Locked On Mariners - Daily Podcast On the Seattle Mariners - Prospect Talk With Aram Leighton (Part the Fifth)/Prospect Talk With Aram Leighton (Part the Sixth)

Episode Date: August 14, 2020

Today, the final two parts of D.C.'s conversation with Aram Leighton of "Locked On MLB Prospects." They talk about the M's infield outlook, catcher Cal Raleigh, some potential M's trade pieces, and Aram answers a fan's email questions regarding the farm system. 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.

Welcome to Locked-on Mariners, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Here's your host, D.C. Lundberg. Happy Friday, gang, D.C. Lundberg here with you to bring you another edition of Locked-on Mariner's, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, or T-L-O-P-N, or T-Lopin, brought to you by Bill. Bahr. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, they are back. Please remember you can download, rate, and subscribe to this program on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Spotify, Stitch your radio, or whichever podcasting app that you personally care to use. You can ask your smart device to play Locked-on Mariner's podcast or any of the great programs here on Tloppin.

Follow this show on Twitter at L-O-U-U-U-Nor-Mariners, and follow me on Twitter as well at D.C. underscore Lundberg. That is L-U-N-D-B-E-R-G if you are scoring at home. Today we are going to finish up our conversation with Aram Layton regarding the Mariners Farm System and the prospects that the Mariners have. And that'll cover both halves of today's show. We were going to do a Friday mailbag, but I didn't realize until I went to edit the last part of the conversation with Aram that there is more than one show's worth of time left. So that'll be both halves of today's show. And we're going to run a little bit overtime today. Plus I only got three email questions.

So we're going to hold out for more questions next Friday. However, gang, one of the questions I did get I posed to Aram, and I had him answer it, and that will come in the second half of today's program. Before that happens, Zoe, we've got to do the first half, don't we? And here is more of that conversation with Locked-on MLB Prospects host, Aram Layton. The outfield, obviously, for the future outfield for the Mariners, there's a lot there. And we haven't even mentioned Mitch Hanager yet, who has injured

the whole season, and he can play a role next year if there are two young guys starting out there. But what about the infield for the Mariners? I don't feel as if that is as strong as the outfield is in terms of prospects. You bring up a good point, and that's something that I think we should keep an eye out for, because the Mariners have a surplus of pitching prospects.

Yes. Not even just at the elite end, where you look at maybe the 15 to 30 range, if you're talking about the Mariners' top 30 prospects, there's a lot of solid arms that are mixed in there. And I could see a situation here where maybe they take a chance to use some of that pitching surplus to make a prospect swap. That's something that we're seeing more and more of in baseball.

Obviously, I don't think any of those pitchers in the top 10 really are going to get moved. But when you look at Isaiah Campbell, Justice Sheffield, some of the other guys that are later and further down, even some of the pitchers like Wyatt Mills, They have some value, and you could end up flipping that for an infield guy, because right now, you get the nail on the head. I do think that J.P. Crawford has a chance to be part of this core of the future. But then outside of that, you got Evan White at first, and then where are you looking? You make a good point. And that might be either something they do where they acquire something through free agency as the core comes together.

And, you know, there's never going to be, you can't address your whole team through your farm system. There's always going to be one or two guys you get elsewhere. but I do think that Austin Shenton is potentially an option to play in the infield in the future. Shenton was a fifth round pick a couple years back, has a mixed track record, was fantastic in the Cape, struggled his senior season at FIU, that's Florida International University, which is actually a hub for a lot of baseball talent. But he was going through a lot. I believe his mother was fighting breast cancer, and there was a lot going on in his life.

up finishing really strong and had a good debut to his pro career. Then he tapered off a little bit. So he's got a wild story and naturally someone you just want to root for. But I think he's worth a look because he has really good bat to ball skills. I don't know if the power is going to play up to the higher levels. But another option, if you're looking at some deeper internal options for infield, Shenton is definitely worth watching and is the type of hitter that will be able to put the ball and play and at least climb his way up to a bench position, worst case scenario. I do think he's a big leaguer. That's good to hear.

I mean, the big problem I see is third base. I just don't see anybody in the system that could be a – and when I say the infield's not as strong as the outfield, I mean, J.P. Crawford could be – if he's an average major leaguer, I guess that's okay. Shed Long – and they want to develop Shed Long Jr. and J.P. Crawford together as a double play tandem at the big league level. And we mentioned Evan White, but right now Kyle Seeger's playing third base. He's obviously not the future.

And in terms of trading somebody, Malick Smith and D. Gordon would be good candidates to try to acquire an infield prospect if they were having good seasons. Neither of them are. Yeah, that's the problem. I don't know if you, you'd probably have to add a prospect for someone to take D. Gordon right now. And it's a shame. It's a shame. But there's there's a chance. I like that you brought up Mitch Hanager because I think he is a major piece of the future. But if the Mariners decide that they really think their young guys are going to work out, maybe you trade. Hanager because Hanager can get you a really nice return with the years of control he has also considering the fact that he's still pretty young and can do a lot. I wanted the Marlins to go get him at some point and potentially give up some of their surplus of pitching prospects, but they weren't a good match because the Mariners have so many pitching prospects as is. Yeah. Mitch Hanigar, if you really want to address that infield, that could be an option and it wouldn't be a bad choice with the

timeline right now of what it's looking like the Mariners core would be ready. And the other part of it that just popped into my mind is Kyle Seeger looks rejuvenated. If the Mariners want to try to make a run at it next year, Kyle Seeger might be a good option there because he is a veteran leader on this team. Yeah, exactly. And I think Kyle Seeger is one of those guys that is very hot and cold, but with the tools that he has, with the power that he can possess, he is the type of player that could be that one consistent veteran that you have that kind of keeps it together and that helps these young players have some continuity

as the team starts to come together as a competitive and potentially dangerous team if all these prospects at least a few of them pan out. And the thing about Kyle Seeger, and I've said this on the show before, he's healthy this year. He shed the muscle weight that he added when trying to bulk up. All that did was make him tighter and less mobile both at the plate and in the field and his defense and offense both suffered big time. He's back down to where he was in terms of weight about four or five years ago,

and it's really helped him in both aspects of the game. Yeah, and that's something you're seeing more of an emphasis on in baseball. And it's really important because you think of the old classic Babe Ruth type of ball player. It's just not the way the game is now. Sure, you're going to have those big burly guys that just roll out of bed and hit. Those guys will always exist. Yeah. But it's really focused now on athletes.

If you look at the types of players that are being drafted day in and day out every year, these are good athletes. They're built like football players. Yeah. All of them. It's unbelievable. I mean, look at the Mariners' top prospects. They're all athletes.

They're all six foot three, six foot four, if they're the pitchers. And the outfielders are big and can run. Like, this is the future of the game. And it's just a reality of it. And that's what you're seeing now make its way up to the big leaguers who need to make a bounce back or need to make some adjustments. You're seeing them start to adopt that more advanced and more focused regiment on just being in better shape. The one exception is Daniel Vogelbach, who I think is a breath of fresh air. Not necessarily his numbers, but the way he's built.

He's not built like a football player. He's built like a Greco-Roman wrestler. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, there's the guys like that too. but then you're shocked when you watch them run and they end up being able to move or they end up being pretty agile

or they have good footwork. I mean, I bring the Marlins up again because it's just that's the team I cover too. Oh, sure, yeah. Top of the prospects thing, but the Marlins catcher, Jorge Alfaro is this giant dude you don't think he's fast. And then you look at the top of sprint speeds in the league

and he's, I think, number 18th in sprint speed in Jorge Alfaro. So it's just, it's crazy how athletic all of these guys are. And you really take it for granted when you just compare them to guys like Shed Long who get to first base in three seconds. Yeah. I miss guys like John Kruck,

but that's just me. I'm glad that you brought up a catcher because we have not addressed the manner's catching future, and the one prospect that they're really high on is Cal Raleigh, and it doesn't have necessarily to do with the numbers that he's putting up. It has to do with his ability to catch and his ability to lead a pitching staff, which you cannot quantify in numbers.

Yeah, and that's something that people get a little bit frustrated with catching prospects or even catchers at the big league level because when you look at the numbers, when you look at baseball reference or whatever, you're like, what do they see in this guy? And that's the thing is there's so much that goes into being a catcher. That's beyond what reflects in the numbers. And you point out something important

because he is somebody that has continued to improve behind the dish. And that's important because his bat, his power has always been his calling card. But now as the hit tool has become a little bit of a question, as we've seen him struggle to put up consistent batting average numbers or even just consistent on base percentage numbers, the power is still there. So now it's really important for him to be good defensively because if you can hit for some power and play good defense, you're going to be a big league catcher. You can almost overlook the lack of consistent hit tool. But when he's not quite above average as a catcher as he was not before, now he's an above average. catcher, he focused and did a program with the Mariners, and they really worked on him with everything from calling a good game to just being able to throw runners out to receiving the ball

well. And he came out of that and was much better this year defensively. And that's something that's not a coincidence. He's been working hard on it. He's got a good work ethic and a good makeup. And that's what makes me encouraged about him. The only concern is if he plateaues a little bit defensively. And let's say he's average defensively. He's going to really have to hit for power then because the hit tool is just not quite there. It's going to be

one or the other though, right? You have to be able to be really good defensively or you have to be able to really mash the ball. And if you're kind of caught in between, that's where you see some catchers end up not quite really reaching their ceiling. There is a chance that he can improve upon his

hit tool because he does have the ability to hit to all fields. He sees ball well it's not like he has some egregious strikeout numbers like mike zanino that's not the name i was going to bring up thank you i'll do that in a little bit yeah it's it's nothing like that so that's the thing i want to make sure people don't draw comparisons to okay it's not that all or nothing type of player like zanino but i do need to see a little bit more in terms of contact at the double a level he only got a taste of it it was only 39 games if he can replicate what he did in high a and hit 260 and i'm not going to say hit 22 home runs, but hit 260 with some power and continue to improve behind the dish,

this could be a well-rounded catcher that ends up being one of the more above-average catchers, young catchers in the league if everything works out. Not to mention he's a switch hitter. He's got some value there. I think his ceiling could be a Yasmani Grandal type, where Gandall is not going to bring you a bunch defensively, but a switch hiter that can hit for power. And Brando does get cold sometimes where he hits in the, you know, goes through these slumps where he just struggles to make contact. But if everything works out for Rale, I think he could potentially be encroaching on a Yasmani Grandaal type of catcher. Wow. And I'm glad that you said don't draw the comparisons to Mike Zanino because when you said

good defense, not so much of a hit tool and power, that's the name I brought up. And I hate to say this, but Mike Zunina was one of the more frustrating mariners that I've seen in recent years because because his defense was really good, and that's what kept him in the big leagues. And if his defense wasn't there, then maybe the mayors would not have given him so many chances. But it almost seemed to me like Mike Zanino was a pitcher hitting with power. And it kind of seemed like Madison Bumgardner up there. Yeah, I mean, that's a good point. And that's the thing.

Catchers and left-handed pitchers, I say they're like cats. They have nine lives. You're always going to get more chances. If you're a good defensive catcher, you're always going to get more chances. if you're a lefty that can throw for some good velocity or get left-handed hitters out. That's what like Zanino is, but I think Raleigh is the type of player

that is not going to be that all-or-nothing type of thing where you've got to pick one or the other. I'm happy to hear that. He needs to refine his approach. And the fact that he's a switch hitter is also very important because when you have some guys like Zanino who have just terrible splits against right-handers or left-handed hitters that just have terrible splits against lefties,

that just compounds. the issue with having a bad hit tool. And then when you have a catcher that you want to be able to choose when he goes in the game, you know, when you're starting this catcher based on who he handles on the mound and all these things, you don't want to have to have the wrench thrown into the plan that is, oh, shoot, there's a righty on the mounds and Eno can't hit righties. And then you've got to change your game plan defensively. That's the thing that Rally will be able to avoid and something that should end up raising his floor and increasing his value to franchise. I think he's a major league catcher. It's just how good of a major league catcher can he be.

That's dependent on whether he either excels defensively as he continues to improve or excels offensively, which we did not see him continue to improve in AA, but has a chance to bounce back next year. I think the Mariners philosophy is they'd rather have a defensive first catcher and the offense. I don't want to say the offense is extra, but definitely defense first. And that's why I think Omar Narvaez only lasted one year as a mariner, because the offense was there, but the defense, not so much. Yeah, every team has their own philosophy, and especially with catching, there's a lot of value put in there for good reason when it comes to stealing strikes, throwing out base runners, keeping the ball in front of you,

there's just calling a good game, so much that goes into it. Some teams will sell out for the offense as you see the Yankees with Gary Sanchez, but how's that working for them right now? So it's just, it's one of those things that everyone has a different take on it. Right. And I seem to agree more with the Mariners, but if you can run into a guy, that can give you a little bit of both, then you don't have to worry about it and you don't have to weigh your options as much and hopefully Riley can turn into that type of player.

Yeah, I mean, and the other thing about Narvaez was Tom Murphy emerged as a big league catcher last season after I think he was a waiver claim or a minor league trade by the Mariners. And the defense was good and the offense was good. So that's another reason why Narvaez left.

And Murphy is not a prospect. I think he's 30 or 31. years old this year. So he's not really part of the Mariners future. He's part of the present for sure. We'll finish up the conversation with Aram in the second half of today's show, but first we'll take a break for the Mariners trivia question, and

today it is the following. As I record this on August 13th, 2020, year of our lord. Today is Jay Buehner's birthday. Happy birthday bone. He hit his first Major League home run as a Yankee on June 1st, 1988 in the Oakland Coliseum,

leading off the top of the sixth inning off former mariner Kurt Young. Question today is, off whom did he hit his first home run as a mariner? Answer following a word from Beltbar. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Beltbar

is back and they are better than ever. They have redesigned themselves and they have shiny new labels. And that's all, gang. We'll be back in a minute. No, I'm kidding. They also have six new flavors to choose from caramel brownie, cookies and cream, cherry barcia, whatever that is, lemon

almond cheesecake, carrot cake, and apple almond crisp. Ooh, don't those sound good. They also have the 12 original flavors, coconut almond, raspberry, German chocolate, peanut butter, banana bread, mint brownie, salted caramel, double chocolate, orange, toffee almond, coconut, and peanut butter brownie. They are covered in 100% chocolate, gang, and they taste as close to a candy bar as a protein bar can get. They do taste good, and trust me, gang, I don't eat what does not taste good. And also remember that they are high in protein, low in sugar, and low in calories. And if you have a nut allergy, the nut-free flavors are all made in a nut-free facility. And they're gluten-free to boot.

So head on over to builtbar.com and get this gang. There is a free cooler with every purchase while supplies last, which my notes say may only be a week or so. So go on over to builtbar.com as soon as you can. to make an order and to get your free cooler, and hopefully they still have those when you place your order. And also, gang, use the promo code locked on, all one word, L-O-C-K-E-D-O-N, to get $10 off your next order.

Promocode locked on for $10 off your next order at builtbar.com. Answer to the Mariners' trivia question, Jay Boehner's first home run as a mariner occurred on July 31, 1988, in the kingdom, against the Oakland Athletics, the same team, against whom he hit his first Major League home run overall. And he hit this home run leading off the bottom of the fifth inning against Storm Davis.

The Mariners would lose this ball game 6 to 2. And remember, gang, if you've got a question for me or a comment on the show, just send an email. Locked-on Mariners at gmail.com is the place to send that email. It doesn't even have to be a baseball question. I'll answer just about anything. just as long as it's, you know, family-friendly and appropriate. More Locked-on Mariners following this from CBDMD.

It does not matter whether you're a professional athlete, stay-at-home parent, whether you spend eight hours a day in an uncomfortable office chair, if you're a daycare teacher like me, or no matter what you do, everyone needs support to make it through the day. Luckily, our friends at CBDMD or Submdom have an amazing duo that can help you relax, regroup and recharge when life gets chaotic. CBD freeze with menthol is an award-winning product that offers instant cooling relief for muscles and joints in a convenient and easy-to-use-roller or shareable squeeze tube. CBD-Recover combines CBD with inflammation-fighting compounds like Arnica and vitamin B6 to give you the support you need where it matters most.

And to make it even easier to try this amazing duo of topicals and everything else Subumbdom has to offer, they are offering all our listeners 25% off your next order when you use the promo code Locked-on MLB at checkout. Once again, CBDMD.com promo code Locked-on MLB, three separate words, locked on MLB, for 25% off your purchase of superior CBD oil products from CBDMD. Now back to Locked-on Mariners, your host, D.C. Lundberg.

Thanks, Joey. Second half of Locked-on Mariners set to begin, and we are going to jump right back to our conversation with Aram-Layton of Locked-on MLB prospects. Here it is. Is there anybody else that you want to speak about before I ask you one of my mailbag questions? Sure. You know, I got into the two guys I really liked in Shenton and Deloche, so we can hop right into the mailbag. Okay.

This comes to us from Aidan Sones or Sones. I'm sorry if I'm mispronouncing your last name. From East Hampton, Connecticut. Connecticut checking in for a question. Actually, two questions. And he asks, in the future, who do you think will be better? Julio Rodriguez or Jared Kelnick. Another question, I know.

Another question is, do you think the Mariners will have six prospects in the top 100 anytime soon? P.S. there are Mariners fans in the Northeast. Thank you. very much for that. I really appreciate that. I actually addressed the Julio Rodriguez versus Kelnick situation in one of the first episodes I did, and I had both Jason Hernandez and Taylor Blake Ward on the program, and they both saw both of them play. So that's why I wanted their opinion, and the consensus from the three of us was, it's a coin toss. What are your thoughts, sir?

I think it's a coin toss in the event that, you know, Kalinick is probably the safer option. Yeah. But with Rodriguez, the sky's the limit. And we just don't even know how good this kid can be. So if Rodriguez reaches his potential, I don't even think there's going to be many players in all of baseball that are better than Julio Rodriguez if he reaches his ceiling. With Kalinick, I think it's more likely that he reaches somewhere near his ceiling.

So if there was a gun to my head, I'm going to pick Kalinik just because I think it gives me a better chance to live. But I could all kind of cop out and say Rodriguez has the higher ceiling. if everything works out. Like Rodriguez has MVP type of ceiling. Not that Kalinick doesn't because he's so well-rounded. But I'm going to pick the pure hitter every day of the week if I have to pick the safest bet.

And Kalinick is as pure of a hitter as you're going to find and just a sweet swing from the left side and better defensively and has the potential to play center field. I'm going to say Kalinick as the safer choice to reach his ceiling, though Rodriguez does have the opportunity to be better than almost any in baseball if everything works out. All right. Thank you very much. Thank you very much for that.

You kind of echoed what the three of us said on our program. I think I said Julio Rodriguez only because he was younger. But at the same time, I don't think you can go wrong with either one if everything works out. Yeah, I mean, you can't. And you're basically picking between two of your favorite foods right now, and it's just whatever you're in the mood for. Or lasagna, you know? Yeah.

So it's one of those things. And I really do think that both. of them will be all-stars at some point in the major leagues. It just seems like Kolinik is the type of player to really be more consistent throughout his entire career and just a safer bet. But you can dream on Julio Rodriguez to be anything you want him to be because if everything works out, he's capable of that. Is he, and this is kind of an off question or an off-topic question. Do you think Rodriguez is capable of playing center field or is he definitely a corner? he seems most likely a corner to me just because he's already six foot three he's 19 years old

so you figure he might even put on some more weight and as he puts on more weight he's just not going to be able to move as well he's already a below average slightly below average runner to average runner as he gets bigger and fills out corner outfield seems like the best bet just because you're going to have better options to play center if you know i think if there was an emergency situation. Maybe he could do it. But I see Rodriguez turning into one of those guys that ends up being really burly and strong and is a power hitting corner outfielder. He has a really good arm, and it seems like he's just ready to go to be a right fielder, left fielder at the next level, which is not a bad thing by any means. Oh no. It's just you need a little bit more speed out there.

And I just see him as the type of guy that's going to put on more weight and probably not be the fleet is to foot, though he won't be slow. He'll be a good all-around player for sure. That reminds me of when Alex Rodriguez came up to the Mariners when he was 18, 19 years old, six foot three, and I think he was 190 pounds at that point. He made his first All-Star team in 1996, and he hadn't filled out then. Yeah, I mean, look at Miguel Cabrera when he came up with the Marlins. He's a twig.

He didn't end up being a twig as it went on. And some of that was muscle, some of it wasn't. Some of it was the old buffet, but that's okay too. Hanley Ramirez, same thing. Yeah. These players, a little bit of it is just natural weight you put on because your metabolism isn't the same when you were 19 years old and you eat a ton as an athlete and you're always just trying to put on weight.

But also, you're getting stronger. I mean, 19 years old, you're not even near your physical peak as a human being and as a man. That's the insane thing about Julio Rodriguez is he's still a teenager. Joe Maurer, same thing. Didn't he grow an inch or two after he reached the Major League level because he came up so young? Yep, and he was really mobile in high school. He was one of the best quarterbacks in the entire country. It was committed to FSU for both. So that's just crazy to think about, but you just don't know what's going to happen with some of these kids.

That's why it's really hard to predict the future on these teenagers other than the fact that they can potentially be really, really good. And that's kind of why I like the Mariners' philosophy of taking college pitchers, because they seem to be a little safer to me. Would that be a safe assumption? Exactly. It's definitely safer because you get a chance to see more of them. They're more polished. And as I said earlier, the Mariners do a really good job of being a little bit safer with the college arms, but still selecting guys that don't compromise the ceiling for safe. Usually it's safe or higher ceiling.

And the Mariners find a good balance of the two. And the thing is you can also go get those young lottery ticket type of players like Rodriguez may have been at the time of the signing when you can go to the international free agency. So when you can address that high risk, high reward type of player and international free agency, I very much agree with the Mariners philosophy. And you can take the bigger risks in the later rounds maybe if you want and overslots some guys. There's a million ways to do it. but the Mariners do have a good philosophy, and they're definitely very consistent with it, which I appreciate and respect.

They're sticking to their game plan. The other part of Aden's question was, or his other question, pardon me, do you think the Mariners will have six prospects in the top 100 anytime soon? That is a question I cannot answer. I yield to you. So as it stands now,

you look at Kalinick, check. He'll be a top 100 for a while. He's not going anywhere. Rodriguez, check. Hancock, check. Gilbert. also top 100, but he could get called up soon. Evan White is going to graduate.

Kirby should be in there. And then it's who goes in there after that. Because Kyle Lewis is no longer a prospect. Kyle Lewis is no longer a prospect. So I would say the answer is unfortunately no, partly because of the fact that guys are graduating. And maybe if one of these other players jumps up out of nowhere, Cal Rally could maybe end up

a top 100 if he puts it together offensively. Maybe you could see one of these other younger arms be a guy. I think Zach Deloche could climb his way in there with a good season. Ultimately, when you have the chance that Logan Gilbert graduates and then you have Evan White graduating, you have Clinick 1, Rodriguez 2, Hancock 3. I like Marte, the shortstop, who could have a chance to be very good, but he's still really young to be able to crack the top 100, though I think he could be an option, then it's going to take Deloche or one of the other fringe guys to do it. So it's going to be unlikely,

but I wouldn't say it's impossible. It would just take probably Marte panning out and being better than some think he can be or at least continuing to improve as an 18-year-old and then one of Deloche or some of those diamonds in the rough, Isaiah Campbell maybe, turning into a legitimate type of prospect. But the fact that the Mariners do have quote unquote prospects at the major league level, they're not technically prospects anymore. That kind

of hinders this whole number of prospects in the top 100. It's sounding like to me. Exactly. It's a good problem to have. It's a very good problem to have, especially if the future is at the major league level. You know, we'll see what happens. Is there anything else that you want to discuss before we wrap this up and I chop this into bits

and spread it out throughout the week. The only thing I want to say is that look out for these kind of crash course or audits of every farm system because that's what I'm going to be doing moving forward. I'll be releasing a schedule so you can see who I'll be having interview-wise moving forward and then which farm systems I'll be honing in on. I'm going to go through all 30 over the next few weeks and through this season and rank them. I think Mariners fans will be very pleasantly surprised with where I have them ranked in my top 30 farm systems.

I'm definitely higher on the Mariners than probably almost every other prospect analyst outlet, whatever it may be. And if you wanted to see what the division rivals have going on, what they're going to have in the next couple of years, prospect-wise, I'll be doing it for all 30 teams. I'll be doing top 100 lists talking about all of it. So if you're into this, definitely check out locked-on MLB prospects.

You can check it out on Twitter at LO underscore MLB prospect. or follow me at Aram Layton 8. And you will hopefully be able to get a little bit of information from systems outside of the Mariners, a little bit more on maybe some prospects you weren't as familiar with in your team system. And I'll always answer any questions you got. I have a blast doing that.

And as you can tell, I'm a prospect nerd as is. Aram, thank you very much for joining me. I'm going to say all this week, even though we did this over the course of one afternoon. All right, sounds good. Of course. I'm happy to do it any time. and hopefully we'll be talking about six top 100 mariners maybe in the next top 100 list.

That'll make me and Aiden very happy. Thanks again, sir. And also remember this gentleman is the host of Locked-on Marlins, so check out that show as well. And we're going to let you go at this time. Thanks again for joining us. Thank you. Of course. Can't forget the best team in baseball.

That was Aram Layton, host of Locked on MLB Prospect and host of Locked on Marlins as well here on the Locked-on podcast network. I hope you enjoyed our conversation as much as I enjoyed recording it. Remember to follow him on Twitter as well at Arum-Layton 8. That's A-R-A-M-L-E-I-G-H-T-O-N and the Digit 8. We will be back on Monday to recap the three-game series that begins tonight in Houston. Oh, please, at least two of three of those. Locked-on Mariners contributor John Miller will be here for a portion of that show

to talk about what he's seen with this 2020 Mariners team. and I will also be joined by guest panelists, Alex P. Keaton, Scrooge McDuck, and the shoe token from a monopoly game. You will not want to miss that show, ladies and gentlemen. So download, rate, and subscribe to Lockdown Mariners, on Google Podcast, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher Radio, any podcasting app that you can think of. Look for us on there because we are probably there. Follow the show on Twitter as well at L.O. underscore Mariners, and follow me on Twitter at D.C. underscore Lundberg. That will do it for this week.

Again, I hope you enjoyed our conversation with Aram Layton that we have spread out throughout the week. We will be back on Monday. Have a fantastic weekend, gang. This is Joey Martin, speaking for Locked-on Mariners, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network.