Locked On Mariners - Daily Podcast On the Seattle Mariners - Seattle Mariners Sign Dane Dunning + Is CJ Abrams the Brendan Donovan Pivot?! | Fan Fiction Friday

Episode Date: January 23, 2026

Ty and Colby discuss the Seattle Mariners signing former Rangers pitcher Dane Dunning to a minor-league deal then grade listener's trade ideas.Click to learn more about the Everydayer Club!Join the Ahoy, Sailors Discord server!Check out our Patreon!Follow the show on Twitter: @LO_Mariners | @TyDaneGonzalez | @CPat11Follow the show on Bluesky: @lockedonmariners | @tdg | @mlbcolbySupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Turbo TaxFor a limited time, you can have your taxes done by a local TurboTax expert for just $150 — all in, if a TurboTax expert didn’t file for you last year. Just file by February 28. Take taxes off your plate and get back to your life.Visit https://TurboTax.com/local to book your appointment today.FanDuelToday's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Every Friday night, before the games tip off, FanDuel gives fans a new way to kick off the weekend with NBA Happy Hour. Check the FanDuel app and see what’s dropping during NBA Happy Hour — every Friday from 6 to 7:30 PM Eastern. FanDuel — the Official Sportsbook Partner of the NBA.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.

Yesterday, the Mariners made their most interesting minor league signing of the winner. We'll talk about it coming up. Colby, hit it. You are Locked-on Mariners. Your daily Seattle Mariners podcast. Part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Ahoy, Sailors, it is Friday, January 23rd, 2026. You're listening to the Lockdown Marers podcast, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network,

now the number one sports podcast network. My name is Tadang Azales, and I'm joined as always by my co-host, Colby, Hat node, we're two lifelong Maris fans who've been covering the team for over half a decade. And today, we're going to talk about the mayor signing former Rangers pitcher Dane Dunning to a minor league contract. We'll tell you why that's interesting. That we'll get into your marriage trade ideas for fan fiction Friday. But let's start here with Dane, Cullby. I actually have some news to talk about, kind of.

It's a minor league signing. But this is a guy that only two years ago in 2023 was a two-win pitcher for the Rangers. He got moved to the bullpen this past year, didn't go particularly well for him. He averaged a little over a strikeout per inning, which is nice. You know, the walks per nine, not that bad, 305, but the ERA 697 507 FIP. He was worth negative 0.1F4. But the mayor is taking a shot on a former highly regarded prospect who has some, you know, major league success under his belt and a lot of major league seasoning at the very least under his belt.

Yeah, I mean, look, it's a minor league deal. There's no such thing as a bad minor league deal unless there's off-field issues, which there doesn't appear to be here. So, yeah, it's interesting. We'll see how the Mariners want to use him. You know, do they keep him in the bullpen? Do they stretch him back out for rotation depth? But that's ultimately what he is.

He's depth. He's a lottery ticket that you're taking a shot on. You know, there's really not a ton to get super excited about. at his best he throws 91, 92 with good control and command, but he has to nibble on the edges because if he's in the middle of the plate, he's going to get torched. The stuff isn't all that good. It's honestly not too dissimilar from Emerson Hancock.

It's just, you know, he's actually been a two-win pitcher before, which Emerson Hancock can't do. So, you know, it is that. Plus Hancock's probably in the bullpen. I don't think they're going to stretch him back out. So you kind of had to replace that sixth or seventh start. starter. And it's, Dunning is fine. And you have Dobnack too. But both of those guys have experience, both in the bullpen and in the rotation. So there's some flexibility there. Dunning, it's a minor

league deal. So he doesn't have to make the team out of spring training. I assume there's an opt-out like there are with pretty much all minor league deals, though. So if another team wants him at the end of spring, he'll head off. If not, then, you know, he'll head to Tacoma and be some valuable org depth there. So it's an interesting idea. I mean, again, do they move to the bullpen. Maybe, but if he's only thrown 91, 92 and he's not getting a ton of swing and miss, I mean, that's a very low floor. So I think, or very low ceiling, I should say. So I think that they probably stretch him out. They probably keep them ready to jump in and throw some innings at the big league level, if needed, knowing that they could always just throw them back in the bullpen,

that there's not really a long transition that needs to take place from going from the rotation to the bullpen as opposed to the other way, which takes a couple weeks, if not months. So yeah, I think it's a nice signing. It gives the mariner some rotation depth. It also gives them some bullpen depth. And, you know, I think ultimately of Dunning is a mariner at some point in 26. It's much the way that Casey Lawrence has been a mariner over the last couple of years,

which is like, ah, we need a spot start. We need somebody who can cover four or five innings, call up Dunning. And then we'll send them back down. and we'll see if you can get through waivers and, you know, bounce back and forth like that. So I don't think he's a real candidate to make the opening day roster or anything like that. But I do think that it's a nice little depth at, and then we'll see. We'll see what the Mariners can do.

He does throw from that arm angle sweet spot, you know, between 30 and 40 degrees. And he does get really good extension down off the mound. So typically good extension, low arm slot at Team Mobile Park, usually a pretty good recipe. He's also a sinker guy, which we know the mayor. Mariners love. Cutter is probably his best pitch. But again, none of these pitches that he have are he also has like six or seven offerings that he'll throw at you, but none of them are particularly good. So, you know, again, he's just kind of a kitchen sink guy. He nibbles on the corners. He'll walk guys rather than give into them and throw a pitch down the middle of the

plate. High home run rates. Pretty good ground ball rates, though. So he's just kind of a number five number six type of starter yeah but this is the type of minor league signing you were talking about on wednesday you know it's the type of minor league signing that we clamor for it's something that raises the floor a little bit right you know we learned this over the course of last year you know when guys go down you start to run out options pretty quick so adding danning to you know logan evans uh cole wilcox um you know randy dobbnack like you said emerson hancock's probably a reliever his eyes full time. So he's probably not in the mix there.

But those four guys, you know, obviously if any of your starters go down, it's a bad situation, but with someone like Dunning, with someone like Dobnack, who have some major league success in their history, and then you got a couple of guys who are kind of interesting, like Logan Evans and

Cole Wilcox, feel all right about that depth. You know, look, you're not going to be able to go out and sign a legitimate major league starter to just sit in AAA. Like, you have to take shots like this. And Dunning is a very interesting shot to take here. And, you know, if anyone could get him back on the right track, it's probably the mirrors. Yeah.

He was with a, not drive line, but he was with one of the other groups like that. And the guy's velocity back up a little bit. And again, he tunnels well with all of his pitches. The K-rays aren't nothing. Like, they're not good, but like, they're fine. He just, you know, his ceiling is he's the number five starter, which is fine. You need a couple of those guys. and if he happens to leave, you know, in June or July or whatever, you call him up and then he's DFAM because he doesn't have options and he gets claimed.

At that point, as things are saying right now, you're probably hoping San Jose is ready to go and take that leap. Kate Anderson might be ready to go to take that leap. So, yeah, you need these guys. And also not a bad thing to have these guys around in camp where they're going to get a lot of opportunities, a lot of mariners headed off to the WBC. So they'll get some good opportunities there. And also they'll be around some of the younger guys. and, you know, Dunning is, you know, Dunning and Dobnack. They've been around, they understand the game, and they, you know, they know how to pitch when they don't have, you know, amazing stuff.

And I think that's valuable to have in camp as well. So, again, there's no risk to this. It's all, I would say it's all upside, but there's not a lot of upside in Daneing. But, yeah, there's no risk for that. There's no risk in doing this. And it's the kind of, you know, plays that you should make. And it's a play of the merits have made, you know, twice now. with Dobnack very early on and Dunning here recently.

And then they also have some upside AAA depth and like the Colt Wilcox types. All right. Well, it is fan fiction Friday. We're going to get into some of your trades in just a moment. But first a reminder of this episode of the lockdown errors podcast is brought to you by TurboTax and the Space Needle. Look, y'all, tax season doesn't have to take over your life. All right? Because this year, TurboTax is making it easier than ever to just hand things off and move on with your day.

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So we got the Dane Dunning news out of the way. Now let's kick off Fan Fiction Friday. Bryce has a deal here with the Mets. It's just a one-for-one, Luke Rayleigh for Ronnie Maricio. I guess my note on this is Rayleigh is going to play, you know, a majority of the games for you, whereas Maricio is what immediately, a Leo Rivas replacement? Probably.

Like really right now is your right fielder against righties? Yeah, or D.H. For some reason, you're desperate to stick Dom-Cann zone in the outfield like a lot of people seem to be. Yeah, Maricio, you know, got an option left. That's nice. Obviously, he's an infielder, which is nice. Not much of a track record of success, though. I just kind of feel I look at this and I go,

is there enough here to make this swap? I don't think there is. I just, I don't trust Maricio's bat enough to, you know, make this swap because like you said, Rayleigh is an everyday player for me or mostly part, mostly part time,

like, but on the positive side. He's a strong side platoon, you know, you're going to see right-handed pitchers 65, 70% of the time. There is, there's a term that I'll, I'll tell you about later that I was thinking of, but I didn't want to use. So, yeah, he is that guy. And right now, you know, Maricio, probably not that guy. So it's just one of those things where, hey, Maricio had a little bit more of a track record, maybe. Because I don't mind trading Luke Grayley for an infielder.

It's just, can I get something that I don't really have? And Maricio, to me, just feels too much like Leo Rivas. and I think I'd rather have Rayleigh in my lineup than Revas as kind of the the everyday well not every day but like the full-time utility guy so well that's the other thing too right it's like all right so Maricio's the Rivas replacement but also is he even better than Leo Rivas maybe I think he has higher upside the Rivas but but sure I mean I mean the 2025 numbers would say I mean the yeah the the the the 225 number

would say that Leo Rivas was a better player than Ronnie Maricio. So. Right. Again, this is kind of one of those trades. Like, if it happened, would I be upset? No, because I can understand like the logic behind it. But would I be super pumped about it? No, I don't think so.

I just, I'm not a huge Maricio guy. I think it's just really just way more important to your ball club right now than Maricio would be. Yeah. Yeah. Like eventually Maricio could be important, but right off the rib. Like that's, you're addressing a less important, you know, spot on your roster with a greater, and with a more important part of your roster. So it's just, that's where I get lost.

Yeah. Also, not for nothing, but if you're the Mets, you know, Maricio has an option. left. Like, don't you value that flexibility of being able to move him around and move him up and down more than you would having Luke Rayleigh on your team? Because you don't really need Luke. The Mets lineup is kind of a jumble right now. But I think just me personally, I think the Mets would rather have the versatility of a guy with an option who can play multiple infield spots. I think they'd rather have that than, you know, Luke Raleigh sometimes being in their life.

lineup. So I just, I'm not sure of this, this trade works for both teams. It's interesting, though. Again, I don't mind the idea of Rayleigh for an infielder. Maybe you can find the right one. But, you know, right now, is they going to give Rayleigh at bats over Brett Beatty? Because that's kind of what they'd have to do. I don't see it.

Yeah. So I'm going to go 35 on this one. I'll go 40, 45. I think it's a little better than that. Next trade here from Oline, Coach C. Duranelos Sanger, Ben Williamson, and Troy Taylor. It can't be Samad anymore because Samad just elected free agency. For CJ Abrams.

Abrams, we've talked about him a little bit. He doesn't, he's not bad. He just doesn't do anything like exceptionally well. He's just never had an on-base percentage above 315. He's never had an OPS at 750 or higher. he doesn't walk like at all he's not interested in walking and you know kind of despite that the strikeouts they're not terrible they're above average but they're not great you know they're not plus at avoiding strikeouts he chases too much he doesn't hit the ball all that hard he's a terrible

defender at shortstop so the mares would be acquiring him to move him to second base because he'd actually be one of the few players that would probably be a downgrade to j p crawford uh defensively But he's 25, and he's got a couple of 20, 30 seasons under his belt. Again, he's fine. I think the home run stolen base totals kind of make people think he is something that he's not. But when you look at the numbers, he's a slightly above average hitter. If you just look at batting average, he is a below average on base guy, barely, pretty close to league average on base. And he's got some pop.

But he doesn't really have a defensive home right now because he can't play shortstop for a decent team. and, you know, he can't really, we don't know if he's going to be good at second. So I just, I don't know how much Jerry's going to have interest in this. They have to, they would have to believe, I think, that there is another level to C.J. Abrams that the nationals were not able to get out of him out of him. And stranger things have had, dumber bets have been made on that. I mean, again, Abrams is only 25 years old. So, yeah, I think it's interesting.

but I don't know I just can't get over the fact that Abrams doesn't really do anything all that well I just can't imagine feels like you're paying for club control more than anything else yeah I just can't imagine though that with everything the mayors have said

this off season that they would put themselves in a position where now Colt Emerson has to make the team out of camp because you just traded Williamson and now Abrams Abrams isn't going to go to third he's going to play second.

So now you're also blocking Cole Young, which is something that they clearly don't want to do. So, like, I would still take the shot on, on CJ Abrams, but I just, I don't think that this aligns with what the Mariners are trying to accomplish this off season. You know what I mean? Yeah. I mean, again, you get Abrams for three years.

Like, you get plenty of club control here. It's a 3-1 player last year. you know so despite not doing anything like particularly great he's still a solid player like he has a bunch of i would call them 45s and then like he has raw power is probably a 55 and you look at like the speed is probably a 60 like that's the one standout tool but how valuable is that really he's a 3-1 player it really depends on how you value the defense he's not great but again 106 wrc plus in 2024 107 and 20 he's a good player there's a chance that you get roughly the same value from Cole Young this year,

even if it's not by hitting 20 homers and stealing 30 bags. So I'm still interested in Abrams. And honestly, this cost that we have here, I think that's about what it should take. But I don't think the nationals would take that, if that makes sense. So I look at Abrams and I say, like, look, this guy is kind of Randy Rosarena like, just without the track record, which is not that great. But you get an extra year club control, and he's a middle infielder, which, I mean, he stands there, sure.

Put Randy at shortstop, you know, 130 times a year. He's a middle infielder, too. So, yeah, Abrams is just a really interesting, like, case overall. He's also a lefty. So I know the mayors have said, like, we don't care that much about righty lefty anymore. But, you know, I think ideally you'd want a righty. but yeah would i trade sanger and take that shot on on abrams yes i would so uh with the nationals i think they'd probably be trying to get a little bit more than this yeah i mean like if this is

your brendan donovan pivot fine it's just again i don't think it necessarily aligns with what the mariner's are trying to accomplish this off season i just don't think abrams himself especially in this deal where you're trading williamson because again now you're blocking cole young and you're painting yourself into a corner where Cole Emerson has to make the club unless you do something else at third after this trade. It's pretty interesting to me is I think Abrams would actually be a pretty good outfielder. Didn't they try that? I can't remember.

No, no, they haven't done that yet. But he's obviously very fast. So he can't really handle ground ball all that well. So it kind of makes sense. Like if you're going to get to. The Padres tried it. That's right. Okay.

So if you're going to get Abrams, right, and he could be the second baseman this year, again, what do you do with Cole Young? I get that. But like, you talk about like, well, part of the part of the thing with Donovan is that I can move him out to left field next year when Randy leaves. Well, you might be able to do that with Abrams. Like the Mariners might view that very similar way. And, you know, if they think Donovan can play third, maybe they think Abrams can play third. So again, in general, I'm open to the Abrams idea. I don't think he's very marinary if that makes sense.

And I'm not quite sure how to value him because I think the three-win aspect and the fact that he's got three years left to club control is nice. But it's also the first time he's ever been a two-win player. And again, he doesn't have really anything that he does incredibly well. And he's not a shortstop. I'm not paying shortstop prices for a guy who can't play shortstop, even though the Nationals will almost certainly ask for shortstop prices. So St. Joe Williamson, Taylor, I don't know. that might be enough that might not be enough

that might be an overpay that might be an underpay Abrams is just such a wild card in terms of what he can do what he brings to the to the table so yeah I think my my gut is it costs a little bit more than this

because of the third year yeah I'm gonna say a 40 I think you need like a co-headliner instead of a Williamson I'm just not willing to give up much more than this though yeah

it's kind of a weird player to talk about it and a weird fit with a open end of cost so I wouldn't even with the extra year of club control that he has over Donovan I would not match what I think the Mariners are probably offering for Donovan right now for Abrams I think with the extra year club control I think the Mariners might be willing to give the Donovan package for Abrams, but I think they very clearly would prefer Donovan, even with less club control, if that makes sense. So I think, you know, honestly, from like a Mariners perspective, what do I think the Mariners

would be comfortable giving up for Abrams? I think it would be something very similar to this. Yeah. So from that aspect, I think you're in a good spot from the Nationals aspect. It feels like they're going to wait and they don't have to move them this winter. So it feels like they're going to wait and see if they can get more in the summer. so I guess you combine all that 45. Again, I don't know if this necessarily aligns with what the Marys are trying to do this off season.

I don't know if that also aligns with, you know, what the nationals want and all that. So, yeah, 45, 50. I mean, it created a really interesting discussion here. So I'll give you that. So I'll say 50. You know, I'll give you the bump there because of the conversation that it started. And you're listening to the Lockdown Marys podcast part of the Lockdown podcast network your team every day as always if you want to hear from me and colby even more and help support

the show we have a patreon it's called control the zone and on there we talk merr and seahawks all that good stuff for more information go to patreon.com forward slash control the zone link in the description of this episode it's fan fiction friday let's get back into your trades matthew has a deal here with twins it's another one for one uh like the ronie maricio luke raleigh trade earlier this one it's corbin dickerson for cody clemens Lemons had a pretty good start of the year and then I think he tailed off if I'm not mistaken.

You finish with a 95 WRC plus. Hit 19 home runs though. The pop is very real. Has the good average ex of elos and barrel percentages and hard hit rates that the Mariners really like traditionally. Good ex-WOBA as well. Also pretty solid base runner and defender

with and chase rates about league average. She K's 24% of the time, which again below average, but not terrible, the walk rate is okay. It's not average. It's slightly below average. Just doesn't really get on base. On base percentage is quite low.

This might be crazy to say, but like, would you say he's like a super Miles Bastropony? I think way more power. Like, I think if Miles... That's why that's what the super is. I mean, like, I think Miles is more likely to get on base, but I think Clemens is obviously more likely to be. run into one. I feel like he's closer to, in terms of like impact off the bench, he's closer to

Dylan Moore. Dylan had more, you know, base running chops and a little more versatility. But yeah, I think, you know, in general, yeah, I think that's probably the idea. And so, yeah, I mean, I'm intrigued by this idea. Again, Clemens, doesn't really get on base. I'm not asking him to play every day. I'm looking for a bench player who can do some things. And Clemens, you know, good base runner, above average speed as well. He's got real pull power.

He hits the ball very hard, you know, on average. And, yeah, again, he plays multiple spots. He plays some first base. He plays some right field, play some second base. He has experience at third base as well. So again, I can have a guy who can play four or five positions. He gives me real power off the bench. And he, you know, hits the ball hard.

There might be a little bit more here as you give him more at bat. So, yeah, I'm intrigued by this. And if Corbyn Dickerson, who I like is the cost, I think I'd pay it. I think I'd take the shot because there's so many question marks with Dickerson right now. And he's so, you know, unpolished that I feel. feel like this is the type of player that you should be able to get. It's four or five years of a utility guy who brings some power off the bench, bring some good speed off the bench, you can play all the corner spots, which, you know, again, kind of gives you a Colt Emerson

buffer a little bit. He's also played some second base on top of that. So, and he's fine there. Like, he's a fine defender. So I actually like this deal a good amount. I think it's creative. I think it, you know, fills the need. I wish she could hit right-handed, like a little bit. maybe a switch hitter would be great. But again, you're talking about a guy with 20 home run pop. And he did that, by the way, in about half a season's worth of batts. So there's real power here. Again, he hits the ball hard.

He plays multiple spots. I like this idea. I do too. Yeah. Like you said, I think Corbyn Dickerson is the right prospect to trade in a deal like this for a player like this. You know, Clemens, like, he's not going to want to wow you. but that's a solid bench bet to have, you know? Again, to me, like, it's kind of like a souped up version of the Miles Masterbony idea,

the Miles Masterbony mold. So, yeah, this is, this is fine. This is fine. I would give this, you know, 55, 60. Yeah, I think that's where I'm at. And I like this more than the Mauricio idea, mostly because, I don't have to give up blue greatly. Right.

Like I get to keep. Yeah, you're trading from a, you know, a more important part of your roster for a less important part of your roster with the Mauricio deal. This is, you know, I'm trading on prospect to upgrade my bench a little bit. Right. And again, it gives you legitimate coverage at, you know, second base and third base, which right now, big question marks. Again, should they, and could they get Cody Clemens and still go trade for Donovan? Yes. Yes, they could.

Yeah. It would still fit. So I like this quite a bit. So I'm going to give it a 5560. I think this is also it has the benefit of being somebody we haven't talked about at all this winter, which is shocking that we found somebody. So yeah, I'm going to go 60. I like this. All right.

Lyons has a deal here. And this comes from our Discord. Again, you can sign up for our Discord for free. The Hawaii Sailors Discord and submit Fan Fiction Friday and Mailbag Monday questions over there as Lions. here. It's a Brennan Donovan trade, but it's Brennan Donovan, Lars Dupar, and Jojo Romero for Duranel of Sanja, Luke

Rayleigh, Las Montes, and Michael Morales. So a lot happening here, a lot of moving pieces, seven in total. Yeah, it's pretty complicated. It's two years of Donovan, two years of Newpar, one year of Romero.

And the Mariners are giving up three years of Rayleigh, six years. six, seven years of Sanja, Laz, and Morales, right? So, you're never beating the allegations. Whatever.

I don't care. They're stupid. So, yeah, it's interesting. I don't know how the Cardinals are valuing Newpar. My hunches, they're valuing him way too high because I look at how they're valuing Donovan. And yeah.

So when you just kind of break it down, right? Try and break it down piece by piece. piece for Donovan, you're paying, I don't know, Sanja and Morales, I guess. It might be Sanja and Montas. Right, but then you don't have, I guess you would almost then at that point, it would have to be Rayleigh for Newpar. Yeah. And I guess the winner there, the Cardinals get one extra year of club control, but. And they get a guy that doesn't have, like, foot issues or whatever the thing is that's going to be on with Newpar.

Yeah. Right. So I don't and then Romero for Morales that it falls apart right there. Yeah. Yeah. So like even if you want to say it's Sanja and Laz for Donovan, which I don't think the Mariners would do. Newbar for Rayleigh. I don't think the Cardinals do that.

And I definitely don't think the Mariners or the Cardinals would do Romero for Morales. So it kind of feels like either A, we need to ditch Newpar out of this deal or B, the marries need to add another piece. And it's not going to be one of their best. better prospects because they're already giving up Sanger and Lazz. But going back to what you were saying, though, about like, you don't think the MERS would do Sanger and Lazz for Donovan, but would they do Sanger and Lazz if they're also getting, if it also helps them get Newt Bar and Romero?

Maybe. You know what I mean? So, like, if it makes up the difference of like, you know, the Barales and the Raleigh aspect of it. If the Cardinals want to look at this as it's Donovan and Newpard. bar for Sanger and Laz, like one guy for one top 100 prospect each,

then yeah, do I think Jojo Romero for Morales and Rayleigh gets it done? Maybe, but like, I just don't see what value Rayleigh has to the Cardinals, really. They're not going to be good for the next two or three years. Yeah, they get a, you know,

they get a guy who they can play, you know, most of the time and maybe flip them. I think they do better than Morales. At the end of the day, I think you have to do better than Morales to get this done. Maybe that's a comp round B-pick. I still think Ben Williamson is actually a really interesting fit for the Cardinals.

But yeah, I just, I don't know. I think you're just a little bit off. And I'm not quite sure where you're off at, though. But like I look at this deal and I say, I don't think the Mariners do that. I don't think the Cardinals do that, but I'm not quite sure why, if that makes sense. Yeah, I don't know. It's complicated. but I don't know when I think about it

actually kind of works on my head I'd probably still do like a 55 on this honestly I don't think it would happen you're a big new bar guy realism scale I mean I do like New Bar more than you do I would get why the Marys

would want to take a shot on New Bar instead of Rayleigh I can rationalize that in my head you can't no Rayleigh hits a T-Mobile Park you know he does and he's also got an extra year club control and he's very cheap i just think that the mariners probably value raley more than they would new bar but sure maybe i mean it's i mean we talk about well new bar's got the foot thing it's like well luke raley couldn't get out of bed last year without you know tweaking his back or his oblique

or whatever and it can even see spin yeah so it's kind of one of those things where it's like so yeah i don't it's an interesting trade i'll give it a 50 it's a Donovan trade, which normally would drag you down quite a bit because we've seen all of them, but it's got a twist because it's got Newpar and Romero on it. So it's, it's unique enough to give us some like new talking point. So yeah, I'll go 50. I think it's solid. It's just, it feels off to me and I'm not quite sure why. I really feel like if the Marys actually trade for Brennan Donovan, Jojo Romero's going to be involved. I don't think Newpar is going to be involved. But I think Romero's going to be involved in that deal. Yeah, I just don't think Romero.

is very, or I don't think Romero's very good. Like, he's fine. Like, I'm not opposed to it. Well, and he would be, what, your six best reliever? I'd hope that's how they'd use him, but yeah. Well, yeah, I mean, you got Ferrer, you got Spire, like in terms of just

the lefties, like those two guys are definitely they would be ahead of him. I feel like the Mariners would really prefer a right-handed pitcher and one that has control. Romero's a rental, and you have two lefties already, so. again man

Juan Maheahe Colorado yeah I mean again I think going out and trying to find that Gregory Santos straight is something the merits

can be doing right now while they wait for Hyam Bloom to make up his freaking mind for real man just like do it just trade them or just say

just say that like hey we're not going to trade them you know which would be stupid but like you know just give us an answer at least we have some closure and we can all move on

yeah seriously our final trade of the day comes here from Adam Mariners get Jake Cronomworth, Padres get Michael O'Royle and Brockmore. You guys probably know I'm a big Croninworth guy. So never heard you talk about him before. Yeah, very famously.

I've never mentioned Jake Cronworth. I don't think he costs this much because of the contract, which isn't even bad. I continue to say this. The contract is not bad. It is not a bad contract. Cronoward is a two and a half three win player who, doesn't really have splits who can play multiple positions around the infield.

He's just a good quality player. He doesn't chase. He takes a lot of walks. He just has a bunch of average tools and paying that guy $11 million a year is not bad. It's not. It's well. Now, if it costs this, would that be a problem? I don't think it be a problem per se.

But I don't think it has to cost this unless the Padres are eating a good chunk of the contract. So like obviously they've tried or they've been interested in trading Kroninworth for the last two years now. And we haven't even heard really much of a rumor other than like, hey, the Padres are open to trading J.Kronenworth. They're going to have to eat money to get anything of value here. And so to me, Kronenworth is a perfectly viable, you know, Donovan pivot, so to speak, because he can play multiple spots, because he doesn't have splits, Donovan does. Coronaworth really doesn't. So I look at this and I say, look, I really like Corona worth. I don't think he costs this.

Unless the Padres are eating. I know the Padres are going to make Corona worth a $6 million player for the duration of this contract. Then yeah. Michael Royo is a really nice prospect. Cronworth is a two and a half three one player that checks a lot of boxes for you. And it's a phenomenal fit on this roster. So yeah,

actually, based on how it was presented to us without any money changing hands. I think this is a pretty, I think this is going to end up being an overpay for the Mariners. So I have to dock it like down to like a 40. But if the Padres were going to eat some, you know, serious amounts of cash here, then I think it's within range.

And honestly, you might even be able to get a little bit more out of the Padres. If you're going to start throwing around a royal, like could you get Croninworth and Loriano, Croneroyneworth and Estrada? if you're going to put, you know, if you're going to put a Royo on the table, could you get a reliever? Could you get, you know, an outfielder or something along with Kronenworth? Now, you need to eat less money if, you know, they're giving you of something else of value.

But I do think that there's like a path here where you can work out a deal with the Padres that includes Kronenworth and another piece if you're willing to actually throw around guys like Arroyo and Lazz and maybe that Cobb Round Big. Like the Padres are trying to shed some money. I don't know how willing they'd be to how willing they would be to eat more money. But again, it's like, do you want to pay Cronin worth $12 million a year? Or do you want to pay Cronin worth $8 million a year? Like you're still saving money by including money in the trade. So yeah, I mean, short of that, if there is no trade, you might be able to get Croninworth for Teddy McGraw. Like if there is no money changing hands or heck, maybe even Josh.

Karen, like probably a combo, some bulk. But yeah, I don't think he costs a top 100 guy just because the contract is what it is. And again, it's the length more so than it is the DAAV. But yeah, I think you're actually overpaying here unless there's another piece involved or the Padres are giving you some money to. So because of that, I'll say 40, 45, but, you know, I'll go 45 simply because you brought up Jake Croninworth and he didn't go like you for some reason. So 45 minimum. Honestly, though, I would trade Michael O'Royal for Jake Cronoworth. Interesting.

Even with the contracts. Because like, like you said, like, all right, he doesn't play a corner outfield spot. He doesn't play third, which like Brendan Donovan doesn't really either. But like, I like him. Just like if we are putting these two guys just in a vacuum, right, regardless of the contracts and the money and all that stuff. I'd rather have Jake Cronoworth and Brennan Donovan, frankly. That might be blasphemous to some, but look at the numbers. And like you said Cronomworth is a better hitter against lefties and Donovan is.

Way better. Like wasn't Donovan. Donovan was like a 75 WRC plus against lefties this year, right? Or in 2025. Yeah. But he was a 140 against Ritey. So. Yeah. But Cronomworth was like 115 against lefties, I think.

Yeah. So he was like 40% better. than Brendan Donovan. A little bit older. Now obviously he was also worse against Ritey's. And he was about what 25-ish percent worse against Ritey's than Donovan was. But honestly, I think I would rather have Jake Cronworth. I think he's just a more balanced player, more balanced better than Brennan Donovan is.

So anyways, as for the as for the trade itself, again, I would actually trade Michael O'Royle for Jake Cronomworth. I don't think you have to though like you said so I don't know I'm I'll still give you like a 50 honestly I can't tell if I've become the anti-chronworth guy on this podcast or if I just am significantly higher on a Royal than you are sure so I guess we'll find out in a couple weeks because as we know, once we go back to daily, we got to do stuff like prospect ranks, which I know you guys love. That's right. That's right. So, yeah, we do have, I know. I really, I really like a Royal a lot. I do. Yeah. I think I also really like Jay Cronoward a lot. So I mean, I do too, but like I don't like, again, would I be upset if they traded

a Royal for Cronerworth? No. Yeah. But I don't think you have to. So, yeah, that's why I think Kronin, again, I tweeted this a while ago and Cardinal fans found it and got really upset. They thought I was saying that Kronenworth was a better player than, than Donovan, which I wasn't, but also that's not necessarily a ridiculous thing to say. But anyways, the whole point is that like, hey, look, if I can get Kroninworth for Teddy McGraw, or it costs me a Royo in Sanjo or a Kroo in a Kopp round beat, whatever, to get Donovan, I might just rather have Jake Coronenworth because I don't think it's that big of a drop off. And I think the difference in price is going to shock people.

Well, that's ultimately my point, right? Like if we're going to throw around a royal's name with Donovan, like if we're just, you know, again, talking about these guys in a vacuum regardless of their contract, like, God, I would throw around a royals name for Cronomworth. So, yeah. So that's all I'm trying to say is like I would trade. Michael Royal for Jake Crenumworth. I don't think you have to, though. So,

now, I don't know if you would necessarily get him for just like Josh Karen or Teddy McGrath. You might have to give up a little something better than it. Maybe it's like Dickerson. You know, maybe it's like Dickerson and, you know, like a Ryan Hawks type. Yeah. But, but yeah.

Yeah, I'll give you a 50. That is going to do. for our show. Thank you so much for joining us here on the Lockdown Marries podcast. Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Once again, if you never miss an episode, it's time to make it official. Join the lockdown every day or club

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