Locked On Mariners - Daily Podcast On the Seattle Mariners - Ryan Divish Talks Covering the Playoffs, Mariners Ownership, Scott Servais' Growth and More

Episode Date: August 18, 2022

How much has Scott Servais changed since his first year in Seattle to now? What is the likelihood the Mariners retain Mitch Haniger this offseason? Will ownership be willing to invest further in this club this winter? Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times joins the show to answer all that and more. Plus, Colby lists prospects 10-6 of his farm system rankings for the Mariners.Be sure to follow or subscribe to Locked On Mariners wherever you prefer your podcasts! For questions and other inquiries, email: [e-mail] up to date with all things Mariners at Inside the Mariners - a FanNation website covering the Seattle Mariners on the Sports Illustrated network.Follow the show on Twitter: @LO_Mariners | @danegnzlz | @CPat11 | @InsideMarinersFor more of Ty and Colby, check out their Patreon: patreon.com/controlthezone/Liver Health FormulaNow it’s easy to rejuvenate your liver health and reignite your metabolism...Thanks to Liver Health Formula by PureHealth Research. Go to getliverhelp.com/MLB to learn more. 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.

How much has Scott service changed since its first year in Seattle to now? What is the likelihood the Mariners will retain Mitch Hanninger this offseason? Will ownership be willing to invest further in this club this winter? Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times joins me to answer all that and more. Plus, Colby will give you prospects 10 through 6 in the Mariners farm system on today's episode of Locked on Mariner's. Let's get into it. Colby hit it. You are Locked on Mariners.

Your daily Seattle Mariners podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Yo, what's up, everyone. Welcome to the Lockdown Mariners podcast is Thursday, August 18th, 2020. And thank you so much for making us your first listen of the day. We are free and available on all platforms with new episodes dropping every Monday through Friday. I am your host, Sadie Gonzalez. I'm always by my co-covee, Colby Patnode.

We cover the Mariners over at inside the mariners.com for fan nation over on the sports illustriate network. Be sure to follow the show on Twitter at LO underscore Mariners. Follow inside the mariners at Inside the Mariners. You can follow me at Dan Gonzalez, This is T-A-N-E, G-N-Z-L-Z and Colby at C-P-P-A-T-1-1. Be sure also check out our Patreon over at patreon.com.com forward-s slash control the zone. We post two additional podcasts on there every single week.

Again, that is patreon.com.com forward slash control the zone. And if this is your first time, joining us here on the Lockdown Mariners podcast, welcome to the show. If you like what you hear, give us a follower, subscribe, wherever you listen to this. And if you're watching us on YouTube, hit the subscribe button, turn on the notification bell and give this video a thumbs up. We greatly, greatly, greatly appreciate it. And we have a wonderful show on tap for you today. Got Ryan Dibish of the Seattle Times joining us. We're also going to be going through prospects 10 through 6 in the Mariners Farm system.

But first, let's check in with Ryan Dibish of the Seattle Times and talk some mariners. Joining me now is Ryan Dibish, who's in the midst of his ninth season covering the Mariners for the Seattle Times. And Ryan, first of all, I want to thank you for hopping on for a few minutes to talk some balls. with me. You know, this season is shaping up to be unlike any other for you in your career. Unfortunately, for obvious reasons, you haven't had the chance to cover playoff baseball in Seattle, but now it's starting to look like that might actually change here in the fall. So as that reality starts to become increasingly more likely, are you excited? Or does this feel a little daunting?

Is it just business as usual for you? I'd love to hear your thoughts on that. Um, yeah, it's definitely, well, it's not completely unfamiliar territory. I think in 18 and even last, well, not so much last year. I mean, the last three weeks of last year felt like maybe that was a chance. 18, you know, they were 12 games up on the second wild card by July in July. So you're thinking, okay, this is, this is probably going to happen. Um, 16 as well. I mean, there have been times. I don't know that they've ever been in a better position this late in. the season since I started covering the team. I don't know that I yeah. It's just different. I mean, I kind of joke. My girlfriend lives back in Montana, so I'm so used to being off in October to make plans that this is really different, you know.

But it's cool. I mean, like it's in one sense it's good for the paper. And we have a ton of people reading right now. everything we write about the Mariners is a big deal. So that part is good. And, you know, it's good. And I have a lot of friends that are Mariners fans and they're diehard Mariners fans that people I know in the organization.

So it's good to see them enjoy this because, you know, they've been waiting a long time. Yeah, pretty much as soon as, you know, the wind streak started, we, you know, saw those numbers go up for ourselves as well here on the show. You know, there's just a buzz growing. And I think, you know, also right now people are maybe looking to fill a void that the Seahawks have left now because of everything that's gone on there as well. So you're kind of starting to see the city develop into more of a baseball town, which I think, you know, that's, it's always been a sleeping giant on that front.

That's always been a baseball town really at its core. And so you're starting to see that really start to come out. It's really exciting stuff. It's really, really exciting stuff. You know, let's talk about you, you kind of talked about how different things are right now and how different that this actually, you know, is even just compared to some of the other years as of late that they've you know made this push towards the postseason under scott service and you know you've been around scott service and jerry depoto since the the beginning of this tenure you've you've seen them kind of grow up in this uh you know during the first stent

before the rebuild then through the rebuild process and to now and with service specifically you know this is his first managing gig um you know a lot of people had questions and concerns about that when he was first hired. Now you fast forward seven seasons later. He's, you know, one of the winningness managers in Mariners history. He's got 500 plus wins now.

How much have you seen Scott's service maybe change or not change? Maybe he's the same guy since 2016. Oh, he's definitely changed. It's funny. We always joke about all the managers we've covered. I was an intern at the newsreview in in 2000. So I covered Lou that year a little bit.

the games I did. And then when I came back to the News Tribune in Tacoma in 2006, it was Mike Hargrove in 06, 2007. I had to cover the day he retired. So then it was McLaren. Well, Karen was fired. It was Jim Riggleman. And then Wakamatsu, Wakamatsu was fired Darren Brown.

Eric Wedge, Led McClendon, Scott Service. So Scott Service is the only one since Lou Penella to get a contract extension. He's got two. He's definitely different. I mean, I think initially Scott came from the idea. that he was going to control everything, control the message, control kind of the narrative that he wanted what we were going to write about, control everything about, you know, he's got a, he loves football, a little bit of background, he's got a football background, he loves the Packers,

you know, he loves the coaching aspect of football, and I think he thought he was going to be able to kind of go in and establish his culture and do things the way he wanted, similar to what he did in Texas as the director of player development. But the difference is as minor league guys versus major league established veterans, you couldn't do that. And I think he understood that quickly. He's adjusted. I mean, he really has kind of just embraced the, let players be who they are and what they want to do as long as it stays within the boundaries of what they're trying to accomplish. So, you know, I know he's friends with Pete Carroll.

He goes up and checks out Seahawks practices and stuff. and Pete is very open about letting guys be themselves. Scott is that same way, but there is a line that you have to stay on and commit to in terms of preparation, and they've done that. I think the big thing for Scott is, is he's relaxed a lot more in that. He just understands kind of who he is as a manager. And I think that probably the best aspect about him is that he does, he continues to evolve. He looks at it like, well, you know, I'm not, you know, I've reached this point and I've done this, then it's only my way. He continues to kind of evolve as a manager and what he believes in and what he learns from it.

So let's kind of talk about higher up in the organization now. You know, you've been, you know, as outspoken as you probably can be about ownership and about, you know, spending and all that. And what do you think Mariners owner, John Stanton's reaction to success this year would be heading into the offseason? Do you think he'll be motivated to invest further in this club? Or do you think he'll, you know, see that success with a payroll hovering around $100 million and say, you know, we can make it work with this? I guess maybe you see how far they go. But what you realize, I'm sure he'll realize it.

I'm sure Jerry DePoto will make it clear. It's like it's one thing to make the playoffs and get there. It's a whole other thing to have success and puts you over the top. You know, the Mariners have a nice roster and they've, kind of done it in different ways to get to this point. But, you know, you still have to, it still needs to be supplemented. Like if you look at the rosters of the other top teams, you can see where it's lacking in a lot of ways that they pieced it together through the fringes and different moves is, is nice. But I've always kind of said with the Mariners,

and it was back to Howard Lincoln versus John Stanton, all of that. And it's essentially a lot of the same ownership group, just who's in charge of it now, there's a lukewarm feeling about success or winning. Yes, they want to win. They say they want to win. I believe they want to win, but there's a level of, I guess, courage or a level of risk that has to be involved to win, whether it's a financial investment, a prospect investment, you know, all that kind of stuff. And I don't know that the Mariners have always been willing to take that risk, you know, put your cards on the table, go all in and say, hey, here's what we're going to do. And part of it, too, is just like they can't, you know, I think they've tried to get free agents

the last few years. They just haven't been able to sell it for a lot of different reasons, whether it's, I think a big part of it is the lack of success. You know, they haven't been to the postseason in 21 years, the travel, the location, you know, reputation, you know, reputation, organization, all these different things factor into it, but they haven't been able to get that guy. I think they tried. But then again, you know, they're, I didn't. you know, they have to know that they have to pay a little bit more, and I think they do. But, you know, two years ago in 2020, after the 2020 season going in 2021, they, you know, they could have went out and got Colton Wong.

If they could have had Colton Long as their second basement, if they just were willing to give one more ear on the contract. They could have had Taiwan Walker to help supplement a rotation if they were just willing to go one more year on a contract. And Kevin Mather and John Stanton decided that that's not what they wanted to do. And conversely, they didn't make the playoffs. in 2021 when they could have. They could have, that team could have been significantly better.

If you look at the problems they had at second base and you look at the problems they had with the starting rotation, it could have been significantly better had they made those investments. They didn't. And so like, you know, if they get to the postseason this year, however well they do, are they going to continue to invest in what's going on moving forward? Because, you know, they can't just sit there and stay stagnant and say this same roster is going to produce the same thing.

I think people don't realize how difficult it is to go 36 and 30th and 30th and 15 over a stretch and how special this is. But you can mitigate the regression of your roster by adding to it, by supplementing it, by going out and getting more pieces and, you know, capitalizing because they're making a ton of money right now. You know, the Yankees series, all these games are sold out. And that's, they're making revenues beyond, I think, even what they probably projected this year.

You're listening to the Locked-on Mariners podcast. Thank you again for making us your first. Listen of the day. More coming up from my conversation with Ryan Devish and just a moment, but real quick, a message from the NHTSA. You're hanging out with some friends and putting back a few drinks. A few becomes a few too many. As the evening comes to an end and people start to head out, you think of calling for a ride. Nah, you live nearby. You can make it home okay. It's no big deal. What are the odds you'll get pulled over anyway? And even so, what's the worst that can happen? Your insurance goes up. You lose your license. You lose your job. You told you your car. You kill someone.

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So going back to what you said, just a, maybe a minute ago about, you know, that's what Kevin Mather and John Stanton wanted or didn't want. You know, I've always felt that Jerry Depoto has constantly gotten a bad rap that, you know, everything starts at the top and there are, you know, there have been people, you know, above him in the hierarchy there that can overrule him. So do you feel, do you agree in that sentiment that, that, uh, with that sentiment that Jerry depoto has kind of gotten a bad rap, especially as of, as of late? I mean, yeah, I mean, well, you know, the onus falls on him because he's usually the most visible when it comes to the front office decisions and sometimes how he says

stuff can irritate fans yeah like in going into the you know after the pandemic year he was he thought that they were going to be allowed to spend more than they did that off season like his ideal thing wasn't trading for rafel montero and and acquiring you know like keenan middleton as their their fixes and giving him a job to dylan more at second base and shed long That's not what they wanted to do. They went after Colton Wong. They went after Tommy with Stella. They were looking at a myriad of different relievers, you know, Taiwan, all these guys.

They wanted to. And they were told, no, you cannot, we're not going to do this. This is your limitation. They didn't want to spend. He was, they had a budget that they thought they were going to get. And Kevin Mather and John Stanton gave him a budget that was significantly less. And he wasn't able to spend the way he wanted to. And consequently, you know, so.

you know and the thing is like i think they have plenty to work with this year you know they went after kevin gosman hard they didn't get him they spent the money on ravi ray they went after they went after they went after trevor story very hard and they offered you know i think it wasn't quite as much as as boston but it may be you know five 10 million less which you know you could adjust to but they couldn't get him and they just couldn't get it they didn't go as hard after chris bryant um and they never really even got on the table with with marcus simeon you know And there's a lot of rumors about how that was going to work, whether, you know, Scott Boris, who's Simeon's agent was trying to manipulate the whole situation, hoping that if they didn't,

that if Simeon went to Texas, then the Mariners would be forced to sign Chris Bryant, which they weren't going to do. So, yeah, there's a lot of different things. I mean, like, you know, there's some blame that falls on Jerry and there's, you know, because that's his job. You know, whether it's, you know, there have been questionable trades. The Mariners could have Freddie Peralta in their rotation. and they could have Pablo Lopez in the rotation, but they traded them away for pieces that didn't really turn into anything. You know, and he's made some good trades too.

It's, you know, I don't know, I don't know on the grading scale where he's at. You know, there are different things about Jerry that I think players would prefer more. But, you know, the onus of blame for not getting the pieces, I don't necessarily know that that's all on him. I think he's been working within the combines of a budget, a payroll budget, the last few years. even when he came here. And was it 16? I think it was 16.

Yeah, late 15 for the 16 season. They said, look, you have to try and win with this team. We have all these old guys. We have all this payroll commitment. We're not going to really bump up your payroll that much. I mean, you look at 18, they went out. They had a good team. The A's were chasing them down.

The trade deadline, they had a Cameron, Mabin, Zach Duke, and Adam Warn. Because they didn't, they couldn't have payroll. And they didn't have you had they had to buy a trade because they didn't have the prospects to make a deal. So that's kind of where they were at. Yeah. Going back to what you were saying about, you know, willingness to get free agents to Seattle, but what about keeping their own?

Let's start with Luis Castillo. What would you say the odds are that Luis Castillo is still in Seattle beyond 2023? Maybe 20%. I mean, like, he's really good, you know. He can make a lot of money on the market. So if the Mariners are going to do it, they need to do it this off season because once you get into that last year, then the free agent deadline is right there. You know, you can really, he can make some big time cash. I mean, I'm, you know, you're talking about I haven't looked at the free agent starting to picture market, but I don't think that after 2023, there's going to be one better than him. Is there? I mean, I don't think so. I mean, like, yeah, if they want to do it, they got to get it done this year. this off season will be ideal.

And once you get to that last year, players see the finish line and think, okay, well, now I'm going to get in the open market and really get paid. They can do it. I mean, like, it's not like they don't have the money. And they should.

I mean, they should make every effort to do it. Maybe they can do, maybe they can buy out a couple years. Maybe they can go heavy for a couple years to do it. But they certainly should do it. Yeah, absolutely. What about Mitch Hanager?

Because I believe, and correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe you've said in the past that, that Hanager wouldn't be as open to signing an extension in Seattle. But, you know, things have changed. You know, the timeline has kind of changed for the Mariners. And I feel like Hanager still fits for 2023. Do you think he would be open to that? Obviously, there is the qualifying offer that they can place on him this, this winner.

But do you think a return is possible for Hanigar? I guess. I mean, I think Mitch has waited long enough. You know, he's older. He wants to test. the market you know you've been to this point like if the marries really were serious about trying to sign them to an extension they would have done it you know in the off season of last year and then pushed you know to buy out could have bought out this year of arbitration the first

couple years of free agency maybe you know i know Mitch he's never really gotten that major paycheck because he was a late bloomer so he's looking forward to this contract and you know I think he'd like to see what's out there I think it's kind of mutual I don't know that the Mariners really necessarily want him back, you know, rather the availability of it all. And, you know, just, you know, they're kind of, you know, they offered Mitch an extension after his all-star season. He turned them down, you know, because he felt, at least from what I was told, and it wasn't very, it wasn't commensurate with what he expected, you know, and then that's when they tried to trade him to the Braves. You know, that's when they were starting to rebuild and everything.

And they, you know, never got that finished. So I don't know. I mean, like, I guess, but like you're going to have to make a real offer. This isn't like hometown discount. Hey, I want to be here or this and that. You know, this guy's never really been paid. I mean, he lost a ton of money in arbitration because he got hurt, you know, that when he got hit in the nuts. I mean, he got hurt. And, you know, there's a lot of consternation about the process and that, but it cost him a ton of money in arbitration. So he wants to get paid and he, I think, frankly, deserves it.

So we'll see. I just think once you've gotten to this point, I don't know that, I don't know that Mitch, you know, wants to come back. I think he could, but I think he wants to see what's out there. Because, you know,

he probably isn't going to have another chance to sign another multi-year deal, whether it's for three years with an option or what. Yeah, totally understandable. And he deserves that opportunity to go out and see, you know, see what's out there for him. Lastly, you know,

what do you think a, Julio extension has to look like for that to get done at this point. Well, I mean, like, I guess you have to kind of look at Acuna and how they did that and then go up from that because a lot of people felt like Acuna was pretty team friendly. I mean, I don't know that you give him the Tate's contract. But you got to get it's got to be more than what Acuna made significantly more. You know, they've gotten to this point. He's going to probably win rookie of the year. He's their best player.

He's the best developed player they'll have had since Seeger, you know, Seeger was the last All-Star that was drafted and developed, you know, best overall, and he's the closest thing they've had to a superstar, you know, that's homegrown since Alex or Griffey. So, yeah, you're going to have to pay, you know. And I think Julio, I don't know if they've offered. I'm sure, like with all, like with the Evan White and Kelmick, they offer all these guys early to see.

I think Julio always knew he was going to be really good. And he has a very smart agent and support team around him. So they're not going to just take pennies on the dollar. But it's a weird thing. Like, do you, you obviously probably trust Julio more than like, like, you know, the Padres gave Tatis all this money. And they, you know, and then they're kind of surprised like, oh, he kind of done. He did a bunch of dumb things.

Well, didn't you know your guy very well? You know, did you have to do a thing? Could you wait a year to see what you? You know, I think with the Mariners, they know how serious Julio takes baseball. and everything else and i think the idea of not keeping him around and allowing him to leave or being forced to trade him you know six years from now that's not what you want as a franchise and he's certainly somebody you you feel like you build around and can help attract other players that come here if he reaches his full potential yeah absolutely i mean like what do you think it's like he's in his

rookie year so you have five more years of of club control after this year though you know if he wins rookie of the year. I think it changes a little bit based on the new CBA. But yeah, like, you know, what is it? 30 million a year? So you go 240 million or 35 million a year? Do you go like that? Do backload it? Would you be a memo? I mean, like, you're talking over $200 million immediately before you even, just to get it even like close. And that's probably under a shorter term. You know, maybe Julio doesn't want to be tied down for six years to one thing or another. You never know. And then you run in the opt-out clause, you know, opt-outs very rarely work well for a team other than you say it's Cucci, I guess. But, you know, it's, it's that's where you, I mean, like, you have to start at 250 million.

And I don't, you know, I mean, I, I'd do it. I mean, like, if you really, if you trust your scouting, you trust what you know about the kid, then you do it. Yeah, I think you do it now, you know, he's already playing at such a high level at 21 years old. and you just think like he's naturally going to get better, you know, assuming that, you know, nothing unforeseen happens, you know, knock on wood. Like, he's just going to improve even further. So, you know, how much money, how much money have they made off of him already? He's making $700,000. He's making $700,000 a year.

And granted, he got like a one, you know, a pretty good signing bonus. It's not amazing sighting boats, but a really good signing bonus. He made $700,000. He made $750 on the home run derby. I bet you the mayor has made more than $700. 150,000 off of Julio off of Julio all-star merchandise. I mean, look at how much they promote everything they do. Everything he is a part of everything, you know, those all-star jerseys.

Those are not, I mean, the markup is high. I mean, like, his presence alone has made them money. So, yeah, you know, because what you're ultimately doing is either you're paying for what, you know, you've earned or what he's lost by making the minimum or, you know, instead of paying for what he's in a future or whatever. So if you wait, you're paying for what you didn't pay him in the past years, or you pay him now projected of what he's going to make you over the years. Yeah, that's a great point. Yeah, because, you know, $350 jerseys, you know, they're probably getting more national TV games because of him as well because of his presence.

He's obviously going to be a huge marketing force for the All-Star game next year. I mean, there's some, you know, he's just a, he prints money. He's that good. He just prints money. And there's a likeability factor with him with young kids. that is bringing younger kids back to the park and you know and talking with people and that's huge like when you have young kids that are into this that forces families to come and pay the elevated prices you know like i just i think you know for as much money as the mariners are going to make

off of hulu rogages in one year and even in the next year yeah you can afford to push that limit because think about the dollars accrued over those years you have this year next you have the all-star game i mean you know if he does the all if he does the home run derby next year you know how hot that ticket's gonna be yeah to go to that game it's crazy yeah it's crazy to think about well brian i really appreciate you hopping on here you guys can catch uh ryan's writing over at the seattle times you can also catch them on the extra endings podcast with larry stone ryan thanks for talking and uh good luck to you the rest of the year colby patnail will rank prospects 10 through six of the mariner's farm system in just a moment but real

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no I don't my favorite YouTube interaction ever so so good you know we were We were supposed to do prospect. Yeah, absolutely. We were supposed to do prospect week last week. And, you know, we got distracted. We took, I took one, I took one episode off, so we didn't do an episode last week. Yeah, yeah, that was the anniversary. Yeah, that was, unfortunately.

We've also had a couple of shows where there's just too much going on for us to, uh, to do the prospect list. So I even got a DM last night from someone. Let me, uh, let me actually shout them out, uh, real quick. real quick so i don't uh so i don't forget johnnie freetman uh shout out to johnny freetman who uh checked in with me last night dm me on twitter asking where are the prospect lists well prospect lists are continuing today and tomorrow tomorrow we're going to be wrapping it up with prospects five through one but first let's go through prospects six or 10 through six on colby's list starting with number 10 one pento one of your favorite prospects in the mariners farm system

you can't stop talking about won pento you love one pento so 17 years old, left-handed pitcher, still pitching down in the Dominican Summer League right now. Why do you love Juan Pinto so, so much? He's 17 years old. He's already 6'4. He weighs about a buck 90. So there's plenty of room to add strength and muscle. He's already touched 92.

He's sitting mostly 90 to 92. He has gotten up to 94, according to some reports, but it's mostly 90 to 92. too. There's a kind of a, I always hesitate to make this comp because it's, it feels way out there. But the curveball is Barry Zito-esque. If you remember Barry Zito's big overhand looping curfball. So I actually think there might be a Barry Zito comp in here. It's a big, it's a big hang, not a hanging curball, but it's a big 126 curveball. The fastball's not likely to overpower, but there is still upside in the arm because like I said, he's only. 17 and yet he's 6 foot 4 in about a buck 90 to 200 somewhere there so there is still room for him to grow

and add strength so i think it's you know i think it's a fastball that's probably going to settle in 93 94 big over overhand curveball 12-6 curveball um change up is going to kind of determine whether or not he is a potential mid-rotation guy or just kind of a back-in guy with a good curveball um he's three four years away uh you're not going to see him in the big leagues anytime soon there's just so much upside to this guy and I feel like the floor is actually pretty high for a guy who's 17 years old because I really do think that with the fastball and the curveball he's at least uh you know a lefty reliever out of the bullpen and a pretty good one so I feel like there's a really good blend of floor and ceiling here and you know honestly I like

I like lefties with the big 126 curveballs I love cliffly I love watching barry zito pitch and Juan pinto is is that guy so uh hopefully he's as good as them But we'll see. But I just like the floor and ceiling combination here. Both are high. And that's pretty rare for a 17 year old. Tools are certainly there. And yeah, like you said, he's 17 years old.

And he's already got that frame. And he's already got these tools in place. It's very, very exciting. Let's talk about another young lefty, 21 year old Adam Macco, who we both really like. We both really, really like Adam Maco out of Canada, of course. We, of course, Stan, a Canadian king. Why do you like out of Macco? He's currently in high A Everett right now.

Yeah, Macco's one of those guys that most years probably would have slid down the prospect ranks. It's been kind of an up and down year for him. I still have him inside my top 10. I just really like the profile. What's interesting about Macco is there's kind of a different profile than Pinto. Maco is probably tapped out physically. He's not a big guy. He's about six foot tall.

You know, he's not a tall lefty. so that's something that's, you know, going to concern some people. There's questions about whether or not he can get good depth on the fastball. But the fastball is, you know, 93 to 96. He's touched 97, 98 on occasion. There's actually some good run to the fastball to his arm's side. He's a lefty. So in on left-handed hitters.

And he actually, it plays up very well in the top, upper third of the plate, which is good. I mean, it's tough when you're, you know, a shorter pitcher to get on top of the ball. So you need to be, the fastball has to have a lot of. He actually has two breaking balls, two distinguishable breaking balls, which is pretty uncommon for a guy, for, you know, well, any pitcher right now, but two distinguishable breaking ball. Sliders a little bit ahead of the curveball. But I would say the slider is probably his best chance at a plus secondary pitch. Curb balls flashing, but it's not very consistent right now. I would give like a 40, 45. And the change up is, it needs work. I it's one of those pitches where either maco's going to find it or he's going to have to develop a cutter or or something something else uh to get righties out with so you know it's jerry the photos eyebrows just raised when you said the word cutter of course of course um so and

there's still some work to do here with his delivery it's not the smoothest in the world he has missed some time this year um but you know it's he's 22 he's going to be 22 next year It's going to be a big year for him. I think he has to finish a double A and finish with some success. Otherwise, he's going to fall way back. If you're looking for a comp here, I think Matt Moore is actually a pretty decent comp. We've seen Matt Moore pitch for Texas out of the bullpen. I think that's kind of where Maco's probably going to go,

but that's because most pitchers are probably bullpen arms. Anyway, so I think Maco, you're kind of in, honestly, one of the comps that I've read that I like, and Ty, this won't surprise you at all. Drew Smiley. So yeah, I like Adam Maco. He just stuck his way into the top 10. I feel like I could have ranked him anywhere between nine and 15-ish. And I would have felt like, yeah, that's that's about right.

So it's not a big gap between 9 and 15. I just think Maco's just got just a little bit more seasoning than Pinto. And that's why I put him ahead of him. I believe Adam's father is actually a viewer and subscriber to Lockdown Mariners. So hello to the Macco family. Hello. Your, uh, your son is, uh, very good at throwing baseballs. Yes.

Lizarro Montas, who was the, uh, one of the most recent international signings of the mariners is, uh, 17 years old and is crushing it down in the Dominican summer league right now, but he is limited to either first base or a corner outfield spot at best and most likely DH, a lot of comps to Jordan Alvarez, of course. Montes comes in at eight. How do you feel about the comps? How do you feel about Montes in general? I think comping anybody to Jordon Alvarez is asking too much.

You get why they're there. They're both big. They both have plus hit tools, both have plus raw power. You know, they're both, you know, they're both international free agent signings. And there are some obvious comps here. It would be great if he was Yordon Alvarez. That would be amazing. I actually think he's probably more current day Jock Peterson

than he is likely to be Yorda on Alvarez. Defensively, we'll see. He's definitely, like you said, he's definitely a corner guy. There's a lot of work to do here, but there's a ton of upside. If you can get everything going right, you know, this is a guy who's going to hit 250, 260. He's probably going to walk 10, 11% of the time, and he's probably going to drop 30 bombs at his best. So offensively, there's a little bit of Mitch Hanager here. You're looking for a Mariners comp.

But he's got to clean some things up, mostly the swing and miss, and kind of control in the zone, which at 17 years old, I'm not going to hold against him too much, especially when the upside is this high. So I think he's ultimately a first baseman. He might be able to fake it in right field. He's got a good arm. So it's not an arm issue. It's just a value where he's going to, where he's going to, where he's going to. the bat will play best. I think it's going to be a little while before we see Montas.

It's one of those reasons I was really okay with them trading Montes, even for somebody like Brandon Drury or rental, just because it's going to take them a while to get here. But the upside is so high that I feel like not having them inside the top 10 is just a mistake. I mean, we're legitimately talking about a 140 WRC plus type of guy here. Yeah, absolutely. All right, number seven, my favorite. the vanilla missile

Walter Ford the Mariners Competitive Balance Round B selection of this past draft he has yet to make an appearance in ProBall he won't do that until next year I believe 17 years old

I mean outside of you know his meme ability what should we be keeping an eye out for with the vanilla missile there's nothing more just you know King of memes next He's only 17, but he's young for this draft class. He'll turn 18 in late December, I believe it is.

It's a ton of athleticism, a ton of arm strength. It's a very wippy arm. It's a very easy 97 slider looks like it's going to be the out pitch here. Looks like a true fastball slider type of pitcher. Kind of similar to Logan Gilbert, minus the height and the extension and all that stuff. similar profiles. The changeup will see that's kind of kind of be the difference maker. Can he have that third pitch?

We don't know. But again, he's only 17, hasn't even pitched in pro ball. It's not hard to look at this guy and say, you know what? This guy who's going to have a plus slider, upper 90s fastball and a fringe average changeup.

It's a number three starter. And again, he's just 17. He's going to get bigger and stronger. He's going to learn how to pitch. there's a chance that he is the top of the rotation arm. But again, 17, it's going to take him a little while, probably four years or so before we can start talking about him

as a potential big leaguer. But it's, you know, it's fastball value for days. It's 100 miles an hour with run, with rise, and a wipeout slider. That's the baseline start for him. It's going to come to how good he is and the rotation comes down to whether or not He can give a third pitch. And I think the mirrors, with just the raw clay they have to work with for it, I think the Mariners can get him that third pitch that he needs.

Got you. So coming in at number six is Matt Brash. And I don't think we need to go on and on here about Brash because I think most Mariner fans know what they're getting out of Brash now because he is at the Major League level. And he's performing quite well out of the Mariners' bullpen, especially as a plate. So I think the question to ask here, though, is why is he not in your? your top five, considering that he is at the major league level now. Five guys are better than him.

Ultimately, I think Brash, I think he just put himself in a reliever role. I don't think the Mariners should give up on the idea that he can start. It's just hard to imagine how he's going to start for the Seattle Mariners going forward because he's clearly at best the fifth guy right now in the organization. And you have Bryce Miller coming up. You have Emerson Hancock coming up. You know the Mariners aren't just going to sit back and wait for those guys to come up. will spend on pitching if they need to it's just really hard to envision a scenario they still have

you know they still have marco and flexing as well just hard to envision a scenario where he's a starter for the mariners so i kind of had to look at him as just a pure reliever um i still factored in that he might start which is why he six and the stuff is insane we saw it yesterday uh just carving through major league hitters like they're nothing so out of the bullpen brash is potentially like right-handed josh hater like just untouchable game over type of guy And that has insane value, especially since he's going to go multiple innings as well. So Brash, I tried to factor in that he might still start while accepting the reality that if he's with the Mariners, he's probably a reliever. And that's why I went with six instead of five or four.

He was close. But I just, you know, I just, I had to factor in that he ultimately was Seattle, probably a reliever. Now, if he was, if you took the whole even possibility of him starting out of the equation, how much would he fall in your rankings? just as a pure reliever or would he fall at all um he'd probably still be ahead of like dollard and in izzie so he'd fall a little bit um i don't think he'd fall any lower than like 11 to be honest with you got the stuff is got you is insanely good yeah i got you i got yeah i mean he's still ridiculous like and the fact that there is legitimate potential for him to be like an elite reliever out of the bullpen in the future that's incredibly valuable that's not nothing you know yeah i think

like i do too a near lock to happen i think we're already starting to see that develop right now you know he's starting to really figure it out he's starting to gain confidence in himself and he's starting to locate better you know now that he's actually finding the strike zone with the slider or he's able to generate whiffs with the slider just in general i mean sky's the limit with the guy i i I love Matt Brash so much. I still want them to maybe look at him as a starter, but I get it, right? There aren't going to be that many spots.

They still got to figure out Marco and flexen. You know, they could do something during the off season. And they, of course, have, you know, Emerson, Hancock, Taylor Dollar. Those guys are going to make an appearance at some point in 2020. I would assume for an injury or some sort of trade. So. Tye's number one prospect, Matt Brash. It's bold.

I love Matt Brash, man. And again, another. you know we we have to stand a canadian king of course so that's uh that's gonna do a first show thank you so much for joining us here on the lockdown mariners podcast thank you again to ryan divish of the seattle times for taking the time out of his uh travel day to uh join us for a few minutes and talk some of ball uh hope you guys enjoyed that hope you guys have enjoyed some of the interviews we've done this week and if you want to see more interviews uh let us know in the comments below if you're on youtube or email us at lockeddown mariners at gmail.com and let us know who else you

like to see on the show. Tell us, let us know. All right. So for Colby Paddode, I'm Tadang Gonzalez. Be sure to give us a follow on Twitter at L0 underscore Mariners. You can follow inside the Mariners at inside Mariners. You can follow me at Dan Gonzalez's D-A-N-ZL-Z and Colby at C-Pet 11. That's CPAT-1-1. You can also find all that stuff in the description of this episode, whether you're watching or listening to it. And thank you again for making us to your first listen of the day. Now make your second listen, the Lockdown MLB podcast. MLB expert Paul Francis Sullivan brings humor, passion. and unique perspective on every team and the biggest stories around the league

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