Locked On Mariners - Daily Podcast On the Seattle Mariners - The Randy Arozarena-Cal Raleigh Drama Won't Go Away, Should Seattle Mariners Fans Be CONCERNED?!

Episode Date: March 13, 2026

Ty and Colby are joined by Stacy Jo Rost of 710 Seattle Sports to discuss the Mariners' upside in 2026, the Randy Arozarena-Cal Raleigh drama, and more. Vote for Round 3 of our Top 50 Mariners Moments tournament! 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 | @CPat11 Follow the show on Bluesky: @lockedonmariners | @tdg | @mlbcolby Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! PlayStation This episode of is brought to you by MLB The Show 26. Visit mlbtheshow.com/lockedon and use code “LOCKEDON” to unlock a pack for use in Diamond Dynasty. Pre-Order now, Available March 17th on PlayStation 5, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch. RATED E FOR EVERYONE. Turbo Tax For 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.  Indeed Listeners of this show get a $75 Sponsored Job Credit to help give your job the premium placement it deserves at http://Indeed.com/podcast Gametime Today's episode is brought to you by Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONfor $20 off your first purchase. Terms and conditions apply. FanDuel FanDuel is giving you a way to turn that energy into even bigger potential wins with a College Basketball Parlay Profit Boost.Visit https://FANDUEL.COMto get started — Play Your Game.   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.

Although Cowralli tried to shut it down earlier this week, the incident between him and Randy O'Rosa Rana is still in the spotlight of the baseball world. So how much of a problem truly is this for the Marrars? We'll discuss with Stacey Joe Ross of 710 Seattle Sports 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 Friday, March 13th, 2026. you're listening to the Lockdown Marriss podcast, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network.

Now the number one sports podcast network. My name is Tadang Azalus, and I'm joined as always by my co-co's Colby Patnode. We're two lifelong Marys fans who've been covering the team for over half a decade. And today, got another guest for you. Colby and I will be joined by Stacey Joe Ross of 710 Seattle Sports. But before we get into that, I want to shout out our title sponsor today, MLB, the show, 26. Visit MLB-T-H-H-E dot show slash locked on and use the promo code locked on. that's LOC KED-O-N to unlock a pack for use in Diamond Dynasty.

Pre-order now available March 17th on PlayStation 5, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch. Ready at E for everyone. And be sure to stay tuned for our MLB Top 100 highlight presented by our friends at MLB the show, 26. All right, let's visit with Stacey. All right, very excited to welcome back Stacey Joe Ross to the show. You can catch Stacey on 710 Seattle Sports from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday on Bump at Stacey. and Stacey, it feels like it was just yesterday that you and I were working through our anxiety

leading up to the ALDS together. But yeah, a lot has changed for the Marrars. The Seahawks are Super Bowl champs once again. And suddenly it's daylight a lot later into the day. And we're exactly two weeks away from opening day, just like that. So how you've been? Good. Fantastic.

Obviously, the Super Bowl run was really fun. It's so weird. I'm so used to, as I'm sure you guys are, having like this kind of dead period and then the mariner season picks back up and this time it was all a sudden we were like oh my god hang on we got spring training in two weeks and we're just getting back from radio row it was hectic but really really fun yeah it was crazy i bet it was like super crazy for you guys the whole like the whole team went down to radio row right yeah so the whole team was out there and then team employees so bump was out there for the super bowl itself Curtis uh oh no

Curtis stayed out there as well with Brenna. So I was the only one who came back ahead of the Super Bowl, which was fine. I needed to watch it by myself. I don't know about you guys, but I don't like watching important games with anyone else. So for the entirety of the ALDS, the entirety of the ALCS, I did not watch it with anyone else. I sat and I watched it in my home by myself. And that's what I did with the Super Bowl as well. And what I need to do is be more social in those moments.

but I hate having distractions when there's a really important game. And I'm like, I need to, and I need to simultaneously be looking at my phone and looking at Twitter and being able to do, like, don't talk to me. Don't talk to me. Don't bother me. I'm researching. So. Yeah. I had the opportunity to go watch it with some non-sports watching friends who just don't care.

They were, you know, there for bad money, basically. And then the NFL was doing a thing in Toronto that I could have potentially gone to. but I was like that sounds like an awful time, especially if this game gets hectic, which like in hindsight, it was pretty easy. I mean, I could have gone somewhere and had a good time watching the game.

But you don't know it before. I don't know. I don't know. So yeah, so I was totally fine chilling at the house. I mean, I was pretty stressed out when it was just like nine to nothing, even though it was like,

objectively, if I was watching that game and I had no rooting interest, I would have been like, oh, this is over. By the second drive, I would have been like, this is over. I don't know how like I was listening to Mina Kimes like right after the Super Bowl and she was talking with Ben Solac.

And he was like, you know, what did you know that that they had this in the bag? And she was like the second drive. I'm like, how? How? Her take was if you have spent two weeks prepping for this game and prepping for this team and you know that they're going to come out and they're going to let's say try to run it. And on that first play, you allow 10 yards. You're not ready. Yeah.

Yeah. And then she also mentioned. And that's your best thing is your defensive line. Yeah. And then she also mentioned like Devin Wetherspoon, smoke and Will Campbell on that first blitz off the, yeah. Horrible. Yeah.

Objectively like the Seahawks had that thing like wrapped up like immediately. But my Seattle sports watching brain was like. Too stressed. When it was 19 nothing and they got that touchdown to Mac Hollins, I was like, oh no. Here we go. I didn't feel okay. Honestly, I'm with you.

I felt the exact same way. Not until the Uchena Nuosu return touchdown. Yeah, yeah. Okay. Yeah, we won. It's good. We're good. Yeah.

All right. Well, this is a baseball podcast, however. Love the Seahawks. Super stoked about them. We're going to keep talking about Will Campbell, actually. Yeah. You're going to put him in the thumbnail. I'm sure that will go over well with our overlords.

So what's got you excited about this club? Oh, God. Everything. This is the most excited I can remember fans being about a season, which is really, really cool. I really liked, I don't know about you guys. Brian Wu wasn't the only person to say something like this, but I think the tone has me most excited. There's a lot to love when it comes to the team itself. You know, you love the rotation. Whether or not Bryce is ready to go for his first start. He's so far not like shut down. Like you're feeling really good about the rotation. You're feeling really good about, I think, the moves that they made in the office. season. But I think that it's the seriousness with which they're approaching competition. One of the big critiques I heard, especially when I first started on air and was getting a lot of, like, I'm able to see the text line and able to see listener feedback in a way that you just see much, many more opinions. And a lot of what I saw was like, it's like a baseball theme park. Like the season feels like it's like a fun baseball adventure that you're at without, with the end goal being the experience.

and not actually a championship. And that's not at all what this season feels like. There's a seriousness with which they're approaching competition. And I just think that's really cool. So my answer cheaply is the tone. But to me, that's different and really exciting. Yeah, I think a lot of that goes back to how things ended, right? You get so close and, you know, your eight outs away and, you know, you know how things ended.

And, you know, specifically for like Julio to be the last out, right? Cal being the one that was left on deck there to end things. That's got to especially sting for the faces of your franchise. And so it's just extra motivation, you know, on motivation or motivation. Colby, what do you got for Stacey? I think we have to talk about it. I know we don't want to. I already know what you're doing, Colby.

Yeah, we have to talk about it. Yeah, we have to talk about it. You're just perpetuating drama, Colby. Look, I'll be honest, there's a, there's a part of me that actually likes that this happened because things were going too smoothly for the Mariners. Like, you know, big vibes guy. Like, it's just, it's too nice. It's too, you know, comfortable and something was going to go wrong. And it feels like this is a good thing to go wrong this early, you know?

So, Cal and Randy. Yeah. You know, Cal tried to bury it the other day. Randy, not so much. But, yeah. I mean, what are your thoughts? Do you think this is something that's going to drag on? Or it's just two guys who are going to get in a room together, figure it out, and be coworkers and all of that. I've covered Seahawks teammates who loat with each other and you would never know it.

So I think that professional athletes have a very rare and impressive ability in addition to their physical feats to compartmentalize things and just put things aside. And even though I mentioned that with Seahawks players, I'm sure that that's true with baseball players. I'm sure it's true across any league. There's just something that you have to be able to do. Like, I'm going to take this thing, this moment of awkwardness, or for baseball players, this failure that I had this day. And I'm just going to put it over here. And I'm not going to pay attention to it.

So you do want, like, clubhouse culture matters and team chemistry matters. And if you had a bunch of guys who didn't like each other, if you had really deep rifts and divides throughout a clubhouse, that's a problem. I don't think that's what this is. I think this is a moment of awkwardness. and a momentary divide between two people. And like, I don't know, man. I think that they can, they have an entire season to work it out.

They're going to start the season with the exact same goal in mind. And presumably with a lot of momentum in their favor, not just if they hit the ground running, but like there's a lot of hype and excitement for the start of the season. It's not like, you know, you're having this interaction and then you're starting the season as the White Sox. You know, like, that's a bummer. You're starting the season as the AOL West favorite. And so you immediately are on an island together. And it's like whether or not we're cool with each other in this moment,

we're back to back defending each other against, you know, the rest of this division right now. So it's a good spot to start the season. Winning Cures All. The second they start going on a roll, no one cares. I do think that it matters. One thing that's kind of, I don't know why it's annoying me. I don't know why a lot of things annoy me, but it's annoying me how many people are deeply bothered that this is something being talked about at all.

I don't think it'll keep going through the season or be a problem, but I do think it's a thing. It's clearly a thing. Look how Randy responded. That's not him joking. He is not joking. Randy is very, very bothered by this. Now, you can say, hey, you know, Randy was told not to, you know, interact. Hey, don't come up and dab me up.

Don't shake my hand. don't put me in this position and then he did it anyway. I don't know why, but if I were Cal, I probably would adapt him up. But whatever it is, what it is. The interaction happened. That your teammate is upset matters. Whether or not anyone watching this right now thinks Randy's being sensitive doesn't matter because Randy's Cal's teammate and a teammate being upset matters.

So Cal and him do have to figure it out. I have faith that they will. We're from our conversation with Stacey in just a moment, but first a reminder of this episode, the Lockdown Marrace podcast is brought to you by MLB the show 26 and fan duel. This week's MLB Top 100 highlight is brought to you by MLB the show 26, the latest from the beloved video game franchise. Each week we're highlighting the stars of MLB's top 100 players list. The elite names you'll be controlling, building around, and going head to head with an MLB

the show. Today we're spotlighting Josh Naylor, who ranks 81st in our top 100. One of the newest Mariners has already made a big impression in Seattle coming up with clutch hits and a whole lot of stolen bases. And you can do all that in MLB the show 26. Right now, of course, Naylor is lending his talents to Team Canada and the World Baseball Classic. And you can take him and his team on,

as well as other WBC teams from all over the world with your Diamond Dynasty team. Or if you're like me and you like playing offline, you can join Josh on your road to the show and help the Mariners win it all. So that does it for this week's MLB Top 100 highlight presented by MLB the show 26, where you can play, manage, and build

with your favorite players and teams. If you love talking baseball, you'll love playing it even more. Visit MLB-T-H-E. Show slash Locked-On and use the promo code Locked-on, that's L-C-K-D-O-N, to unlock a pack for use in Diamond Dynasty. Internet connection required. Pre-order now available March 17th

on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S&X, and Nintendo Switch. Rated E for everyone. College basketball is nonstop. I'm talking big games, tight spreads, and momentum swings, every single night. From early tip-offs to late-night West Coast shootouts, there's always action on the board. And now Fandul is giving you a way to turn that energy into even bigger potential wins with a college basketball parlay profit boost.

You can build any college hoops parlay you want, rivalry games, ranked matchups, you name it. You can make spreads, totals, and player props to match how you see the slate playing out. Then you can apply the profit boost and instantly bump up the potential payout. So go safe, go bold, right? With the team you've been fond. following all season. It's your parlay, your style, now with more upside behind it. Head to fandual.com to get started. That's fanduel.com. Fandule, play your game. And you're listening to the Lockdown Marrars podcast, part of the Lockdowne Podcast Network, your team every day. Thank you so much for making us your first listen for all things,

Mariners. And also thank you for making Lockdown the number one sports podcast network. If you've been thinking about joining the Every Day or Club, now is the time. Again, you get ad-free shows and access to our group chat on Discord. And if you're signed up before the NCAA tournament tips off, you can get into our Everydayer Club bracket pool on Discord for a chance to win Locked-on merch. Right now, you can use the promo code March to get your first month free. Add to Lockdown Mariners.com or tap the link in the description. And also in the description, you can find the link to vote for round three of our top 50 Mariners Moments tournament.

And we only got a couple more days to vote on that. So be sure to vote if you haven't already. We greatly, greatly appreciate it. All right, let's get back into our conversation with Stacy. Yeah, my stance on it really. Well, all right. At first, I was like, yeah, this is nothing like whatever. I thought it was a joke.

He's probably joking. Like, he's been, I mean, this is a guy that's shagging fly balls in a poncho and cowboy boots before the game the other night. Like, I'm like, he's being a goofy guy. Like, we know Randy at this point. He's being a little bit of a goofy guy. But, yeah, then you actually like get into the quote stuff. And then like you see like, oh, Dan's like actually talking about it seriously. Oh, Cal's like actually like issuing a statement about this.

Oh. Oh, this is. Oh. Oh. This is bad. Like, okay. So at that point though, like I still. I don't really want to talk about it just because I don't want to feed into the negativity that like we're already seeing.

Like with like a lot of the fan base right now taking sides and all this stuff. Like I don't like that aspect of it. I don't like this whole like, oh, we got to trade Randy or cows this and that and all this stuff based on like, you know, how this is all gone. Like I can we at least let these guys get into camp first? Can we at least see how the season plays out at least a little bit before we start like making these crazy proclamations about how much of an impact this is going to have? Like can we at least like just wait and see like these guys are like, I know they're in the same city right now. now well i guess randy might be back in peoria now i don't know but like you know i know that they have been in the same city but like they're not like let's get them back in the same building for a

little while and let's get them back with dan and obviously this is this is supposed to be a big part of like why dan is so good at his job and why dan was the guy for this organization was keeping things close as much as you possibly can within this clubhouse so let's like wait until like he actually can see them face to face actually sit down with that them, all that stuff. And let's see what happens from that point forward. At that point, if there's still an issue, then let's talk about it, right? You know what I think part of it is, too, is that unfortunately for Cal, unfortunately for Randy, the whole interaction, they are not the only teammates ever in the WBC to have that kind of interaction, which we all know, nor is Cal the only

catcher in this year's WBC to have that interaction, which we already know. But I think that it lends itself to conversations that do happen in baseball on a broader scale. Like, is Team USA taking itself a little too seriously? Or, you know what I mean? Like, you know, look, like, let's talk about it. Like, is there sometimes a rift and like a cultural misunderstanding or whatever between white players and Latino players? Like, there's like all kinds of, there's all kinds of other conversations that are relevant, but that people do want to have about baseball. And that runs a gamut of like from serious to non-serious that this kind of lends itself too.

So I think there are people having a conversation about this that's like 50% about the Mariners and 50% about something much bigger. That's important. But like, I don't know how much of it's exactly at play here. No, absolutely. I tweeted the other day that like the WBC has been awesome, but it's also highlighted like the worst ways that the game gets talked about as well. Like from the way that guys celebrate to this situation to all of that.

It's just highlighted that to a maximum. And you know, that makes sense given the nature of what the WBC is and all that. But still, it's just I find myself very annoyed by the discourse. The only answer is the Dominican Republic winning and healing us all. Like absolutely. Yeah, exactly. But, you know, I do, I do have. to wonder, and again, I know I said that I don't want to feed into the drama and stuff, but I do

have to wonder. Yeah, let me, let me do it alone. I can't imagine that this is just over a handshake. The reaction from Randy's, um, was very extreme, especially now that we're like, oh, that's serious. Like, now that it's like pretty much confirmed, like, that was like a serious thing. That was a serious reaction for Randy, even if maybe he was being a little bit tongue and cheek. Like, it seems like there's some real like saltiness there. And maybe it's just, They lost Cal's team won. He gets a microphone stuck in his face, getting asked about it, like, right away. You know, and you know that, you know, you're going to go back to the club as you're going to have to hear about it.

Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Maybe it's some of that. But also, like, maybe is there a little something that we didn't know about that maybe he has been building up there? Like, I don't know. I tried asking people about it already. Yeah. I don't know. I mean, I think, too, like, it could just be two very different people, right?

Like, if I were Cal, I would adapt them up. Yeah. I think that like I would kind of get Randy being like, yo, bro, I held your Gatorade in your towel at the home run derby. You're with this team for a week and a half. Like yeah, and like me for months. If Clinton Kershaw has a problem with that or, you know, Bryce Harper has a problem with that or Alex Breggman has a problem. Whatever, whatever. It's my teammate.

I get Randy perspective. And Randy shouldn't have to apologize for just how he feels. If Randy feels, you can't apologize for feeling away. You can apologize for everything you do after. I guess. But yeah, there's definitely something real. I think we've all moved past and should fairly move past that this is nothing. Like that's clearly not true anymore. So yeah. Yeah. I'll put my hand up. I was wrong. I was wrong to just kind of like joke around about it and just like dismiss it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. There was the pine tar thing. I was like, oh, okay, that's it. And then I just moved on with my night. Yeah. And then I moved on with my night. And then I woke up and it was like the Donald Glover giff of him walking. and community him with the pizza and everything's on fire. I was like, oh, okay.

Yeah, which is, which is a lot of my experience with Marrower's Twitter. You know, it's like, oh, just going to get on Twitter. And oh, Jerry DiPoto said something about 54%. Oh, great. Now I got to do a podcast about this, right? That's how it's all. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know.

It's just, you know, that's how things go, right? But it's like, of course, of course something had to happen before the, it was too quiet. It's too quiet at this off. I'm saying. He's right. They needed it. It may, it'll be for a spike. A little tension.

At the very least this time, at the very least this time, it's not ownership or front office related. Good point. I mean, I'm the guy who wanted, I'm the guy who wanted Randy to like strike out, swing and miss at the all star game home run derby thing. They did for extra innings. It's like, you know, Cal just won the derby. Everybody thinks are going too well for the Mariners right now. I need something bad to happen. And that's kind of where my head's at.

And so this is nice. I mean, it's better than an injury. You know, it's better than George missing a couple months or whatever. Yeah, you need the other shoe to drop now and for this to be it because you don't want it to be something you care about more. Yeah. No. Yeah. I think some people just need to accept that, you know, coworkers don't always like each other.

Sometimes they're just coworkers and you get 26 guys and in a room together. Or do I know about that. Uh-huh. I already made that show. Stop picking back. But, you know, you don't have to love everybody. You can say you love everybody. You don't have to.

You just respect them. And you treat each other the way you want to be. treated and you just kind of move on. And you don't have to love each other. Yeah. And people don't. And I think it's a, I think it's a misconception.

Most people don't share it, but there is a misconception, I think that like, especially if a team's doing well, it's like, these guys are brothers. And it's like, yeah,

and that you're sharing an experience that very few people understand. But there, it is not at all uncommon in a clubhouse, in a locker room anywhere for two guys to just, they don't mess with each other. Yeah. Well, in baseball is a very personal sport.

a lot of people and a lot of people get very invested in the personal lives of a lot of these players specifically in baseball. So like when it becomes apparent like, oh, not all these guys do love each other. It's not all sunshine and rainbows in the clubhouse. It kind of like destroys like just your whole perception of like everything. All right. More from our conversation with Stacy in just a moment. But first a reminder of this episode of the Locktime Marrace podcast is brought to you by Ethos and Indeed. This is Jeff Carr from Lockedown Reds. And you know, I've reached the point in my life where my wife and I are looking toward the future. We've got the house. We've got the career. We even have an awesome dog, but now we need to secure that future. That's where ethos comes in for us. When I look at this insurance

or that insurance and I try to pick one, I might as well be reading an entirely different language. Ethos clears up the noise and gets me set up with exactly what I need because ethos makes getting life insurance fast and easy and it's 100% online. You can get a quote in seconds. apply in minutes and get same-day coverage. Protect your family with life insurance from Ethos now by going to ethos.com slash locked-on MLB. In as little as 10 minutes, you can get a free quote and up to $3 million in coverage at ethos.com slash locked-on MLB.

That's eth-h-h-os.com slash locked-on MLB. Ethos.com slash locked-on MLB. Application times and rates may vary. Workplace chaos. deadline stacking up, inbox overflowing, and the one position you have to fill still sitting open. When the pressure's on and you need the right hire, this is a job for sponsored jobs. Indeed, sponsor jobs helps you reach the people who actually fit what you're looking for, skills, experience, location. So you're not just hoping the right candidate stumbles across your post.

And here's a stat that says it all. In the minute I've been talking to you, companies like yours made 27 hires on Indeed, according to Indeed data, World. spend less time searching and more time actually interviewing candidates who check all your boxes. Less stress, less time, more results. When you need the right person to cut through the chaos, this is a job for Indeed sponsored jobs. And listeners of the show will get a $75 sponsor job credit to help you get your job the premium status it deserves at Indeed.com slash podcast. Just go to Indeed.com slash podcast right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Indeed.com slash podcast.

Terms and conditions apply. Need to hire. This is a job for Indeed. Sponsored jobs. And you're listening to the Lockdown Merrists 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, Marys, Seahawks, all that good stuff. For more information, go to patreon.com forward slash control the zone. Link in the description of this episode. Now back to our conversation with Stacey Joe Ross. Getting back to this club in general and getting back to much more lighthearted things, looking back at the off season, there's a couple things that you can pick here.

What was your favorite thing from the off season that the Marys did? Maybe what's your least favorite thing from the off season as well? Okay, so favorite thing was resigning Naylor early, like just jumping right on it. Right out of the gate. Yeah, right out of the gate, not only taking care of it, making it clear it was your priority, but it was also it felt like a priority to a lot of the players. So making it clear that like, hey, not only do we care about getting this guy back and we want to make that very obvious to him and be really aggressive with that signing, but we know that it matters to players. And I remember talking to someone well connected with the team and it was several months after.

And I said, hey, what do you think players think about the off season? Because by then it had been a little more quiet. It was a little quiet after Naylor. And this person was like, I think I think after they brought back Naylor guys were mostly cool. Like that just that really mattered to the team to do that. So that was insightful and it was it was helpful to hear that in a way that was also the front office continuing to kind of mend those fences and build that trust that they're doing stuff. I don't know that I have like a massive least favorite move. Like would I have loved in hindsight even more like one other bullpen edition shirt?

Like I just I still feel uneasy and I always will about the bullpen over. overall pitching health overall, not in adding another starter, but, but to the bullpen, yeah, like I, that would have been pretty nice. I wondered, I didn't think that they'd be more aggressive with pursuing someone for the infield. Had they not added Brandon Donovan, I would, that would be right where I'd look. And I'd say, I think you have too much youth there. Like, I don't love the idea of having not only a platoon, but having so much youth at those spots. Yeah, that was kind of my least favorite thing about the offseason was just the process. And we've talked about this a bunch.

So people listening are like, oh, God, here goes Ty and Colby again complaining about this. But like my least favorite thing. Yeah, it was just it was the process of like painting yourself into a corner of like we have to get Brennan Donovan or bust or like now we're going to rely on the 20 year old. And we're going to rely on Cole Young. You know. Yeah. Like that didn't like that. Other than that, yeah.

I mean like if they got like, I know they were in on Phil Maeton. Like if they got him along with Ferrer to kind of shore up the ball. And like that would have been cool. But overall, I don't really have many complaints. Like we did a fan poll back in February and we went over the results on on the show last week. And, you know, most people voted that they were content with the off season. And that's how I feel.

I was content with the off season. And I'm not really sure if there was like a realistic path to being overall just like thrilled. Like, oh my God, they just destroyed this off season. I don't think that was super realistic. Maybe if they brought back Jorge Polanco on top of everything else that they did, which seemed like maybe a possibility. but other than that, because we know they're not going to go after Kyle Tucker.

I would love for them to go after the Caltechers of the world, and I would love for Kyle Tucker to reciprocate that interest, but like, that's not going to happen. So like outside of that, like, yeah, I'm content with it. I think they had the off season that they needed to have coming off of, you know, what they did in, you know, last year. And, you know, we'll see how it goes. I think they're in a really good spot, though.

I really like where this roster is right now. Colby, what do you got for Stacey? What's your favorite spring training storyline that you're chasing, right now. Are you enamored with Ryan Sloan like so many of us are? Or is there another player that you're kind of, you're kind of looking at going like, that's something I didn't expect. Is there anything that's jumping out to you in the Cactus League? No, I mean, just continually hearing from the host that we, I didn't get out there for spring training, but our other two shows, and obviously Shannon did. And yes, hearing from them about the pitchers as a whole about Cade and Ryan has been really,

really cool. And I think just like hearing what I really like is following updates about young players without feeling like this team needs to depend on them or needs them. Like it's fun just to be very excited about Ryan Sloan's potential or Kate Anderson's potential or Colt Emerson's potential knowing that you're a really great team before they even get there. And you're not just constantly hoping like, oh my God, I hope this guy hits. Like who's going to who's going to do that fresh out of the miners, nobody. Like, like, these guys are going to have room to struggle, but that makes you so much more excited for, you know, the potential of hitting their ceiling ultimately. So, so yeah, I think, yes, the young pitching, but also the idea that it's a bonus to your season, that it's something

that is just fun, fluff and like an extra topping to hear about that that makes you so excited on top of, oh, my God, and they have all of these great weapons. Oh, my God. I mean, and look at this lineup. Oh, yeah, Rowdy Tellez was your starting first basement at the opening day last year. How much better does this lineup feel right now? So that's been cool. Yeah,

and I feel much better about the starting pitching situation this year, as opposed to last year, specifically the depth, because like, all right, Bryce Miller's got this oblique thing. He's out for, it doesn't seem like it's like a super serious thing.

Yeah. It just seems like it's probably going to, it's probably going to keep him out for the, you know, for the opening day roster, but maybe April we'll see him at some point in return. But like, all right,

Cooper Chris Wells looked pretty good. Eventually down the line, if there's another significant injury like last year, Kate Anderson, cool, like one of the best, you know, pitching prospects on the entire game.

This dude was just dominating in the, and the SEC. And he's like sick in spring. So, you know, it's just, it's just different. Like no disrespect to Emerson,

Hancock, no disrespect to Loving Nevins. It's just, it's different. Right. So like there's that. It's, you know, the farm system is still pretty good. So they'll, you know, and they're not in a position right now. Obviously injuries can happen. Guys can perform way lower than, you know, expectations. But right now they're not in a position where like they have to kill it at the deadline. That's the biggest thing too. But if they want to go kill it at the deadline, they still can because they have, you know, a really nice farm system still. So like there's just there's so much upside here. Like the team feels like. And it's crazy how much just Brennan Donovan alone changed how I felt about the club, right? Because it was like, because now it's like, all right, you're really only like really risking it, quote unquote, at one spot. I mean, there's obviously like the Dom Kanzone, Luke Rayleigh, Victor Rubblos thing of it all.

But like I feel good about Rayleigh bouncing back. I will see if like 75% of what Dom did is real, you know, hopefully more than that, you know. And Victor will see. He's more like a fourth outfielder in my mind. But like there's that, but really like the only spot that there's like you're really risking it at is, you know, second base right now with Cole. And like that's he's a really good prospect though. Like it's not like Tommy Lestella, right? This is like a different area code, right?

This is a different universe than the Tommy Lestella. This is, you know, we're banking on guys that have high, high upside, Cole Emerson. You know, eventually like, all right, Cole Young doesn't work out. We move Brennan Donovan to second base. Cole Emerson's the third basement. And if that doesn't work out, okay, we only have to address one of those spots. You don't have to address too, right? Yeah.

It just, it changes so much. It really does. It just changes the math of the entire roster and just how I feel about this, about this roster and this team moving on. And again, like down the line, like what you can potentially do with, you know, the prospects that you have getting better at the major league. Like it's just like this team could get really, really good. Like they're already really good, but it's like this team could even get scarier like down the line too.

It sounds like they've got. God, I forget what it was. It was a number of, not press conferences, a number of interviews Jerry has done. But I'm wondering if you guys also got this impression. So it's not one particular conversation. But it certainly seems like they've got so much more flexibility for midseason deadlines than they used to. That like, ownership isn't going to be like, okay, we padded our wallets. We're ready to really spend.

But it sure sounds like they're more willing to spend when they know that it'll pay off. Like, we're more willing to spend or take on a contract if we're being competitive. and we know that it's not as much of a risk as signing someone in Sprite. Yeah. Yeah, the best thing that ownership has done is what they did at the deadline last year, where it was like, hey, we want to, front office comes to them. We're like, hey, we want to go add, Ah, You Henni of Svarez. We want to go add Josh Nih, like, we want to go add yawn as well, right? And they're like, cool.

We're just, we're going to get out of the way. Just you do it. Just let us know, right? Yeah. I think it's easier for them to stomach when you can already see that, like, oh, this is where you are in the standings. Right. And again, when it comes to free agency, there's obviously the ownership aspect of it all for sure. Like that's obviously a major, major, major part of it. But also, like, Jerry doesn't like giving out huge contracts.

You know, he's little, you know, there's still the whole like angels experience that's like in the back of his mind and all that. And, you know, and obviously it takes two to tango as well. You know, so there's so many variables with that. The trade deadline, it obviously makes sense why they love, you know, the trade deadline and why that's their prime acquisition period. it's just again when you set up your roster where you have to crush it at the deadline right that's where i have that's where i have a problem because that's kind of how it was last year right like they needed josh taylor they needed a uhanyosoras right now as the roster is built it doesn't feel like they need that huge huge piece would it be cool if they got another

huge huge piece of the deadline sure can they do that absolutely they don't need it though and that's great and i just that's why i feel just really really good about this roster probably the best I've felt about a Marrars roster. Certainly in my time covering the team, sure. All right, so we got some listener questions for you, actually. This is kind of a new thing that we've been doing with our interviews. We did with Gary, Gary Hill, was fantastic. Yeah, a couple weeks ago.

So we got a couple of questions for you here. This one comes from my favorite name in our whole community, Ham Swarity, 69, who says, I know you're a Seattle rider die. However, is there a soft speed? you have for another city's teams, whether it be for the fans, the teams or the city itself, where if they aren't playing any Seattle teams that you actively go, yeah, let's ride. The trashier New York teams for everything.

So the Mets, I know that the Mets are big spenders, but the NICs, I don't know what it is. The Mets definitely are trashy, though. My sister's boyfriend is unfortunately a Yankees fan, so he's on the wrong side. But he's from Queens, basically my brother-in-law. And so I just over several years have developed this soft spot for like the more in your face side of New York. Not like the really pretentious like, but we're the Yankees. But like the side of New York that's just like audacious. So like NICs, absolutely, I'll root for the NICs.

And I know that there's a separate conversation about ownership getting in the way of Sonics. that's it for another day. But yeah, something about something about the underdog slash trashy who means saying it, but it is what it is a version of New York teams. Like I will, it's, it's Mets, Knicks. I'm trying to think of something outside New York. And then I find the Padres pretty easy otherwise to root for. I know that we've got like a fake little rivalry with them. The Vatter Cup, the very real rivalry for the veteran. Cup. What am I saying? It matters. It matters. There's a legacy to a poll, but I find it some say it's bigger than the World Series. I've said that. I've been, I'm they. Yeah. Yeah.

But yeah. So I also, I do have a soft spot for the Padres and what were the San Diego Chargers, but now I don't read for them at all. Yeah. Yeah. Colby yours is like the raise. You really like the raise. Yeah. I like the raise for two reasons. One, it was the name of the first Little League team I played on, but also I just Yeah, I'm a big fan of the organization Like the front office specifically And how they churn through players And how they win and all that

So yeah, I root for the raise a little bit Colby likes being cheap Yeah Well I mean, what else am I supposed to do With all this Dewan Brazelton and Tanyan Sturts And what am I, Early Rockobal deli late Fred McGriff? What am I supposed to do with all that info

If not channel it into like having the raise as my second favorite baseball team. Fair. Yeah, root for the raise a little bit. I would like Cleveland to win, like the Browns, because, I mean, you've got to live in Cleveland. I mean, give them something, but, like, yeah, I don't feel great about the Browns. So, yeah, it's, you know, Seattle teams. And then, yeah, I like to root for smart organizations or for fan bases who are just going

through it because I know what that is like. Yeah. That's the thing. It's like Mariners team, no one likes the team that's. won a lot. No one from Seattle has any respect for the Red Sox or Yankees or like any, the Astros, for obvious reasons with the latter. But like, if you've experienced multiple championships in different leagues in your lifetime, I just don't like, I simply don't like you. We're too different. You're the Patriots fan talking about how like, oh, it's been so long because

we've been at the since like, what? Yeah. What? I don't know if you guys remember this. There was like one of the billion parades that Boston had, I don't know, maybe 10 years or so ago, there was this kid maybe five or six holding up a sign that was like, this is my 10th parade or whatever. I'm like, kick rocks. I hate you. I'll fight you right now. A whole bunch of dials.

Yeah. Yeah. I do have a soft spot for the Phillies. I like me some hymboes who just hit tanks. Yeah. That's within the Mets family. Like they're cousins. And then going off of what Colby was saying, you know, having a soft spot for fan bases that have like gone through it.

If the Seahawks don't win the Super Bowl, I'm like, all right, go lions. Yeah. I was I was rooting for the Lions in the NFC championship a couple of years ago. Like, yeah. And also, you know, it also helped that they were playing against the Niners. But until recently I was rooting for the Oakland days and then, well, you know, they don't exist anymore. So that's always tough too. You're like, you still want to root for that team, but you're like, but I hate ownership.

Like the San Diego Chargers would be perfect when you're like, you're the lamest owner for moving this team. But I know that there are Chargers fans out there that are like, oh, so long suffering. Yeah. Yeah. I have a buddy who went from being a Sonics fan to a Thunder fan. So, yeah. That's what I call a traitor. Yeah.

I agree. So I'm a little on the fence about that. That whole, you know, like, oh, follow the team wherever they can. go. It's a pretty big difference between going, you know, San Diego to L.A. to Seattle to Oklahoma City. So yeah, but yeah,

it does stink. And that's, so I hate like whenever the NBA comes up, people, oh, this team's for sale. They can relocate. It's like, how about no? Like, I want a team too, but how about no? Like, let's see. When the King's thing was happening, it was like, I'm excited, but also this. Yeah, I don't want to know. I feel,

I feel dirty. It's like a sick guilt. and like a, I feel like I'm paying forward just a generational level of pain. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Our second question here for you comes from George. Would you rather catch an MLB bullpen, try to catch a Michael Dixon punt with a full

team on the field or play one period of goalie in an NHL scrimmage? So do you want to do what Adam Gude did and catch, you know, an Andreas Monios bullpen? Take one of the other two. I'm getting crossed up. I'm telling you what. That's the first thing is I'm God. Okay. So the last one would be the punt return. Yeah, absolutely hard to do. Have you guys ever tried to field a punt like as an adult? No, no. We, I did this charity event. It was where they had a bunch of football things set up. It was when I was with my last company.

And so we like partnered with a Seahawks player and they one of them was a punt return. So out of a jugs machine. I don't think anyone caught it. And there were 100, there were probably three, 400 people that I don't think anyone fielded this punt and was able to run back. We were seeing like grown adult men falling backwards. What's the hardest part of it to you? Fielding a punt. Yeah. Like is it like losing it in the sky?

Yeah. Yeah. But, yeah, but like, I'm not good at securing it. And that's like every, I'm the least. So I was a swimmer. I was a solid swimmer for my size. Swimming is one of those things that's like its size is working against you and body type works against you.

It's tough sometimes if you're very short. But I was decent otherwise. Anything outside of that I've been horrible at. So like I think I've caught a ball maybe twice in my life successfully, like in a way that was cool, you know, that I just like bobble. So unfortunately, I would break my nose with all three of these. I'm going to go with the goalie just wearing the most padding. No matter what I'm getting hits.

I'm getting hit. So where am I breaking the least amount of bones? I'm going to go goalie. Do you have a favorite Rick Riz memory by any chance since Rick is unfortunately calling it? I think we should ask everybody who comes on the show. Yeah. At the very least, their feelings on Rick because he is an absolute titan in the community of Seattle. I mean, there's been so many like specific calls.

God, I don't know. I'm being really late. I've had a lot of, especially in the last several years. Yeah, a lot of Rick interactions that are like in person engagements that stick with me almost as much or more than the calls. He's wonderful at what he does. And when I hear his voice, it sounds like baseball, right? Like you just, you feel like, even when we interview him, I'm like, I feel like it's spring now. I feel it's pouring rain outside, but I feel like it's baseball season.

and it's very nostalgic and comforting. But one of my favorite Rick Riz memories that has nothing to do with a call at all, but just because he's like this stand-up grade A person is that I was, I'm not normally a Mariners. I'm not a Mariners beat reporter. I started out as an NFL reporter, covered the Seahawks for a separate company. And so I had never done baseball writing. And that was great because I grew up in Seattle, so it was easier to,

kind of separate that. And I was like, I don't feel as guilty like rooting for this team when I'm not covering the team. So because of that, starting to cover the team in any professional capacity, I felt so out of my element and unqualified and whatever. And we were in the dugout where they have their press conferences, not press conferences, their meetings with the manager. And I think this was maybe even just last year, is what would have been the home run derby with Cal. Dan came out And then Cal came out and I'm sitting like two people over from them. And I'm just blanking. And despite being a reporter for several years, I was like, I don't know what to ask.

I feel like I should say something. And then Rick just kind of, he's like feeding Tucker. And he like leans over and he was like, hey, mention this or whatever. And so I ask it. And I think he said like, oh, question, blah, blah, blah. And then I turn back to Rick and he just like winks. And it's just his ability to sense when this has nothing to do with his ability to call the game. But his ability to sense like, oh, this person's uncomfortable and he's just such a caring, kind person and sees that entire park is like his home.

That's his home. It's his reign. And he's so comfortable with everything. And he knows these guys so well that in that moment he could sense like, I know what this person who I cover wants to talk about. I know this person's unsure of what to do. I love baseball so much that I'm going to connect them for this conversation. that's so unrelated to any call that he's made, but he's one of the most sincerely kind people I've ever met. So I love Rick, Chris.

He's amazing. Yeah, that's awesome. That's such a like a quintessential like Rick story. Like, well, you talk about like having the feel for the moment, right? Yeah. Not just in the booth, right? Right. Exactly.

That's not going to feel for the moment. Yeah. And like calm throughout just recognizing like, here's a thing. And I know how to solve it. And I'm not stepping on toes. I'm not being patronizing. I'm just going to be like, you should ask about this.

Just give you a little nudge into the right direction. A little nudge. Yeah, being able to get someone out of their comfort zone, but then still support them, like very parental. It was so kind. So, yeah,

I love Rick. All right. Well, I got one last very quick question for you. So again, we did a fan poll. I mentioned that earlier. So we asked people like,

you know, will the mirrors make the playoffs? Obviously, everyone said, except for like four people, which. For losers. Yeah. We're watching you.

Like, I think last year we may have gotten 13% of the vote that said, yeah, they'll win the division. Maybe, maybe, maybe that. It might have been lower than that. Yeah. This year, though, 88.5% said they went in the division. Let's go. Which, and that's off of like, you know, over a thousand people that voted in this thing. So do those expectations?

make you nervous or does that make you go finally like about time we talk about this team in a very positive light and we you know feel very confident in this club i don't know about time uh i think it's like a lining right if people weren't feeling that way heading into it it'd be like what the heck what else do you need to see but i think it's i think the expectations line up pretty well with like the track record they've been on because i did not expect them to make it to the alcs last year i thought like winning a wild card series would be a success and like get to the ALDS and win a game like make it really competitive. Didn't expect them to win the West. And, uh, and so you alter your expectations. But I think it's just it's also taking stock of where the rest of the league is, which hasn't always

been this case. Like four years ago, we weren't talking about, you know, the Astros being where they are kind of the question marks that are around the American League in general. Like I thought the Orioles would take off in a really different way. Right. Like it's just, so the. The, landscape also has allowed for the mariners to to rise quickly in a way that you view is more seriously competitive so so yeah i i'm so excited i um yeah it's it's definitely not like a finally get on board kind of thing it's like a more of a surreal feeling for me i don't know about i think i think i think more so what i mean is just like there's been you know my our entire time covering this team it's been same old mariners they're going to find a way to screw it up blah blah blah

now it's like it's like weird to see people are like no this team is sick yeah like yes so it's like and I'm like good yeah yes yes absolutely that's how we should approach this thing do you guys still get some of that though from people like do you once in a while get those comments that where people are just so used to it that they the thing this off season has been more so fans getting tired of consistency and be like jp crawford and randy or rosorana a perennial three-win players. They suck, actually. Oh, got you. We should release Luis Castillo so that we could put Ryan Sloan in the opening

day rotation. Right. Oh, so a lot of overestimating of young players with like, yeah, like here's the shiny new here's the shiny new toy. Let's yeah, yeah, let's do that. Yeah. Yeah, it's been a lot of that. And it's like, hey, JP Crawford, like, I know there's some issues defensively. Still really good ballplay.

Also, can't stress enough. This is not Nick and Manwari jumping into the league and suddenly If there's a gulf that you need to make up for with experience and talent. Absolutely. Yeah. So it's been more so that. But it's been nice to like see like mostly everyone be like, yeah, this team is awesome. They're going to do great things.

It's refreshing. It's really refreshing to see. Well, Stacey, this has been a pleasure as always. Thanks so much for hopping on. And we'll do it again during the season. Yeah. Anytime. I'm glad I finally got to hang out with Colby too.

Yeah. Colby has so much fun. Hey, if you want to take my job, you know, every day and I think. then, you know, and hang out with him instead of me. I would drive Colby. I think that Colby literally, you know, on Pat McAvey's show when What's His Face is just like sitting there silently staring, that would be Colby three episodes in. I mean, life choices.

Yeah. I mean, not to brag or anything, but Mina Kimes said, I'm her favorite on the show. So I feel like. Okay. She didn't say that. Wow. She didn't say that. She basically did.

It sounds like she said that. She basically did. Ty doesn't like to admit it because I mean it's mean a Kimes but like right right right right the facts are the facts I mean I also got burned I'm just so salty by Aaron's Aaron Goldsmith burned me pretty good so I have a card collection that I started a few years ago and I'm trying to acquire one card for every Jerry to Poto acquisition of his mariner tenure so that's over like 600 acquisitions I'm trying to get one card for every player that he's acquired major leaker at least. And I told

Aaron about it and what was the exact phrase he used, Ty? Well, first, it's because like Aaron has like all these signed balls in his office and all the every member of the 500 home mom club. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it's like, all right, all right, Aaron. Not all of us can have great hair and tons of money

to spend on sign baseballs. But, uh, but, yeah, he said, I can't think of a more worthless journey to take than that. Yeah. Oh my God. So. He's so me. Yeah.

I love it. That was nice. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So that was, Colby has held that deep in his heart for, for years.

That's why I'm too. He always, every time we talk to Gary, too, he is like, yeah, I like you more than there. They have such a dry humor. I love one thing Gary does that's great every time. So we've started doing video for interviews. And our board op is named Matt Nelson. and he's he's very Colby-esque, like, very just kind of like, I'm over this. And so one thing Gary does to get those two together.

Yes, and he gets photos of Matt and puts them in the background of all of his video interviews that he does. So he's found like childhood photos of Matt, and he won't say anything. He'll just be on air and it'll be like this photo here. And it'll be in the background and he'll be talking or he'll put it on his laptop screen and flip it. Oh, wow. It's amazing. I've got to. I've got a great idea now.

I think you know what you need to do. I've got some ideas. You know the next step. Well, Stacy, again, thank you so much. It's always,

you know, always a pleasure talking to with you. And again, like I said, we'll do this again soon. Yeah. Thanks, guys.

All right, that is going to do it for our show. Thank you again to Stacey for joining us. And thank you so much for joining us here on the lockdown airs podcast. Part of the lockdown podcast network, your team every day. And once again, if you never miss an episode, it's time to make it official. Join the lockdown every day or club and get ad-free audio, access to our members-only Discord, and more,

all built for our most loyal fans. For Colby Patnode, I'm Tad de Gzalas. Be sure to give us a follow on Twitter at L0 underscore Marrers. You can follow me at Tading Gzalus and Colby at C-Pat-E-1. We're also on Blue Sky. You can follow me at TDG, Colby at MLB-C and the show at Lockdown Mariner's. You can also find us on Instagram at Lockdown Marrars. Have yourself a beautiful baseball day, and we'll see you next time peace