Locked On Mariners - Daily Podcast On the Seattle Mariners - Thoughts on Winker, Suárez, Julio and More

Episode Date: March 16, 2022

Hosts Ty Dane Gonzalez and Colby Patnode discuss what the arrivals of Eugenio Suárez and Jesse Winker do for the Mariners' floor and ceiling, why they're concerned about Julio Rodríguez potentially starting the year on the Mariners' Opening Day roster, and their feelings about Seiya Suzuki signing with the Cubs and Matt Chapman being traded to the Blue Jays.Be sure to follow or subscribe to Locked On Mariners wherever you prefer your podcasts! For questions and other inquiries, email: [e-mail] the show on Twitter: @LO_Mariners | @danegnzlz | @CPat11For more of Ty and Colby, check out their Patreon: patreon.com/controlthezone/Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you. 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.

You are Locked-on Mariners. Your daily Seattle Mariners podcast. Part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. It is Wednesday, March 16th, 2020, and this is Locked-on Mariners. Thank you so much for making us your first listen of the day. I am your host, Tiding Gonzalez. Join, as always, by my co-host, Colby Patnode. Follow us on Twitter at L-O- underscore Mariners.

You can follow me at Dane-G-N-Z-L-Z. and Colby at C-Pat 11. That's C-P-A-T-1-1. Be sure to also check out our Patreon where we talk about the Mariners even more and also get into some non-baseball talk twice a week. Visit patreon.com forward slash control zone for more information on that if you are interested.

Now on today's episode of Lockdown Mariners, we're talking more about the Jesse Winker and A Eugenio-S-Warez deal now that we've had some time to digest it. What does this do for the Mariners' floor? What does it do for their ceiling? We're also going to be talking about the growing possibilities, that one of the Mariners' top prospects is going to make the opening day roster.

How do we feel about it? How likely is it? And then finally, a couple of popular Mariners targets have officially landed elsewhere. We'll tell you who and react to the deals from Seattle's perspective. And if this is your first time joining us, welcome to the show.

If you like what you hear, give us a follow or subscribe wherever you're listening to this week greatly appreciate it. So let's turn to Colby here. Colby, what do you think this does for the Mariners' floor? and for their ceiling, adding Jesse Winker and Eugenio Suarez to the mix. Definitely raises the floor, and therefore, by common sense, it also raises the ceiling.

You know, it's basically impossible to raise your floor and lower your ceiling at the same time. It just, it doesn't really work that way. So basically what this does is you add Winker and probably to the top three spots in your lineup, maybe four, but probably top three somewhere, most likely second or third. And then Suarez is probably going to hit fifth, sixth maybe. We'll see if they maybe add another bat in there. But when you start to kind of write out the lineup here, you look at that on paper and you say, you know, that's at least an average offense somewhere in the middle of the pack.

And there's obviously upside in it still with guys like Raleigh and potentially healthy Kyle Lewis and maybe Kelnick takes a step or maybe Julio comes up and he's good right away. Maybe Ty France has a little more power than he showed last year. Maybe Suarez gets back to 2017. Sores, you don't even need to be 2019. Sores just 2017 would be great. So it's at least an average offense on paper now, which is a pretty sizable jump because, you know, I think, what was it, two weeks ago, we talked about how the Mariners offense might be the worst in the division. I think it's probably third now. And it has the potential to be, you know, number two.

There's a lot of question marks in the Angels lineup. So, yeah, I feel like the floor is definitely up. And obviously the ceiling moves, you know, as it should with the floor being pushed up. And I think the lineup is at least average. and certainly has potential to be top 10, you just need a couple of guys to really pop. And that doesn't typically happen the way you want it to. But I would say it's somewhere in the...

Yeah, it's somewhere in the 12 to 17-ish range. So I think it certainly helps. I mean, there's no denying that. Yeah, I think it's undeniably a league average. reach the lineup at this point. You just think about, you know, I mean, just writing out the lineup, right? It's kind of hard, honestly.

You know, because there's a bunch of different ways that you can go about it, especially at the top of the lineup. It's like, you know, could I put Hanager one? Could I put France one? Could I put Winker one? He's done that quite a bit in his career. You know, obviously there's Frazier, there's Crawford. That's probably

what they're going to go with is one of Fraser or Crawford, probably Crawford. But you look at just like the the length of this lineup now, adding Winker to the top of that is huge. You're talking about one of the best hitters in all of baseball, particularly when it comes to hitting right-handed pitching, which the ALS has a ton of.

And then Suarez has a lot of upside here, I think. You go to the second half of his season. And of course, he's a couple of years removed from shoulder surgery. He had a pretty gnarly bout with COVID. a couple of years ago, and he switched positions this past season to shortstop where he was, God, awful.

They finally moved him back to third base in mid-May, and he pretty much stuck there for the rest of the year. And that's when his offense started to kind of improve a little bit. It wasn't great. But in the second half of the season,

he hit 238, 325, 524, with a 121 WRC plus, 13 home runs, and a 12.1 walk percentage. And most of them, that is because in September slash October, which, you know, there was only a handful of games in October,

he was more or less statistically the best hitter in baseball. So, yeah, he's not going to be able to repeat that. But it seems like the further removed he's been from that surgery, the further removed he's been from playing at short, the further that he's been removed from the COVID bout and all that stuff that I just mentioned, he has started

to improve at the plate. So I think naturally, all signs kind of point to him being on an upward trend here. We'll have to see. I mean, there's obviously some concerns in this game, particularly the strikeouts, but this is a guy who still barrels up the ball whenever he makes contact. I think he was 89th percentile and barrel percentage last year. He makes a really good quality contact whenever he, you know, whenever he picks bat to ball.

So good odds that he's at least, you know, and I said this during our, emergency pod the other day, he's probably at least going to be 2021 Kyle Seeker, right? He's at least going to be able to give you that kind of production with similar defense at third base as well. So to come out of this with a huge upgrade in terms of not only just adding you know, legitimate, I don't know if Jesse Winker is necessarily a star, but let's just call it for what it is. He's one of, if not the most underrated hitter in all of baseball. Getting to

add him to the top of the lineup and adding that left-handed element to that lineup in a huge way. And then at least having a push at third base from where you were at 2021 to 2022, that's a really good deal for the Mariners. And it makes their lineup a lot better. Yeah, it's certainly deeper. It certainly makes other guys kind of fit more naturally into certain spots. You know, it kind of gives you that legitimate guy to either hit in front of or between Ty France and Mitch Aniger. And you just kind of start looking down the lineup and where it is right now. The biggest hole is catcher and Murphy is probably going to be, you know, slightly below average. He's not going to be a black hole. And you just kind of start looking at the lineup that could be

pieced out, that could be thrown out there. There's a lot of guys with, you know, over a hundred WRC plus. Remember, 100 is league average. And, you know, we kind of talk about this. A lineup without any major holes is going to score a lot of runs.

Because there's no easy outs in the Mariners lineup right now. Some may develop. Maybe at the catcher's spot. Yeah, maybe. But Murphy crushes lefties, by the way. And, you know, we'll see what Terenz does. If he can catch or if he,

you know, we'll see. That's still one of the bigger question marks is what do you do with Torens. But you just kind of go down this list here and you go, okay. J.P. Crawford, about average, about an average bat. Mitch Hanigar, above average, Winker, fantastic bat. France, fantastic bat. Swares, probably, I would say he's still going to be average.

Thereabouts. Kelnick, we'll see, again, who's the center field. I think right now we have to assume it's going to be Julio. So that's not great. We'll talk about that. But then you look at Frazier, average to above average bat. And you look at Murphy, really good bat against lefties, not great against righties. So you have a couple of potential holes here and there.

But for the most part, what you have is a really good lineup that is going to give you a chance most nights. You also have quite a few guys who don't strike out that much. You know, you look at Fraser, you look at France, you look at Winker, you look at Crawford. They're going to put the ball in play a good amount. So it's a good lineup. It's not a great lineup. But the lineup is the best it's been at least since 2018. I mean, it's not close.

So, yeah, it's a good move. You should be excited about this. And most people are. There's always a few bad eggs who are convinced the mariners can never do anything right. But you can ignore those people because that's what they're going to do. They want to sell you that the mariners are bad at everything and they will be forever. Don't buy it. So there is one kind of big complication and you alluded to it with adding just

Jesse Winkers specifically. We're going to be talking about that in just a moment. But real quick, a reminder of this episode of Lockdown Mariners is brought to you by Mission Possible. Are you ready to discover your purpose and leave an impact wherever you go? Mission Possible, written and read by New York Times bestselling author and athlete Tim Tebow, encourages you to find your inspiration, pursue your purpose, and create a life for yourself that counts.

Ignite a new spark in your life through this new inspirational lesson. Mission Possible by Tim Tebow is available everywhere. audiobooks are sold. You're listening to Lockdown Mariners. Thank you again for making us your first listen of the day, just like you do here every day. And just a reminder to check out Lockdown MLB Prospects. Host Lindsay Crosby is a prospect encyclopedia. And he's going deep on the MLB stars of tomorrow. It's free and available wherever you get podcasts just like us. So with the addition of Jesse Winker, the thing that we have to acknowledge here is that Winker is not a good defensive outfielder. He's going to be in left field for the Mariners. It seems on most nights,

they're probably also going to use him at DH, which is probably where he needs to be. But here's a thing. You also have Mitch Hanigar in right field. You also have Louise Terence, who is going to have to catch to make this roster at this point. But it's probably going to get a significant amount of his at-bats, his plate appearances at the DH spot if he makes the team, that is. So, You kind of, I mean, really no matter what you do here, you're going to have a pretty bad outfield defense with the way the roster is currently constructed, especially because Jared Kellnick right now looks to be the opening day center fielder, at least for now. But here's the thing.

Julio Rodriguez, as Scott's service has said today, is going to be getting a ton of work in center field this spring. And this has been kind of a consistent thing coming from the Mariners organization over the course of the offseason that Julio Rodriguez is going to play center field for the Mariners at some point in 2022. And you look at the roster right now with Kyle Lewis not slated to make it by opening day, they don't really have a center fielder. Jared Kellnick with the way that his body has developed the muscle that he's added is just not a viable option out there to start. and Sederfield for a significant amount of time. And adding anyone from the outside, whether it be Kevin Kiermeyer or Billy Hamilton or what have you, that's just going to create an eventual outfield logjam.

Not that they shouldn't go do that, but that is going to create a problem that you're going to have to address at some point, probably in May. So, with that said, Julio Rodriguez has only played a handful of, games at the AA level. He hasn't played at the AAA level. Are you concerned about Julio making the jump from AA

with the limited amount of action that he's seen and being the Mariners starting center fielder on opening day? Yeah, I would be concerned about that. It's I think it's a bad idea. Julio, as great as he is,

and I think he's going to be very good eventually. He's only played, what, 45 games above A-ball? That's not a lot. He's also not a true centerfielder. He probably make it work out there for a little bit, but he's not the guy you want out there. So Julio, as your starting centerfielder, is an issue. Not the least of which is you might be doing something detrimental to the player.

It's probably going to be short-term the damage that you do, but still, you know, you want Julio to come up, you want him to hit right away. You want him to feel confident as soon as he possibly can. So just putting them up on the big league roster because you want to or because, you know, you feel like you don't have any options. No. You know what I mean? Just like I would rather you go sign Billy Hamilton knowing you're going to DFA him in a month.

You know what I mean? And just roll with that guy out there in center. Or even if you want to keep things in house. if you don't want to give up assets, right, for Kevin Kiermeyer or take on Kevin Kiermaris' contract, for example, you have Taylor Tremel. Yeah, I don't want to give up on functional either. That's not super ideal, right? But I think you would rather let Tremel go out there who has at least some MLB experience, not good MLB experience, but some MLB experience nevertheless. Let him go out there for a month while Julio gets some action down in Tacoma.

like that's what I would prefer at this point instead of rushing Julio because look we saw what what bringing Kellnick up early did he wasn't good no way around it he just was not good and as much as we

hope and dream that Julio Rodriguez is going to be the next big big thing which I think he will be eventually it's very possible that you bring him up And it's just too early for him. Yeah. And you also got him play in a position that he doesn't naturally play. That is a massive concern to me.

It's just, I just don't want to overwhelm him. And look, the guy is built to be great. Mentally, physically, etc. I get it. If anyone could do it, right? I think Julio Rodriguez could do it. But I don't want to, I don't want to take the chance. Frankly.

I really don't. opening day outfield in AAA Tacoma should be I mean it should be Taylor Tremel left right Kyle Lewis and center Julio Rodriguez right

you want to flip Julio because he's eventually going to be your center field or fine but Julio should start in AAA and so should Tramel and whether or not Lewis should or shouldn't he's going to depotos already said as much which doesn't didn't seem necessary to me

but, you know, it is what it is. So those are your, probably your three best center field options right there, Tremel, Lewis, and Rodriguez, and they all are headed to AAA. They should all head to AAA. And so Kelnick is a 45 grade center fielder at best. And Winker and Hanager are, what, 40 at best? And, you know, you have Frazier, who could play left. And he'd probably be a 50 and left, but that's still not great.

So the Mariners, to me, need to either swallow some money and just go sign, you know, Billy Hamilton or, I mean, it's not a lot of guys out there. Like, go sign Billy Hamilton. Go sign. I don't. Brian Good. Did Tyler Naquin still play center field to see a free agent? I don't think he is. But, yeah, see, that's the thing is.

I don't even really, like, go. I don't even know what else is out there outside of Billy Hamilton. Go trade for, go trade for Bradley Zimmer. Is that his name from Cleveland? Brady's under Bradley. You know, just a 29-year-old who kind of worn out his welcome there, but he's at least fast.

Go sign Albert Almore or Jr. To a minor league deal. He's sitting out there. He's a right-hand of bad. He's a pretty good defender. Go trade for Manny Margo or go, go trade for, you know, Brett Phillips or whatever, man. Just go get somebody who can play center

field for a month. Ideally, he has options left, but at the same time, if you're in a position where all of those guys are hitting, all your outfielders are hitting, and you just simply do not have room for Al Mora or Naquin or whoever, just DFA them and move on. You know what I mean? Just it's, you have to have something better. Could you roll with, with Calnick for, you know, four or five weeks to start? year, I guess.

But, and they're going to have to, for, you know, for an extent. They're going to have to. But having those three guys in the outfield late, late in games, not a good idea. And this is probably why a guy like Dylan Moore makes the team, because he's going to be in the outfield late in games. And honestly, probably Adam Frazier. there's a non-zero chance the Mariners outfield in the ninth inning

of opening day is Adam Fraser and left, Kellnick in center, Dylan Moore and Wright with Toro playing second base. Yeah, and that's the best they can do defensively. Yeah, the outfield defense,

they need somebody. Doesn't have to be anybody good, doesn't have to be anybody good, doesn't have to be anybody long term. they need somebody who can go play defense. And so I like the idea of Albert Outmore Jr. If you don't want to go trade for a guy. But trading for a guy absolutely should be on the table. And then what happens when Julio is ready and maybe Tremel and Lewis,

what happens when they're already? I'll figure it out when I get there. But I can't leave a position as important as center field, just totally unattended and just has to be manned by Jared Kelnick, nine innings a night for the. the first, you know, 35, 40 games of the year. I just, I can't do that. They shouldn't do that.

It kind of feels like where we're heading is, is Louis Terenz is going to have to get traded because he doesn't have a minor league option. And you're going to need the D.H spot at some point when you have all these outfielders up. So unless he can catch to the point where you say, okay, you know, we're going to roll with Terenz and Raleigh. And we're going to do something to about Murphy.

But that creates some issues as well. So really, it's, can you run into the, roll into the season with Murphy and Terence as your catchers and Raleigh and AAA? I just, it's a really complicated, messy situation right now. I would rather do that. Like you said, yeah, quite frankly. Because we're talking about what, what is more likely to happen, right? is Luis Turen's more likely to be a 40-grade catcher or is Dillan Moore more likely to be a 40-grade bat?

I think I know my answer. But you kind of need Dillmore in the outfield. So yeah, you're stuck. Yeah. Well, and Dillamore gives you an element that you don't really have anywhere else on your roster as a defensive replacement as a base runner. Honestly, I don't care about that at all,

just to be honest with you. because the dude is worthless. He's worthless as a hitter. You cannot trust Dylan Moore to get a single out bad. Can't do it. He's bad. He's legitimately bad. You have to believe that the sample size

that says Dylan Moore is a good major leaguer is more valuable than the equivalent sample size that says, for example, Luis Turans is at least a passable catcher. Because that sample size, for those two statements, about the same, about 30 games. So what are we doing?

You know what I mean? just I don't I don't care about in the deep the defense of Dylan more infield defense at least does not matter to me Frazier is a better shortstop anyways I have Toro to play third and second oh by the way Frazier can also do that and if I'm really desperate I can have France go do it I don't need a utility infielder I don't I the the value more brings defensively is just as a replacement in the outfield which yeah not not great out there either I mean he's he's fine He's better than Winker or Hanager, but that's really not saying much. So, yeah, I don't want Dylan Moore, or I don't care of Dylan Moore's on this roster.

I think it will be because the Mariners have to carry at least 13 offensive or position players. And so I would rather have Dylan Moore on this roster than Cal Raleigh. But I would rather have Trenz than both Rale and more. That's where I'm at right now. Yeah, I guess we'll have to see what they do come May. because I think that's really the important part here. It's not opening day. It's especially with Terence or more.

I don't really think that the deadline for that is. No. April 7th. But, you know, my thing is like, could Terence be a part of a package that helps you get a starter? I doubt it. Because if you're in a position where... Not as a third piece?

I don't... Because if you're in a position where you're trading Luis Terence, you're doing it because you have to because it's like when they it's kind of like Daniel Vogelbach right like he doesn't have options teams know you're going to DFA him like they don't have to get he's he's worthless

in a trade package because yeah I'll just wait for me to go on waivers and the team that's going to claim Louis Treyns is probably a team that is going to just use them as their first baseman their DH or or catch him and that's probably a guy who's or a team that's going to have a pretty high waiver claim priority because they're not trying to like if you're if you're Pittsburgh right why on earth would

you not claim louis trends so i just i'm not i'm not risking that um and if i get into may and i'm in a situation where oh my god louis looks great and and julio's clearly ready to go and kellnicks continuing to hit and winker and hanniger are both healthy then i'll discuss okay well i got to do what i got to do oh by the way that would include cow raleigh also being pretty good in triple a and that would include Terence continuing to look awful behind the plate, then I'll do what I got to do. But I am not just tossing aside Luis Terence for the sake of Dylan Moore or Cal Raleigh. Not yet.

All right. So we got to move on here. And we're going to be talking about a couple of players who we've spent a lot of time on this show, talking about who have now landed elsewhere and talk about their deals. And if we would have executed them with, if we were the Mariners. But real quick, this episode of Lockdown Mariners is also brought to you

by Rock Auto with the ever increasing numbers of makes and models. It's now impossible for your local chain auto parts store to stock all the parts you need. Wyand are often pointless or seemingly intimidating questioning like is your Odyssey an LX or an X and wait while the person behind the counter

orders the parts on their computer, choose on the only brand their warehouse happens to carry. You have computers with access to Rock Auto.com at home. and in your pocket. So why choose to spend 30%? 50% even 100% more for the same parts from a chain store or car dealership. For example, a Honda Odyssey fuel pump is $353 from a chain store, whereas with Rock Auto, it's only $216. Plus, Rock Auto is a family business serving do-it-yourselfers for over 20 years and their prices are reliably low for every customer. So go to rockato.com right now and see all the parts available for your car or truck.

right locked on in there how did you hear about a spock so they know we sent you amazing selection reliably low prices all the parts your car will ever need rockato dot com so this morning i woke up to a trio of deals around major league baseball i guess they happen overnight or in the wee hours of the morning call schwarber heading to the fillies and then say a Suzuki who has been a big top of a topic of conversation for us here on lockdown Mariners for the Mariners, ends up going to the Cubs after reports linked him to the Padres for a long time. Five years, $85 million for Suzuki, who has not played a single game at the major league level. And then Matt Chapman, third baseman from the Oakland A's, has been traded to the Toronto Blue Jays for right-handed pitching prospect, Gunner Hoagland, and two other minor.

leaguers. So Colby, the last two deals in particular, Suzuki and Chapman, those two guys, we have talked about ad nauseum for the Mariners over the last few months. What do you think about their deals, the one trade and the one signing? And from the Mariners perspective, are you glad the Mariners didn't do either? Or would you have done one and not the other? Would you have done both? What's up? No, I'm out on both. I'm not saying that Suzuki's not going to going to be worth the money, but that is a pretty big risk for a guy who's never played a game in Major League Baseball. I think he'll be fine. I think ultimately that'll be a nice deal for the Cubs, but it's still a risk. You know, and the Cubs are in kind of that weird area where it's like,

they're not rebuilding, but they're also not like super serious contenders right now. So they can kind of take that risk on Suzuki because if he's good, maybe they can tend a little earlier than they thought if he's bad, it's not like it cost you a playoff spot or anything like that. Mariners really just aren't in that spot. So that is, that's, you know, it just, it's, it's, it's not something that I would, I, I would be all that interested in. It's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's a hefty amount of money. That's what, $17 million a year? That's a lot.

Good chunk of change. Yeah. And I know that, obviously, you know, money is the only thing that. matters when building the baseball team. But I just, that's, that's a pretty sizable risk. But anyways, and as for Matt Chapman, I didn't want him anyways. I don't think Oakland, or I don't think, I don't think Oakland did too bad here. I think it's a lot lower than people thought, but I also think that Matt Chapman is declining. I don't think this is an aberration. I think he's declining. Just not that good. He's just, not that good. He's,

Still a good player. Still a valuable player. But I think he's going to continue to get worse. And they got something, they got some useful arms. Oakland did. So I, I don't,

like if the Mariners had made an equivalent trade for Matt Chapman, I would have been fine with it. Like, it's, it's a, I like Gunner Hoagland. So that's probably Emerson Hancock,

roughly. Eh, not really loving that. But we have, we have heard, murmurs that, you know, if Oakland's going to trade in division, they're literally charging a tax basically to charge these guys in division. And so if that's true and based on, you know, there are first couple of trades, kind of looks that way. Then the Mariners would have had to do

even better than that. And that's just no go. I don't even feel good about giving up Hancock for Chapman. So no, I'm not going to give up more than that for a player I didn't want to begin with. Now, you were higher on Chapman than I was. So you, you probably well maybe you feel differently but yeah i was never all that interested in him so yeah i'm fine with it i'm i'm cool with what the mariners ended up doing you know going with with winker and getting someone with some upside like swara's someone who could bounce back potentially i mean because like look if swara's bounces back i think he could you know be pretty close to chapman's offensive numbers of the past year at least

like if not better and yeah you know there's you know Chapman is obviously one of the better defensive third baseman in baseball so you know that's a little bit of a decline there but um or a downgrade there from from him to Suarez but still I like what they did and um yeah you know giving up what it probably would have taken to get Chapman from the A's especially if there is a an AL West tax more or less I'm good. I'm good, I think. Yeah, I look, I do think that Chapman is a little bit better than you're giving him credit for, but I do agree that there are signs of a decline.

There's some concerns about him from a physical standpoint. And yeah, that risk is something that you have to assume. So I'm, like I said, I'm good with what the Mariners ended up doing here. I think it's a good addition for the for the Blue Jays, though. And as for the Cubs and Suzuki, it's, you know, we'll see. But, you know, the Cubs, they don't seem to be necessarily rebuilding, more like retooling. You know, they got Stroman, they got Suzuki, they've been in on Correa. They got Wade Miley.

What else? Yon Gomes. Oh, yeah, young gomes. Yeah. And they still have Contreras, which is weird. Clint Frazier. Oh, yeah, they got Clint Frazier. Yeah.

That's a good little offseason for the Cubs. Yeah. So, yeah, we'll see how that, how that goes. So real quick, before we hop off here, when we were doing our offseason plan for the Mariners, you threw in some minor league signings, and one of them was catcher chance Cisco. Well, as it so happens, the Mariners today announced that they have signed Chance Cisco to a minor league deal. Former Orioles catcher. Tell me about them.

I was right. What more do you need to know? No, but Chance Sisko, former Top 100 prospect. He is a catcher. Kind of rose to prospect fame, if you want to call it that, with Baltimore. It's left-handed. There's some CTZ-like production from him out of AAA. Just never really translated to the big leagues.

Granted, it's not like he has had a ton of time in the big leagues. about about a full season's worth of scattered at bats. But yeah, he's pretty good defensive catcher, probably about fringe average. He, again, is a minor league performer. Not a ton of power. He's basically, you know, basically if you want a comp,

he's Mr. 20,000. He's Jose Godoy. Pretty much the same guy. And yeah, you know, minor league deal. We'll see if he gets, you know, we'll see if he gets something figured out. He's bigger, bigger catcher, 6-3, 2-10, a pretty good athlete. There's definitely some tools here. And I can see why Seattle would, you know, would gravitate towards that,

especially when you look at the state of their catcher position as is. And we know Jerry loves the former top prospects. So, yeah, it makes a ton of sense. Like I said, I wouldn't expect too much. but there is at least some average and on-base skills. There's some decent pull power. He's a French average defender, not much of an arm, but he's a good guy to have around in AAA.

It's Steven Souza Jr., right? Just a guy with some major league seasoning to stash in AAA in case something goes terribly wrong. And he's only 27. So still some time. I like the signing. Also some Mariners related news. Dan Altavilla.

Former Mariners reliever signed a two-year minor league deal with the Red Sox today. Zach Granky. Zach Rankie is signed with Kansas City back where it all started.

Oh, wow. Got $13 million. So they traded Mike Miner for Amir Garrett today, which another weird deal from the raise. Just had to clear that a E. E. E.

E. E. E. E. Hennio-Swarres contract, so you could pay for Mike Minor, I guess. And then they said today they're not going to trade Malley and Castillo. Yeah. Not sure what's going on there. Not sure what's going on in Colorado.

I'm confused by what some teams are doing out of the lockout. But yeah. And the Royals, a little weird. But hey, cool. You know, homecoming for Zach Branky. That's neat. And they have a decent roster. So maybe they'll be able to do a little something this year,

not playoffs or anything like that, but they might be, you know, a little bit better than we maybe think. So yeah, all right, that's going to do it for our show today. Thank you so much for joining us here on Locked-on Mariners for Colby Pat Note on T-D-D-A-D-N-G-A-N-G-N-L-E. You can also find us a follow me at D-A-N-E-G-N-Z-L-Z and Colby at C-E-P-A-E-E-P-A-T-1-1. You can also find all that stuff in the description of this episode, wherever you listen to it. And thank you again for making us your first listen of the day, just like you do here every day. Now, make your second listen of the day, locked on MLB, where Paul Francis Sullivan, and please call him Sully, brings you his unique perspective on the major leagues president pass. It's free wherever you get your

podcast just like us. So have yourself a beautiful baseball day, and we will see you on Friday. Peace.