Locked On Mariners - Daily Podcast On the Seattle Mariners - Talking Prospects on an Episode With a Generic, Uninspired Title

Episode Date: May 7, 2021

Taylor Blake Ward is back on the program, and today he talks about a number of the Seattle Mariners' prospects who are in the minor leagues. Jarred Kelenic, Julio Rodriguez, and young hurlers Logan Gilbert, George Kirby & Emerson Hancock are among those discussed. In addition, the he and D.C. talk a little bit about Albert Pujols at the end of the show and share their memories of Mr. Pujols from when they were growing up. Finally, Mr. Ward brings up another player from the 90s with a Mariners connection; he reads off some of his stats to see if D.C. could guess who it is. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today on Locked-on Mariners, players try to guess the price of merchandise to earn the right to come up on stage and play a pricing game and spin the big wheel in the showcase showdown. Welcome to Locked-on Mariners, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Here's your host, D.C. Lundberg. You bet, thank you very much, Joey Martin. I am indeed D.C. Lundberg wrapping up the week here on Locked-on Mariner's. part of the Locked-on Podcast Network or T-L-O-P-N or T-L-O-P-N or T-Lopin, brought to you by the locker room. Please remember to download rate and follow this program on whichever podcasting app that you personally care to use.

Ask your smart device to play Locked-on Barroner's podcast or any program here on Tlopin. Closing out the week with a special guest today here on Locked-on Mariners, former Locked-on Angels host Taylor Blake Ward. Taylor, how have you been? I'm good, man. How are you? I'm hanging in there. I'm hanging in there. I'm glad to have you back on the show.

I'm going to talk some Mariners prospects today and also some other stuff that I have no idea yet. Another one of those shows where we just kind of go with the flow and see what happens. I rather enjoy those types of shows myself. I hope you do out there as well. But Taylor, you are something of a prospects guy, and the Mariners have, I guess, one of the more exciting farm systems in minor league baseball at this time, or at least that's what everybody keeps telling me. Kellnick debuted in AAA yesterday with two home runs.

Might as well start with him. And actually, I'll let you just kind of take the floor and I'll break in when we need to do a commercial if you don't mind. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, Jared Kalenick is obviously one of the top prospects in baseball. I think you could argue he's possibly even the second best prospect of baseball. I know that rankings are all kind of all over the board. But this guy is going to be able to hit for power.

He's going to be able to field well. this guy is pretty special. You know, they don't really grow on trees. And I've got to, you know, to my own horn here is when he was drafted, I said, you know, that's my guy. I like Jared Kalenick. I'm a big fan of him, and he was drafted six overall back in 2018. I was, I did not think he would go six.

I thought he'd go a little later in the first round, maybe just outside the top 10. And, you know, I liked him. I didn't like him this much. I don't think anybody did. No, you're talking about a premier baseball player, and he's exciting. Put on a bit of weight, he's a pretty big kid at this point, but just an exciting player, man. Just a very exciting player. And like you said, he's the top of the Mariner's system that's loaded with talent.

But, I mean, when Jared Kalenek was in the early stages of development, I kind of saw a Jay Bruce type of player, and I think he actually is going to be better than Jay Bruce. that's not a knock on Jay Bruce. I mean, look at what he did over his career. He was marked for quite some time, and if that's the outcome, that's a very, very good baseball player. But if he can outperform a Jay Bruce type, that's a gifted ball player.

It's going to be interesting to kind of see where the Mariners play him. I know that they've got Kyle Lewis in Centerfield. They've got Taylor Tremel playing one of the corners. They've got Mitch Hanigar playing the other corner. So finding time for him, I mean, I think he could outperform Taylor Tremel at the moment, but it's going to be interesting. You know, if Mitch Hanigar is what he has been in the past, you're going to have some tough time finding a spot for him,

maybe even, you know, moving a guy, maybe D.H. in Kolanick, to get him reps. You want him in the field, but it's going to be kind of interesting to see where they play them. I think it'll be left field. Taylor Tremel has kind of, I shouldn't say he's been relegated to a fourth outfielder spot, but telegram Sam Haggard, he's been seeing a lot of playing time on left field.

Dylan Moore's been seeing a lot of playing time on left field, and Taylor Tramel's been playing two, three, four times a week. So I honestly think that Tramel, this is just a guest, ladies and gentlemen, but Kalnick is going to be at the Major League level at some point this season. I think the Maris have more or less made that clear, and I would guess that Tramel is going to be the one to be sent down to AAA when Kelnick does make his debut. But again, that is just speculation.

But I think he will be the left fielder. I would almost put money on it if I were a betting man. And it would be smart to send Tramel to AAA. I know that's not a knock on Taylor at all, but let him go get the reps. Let him go get regular bats down at Tacoma and see that. So, yeah, I don't doubt at all that Jared Pellettic could be up. I mean, he could be up. Gosh, what, we're past service time manipulation,

so he could be up tomorrow for all we know. this kid is ready he's exciting um absolutely someone that i think you could talk about you know an all-star at times i'm not going to say every season kind of thing but definitely a guy that has all-star potential and even above that um and then you've got Julio Rodriguez who actually i like i mean i think i like the flare of Julio Rodriguez a bit more than i like the flair of jared felonick and that's why i like jrod more but that kid's fun he's got he's got he's got so much upside the power. He can hit. I mean, I'm not going to deny that he can hit for average and get on base, but it's a little bit aggressive an approach. I'm curious to see if he can kind of harness the

approach a little bit. But gosh, the bat speed, I mean, you're talking about kind of, it's almost like a hobby bias kind of profile. And I know that I'm comparing, you know, similar. I'd never like to compare Latin players, Latin players, and things like that. But this is going to be an offensive a profile similar to hobby bias. And he can play the field. He's fine. He's an average-ish runner, but I'm a big fan of Julio Rodriguez. I think he's going to be an electric baseball player for the Mariners when the time comes.

It's just finding, you know, are you going to move Kyle Lewis around? Are you going to, obviously Mitch Hanigar is not going to be around forever. But, you know, when that time comes, I believe Julio Rodriguez has the capability of taking over. He probably moved Kalenek to right field and play Rodriguez and left. but that's going to be fun. You've got a handful of arms, I guess, more like a trio of arms, but you've got a handful of arms that are really exciting. Emerson, Hancock, and George Kirby and Logan Gilbert.

George Kirby, I'll tell you, man, he had a velocity pickup recently that is just scary. Because I remember when he was in college, he went to a weird college. He went to, not Hartford, he went to... Elon, I believe. Elon, you're right. He went to Elon. on a very unique college. But I'll tell you, he was throwing like low mid-90s, usually.

He could run it up there, but he was like mid-90s, and suddenly we're seeing him hit triple digits here in the last month or so. This kid, with that velocity increase, and he's got two good breaking balls. He does. He's a very good slider curveball combination. Probably not, you know, I wouldn't call it a premier pitch, but he can get swings and misses off of that. And if his basketball has a velocity of movement and he's able to locate it the way he has been over his career,

that is a stud arm. I mean, that is an electric arm, top hundred prospect with ease. I don't know where he ranks in the top hundred, arguably right now. I'm assuming he is a top hundred prospect, but this guy is something else. Logan Gilbert, I like Logan Gilbert a lot. I think he's another guy that a little bit of a velocity increase, kind of a mid-90s, lower mid-90s kind of guy. I think if he can refine himself

into the mid-90s with the control that he's shown, it's a great deal. He has a very good change-up, which for a lefty that's drastically, or I'm sorry, he's not a lefty. I'm thinking of, who am I thinking of, D.C.? It's not the Mariners organization, but I'm thinking of a lefty.

Jamie Moyer, I don't know. I honestly don't know. I'm sorry. I remember Logan Gilbert was another guy that went to a unique school. He went to Stetson. And just, I'll tell you, you know, Jerry Depoto has done a great job at finding guys that are coming from these kind of, I guess, lesser tier college programs. I mean, he took Sean Newcomb when he was with the Angels, and Newcomb was from a weird school out east up north. He might have been the Hartford kid. He's a Massachusetts guy, if I'm remembering, right? But either way, it's, you know, Logan Gilbert has a really good slider.

really good slider. His changeup is another useful pitch, the fastball in the mid-90s, and the ability to locate. Tall guy, a lot of projectability. I'm a big fan. Emerson Hancock, another big kid. Obviously, he was an early first-round pick last year. I believe he went fifth or six, wherever the Mariners picked, obviously, had the potential to be the number one overall pick going into the season. And the trackman data, which is unique that Jerry DiPoto is going away from it, but the trackman data did. It did. suggest great future potential, but the eye test itself, seeing that he has two to three or four plus pitches and he has the ability to throw strikes, I mean, this guy's got some stuff.

It's just, is the trackman data going to suggest that he's not as good as he is and is it going to be true, or is he going to outperform that data? I mean, this guy's got another guy with a very good slider change-up combination, very common when it comes to the Seattle Mariners. They like their slider and fastball and change-up combinations. The curb balls are all, you know, all these guys throw a reasonably good curb ball, but it's more a slider change-up when it comes to the breaking pitches, slider heavy. You know, they like fast balls, and this guy can throw in the mid-to-upper 90s. But these are three arms that I'm definitely, probably lesser on. Hancock, if I'm being honest, I'm a little bit lower on Hancock, and I know that, you know,

this is Locked on Mariners, and if you guys want to rip me apart, that's completely fine. I'm not bothered by that. I'm just being honest with you. But I'll tell you, George Kirby and Logan Gilbert, I think those guys can be the high points of a future rotation. You never want to use the term ace because there's only five, six across all of baseball that you can actually use that term. It's that.

Exactly. We're talking about Jacob de Grom types, and no one's going to be Jacob de Grom. But if you can talk about top of the rotation kind of arms or even middle of the rotation kind of arms, Logan Gilbert and George Kirby really do that for me. Everson Hancock, you know, I'm just intrigued to see what happens there. Even if he winds up being a back of the rotation arm with those other two in the middle or front of the rotation, that's still a win in my opinion. But we got to take a pause at this time and get to the.

The Trivia Corner. We'll do a hall pass today, and today's subject played 16 years of Major League Baseball, pardon me, 15 years of Major League Baseball as an outfielder, accumulated a slash line of 304, 353, 376. He hit 329 doubles and 220 home runs, drove in 947, played on some pretty bad teams, however. He was an eight-time All-Star, three-time batting champion, won a Gold Glove Award, placed in the MVP voting a number of times, has two second place finishes. He was a rookie of the year.

He led the league in hits one, two, three, four, five times, led the league in doubles five times, and it runs scored once. Are those Hall of Fame credentials in the eyes of you out there on podcast land? I will tell you who it is after this brief word from betonline. Betonline is the fastest and easiest way to bet on all your sports action. Baseball season is in full swing and you can track all the action. at BetOnline, and don't forget about the PBA playoffs, ladies and gentlemen, and of course, the World Women's Curling Championships.

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bonus on your first deposit. Bet online, your online sports book, experts, promo code locked on. Conclusion of today's trivia corner, the Hall Pass. With those numbers I mentioned, Mr. Ward, do you think those are Hall of Fame credentials or do you think he misses?

You said he was a multi, he was a rookie of the year, multi-time, led the league in his. and stuff. He led the league in hits five times, led the league in doubles five times, three-time batting champion, yes, eight-time all-star? I, eight-time all-star? Eight-time all-star, yes, sir. I've got it down to three guys, and I don't want, I'm going to say no, not a hall in favor, but I got to ask you if it's one of these three guys. Did you say what position you played? He was an outfielder. Then that takes away basically two of the guys that I had.

Well, Eric Caros was the first guy that came to mine. And then the guy that I'm kind of tossing because he did let a gold glove and he was a multi-time all-star was Chuck Knoblock. But I'm thinking it's Tony Oliva. I forgot to mention in what era he played. He played in the 60s and 70s. And yes, it's Tony Oliva. Very well done, sir. All right.

Yes. No, I don't think Tony Oliva is a hall of favor. I don't think so either. I mean, looking at his numbers in the 1960s, if he would have put up those types of numbers, for the remainder of his career. I just think the peak for him is too short. But he was certainly playing like a Hall of Famer's first several seasons in the league, but not towards the end of his career.

And I think that's where he misses for me. Yeah, very good baseball player. You know, not taking away that he's one of the best, you know, he's one of the best guy. He's not Puerto Rican. He's from Cuba. He is Cuban, yes. And one of the retired numbers among the Minnesota Twins, although this is a franchise that also retired Kent Urbex number,

but Tony Oliva is certainly deserving of a number of retirement for the twins. You know, again, just what a great beginning to his career. Just not long enough a peak for the National Hall of Fame. Did he play for anyone else? No, he did not. He was a career Minnesota twin. Good for him. Good for him. I always like to see that. I always like to see that. Heck yeah, that's fantastic. That's really cool.

You know, screw it. Tony will leave it in a holiday. I think he's close. I just think the peak is too short. In any case, coming up, ladies and gentlemen, Taylor Blake Ward and I talk about more stuff. Now back to Locked-on Mariners and your host, D.C. Lundberg. Thank you. Once again, Joey Martin. We're back here with Taylor Blake Ward, talking some Mariners prospect and some other stuff throughout the course of the program in all likelihood. Taylor, the Everett Aquasawks are coming to town. here in Spokane, and we are going to an Evera Aqua Sox game two weeks from today.

I'm excited to see Julio Rodriguez. I hope one of those young pitchers you mentioned might be pitching in that game. I went to the Spokane Indians home opener where they did not do so well, but it was still a lot of fun. And I'm not exactly sure where I'm going with this, so I think I'll let's give you back the floor, sir. Being totally honest, I did look at the Everett roster. you're going to get some serious prospects, regardless of the night.

I mean, honestly, the starting pitchers, those nights, I mean, I don't know what the rotation is, but I know that Hancock and Kirby are both there. Real quick, I'll look back to Emerson Hancock. I don't want to make it sound like I despise this guy or anything. Oh, it didn't sound like that at all. It just sounded like he was more of a back-end rotation piece than a front-end rotation piece. Just being completely honest, which is what I do on this program anyway, no problem.

Well, the thing about him is he could be the best of the trio. I mean, he could be the guy that's better than Gilbert and Kirby. I mean, realistically, he has that kind of upside. I just don't buy into the upside just yet. Obviously, this guy has yet to really start his professional career, but, yeah, this guy could be something. I mean, that pitching staff alone, you've got Kampak, you got Kirby, you've got the kid they took out of Arkansas.

Isaiah Campbell is there. Brandon Williamson, gosh, I'm sorry. trying to remember all the names, but you've also got a loaded infield with, you've got the shortstop, the third base shortstop kid. Marchette. No, Shenton, you're right, Austin Shenton, I'm sorry. Marteis down here in California. We got Austin Shenton.

You've got Zach Delo, I know he had a home run the other night. I saw you hit a home run. Very exciting guy there. Another guy, Juan Finn, is up there with you. I mean, that is a fun. That might be one of the more entertaining teams of the minor leagues is that Everett, what's the name, the Something Sox, the Everett Aqua Sox, the Everett Aqua Sox, yeah. When I went up to Washington a few years ago, I was working for a Mariners affiliate

when they were the High Desert Mavericks down here. And I went up there and Everett's a cool little place, man. I like Everett. There's another little town on the water up there. Edmonds, Edwards? Edmonds, yes. There's a picture of me at Edmonds looking out of the water. And I've got my hands in my sweatshirt pocket.

And everyone says, oh, you're keying in the ocean. And I'm like, no, no, no. That Everett team very, very fun. Shoot, you even got a kid from Lehigh. Who's the kid from Lehigh with another good change-up fastball kid? Levi Stout. I mean, literally, you've got a stacked pitching staff over in Everett. I'm really excited to see

Noelie Marte here in California. Young guy 19 and low way now. Kind of curious to see how he's going to hit. This obviously is an offensive league here in California, but I'm really intrigued to see what he's going to do here. He's got some authority in that swing.

I'm a big fan. I think it's tough for kids to say at shortstop. I mean, shortstop is probably the hardest defensive position on the field outside of catcher and some will even argue the short stuff's harder so I'm curious to see if he can remain at the position that's going to be my main focus

but another kid like we said this is Seattle Mariners have a bright future it is maybe two years out maybe you know within time but they have a bright future there are a lot of very talented

young men in that organization I'm big on him I mean speaking of catchers you got a kid there in Tacoma that's probably going to battle with Tom Murphy in the very near future. Cal Raleigh, yeah. They like him a lot. Kid out of Florida State. I mean, I don't know if he's ever going to hit a whole ton, but the problem with Cal is going to be if we go to robotic umpires

because he's able to frame pitches very well, which is a very important asset in today's game, but tomorrow's game it may not be as valuable. So I'm a little curious to see what happens with Cal and robotic umpires because his arm is average and best. But he can run into a few, you know, he kind of reminds me a bit of Zanino minus the R. Yeah, I mean, that's kind of who they're comparing him to it. They say he's Mike Zanino with fewer strikeouts,

but the thing that the mayors like best about Cal Raleigh is something that really cannot be quantified in statistics. they like the way he leads a pitching staff. They like their rapport that he can gain with his pitchers, and there's just no way to put that into numbers, and it's a skill that's very important. It is. I'm an analytical person, but the mental side of the game is being ignored.

And for him to be able to, I mean, the angels have a kid, and obviously I cover the angels, and they have a kid in low A right now that's probably never going to see his way out of single A because he can't hit a lick. But I've always said, keep that kid in the organization

literally until the day he's 40 and decides he's done because if you're able to have a guy that can assist your pitchers, I mean, look at, you know, Martin Maldonado is not a very good hitter. He's really not. But Martin Maldonado is probably

the most important asset to the Houston Astros pitching staff. Yeah. And if Cal Rale can be that guy, I mean, and we're talking about, you know, Mike Sanino and Martin Maldonado, and Cal Rale is. his own player and everything. But if that's the kind of guy you get, how important is that?

I mean, how many guys want Martine Maldonado behind the plate? How many guys want Mike Zanino behind the plate? And Cal Raleigh can be that guy where you say, we want Cal behind the plate. And when you have Tom Murphy, I mean, I've told you for a long time, I'm a big Tom Murphy fan. Always happen. But... Talk about another guy with a good slider. Yeah. Sorry. Talking about a guy that's sharing time with Tom Murphy and eventually taking over for him. I love it. I absolutely love it.

Yeah, and you're on to something. Minor League catching depth is important, and it showed with the Manor's last year after Tom Murphy got hurt and missed the whole season, he was going to split time with Austin Nola. And then after Murphy got hurt, it was Austin Nola and Joe Odom and Joe Hudson, who were AAA catchers at best, maybe even AAA backups. And they just did not perform at the Major League level at all. Joe Hudson was with you guys? Yes, he was. He is the best guy. Man, I love Joe Hudson. He is a good, good dude. I love him. He didn't get too much playing time at the big league level.

And as a matter of fact, I think he was DFA'd in favor of Joe Odom, but my memory could be failing me. Oh, Joe's just a great, great guy. I mean, playing wise, he's not a prospect. If he was DFAed, I would have been stunned if he would have gotten picked up by another club. I don't remember if he did. He is somewhere. He is somewhere. I don't know where. he is. I want to say he's in Pittsburgh, but that could be Odom.

Sounds about it. Well, that's what I was going to say. Odom, Odom was a guy I had never heard him in my life. I don't think he was a prospect either. I think he was more or less minor league catching depth as well that needed to be put to the test at the Major League level

just for injury reasons. I got to give it to Jerry DePoto. Obviously, Angels' fan base that follow my work. Jerry Depoto is not necessarily the guy that people enjoy hearing about

his success. But Jerry's a great guy. He's a scientific, analytical guy, plays by the numbers. He's a good guy and everything. But what Jerry has done with not only building this Meritor's farm system, but also building that depth, as you noted, and doing it with the Angels as well, and finding guys that

are kind of castaways that can have a form of success. You know, with the Angels, it was Johnny G. Betella, who is a fan favorite. Absolutely, everyone loved Johnny DeVatella, and he was a fireball. Everyone loved him because he was a grinder, and he performed well. You got Colin Cowgill. You know, Jerry does a great job of finding magic in a bottle at times.

There are some flounders, but finding magic in a bottle, Jerry actually does a pretty good job. He does, and just to wrap up something I was saying earlier, Joe Hudson is in the Pirates organization, I was correct. Joe Odom in the Ray's organization. As a matter of fact, he's been in two games at the Major League level already this season. For all I know, he might have played last night against the Angels. It's very possible. Angels had a bit of different news going on that we had to kind of take a look at. Yeah, there was a little bit of different Angels news. I don't know if we're going to talk about that in the third segment or not, but in the interim, ladies and gentlemen, if you have a question

or a comment, please do send it over to Lockdown Meritors at gmail.com. I will address it on the show in a future mailbag episode. Questions and comments on any subject are welcome and encouraged. Does not have to be about baseball, does not have to be about sports, anything that's on your mind. Please send an email to the show. And if it's anything I have to bleep, it will not make it on the show, but anything else probably will. Coming up, more stuff. But now this from Built Bar, the greatest protein bars, in a history of protein.

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Bilt Bar, quality you can taste. Welcome back to Lockdown Mariners. Here once again is your host, D.C. Lundberg. Thank you once again, sir. Taylor Blake Ward is on our program today talking Mariners' prospects in the first two segments of the show. Not exactly sure where C Block is going to go, but let's find out together, shall we? Taylor, you did mention that there was some different sort of Angels news that broke yesterday. If you want to talk about that, fine. If you're sick at talking about it,

that's also fine. I'm going to give the floor back to you, if you don't mind. Yeah, I mean, I'm a big Albert guy. I grew up in, you know, I was born in 91, so you can imagine my teenage years came through the 2000s, and that's when Albert Pouls was possibly the best hitter in baseball history. You know, he was remarkable. So I'm a big Albert guy, and getting to know him over the years in our conversations, he taught me a lot about baseball. So it's upsetting from that sense, but obviously this made a lot of sense for the angels. Maybe not financially, but it made a lot of sense for that. And that is essentially about all I got when it comes to that stuff. It's, you know, nothing but respect for the guy.

It was time. Yeah, I kind of followed his career. I was born in 1985, and prior to the 2001 season where he was rookie of the year, the Cardinals played a couple of exhibition games at Safeco Field as part of the spring training schedule, and he was in those games. He was still technically a minor leaguer at that time, still had a spring training uniform number, 68. And so for that reason, I kind of followed his career because he got up to just such a hot start. I took him in all my fantasy leagues because nobody was drafting him, but I saw what he did against the Mariners in those exhibition games. And I said, you know, there's something to this kid. and pretty soon everybody was starting to pay attention to him.

He had to be a right-in candidate for the All-Star ballot. I think Craig Pawket was listed as the third baseman for the Cardinals, and he had retired by that time. But as a right-in candidate, he garnered a lot of All-Star votes, which is something that never happens, made the team as a reserve. And like you said, the rest is history. So, yeah, I have, I followed him basically his whole career because of those memories that I have as a 16-year-old watching spring trading games

at Safeco Field. Yeah, and that's what, I mean, I was a kid at the time when he started, but I was a, you know, MLB the show. Yeah. You know, going to Dodgers Stadium, and I got to see Albert Poulthes play at Dodgers his rookie year, and I'm just like, you know what, this guy, like, you know, it's like he's tormenting the Dodgers. And obviously, you know, in Southern California, we've got the Padres and the Angels

and the Dodgers, and I kind of just leaned all three directions. I didn't have a ball club at the time. I still don't have a team to cheer for it this time. But all three clubs, I was a supporter of, I guess, is the way to put it. Yes. In Southern California, and CNN over Hoohols torment the Dodgers, and the Padres at times, it was just like, my gosh, this guy, I, it's one of those guys who love to hate because he's beaten up on your local clubs.

Growing up in Southern California, my parents kind of taught me, you know, my dad was a baseball fan, and he taught me about all these different guys of the past. And I said, hey, you know, you're a Dodgers fan. Why aren't you telling me about the Dodgers? He says, because there's so much more to baseball than Dodgers. And my mom and her family were Angels fans, and I would hear stories of everything. So it was, you know, everyone in baseball has a story, and you don't have to like or dislike a certain person or player. because they play for a specific team.

And so, you know, growing up, my parents taught me to find my own baseball team and find my own baseball players. And I was more attracted to the baseball players than the baseball teams per se, if that makes sense. And I still kind of feel that way. You know, I still feel that obviously working in baseball now, you attract yourself to the people within baseball. And that's where you kind of start tracking teams as opposed to, you know, It's based on the players and the personalities in the offices and things.

But, you know, growing up, I liked Mark McGuire. I like Sammy Sosa. I liked all these other guys. So it was, you know, Albert Pouls was a guy that I just thoroughly enjoyed. And Derek Jeter, and those are the guys that I just really enjoyed. So Albert, you know, as much of a disappointment as it is as a baseball fan that he potentially could be done playing baseball, you know, you have to be a realist and understand that this.

baseball move is probably a few months to a year or two overdue. Probably, yeah. I mean, look at what he's done over the last couple of years. I read an article today that Jared Walsh is the better option at first base for the Angels. Shohei Otani is the designated hitter, and that really doesn't leave a whole lot of at-bats for Mr. Pujols, who still views himself as an everyday player. The Angels are not able to offer that.

So that kind of makes a decision for them, even though they have to eat the rest of the contract. That's what Perry Manassian was telling us yesterday is just this was a baseball decision moving forward with Jared Walsh who they won it first. And they said, you know, Albert is not a bench player and he agrees with that. So it's time moving forward. Yeah. And that's where we're at. I've got one for you.

You know, you and I always talk about random baseball players of past, right? Yes. So I found this guy. He was a successful pitcher. He was a reliever for seven years, eight years, had a 405 ERA, did not strike out a lot of guys, but his ERA plus was 120. And I'm curious if you know who this guy was. He actually was averaging, just looking at the numbers, I'm going to say 60 games per year in relief.

Okay. So I'm curious if you can kind of figure out who this guy is. 90s, during the 90s. and it was a he had a great rookie season then he ended up hurt and then the final six years of his of his career he was basically averaging he averaged 68 games

in relief each of the last six years of his career hmm and did he go ahead I'm sorry keep in mind the numbers I gave you a 405 ERA but a 120 ERA 120 ERA plus. Yeah, because the league ERA was quite high in the 1990s. Did he start out as a starter and then get hurt, or was he always a reliever at the Major League level? He was a reliever through and through. He did have a few years as a, I'm guessing, temporary

closer. And I'm guessing also guessing he was not a mariner. He was not. He was not. Was he more American League or National League? More National League. His rookie year was his only real year in the American League. Wow. Oh, my goodness. I don't know. He was not a mariner during his playing career, but he has been a mariner.

That tells me he might have been a mariner coach at some point. Oh, is it Jerry Depoto? Yeah, it's Jared of photo. You know, he played in the first Mariners interleague game as a Colorado Rocky on June 12th, 1997. Yeah, no, it's, I had to throw that one. Jerry had a nice little career. He did, actually, yes. He wasn't anything special, but to have an eight-year career the way he did is actually,

it's a pretty good ball player, pretty good pitcher. And as a right-handed pitcher, usually it's the, left-handers who was middle relievers who took around, you know, eight or nine years, but Depoda was right-handed. I remember in pitching for the Rockies and then the Mets later on, if I recall correctly. Yeah, you had two years with the Mets and they finished this career with four years with the Rockies. Right, yeah. Yeah.

Hey, averaging 68 games of relief a year, that's something right there. That's a value arm. It certainly is. I mean, that gives you innings out of a bullpen. It can save the rest of your bullpen. it's a reliable arm down there. And like I said, he does have a piece of Mariners history opposing the M's in their first ever interleague game.

I've brought it up on the show before I find that very, very interesting. Unfortunately, we got to wrap up, Mr. Ward, because we're a little bit over time. But thank you very much for jumping on here and joining us on Locked on Mariner's today. Great to have you back on the program. Where can the people find you on social media if they are so inclined? Absolutely, man. First off, thanks for having me on. I love chatting baseball with you.

it. If you want to follow me on Twitter, I am at Taylor Blake Ward. If you want to follow my work, it is at homeplateview.com. And thanks again, D.C. Great chatting with you, buddy. Absolutely. We've got to do this more often. Just baseball chat. Just good baseball chat. It makes for a good off-day program because the Mariners didn't play last night. There's no game to recap. So these are perfect shows to, they're not filler shows because I really enjoy them, but they're great programs for when the Mariners do have an off-day. The other programming, quote unquote, is something entirely different.

I'm rambling again. Sorry, ladies and gentlemen. Get all the sports news you need in under 20 minutes with a locked on today podcast. Host Peter Bikowski updates you in the latest news in every major sport with the help of our local experts, our very own locked on local experts. Follow the locked on today podcast today on the Odyssey app or wherever you get podcast. Once again, Odyssey, A-U-D-A-C-Y. That's going to wrap it up, ladies and gentlemen. On Monday, we'll be recapping the weekend series in Arlington against the Rangers.

Joining me to do that will be Ward Cleaver, Mr. Snuffleupagus, and four pieces of whole wheat toast. That might be the best panel we've had all season, aside from today's conversation, of course. So download, rate and follow, Lockdown Mariners. Look for us on any podcasting app that happens to spring to mind. Leave a rating and review of your podcasting app of choice so allows. Thank you once again to Taylor Blake Ward, and thank you out there in podcasting. for listening to today's program. Have a great weekend and I'll talk to you on Monday.

This is Joey Martin for Locked-on Mariners, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network.