Locked On Mariners - Daily Podcast On the Seattle Mariners - Top 5 FALLBACK OPTIONS If the Seattle Mariners Don't Bring Jorge Polanco Back | Top 5 Tuesday

Episode Date: November 25, 2025

It's Top 5 Tuesday! Ty lists the five players he'd most want to see the Seattle Mariners target if they fail to bring back Jorge Polanco, while Colby lists the five biggest "snubs" from the Mariners' team Hall of Fame.Check out our Patreon!Follow the show on Twitter: @LO_Mariners | @TyDaneGonzalez | @CPat11Follow the show on Bluesky: @lockedonmariners | @tdg | @mlbcolbySupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!PrizePicksDownload the PrizePicks app today and use code LOCKEDONMLB to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup.PrizePicks — Run Your Game.Click Link Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONMLBGametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONMLB for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FanDuelToday's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. The NBA and NFL seasons are here, visit the FanDuel App today and start planning your futures bets now.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

If the Mariners don't bring back Jorge Polanco, these are the five players I think they should turn their attention to. Colby, hit it. You are Locked-on Mariners, your daily Seattle Mariners podcast, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Ahoy, Sailors, and it's Tuesday, November 25th, 2025, you're listening to the Lockdown Marers podcast, part of the Locked-on Podcasts. part of the locked on podcast network now the number one sports podcast network my name is titing azales and i'm joined as always by my co's colby patnode we're two lifelong merrists fans who've been covering the team for over half a decade and we're also idiots because once again we uh we forgot to spend the wheel for top five tuesday but uh we spent it off air last night and uh here's what

we got for me i'll be doing the top five fallback options for the mares if they don't bring back horay polanco and for colby he'll be doing the top five snubs for the mayor's team hall of fame far before we get into it i want to shout out our title sponsor today game time download the game time app create an account and use the promo code locked on MLB that's LOC ked o n MLB for $20 off your first purchase all right so a couple things here before we get into my list the top five fallback options of the mayor's don't bring back Jorge Polanco which i don't know it seems like a lot of people are just kind of assuming that they are going to bring back Corey Polanco, kind of got that vibe from Ryan DeVish when we talked to him last week

that he's just kind of assuming that's going to happen. But there's also been reports that Polo might, you know, be willing to wait out the market a little bit here, see what happens in like Toronto, for example, if they lose out on Bobachette, you know, if he goes elsewhere, maybe they turn their attention to Polo. I'm sure there will be plenty of teams that are in on Polo after the year that he just had. But maybe he also just wants to stay where he's most comfortable, which seems to be Seattle right now. So we'll see on that. But if they don't bring back Corey Polanco, it does seem like the most important thing here for the Marys is just getting a bat that they can put

somewhere in the middle or the top of their lineup. The position aspect of it seems kind of secondary to that, even though that they have said on numerous occasions, we want to bring in a second basement or third baseman. So just saying that real quick here, because there are a couple of guys on my list that don't play second base or third base, because again, it just, it seems like the bat is the priority ultimately, and they can make that work. They can make a full-time DH work because they can just have Dom Kanzone and Invictor Robles platoon out in right field right now.

And obviously, if they brought back Corey Polanco, that's what he would be primarily doing, right he would be the primary dh he wouldn't be playing a second base because they want to try and give cole young some runway here uh to to take that job and and run with it so and also options in general are just limited by the way if they lose out on hori polanco things get kind of tight here uh so let's talk about some of the guys that are not on the list uh kutel martay let's start there uh he's not on this list because he shouldn't be viewed as a fallback option if he don't land horri polanco hori polanco should be the fallback option if you don't get katel martin we're Marte. Now, are the Mariners even going to try to get Catel Marte? I have doubts. I've aired those doubts on the show because of the whole contract situation. I just don't think that the marries are going to be willing to add a five-year contract of a player who's already 32, even though it's very reasonable for the player that Catel Marte has been. But yeah, I've talked to your ear off about that over the last week or so every time that we've talked about Ctele Marte. C.J. Abrams is also on this list.

like we talked about or like he's not on this list rather like we talked about um during the n l east trade preview series like at the plate specifically there really isn't anything that abrams does particularly well and when he does get on base he stills bags that's probably his best tool that he has but he's also a terrible defender if they traded for him fine depending on the costs like fine but i just i'm not a huge fan frankly he's a 7-8-9 hitter yeah that's the other thing too right yeah yeah so that's the other thing

this doesn't really like Abrams doesn't really work for this particular exercise either um munutaka Murakami now how much money is Murakami actually going to get because everyone has the same concerns about him it seems like there's been so many articles from national writers talking about the whole catching up to velocity issues and all that

So we get as much. But all the projections still have him getting like seven and one 60. And it's like that's a non-starter. Yeah, no. So if it does get to that range, absolutely not. And even if it's like half of that, absolutely not still. There's like 10 million bucks for, you know, three or four years. Fine.

It's a lottery ticket fine. But like, yeah. Yeah. So, yeah, we'll see if he actually makes that kind of money. But in general, I'm just, I'm good. on Murakami. There's just too many question marks there and he is literally only a DH which

again like we'll talk about later on this list can be fine but just all the question marks that Marikami comes with on I'm out. Cosma Akamoto the other big name Japanese player position player

that's coming over this winter. I like him. It's just how long is it going to take for him to get adjusted to major league life and seeing great pitcher after great pitcher after great pitcher after great pitcher after great pitcher over here um i think he eventually will get comfortable it's just is that going to happen right out of the gate or is it going to take him a year or two and if it's going to take him a year or two i'm not willing

to wait i need production now so while i like the player i think uh the the the the reward can be pretty high there with Acomoto. I just, I can't afford to potentially have to wait on my return on investment. So, so I'm out on him. Jeff McNeil apparently is expendable now in New York after they acquired Marcus Simeon, at least that's the word from people that cover the Mets. So it's possible that they're looking to trade him now, even though, like, I mean, he could just be a utility guy for them he's played multiple other spots i know there isn't like a clear

starting spot for him but he could definitely be part of that roster but i assume part of the reason that they would look to trade him is like are you going to play or are you are you wanting to pay a utility guy 15.75 million dollars a year probably not even for a met's team that spends more money than god on their baseball team um but that's kind of the issue here with the mirrors right like he's making $15.75 million. He's got a club option in 2027 that comes with a $2 million buyout. So it's basically $18 million for a guy who's solid, solid player. And we know that the merits have had interest in him in the past.

They tried to get him along with Jared Kellnick and Justin Dunn back in the, you know, the Robinson Canoe Edwin-Dia's trade all those years ago. They weren't able to do that. And McNeil has turned into a really solid player with a couple of big years in a Mets uniform but there's also like some character concerns how much of a fit is he for the clubhouse we know that's very important to the Mariners so yeah

Jeff McNeil not on the list either and then finally last guy off the list is I hate to do this but it's Gino Suarez it's just look I love Gino a ton he was just so bad at T-Mobile Park after the trade he hit 11-192-287

in 120 plate appearance and he's going to get paid he's going to get paid he's going to get paid this winner i think because like third base sucks in general major league baseball and naturally as a result of that the the free agent market for third baseman and just the trademark just the market in general for third baseman sucks so after alex preggman goes after he signs all eyes are going to be on gino so i still think he's going to get to maybe even three-year deal worth a pretty nice penny i'm just not willing to pay that considering how bad it looked at team of will park specifically love the guy forever a mariner's legend but i just don't

think that would be a wise use of of limited money that the front office has i think they could add a couple players for maybe the the money that it would cost to get gino and they would ultimately be better in the end it's just such a such a huge risk i know they love him i know the clubhouse loves him but i just yeah i don't think that would age well so uh i got time here to do one of my top five guys uh before we go into the next segments um so let's do number five here jay kronomworth uh favorite of ours coli uh so this should come as as no surprise that he's on this list uh we've loved Jake Croningworth since before he even got shipped over to San Diego from Tampa Bay when he was kind of on, you know, the chopping block there.

Yeah, he was in our off-season plan. Because of me. I discovered him. Sure. Jay Cronerworth has been just such a solid, solid player for his entire career. The issue here, it's a similar thing like Cite, right, where it's five years. Are the Mariners going to be willing to sign up to add a contract of a guy that you're going to have to pay into his late 30s? Same thing as Catel Marte.

Now, obviously, Marte is making, I think, $103 million over his final five years of his contract, whereas for Corona Worth, it's about $61 million. So there's a pretty big difference there, but Marte is also significantly better than Corona Wars. So if we're going to air those concerns about, like, are the Mariners actually going to be willing to take on that contract with someone like Katel Marte, we should absolutely air those concerns. with someone like Jake Cronoworth, which is why I think Cronerworth probably not even going to land on the mayor's radar, even though I think he should, especially because options are going to be limited. If they don't bring back Corey Polanco,

they might just have to get uncomfortable and do something like this. And look, Cronworth, like, I think that contract should age fine. He's been, you know, about a two to three win player pretty much every single year outside of 2023. That kind of looks like the outlier. He can play multiple spots in the infield pretty well.

Primarily would be your second baseman. And he splitsperf. Yeah, one thing to keep in mind with Cronomworth, if you're looking at the war and you're not that impressed, the war's been nerfed a little bit because he's been stuck at first base where it's really hard to gain defensive value. Cronin Worse is a really good athlete.

Probably not. know, the above average to plus second basement he could have been, but obviously the Padres have had a lot of expensive infielders over the years, and they've kind of pushed Corona Worth into a corner at first base, where his defensive prowess has not really been allowed to garner much value in war formulations. It's just the way war works, first base defense isn't really properly accounted for, and so first baseman typically have lower wars than they otherwise would if they you know did have a good uh way to to judge first base defense i mean remember back in the day like evan white was like a negative defensive player

according to fangrass war just we know he's not that's that's insane so just keep that of mind uh yeah yeah chrono words good solid player i don't think he's an all-star or anything but he's a really good player yeah he is um you know and he's he's less of a middle of the order bat more of a top of the order bat like he would probably be your new leadoff hitter if the mayor has acquired him with his on base skills uh his ability to put the the ball in play uh you know with uh frequency um which and again andy down to the five spot so there's so so so yeah randy becomes your middle of the order bat or julio becomes your middle of the order bet whatever right yeah um yeah really like cronandworth it's just again

are they going to be willing to take on five guaranteed years of a guy making over 10 million into his late 30s probably not so all right we will get into my top four fallback options of the mayor's miss out on hori polanco in just a moment but first a reminder this episode of the locked on marries podcast is brought to you by fanduel the NBA is back and there's no better place to get in on the action than fan duel the official sports betting partner of the NBA even if you miss the start of the game or want to ride the hot hand fan duel has live bets on everything from who will score next to fourth quarter comebacks. Plus, you can even combine your live bets into a same game parlay for a shot

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was Jake Cronoworth. Now coming in at number four is one of those guys that I was heading towards earlier, not a guy that can play second base or third base. It's Alec Berluson of the St. Louis Cardinals. I'd put Burleson

higher on this list if he had done it for more than one year, but he's really only done it for this past season. I mean, In 2024, he was a 106 WRC plus bat, which is fine. But this year, he was basically Josh Naylor. It was 290, 343, 459, 124 WRC plus, more doubles pop than Homer's pop. He was a 2.1 F4 player.

You know, he only struck out 14.5% of the time, walked 7.1% of the time. Really good hitter. Now, he probably should only DH. If you have to, he can fake it in right field, but you really don't want to do that. Dom can't sell level faking. Yeah. So, you know, he's really just a DH,

which is fine. That can work. Because, again, Jorge Polanco would primarily DH if you brought him back. So you can absolutely make this work with Burleson. It's just he doesn't give you any flexibility outside of that. But again, like, there's the shot here that you could potentially have two Josh Naylor's in your lineup if Alec Burleson does at least close to what he did this year. But again, because he's only done it for one year, that's why he's only number four on this list. Coming in at number three is another guy that we have talked about for so long, for so many years.

And if it was going to happen, it probably would have already happened by now. but who cares. I'm putting him on the list anyway. Brandon Lowe of the Tampa Bay raise. He's in the last year of his deal. The raise exercised his $11.5 million option for 2026. And I don't think they have much interest in keeping him around. We'll see. Maybe he starts the year in Tampa, but overall, I would think that if the raise get a decent enough offer,

they're going to be willing to move off from him. So obviously, there's a ton of red flags here with Lowe. Just so many injuries, you know, this, this past year, you actually played 134 games. But before that, 107, 109, 65, you know, 2021, he played 149. But, yeah. As we know, Jorge Polanco, beacon of health. Exactly. So it's a very similar idea to specifically Jorge Polanco entering last season.

right um and despite you know some of the time missed like lao has found ways to produce like again in the years where he's missed a ton of time or he's missed at least considerable amount of time like in 20203 when he only played in 109 games he still put up a 116 wRC plus in the year that he only played 107 games he put up a 123 wrc plus there's here 114c plus 256, 307, 477, 1.7F4. He hit 31 bombs in 134 games this year, primarily playing second base, which, like, that's kind of the big thing, right? 31 bombs from the second base position. Like, if you're going to play Ben Williamson at third base to start the year, you know, you're not going to get any power from third base, which is typically, you know, a place where you need a lot of power output.

Well, you're making up for it and then some over at second base with Brandon Lowe, right? Right. And like, yeah, the on-based percentage very low. He strikes out a ton. But if you're interested in bringing back A. Uh-Uhenio-Souras, you should be interested in Brandon Lowe because AUHenio-Souras got on base at a sub-300 clip this past year. So, yeah. It's not the guy that you're paying to, to, you know, take walks. It's the guy you're paying to do damage hit the ball out of the ballpark.

Yeah, this is going into a lineup with enough on-base percentage. you can have a guy like this in the middle of it and be fine. Yeah. This is like the middle of the order bat here when we're doing this exercise. So yeah, the other thing too is like he's basically been unplayable against lefties. I mean, his splits are kind of like all over the place. But for the most part, his numbers for like three of the last four years have been just straight up on playable against lefties. He also hasn't gotten a ton of, you know, playing time against them in general.

I think what makes him attractive is that. he is a rental he does have injuries in the past and he is a bit of a platoon player he had all those up he's also i mean i know his defensive metrics have kind of gone up and down at second base but he's not great out there uh he probably should be a dh and this will all combine to make brandon low pretty cheap uh you don't think you're giving away a top one hundred prospect to get this guy so yeah probably more of a both deal and maybe you know it's it's a tie pete and uh you know i just it's a tie p if you do give up a top 100 guy it's going to be one of your lower lower end ones uh so yeah i i think to me this this is a really good target because

he's going to be cheap and he does fit the ballpark pretty well and he does fit the lineup pretty well and he does not block cole young because if cole young wins that job at second base i have a dh yeah exactly exactly uh so coming in number two this one also should not be a surprise it's brendonan donovan who was in our offseason plan uh same idea here as as cronanworth where this is more you know a lead off hitter who's going to push either randy or julio into being your you know your middle of the order bet um so yeah um you know you know the deal with brendan donovan if you've been watching the show 287 35 or 353 422 this year 119 w rc plus so you can play second and you can play third you can play some corner outfield

in our off-season plan. We put him at last year and the year before that. Yeah, he's just been so consistent. I mean, he's missed some time. Like in 2023, he only played 95 games. This year, he only played 118 games. So it was a little bit of a, you know, like injury stuff there. But in general, like Donovan's just been so, so consistent.

Again, he's a fantastic defender. He can play multiple spots. He hasn't played a ton of third base, but I think he could do it just fine. Again, we put him there in our office. off-season plan. He's been fine-ish against lefties. So that's like something that should at least be noted here. But he doesn't strike out.

He takes a fair amount of walks. Like he's just, he's a really, really good player. So yeah. Love the Brennan Donovan idea. Again, obviously we do.

We had him as like one of our biggest additions in our off-season plan. So yeah. then lastly coming in a number one and this was really why I wanted to make the distinction earlier on about hey not all these guys are capable of playing second base or third base and that is absolutely fine yaddi diaz because who cares he hit 300 and posted almost a 140 w rc plus last year it was a 135 wrc plus he slash 300 366 482 that is by the way after starting the year off very slow like he still got his numbers to that he was a three-win player last year as a primary dh yeah yeah uh 25 home runs which actually that hasn't been a huge calling card

for him that was a career high for him yeah he's doubles guy yeah he's doubles over over homers but he get 25 bombs. The only other time that he hit 20 plus and the season was 20-23 when he hit 22. But 20-24, he only had 14, 2021, he had 13. So, yeah, it doesn't hit a ton of home runs. So maybe maybe a little bit of an outlier and also maybe assisted by hitting in George Steinbrenner field for half of the season. He's not too dissimilar from Josh Naylor.

It's just like he's a little more to the extreme of Josh Naylor where he's going to hit for a little bit more average. he's going to have a little bit more on base he's going to have a little bit less power yeah so he's kind of the extremes of uh nailer but he's he's really good well and again like like i said with alec brillison would you like to have a second josh nailer in your lineup i would personally so yeah um's already too yeah so you know obviously there's like the potential randy yondy beef that's been speculated on the last couple years again like i said you know a couple years ago or you know a year and a half ago when they when they acquired randy and they were still

looking at yondi and there was all that talk figure it out your professional baseball players figure it out i just need you to figure it out for a year also they coexisted for two years after the incident or whatever it was just fine also things are a bit different now i mean more time has passed in general time heals all wounds blah blah blah blah blah blah blah but also like randy is now settled in whereas you know back when we're having those conversations he wasn't you know he was he was going to visit the race and their clubhouse and all that stuff like now he's he's settled in he's become part of the core in seattle he is the newcomer coming in and having to earn the respect of the teammate not randy and yeah and again it's only for one year it is for one year they've co

coexisted even if this problem is a real thing they've coexisted just fine in the past they can do it again for a year and oh by the way this is a team that wants to win the world series that people believe can win the world series. I think they're going to, you know, squash whatever beef they might still have and just let it go for a hot minute. And, you know, Yandhi is an incredible player. And oh, by the way, we know the Mariners have tried to trade for him twice.

So they tried to trade for him at the deadline where they got Randy. And they also tried to trade for him last winter. So this is a player. And again, Tampa Bay, there's no reason to hold on to Diaz. None. They're not going to extend him to qualifying offer if that's even a thing in the new CBA and they're not they have a Ronda at first base they have young players they want to play and Yandi is 34 35 years old there's no reason for they're not the Rays are at best the fourth team in that division like they are there's no reason for them to hold on to Brandon Lough or Yandi Diaz and I would pay more for Yondi than I would

for Lowe. But, you know, again, I think if it cost you a top 100 guy, it's like a fringe top 100 guy, like maybe a Felman-Seliston at most. Yeah. But we'll see. So, yeah, so Tampa Bay picked up his 2026 club option. Apparently they added a conditional club option for 27. It's part of an extension. So he has a 2027 club option. There's no buyout. It's for 10 million bucks. It vests to $13 million with 500 plate appearances in 2026. So.

Yeah. So unless he gets hurt. Yeah. You get him for two years. Which fine. Yeah. So. Yeah. So that would be great. Yeah. If you were able to get Yandi for two years

at that cost for the protection that he puts forth, like that would be insane. So yeah, love Yandi Diaz. And the cool thing about this as well, he could be your middle of the order bet he could also be your lead off hitter if you want him to yeah not gonna steal not gonna steal bags but no no but but he get i mean he got on base out a 366 clip this year his career on base percentage is 372 yeah so yeah 360 366 was below his career norms yes you just made up for it by setting a career high in home

runs yeah so did you really good hitter he's very good so there you go that's the that's the list top five fallback options of the mares fail to get poor hey polanco back into the fold coming in a number five jac chronomworth number four alec burleson number three brandon low number two brennan donovan and number one yondi diaz and you're listening to the locked on mirrors podcast part of the lockdown podcast network your team every day as always if you want to hear from me and colby even more and help support the show we have a patreon it's called control the zone and on there we talk merr's seahawks all that good stuff for more information go to patreon.com forward slash control the zone link in the description of this episode so

my portion of top five tuesday is in the rear view mirror now it's colby's turn with the top five merrers hall of fame snubs so top five people who should be in the mayor's hall of fame who aren't yet who've gotten snubbed so far I described it more so to you as like the top five people who need to be a I didn't really know the best way to describe it snub's just fine I understand yeah is um so like like are they have they actually been snubbed though right because like there are because so that's why I worded it that way Kyle Seeger was on my list when I log in today to record this episode and I see snubs up there. I'm like, wait a minute. Well, Seeger, it makes sense that he's not in yet because

A, he retired in 2021 or he last played a Mariners game in 2021. And there's just been, there's Echero weekend, there's been Randy Johnson. Like the Mariners don't like to double book these things. They like to give the player like their year or whatever. And then they kind of do it that way. So Seeger not being in, he's not a snub. It just, he needs to go in at some point. So I'll replace him. and I'll just mention him. Other players who also kind of fall into this, like you just got to give it a little bit of time and I think they'll eventually be put in.

I hope at least, Mitch Hanager, and I hope Robinson Canoe also, you know, end up in the Mariners Hall of Fame. And then for other honorable mentions who, I mean, very close to being on this list. You could make an argument that they should be on this actual list, but Rauli Bonyas, dude played 11 years here and was pretty darn good for the Mariners.

I get it not consecutively, but I mean, how many players have played for the Mariners for 10 years and are not in the team Hall of Fame? Raoul might be the only one. That's a good question. That's a really good question. And also,

Freddie Garcia, I think, deserves some real consideration here, as well as, as well as Kazahiro Sasaki and Jeff Nelson. Just obviously relievers, it's tough for them to, because they just don't play that much.

It's tough for them to crack the code and whatnot. But anyway, so there's the honorable mentions. I'll go with Seeger, Freddie Garcia, Robinson Cano, Raulipanias, and Mitch Hanager. Some of those guys, I think, will get in eventually. But, yeah, so anyways, coming in at number five, we have a guy we talked about a lot. Mike Cameron absolutely deserves to be a Mariner Hall of Famer, not only for what he did on the field, but who he came in and replaced. He filled the shoes of Ken Griffey Jr. and didn't miss a beat.

Mike Cameron was an elite center fielder. He had incredible years for Seattle. The only reason he didn't play the five years, which is a BS, you know, just arbitrary time, you know, arbitrary restraint is because the Mariners non-tendered him in the last year of his of arbitration, which was a mistake, by the way. So Mike Cameron absolutely deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. He's the second best centerfielder in franchise history. Well, Julio might have passed him already, but.

Yeah, I think a will he passed them. Yeah. So third best. But keep in mind, the mayors have had some centerfielders, man. Like, it's not just Griffey and Julio. It's Cameron. It's Franklin Gutierrez, each year old for a couple years, like Dave Henderson. Like, they've had some dudes who could play center field.

So let's not overlook that position. Mike Cameron absolutely deserves to be in the team Hall of Fame. It's a, it's a travesty that he's not. And now, you know, he's around the team pretty often and all that. and he's still an important part of the franchise. Like, it's absurd that Mike Cameron is not in the team Hall of Fame. Agreed. Coming in at number four, this one, I honestly am shocked that he's not.

Mark Langston needs to be in the Team Hall of Fame. Arguably the second best left-handed pitcher in franchise history, which says a lot when the number one guy is Randy freaking Johnson. So Mark Langston, the 1970s in the 1970s in the 1970s and the 1970s, 1980s mariners are woefully underrepresented when it comes to like the celebration of team history, which I get. Those were bad teams. I understand, but pretty much the Mariners kind of act like like, like Alvin Davis was the only thing that happened pre 95.

Like that was it. And that's just not the case. Mark Lingson was an excellent pitcher. Eric Hansen was an excellent pitcher. Anything pre 95, honestly, is woefully underrepresented in the team's Hall of Fame and in the teams like history books. and Mark Langston was, you know, the best pitcher in Mariner's history until Randy Johnson came along. And it wasn't particularly close. So Mark Langston deserves to be in the fact that he's been retired now for 30 years and he's still not in the team's Hall of Fame.

That's absurd. Yeah. Isn't he on the Angels broadcast or was on the Angels broadcast? He was. Yes. I don't know if he still is. But, yeah. Yeah.

So, like, you know, they're coming to town at some point. It's really easy to do this. Let's get it done. Coming in at number three, it's another guy who technically isn't eligible because of the Mariners' own stupid arbitrary rules, which just change the rules. They're your rules. You can change them. Or just make exceptions for certain guys. Yeah, like Nelson Cruz.

Okay. Well, again, again on Nelly, though, because he did sign that one day contract. I know, but that doesn't count. He wasn't on the roster. that's how does it well i want i want to i want to find out like if kevin martinez is watching this episode probably not but like kevin martinez or someone from the meres is watching this please like dm me or something and just let me know does that count as a fifth year for nelson cruz signing that one-day contract it should it should because you know what this is a silly

thing it's the team hall of fame it's not really that big of a deal like just get good players in there who cares uh and nelson cruise is the second best D.H. in franchise history, which is a big deal considering the first guys, Edgar Freakin Martinez, literal Hall of Famer. So, like, this is absurd. Not only was Nelson Cruz a phenomenal player for you for four straight years. He is a world-class dude. He, you know, ingratiated himself into this community so quickly. He's loved by everybody related to the organization. Like, Nelson Cruz is a Mariner Hall of Famer. the Hall of Fame shouldn't exist.

Like, it's absurd that this guy's not in yet. And it's absurd that, you know, really the only reason that he wouldn't be in is because, oh, well, he didn't play five years. Like, who cares? Who cares? Like, he's a Mariner Hall of Famer. He is, again, one of the most important. He's one of the best hitters, arguably the third best right-handed hitter in all of baseball.

And again, when you compare that to the guys who are ahead of him, that says a lot. about who Nelson Cruz is and that's not again and again that's not counting the contributions he made off the field and how he endeared himself to this community in such a short amount of time Nelson Cruz is a Mariner Hall of Famer and if you disagree you're wrong that's just the way you're wrong you're objectively wrong yeah yeah and that's the nicest thing I can say about that so yeah enjoy your wrongness number two easily the most debatable but again if you disagree with me you're wrong. Alex Rodriguez should be a Herr Hall of Famer. He should.

Alex Rodriguez is arguably the greatest baseball player to ever wear the Seattle Mariners uniform. It can be debated. But because you, the person listening to this, you were gaslit into thinking that, oh, he was a greedy, selfish 27-year-old who took $250 million instead of taking our totally legitimate $70 million. over four-year contract offer. Like, you've been brainwashed by the cheap Mariners ownership who was like, oh, well, we can't possibly play the greatest player ever before Barry Bonds did his thing. Like, we can't possibly pay that guy $25 million a year. But that's his fault.

He was greedy. He took the money and ran. Like, he took 170 million more dollars, you cheap. I can't say that word. So, yeah, it is self-censor. it is absurd that mariner fans have allowed this and i sports hate is fun like they're on the money the monopoly money in there fine whatever it's time to let by rod and all that it's sure it's fine yeah but it's time to let bygones be bygones this guy was an incredible player for you for seven years

he was he's won a batting title he was an MVP candidate for six years he was a all star you know gold glove caliber shortstop he's a hall of famer even though he's not you know blah blah blah like yeah there's obviously like there's the steroid aspect of all of this which didn't happen in Seattle and by the way nobody cares about the steroid bus when it

comes to Nelson Cruz do they which also didn't happen with the Mariners let's have some consistency here okay it is absurd absurd that people are just not like Alex Rodriguez absolutely team hall of favor absolutely he is without out it is a it again it people like to talk about like oh you can't put everybody in the hall

of fame it'll diminish its value well a it's a team hall of fame who cares if the values diminish it's not a real thing but also b it diminishes it more when the greatest player to ever wear your uniform is not in it like here's here's what i would say about this right when lebron left cleveland for miami right and people were burning his jersey and uh the owner put out that letter you know trashing him that stuff even if lebron never came back to cleveland and didn't win that championship and all that do you really think that you know at this point or you know five 10 years down the road you know once lebron finally uh retires and all that that cleveland would never retire his number that they would never honor lebron james like come on now obviously like lebron doesn't have you know

a steroid scandal type of thing or anything like that there's other stuff with a rod you know it's not the perfect comparison but still you get what I'm saying right that like the guy left the team that he developed within that he made his identity with fans were upset the team itself was upset they would still honor him like he's a free agent he doesn't owe you loyalty he doesn't like that that's not his job and by we're not even talking about retiring the guy's number which you should also do while we're at it. We're talking about putting him in a team Hall of Fame and giving him a little plaque

that's tucked behind a concession stand behind home plate. Like, what are we doing? Alex Rodriguez is arguably the best player in a franchise that includes Randy Johnson, Ken Griffey Jr., Edgar Martinez, Ichiro, now Julio, now Cal.

And he is better than all of them. He had better Mariners careers than all of them. And then he left because the Mariners' ownership was too cheap to give the guy the money that he deserved. And then even if it was, even if it was just like, oh, we just can't do $250. like $250 million, we just can't do that for anybody. Then you say, I'm sorry. Then you just say to your fan base, like, we just weren't willing to do.

You don't then try and villainize the 28-year-old who's making life-changing money to go sign somewhere else because you are too cheap to give him that contract. By the way, Mariners' ownership at the time, they did this with Randy Johnson, too. It's why it's taking them so long. for Randy and the Mariners to kind of mend fences is because the Mariners' ownership tried to gaslight fans into St. and the rest of baseball, by the way,

that Randy Johnson has a bad back. It's never going to get better. He's done. His career's over. So they traded him. They said, oh, you didn't want to sign here. He was the bad guy.

And then you just went on to win like five more Sy Young Awards and be the best, arguably the best pitcher ever, pitch for another 15 years after you traded him. And you never even apologized. Shame on you, Chuck Armstrong. Shame on you. Ohio and Lincoln shame on the old ownership group like how dare you time to wake up and address the wrong that is Alex Rodriguez a sports hate was fun I get it it's over yeah it's

time to move on and it's time to honor arguably the best player to ever wear the uniform now number one is an easy answer if we're going to be divisive with number two let's let's pick somebody at number one that we can all agree yeah Sasashi iwakuma no uh maybe maybe like I would hate it yeah maybe yeah uh but no Rick Riz is by far, the easy one of ones. Yes. Like, Rick Riz is the Seattle Mariners. He is, again, arguably the second best broadcaster ever.

And number one is Dave Freakin'E House. Like, what are we doing? Yeah, yeah. Start honoring this number two guys because they're really good. Yeah. And so Rick Riz has been here, what, for 40 years now. And, yeah, he has like the little break where he went to Detroit. But yeah, it's been like 40 years.

of the biggest calls in franchise history he's an icon when the mariner's clinched the playoffs for the first time of 21 years who's the first person they show up on the video board it's rick riz who's the one that they have the cam on because they want rick they want the call to be made by the voice of the seattle mariners it's rick riz riz who's the guy that welcomes you to the t mobile park like yeah yes it's it's it's rick it's rick is is the voice of the Aaron's. I mean, it was it was Dave, but like Rick is they tried very hard not to have that second guy coming. But it's it it's Rick. Yeah, it's Rick. Yeah. And someday it'll probably be Aaron. Yep. Agreed. But you know, it's Rick Riz. And again, we're already starting to see

that transition with Aaron. Right. Right. But that's the thing is like get Rick in this team Hall of Fame before he retires. Like you did it with knee house. You didn't have a problem doing it then. Do it with Rick Riz. He deserves that. level of respect. He is so important to the Mariners. By the way, there are other people who are not players who should be in the Team Hall of Fame. I think Kevin Martinez is like, that dude is the Seattle Mariners.

Kevin Martinez should be in the Team Hall of Fame. I think Rick Griffin should be in the Team Hall of Fame. I think people like Gary Hill are well on their way to being in the Team Hall of Fame because they mean so much to the franchise with very little recognition of their importance. And this is a way to honor them. So it's not just a place. for players. It's not just a place for managers. Rick Riz deserves to be in. And that Rick Riz is the first step to acknowledging that like, hey, you don't have to wear the uniform to be an incredible and

important part of our franchise's history. And, you know, Dave was kind of the first one. But it's been 20 some odd years since the Marys have put a non-player in their team Hall of Fame. It is time for that to change. And Rick Riz is the perfect person to do it with. So piggybacking off of that, how do you feel about beat reporters? Specifically, Larry Sussieckon. stone yeah i mean i'm fine with it because again it just it's a team hall of fame like it i to me again the idea of the hall of fame is not to be this like exclusionary thing it is to be it's it's a museum and it's hard you tell the story of your franchise well one of the ways you do it is with the storytellers and larry stone is a storyteller

So, like, Major League Baseball, the Baseball Hall of Fame has sports writers and broadcasters in it. Yeah. So it makes sense that the team Hall of Fame would follow suit. So I'm fine with it. Again, I think the Hall of Fame is about celebrating your history, both good and bad. And you have to, and how you make it mean something is that you, you don't ignore the parts you don't like. You don't ignore the, like, oh, well, the 80s kind of sucks. So let's just push all those players off to the side, like they don't count.

like oh well Larry Stone was critical of the ownership group a couple times we don't want to honor that it's like why why like embrace your franchise's history learn from it celebrate it and that's how you do that if you're a baseball team is with your team Hall of Fame it's Monument Park and Yankee Stadium you know it's it's things like that where you have to just celebrate the best and you have to tell the story of your franchise and the story of your franchise has to be told with storytellers who are the broad team and the journalist and the people who work behind the scenes who never get recognized or anything like that like you have to honor those people in some way because they are important to your story and so i'm totally fine with i it is time for the mayors to expand their hall of fame beyond just players and coaches yeah and rick again and maybe and maybe some of these like you know again because they want to try and keep it to like one person per year and make it their year and give them their whole weekend Maybe a couple of these you could do in the off season and do like a banquet. Yeah. Like you just want to keep it for the players and the coach, like the people who wore the uniform. They're the ones who get the in season.

So fine, whatever. I think it would be a shame to, to not let Rick Riz have his moment. Yeah. You know, 48,000 people there. But like there should, again,

there should be an acknowledgement of people who don't actually wear the uniform who are vitally important to this franchise. I like the Kevin Martinez, like the Larry Stones, like to Rick Griffin's. There should be a way to honor those people in your team Hall of Fame. And it's been way too long since the Marys have done that with a non-player coach. And Riz is the perfect guy to start that with. All right. That is going to do it for our show.

Thank you so much for joining us here on the Lockdown Marys podcast. Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day for Colby Patnode. I'm Tadangazales. Be sure to give us a follow on Twitter at L.O. score mirrors you can follow me at tidang azales and colby at cpad 11 that's cpat 1 1 we're also on blue sky you can follow me at tdg colby at melb colby and the show at locked on mariners you can also find us on instagram at locked on mirrors have yourself a beautiful baseball day and we'll see you next time peace