Locked On Mariners - Daily Podcast On the Seattle Mariners - Mailbag: Will Jarred Kelenic Save the Mariners From Their September Scaries?
Episode Date: September 12, 2023It's Mailbag Monday! The guys answer a plethora of Mariners questions from listeners, including: Is this upcoming series with the Angels a "must sweep?" What did Colby and Ty think of George Kirby's c...omments following Friday's loss to the Rays? And when in Julio's career could we see him move off of center field?Be sure to follow or subscribe to Locked On Mariners wherever you prefer your podcasts! For questions and other inquiries, email: lockedonmariners@gmail.comFollow 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.
Transcript
Discussion (0)
It's a new week and the Mariners are back in Seattle.
Let's kick things off with a dive into the mailbag.
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 Monday, September 11th, 2023.
This is tighting as Olson.
Colby Patnode for the Lockedon Marries podcast.
Brought to you by GameTime.
Download the GameTime app, create an account,
and use promo code Locked On MLB,
$20 off your first purchase.
last minute tickets lowest price guaranteed.
Thank you so much for making us your 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.
We'd love to hear from you.
And if you want to hear from us even more,
please consider signing 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.
It's Mailbag Monday.
Let's see what you guys want to know.
We're going to start here with Jace, who asked,
are there any signs that the Ms might be able to turn this around?
Signs?
No.
No, no, no signs to be found here.
No signs to be found over the last few days for sure.
I'll say this, though.
We do know what the talent of this team is.
We do know what the potential of this team is.
They just have to play better.
And is it possible they could just, you know, flip the switch and start playing better?
Absolutely.
They're starting rotation.
was incredibly mediocre on this road trip,
and that hasn't been the case at all this season.
So hopefully that gets turned around.
I mean,
the offense was bad at times,
but it wasn't the worst thing in the world over the 10-game span.
Again, it wasn't great.
It wasn't great.
And at times,
they really came through.
And at times,
they were very much let down by their pitching staff.
but yeah is it possible that things can all come together and click at once absolutely are there signs
of that happening nope not at all it's over it's never been more over right uh you might as well
just bench gino and give jake lamb all the up at um bringing that one back huh yeah old school
uh long time listeners will appreciate it yep uh yeah no there's absolutely no signs uh like if you
want to try and be super optimistic, you could say, like, well, they probably should have won three out of four in Tampa, but yeah, you know, the thing is they didn't. They lost three out of four in Tampa because they're starting pitching slash bullpen imploded on Friday and Saturday. So that doesn't count. Like, that's not a good sign that they should have won three or four against a good team. They didn't. Like, there's nothing good about that. So, no, there is no good sign. Not yet.
that could change in a day or two.
But no, there really isn't because the starting pitching was mediocre.
The bullpen was awful.
The offense, by the way, in September is scoring the same amount of runs per game as it did in April.
So they're also giving up more runs per game than they have at any other month so far in September.
So, yeah, no, there's nothing.
There's nothing to hang your hat on here other than the fact that, you know, you know how talented they are.
You know what they can do.
but they haven't done it for about two weeks now.
So there's only about two,
three weeks left in the season.
So,
like it's go time,
man.
Like,
you better turn it around tonight,
starting tonight,
because it's not going to get any easier down the stretch.
So,
no,
there are no good signs,
at least not present.
The only thing you can really hang your hat on is the idea that,
like,
well,
we know they're better than this.
And they probably are,
but a lot of teams are bad for,
month.
And the Mariners are about halfway there and they only have about halfway to go.
So we'll see.
But no, there are no present signs.
Next question here comes from David with the three and seven road trip.
The Mariners play themselves into a position where they have to sweep the angels.
Have to sweep?
No.
But you have to win two or three here at least.
You have to win the series.
If you don't win the series and you go into a series with the Dodgers, you're cooked.
I'm sorry, you're dead.
it's over i mean short of like sweeping the rangers like seven times like going seven and oh
against the rangers but like i mean sure yeah what i'm what i'm saying is very hyperbolic but still
but still i mean it's it's it's just playing the reality the vibes are the vibes could not be
worse if you lose this series and by the way anaheim while they're broken
they're going to come at you with everything they got because they have nothing to lose and they're you know
they still they're still major leaguers like they're still they still have pride they still have the
ability to knock you out of the playoff race and all that stuff they're going to play hard right um so
i'd say if you play like you're capable playing then you should probably sweep the angels if you
play like you did this last week you are going to lose this series so at the very least you have
to find something in the middle um and i think tonight is absolutely crucial because you don't
want to get into a four game losing streak uh you want to start turning this thing around immediately
you want to put the pressure on Anaheim over the next two instead of yourself.
So I think tonight is an absolutely crucial game,
but I don't think you have to sweep necessarily.
I think you have to find a way to go three and three this week at the bare minimum,
go three and three.
You are getting some help because Texas and Toronto are going to start a four-game series tonight.
I don't think it actually, I don't know.
Do we have a question about this later, who we're rooting for?
No, no, no, no.
Yeah, or you go ahead.
I was just going to say, I don't think it matters.
You just want one team to sweep the other.
Yeah.
I really don't think it matters who.
That's the ideal situation, right?
Because that hopefully, like if you can win these games against the angels,
hopefully you can create a good amount of separation there between you and whichever team gets swept.
More likely, though, what's going to happen is that both of these teams kind of just stay static.
and hopefully you're able to maybe get a game or two on someone.
Well, if you sweep, right, hypothetically, if you do sweep,
you're gaining at least two games on somebody.
Because even if the series of split two, two,
you're either gaining two games on Texas or two games on Toronto.
That's huge.
But hypothetically, right, let's say you sweep, you know, fingers crossed.
And just because Toronto's playing well,
now in Texas isn't Toronto sweeps Texas.
Okay, well, now Texas is five games back of you.
Well, three, four and a half games back of you.
So at that point, you know, you only have to win a handful of games against Texas at the end to kind of put the nail in their coffin.
But, you know, it works just the same with Toronto because I think you're only a game back of them.
So I think you're just rooting for a sweep.
But at the end of the day, the only thing that matters is that the Mariners win.
because it doesn't matter if you get swept and Texas gets swept.
You're still like only a game up in the playoffs and you play them seven times.
So you have to win.
Like that is the only thing that matters.
The next three days probably define what the last two weeks of your entire season look like.
No.
You have to win the series.
You have to.
Do you have to sweep?
No, not necessarily.
But if you come out of this two and one or one and two, unless you're going to sweep the Dodgers,
I think that it's basically over at that point.
We can certainly kiss the division goodbye at that stage.
They would do that, though.
They would lose the series of the angels and then sweep the Dodgers.
We come in on Thursday.
It's over, blah, blah, blah.
Like, should they call it bliss, give him playing time?
And they've, like this whole season,
the team, individual players, have made it their mission
to make you and I look stupid immediately.
We'll make some big, bold proclamation most of the time.
and then you know something will happen and then you know people of course seek us out to
tweet at us I guess but as people might know I am the optimist of the group so right right
yeah I'm the Debbie downer yeah I'm the wet blanket yeah yep yeah that sounds right all right
we got more questions coming up here in just a moment but first a reminder this episode of the
lockdown airs podcast is brought to you by game time buying tickets to your favorite events shouldn't be
stressful. Game time is a fast and easy way to buy tickets for all the sports, music,
comedy, and theater near you. And with killer deals and last minute tickets in their best
price guarantee, you can stop stressing over the tickets and start getting hype for the fun you'll
have. So forget planning months in advance, game time has deals on tickets right up to the day of
the event. Snag the tickets without the stress with Game Time. Download the GameTime app,
create an account, and use promo code Locked on MLB for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply.
Again, create an account, redeem promo code Locked on MLB for $20,
off. Download game time today. Last minute tickets. Lowest price. Guaranteed. And you're listening to
the Lockdown Mariners podcast. Thank you again for making us your first listen. Tonight, the Mariners begin
a three game series with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Can catch all the action on the
Marrish hometown broadcast with Sirius XM via the SXM app. And Jared Kelnick is back. We got a couple
of questions about like what would be the corresponding move with Kellnick. But we already know what
that is. Cade Marlow got sent down today. So before we get back into the
these questions. Colby, I have a question for you. What are the expectations or what should the
expectations be for Jared Kelnick in his return? Superstar. Right. September Kelnick, baby. Jerry
Bond's is back. Sure. That's right. Reddmer's tonight on the mound. So we'll see how that
goes. Jerry Bonds is going yard off of reedetters. All right. We'll see. Let's get back into these
questions. Gomsner wants to know you've talked before about how Scott's best skill as a
manager as a manager is clubhouse culture. Wow, I cannot read this question. Can you guys speak to
what you've heard and is going on in the clubhouse right now? What Scott's response has been in
general and also specifically for Kirby. So Colby, we haven't really had much of an opportunity
here to talk about the Kirby situation. Yeah, I know. Yeah, because we really want to get involved in
that discourse, which has gotten to embarrassing levels, and for some reason still hasn't died,
even though that Kirby, you know, owned up to it, apologize, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera,
the following day. It's still going on. It's still going on. So, yeah, what do we think about
the clubhouse and then, you know, the Kirby situation? I think the clubhouse is still probably
pretty fine. Like, it's obviously not like a super energetic clubhouse at the moment.
because, you know, you went three and seven on a long road trip.
So, yeah, they're probably not, the vibes probably aren't great,
but I don't think there's like a catastrophic, like, mutiny happening after a 10-game stretch
or anything like that.
So I think that part's fine.
And then, you know, and specifically with Kirby, like, I mean, should you have said it?
No, absolutely not.
That's a stupid thing to say.
you know and it also it's that's not a great look for you it's probably ticked off a few of your
teammates probably ticked off your coaching staff and your management team and all that stuff and
you know it we talked about how or at least i talked about how uh you know this thing
as long as george comes out tomorrow the next day and just like owns it like then it's dead like
there's nothing here and so uh that that's what happened you know it's again was it a stupid thing to say
Yes.
Yeah.
Was it any stupider than people calling him Eric Bedard or calling George Kirby soft because he,
you know,
he said,
oh,
I didn't think I should be out there after 94 pitches.
Like,
no.
And by the way,
like,
let's look at some of the major leaguers who are calling him like soft and all that
stuff and look at what they did in their career.
They've got no,
no room to talk.
Talk their smack.
Okay.
So,
yeah,
I think a lot of,
a lot of fan reaction is either,
um,
people's toxic masculinity is showing, but also too on the other side,
there's a lot of people who just want to pretend that like George is totally justified to say
what he said. And that's not true either.
Like George shouldn't have said it publicly, right?
Yep.
We can agree on that.
But, you know, it, it just feels like there was a lack of communication, right?
Like either George thought he was done and just assumed he was done or, you know,
coaching staff went to him and said, we really need you for a couple more outs today.
And George didn't like that.
But at the end of the day, he shouldn't have said it.
He owned up to it.
He's not soft because he said it out loud.
He just made a mistake.
Like, it's fine.
I don't think this is an issue whatsoever for anybody left in the clubhouse.
I don't think this is an issue for Scott.
I don't think this is an issue for George.
I just think it's a lot of people trying to score, you know, pretty cheap points on both sides of it.
Again, at the end of the day, I think the correct response is what George said.
I shouldn't have said that.
Like that that's not something that, you know, I, I think that's not something that I like do.
Like it's frustrating outing.
It's been a frustrating road trip.
And, you know, I should have, I shouldn't have, uh, aired that out.
And yeah, that, that's, that's the correct response.
Like, yeah, something to say, not a huge deal in the grand scheme of things.
Yeah, I, I hated it.
You know, I didn't like it when it happened.
I thought it was a really bad look, both for George.
just the team as a whole, especially with how, you know, frustrating that the road trip had been
up to that point and got even worse, you know, from that point forward. I do appreciate him going,
you know, hey, like, I don't think I should have been out there. Like, you know, he's, he's thinking
of the team. What puts the team in the best position to succeed? And he didn't think that that was with
him on the mound. And I actually agree with him, right? But him coming out and saying that to the media,
right before you know potentially even talking to scott about it behind the scenes that is a betrayal of the culture um scott service is cultivated
scott service and his coaching staff and the people that you know make up the front office of the mariners
organization have cultivated um so from that aspect hated that uh but so glad that he owned up to it and at that point
you move on but yeah for george you know it's like if you're a teammate of george and he makes
those comments right he still didn't execute right he had the 30 plus pitch inning in the first
inning which you know had a trickle down effect on the rest of the outing uh and you know well
yeah he was at 94 pitches and didn't really feel great that's still not necessarily an egregious
thing to ask him to do especially when he is one of the three best pitchers and you're
rotation in the middle of a playoff race.
Like that might be asked of you.
You might have to go out and do that even if he don't feel the best.
And like Luis Castillo the night before, right, he had walked four guys.
He did not look good.
I didn't think that he needed to go back out there for the six.
But he did.
And whether he liked it or not, he didn't go to the media afterwards and complain about it.
Right.
And let's be real about it.
The reason that George made the comments he made is because he gave up the league.
lead. He blew the lead. Had he
thrown a scoreless seventh inning,
he wouldn't have said anything.
So, yeah,
so from that aspect, it's just, it was
really annoying, but I'm glad that he owned up to it.
And let's just move on. And Jared
Weaver, Roger Clemens, shut the hell out.
Yeah. Like, we don't,
we don't need to get into Roger Clemens
passed, uh, on the show.
But, uh, for him to take shots at anybody,
uh, is, is a laugh,
is laughable. It's joke.
Yeah.
Yeah. All right. Next question here comes from Mariners Jersey tracker.
Re, second base for 2024 with Ryan Bliss tearing up AAA. It's hard to imagine he wouldn't make the opening day roster next year.
Would you prefer the M's also go after a free agent's second basement during the winter like Merrifield, Kemp, etc?
Well, I definitely don't think they should like. Yeah.
Yeah, definitely not Kemp. And I definitely don't think they should like just hand the job to, you know, Bliss or even Josh Rojas, right?
I think right now, if we had to predict who's going to be the start and second
basement for the Mariners in 2024, it's probably Rojas.
But I don't think they should hand it to him necessarily.
They definitely shouldn't hand it to someone I'm proven like Bliss.
And here's the thing, right, every single offseason that you and I have been doing these
podcasts together, whether it's locked on, whether it's CTZ, whatever, we always get
asked about young players and how are you going to get them playing time?
You have to get them playing time.
You can't sign this guy because you have to get them playing time.
look every single year
it boggles my mind
how people do not understand
that these things just kind of tend
to work themselves out
and secondly
if you do get a guy
like on a one year deal
right who is a veteran
has done it
and he's playing well enough
to block a Ryan Bliss
in this specific
in this specific example
what's there going to complain about
that means things have gone well for you
like that means you're probably in a good spot that that deal worked out for you so build your roster
where the young guys have to earn it right you're not just giving them these opportunities you are
covering your bases by doing that you are especially because again we're talking about one to two
year deals maybe what merrifield and that specific example is going to get like a three year deal
something like that.
But, you know, in general, like when we talk about these things, it's mostly one to two year
guy.
So it's like, all right, if that doesn't work out or if the young guy comes up and he's just better,
it's not like you're stuck, like your handcuffed to the guy that you signed or that
your handcuffed to the guy that you traded for for a long period of time.
It just makes your overall roster better.
It makes the ecosystem of your roster just that much healthier.
Yeah, depth is good.
and and I despite the way the Mariners seemingly refused to use it at times it's good to have a good bench and yeah uh you know and you say well when did that work look at the short term deals on Wong and Pollock and it's like yeah but Pollock is the point right because the team didn't just give Jared Kellnick 600 plate appearances he didn't just give him starts against lefties automatically he had to earn those and he did and obviously there were some ups and downs and Pollock didn't work out uh
you know, enough to, to cover the ups and downs of Kellnick,
but Kellnick earned the playing time.
Bliss has to do something similar.
It's also worth noting Bliss isn't a lock for the opening day roster
because he doesn't have to be added to the 40 man until next winter.
So once you add him to the 40 man, like you're stuck.
So there's really no reason to add him until you're absolutely certain that he's a big leaguer.
So I think he'll enter spring training next year with a shot to make the opening day club.
But it's not a guarantee by any stretch.
he's not going to be on the 40.
I'd be pretty surprised he was on the 40 man at it, you know, at any point because you don't have to.
And you don't do those things before you feel like you absolutely have to.
So, yeah, I think Bliss has a shot to make the opening day roster.
I don't think he's a lock.
I don't think he's tearing it up in AAA.
I think that's, you know, been the last week or so.
He's been really good.
But overall, not really.
And I'm not sure he's an everyday player.
I think he's probably an everyday second baseman, but we don't know.
And you're not going to go into a year where you think you can win the World Series or you shouldn't,
at least and be like, well, we don't know this guy can play.
You need to go out and you need to get somebody to kind of cover your base.
And that was the idea behind AJ Pollock.
Did it work?
No.
But Cal only proved he could play.
So it's just one of those things where like you need to pick better like security blankets.
Sure.
But you should.
The idea is fine.
The execution this year was bad.
That's the problem.
Those guys didn't produce.
It happens sometimes.
But no, you shouldn't go into next year saying Ryan Bliss is definitely the opening day second
basement. I don't even think you should go into next year saying Dom-Can zone is definitely
the opening day left field or DH or first basement or no, protect yourself.
Yeah. Go and go and do the Wong and the Pollock again. Just pick better players.
You know what I mean? Just, you know, just don't, don't whiff so badly on those types of players.
Right. And, you know, particularly we talk about this a lot, but the Wong thing, really not much
of a whiff. It just, it happened to be. But like, who could have seen that coming? Nobody. And
if you're saying you did, you're lying. Right. Even the people that
are like, oh, he's basically just Adam Frazier.
He wasn't even that.
I wish.
I wish. I, I fricking wish, dude.
Like, absolutely.
Like, he was terrible.
Like, literally one of the worst players of Major League Baseball this year.
Oh, by the way, a free agent second basement who makes sense next year, Adam Frazier.
If you're trying to protect yourself from Ryan Bliss.
My slap them.
There you go.
So, I mean, it might make sense.
I'm just saying.
But, yeah, no, you shouldn't be giving young guys.
guaranteed starting spots because they did well in AAA, not at this stage of your build.
And again, when we're talking about adding veterans at those spots, we're not talking about signing guys to four or five year deals.
We're talking about one, maybe two year deals. Like, you should not avoid those at all because how am I going to get Ryan Bliss playing time?
I mean, you also shouldn't avoid trading for like Labor Torres because you're worried about Ryan Bliss.
You know what I mean? So. Or like, how am I going to get Domcan's own playing time? I certainly can't add.
X outfielder, you know, like, no.
Of course you can.
You absolutely can.
And again, these things, these things tend to work themselves out.
Injuries happen.
Things crop up.
And then when those things happen, if you didn't cover your bases, you're going to get left at the altar.
And we've seen that happen a little bit this year.
So, yeah.
All right.
You got a couple more questions coming up here on Mailbag Monday.
But first, a reminder of this episode of the Lockdown Mary's podcast is
brought to you by Sleeper.
Now, the MLB playoffs are right around the corner, which means the clock is ticking on your
chance to 100 times your cash on daily fantasy baseball.
Pick more or less on stats for your favorite players like home runs, hit strikeouts, and
more for up to a 100 times payout on Sleeper.
Get your picks right and you could win big.
And if things didn't go well in your home league this year, you can still salvage the fantasy
baseball season over at Sleeper.
There, you can pick the players you want and call your shot.
And when you use promo code locked on, that's all the same.
K-D-O-N, you'll get up to $100 matched on your first deposit.
Terms and conditions apply.
See, Sleepers, Terms of Use for Details currently operational in over 30 states.
Check out Sleeper today.
And you're listening to the Lockdown Mariners podcast.
Thank you again for making us your first listen here on Mailbag Monday.
We're answering your Seattle Mariners questions.
Speaking of the Marers, they are starting a three-game series against the Los Angeles Angels
of Anaheim tonight in Seattle.
You can catch all the action on the Maris hometown broadcast with Sirius XM via the S-X-X-M.
M app.
A couple more questions here on Mailbag Monday.
This one comes from Josh.
This might be more of an offseason question,
but realistically,
how many more seasons before the team needs to consider moving
Julio to a corner outfield spot
to potentially save his legs for the long term?
Colby?
It's not on the radar.
I think it's the best way I could put it.
Julio's probably,
I mean, I don't,
Julio might win a gold glove
this year, that center field, and you just don't move that guy off of center field,
especially right now when there's really no evidence to suggest that center field is what's
causing some nagging injuries.
There's really nothing to suggest that.
So, no, I don't think you're talking about that for at least two or three more years.
And on top of that, who are you going to get right now that's better than Julio defensively?
No.
Like, the bat hasn't suffered because he's played centerfield.
He is a plus defensive centerfielder, or at least he is this year.
so, you know, until you even get somebody in the org that can play center field, like,
because we know Canzone can't, we know Marlowe can't, we know Calnick can't, like,
there's no reason to move them.
So I'm thinking at least three years, probably longer.
And, you know, that can change if he, if he wears down and, you know, if this does become an issue,
then at some point you do it.
And I think you're pretty quick about it.
But until there's evidence to suggest that you need to do it or that it's beneficial to
the team because you have a center fielder who's better than Julio until that situation presents
itself, there's absolutely no reason to even really think about it right now. So I'm going to say
at least three to five more years at minimum, but it could be longer. Agreed. Last question here
comes from JP. Do you think the 2022 bullpen is better than the 2023 bullpen? Yes. Yes.
Definitively. Yeah. Yeah. Not only did you have Seawald, but you had a better Andres Munoz too.
and Eric Swanson, yes.
Yeah, that's the key, right?
It's not the guys that you don't have in the bullpen, really, for me.
I mean, like, Seawald, yes.
But it's not really like, oh, well, you had Penn Murphy and you had Eric Swanson.
I mean, like, I have Justin Topa.
I have Game Spire.
Like, those guys are pretty good as well.
But it's, yeah, it's, Andreas Munoz is not as good as he was last year.
No.
Like, that's really the key.
And now you're putting guys in different roles than they were in last year that they
might not be as well suited for like Andres Munoz.
So that's where it begins and ends for me.
Really.
So yeah, definitively speaking, 2020 bullpen was better, a lot better than the
2023 bullpen.
At least in its current state, like from where the 22 bullpen ended and where
2023's bullpen is right now, absolutely.
Yeah.
I do think it's a little bit about the departures, though.
Swanson's really good.
And you've basically replaced him with Topa.
So that's,
I mean.
Yeah.
So if you want to say that's,
that's how I look at it, right?
I look at that kind of as like a wash.
Right.
But what's not is is Paul Seawald.
Like you haven't replaced Paul Seawald.
You haven't.
So yeah.
Essentially,
you just remove the Paul Seawald roll from your bullpen and you didn't replace it.
And you kind of trying to make it work with Andres and Brash.
And Brash is better this year than he was last year.
But no,
I think Seawald is the.
big missing piece here.
So again, that's not to say they shouldn't have made the trade, blah, blah, blah.
We're not talking about that.
It's just this is what it is.
Like you don't have because the thing with Paul Seawald, high floor, high ceiling,
you can miss bats, you put him in there with a three run lead.
You feel like it's over.
Like he's all the good things about, you know, high leverage reliever with all the, like,
all the negatives basically cropped out.
He's only going to implode once or twice a year.
like Paul's a really important role, like his role in this bowl, just the stabilizer who could also miss bats and, you know, doesn't struggle to throw strikes.
That's a huge spot to have in this bullpen and the Mariners don't have it like they did last year.
And that's a problem for me.
So, yeah, I would say definitively last year's bullpen is better than this year.
This one's still okay.
It should be better than it has been the last 10 days.
But yeah, it's no comparison to last year, in my opinion.
Hey, by the way, speaking on this bullpen, why hasn't Dominic Leone been DFA'd yet?
Well, he bizardo still on the roster too.
What did Ryder Ryan do?
What did he do?
Someone tell me what Ryder Ryan has done to deserve this, this disrespect after striking out
Adley Rutchman and Gunner Henderson in his Major League debut.
And they were like, nope, we don't want that.
we want dominic leone and edward bazaardo get the hell out of here come on
also proletta burroughs on the taxi squad just call him up stop stop with this will they won't they
stop stop i'm done with this crap just bring up barroa dFA leone dFA bazaardo i don't really
care that dude is not good and call up right or ryan please i beg you or riley o'brien i will take
either one of those guys thank you bye bye that's going to do it for our show thank you so much for
us here on the locked on mariner's podcast for colby pat node i'm tiding gzalas be sure to give us a follow
on twitter at l o underscore mariners you can follow me at d a and e g n zlz and colby at c pat 11 that's
cpat 1 1 1st follow us on instagram and tic talk as well over at locked on mariners that's one word
lock down mariners you can also find all that stuff in the description of this episode thank you
again for making us your first listen here on mailbag monday
You can catch the Mariners and the Angels tonight on the Mariners hometown broadcast with Sirius XM via the SXM app.
Have yourself a beautiful baseball day and we'll see you next time.
Peace.
