Locked On Mariners - Daily Podcast On the Seattle Mariners - Mailbag: What Should the Mariners Do in Light of Ty France's Struggles?

Episode Date: September 5, 2023

Colby and Ty answer some questions from Locked On Mariners listeners, including what the Mariners should do if Bryan Woo has finally run out of gas, what the future holds for Ty France, if Mike Ford is a better option at first bace, and much 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!IbottaDownload the free Ibotta app and use code MLB for $5 off when you register. 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.BunchesDownload the Bunches App today and when you do, our friends at Bunches have featured the LOCKED ON MLB Bunch in the “Discover” tab. Find the Locked On MLB bunch HERE. NutrafolTake the first step to visibly thicker, healthier hair. For a limited time, Nutrafol is offering our listeners ten dollars off your first month’s subscription and free shipping when you go to Nutrafol.com/men and enter the promo code LOCKEDONMLB. GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONMLB for $20 off your first purchase.FanDuelMake Every Moment More. Right now, when you bet on a Super Bowl Winner, you can GET BONUS BETS EVERY TIME THEY WIN IN THE REGULAR SEASON! FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON.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.

Thai France continues to struggle and there are no signs of that changing anytime soon. So what do the Mariners do with him both now and in the future? We'll answer that and more coming up here on the Locked-on Mariner's podcast. Colby, hit it. You are Locked-on Mariners. Your daily Seattle Mariners podcast. Part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Ahoy, sailors.

It is Tuesday, September 5th, 2023. This is Tedding. Asalus and Colby Patented for the Lockdowne Mariner's podcast. podcast brought to you by Sleeper. Swing for the fences on Sleeper picks and you can win up to 100 times your money. Download the Sleeper app and use promo code locked on. That's L-O-C-K-D-O-N. You'll get up to $100 matched on your first deposit.

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Let's see what's on your minds this week. We're going to start here with Jace. He wants to know with Wu and possibly Miller seemingly hitting their breaking points, what buttons can service to Poto and Hollander hit down the stretch for the rotation to survive. Colby? Yeah, I don't think Miller is hitting a breaking point. He's just now passing the career high innings pitch that he set last year and asking him to throw another 30, 35 innings with an extra month of the season

is not asking too much whatsoever. So I don't think that he's hitting his breaking point. I don't know. Obviously, I don't know how Miller's feeling, but I would be pretty surprised if that was the case. As for Wu, yeah, it's tough to say, you know, fastball velo has been down pretty significantly each month. He is well past his career high in innings pitched.

And, you know, he is a guy who has faced injuries in his career. So he doesn't, it's, you know, he doesn't have that natural buildup anyways. He didn't pitch a lot in college. He didn't pitch a lot in the minor. So now he's blown past his career high. And they're certainly, it's certainly easy to point towards his struggles and look at his new career high innings pitch and say that's the problem. But we don't know for sure. I mean, it seems like the most likely scenario, but we don't know.

And the unfortunate thing is that I don't know there's a lot of levers for any of these guys to pull because, you know, Hancock's out for the year. So you're talking about best options in-house. Adam Aller or Tommy Malone, which, I mean, Darren McCacken, like, do you trust those guys more than you do, Woo? Maybe, maybe not. So there's really not anybody go out and get in free agency. Like, is Noah Cindergarde? Do you really want him more than you want Adam Aller? No, probably not.

So I think if you're not going to trust those guys, Aller, Aller, you know, macaque and Malone. If you're not going to trust those guys in a playoff race, which I get, then you're pretty much just stuck with Wu. And the only thing I could think of that you could do is introduce an opener. So maybe it's, you know,

maybe it's Luke Weaver for two and a third. And then you go to Wu for, you know, 50, 60 pitches and see what he can do. And see if you can get into the sixth. The only problem with that is is that, you know, if it doesn't work, you probably kick a game or maybe Wu can only go, you know, two. And then all of a sudden, your bullpen has to cover five, six innings again. And well, then the next time out George Kirby only goes four and they have to cover five innings again.

And you don't have a lot of days off. So there's really not a lot of you can't really push them too much. You can maybe push him back once more this season. You kind of don't have an obvious replacement for him who could just eat these innings. Like you need them to and bullpening or openers isn't the ideal solution either because you're probably a good arm short in the bullpen as well. So you're kind of stuck and this is why we talked about, you know, the Mariners probably go out and add a pitcher at the deadline. You know, at least one, preferably a starter, but at least go get somebody and they didn't. And they're kind of paying the price for it right now.

But we'll see. I mean, I don't know who is absolutely just out of gas or if he's just struggling right now. or maybe it's a little bit of both. So, yeah, the Mariners have kind of backed themselves into this corner by kind of just saying, no, Emerson Hancock will handle these innings when we have really no proof that suggests that Hancock can handle these innings. So, yeah, pretty poor planning and, and, you know, some bad luck, obviously, you know, with Hancock, Ray, Marco, you know, basically not being able to help you now. Even someone like Taylor Dullard, who like obviously not exciting or anything like that, but just depth. You lost more depth there. Easton McGee.

Like, yeah, you've lost some legit starter depth. And now it's coming back to haunt you a little bit. But, you know, again, I don't, I don't feel super comfortable saying that Wu is, it's 100% because he's out of gas. It seems like that's the most likely scenario, but we don't know. I mean, he also looked really good against the A's his last time now. Yeah. You know, he's looked pretty good just since coming off of the IL in general. But yesterday obviously is a bit concerning because the beelo was significantly down.

It wasn't down a little bit. It was significantly down, like almost two full miles per hour down on a couple of his pitches. And you can't really use the weather as an excuse for it either, right? It's a hot day in Cincinnati. Everything should be working for him there. You know, usually when weather has a factor on the pitching, it's because it's cold. You don't have a great feel for the ball or anything like that. but that's not the case there.

So is it just kind of fatigue? Did he just not have it yesterday? Or is it, you know, his body kind of starting to break down a little bit here in terms of just the, you know, the course of the season, right? Because you mentioned it. He's basically doubled his career high innings at the professional level this year,

you know, between what he's done in the minors and then what he's done at the major league level this year. So, I mean, if it is that, I mean, that shouldn't really come as a surprise, and that's really a fault of anyone, really. That's just, you know, the nature of things, right? He's also a guy that, of course, has, you know, recently come off with Tommy John's surgery.

So you want to typically be delicate with guys like that, especially when they're so, you know, quickly removed from that kind of surgery. I just, I kind of wonder here if they do go strict bullpen day, at least one of these times through the order or through the rotation. because right now he's slated to start in like the gauntlet he's mathematically slated to start in two of the ten games against the Astros,

Rangers, etc. during that stretch. He's also slated to pitch against the Ray is next and then the Dodgers after that. Like there is no soft landing spot here for Wu to kind of just figure it out. So is that really the best position to put him in?

And by virtue is that the best position to put yourself? in. But like you mentioned as well, there aren't other levers to really pull here. What, you're going to start Tommy Malone and a potentially division defining game. You're going to try and justify that. You're going to try and start Luke Weaver in a potentially division defining game. Like, there isn't a right answer here as far as I'm concerned. And that's a problem, right? We know that they talk to some teams about starting pitching. but for you know one reason or the other they didn't do that and look you know they can't foresee you that you know all these guys are going to get hurt and emerson hancock's going to get hurt again and blah blah blah blah I get that all that but they needed to do something to protect themselves a little bit like I don't know rich hill I know that sounds like awful I know everyone is rolling their eyes right now I can hear all of your eyes collectively rolling at me right now but still it's just

You couldn't have gotten like a sixth starter, a number six starter who you can just kind of stash away for the time being. Like, because again, you, you know that like Wu might break down towards the end of the year, given the innies. You know that, you know, Bryce Miller might start to regress. You, you, all logic points to that in result. And it just feels like they kind of ignored that. And obviously that goes into the whole discussion of did they actually, you know, think they were going to content. 10 yada yada yada did they actually believe in the 2023 team et cetera whatever even if they didn't they still needed an arm to take the starts for Brian Wu yeah like this team could have used

their version of Mike leak um Tyler Anderson like yeah yeah but so is what it is too late yeah so now you know you made your bed now you got to sleep in it we'll see how they navigate it I have no idea if if woo is actually kind of hitting a uh uh an endpoint here if he's found the end of his rope. I have no clue what they're going to do. And yeah, they might end up losing a couple of games here because of it. Yep, that they're going to need. So, all right, we got more questions coming up here on the Lockdown Marries podcast.

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You can check out all the action on the Marys hometown broadcast for Sirius XM v, the XXM app if you're not able to watch it. Let's get back into these questions here on this mailbag episode of the Lockdown Marreras podcast. TDJZ wants to know how long does Brian O'Keefe have to start producing hits until he gets replaced by Luis Trekk. Lorenz also love the show. All right.

So Luis Terence has been with the Mariners for about a week. He's been back with the organization for about a week. He obviously started the year with the Cubs. I think that's the only team he's been with other than the Mariners this year. He got released by them, I don't know, a month and a half ago, maybe two months ago. They obviously want to get his legs back under him. He's playing in Tacoma right now. I do think that they brought him in to potentially come up

at some point that it wasn't just for you know depth at the AAA level I think it is with the major league ball club in mind especially with the injury to Tom Murphy and you know Murphy was cleared for baseball activities but he's

not ready to go out on a rehab assignment yet according to Jerry Depoto that was last week that was on Thursday that depoto said that so maybe that is changed by now or is getting close to changing but the Mariners still have to weather the storm in the meantime.

Murphy's obviously been, you know, one of their better hitters when healthy. He's obviously, you know, offers some great depth at the catching position. And O'Keefe, I mean, you know, no disrespect to Brian O'Keefe for the show, but he's he is not a major league caliber

hitter. I'm sorry to say. Now, that's not to say that Luis Trenz is significantly better than that, but you're familiar with him. He has been able to produce for you at maybe you can get lucky here and just get something out of him for like a week until Murphy comes up. I just, I don't know when they're going to be comfortable with calling him up.

But I think the time on, on O'Keefe is running out because he's just, he's been a black hole whenever he's been in the lineup. Yeah, you don't even feel great about him, you know, getting a full day or giving Cal a full day off. So it's just one of those things.

Turenz is at least familiar with the pitchers in this. rotation. And also how many times has Cal Pinch hit on days that O'Keefe has started? I feel like it's been at least three. I think every time except for the blowout against Houston. Yeah, like he hasn't gotten a full. Is that even a blowout? No, they came back. Remember? At a camera, we started Saturday. That was that was the, that was the game that obviously they won because they swept Houston. But they, uh, they, uh, they, the Astros came back, remember, and they won by like, what, one or two, something like that? So, yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, I think every time, and like I said, Turenz may not be better than O'Keefe, but at least he has a track record of hitting some in the big leagues. He hits lefties really well, and he's pretty darn familiar with this pitching stuff. So, yeah, I think it's definitely possible to make that change, but I don't know how Turance is doing it in the minors. I don't know how they feel about it. And again, for all we know, it's just depth, just in case something happens to, you know, O'Kee for Murphy's has a setback

or God forbid something happens to Cal. So tough to say, but I do think that, I do think that Turenz's presence is a very tough to stand on the 40-man roster. Yeah. Next question here comes from Kip, who wants to know what do you see as a realistic future for Thai France and first base?

Not so much what should they do, but what do you think they will do? Yeah, I think you guys already know what we think they should do as far as Thai France goes this off season. But what do we think they will do? I'm not sold that they're going to move off of Thai France. I'm not. I think that they absolutely should, you know, heavily consider that, especially when you factor in that he's probably going to make like seven million dollars in arbitration this off season. I think they're going to still pay that. I think they're still going to pay that. I think

they're going to bank on the bounce back happening. I think they still believe in the bat that they I don't think that they are going to buy into this being who Thai France is, whether that's right or wrong. And I don't agree with that. I'll just say that. But I think that's what's going to happen here. And if not, you know, we've also talked about Dom Kanzone and how he's, you know, he kind of fits into everything. I think they are like no matter what happens for the rest of the year. I think they are going to try and force him into an everyday role to at least start the season. So maybe that's the answer there.

Maybe he's the first basement if they do move off of France. But I just, I have a really hard time buying that they're going to to move on from France, at least during the off season. Maybe once we get a couple of months into next season and if he's still struggling the way that he is right now, maybe they finally, you know, come to their senses and do something about that.

but it's probably going to be when it's too late and then they have to figure things out on the fly. Yeah. This winter is probably the most important winter in Thai France's entire life. He has to be better. Like I know a lot of Mariner fans out there are doing, you know, contorting themselves like a gymnast trying to make Thai France make too much sense on this roster next year to move on from him. But that's not the case. He's a first baseman who can't hit. He's the first baseman who's on base percentage while it's good right now is heavily influenced by the fact that he gets hit by an incredible number of pitches.

Right. Not hitting for power. He's we saw we know we see pretty much every day how much his speed hurt you. And even when he does get on base, it's not a necessarily great thing because he's sitting a lot of singles. Like he's just not. I mean, how many how many times has a ball been hit into the gap or in the corner? And you would think like any other running. but Ty France would score on that play and he ends up only get into third and maybe also hinders the runner behind him from moving up another base.

Like he hurts you on the base pass. He doesn't hit for like he's not slugging. Like he's not getting doubles. He's not hitting home runs. He has a 92 WRC plus the last three weeks. That's terrible from your first basement. Your first baseman has to hit. Yeah.

Especially if you're not getting, you know, elite production from your other corner spot, third base. And Gino isn't. Gino's having a downyear offensively. He's making up for it defensively, which is something by France isn't capable of doing. I know a lot of people think he's an amazing first baseman, but here's a little hint, guys, amazing first base defense. Not that valuable. You have to hit that position.

Like obviously it's better than having like us, you know, the worst defender in major league history playing first base. but unless you're Evan White, and even Evan White has to hit, you know, at least with Ty France is hitting for that defense to make a difference. So it's just he's not, he's not a good player right now. He's a part-time player who's hurting your team.

There might be reasons for it. Maybe he's hurt. I don't know. But, well, I mean, he's been hit on the wrist. He's been hit on the elbow. Like obviously those things do impact swings and bat speed and all that stuff.

It does impact that. But, I mean, I guess, but Ty's got a really long swing anyways. But that probably negatively impacts that even further, right? Like so I guess I don't know why. The thing though is like even though like even if all those things are going on here and that's totally fine and that's totally fair and whatever, I'm not going to fully blame Ty for his struggles. But you got to be real with yourself here if you're the Mariners. Is it benefiting you the most to continually put him in the lineup?

And right now he's hurting you more often than he's helping you. Like I know he had a hot start to August, but he's cooled off since basically mid-August. He's been a below-average hitter. I just, I don't, he doesn't make up for it in any other area. Right. I mean, I wouldn't be shocked if he lost some at bats when Keltonick comes back because Ford would play first.

And Mike Ford right now is starting to help you a little bit more. Yeah, we have a question about that a little later on. So I think ultimately what they'll do is they'll give it another shot. But I think they're going to cover their bases a little bit. I think Canzone could be part of that. So maybe they add an extra outfielder who, you know, doesn't make a ton of scent. You're like, well, how are they going to get all five of those guys at bats? And it's like, it's a hedge.

You know, you're hedging your bet on tie. So I think they'll roll it back one more year. But he has to produce. And if he doesn't, then, you know, he's going to get traded for peanuts in July or he's going to get DFAed. because what he's giving you right now overall is a part-time play. Ty France was a second baseman. We'd probably be talking about him as a fringe all-star, but he's not.

He's a first baseman. So, yeah, you have to hit. If you're not going to hit 30 home runs, you can't hit 250 with a sub-400 slug. So he's just not a good fit for this club right now. Next question here comes from Nate.

Do I remember correctly that Canzone can play for a space? Could this be an option considering Kellnick's eminent? return in France being awful. Possibly, I don't know. We haven't heard anything about Dom Canzon in first base since he's come over to the Mariners. He has played it a little bit. We know that he can do it, at least in theory.

But yeah, I don't know. It's possible, but I think the answer there would be Mike Ford. But again, we'll talk more about Ford in a little bit. But ideally, yes. I would like to see Canzone get a lot of, a little bit of run at first base and just see yeah it's not a ton of play time at first base though so yeah it's not it's not it's some and it's something he can probably do but how much do you want to you know teach a guy on the you already have a second basement who's playing out of position right

do you want your entire right side of the infield to be guys who are playing positions they're not 100% comfortable with in a playoff race maybe i mean it it's not something you can just dismiss outright but also let's let's cool off on kelnick's return being imminent yes he's played four days in a row that's a great sign yes he's you know he attempted a stolen base and all that and you know he's played the outfield on back-to-back days and so everything looks good but until we see him back let's hold off on assuming you're going to get anything from him but i i think yeah i think by the end by the time you get home kelnick will be added to this team and then i think you have to make some some tough choices and maybe that means sitting tie france

two days in a row so that mike ford can play first and kelnick can DH. And, you know, if you're talking about, are you taking France, Canzone or, or, or, uh, forward out of the lineup. Right now, you're probably taking France out of the lineup to give outbats to Kelnik. So we'll see how it all works. But yeah, Ty is, uh, Tye's disappointing year is certainly, uh, forced the team to, to, to scramble. And I think anything has, anything and everything has to be on the table when you're, when you are where you are right now in a playoff chase. Yeah. What been. benefits you the most.

And right now, I don't think you can make a strong argument that forcing the France situation is benefiting you the most that is putting you in the best position to succeed right now. You're listening to the Locked-on Mariners podcast. Thank you again for making us your first listen.

We're answering some of your Mariners questions. Speaking of the Mariners, they're facing the Reds. In a couple hours here, you can catch all the action on the Mariners hometown broadcast with Sirius XM via the SXM app. Next question here comes from

Ham Swaggarty 69. Who is Miss Moore at the moment? Derek Kelnick, Tom Murphy. It's Murphy to me. The leadership, the ability that it gives you to give Cal a blow, the fact that, I mean, for a time there, he was like one of your three best hitters. I know that says more about your roster than Murphy maybe,

but, I mean, he has statistically been one of the best hitting catchers in all in baseball. And those lineups where he was deaching and Cal was catching or vice versa, they were doing some damage. So I think it's Murphy. I really do think that it's Murphy. I assume that your answer, judging by your reaction,

is Kelnick, but I don't know, the benefits that Murphy's presence on the roster has to me are undenialed. Yeah. Let me counter with this. Have you watched Kade Marlowe's last 50 plate appearances? It's like a 45% K rate. It's not good.

Like swing and miss K. made marlowe's back and it's yeah it's it's bad the league figure right now his replacement is is sam haggerty and dillan more who are also not exactly lighten the world on fire at the plate whereas cow's been fine like i get you don't want to run call into the ground but like we're at that point where you just got to do what you got to do i mean but you could theoretically have a canzone Julio Teo outfield with Murphy or Raleigh D-Hing and then the other catching

You could also theoretically go You know I mean like let's not forget like you could go Canzone Julio Kelnick Teo deaching Kellnick had a great month of April but he was struggling after that I mean he was starting to get it back together a little bit there before the injury but he like let's

not act like he was like an above league average hitter. Do you want me to read the Marlowe's slash line to you again by the way again again just real fast just side tangent here um obviously they need both of them uh yeah i think they need kelnick more because he's an everyday player murphy i don't know if he is i don't know if he can be but obviously you how nice would it be if you just say cal sit down you're not playing today especially since we're playing 25 games and 27 days yeah you know to end this thing like and you feel good about the guy who you have back there um but we don't know that's going to be the

case so but and we know that cal is an absolute dog right like last year playing with you know half of his thumb broken off and all that stuff like i get it but like let's let's let's let's give him a blow also real quick we didn't get a question on this sorry to go off on another tangent here but we didn't get a question about this but like it's great and all that gino has played in every game that's awesome like good for him but he could really use a day off like he really looks like he needs a day off i was about to tell you this uh gino is not in the lineup today so good good like i mean that my guess is the mariner's chances of winning today but good in the long run

yeah my my guess is he gets into the game tonight either as a defensive replacement or as a pinch hitter and they keep that streak alive or whatever but sure yeah when we heard gino talk about like how much like oh i'm going to play every day i want to play every day like i want to play 162 it's like i mean good but also aren't you kind of hurting the team by not taking the day off yeah like buddy that's awesome love you like you're you're awesome but let's chill you might be hurting the team a bit here yeah you look a little gasped yeah so there's nothing wrong with playing 155 there's like there's nothing wrong with a little self-care yeah can you take a day off a month can we compromise here one a month

at least yeah yeah um so yeah glad he's i'm obviously you want gino in the lineup but the gno we've seen the last few weeks like do you really want that guy in the lineup like I want them on the field. I want them on the field. Yes, you do. Yeah. Hey, but we get to see Cabiero play third. So that'll be fun.

Wait, really? It's not Rojas? No, Rojas is still playing second. Rojas is the, what? Yeah, Rojas is actually like a good third baseman. Rojas is way better at third base than Cabiero is. And Cabiero is probably much better at second. Yeah, he's probably way better at second than Rojas.

Maybe it's a, maybe it's a typo, but that's the way it is presented right now. So it doesn't make sense, but whatever. Yeah. Sure. Yeah. But anyways, back to my original tangent. Don't be surprised if Haggerty is not the one who's kicked off of this roster when Kelman comes back because Marlowe, they're not starting him against righties. They're not starting him against lefties.

They didn't start him in center field when Julio needed a day for his foot. They started Dillamore instead. And Marlowe is clearly a better defensive outfielder than Dillamore. And they still wouldn't start him. So like they're really only using them in blowouts and for the rare pinch hitting. Like don't be shocked. Don't be shocked is all I'm saying if Marlowe's the guy who sent down. So yeah, they need both of these guys.

But I think Kelnick is probably more needed right now. Yeah. All right. Next question here comes from Buddy. Is Tyler Locklear a part of this team's future, especially with Thai Francis struggle with so many Thai France questions. I get it though. I totally understand. Is he a part of the future?

No, in the sense that like, if you traded him, you wouldn't be like, oh, they're mortgaging a part of the future. Like, no,

he's a nice prospect. And he might be able to help you here sooner rather than later, but is he a part of the future? I don't know. I wouldn't consider him to be like that core of the next, you know, way of Mariners' prospects.

No, but he might be the next like, big bat that comes through the system that can help you unless you can't like Ryan Bliss who you know a lot of his value comes from defense and and base running too you said it in a little better lately do you last four or five days might

be the call there no no I don't see it but maybe you never know again at this stage every single win matters every single advantage you have matters so you might take a shot and look they were pretty close on you know bringing Cade Marlow up last year during the postseason And we didn't expect that at all. So maybe.

Right. Basically it comes down to you. Do you think he's better than what Sam Haggertie does? Yeah. Is he better at that than Sam Haggertie is? Yeah. I don't know. I don't know.

It's a risk because we don't know what he is. So I don't think he's part of the core. I could easily see them trade him this winter. But if they don't, if he sticks around, yeah, I think, you know, in theory, like the Mariners would in pencil write down Locklear as kind of the Thai France replacement after Ty leaves for free lives, uh, leaves in free agency. I don't think they have any plans on extending him, uh, even before this season.

But right, I think locklear is the plan, but I could, I could see him trading them, trading him. So I don't know if he's the future first baseman, but I think right now he is the guy who they would, uh, they would move to. Um, but I, I don't feel comfortable saying that like, he's a part of the future because they could just as easily trade him for a fourth outfielder. And I'd be like, okay. So it's kind of a, he's, he's a fringe like excitable process. I don't know. I think I have like 11 or 12 in my prospect rank.

So yeah, it's a good prospect. Let's put it this way, right? Like he's someone that I could definitely see being a part of the 2024 ball club in some capacity. But he's not someone that I would consider to be like, like that I'm writing. I mean, in pencil, pen, it doesn't matter as a part of any future mariner. Right. If the Mariners traded Cole Young, right, this winter, I would be shocked. Yeah.

If they traded Tyler Locklear, I'd be like, okay. Yeah. What they get? That makes sense. What they get? Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah.

Kind of a gray area. Last question of the day comes from Seattle or bus. Mike Ford has an 840 OPS, a 140 OPS plus. He's also five for 11 against lefties. With a 1084 OPS in his career, he has a 937 OPS against lefties. This is a lot of OPS. Is it time for the locked on pod to lay off him as someone who should be DFA'd? Is it time for the M's to start him more against lefties?

And he's better than Thai France. Not that difficult. First of all, stop using the OPS. That's a staff for children. The problem with OPS is that it values on base percentage and slugging as equal. they are not. A single point of on base is worth four points of slugging. It's four times more valuable than slugging.

Stop using that. Use WRC plus like a grownup. Okay. Let's start with that. Second of all, you want to use 11 at bats as proof that Mike Ford can hit lefties? That's where we're going with that, really? I knew you were going to have many issues with this question. We appreciate your question, by the way. I honestly do appreciate your question.

Let's just, let's just like raise the level of how we're asking it is all I'm saying. But you did you, you did use OPS plus. So I will give you credit for that. That is much better than OPS. Right. WRC plus is not on baseball reference. They have OPS plus. So go to fan grass.

It's a little bit better. Go to fan grass. But yeah. So just from that standpoint, I don't care what his OPS is because if his, if his on base is is 250, but he's slugging 600. It's like, okay, that's not as valuable if he's, if he's on base is. 400 and he's slugging 420. Like, that just, they're not the same, right?

Even though the OPS would be the same. I don't, I don't think Mike Ford belongs on a, like a World Series roster, but, you know, going back to the deadline for a brief minute, that's why we wanted them to add that. So that guys like Mike Ford would be expendable instead of right now where Ford is kind of like an important piece of your lineup. Like, that's not a good thing. That's not something that we should be happy about. You know, we're not going to relitigate that whole thing again.

But so yeah, but right now you put yourself in a position where you kind of need Mike Ford to be good. And that's the problem. But thankfully, you know, the last week or so, he has been pretty good. He's been hitting home runs. You know, he's been drawing more walks. The strikeout numbers have started to kind of go back down a little bit. It looks like he's made an adjustment or something, which is good because you need that, particularly while Ty and Gino are struggling right now.

and, you know, God forbid, Julio or Teosker going to the tank here in the next, you know, week or two before those guys figure it out. So, yeah, I don't think you're DFAing Ford at this point. I think you kind of made your bed with that back on August 1 or 2 whenever the deadline was. And, you know, obviously, Ty, Ty, was hitting like All-Star Thai France. We could probably have that conversation, but he's not. So you can't, you know, it's probably. probably he's probably safe to be on this roster the rest of the year.

You know, I don't think he should be a lock for the playoff roster, but he's probably going to make it. And that's more due to a poor deadline than, you know, Mike Ford forcing his forcing your hand. It's you, you kind of force Mike Ford on yourself instead of Mike Ford making you carry him.

So I don't think he's an ideal player to carry on the bench. He's a one trick pony. He doesn't play any defense, doesn't run well. But at least he hits home. runs and the mariner's have a one trick pony who doesn't hit home runs so i guess technically that makes him a zero trick pony uh in tie france at the moment like tie france is one trick right now is to get hit by a pitch like that's and obviously that's not good clearly it's not so i think for it's

pretty safe but uh you know i don't think it's because he's uh it's because he should be i just think that the mariners did a poor job of making him replaceable and that's a problem but uh no i don't think he needs more at-bats against lefties. Why would you change how you're using him? If you think it's working, if you think the mayors have gotten the most out of Mike Ford, then why would you change how you're using him? It just, it doesn't make sense. And France is still significantly better shot to get hits off of lefties than Mike Ford is. So no, I don't think that Ford is going to get DFA'd, but no, I also don't think you should get more starts against lefties and, you know, play a ton more than he is right now, because honestly,

right now he's pretty much an everyday player at this stage again. So, There's not much more you can give. There's not much more opportunity you can give the guy. All right. That's going to do it for our show. Thank you so much for joining us here on the Lockdown Mariners podcast. For Colby Patnode, I'm Tadden, Gonzalez. Be sure to give us a follow on Twitter at L-O-U-N-Rer-Nors.

You can follow me at Dan G-N-G-N-ZL-Z and Colby at CPAT 11. That's C-PAT-11. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok as well over at Locked-on Mariners. It's one word, Locked-on Mariners. You can also find all that stuff in the description of this episode. Thank you again for making us your first, listen now head on over to serious xm on the sxm app check out the mariners and the reds on the mariner's hometown broadcast have yourself a beautiful baseball day we'll see you next time peace