Locked On Mariners - Daily Podcast On the Seattle Mariners - Seattle Mariners 2024 Preseason Farm System Re-Rank: Prospects 20-11

Episode Date: February 21, 2024

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Prospect Week continues as Colby and I rank prospects 20 through 11 in the Marrars Farm System. Colby, hit it. You are Locked-on Mariners. Your daily Seattle Mariners podcast, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Oh, Hoy, sailors. It is Wednesday, February 21st, 2024. This is Tiding Gonzalez and Colby Patnaud for the Lockdown Marrists podcast. Brought to you by Fandual.

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And on the show today, we'll, of course, be ranking prospects 20 through 11 in the Maris Farm System. We did 30 through 21 yesterday, and we'll have the top 10 for you tomorrow. Be sure to check out yesterday's episode if you want to know who made the back end of our list, and a quick reminder of how this works.

Colby and I create our own individual top 30 lists. We then combine those lists by using a points-based system where each ranking has a numerical value, and if there is a tie between two or three players, the tie breaker goes to whoever had the highest ranking in our individual list. Pretty simple, right? So let's begin the top 20, which is going to be a pretty interesting group of players today.

Yesterday, we focused on a lot of guys that they have to have a big year in order to stay in the top 30. Today, we're going to be focusing in on a lot of guys that have either already made their major league debut or they're on the doorstep of doing so. And then there's also a couple of guys sprinkle in there that are a ways away from the big leagues, but have a ton of upside. So it's going to be a really fun group. And we're going to start here with Blake Hunt,

for the Mariners acquired from the Tampa Bay Ray is one of the first acquisitions they made this offseason. And I think he's one of the more underrated pickups for the Mariners this offseason, especially after losing Tom Murphy because there's a non-zero chance. they're pretty much the same guy. He's a pretty good athlete with, I would say average, maybe slightly above average skills

behind the plate. Really good pop time, for example. And offensively speaking, there's a decent chance he's pretty useful. He's made some great strides in adding bat speed over the last couple of years. Some decent pop.

Seems to have a pretty good understanding of the strikes. zone, even though that he has struck out quite a bit down in the minors. But that's like 98% of catchers for the most part. The pop is more doubles, or at least it's been more doubles than home runs so far down on the miners. But he does have some over-the-wall power, especially against lefties. And at the very least, I feel pretty good about him being a solid backup catcher in the

majors for the next several years. Colby, what do you think? Yeah, it's a really interesting profile. And I don't think we can quite say that he's definitely just a backup. He does have some starter traits. And we know the bar for being a starting catcher in Major League Baseball. Pretty low, at least, you know, in terms of there's just not, it's a supply and demand issue. There's just not 32 good catchers, like well-rounded catchers in baseball.

So it's really hard to have two of those guys. The Mariners definitely have one in Raleigh. They might have a second in Hunt. This is a guy who really crushed sliders last year. as part of the, you know, the strides he made as a hitter. He does have good pop, particularly against lefties. He's going to hit some home runs for you. And like you said, he's pretty good behind the plate.

He calls a good game. Pitchers like their own to him. Pretty good pop time. So he has a shot to Nab runners in this new era where stolen bases are making their comeback. So, yeah, it's a very Tom Murphy-like profile. And there's a chance that he's the primary backup catcher, you know, sooner rather than later. Like we have to wait and see what Sevees of all it does. But Hunt gives you a legitimate third option that the Mariners haven't had since like 2019 when they ran their three-headed monster at catchers.

So there's a non-zero chance hunt, you know, kind of develops into a guy that, hey, if he catches 100 games a year for you, you're in a pretty good spot behind the plate. Like he does have that upside still left in him. But the floor, the high floor as a legitimate major league catcher who can catch 60 to 70 games a year, and you're totally fine with it. You're not, it's not a black hole in the lineup. It's not, you're sacrificing so much defense to get somebody who can kind to hit like, Hansi, good, useful, valuable player and the fact that the marriage were able to get him, thanks to the Ray's roster crunch, one of the more underrated

acquisitions because now Seattle is significantly better in terms of catcher depth than they were the last few years with no disrespect to Brian O'Keefe and Joseph Oatim and guys like that. But Blake Hunt is a guy who, he's going to get to the big leagues and he's going to stick for at least five to 10 years. Like this guy can do it. So it's a really sneaky acquisition. And it's basically getting Tom Murphy without the injury concerns for about three and a half,

four million dollars less than it would have cost to just keep Tom Murphy. So a really savvy move. And Hans is a really interesting guy. And he's one of those guys who could come up and help you more than, you know, people are giving him credit for. Like there's a legitimate chance that the Mariners have acquired essentially an everyday quality catcher to be their backup. It's coming in at number 19 is another player the Mariners acquired this offseason due to a roster crunch for the other team. That's Samad Taylor, who they got from the Kansas City Royals a few weeks back.

And we've talked a lot about Samad and why we like him. So I'm not going to spend too much time on this. But the gist of it is really good athlete who at the very least to me is going to have a role in the majors as a, base stealer and multi-positional defender and there's a non-zero chance he'll be able to hit because he's done it at every level of the miners so far so love the steel when they made it really like the player what do you think yeah you had him rank kind of significantly higher than i did i think five spots so uh to me he's sam haggerty's replacement next year like that's the primary reason for acquisition but he did crush lefties in the miners there is some pop against left

and he does provide an element of versatility and athleticism that the Mariners need in the organization, particularly if something happens to Dylan Moore. He is kind of a fringe major league bat in terms of a role player. Like I don't see an everyday player here. But I do see a guy who, again, like Sam Haggard, he can come up, you can kind of bounce him back and forth between the minors and the majors. You put him in the right spot, give him a chance to succeed at the plate, and then you can do a lot of things off the bench for you at the end of the game. He's a solid player. He's a useful player.

And there's a chance because he's still pretty, you know, pretty raw. There's a chance that he can develop into a, you know, a platoon type of hitter who is, you know, essentially Dylan Moore instead of Sam Haggrey. I think, I think more is a better player than Haggurty. I think we can all agree on that. And so I think that's probably what the ceiling is. But, you know, I think he's a major leaguer, which obviously helped. I mean, he has a major leaguer. He's played in the big leagues.

that helps your prospect rank. And there are a lot of different ways he can, he can kind of help you. And that's a valuable piece to have in your organization. And he might might just hit just enough against Rites that he could, you know, squeak his way into being the nine-hole hitter,

a hundred times a year. Right. So coming in at number 18, a lot of people are not going to like this. Emerson Hancock. The way Hancock's pro career has gone so far is incredibly disappointing. And, you know, I feel for the guy because obviously several injuries have hindered his development. And there's been a lot of stop and start for him.

But the fact of the matter is, he has a lot of wear and tear on his body. And the stuff right now is, I think it's fair to say fringe major league quality at best. And he doesn't really locate it well. That's said, I think he's still going to end up being a solid number five in the majors one day. I'm not sure if that's going to be in Seattle. And that's obviously very much dependent on him being able to stay healthy, which has just not been the case at all during his pro career. But yeah, I'm not sure if he's going to be able to go beyond that

with everything we know right now about him. Yeah, it's really average control. It's below average command. It's a 91, 92 mile an hour fastball. It doesn't have, you know, great spin. It doesn't have great movement. or run or life or it's just kind of a flat 91 92 it's got a little bit of armside run but not a ton there the slider is kind of mediocre at best it's a fringe pitch his best

pitch is his change up but if you can't locate the fastball and you can't get value out of the fastball the change up is only going to get you so far so the reports early out of camp at least seem to be that they really like what they're seeing from hancock and and again if we could see him get into games this spring and he's throwing 93, 94, 95 instead of 90, 91, 92. Yeah. That would be a really good sign. But he's got to, he's got to either get more value out of the fastball so that the change up will play up or he's got to add a legit breaking ball.

Um, just a bummer because like coming out of college, like he had front line stuff. And like, yeah, I thought he was going to be an ace. Yeah. I, I thought he was going to be better than Kirby and Gil, like he definitely had, he was a better prospect than those guys when he was drafted. Yeah. And it just, you know, the shoulder injuries, a couple of them that just kind of drained him of a lot of his natural

ability. And maybe he bounces back. I would love to be wrong because if Hancock is a lot better than we think he is, it opens so many doors for the Mariners. Yeah. Both with Hancock sticking around. Maybe you can trade Hancock for more than you thought you could. Maybe you trade Woo because you really like what you see from Hank.

Like it opens so many doors if Emerson Hancock just even like what we thought he was at the beginning of last year, which is like Kyle Gibsonie, right? Like it opens a lot of doors if he's that. I just, I don't know. It is definitely a put up or shut up here for Hancock. If he does not perform and stay healthy this year, he's going to be pitching in a different organization next, next spring training.

And you can pretty much take that to the bank. All right. We will be continuing prospects 20 through 11 in just a moment. We'll also give you a status report on our giveaway. But first, a reminder, this episode of the Lockdowneer's podcast is brought to you by Fandul. With football officially in the books and some time before baseball gets underway, why don't you try your hand at betting on some hoops? Get buckets with your first bet on Fandual, America's number one sports book. Because right now, new customers get $150 in bonus bets with any winning

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24-7 streaming channel. part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team, every day. And before we get back into prospects 20 through 11 in our preseason farm system re-rank, Colby's giving away some of us stuff. We are still 52 subscribers as of the time of this recording, still 52 subscribers away from our next tier in the giveaway. But for anyone that maybe missed yesterday's episode or Monday's episode,

Colby, can you give them a quick reminder of what you're given away and what the tiers are? sure so i'm giving away we're calling it a mystery box i'm going to tell you guys what's in it as we approach each new tier so uh the tier uh the mystery box gets more stuff added to it as we hit every 100 new subscribers so when we get to 10,900 new cards will drop i will tell you guys what is in what is being added to the box when we get to the next level uh this is what we have so far already in the box guaranteed uh we have a

a Jared Kellnick numbered autograph card, really beautiful card. We have a Mitch Garver numbered signature dual swatch relic autograph card from 2021. It is a very nice card. That's dope. Mary's new designated hitter. We have this Harry Ford, Bowman Chrome refractor card, not numbered or autographed or anything like this. And I'm going to throw on some Mariner Legends in here too. Legends.

Randy Wynn autograph card. He's a legend to me. I love Randy Wins. That is what is in the box already. When we get to, if we get to, 10,900, I will be adding to the box, this Lizarro Montes numbered refractor card on. That's right. And then this is probably my favorite card just aesthetically. This is a five out of five for Lander Barrowa autograph card from Wildcard.

It is a gorgeous card. Again, there are only five of these that were made. And this one will be added to the box if slash when we get to 10,900. Now, when we get to 10,900, I'll tell you guys what I'm adding to the box. If we get to 11K and let me tell you guys, you want to get us to 11K because or you want to, you do, because I tie knows some of the stuff that I purchased for this box that he has an idea of what's going in it. And it's a pretty good prize. To enter, all you have to do, subscribe to this channel.

leave a comment on any video during the length of this giveaway. The terms and description, terms and conditions are in the description. There we go. Coming in at number 17 here on our prospect, re-rank is Cade Marlowe. He's passable center field. He's a pretty good defender in the out in the corners,

even though it doesn't look great sometimes. He gets there. He makes the play. It doesn't look great sometimes. And I think he made some tweaks in AAA last year in the middle of the year that really, you know, could pay off for him. I think there's a non-zero chance. He is an everyday quality guy.

He can, he's got a little bit of pop. He can steal some bags? He's a good defender. Like, he does a little bit of everything well. The question is, can he really put the ball in play enough at the major league level? You know, you can be a 26% strikeout guy and still be a good hitter at the big league level. It's going to be tougher guy like Cade Marlowe to do that. Marlowe has to be 24% somewhere in that range because he's just not going to be a good hiter to

going to hit he doesn't have 30 home run power right it's going to be 15 home runs it's going to be you know 20 steals and pretty good defense along the way like he might be randy win he might also just be you know a number four or a fourth outfielder who kind of you know rotates around and gets 300 played appearances here i think he's a big leaguer i think he has a shot to pop this year um i i think it's going to be tough for him to like make his impact uh at the beginning of the year because it seems like the mariners love dominant can zone uh But I would not be shocked at all if C-Marlow is just the better player

than Domkan zone. I'm just not sure if he's a quad A guy or an actual bench piece yet. The swing and miss is a real concern. Interesting. Tell me again, where do you have Jonathan Clossey? Yeah, that's what I thought. I mean, the upside is a lot higher with Closce.

Is it? Yes, it is. We'll get to that in a second. We'll get to that in a second. But coming in at number 16 is Carlos Vargas, who the Baron has acquired. and the A. E. E. E. E. E. E. E. E. Hineoswres deal, of course, discussing stuff. But, like, with every reliever who comes with this profile, I just, you know, I worry about him being able to throw enough strikes. And if he can't, then he's going to flame out pretty quick, right? We've seen it time and time again with guys like Gerson Batista, Tiago Vieira, etc., etc. But that's a, the upside here is immense. And there's a real, real, real shot at a high leverage reliever who's going to line up the radar gun. So, and I mean, when you think about what the mayor has already have in their bullpen if you're able to hit on one of vargas or jackson co are like look out this

bullpen is going to be just nuts there's a non-zero chance and by that i mean there is a there is a reality out there somewhere in in you know the timeline tree that loki's holding together right where carloser is manuel class a like it's a 102 mile an hour fastball with like a 95 mile an hour cutter slider cutter it's you know it's grayer we know how hard it is to differentiate a hard cutter or a hard slider from a cutter sometimes but like that's what we're talking about here it is filthy stuff with those two pitches yeah can he get it near the strikes doesn't have to have you know plus command he just has to get it near the strike zone and he will be in effect a big league pitcher can he do it i don't know and that's why he's not top 10 because

if he could do it, he's top 10, even though he's a reliever because this is, you know, again, one of the, it is, it is like all star closer type of stuff. So can he do it? I don't know. I like that it's the Mariners who are going to try and get him to do it. And I'm really excited to see him. I'm hoping we get to see him in one of like the 12 games that is televised, uh, this spring. Uh, but, yeah, he is definitely an electrifying arm.

And if he could just, if he could just get to like four and a half base on ball per nine, And if you could just walk like 10, 10% of the guys, 11% of the guys instead of 15, like he has a chance to be that really the fourth high leverage arm. But I mean, I don't want to disrespect Gabe Spire. So we'll say fifth, high leverage arm in this bullpen. Like the Mariners have something pretty elite if Vargas hits. And he has a chance to it's not, you know, wishful thinking to think that the Mariners can't get him to 45 control and command. Because if they do that, this. This dude's a really good big league.

I leverage arm. Yeah, you're talking about the Mariners bullpen getting into a very special conversation. All right. Coming in at number 15, Jonathan Clausay. All right. So tell me why you have Cade Marlowe over Jonathan Claese and why you think the upside with Marlowe might be a bit better than Clossey. At least that's what you were alluding to. Sure.

Well, first of all, I know that. Cade Marlowe is a major leaker. I don't know that yet about Clause. Class A swings and misses. All right. Yes, I do. Clause A miss swings and misses a lot. So if that's a problem you have with Cain Marlowe.

Yeah. I do have a, I do have a big problem. And despite his plus speed, some say double plus. Some say he has 80 grade speed, which I don't think he does. I think it's 70,

but like we're splitting here. So let's not do that. That's my job. Yeah, whatever. Whatever. He can't play center field. Like he's not a good defender.

He has terrible instincts. That's a problem. So he is a corner outfield only guy who swings and misses a ton. He has some raw power, but we're not talking about 30 home runs. No. Like that doesn't, that's not what he profiles as. 1520. Maybe.

Maybe. But can he get on base enough to take advantage of the speed? And can he be even an average corner? Because I'm telling you right now, he is not an average defender at any of the three outfield spots, despite the elite speed. Right. Like, come on. there are so many questions left with this guy.

And, you know, I think that there is this huge disconnect between like the average, like, Mariner fan who just like, oh, he went 20, 40 or whatever last year, 2050 or whatever. And it's like, yeah, he also struck out like 30% of the time and he's not a centerfielder. And like there are real concerns about his ability to make contact consistently at AAA, let alone the major league level. And yet, and yet, if he does. Yeah. He's an everyday player.

Right. So it's kind of a balancing act with Klosset because like the ceiling is like the raw tools are what they are. Like they are. But like actually applying those tools in a baseball game at the major league level. I'm not confident Klaise can do that yet. So that that's why I like I'm really confident that Marlowe is at least a really good like number four outfield or fringe everyday guy. I don't know if Clause C can even get to the big leagues like with regularity and stay at the big league level. So we'll see.

To be, you know, and to be fair, I did rank them like one spot apart from each other, two spots apart from each other. So it's not a huge difference here. I'm, I'm going to value the floor a little bit here because I think the ceiling for Clause A is a corner outfielder with some power who might get on base enough for his speed to matter.

Yeah. I feel like I went floor heavy. through the first half of this list that I did want to shoot for the moon a little bit. And Klossay is definitely shooting for the moon. Sure. The upside is high like we established. And I get why a lot of people really like them. But it's also pretty easy to see how things could fall apart from very, very, very quickly,

which has me a bit nervous, to be honest with you. I think a really simple, like, litmus test for like, should you take these people seriously when they talk about Mariner Prospects is Clase. Is he in this person's top 10? Yeah. They're looking at their box score scouting. They're not looking at.

He's not a top. Well, even if you're box score scouting, though, he wasn't good in AA this year or last year. Right. He was, you know,

94 WRC plus. Yeah. He had moments, and 108 games. Yeah, he wasn't great. Yeah. Like he had a,

you know, he was awesome and about 100 played appearances down in high A. But then he came out. to double a and he was pretty mediocre. Yeah. So like we don't even know if this dude can hit at a double a level right now.

Yep. But again, the the raw tools are very, very exciting. You know, K and Marlowe can hit at the AAA level. All right. Fair enough. Fair enough. Got a few more prospects coming up here in just a moment. But first, a reminder of this episode of the Lockdown Mariners podcast is brought to you by game time.

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Again, create an account and redeem promo code locked on. That's L-C-K-D-O-N for 20. $20 off. Download game time today. Last minute tickets, the lowest price guarantee. And you're listening to the Lockdown Marriss podcast. Thank you again for making us your first listen here on Prospect Week. It's Prospects 20 through 11 here in the Marriss Farm System. We've already gone through 2019, 18, 17, 16, and 15. And coming in at number 14, Teddy McGraw. Teddy McGraw, the Mariners third round pick in this past year's draft. and he is another double elbow procedure guy.

Notice I didn't say double Tommy John because the second procedure was more like a fix, right? They, what did they do exactly? I can't remember what it was. Race that they put in there or something. Yeah, yeah. So what, I guess the first question you might be asking right now is what distinguishes Teddy McGraw from Cole Phillips?

who we put a lot lower in our rankings after the news of his second surgery came out. And I mean, some of it is just McGrath is more refined, right? And he's likely to see the field a lot sooner than Phillips. He's going to pitch this year last I heard. Yeah. Which is not true for Phillips at all.

Yeah. And he has the makings of a mid-rotation starter. It'll just be about. raising the ceiling on his arsenal and of course keeping him on the mountain so what do you think about McGrath? Yeah, really like the arm here. Probably the best combination of stuff and proximity in the system which is why he's the second highest ranked pitcher on our list. So, but yeah, it's it's four pitch. This is him in college four pitches to seamer up to 98 with good armside run. And you know, both

both sat both the fastball sat in the mid 90s so good velocity good value on that pitch which obviously gives you a start right away. Remember he serves he is one of those guys who can absolutely spin a breaking ball. His weapon of choice is a slider. It's very sweepery. He can also firm up that slider too and get it up into the lower 90s so it's almost more like a cutter. So a couple of pitches there and the change up, you know, we'll see like that that's the X factor here. But there's a chance that the Mariners just pop him in the bullpen and he could actually impact this team in September. But should be in the, if they put him in the bullpen right away, next year he probably makes his debut. If they want to keep him stretch out,

they want to give him a chance to start, it's probably going to be not until sometime middle of next year that he's even like on the radar. I think they should give him the opportunity to start. It is a starter arsenal and he's got good size through strikes in college. The stuff is really good. So if McGraw was helpful, healthy in his draft year, he was going to be a late first round pick.

So, like, it's incredibly talented. It's an incredibly talented arm, pretty good athlete, has a chance to have two plus fastballs and a plus slider. And we'll see on the change up. Like, I think McRaw is a guy who could be, you know, a strong number three starter if health checks out. But if the Mariners don't want to mess around with like the health and all that stuff and they just want to put him in the bullpen right away, he's high leverage.

Like, he's got that type of stuff. So McGraw, good chance. if he can stay healthy, to have a major impact for the Mariners either on their team or in the trade market. Like McGraw is a good prospect. Coming in at number 13 is Jeter Martinez, who if you know a thing or two about the Mariners Farm System, you can put two and two together that this is our number one ranked pitcher in the Marrys Farm System. But if you don't know a ton about the Maris Farm System, right now it's not great in terms of pitching. So we're here at number three.

Yeah, a lot of upside, but 13. is the highest that we're ranking a pitcher in the farm right now, which is imagine telling someone about four years ago. But the Mariners' bats would become like what they're known for developing. That's right. And the top rated pitcher is, of course, quite a few years away. Yes.

As well. Martinez, though, has by and large the highest upside of any Mariners pitcher in the farm system right now. He needs to fill out. a bit more, but he's already seen good progress on his fastball, his change up, and his breaking ball. He was really good in his first year pro ball this past year in the Dominican. So really looking forward to seeing what he does in 2024.

I'd be a little bit surprised if he saw Modesto this year, but not shocked. But he's just 18 years old, 6'4, about a buck 80. So there is a lot of good weight to go add. But he's already, you know, 93, 94, up to 98. 99 with the fastball. Pretty good slider already. He's a good athlete. Repeats his delivery, throw strikes.

You know, he's got to clean it up a little bit. Like last year, I think he had a, it was about 12% walk rate. That's a little high. But again, he's 17 years old last year. So this guy has the potential to be a frontline starter. So why is he not in the top 10? He is three, four years away from sniffing the big leagues. He is a long ways off.

But if everything checks out, like he fills out, he adds the good weight. He keeps his athleticism. You know, in theory, you add more weight. You're going to throw harder. He has a chance to be 98, 99, 100 with a fastball with a wipeout slider who throws a lot of strikes and maintains good athleticism. Like that that's a front line starter. That's at least a mid-rotation guy. So, again, we'll have to wait and see. It's going to be a while before you see this guy.

But don't sleep on him. He has the potential to be the best arm in the Mariners system, you know, in, in three years. Like, he's the best arm right now, but he has the best, he has a shot to be the best starter in the marriage rotation in about four or five years time. It's just, we know how long, the longer the road, the more things can go wrong. So that's why he's not in the top ten, but he is a very good arm. Also, Jeter Martinez, pretty dope name.

That's a great baseball name. Yeah. 80 grade name. Coming in at number 12 is Dewell Joseph, who, uh, the mayor has just recently signed in the international signing period last month. He was their top signee and was considered to be one of the best prospects in this year's class. He's 16, so you're not going to see him for a long time, if ever. But there's a good reason that he was highly regarded in this class.

There's a really good shot. He's going to stay up the middle, whether it's at shortstop or center field, potential for plus speed, plus hit tool, some good pop as well. That can obviously change a great deal, of course, because, you know, as he starts to fill out physically, because that's just the case with a lot of these guys who, you know, you bring into your organization at 16, 17 years old. But there's a lot to dream on here. Yeah, loud tools, good chance to stay up the middle, good athlete. You know, he's 6-2, 6.3, so there's a chance he grows off a shortstop. He's only 175 pounds.

He might have, you know, 50 pounds to go get. to fill out his frame. But, you know, it's a little similar to Noelvie Marte when the Mariners signed him. It's kind of a similar profile there. So maybe Joseph is Noelvi Marte, but like you said, he's so far away. He's so raw that it's really tough to have a good feel for this. So there's a chance in three years we look up and he's the number one prospect in the system. There's a chance in three years we look up and he's, you know, stuck in Modesto and like he struggled his first time state side and he's a fringe top 30 guy.

But the tools are loud. and the frame is something that is pretty easy to reject more power on. So yeah, he's got a shot to be an everyday player at the big league level and probably one who plays up the middle. And that is going to carry you quite a bit in prospect ranks. So lastly, to wrap up our day here, Ryan Bliss comes in at number 11, who I think the mayors would consider to be the prize of the Paul Seawald return. I know they really like Dom Kanzone. I know they really like Josh Rojas, but I think Ryan Blitz. was a really getting Ryan Bliss was a real big deal for them in that trade.

You have him ranked 13th, which you had him in your top 10 the last time we did this. Did something change? I liked other guys better. And it's kind of push, like, it's nothing that Bliss did. It's just, you know, I like Parmelo. I like Pete. I like Jeter Martinez now. I feel like I've seen enough of him to.

And I just, I wonder a Bliss is an everyday player. That's my concern here. or is he more of just kind of a, kind of a, you know, 400 plate appearance guy, but he does it at second. He plays a little short, maybe some third, like, which is still again, a valuable player. He's number 11 in a good system. Like, still a good

player, but he's also, the size has to be concerned, how real is the power at that size? Now, we can't say it's not real at all because guys like that never have for power. I would point you to Dustin Petroa and Jose Altovae, but those two guys are like Hall of Famers. So, well, Brian, this is

Altuve. I mean, I know people think that it's weird right that the Mariners like two of Mariners prospects get comp to you know Astros and Mariners and Mariners hate the Astros but they want their players to be the Astros so kind of funny how that works out but yeah Bliss is a guy who if everything hits for him he could hit 250 260

you know league average on base um steal some bags he's 20 25 stolen base guy and he might have you know 10 to 15 homers now there's some things to clean up at second base but he is a really good athlete I don't think he's going to have any issues handling second base he can play shortstop a little bit. You don't want him to, but like if he,

if you have to, like, you're fine there. I don't know if he's quite got the arm for third base, but you don't have to have a great arm at third. You can fake it. I think he can play around the infield. He's good enough athlete. You give him an outfield glove. He'd probably figure it out.

This is the guy who's going to get a shot, we think, at some point this year, if he earns it. So, you know, there was a lot of thought coming into the offseason that, like, he was just going to platoon with Rojas at second base, and we were going to see him on the major league roster on opening day. Not the case anymore. Quite a few things would have to go wrong for Bliss to make his debut on opening day. But there's a lot to be excited about here. It's just a matter how real is the power and how, you know, is it a 55 hit? Is it a 45 hit? Like, where does it land? And obviously, the more power you have, the more margin of error you have on the hit tool.

So there are some concerns about his, you know, his physique, just height and weight. But he's a really good athlete. And I think he's going to be a really good player. I quite, I despite, you know, lowering him in my ranks. I'm still quite high on Ryan Bliss. I think he can be a really solid major leaguer. No, you've established yourself as a Ryan Bliss hater. I mean, you hate Cade Marlowe, so. Right. Right. Very similar profiles. Only Marlowe's got prototypical size. Back to you, Ty. Did you really just compare Cade Marlowe to Ryan Bliss? You're darn right I did.

Same player. All right. That's going to do it for our show. Thank you so much for joining us here on the lockdown Marrace podcast. Be sure to tune in tomorrow for the top 10 prospects. But for now for Colby Patnode. I'm Ty Dan Gonzalez. Be sure to give us a follow on Twitter at L.O underscore Merriners. You can follow me at C-Pad-E-N-Gazolice and Colby at C-Pat 11. That's C-P-A-T-1-1. You can also find all that stuff in the description of this episode. Thank you again for making us your first listen. Have yourself a beautiful baseball day and we'll see you next time. Peace.