Locked On Mariners - Daily Podcast On the Seattle Mariners - Seattle Mariners' Championship Dreams, Jerry Dipoto's Redemption Arc, and More w/ Stacy Jo Rost

Episode Date: October 4, 2025

Ty is joined by Stacy Jo Rost of 710 Seattle Sports to discuss the Mariners' upcoming ALDS matchup with the Tigers and much more.Check out our Patreon!Follow the show on Twitter: @LO_Mariners | @TyDan...eGonzalez | @CPat11Follow the show on Bluesky: @lockedonmariners | @tdg | @mlbcolbySupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!5-Hour ENERGYEnough with boring, flavorless caffeine, it’s time to give your caffeine a flavor upgrade with 5-hour ENERGY®️ shots. Get the favorites you love or be bold and try something new in-store and online at https://www.5hourENERGY.com or Amazon today. NutrafolSee thicker, stronger hair with less shedding in just 3–6 months with Nutrafol. For a limited time, get $10 off your first month’s subscription and free shipping when you go to https://Nutrafol.com and enter the promo code LOCKEDONMLB. ZippixGo to https://ZippixToothpicks.com and use promo code LOCKEDON for 10% off your first order.Zippix Toothpicks—energy and focus, anytime you need it.PrizePicksDownload the PrizePicks app today and use code LOCKEDONMLB to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup.PrizePicks — Run Your Game.Click Link Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONMLBMonarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONMLB at https://monarchmoney.com/lockedonmlb for 50% off your first year.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONMLB for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FanDuelToday's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Football season is around the corner, visit the FanDuel App today and start planning your futures bets now.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Stacey Joe Ross of 710 Seattle Sports joins the show to discuss the ALDS some more coming up here on the Lockdown Marrars podcast. You are Locked on Mariners, your daily Seattle Mariners podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Ahoy, sailors, it is Saturday, October 4th, 2025. This is Tadena Gonzalez for the Lockdown Marys podcast, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. This episode is brought to you by Fanduel. Right now, new customers can bet just $5. And if you bet wins, you'll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. Download the Fandualdial app today.
Starting point is 00:00:44 And as always, if you want to hear from me and my co-s, Colby even more and help support the show. You can check out our Patreon. All you have to do to check that out is click the link in the description of this episode. So it's a big day. Mariners and Tigers kicking things off tonight at T-Mobile Park. And it's a busy day here on the show, of course. We've already dropped our crossover preview with Scott Mesa. Bentley of Locked on Tigers.
Starting point is 00:01:06 Ben Reneery and I will be recording a postgame reaction tonight. You also obviously will get the postcast from Chris and Anders. And you're also getting this show, which features an hour-long conversation with Stacey Joe Ross of 710 Seattle Sports. Stacey is the best. Had a great time chatting with her. Now, we recorded this on Thursday night right after the Tigers beat the Guardian. And so, of course, we didn't know that Brian Wu would be left off the ALDS roster. We do, however, talk about the series with the context of Wu potentially missing it.
Starting point is 00:01:42 So there you go. We also didn't know, and maybe this is your first time hearing about this, that Josh Naylor may have to go on the paternity list as soon as today as he and his wife are expecting the birth of their child. So the Mariners potentially far from full strength heading into the series, which obviously doesn't help with the natural nerves that I had going into this weekend. But Stacey and I try to work through some of those nerves and more during our discussion. Before we hop into that, though, the Mariners literally just dropped their ALDS roster. So let's take a quick look at that.
Starting point is 00:02:18 Obviously, no woo. So Luke Jackson gets the 12th and final pitcher spot. Ben Williamson makes it over Cole Young, which if you listen to our roster episode on Thursday, you know was my preference. Everything else, though, as expected, no other surprises on here. So there you go. All right, let's visit with Stacey.
Starting point is 00:02:39 Making her second appearance here on Lockdownems is the coast of bumping Stacy every Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on 710 Seattle Sports. Stacey Joe Ross. Welcome back, Stacey. Hi, happy to be back. Appreciate it. You know, it's been a little while since we last had you on.
Starting point is 00:02:56 I think the last time you're on, at least the night that we talked, I don't remember when I released the episode, but the night that we talked was, I think the night of the All-Star game. So Caled had just won the derby. Yeah. Marissa just swept the Tigers, funny enough.
Starting point is 00:03:10 We'll be talking about them a little later on. But yeah, you know, they hadn't traded for Gino. They hadn't traded for Nailer. They hadn't traded for Caleb Ferguson either. Got to make sure that I also mentioned him. And, you know, just so much has happened, right? Like they had the two,
Starting point is 00:03:28 awful road trips where it looked like, oh, God, they might completely blow this thing and not even make the playoffs. And then the Etsy, which era happens. And, yeah, thank you, Luna. Yeah, wherever you are, Luna. Thank you. And yeah, they win whatever it was, 16 of their last 17 games before the Dodgers series, which we don't count. We don't talk about that. But yeah, I mean, just so much. So much is happened. They've won their first division title since 2001. They're playing in the ALDS. We just watched three wildcard games and the Mariners were still alive in the playoffs and they didn't play in a single one of them, which is like an impossible concept for my mind to comprehend. But here we are. And the Mariners are finally kicking off their postseason run today by the time
Starting point is 00:04:19 you're watching this is going to release on Saturday for context. We're recording this on Thursday night. And the Tigers just beat the Cardinals. The Tigers just beat the Guardians. So we'll talk about them in a second. But just your reaction to the last couple months since we last talk. God. I think that the one thing we've learned about that, well, we already knew that this team, like every team is going to be inconsistent. So you mentioned those two road trips. And I just kept thinking, like, I guess we knew at the time, you and I talking, everyone watching, that pitching just wasn't what it was last year. I was hoping at the time we last spoke that somehow in the second half, something would be kickstarted and we would see a resurgence. And while we did see a post
Starting point is 00:05:03 all-star break boost in both strikeouts, overall ERA, I think we can finally settle into like, okay, the pitching doesn't give you quite as much confidence as it did last year. That was true in July. It is still true in October heading into this one. Okay, fine. But I think that this team also meets the moment in a way that we feel slightly more confident in than we did compared to July. I mean, when we were talking, there was that horrible series against the Yankees. God awful. I might have tweeted something. Sure.
Starting point is 00:05:39 But, you know, I think you should take credit. I think that maybe it was like a, you know, behind this. Who actually led them to their first division title since 2001? Luna or? You did. Yeah. But what I will completely give you credit for, and I think I did at the time, is like, this team still had a lot to prove to people. And while they still have to prove a lot to everyone to themselves, something about that Astro series, maybe the most massive thing that happened since we last spoke, did change the way I see them.
Starting point is 00:06:11 At least this version of this team this year. Yeah, the Astro series is so fascinating. because, you know, we all know about the history, right? And I've said this a bunch on the show already. Some people already know where I'm going with us. But like, we already knew, like, we all know the storylines of what the Astros meant to the Marrars and just this division in general and all that, right? But the Marys didn't go into that series. And it never at one, at any point in that series feel like it's just about the Astros.
Starting point is 00:06:45 It's just about killing the Astros and finally overcoming. that, right? It was just, there are another stepping stone to where we want to ultimately go. Like, you're just in our way. Like, get out of the way now. Like, we want to win a division. We want to win the World Series. You're just like one of the things that we have to check off here in order to go do that. And that did change my perception of them a bit because it was, I ranted about this after I think it was either during the Tampa Bay series or after the Tampa Bay series where they got swept like where is your killer instinct right because like I'm not worried about that with the Astros for example because we've seen that year after year after year even when things get bad for them like they figure it out and they and ultimately what it comes down to is just like you're in our way get out of our way like I just said finally we saw that from them and it's like okay it to me it was kind of like like, I'm going to use a Seahawks analogy here. Oh, go ahead.
Starting point is 00:07:49 I'm sure people are going to love that. But it kind of felt like that second half of 2011 where they started to get their swag, right? The number of times, you know what, to be fair, the number of times I've heard this is 2012 all over again as a reference. I'm like, that's actually refreshing. It's refreshing. Yeah, but it like it does feel like, like we've seen these guys and obviously it's been longer than, you know, that group. like with the Seahawks, you know, the, the road to kind of become in like the alphas, has been a lot longer for the Marys.
Starting point is 00:08:22 But it does feel like they finally like gotten to the point of like, no, we like run this now. Like we got this. Yeah, you could see the numbers back it up, right? Because it felt that way in the game. Like, it's not like, you know, if I'm going to stick with a crossboard analogy, which I actually think, you know, is pretty fair. I actually don't mind it. Because the Seahawks were putting up numbers that backed it up.
Starting point is 00:08:44 Like when you were. isolating parts of their season and by 2013 you didn't need to isolate parts of the season. You could see genuinely improvement on paper. So again, we're isolating it to a tiny, tiny sample size. In this case, being a three-game series against the Astros, they never trailed. Never trailed. And quite obviously, because of that struck first every time, struck first early. And they were pretty dominant wins.
Starting point is 00:09:04 And I might have independently, and I'm sure, you know, many of your listeners did, have nerves heading into this one. Like I thought, man, it would be cool if they took two or three. that would be really cool. I hope they don't get swept. Like, I will fully admit that was my thought process going into it. And then you leave it and you go, God, I'm looking at numbers for both of these teams going into it. Why did I think they couldn't sweep? Like, why did I possibly look at the, not only the lack of health the Astros had,
Starting point is 00:09:33 but just the numbers they'd had all year that, that Framber Valdez wasn't who he was, right? That, like, all of this stuff changed. And I still thought, just based purely on history, I hope they can do it. And it's like they were dominant. Yeah. Well, and I think that's getting like swept up in all the extra stuff, all the, the BS of like the Astros are inevitable and the baroners are the Mariners, right?
Starting point is 00:09:55 And it's just like that. Was I looking at their subreddit? Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:10:01 Like it's like that's just like the fan of us. You and I were talking about this before we hit record on this thing. Like we're just coded a certain way as Mariner's fans. And we've been programmed to just kind of expect. the worst hope for the best right and so yeah i mean like going into that series i was thinking like okay if they only win one game they're at least still in striking distance they could still win the yeah like they're still like in the division race and they got the rockies coming up like they should be able to sweep them like how do they still okay if they drop all three
Starting point is 00:10:35 yeah and it's and it's crazy that at the end of it they had the easiest division clinch of any team in the American Lake. Yeah. Yep. I know. What? What? The Barreners.
Starting point is 00:10:51 Number one, you went to the last day. Yeah. It's crazy. So, yeah, just this ride that they've been on has been,
Starting point is 00:10:59 this ride we've all been on has been just insane. Now, here's my question for you. Do you find that as you're saying that, the more you're saying it in a reassuring way, the more nervous you get for the ALDS?
Starting point is 00:11:11 Oh, 100%. Like, you're like so we learned a lot about this team they can really meet the moment like are you finding the actual belief like like like your body like yeah like there's like part of me is like okay if i removed myself and tried to be objective about this like they're really good baseball team yeah really really good baseball team like they're like i feel like every post season even in the one that they were in in 2022 i would watch other teams and go man i wish the mares had like that like i wish the mares had like that like i wish i they had like that kind of reliever or that deep of a position group or something you know whatever
Starting point is 00:11:48 I've been watching these whole card games and I'm like I'm not envious of any of these teams I'm not envious of anything that they I mean obviously I would love to have to Terek Skouble or garretchen on my baseball team but like other than that right like I'm not like I'm like yeah this team could this team is good like they're really good more from my conversation with Stacey Joe Ross in just a moment but first a reminder this episode of the lockdown Marrars podcast is brought to you by prize picks. This episode of Locktime Mariners is brought to you by prize picks. The daily fantasy app where making the right call can actually pay off.
Starting point is 00:12:25 You and I make decisions every day, but on prize picks, being right means cashing in. With football back, prize picks is the simplest and fastest way to get in on the action. Just pick more or less on two to six player projections and you can turn your takes into real prizes, all in less than 60 seconds. It's quick, easy, and a great. way to follow along with football. Download the price picks app today and use the promo code locked on MLB to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup. That's promo code LOC, KED, O N, MLB for $50 in lineups after your first $5 play. Price picks, it's good to be right. So like I do get, and we also
Starting point is 00:13:11 talked about this a little bit before we hit record like all these people on the outside picking the Mariners to win the World Series or at least make it to the World Series, like how uncomfortable that makes us as Mariners fans. But like I also like I get how they come to that conclusion. I get how they look at this field. I get how they look at the state of Major League Baseball as a whole, specifically the American League and go like, yeah. Even with the the rotation regressing like, it's a good freaking team. So yeah, we'll see. I'm going to be a nervous wreck this week.
Starting point is 00:13:44 no like even if they had nine show hey otani's in their in their lineup because they're all wearing a seattle mirrors uniform i'd be yeah i'm still being incredibly nervous but uh yeah i mean that's just how it is you know i've kind of been thinking though like that i'm not sure if i'll be as nervous as it was going into the astro series though which is a weird thing to say just because it's like had they lost that series or gotten swept like there's a real threat like they're not even going to make it and now we're going to do the same thing that we've done the last two off seasons. And we're going to have the same conversations we've had for the last two off seasons talking
Starting point is 00:14:20 about, oh, they should sell the team. They should fire so-and-so, blah, blah, blah. They're not going to sign any. Like there was like that worry, especially for me as a content creator, like having to talk about the team every day. So now that there's like not that, like they've won the division, it's like it's a different nervousness. Like it's still a nervousness, but it's more like in an exciting anxiety.
Starting point is 00:14:42 Like it's like, oh, wow, man. like they could actually go to the world series that's crazy like yeah so so it's that so but yeah um so i don't know 15 minutes ago the tigers beat the guardians uh and uh you and i literally watched the end of it uh and uh and um yeah i mean this is the outcome that i think i think most people expected because like the guardians like they went on their incredible run but it was just not like the way they were winning games was was just not sustainable. That's why I was ultimately rooting for them to get through here. Yeah, without Jose Ramirez, they're not quite. I mean, which feels silly to say without their best
Starting point is 00:15:22 player, they're not the same offense. But I mean, it's like, it's like you have to worry about Kwan, uh, J. Ram and Kyle Manzarno. And that's really it. And I guess like Rokio had a nice series, but still. So, uh, this was the team that I expected the Maris to, to wind up facing. Yeah. So now we're here. Um, Terrick school. probably starting game two if I had to guess. I think Jeff Passan said that he wasn't going to start on short rest for game one. So school is starting game two. I have no idea what they're going to do for game one.
Starting point is 00:15:54 I don't know if that's Chris Paddock. I don't know if that's Ketter Montero in a bullpen game. Like, I don't know what they're doing. So we'll find out here. And then, you know, by the time that you're watching this, we'll know. But for us right now, like, we don't know who's starting game one for the Mariners, all that. But just general reaction to facing the Detroit Tigers. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:16:13 I it's interesting we've been asking people all week and I found that the people that we asked who were let's say fans or hosts like me Curtis Rogers you know we hosted a couple of shows this week and both of us were like oh guardians for exactly the same reason we were saying I was like remove Ramirez from you know the slash line for this entire lineup and it's drastically different and you know yeah there's some good pitching that you have to think about but there's not Terrick Scouble, you avoid one of the best weapons in the playoffs in either league. So for that reason, we were both going guardians. And what was interesting is, conversely, whenever we asked, you know, either baseball guys or
Starting point is 00:16:58 former players like a Ryan Roland Smith, they were all saying tigers. So it was very interesting, just the split between some of the nervousness that Curtis and I felt about facing Scoobel and someone who, you know, a former player and or a color commentary play by play guy going, I don't know, man, like there's some interest in a team that's cold as ice in September. There's some interest in a team that doesn't quite finish games and doesn't put it away. There's some interest in a team, to be fair, if you were making this argument that, you know, lost 6-1 game two and gave up a 6-1 lead in game three, taking it to, obviously, the bottom of the ninth. I think they were able to get a run around. I can't remember. But like
Starting point is 00:17:43 the Mariners have a better line up to the Guardians. I think the Mariners in that case, I think the Mariners in two winnings are able to attack on more runs against this team. So it's a very imperfect lineup. I can completely understand Ryan's arguments. Scoobel makes me so nervous. Yeah. I mean like, you know, I remember like Madison Bumgarner's run with the giants and like Scoobel is definitely like the kind of guy that can do something like that. And so, you know, that to me is in a way the great equalizer but man game one is just so important like you have to win game one because if you don't and now you've lost home field advantage and now you're going into game two facing school which even if you beat the tigers in that game that's going to be
Starting point is 00:18:28 like a two to one game probably yeah go ahead what i was going to say how do you feel about because i completely agree with you uh with your confidence level again by saturday we'll actually know but your confidence level in different Mariners starters either going opposite scoble so like in an ideal world Wu is pitching on that day but he's not going to be able to
Starting point is 00:18:52 I'm assuming a game three but I mean Logan does throw a lot of strikeouts strikeouts are incredibly valuable in the postseason yeah yeah Logan that's the one that I've been like flip flopping on because Logan I go back to the Astro start
Starting point is 00:19:08 innings one through two great super efficient endings three uh three through five major red flags yeah ending six pretty good it's innings three through five is what we've mostly seen from logan where it's like you know people got bad at us after um what was it the white sox game that dom can zone walked off earlier this year
Starting point is 00:19:33 logan started that game and we're like yeah Logan had 10 strikeouts and he only gave up one run, but like he only went five. And your bullpen had to cover like six innings, you know, because of the extra, because the extras and all that. And like that's been my biggest critique of Logan, but also on the flip side of that, I kind of feel like my biggest critique of him is why he ultimately works for the playoffs. Because now that like, you don't have to worry about bullpen availability in the playoffs,
Starting point is 00:20:02 especially in the ALDS because of the off days, unless someone, someone's dealing with something that we don't know about. and you also have and we'll see what like Bryce Miller actually looks like coming out of the bullpen but you do have extra options now you have extra levers to pull that you should be able to cover four innings
Starting point is 00:20:19 just fine if Logan is only able to go four and two thirds or five so if Logan is able to give you four and two thirds or five innings of two run ball one run ball no run ball with 10 strikeouts
Starting point is 00:20:35 okay cool great so to me I feel like Logan more so needs to be like the do or die guy like maybe he's the guy that faces scoble maybe he's the guy that you go to in game five you know if you if you have to go there hopefully you don't because like that's like your highest upside play it's like your huge swing it's your swing for the fences play
Starting point is 00:21:00 with him so we'll see if I had to guess I think George is going to start game with him we saw that picture of like their warmups on Tuesday and it looked like he was on the mound at team mobile park yeah so that to me signals like they were getting him ready to pitch in the home portion of this series so uh i think it's going to be george and george has been great as of late and it seems like he's finally getting healthier my conversation continues with stacey in just a moment but first a reminder this episode of the locked out marries podcast is brought to you by fanduel the NFL season is here and fanduel is making sure you're ready to be ready to be a moment but first a reminder this episode of the lockdowner's
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Starting point is 00:22:03 That's Fandual.com to place your first $5 bet. I want to get back to your point about some of your worries, you know, heading into this. And you mentioned, like, you know, God, if this wasn't a team that I covered every single day, I could completely make a case for them to get to a World Series. Outside of, like, you and I both agree that part of it is just inherent to growing up here. You just have a fear that's born within you. And not only that, inherent to being a fan of a team that is not top in payroll is, knowing your window is like and then gone, right? You look at a royal situation where it's like,
Starting point is 00:22:42 you go, you go back and win and then you don't know when it's happening. Hell, 20 or 2001, 2022, and you think like, here we go, it's happening. And then nothing in three and four. So like, you also know that inherent to that is that you're not guaranteed the playoffs every year. You may not even expect the playoffs every year. So that aside, this team right now that's going to be rolling out there on Saturday, is there a question that actually, that actually, you know, is there a question that actually does keep you from thinking they might get to a World Series. Devoided with Mariners.
Starting point is 00:23:15 It is the rotation. It is the inconsistencies of the rotation this year. It's, do I actually trust that George Kirby can stay hot? Do I trust that? And especially now with like the woo stuff
Starting point is 00:23:28 being up in the air, it seems like Louise Castillo is going to have to start. Are we going to see the Luis Castillo that has been the stabilizer in this rotation? Or are we going to see the Louis Castillo that, you know, misses side a lot and only trust, you know, that he can throw his fastball for strikes. And that fastball doesn't play up as much nowadays.
Starting point is 00:23:46 It definitely doesn't play up the way that it did three years ago. Like, are we going to see that Luis Castillo that got shelled on the road? Now, hopefully, you know, if he's starting, he's starting at home. But like, yeah, there's like the anxiety of that and the anxiety of like not having Brian Wu. Right. The one is what gets me. Yeah, yeah. And so that just like,
Starting point is 00:24:07 adds to that even more so like even if we was healthy I would still have my biggest question would be the rotation and just the pitching in general the bullpen right the bullpen's been shaky I mean even like even for how much of a dog andres monios is like I don't feel safe watching him this year I mean most recent outing wasn't super encouraging even though we said nothing to worry about with that series it's still yeah yeah yeah like Bizarro didn't have a great series either against the Dodgers even though he's been awesome this year so yeah so there's that but it's like it's most the rotation but yeah you know woo today through I think 25 pitches and I think he threw a little bit more against live hitters today and then after I don't know if you saw this because it happened the video came out like right after or right before we got on here he was talking to the media and he said you know I feel pretty good but I'm not where I want to be in terms of like game speed yet and like you know in about a week from now hopefully we're in a better spot a week from now A week from that would be game five. A travel day before game five. Yeah. Yeah. So it seems very possible that he might not pitch in the ALDS. Okay.
Starting point is 00:25:20 What does that do for your confidence levels? Significantly shrink them. Here's a thing that's interesting and it's what's been interesting about the Mariners all year long. It's that the pitching hasn't been what it was last year and yet all the same people are here. So that's the most fascinating. I mean, outside of Cal's amazing season and everything else that comes with that. That's frankly the most fascinating thing. That's the biggest story.
Starting point is 00:25:45 But it's been looking at a team that has all the pieces it had last year and everyone has been up until Wu getting hurt healthy, at least at the same time now, obviously sometimes on the aisle. And so what's tricky about it is I think that Wu, if not one, then is number two on the list of most important people to help them get to and win a World Series. And yet, I wouldn't have said that last year with this exact same group of starters. And so that's what's so fascinating about it. I would have looked and I would have gone, oh, Logan and Kirby, you can't, you know, those are obviously your two most important pieces. And so there's the hope then that if Wu isn't going to be who he has been for you in the playoffs, and frankly, it's like sounding like he might not be,
Starting point is 00:26:40 then maybe Logan and Kirby can be the best versions of themselves. Are you confident right now? They will be? Probably not because you've been wondering that every single time. But if there's an optimist out there that's looking at the best way to spin that, it's, well, not having Wu when you don't have last year's rotation is different than not having Wu and still having all of those guys ready to go. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:27:10 It's, yeah, it's a bit nerve-wracking, but it's also like we know how good these guys can be. Yeah. So that's what makes it so difficult, right? Well, they don't need to limit opponents to two runs. And also, and also here's the other thing, kind of like an underrated thing that's a buddy and I were talking about the other day. Like Logan Gilbert and George Kirby are like well below their career. high innings. They're relatively fresh because, you know, obviously George missed the first month or whatever. It's been a long season. I forget exactly how long it was, but like he missed
Starting point is 00:27:49 like the first month or so of the season. Logan was obviously out with the elbow thing. So like, and so on the flip side of that, they might not be 100% healthy, but in terms of just the wear of a season on them, like they're actually in a pretty good spot. Like they're more so in like July, August mode than like into the season mode right now. So that aspect of it is pretty interesting to me. And I do think that they are, I do think that the tigers are a good matchup for them. Even with, you know,
Starting point is 00:28:24 the lefties like Carpenter and green and all that. Like I do think that they match up pretty well with this lineup. But yeah, it's just, again, you know, you just. you think back to the times where the rotation just it just wasn't there over the course of the year and it's just even with how talented this
Starting point is 00:28:43 offenses. Yeah. And the reinforcements that they've added obviously it's the playoffs. Like you're probably, I mean, unless you're the Dodgers playing, you know, an 83 win red steam or 84 win red team or however many Wednesday at. Like you're probably not scoring like seven plus runs. No matter how talented you are.
Starting point is 00:29:01 No matter how many good headers you have in your run up. Because it's just playoffs. So I just I don't know if the offense can consistently bail them out if they're just as consistently inconsistent as they've been all year. No, short answer. But I also think that we've, it's been a really, really, really long time since we've seen a Mariners offense like this. And I also even want to strip away just the name Mariners. This is a club that was also third and home runs. I was looking at stat from, you know, Saras clubs that out home are opponents.
Starting point is 00:29:35 the playoffs are like 92 and 25. They don't have to face a Yankees team until the ALCS. So do I feel great about this rotation against the Yankees, the Phillies, the Dodgers, the Brewers? No, not especially. Well, three of those teams, you don't have to worry about. One of them still has to get through to actually make it to you. And I'm pitting the cart before the horse because you have to advance too.
Starting point is 00:29:56 Do I feel okay and confident enough in this rotation against the Tigers? Yeah. If it was against the Guardians, yeah. Against the Blue Jays? Yeah. I think I do. So I again every single team in the playoffs is good. I sure wish that they could face the Rockies in the ALDS. That would be phenomenal, not possible, obviously. They'd have to like just let them, can we borrow that National League team for a minute? Yeah, yeah. But yeah, it's just white socks then, better example. Yeah, yeah. Because the white socks just like, stick in? You can slip all the teams over here, all the bad teams from either league just for...
Starting point is 00:30:37 Yeah, could like the Yankees just get caught like cheating or something, and they're like, hey, give their playoff spot to the White Sox. Can I also say about the Yankees that there's a video going around of them relaying judge, I think it's second, relaying the calls. And I'm even though it's the Yankees and I will endlessly complain about them, that's not cheating. And I always get annoyed when I see those videos. Like, look, I would love to yell from the rooftop. that the Yankees are cheating at something, but that's not cheating. Yeah. No, no, it's baseball.
Starting point is 00:31:05 It's very good, high level, high, high, high level of baseball. Yeah, yeah. All right, so outside of Brian Wu and, you know, just outside of like the obvious names, because, like, Cal, Julio, of course, you know, anyone who starts any of these games, give me a couple of key players for this series. Jorge Blanco, I think is absolutely massive. and God, I went through this phase of, like, credit to them for bringing him back. And then, like, we knew it.
Starting point is 00:31:39 He's not great again. I'm right back to being, like, real tip of the hat. Yeah, tip of the cap to them for doing that. But, yeah, Jorge Polanco, just the idea of, like, look, frankly, answers one, two, and three are probably going to come from that lineup. Just the idea of, like, if there's a day where, especially shaking off that rest from five days rest, let's say Cal's, you know, pressing a little bit. or maybe you have a genome pressing a little bit.
Starting point is 00:32:02 Okay, well, not every single person is going to be pressing and every single person brings some pop, whether it's Dom Canzon, whether it's Jorge Polanco. So I really do like those. So if I'm skipping straight to someone out of the lineup, not Jorge Polanco, not Dom, not someone else, I'm probably going to go to like a spire. One of those middle reliever guys,
Starting point is 00:32:25 assuming let's take Miller out of the equation coming out of the bullpen and obviously Braschen, leverage guys out of the equation. If there was ever a season where it's like, wow, Carlos Vargas pitched the best innings of his life. I'm not looking to Vargas for this one, but someone like a Gabe Spire or Bizarro has actually been really solid. Just if there could quietly be someone where with all the doubt in the world facing them, they perform. Then I'd go to someone like Bizarro. And Bizarro can also pitch through a couple of innings. So I'd probably say, for like a third answer.
Starting point is 00:33:02 Yeah, Bizarro is one of mine for sure. Spire is a great call, especially for this team in particular, because you're going to bring them in probably to face Carrie Carpenter. They're going to take Carpenter out of the game. It's going to be Jemai Jones or it's going to be Andy Abagnas or whoever. And look, Gabe's been great against Ritey's as well this year. So those at bats are going to be huge, massive, you know, Jemai Jones versus Gabe Spire, Andy Abanias,
Starting point is 00:33:30 versus Gabe Spire, whoever. So that's definitely one that I look at. And like, Bizarardo's, I mean, they've wrote him so hard this year. Like, you know, so many people that I've talked to have been like, when is his arm going to fall off? You know, because like, I mean, like, I think about like the Astro series, right? Where like he threw the Thursday in Kansas City and then he throws two innings on Friday.
Starting point is 00:33:54 And so going into Saturday, you're like, oh, okay, Bizarro is going to be unavailable. And then here in the sixth inning or whatever. here he comes again. Everyone's playing till they're dead. Right. Like if he dies, he dies. And I'm like, oh, okay. Okay.
Starting point is 00:34:09 So, you know, Bizarro is going to be thrown into some of the biggest moments of this entire postseason. Yeah. And moments that are going to flip games and flip series, mostly because Dan doesn't want to burn Mooney too early, right? So Bizarro to me might be the biggest key player here out of all of them because of just how much Dan has relied on. on him during the regular season and how much he's probably going to rely on him here in the
Starting point is 00:34:34 postseason. How do you like Dan's role in the postseason, by the way? I'm sorry to interrupt, but I'm going to forget to ask you this. So I was going to ask you about this as well. So I would love to hear your answer. So Dan, I'm not a big Dan guy. I don't know if you, I don't know if you've picked up on that or not. But like I'm not a big Dan guy.
Starting point is 00:34:54 Like he's great with clubhouse culture, all that stuff. Like all the stuff that we don't see, which again, like I don't, I don't. don't know like i don't see it so but like everyone swears by it that he's great in the clubhouse and the guys love him so cool i'll take everyone's word for that that's fine um but his in game management has been a problem more often than it's not for me like he's a little too old school for my liking like i don't like all the buntz i don't like given teams free outs especially with how you know this team has struggled to hit you know with runners and scoring position with one or two outs you You know, like that gives me a little pause there.
Starting point is 00:35:31 And the bullpen management, obviously, like, leaving Carlos Ferguson to face Jeremy Pena with the bases loaded, you know, and on what was it, the Saturday game. Yeah. Like, that stuff bothers me and concerns me about the postseason. However, I would say this, again, because of what we talked about earlier, where the playoffs, specifically a series like this, where you have an off day after every two games,
Starting point is 00:35:56 like you don't have to worry about bullpen availability and you also have some extra levers you can pull with like a Bryce Miller or something like that so to me that that makes me feel a little bit better that maybe you know that pushes Dan away from further away from his favorite toy and Carlos Vargas you know no disrespect to the to the ground ball god
Starting point is 00:36:14 who somehow can't get whiffs despite throwing triple digits but you know but like that pushes some further away from that and it kind of makes it like almost full proof okay so I'm kind of hoping that it's just like the answers are just so obvious you're saying like the bumpers are up like this should yeah like like it's just the plan should be laid out just kind of perfectly for Dan it's just like you just got to press this button right in this moment so I'm more so concerned about bunting and stuff like that that's where my concern with Dan is right now going into the postseason rather than bullpen management yeah that's fair
Starting point is 00:36:53 What about you? Mine was actually probably more of bullpen management and that old school approach of like maybe leaving guys in because they want to be left in and you want to give him a shot and you really believe that you absolutely should take him out. That's what I was more concerned about. And just kind of also like watching sometimes the clinic that other managers will put on is just it just reminds you of like he is a first year manager. Like you can know everything about baseball. You're still a first year manager. and it's still a learning. Exactly.
Starting point is 00:37:25 And for anyone who points, you know, to service would be better for them right now. Yeah, I think probably, but he also had nine years. So, like, when he was a first year manager, he still had obstacles too. And frankly, like, Dan is clearly very well-like. So that's a massive difference there. But, yeah, mine is opposite of yours where I was a little more concerned about the bullpen angle of it. Yeah. I don't love money.
Starting point is 00:37:52 I hate calls for small. ball in general because it's just like a dumb thing. Yeah, yeah. I just, I don't like, I don't like giving the other team free outs. I just don't. I don't.
Starting point is 00:38:03 Yeah. Especially like if a guy, like especially if a pitcher is like clearly on the ropes. I don't like just being like, here you go. It's not necessarily a way that you need. I think some of the players they have are actually like a pretty solid with it. It's not,
Starting point is 00:38:18 um, a move that you need. Like you know who can benefit from that? The guardians, uh, because they don't have a lineup that can hit balls out of the infield you don't doesn't necessarily need to do that the mariners yeah like horace polanco why are you dropping so many buntz this year dude you can't double with your eyes closed man yeah yeah yeah so yeah yeah i remember when he was like trying to drop buntz like every other game
Starting point is 00:38:43 in april i'm like dude come on and then he tried like a couple weeks ago i'm like no dude no no bad bad stop be something that feels so cool about bunting successfully. Like there has to be something that former players are just like, oh, you don't understand. The hindus gives you. I mean, like, remember those two things. Remember Luke really had like a great bun, like last year against the white socks, I think it was, or the race. Yeah. And it was like, okay, cool. Like when it works, it's awesome because you can tell, like, you can tell it just snatches the soul of the other team, especially if there's a couple runners on, especially if it's like supposed to be a sacrifice fund, you get on.
Starting point is 00:39:24 Yeah. It's like, oh, okay. Small ball pilled ourselves right now. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:39:29 Like, they just want more. Hear me out. Julio should lead off the game with a bun. Lead off the bun. No one's thought of this before. God.
Starting point is 00:39:39 Yeah. But yeah, like that does concern me. I know they're going to do it. And in some situations, sure, like I understand why you want a butt. I actually would be down to see them
Starting point is 00:39:52 try and squeeze one like like like the runner on third. I want you to know the second they do. I want you to know. Yeah. I'm successfully. I will think of you. Yeah. You will,
Starting point is 00:40:00 you will hear from it when it happens. But, yeah, like if they have a runner on third like one out, like I don't know, maybe you lay one down and see what happens at the place. Just try it. Like especially,
Starting point is 00:40:11 especially in a game where maybe you're facing scoble. Yeah. Runs are just such a premium. Okay. I'll sign up for that. That's the one time you can get me to sign off on a butt. Like, sure. But if it's just like first and second, nobody else, this guy is laboring very clearly. I don't, especially if it's like JP who's been really good since the start of September, don't have him laid down.
Starting point is 00:40:34 He's also not. We don't need a fake field goal against Ohio State. You know what I mean? Like let's let's take those points. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Um, a conversation that I've seen quite a bit since they won the division, um, is, is, has Jerry's model or.
Starting point is 00:40:52 just Jerry's stance on how to build a roster been validated. Has Jerry in general just been validated? You can't say no. They won their division. He's leaned heavily into developing talent, and they've done so, with their best players being homegrown pieces overall. They've made trades, and their most important pieces of men trades. And you can't say that Polanco,
Starting point is 00:41:24 wasn't like a budget-friendly signing. So in theory, yes. I think what I worry about with Jerry's model is there are still a lot of questions I have about the pro scouting that they do. And while it's been fantastic this year, they are not fantastic because, in all due respect, I don't love calling out players, but they're not fantastic because Mitch Garber is raking. They're not fantastic because Hanager is still here. They're, you know what I mean?
Starting point is 00:41:57 So there are still lots of questions I have about just like their version of like, this is our big signing. Like they were stoked about Donovan Solano, incredibly likable person who did have a moment. But like. Shout out Donnie barrels. Yeah. Like they're here because they are phenomenal with drafting and developing acquiring pitchers. And they've been overall great with the bullpen, even though neither are like the biggest strength this year. They're also here because JP is hot right now, and Julio is an undeniable talent, and Cal is having a season we'll never see again.
Starting point is 00:42:33 So, yes, but there are things I'd still love for Jerry to reassess and revisit, and pro scouting is like right at the top. Yeah. I feel like they have, and they have said, like, how right, like we've reassessed. kind of our, you know, data models and all that stuff for, like, identifying major league talent. You know, I feel like most of their acquisitions since the Rayleigh trade have been pretty good, you know, because, like, you think about, like, Robles and Justin Turner and obviously Randy. Yeah, and now with Naylor and Gino. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:43:14 Obviously, there's the Donovan Solano's there, you know, in the middle of it all. But, like, for the most probably, in general, have been, like. They've been great. Yeah, they've been great at that. Yeah. But like just in general, like the off, like the offensive acquisitions since the Rayleigh trade, because I think the Rayleigh trade was the second to last offensive deal they made in the 23, 24 off season. Polanco was the last one.
Starting point is 00:43:38 Yeah, I think Rayleigh was the second to last one. Well, it was the, it was the same day as the Hanager trade. So, yeah, we know how that worked out. But you can count one half of it. Yeah. Raleigh, Polanco. Yeah. Obviously last year wasn't that great for Polo, but still.
Starting point is 00:43:53 Rayleigh, Polanco, Randy, Turner, et cetera. Like, they've actually hit more often than they've missed since that time. So I do wonder if like maybe they've just figured something out. Hopefully they have. But my biggest concern is just the sustainability of this. Right. Like, and that's been Jerry's big thing ever since he's gotten here has been like, I want to build a sustainable winner.
Starting point is 00:44:21 I don't want to just be good for one year. I want to be good for 10 years. cool great totally on board with that would love to see a sustainable winner would love for you to be essentially the next astros and just dominate this division but you know if you're not going to get the support from ownership that you probably should have are you going to be like have you addressed all of your flaws enough to the point where like we should be able we should feel like we can actually trust your ability to consistently build a winner working with kind of spare parts, right? Now, obviously, they have maybe the best farm system in all of baseball. And some of those guys are about to graduate, right? Like, Cole Emerson is here. Like, Cole Emerson might actually make the opening day roster.
Starting point is 00:45:08 Like, I'm starting to kind of believe in that. Las Montes might be a part of this thing at some point next year. Kate Anderson, Gerangelo Sanjo, like, except, like, so there's that. And then there's also like, you know, you could trade some of these guys and go get talent. but it's like what what is your plan if like say pita lanzo signs with the angels because the angels are the angels the soft season and now the met's won a first basement and they go give josh naler a bag that you're not willing to match right like and i think there's a reasonable argument to not bring back a uhenio swaras and then there's the hori polanco thing how much money is he going to make after this year and how much do you trust him to give you value outside of just being a d h so there's like all those questions so of like those three guys leave this off season or you only bring back one of them or whatever. Like what else are you going to do? What else are you going to be able to do this off season to say?
Starting point is 00:46:03 Because like I don't feel confident in the plan being like Ben Williamson is the starting third baseman. And Cole Young's the starting second baseman on opening day. Just flying in young guys. Like, like, it's like reminders most of the time they don't work. Yeah. And we might trade. Luis Castillo to save his money, you know, save some money on that contract and all. And we're going to try and repurpose that to what, right?
Starting point is 00:46:29 And like how much money are you actually going to get back? So there's just so many questions. What are you going to do about JP? What are you going to do about Randy? Like, you know, there's just all of that that I'm just like, I don't know. And that was also a big part of like why I was so nervous going into the Astro series and and so nervous about them, you know, actually making it and winning the division and all that because I don't know exactly where they go from this year.
Starting point is 00:46:50 Yeah, I think inherent to having the budgetary. And I've been very critical of Depoto before. You don't often get credit for being critical because, you know, if you're a flagship station, I think people think like you never say anything, which is not true at all. But I've been very critical before. I just, I don't think it's a personal thing. So I try not to get personal, whether it's players, whether it's people, you talk to them and they're all nice people and like.
Starting point is 00:47:18 I've talked to Jerry twice. Jerry has been great to us. Especially the first time, like, we had a Zoom issue and he was like totally understanding about it. Yeah. It was a ton of time. I love Justin too. Justin's wonderful.
Starting point is 00:47:29 But I think that as you're talking, you're entirely right on every single point. I think that the macro kind of look at this and issue is that that uncertainty is inherent to having the payroll they want to roll out. So if you look at the model for building. competitive teams on a lower payroll with an excellent front office, you look at the raise who are not in the postseason, who when they went to a World Series did not win it, who, you know what I mean? Like your best example of the most consistency you can possibly have with that has how many
Starting point is 00:48:07 rings to show and like how many playoff appearances over or like deep playoff appearances over the last several years, you know what I mean? So like that's the best person. That's the best. And so there's that, which is I think probably what he's trying to do, hopefully with a little bit more money, which is why he keeps mentioning the Astros, who obviously did end up making some like trades where then they have to give someone the bag. And that's probably why he's pointing to Houston quite a bit because you won't have as low a payroll as the raise. But like, that's going to be the question every single year. And so I started by saying I've been critical of Jerry because I want to add that like while I have been critical, there is a portion of.
Starting point is 00:48:47 of this that has nothing to do with Jerry and nothing to do with Justin and is entirely on how much you're willing to spend as an organization. And while there's an onus on Jerry and Justin to plead their case and on players to perform so that revenue and hype and maybe some free agent interest is drawn up, you're always living in this weird, uncertain limbo bad place that's sometimes great and sometimes deeply painful. because you're buying, you know, one raffle ticket every single year when you can certainly get 10, 11, 12. So I just think that, like, we're never going to find a shirt. There is no approach Jerry Depoto could possibly have that would guarantee you a postseason appearance every single year with the payroll that the Mariners roll out.
Starting point is 00:49:38 Exactly. And my issue, my main issue with Jerry has more so just been the way that he's like spoken to. to the media and try to explain things because he's trying to balance, you know, being like the super transparent guy, but also being like, I'm the smartest man in the room, which, like, you have, which like, you have to be to a certain degree to have that job, right? Like, you have to feel, you have to have some sort of, like, level of arrogance to you just to do that job. But that was kind of like my biggest issue was, like, you were, you're trying to be.
Starting point is 00:50:17 two different things at the same time and because they're conflicting and because you're having to do like mental gymnastics essentially and linguistic gymnastics to cover for things that are not in your control but you can't outright just say them. But you don't want to be blamed for them so you're kind of... Yeah, yeah, you're like...
Starting point is 00:50:34 Yeah. Like you can tell that he's a person that's constantly at conflict with himself. Yeah. And that's led to a lot of this stuff and I'm like, dude, just stop talking into a microphone. Like, please. Like, like, and that,
Starting point is 00:50:47 And that doesn't come from a place of like, oh, I'm annoyed by you or anything like it's just, dude, this comes from a place of love and like, you know, I want you to succeed because you're the guy running my favorite baseball team. Like, stop. You know what I'll say, though, is in hindsight, I don't think it was only voices from inside the clubhouse, most notably Cal, JP, nor like whispers from reporters or hints in their columns. about like, hey, you're not spending, you're not getting. I think it also was, though, like, this isn't trying to spin it, but I think by virtue of very publicly put in his foot in his mouth, the public outcry that followed,
Starting point is 00:51:30 I personally have never seen that. It was a perfect crossover of very, very frustrated Mariners fans and social media making those fans' voices very easy to hear for Mariners' brass. I think that that, is part of a force behind some of those changes. So, which I know is kind of what you're saying is like he's been, you know,
Starting point is 00:51:54 he's clearly hearing it. But I think that it's almost like a, man, if that never happens, do you get this year's team? I don't know. Well, and so,
Starting point is 00:52:02 yeah, and so I think like some of it was just necessary for him to kind of like, yeah, for him and just the organization in general to like kind of recognize like what, what we have. And I think like a big part of this that cannot be overstated, frankly. is that conversation that Cal Raleigh has talked about that that he had before he signed the extension.
Starting point is 00:52:23 Like sometimes you just need someone who's there in it with you to be like, yo, like look at this. Like you have you have essentially the superstar quarterback on a rookie contract. Like you have like the baseball equivalent of that with like you have addressed like all the hard parts. Right. You have. one of the best rotations in baseball, if not the best rotation in baseball, and they're all club controlled and for the five are all homegrown.
Starting point is 00:52:53 You have a superstar center fielder who obviously there's been conversation about like, he's not living up to that blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. He's still superstar centerfielder. We know the talent that he has. Cal, frankly, in my opinion, was already the best catcher in franchise history before the season even happened. Like you have like the most important pieces. place already.
Starting point is 00:53:16 We're not even asking you to go out and sign. And this is the biggest frustration that I had because like some fans are obviously like you should go out and sign Juan Soto and no time. And soony and blah, but it's like I don't I'm not asking you to do that. I'm asking you to go give like a three year 20 million, you know, per year contract to Christian Walker, which I'm asking you to not bring that. But like, but like, but like yeah, just like go on just get some solid. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:53:41 Like I think about when the Astros decided. like, all right, we're going to, we're going to start going for this thing. And they went out, they got Josh Redick. They got Brian McCann. Right. They didn't go out, they didn't give out a superstar contract. They just got really nice complimentary pieces to help them get to that next step. Well, and sometimes those pieces don't work. Like you look at speaking of the Astros, like, maybe like it's a Christian Walker. I mean, like sometimes you go out and out those guys and they don't work. So there are times when like we're screaming from the rooftops to add someone and someone will go, well, who? And we'll go, I don't know right now. You're just frustrated because you want
Starting point is 00:54:13 talent but I agree with you Cal's I wonder if part of Cal's conversation maybe adds like a human element to some of those dealings because when you're a GM like you don't work to his office is not like across from the clubhouse like you're not around players all day like inherent to your job is kind of for good reason and fair reason seeing players as movable pieces and I wonder if in the chaos of constantly trying to shuffle the board to either outsmart everyone or genuinely try to do something with a restricted payroll when there's a player that tries to forge a more positive relationship with you and say, we can do this here and here's what I need and I will stay here if you can prove me this and let's get aligned here because his relationship with previous
Starting point is 00:55:04 players that were leaders in that clubhouse was not stellar. So I don't think Kyle Seeger was barging into his door sitting down going, let's win a world series, Jerry. No, it was, oh, he's up there playing fantasy baseball. Yeah, yeah, it's that, right? Like, that was, that was his relationship with Carl Sater was, oh, you traded my best friend on the team, you know. Yeah, but maybe a player coming in there and I don't know that Jerry's like the warmest person on the planet, but there may be something to that relationship in particular. Well, and it's cool also to see like they win the division, Dan Wilson Hopp us on the microphone addresses the crowd. first thing that comes out of his mouth is thank you to Jerry and Justin for going out
Starting point is 00:55:46 and get the pieces we needed seeing all these quotes and these articles that have come out of just like yeah they went out they got Gino they got nailer you know like there you go there you like you finally got it like that's all we've been asking for is just get complimentary pieces and you know please maybe be open to doing it in free agency as well because like not all the time is the trade market going to perfectly line up with what your needs are like it did this year but like just this is what you need like especially now that they've gotten and this kind of goes back to our question or to our conversation earlier about like them kind of getting their swag now like and them kind of taking that next step was like Cal and Julio can be the guys now like for
Starting point is 00:56:34 real like can be the guys now where it's not like you're putting too much on young players shoulders and just hoping that it all works out. Like, no, like they're, they're seasoned now. They've been around the block a couple times. Like, they got this. They don't need a bunch of other players to, like, hold their hands and all this stuff. Like, they can do it. You just need to get complimentary pieces in here to help take this thing over the top.
Starting point is 00:56:56 Because now, like, you look at this lineup. And for the last couple of years, it's just been like, ah, Julio doesn't perform. Like, we're done. We're cooked. Now it's like, if you get anything out of Julio, it's kind of like a bonus. because it's like, all right, yeah, you'll need to add more blood for sure.
Starting point is 00:57:14 Yeah, but like Julio goes O for four on a night and it's like, well, Josh Taylor's got this or Gino's got this or Polo's got this. You know, Randy's got, like, you just go down the,
Starting point is 00:57:23 Don Ganzone, who's like really good all of a sudden. Yeah, my Italian Fian. That's right. That's right. Like he can just suddenly hit lefties now. That's the other thing about this year.
Starting point is 00:57:34 I hate making comps to like other playoff teams, but this team. have to. But this team reminds me so much of the 2023 Rangers. And how like even like some of the two years that followed. Hopefully not that. But like, you know, but like the the ebbs and flows of their season. You know, but but also how they got contributions out of some of the most unlikely areas, right?
Starting point is 00:57:59 Like you think about the start of this year. And Miles Master Pony was helping them win games. Browdy Tellez helped them win a whole series in Toronto. Yeah. like Convin Salano had the the Wrigley field you know uh thing like like he had two home runs I had like six RBI in that game or whatever it was like Samad Taylor came up for like two games and like let you know help them score a couple of runs you know and a in a couple of wins Leo Rivas right like you got that it's like it's like 20 it's like the 20 23 rangers where
Starting point is 00:58:32 it's like Travis Jankowski is like hitting 300 for them like what what what? And then on top of that, yeah, and then on top of that, you got Dom Canzon, who's like, legitimately really good right now. Look, the cool part about that Rangers team is their pitching became its best when they needed it to. So if you want to carry over the theme. Yeah. And so that, and that's what I was going to say is like they struggled mightily in the second half, just like the Mariners did there on those two road trips, especially. The pitching was a disaster, just like it was for the Rangers where they were blowing it. I mean, again, going back to 2023, you had the division lead at the start of that month.
Starting point is 00:59:14 You know, and a big reason for that was the Rangers just completely falling off a cliff. I remember just so how so bad their pitching was. But then their pitching got out, then their pitching got hot for three, three weeks. And their bullpen wasn't a problem for like three weeks. And they won a whole World Series. So, you know, like I just, I see a lot of similarities. I see a lot of the signs of a championship team too. And this kind of brings us back to like how I'm like kind of convincing myself.
Starting point is 00:59:43 Like they are really good and they could do it. I love how this is a full sort of conversation, but stopping the short of being nervous again. Right. Yeah, yeah. But it's like, um, like this has all the signs and all the makings of a championship team. When you look at their season as a whole of like unlikely heroes.
Starting point is 01:00:00 Yeah. Ebs and flows that they ultimately survived a huge, huge, huge hot stretch. And finally Yeah, important trade deadline moves. Finally, like, finding that dog in you when we're talking about the Astro series, winning a division, you know, and now like you go into, you know, in the playoffs. And again, like, I look at at these other teams. For the first time ever in my baseball watching life, I'm like, I'm not envious of what another team has.
Starting point is 01:00:31 I would actually encourage people to look at the 2022 lineup heading into that wildcard series against the Blue Jays. And I know they ended up winning, obviously, but just like a reminder of where this lineup is today, for that matter, where this rotation as a whole, this team as a whole is today compared to 2022. You're going to feel so much better about this team. Yeah. So. Not that you should feel bad, but it's just get hype. ALDS. For real.
Starting point is 01:00:54 For real. All right. Well, we have gone on way longer than I expect. I thank you so much for being here and for taking the time and for doing this with me. this was just so much fun and it's great talking with you I would love to do this again here in a couple weeks talking about the M's of the World Series I was going to say let's go through the World Series it'll be fun
Starting point is 01:01:16 yeah yeah that would be great it would be great give the Brewers some love I guess yeah I think it might be the Phillies which is so funny because like I think I said on this show maybe he was on our Patreon like three years ago I remember being like if the Marys ever make the World Series
Starting point is 01:01:31 I think they're going to play the Phillies Are you on the record saying this? You need to find out. I'm pretty sure. So like if they play the Phillies in the World Series, yeah, got a lot of time before that. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it if we ever get to it.
Starting point is 01:01:46 But yeah, if that happens, I got to find that recording. I'm pretty sure I have said that on record. Did you say they'll beat the Phillies in the World Series? Important. I don't know. I just like, whenever I've like tried to like visualize the Marys in the World Series
Starting point is 01:02:02 in my mind's eye, I've always seen them play in the Phillies. So I don't know. We'll find out. We'll find out. We'll see. We'll see. All right.
Starting point is 01:02:10 Well, Stacy, thank you so much again. Really, really appreciate it. Hopefully this is a good series. Oh, real quick. Where are you going to be enjoying the game? Just at home? You're going to be at the ballpark? No, we're going to be at the park.
Starting point is 01:02:21 So Sunday, which is hopefully going to be a game two win, a second consecutive win. We're going straight from Lumen walking across the street, both games for coverage. I think pretty much all of Seattle Sports is going to be that our writers or reporters, our hosts, all the on-air hosts, we're all going to be at the stadium, trying to do as many videos and everything that we can find. So for sure, the Seattle Sports Twitter page, we're going to have as much as we can. Be sure to be a long day. Be sure to, you know, like, don't get too nervous, you know, I will be freaking out.
Starting point is 01:02:59 You and I both will be very, very nervous. And I'll be, like, secretly hoping for a successful. will bunt for both of us. Yeah, yeah, for sure, for sure. All right, well, Stacey, thank you so much. Really appreciate it. All right, that's going to do it for the show. Thank you again to Stacey, Joe Ross,
Starting point is 01:03:13 and thank you so much for joining us here on the lockdown Marriss podcast, making us a part of your pregame routine before the Marys kick off their ALDS matchup with the Detroit Tigers. Again, Ben Reneery of C-level and I will catch you after the game. Also be sure to visit with Chris and Anders on the postcast. I've covered talking about all the action of tonight's game, get you ready for tomorrow. And it'll be the same routine after tomorrow's game as well. I've been your host, Tiding Gonzalez.
Starting point is 01:03:44 Be sure to give us a follow on Twitter at L0 underscore Mariners. You can follow me at Tading Gzalus and Colby at C-Pat-11. C-P-A-T-1. We're also on Blue Sky. You can follow me at TDG, Colby at MLB Colby and the show at Lockdown Merrers. You can also find us on Instagram at Lockdown Merrers. Have yourself a beautiful baseball day, and we'll see you next time. Peace.

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