems reasonable on paper. Sometimes they just don't like that player. or there are legitimate concerns like health. And by the way, Mitch Hanager's missed most of this year again, unfortunately. Right. Context is very important. That's the only thing I'll add.

Anyway, let's get out of here. That's going to do it for our show. Thank you so much for joining us here on the lockdown Marriss podcast. I've been your host, Tadang Gonzalez. Colby Pat Node and I, be sure to give us a follow on Twitter at L0-N-R-N-Rerners. You're distracting me with doing that. You can follow me at Dan Gonzalez,

this D-A-N-Z-L-Z and Colby at C-P-E-E-E-B-E-E. You can also find all that stuff in the description of this episode. Thank you again for making us your first listen. Have yourself a beautiful baseball day, and we'll see you next time. Peace.