Locked On Mariners - Daily Podcast On the Seattle Mariners - What Can the Mariners Do About Their Infield Problem?

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Mariners have major issues in their end field. What can they do about it? Let's talk about it. 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.

Starting point is 00:00:23 It is Friday, April 11th, 2025. This is Tadning Azales and Colby Patnaud for the Lockdown Marys Podcast. Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team, every day. As always, if you want to hear from me and Colby even more and help support the show, you can check out our Patreon. All you have to do to check that out is click the link in the description of this episode. So today we're going to go through the Marrers roster issues, primarily in the infield, a little bit in the outfield,

Starting point is 00:00:46 but mostly in the infield. And then afterwards, we're going to get you set for their series with the Rangers, starting a night, three games set with Texas before the mayors, hit the road for their first real road trip of the season, going to Sensi, going to Toronto, and then going to Boston. in. So start with the infield. Adam Jude,

Starting point is 00:01:09 thankfully wrote an article this morning that gives us a little bit more context, sourced article, some solid information in there, specifically about Cole Young, where Jorge Polanco is at right now and his recovery from this side thing that he's been dealing with.

Starting point is 00:01:26 The mayors have a lot of issues right now in the infield, especially with Ryan Bliss now. said to undergo bicep surgery. He's going to be out four to five months. He's probably done for the year. I would say that that is very likely. I don't think that they have officially said that he's down for the year,

Starting point is 00:01:45 but that's pretty much he's he's done for the year, which is really, really unfortunate. He was starting to heat up. He was obviously giving them great value defensively, which they really need defensive value in their end field right now. So that is a massive blow to this team. On top of that, they also lose a big threat on the base pass.

Starting point is 00:02:05 So just absolutely crushed about the news for Ryan Bliss and, you know, wishing him best in his recovery. So I know a lot of people are like, all right, well, they should just call up Cole Young at this point, right? What do you have to lose? According to Jude, what has happened at the Major League level for the Marys and what may happen at the Major League level over the next few weeks, a couple of months, whatever, won't have much of an impact on what they do with Young. The Young decision is still going to be dependent on when they feel he is ready. They haven't really moved off of that plan.

Starting point is 00:02:50 So it doesn't seem like Young is getting called up anytime soon, in other words. However, with Ben Williamson, apparently the mayors are actually willing to push Williamson a little bit earlier than maybe we thought will that be tonight. Who knows? Jude didn't say one way or the other. But he did say that Mary's Major League coaches were impressed with what he did down in spring. Obviously, he's had a fantastic starts the year defensively down in Tacoma. He hasn't hit super well.

Starting point is 00:03:25 He had a pretty good game last night, but he hasn't hit super well. But they feel that at the very least, what he brings defensively, might be more valuable than what they're getting right now in the end field. And with Jorge Polanco, unable to swing from the right side of the plate, unable to play in the field right now with the side thing, they just need any help that they can get right now because Dillamore is playing every day. Miles Master Boni is probably going to be playing every day here in the interim. We'll get into what they can potentially do on the trade market,

Starting point is 00:03:57 which Jude also talked about. We'll also talk a little bit about first base and all that. But Colby, your thoughts on the Cole Young and Ben Williamson situation. Yeah, it's probably the right call on Cole Young. I know that a lot of people will just look at the stat line and say, wow, he's been terrible in AAA. He hasn't really been. He's been hitting the ball very hard with regularity. He's getting some bad luck when the ball's hit in the air, and he's just hitting a lot of ground balls right now.

Starting point is 00:04:29 and ground balls have a lower batting average, even when they're hit hard, then fly balls and inline drives. So kind of a launch angle issue for him right now, but he's also not striking out at all. He's at like 14%. And considering that he's 21 years old playing AAA ball for the first time, that's a really good sign. He's drawing walks.

Starting point is 00:04:47 He's playing good defense. So it's not that Young's playing poorly. There's no reason to rush him. There really isn't. And so if you're not sure that he can handle major league pitching right now, then I think that's probably the right call. It's, you know, it would be a, I don't even want to say a quick fix because it might not fix anything, but it would be like just an energetic move you can make.

Starting point is 00:05:12 And it might, you know, buy you a couple days of hype. But at the end of the day, you know, you got to do what's right for the player. And Cole Young is the type of guy that you think, you know, is going to be in your starting lineup for the next six, seven years once he gets here. So you don't want to rush him and, you know, give him a challenge. not quite ready for. So I think that's probably the right call. On Williamson, you know, we pretty much know who this guy is at this point. He's going to play really good defense. He's a pretty good runner for a guy of his size and, you know, somewhat surprisingly for a third basement. There's just not going to be a lot of power here. He's probably going to make a decent amount

Starting point is 00:05:46 of contact. We'll see, you know, first time in the big leagues. Sometimes guys struggle. But yeah, he's probably going to make a decent amount of contact. Just not going to be a lot of power. and I think that's just who he is. It's a pretty flat swing. A lot of ground balls, a lot of line drives, not a lot of fly balls. So, yeah, I just don't know how much power you're ever going to get out of him, which is why I think he does profile better as kind of a utility type of guy because he can play shortstop also.

Starting point is 00:06:13 I think at the end of the day, the best you could do in the short term right now is Williamson at third, Dillamore moving to second, where he's been a better defender in his career than. he has a third. Yeah. It's been a rough couple weeks for Dylan. A couple weeks, rough week for Dylan defensively at third.

Starting point is 00:06:33 And so moving him off that position and at least giving yourself some infield defense, you know, you're probably not going to get the offense that you want out of those two spots. But at least at the very end of the day, at least you have some speed and you have some infield defense. And that's value. So that's probably the best you can do. So the Mariners can really use another right-handed bat in general.

Starting point is 00:06:59 Specifically in the outfield, we'll talk about that a little later on. But Tyler Locklear is hitting really well down in Tacoma. I think you guys already know what our feelings are about Tyler Locklear overall. But again, you know, we're at this point where beggars can't beat choosers. You just need to take some shots and see what happens. But what do you think about Tyler Locklear, than potentially calling him up right now, maybe replacing Dom Kansone's spot on the roster with him.

Starting point is 00:07:29 Yeah, I really never thought Canzone made a lot of sense with how the roster was constructed and how they were utilizing platoons. As much as I'm not a huge fan of Locklear, I'd rather have him be the everyday first baseman than Rowdy Tellez right now. So, yeah, you know, Locklear, I'm fine with it. I think, you know, again, the Mariners are two platoon heavy right now.

Starting point is 00:08:02 I mean, they have a platoon at first. They have a platoon at DH. They have kind of a platoon in right field, or at least they want to have one. And they don't know what the heck to do at third base. So, yeah, they're two platoon heavy right now. So they could eliminate one of those platoons with just kind of more of an everyday, like, I don't want to say every day player because I don't know if Locklear's. an everyday player, but like, at the very least, you don't have to sit him against righties and lefties.

Starting point is 00:08:26 You can actually run him out there. So I think that's probably something that they should explore. And, you know, like last year, Locklear played a little hurt. He had a wrist injury thing that may have impacted him to a certain degree. But there's still concerns about the swing and the VLO up and all that. So yeah, I think it's probably worth a shot at this stage because, again, you just can't keep running Routy Tiles out there, 60, 70, percent of the games. It's just not working. JD Martinez.

Starting point is 00:08:55 Would you rather take that shot than Tyler Locklear, even though now Locklear can at least play in the field. But would you rather take that shot on someone like Martinez? So the thing with Martinez is that you're going to send him down to the minors for three, four weeks. So he's not immediate help. He also would have to want to come play in Seattle, which I think, They've tried to get him in the past, and he was not interested in that. I mean, but it's also like you're either going to just sit at home or like professional baseball, you know.

Starting point is 00:09:33 Right. So, yeah, I think the nice thing about Martinez is that if you sign him, you put him in AAA, right? He probably gets a minor league deal and then you get some kind of, you know, base salary that's pro rated. He probably has an opt out on like, you know, May 1 or something if you sign him today. And it gives you some time to, like, roll Blockler out there. And if Locklear is pretty good, then, you know, Martinez, you don't have to pay them, right? That's probably what the Marys would like to do. A minor league deal with like a $6 million major league salary that's pro-rated, blah, blah, blah.

Starting point is 00:10:10 Martinez probably wants like, no, give me a major league deal guaranteed and send me down to the minors. But yeah, so it's interesting enough that I would consider it. Is it, you know, the answer to the problem? Well, no, because Martinez strikes out a lot now. It's kind of part of his game. He wasn't incredible last year. And also keep in mind that Jorge Polanco, who has been hitting so far this year, we don't know how long he's going to be DH only.

Starting point is 00:10:39 According to Jude, I think followed it up with a tweet. I'm pretty sure it was from Adam Jude. Basically said that, you know, Polo's going to be DH only for at least another week or two. so that limits what you can do. But again, because Martinez is probably going to be in the minors for at least three weeks, that might not be a problem. So, yeah. Yeah, I'm interested.

Starting point is 00:11:02 Also worth noting J.D. Martinez hits very well at Team Mobile Park for what that's worth. So given the injury to Bliss, given the injury to Polo, once Polo is hopefully able to return to the field, would you just put them back at second? I mean, especially if they're not going to rush, Koyon. I mean, that probably depends on how they feel about Ben Williamson at that point. Because obviously with Polo in the field, you're going to be below average defense at one of the two spots. Like, I don't know, maybe Polo should start learning how to play first base.

Starting point is 00:11:44 Yeah. Maybe Polo's the first base answer instead of, you know, Teles or whatever because we know Rayleigh's going to have to play the outfield for. three months. Or hey, maybe let Donovan Salano actually hit against some Ritey's time to time. Did it against Brian and Brayu just fine. Could be fun.

Starting point is 00:12:01 Could be fun. Yeah. I mean, just stop giving that bats to Routy, I think is the consensus here. But yeah, Martinez could make sense. Again, he crushes a team mobile park.

Starting point is 00:12:10 Strikeouts are going to be a problem with him. They have in the last couple years. How much bat speed does he have left? He's 38 years old. Like, there's a legitimate questions here. It's not a slam dunk, no brainer. But yeah, I mean, at this stage,

Starting point is 00:12:21 you kind of have to look around. You have to take some shots. And that is because you didn't do a good enough job this off season of building out this roster. And every time it's like, hey, go make this small move. No, we like what we have. No, we have no holes. Blah, blah, blah. Well, imagine that.

Starting point is 00:12:37 It took two injuries and your roster is completely exposed. Yeah. Shocking. Yeah. So, yeah, I think they have to explore all that. So they should be talking to JD and see what it's going to take. And yeah, I think that that is an option they have to explore. Sure.

Starting point is 00:12:56 All right. So let's talk about what might be out on the trade market. We'll also talk a little bit about the outfield in just a moment. But first, a reminder of this episode of the Lockdown Marys podcast is brought to you by Supplyhouse. Get the supplies you need from the site made for the skilled trades. Supply house. Whether you're in plumbing, HVAC, or electrical work, supply house is a reliable way to order products online.

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Starting point is 00:13:57 And you're listening to the Lockdown Marys podcast. So also in Adam Jude's article that came out this morning, he talked a little bit about the trade market. Now, obviously, it's April 11th. Not too many teams are going to be willing to trade with you right now, especially significant pieces. I know we got asked about Luis Robert on Monday. But for a multitude of reasons, I don't think that's a remote possibility right now.

Starting point is 00:14:24 Mostly because of the reason that you cited on Monday when we answer that question, don't think John Stanton's going to approve taking on that money right now. With the way the team looks at the moment, with the way that Roberts looked at the moment, with the questions about Robert's effort, all that stuff. And just because ownership is cheap, right? Do we even need more of a reason than that? So, yeah, Jude did say, though, that the bears right now are scouring the market for veterans that are currently in the minors on minor deals because they have potential opt-outs coming up on May 1st. So maybe looking to get out ahead of that if teams feel like they're not going to call those guys up before May 1st or at least just monitoring those guys, you know, leading up to the point that they would opt out and they would strike.

Starting point is 00:15:19 after that point. So, yeah, I will lie. I don't have names for you in that regard. I don't know if you do, Colby, but that kind of seems to be the point that we're at right now with Mary. So even if they are going to make an outside edition here in the next few weeks, it's not going to be anyone exciting. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:15:44 So I've got some names. I only have three names that are, veterans on minor league deals. So this is all I could find in about 20 minutes. So David Bodie is in the Dodgers organization. He has an upward mobility clause, which means that the Dodgers are required to offer them up to the other 29 teams. None of these guys, by the way, are going to be exciting.

Starting point is 00:16:11 Sorry to burst that bubble. But yeah, David Bodie is a guy. You used to play for the Cubs. had a really good spring with the with the Dodgers hasn't played in the minor leagues yet he's still looking for that major league opportunity so maybe place some third base again it's just you're looking for a warm body yeah also we have Owen Miller you guys remember him he's in the Rockies organization I believe okay yeah I would like the Rockies organization minor league deal really only a first baseman but he is athletic enough he could play third he's done

Starting point is 00:16:51 it a little bit uh hasn't really hit anywhere so you're just kind of looking for an athlete uh he's the guy who had like the red hot start to his career with cleveland and i think he made the all star team that year and then he just hasn't hit since so yeah i think he was like on track to make the allster team then he like really cooled off and then yeah yeah um then also you have uh michael chavis you guys might remember him yep uh was with the mariners in Tacoma last year. He is, now I can't remember where he is,

Starting point is 00:17:22 but, you know, veteran, the Mariners know him, right? They're familiar with him. He's also with the Dodgers. Right. So, you know, maybe a shot there on that guy that the Mariners are familiar with and they had in the organization.

Starting point is 00:17:37 You know, if you want to take an even bigger shot, a bigger swing, Kest and Hira is out there, also with the Rockies. So, yeah. There are some guys, again, none of them are terribly exciting, but there are some guys who probably have opt-outs coming soon or they have upward mobility clauses. There's not a master list out there of guys who have, you know, those mobility clauses or there's not a master list of guys who are, you know, on minor league deals and when their opt-outs are and all of that.

Starting point is 00:18:12 But, yeah, those are just a few of the guys that I found that probably. Like we have opt-outs similar to Routi-Tales, where he had one on the first of every month. So, yeah. Keep an eye on those guys. Bodie and Chavez play some third. Miller, really good first baseman, which is also, sadly, a position of need defensively. So if you love Routi-Tales for his first-based defense, you should be clamoring for Owen Miller, because he's also not going to hit, but he's actually going to play good defense. So yeah, there's that.

Starting point is 00:18:49 Those are the kind of the minor league guys, the veteran minor league guys. And ultimately, probably what the Mariners are going to do, if they do make a move, it's probably going to be some 27-year-old career minor leaguer that we've never heard of. Like the Mason Miller type, or Mason Miller, Mason McCoy. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Maybe it's Cody, hozy, the Dodgers, who's like 28 and has no shot. Cody of Tarth.

Starting point is 00:19:15 Cody of Tarth, yep. who has no shot of ever playing for the Dodgers and he's like 27 like yeah it might be him but uh yeah those are the minor league deal type of guys this team also could really use a right-handed bat in the outfield um luke raley now he's he's wearing glasses and apparently that's helping him finally identify spin but he hasn't looked well equipped to hit left-handed pitching so far in his time with the Mariners. And then Domkan zone. Yikes. So this team again could really use a right-handed bat because both of those guys, you're either running out one or the other against lefties, whenever a lefty is on the mound right now. That's just how things are situated. And if you're

Starting point is 00:20:02 not Dillamore's playing in the outfield and then you're running out, you know, a lefty or two in the infield. As far as like right-handed outfield bats go, the Mariners don't have many options. in the organization right now. Samad Taylor, who's running a 92 WRC plus right now in AAA coming off of an 88 WRC plus season. You would have to add him to the 40 man. He does bring a speed element that you've lost with the losses of Victor Rubles and Ryan Bliss. But can he get on base enough? If he's only, you know, a late game pinch runner, you know, substitution type of dude, is that actually worth having on your roster that doesn't necessarily address the particular problem that we're talking about here like you need a guy that can start

Starting point is 00:20:49 against lefties Jared Sunstrom down in Arkansas right now it's only been a few games but he's not off to a good start but he had a really good spring he was actually playing with the major league like with the rest of the major leaguers a couple times towards the end of the spring so maybe he's someone that they view is kind of close-ish but yeah when when would they determine that who knows the other option here because look Taylor's the only guy in Tacoma right now who's a right-handed hitter who actually has

Starting point is 00:21:24 a decent amount of outfield experience the other one that actually like that has some outfield experience Harry Ford and that's eight games and we've talked about this like you're probably going to convert him to another position or you're going to have him be a utility guy or what have you you know a guy that's like kind of a souped up awesanola where he does um you know catch a little bit here and there but he's going to play all over uh he's obviously incredibly athletic and certainly athletic enough to handle a corner outfield spot but by the time that you actually ramp him up in order to do that and by the way he's playing on a part time basis right now he's not playing every day, which is a whole other conversation, but whatever. By the time that you do that, and by the time that you probably deem him ready, because also, like, he has to prove that he's ready with the bat as well.

Starting point is 00:22:19 It's a fairly similar conversation to the one that we're having about Cole Young. By the time that that all happens, trade markets probably opened up a bit more. Yeah. So to me, it's really just like in terms of the in-house options, it's Sunstrom or Taylor. Yeah. It's worth noting here that the Mariners are going to have two spots on their 40 man open up without losing anybody. Robles and Bliss will both be transferred to the 60 when the Mariners need to make a roster move. So, you know, if you're looking at a guy like, oh, this guy doesn't have an option or, you know,

Starting point is 00:22:55 you don't have to DF anybody right now. The only guy on your 60 that you're going to have to, you know, add to your 40 at some point is COAR. And that's not for another six to eight weeks minimum. So, yeah, 40 man crunch, not really a thing for the Mariners quite yet. And obviously, unfortunately, they're going to have two spots open up. So, yeah, it doesn't really probably help with the outfield situation because, like you said, there's just not a lot of options. But, you know, if there's, I don't know, an arm that you want to add to the 40 man,

Starting point is 00:23:26 you can now without losing anybody. Maybe there's an infielder. You want to Ben Williamson? Like, you can just add them to the 40 man. You don't have to lose anybody. So you don't only have to look at the guys who are on the 40 right now. You can explore it further out. But even if you do that in the outfield, particularly for right-handed hitters, it's not pretty.

Starting point is 00:23:45 No. So if you want a right-handed outfield bat, odds are it's probably going to come from the outside. You're listening to the Lockdown Marers podcast. So let's switch gears here. Let's talk a little bit about what's coming up tonight. Mariners with all their injuries and the way that this offense is struggling. they're going up against Jacob de Grom so that's that's fun win yeah probably with the way that this this team has operated yeah Bryce Miller opposing to Grom tonight some fun pitching

Starting point is 00:24:19 matchups in the series tomorrow tomorrow and then on Sunday it's Nathan Avaldi against Logan Gilbert so both of these teams right now kind of built on pitching both of these teams very similar in terms of how their offenses have gone um the rangers right now i believe are 30th and babup the barons are 28th both teams have had a similar production or lack thereof with runners in scoring position to start the year uh both offenses have just been bad let's just call up for what it is uh to start the year um so it's kind of like the uh the uh the Spider-Man meme right now between these two teams. How are you feeling going into the series?

Starting point is 00:25:12 You're going to be there at the ballpark. You're going to all three games? None of your business, but the answer is no. So yeah, it's obviously not a, it's obviously not been a great start for the Mariners. And like, again, like you said, the Rangers are playing pretty much the same ball as the Mariners yet they're 9 and 4. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:25:39 And you're 5 and 8. So it's a bit of bad luck going on there. Yeah, the offense, pretty hit or miss. It's actually looked pretty good at times this year. And other times it's looked really bad and there's really no rhyme or reason for it. Tonight is going to be interesting because I'm sure to Grom is going to throw well. And so you need Bryce Miller to pitch pretty well. And for Miller to do that, he really does need to find that basketball control and command.

Starting point is 00:26:04 He has been struggling. in his first two starts to locate that pitch for a strike. So, yeah, for him, it's really all going to come down to. Can you put the fastball on the corners? Can you work all four quadrants with it? Because the sweeper and the breaking stuff has actually been really solid so far this year. So, yeah, I think, you know, Bryce, it's really, we're going to know pretty early on. How is he throwing the fastball?

Starting point is 00:26:26 How is he commanding it? And then obviously the big, if he can do those things, it really comes down to how does he handle Corey Seeger. That's the biggest threat in this lineup by far. And obviously we know Miller against lefties. He's getting better and better and better, but it's still a scary situation there. So fastball command is going to be huge for Miller tonight. And then I think he probably needs to find that splitter a little bit more than he has so far. But he's really just been grinding through his first two starts. He looked really good in spring. So who knows? Maybe it's something mechanical. Maybe it's just a blip in the radar

Starting point is 00:27:05 But yeah, he needs to find that fastball command. It starts as, you know, Miller has seven pitches and that's great. And most of them are pretty good. But it really still does start with that forcing fastball. What have you thought about Brian Wu so far? Especially that last start because he had to blow up in the fourth inning against the Giants. But overall, I thought he was pretty good. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:27:28 Yeah, I think Wu's looked really good. Again, he's had one bad inning. that's kind of torpedoed his stats a little bit. And this early in the season, yeah, that can make things, you know, flat of context. I'm a little bit surprised that we haven't seen more sweepers and whatnot because, like, we know that that was a big pitch for him and he really worked hard on it this winter. And his first two starts, he's been like, you know, 80% fastball. And so he's got a really good one.

Starting point is 00:28:00 Don't get me wrong. There's nothing wrong with that. just I'm a little bit surprised. We haven't seen that that sweeper a little bit more. But yeah, right now, I mean, to be fair, the fastball was working for his first, what, nine innings of the year. And then the 10th inning, it didn't work. And then it worked after that. So really, the fastball has just been really good still.

Starting point is 00:28:20 But yeah, I do think we need to see more off-speed stuff from him. Start mixing it up a little bit more. Maybe you don't need to be 80% fastball. Maybe you could be 70% fastball, especially against a team like Texas. all right well we'll see how tonight plays out but that's going to do it for our show thank you so much for joining us here on the lockdown mirrors podcast colby pat node i'm tony gazzalus be sure to give us a follow on twitter and l o underscore merrers you can follow me at tidang azales and colby at c pat 11 that's cpat 1 1 1 we're also on blue sky you can follow me at tdg colby at m lb colby in the show at lockdown mariners have yourself

Starting point is 00:28:53 a beautiful baseball day and we'll see you next time peace

Locked On Mariners - Daily Podcast On the Seattle Mariners - What Can the Mariners Do About Their Infield Problem?

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