Hour 4-How much is too much for Maxx Crosby? and an interesting comparison for Julio Rodriguez

Get in the freaking auto! From the Quantum Fiber Studio, this is Brock and Salk on Seattle Sports. I don't read the internet, guys. Take the bull by the hands. And Brooke Huard. Huard. And Brooke Huard. Now here are your hosts, Brock Huard and Mike Salk. And that fire! Ooh, so that was all very, very interesting. Very, very, very interesting. That was very interesting. Wasn't it? Dude, never disappoints. I think that's the fourth or fifth time, at least in the last calendar year. It was pretty interesting. So just to circle back, we just talked to Brian Nemhauser, Hawk blogger. He was at the Combine, and his big takeaway is forget about the draft. It's not for a long time, and the Combine isn't about the draft. It's about all of the GMs and all the powers that be, the agents, everybody getting together and talking. It's sort of their version of the baseball winter meetings. And the combine is just sort of the reason to get together. And his feeling was something will get done. 50% plus chance that we get some sort of a deal done here in this week or so before free agency starts. This is when DK got traded. Gino got traded. Russ got traded. There is no obvious person on this roster that you would send out. but is there somebody that you would bring back? And the name he went to was Max Crosby. Yeah. Which, again, like if you're just playing a Mike Salk sweet spot as he's become older, right, as he's nearing the half-century point, Salk wants impact. He wants impact in his baseball players. I mean, I do, but, Brock, I also just watched what I saw this past year where a group of guys created that impact as a group rather than just one dude. That's how that group had to do it. Yeah. They had to do it that way. They had to, you know, kind of, I think last year's pre-agency. Pretty well. Yeah, I kind of like that. Last year's pre-agency was about pivots to keep with the alliteration. It's about pivots. We've got to pivot here and we've got to pivot here, right? And then ultimately we've got to add a cup in the Lawrence. And, right, I mean, that's how that thing unfolded, right? How does this thing unfold? How are we going to do this? How are we going to evolve? We're right here now with this window of opportunity, Salk. And do you want to, you know, maximize this and maximize this stage? I mean, yes, but Brock, what that tells me is there's no have to. Do I want Max Crosby on this team? Flat, yes. Of course I do. So did 31 other teams. I mean, like, of course you want Max Crosby. No, they don't. No, no, no, no, no. No, everyone wants them on their team, period. How you pay them, what you have to give up to get them, all of that. 32 teams would want Max Crosby. I don't know about that. Come on. It's a good player. Everybody would want him. But again, okay, fine. I don't want to get into semantics. Sure, we would want him. But 31 other programs are not built and primed and ready for this. That's literally what I was saying. Everyone would want this guy because of the talent and the ability and the production and the personality. He's a player that everyone in the game would want, but not everyone is in a place to go get him right now. And they are. but they're also not in a place where you have to be held over a barrel. And that's why when Hawk blogger comes back with, Hey, two first and Derek Hall, I'm like, yeah, thanks, but no thanks. I don't need to say yes to that. Sure. Love to have them. Don't need them. Would love to have Max Crosby, not in a position of being desperate, not going to give up Derek Hall. That's part of the whole point of, of having him is to have both of those guys at once. But once again, these are kind of your and our optics. I'm not diminishing your optics at all. It's just what we're all privy to. And then when they're like, okay, well, you think that's being held over the barrel. And maybe that is right. Maybe that's like, oh, really? St. Louis Cardinals? You want who? You want what? As you kind of start those conversations. And then as you kind of get to it, it's like, okay, yeah, we still had to give up St. Jen, you know, give up Williamson and give up our comp. Like there was still, you know, some great value going out and there's going to have to be great value going out. But we do have Connor O'Toole and Jared Ivey. the 95% of Seahawks fans don't really know who they are. Who are those guys? Yeah, we really like them. Okay. We really like them. Just like we kind of really like some of our young linemen. You don't really need to go make this move. I mean, like if you really like them. No, no, no, no, no. You make this move because Boye and Derek Hall move out. Those guys will grow and develop. And now you add the game's biggest game wrecker, right? Right now you add that guy to that youth and to that group. So you'd make that deal? I would make that deal. Wow. I would make that deal. You would? I would? Yeah, I would. A year ago, all you had to give up was Geno and DK. Now you've got to give up two firsts and Derek Hall? I wouldn't trade two firsts and Derek Hall for Geno and DK. A 32nd and hopefully another 32nd pick. And yeah, I think I would do that. I've got no problems with the draft picks. I think that makes sense. and that's the position I would do that for. I would really blanch at including Derek Hall. Yeah, I would love it to be Uchenna Nwosu. But that's not going to happen. I would love it to be Jared Ivey. I would love it to be Conor O'Toole. I'd love it to be two first-round picks. And we'll see. Maybe that's what it ends up being. We'll see. Because the Raiders do need to trade him, right? The Raiders, I think, are in place in their program where, you know, a year ago their GM with Mr. Spicek was like, Pete, settle down, hormonal Pete. Settle down. We're not making this move. I know you brokered it on the plane. I know you spent the time at the combine. I know you love Johnny. I know all of that. We're not doing that. We're not moving on from Max for an aged quarterback and a volatile receiver. No, by the way, they hate each other. So we're not doing that. We're not bringing that in. But I think, yeah, I think in this case, if they were to make that move, it tells you what are you laughing at? Just the way you just sort of drop in, oh, by the way, they hate each other right at the end. I say things like that, and you're like, Mike, Mike. And then you say things like that, and nobody even bats an eyelash. Maybe hate's a little strong. Maybe. Maybe. But not that strong. I don't know if it's that strong. I strongly don't get along. For sure. And we don't need to do this in year one of you trying to change culture and build this thing around. So, yeah, man, it would be big and it would be bold. It will be interesting. And Brian brings this up again. It's not like out of nowhere. China's got a big number. A big cap number. Doesn't that feel like one of those things that you can get down, though? Well, they've already reworked it a couple times. They've already kind of gone down that road. Well, I wonder if he is a candidate for the – what's the defensive end that they got from Cincinnati a few years ago that they then kept around for a while and they would cut him and then bring him back? What's that guy's name? What was his name? Carlos Dunlap? Yeah, thank you. Carlos Dunlap. Thank you, Lyle. I knew you would know. Carlos Dunlap. Isn't that exactly what they did with Carlos Dunlap? They did. yeah they did they kind of reworked and they've done that with chen a couple times and well they actually cut dunlap and then brought him back yeah i think chenna kind of kind of knows where he's at age and stage a little bit as well so we'll see but i think what that exercise honestly what this conversation and that whole exercise with nam hauser brings to life is how quickly you've got to move how nimble you have to be if you are stuck in your ways and this is the only way then you're going to be like 25 other organizations out there, 20 that don't give yourself a shot. If you're able to really know thyself and you're really able to be nimble and you're really able to pivot and you really see, do you know why John Schneider left the combine? As he told Bob and Dave on Thursday, the Schneiders know that you should. He's seen everything, but he needed to also sit in that room by himself, right? He needs some time to really put all of this and how all these gears can go and how all the machinery can move right. after sitting with agents and sitting with GMs and seeing with everybody. This is now where the sauce is made. Can I come back one more time just to the idea of Derek Hall? Why does that work for the Raiders? Why do the Raiders want Derek Hall? Because his pressure rates were off the charts. His success rate was off the charts. They have him for one year. What do they want that for? Yeah, I don't think they would make that move with that in mind. You get him for the next five years, right, in his late 20s. But then they could just sign him in free agency next year. I mean, like, he's a one-year guy right now. I don't know. I don't. But I also remember how that works on their end. You get him for that year. You fold that year into the next three years. I know. There's a way to do it, and you can try to extend him and all that. Maybe he says yes. Maybe he says no. I don't want to be in the Raiders. This team stinks. That's why I said maybe Jared Ivey or Conor O'Toole, who you have for the next three years. Yeah, I don't know. It doesn't strike me as something that would be a good fit for the Raiders right now either. So I will monitor this closely. Maybe two first rounders, Salk, and maybe one of your young offensive linemen. Right? Maybe one of those guys that Kubiak got up close with. And instead of, gee, signing three other guys and drafting these guys, like, hey, this guy was in my system. There's maybe somebody he likes from that. Yeah, I think there are some other ways to make this work that probably fit a little bit better for the Seahawks and for the Raiders. All right. We will keep talking about this, I'm sure, over the course of the next week or so until something either does or doesn't get done. But I am not desperate. I will just say that, Brock. If I'm a Seahawks, I am not desperate. No, in the past, sometimes you've been desperate. You were never desperate as a dater? Well, pretty desperate, to be honest with you. I don't know. It's like, sure. Yeah. You say yes? I'm in. Let's give you everything you need to know. Coming up, I'm Brock Insolves. Highlights don't win games. The full box score does. I'm Brock Heward, and most business leaders aren't short on data. They're short on clarity. Numbers are scattered across ERPs, CRMs, and spreadsheets, making decisions reactive instead of confident. And that's not how great businesses are built. Marquee IQ brings all your data together into one clear view, even if it lives in disconnected systems or offline, so you can see what's really happening and act faster. Stop running your business on highlights. Get the full picture. Visit data that wins.com to see what Marquee IQ can do. We are Seattle sports. 7, 10 a.m. on your radio. Streaming through the Seattle sports app. Get new videos, podcasts, and articles on the Seahawks and Mariners from your favorite Seattle sports personalities daily. need to know 15 minutes past every hour with brock and salk presented by marquee data here's what you need to know up first not going to worry too much about the results of the mariner spring training games this weekend because you know they don't mean much but what was cool was seeing some of the kids out there brock and specifically the two young pitchers kate anderson and ryan sloan and Anderson struck out the side in the first inning in his start, and then Ryan Sloan was nasty in a clean 1-2-3 inning of relief. Yeah, very different personalities. We played you the Ryan Sloan interview early this morning. He is brash. And then there's Kate Anderson, who's really different from that. He was asked about his fastball. I think just having four pitches for strikes. yeah I'm not that I'm not the VLO guy everyone might think I am I'm more of a pitcher so having four pitches I can throw in any count really helps. Cliff Lee. Can I ask you a personal question? Yeah. Ask you a personal question. Yeah. What is it in life either currently at how old are you 47? Yeah. Or at any point in your life your teens your 20s where you were so confident in something you could do uh i have to think about that i guess okay think about it maybe we could talk about that it's a more length later or tomorrow yeah okay but literally you know you say brash i don't say i don't think brash i think just like a little brash it's a little brash bro i throw 99 miles an hour i don't what am i gonna be i mean i will say brock if you need four pitches If you need me to replay Adam's family pinball game at any point, I'm happy to do it. Like, if you need me to step up to an Adam's family pinball game and replay that sucker. Yeah. I mean, I'll get that done. I'll get that. That's what they feel like when they pick up the ball and they get on top of the mound. Yeah, I got this. Must be nice. Must be very nice. Unfortunately, a little bit of bad news. Bryce Miller, oblique strain, going to miss a week. They're saying not a big deal. A little platelet-rich plasma. They're saying it happens every year. Something he's dealt with before. Still don't like it. Not going to freak out, but I will admit I don't like it. I don't like obliques. Not on pictures. Here's the second thing you need to know. Or on yourself, let's face it. I've never had an oblique, thank God. It seems awful. Every time you sneeze, I would think you just want to like... When you were in your peak male form at 20, did you have an oblique? I was definitely not in my peak male form at 20. NFL Combine brought in the rear view. So rather than continuing to go through it, I'm just going to focus on what we heard from Brian Nemhouser a few minutes ago as he was like, yeah, combine, forget about the draft, trade that pick, trade next year's pick, add in Derek Hall, and bring back Max Crosby, to which I say I'm not just going to forget about Derek Hall. I'm not. Like, I think that's actually too much because I don't think you're going to have to. And if there's an opportunity to make a good deal for a great player, do it. But you don't have to do anything. It's one of those situations I'm so deeply curious. And again, once he starts to mention that, your mind and my mind racing a million ways. And all of these little curious questions come about. Is it beneficial that they had a deal done with Gino and DK last year? Was it beneficial they nearly had a deal done at the trade deadline? Was it beneficial that John Schneider and a very young John Spitek? It means they know each other. They know each other. They know each other and how they feel about this. And we've heard, at least in Major League Baseball, that it takes a long time sometimes for these deals to come together. We've heard that on whether it was Luis Castillo or Brendan Donovan. Does it benefit the Rick Dennison and Clint Kubiak, who spent the year in the building with the Seahawks? I would think all of those things. And oh, by the way, unlike many other teams in the league that are not primed, whose windows are not open, who do not have the cap space, do not have the picks, do not have the capital to make this move, you do. You've got the powder to do that. You've got the powder. You've got the cap space. You've got picks. They know you. You know them. There's a whole lot of factors here in this little pre-agency period that give you an opportunity if you want to pull the trigger and get that deal done out there. Yeah, color me intrigued. I'm very interested in the idea of fixing the edge, which I think it becomes an issue the moment boy Mafe walks out the door and we'll see what happens with DeMarcus Lawrence, but not interested in trading another one of those guys. Have you watched this guy much? The Seahawks have played him a few times. Max Crosby? The guy just plays. He's hair on fire. Oh, my gosh. Run and pass. Like, he just decimates. You want to get to Matt Stafford? You couldn't get to him in two matchups. I know. He's a really great player. Do you want a little kryptonite for Matt Stafford's maybe final year when you're going to have to feed? Like, do you want to get after him? Yeah, but I also want DeMarcus Lawrence, and I want Derek Hall. Like, yeah, I want all those guys because I think that's, you know, the waves, Brock, is another pretty important part of winning on defense in the NFL. Here's the third thing you need to know It really is cool to get 17,335 people to show up at Climate Pledge Arena Friday night To support women's hockey and the Olympians who are on the Seattle Torrent It is the second time, I believe, they have set a record at Climate Pledge For attendance for a women's hockey game in the United States It's been beaten just barely by slightly bigger arenas in Canada but they once again have the attendance record here in Seattle. It's incredible. And unfortunately, it wasn't a great game. They didn't play all that well, but just cool that, you know, to give people a taste of what that league is all about. In just a couple of short months, the Torrent have found little ways to make news. It is pretty amazing. We talk about this becoming one of those kind of sports towns. It doesn't have the heritage and the history of generation after generation after generation in 150 years like some places have. It's only 50 years for the Seahawks and the Mariners and the Sonics have now left town. But my goodness gracious, between the attendance for the Sounders, the commitment there, between the attendance for the hockey, between the Seahawks and Mariners, like pretty good sports town. It is. It's a different kind of sports town. Pretty diverse sports town. Yeah. Yeah. It was great. Really great to see all of that. I've been to those Torrent games. They're fun. couldn't go Friday of course as I was not back and then he played the highlight of the Kraken goal and listen to that place that place is going pretty nuts I played you one earlier here's Jordan Eberle with his first of what we thought was three turned out to just be two on the night Elias Pettersson blocked by Eberle he has open ice here comes the captain right in he scores hey hey what do you say Jordan Eberle another great golf course from John Forslund just awesome That was a sweet goal. Backhand breakaway. Very, very nice. They end up getting the win. 5-1 and even got Lane Lambert to smile afterwards, Brock. Who knew? They host the very good Carolina Hurricanes. Apparently, you just need to shoot the puck a lot. Well, more than they did in that other game. That's for sure. He was nonplussed with that. All right. That's everything you need to know. Quarter passed every hour here on the Brock and Salt Show. Good things happen when you shoot the puck. Cecily did it at the end of the game, Brock. Oh, so tough. So tough. End of the game. 30 seconds left. tied 2-2 against the second best team in the league. She shot it, bounced back to another girl in the slot, and she just hit the post wide open then. Oh, it was so tough. They would have had an unbelievable victory instead. A little OT loss. Playoff loss, go home. Yep. Winner go home. Winner go home. They ended up going home in an overtime loss. Very hard. Very hard to deal with. What did I see? Something fun on this show sheet here at 930, right? You still want to roll with this? You want to see this? You want me to talk to you about this? Yeah. I don't mind. Okay. I don't mind going through this. This was sent to me yesterday, and I don't mind going through it. Lyle, did you see this? I don't think so. This comp? Oh, yeah. We got a comp, and then I do got to read the dumbest thing. I think I read all of them. Yeah. The comp was, I assume, what you wanted me to get to, right? It's along these lines, yes. Okay. So I've got a comp. I've got a very silly story about two best friends and Brock's story of the stupidest thing he's seen. So hopefully you guys have another half hour on you. It's coming up next on Brock and Salk's Yale Sports on 710. and the Seattle Sports app. Highlights don't win games. The full box score does. I'm Brock Huard, and most business leaders aren't short on data. They're short on clarity. Numbers are scattered across ERPs, CRMs, and spreadsheets, making decisions reactive instead of confident. And that's not how great businesses are built. MarqueeIQ brings all your data together into one clear view, even if it lives in disconnected systems or offline, so you can see what's really happening and act faster. Stop running your business on highlights. Get the full picture. Visit datathewins.com to see what marquee IQ can do. For decades, Seattle has lived and breathed baseball. The crack of the bat, the roar of the crowd, the memories made at the ballpark. At Levitt Group Northwest Insurance, they get it because they call Seattle home just like you. They know this community, and they know what it takes to protect it. That's why they listen, shop around, and tailor coverage for your home, car, or business. Call 877-4-LEVITT. Levitt Group Northwest, insurance you can count on season after season. 877-4-LEVITT. We are Seattle Sports. 7.10 a.m. on your radio, streaming through the Seattle Sports app. Get new videos, podcasts, and articles on the Seahawks and Mariners from your favorite Seattle sports personalities daily. From the Quantum Fiber Studio, You're listening to Brock and Saul Weekdays 6-10 On Seattle Sports and 97.3 FM HD2 Man, we've gone all over the map today Don't you think? I think so, yeah And I think it feels that way even more so Because we're not embedded with the Mariners As we were all last week Where everything around us And all of our senses From the sun coming up over the cell phone towers to everywhere you looked at young guys, old guys, new guys. We were so engrossed in that that we did four hours a day. We could have done seven hours a day. Easy, yeah. So I think that makes – Come back today and everything kind of moves all over the place. So here over the last 25 minutes or so, Brock, I know you've got a story about the dumbest thing you've seen. You're not using this for trash takes? It just that dumb No no no no no It just a dumb take Okay It not even a take All right so we going to get to that Yeah Do that in a moment I got this comp that I like to give you Before I just Morris sent this over and it just cracked me up So this is a very quick thing, but this just kind of made me laugh. Logan Gilbert pitched well, what, yesterday? Went two and two-thirds, struck out three, didn't walk anybody, just, you know, working himself into shape. You know that one blow-up spring training outing will be coming for Logan. It happens for him every year, and then he seems to be fine after that. But apparently, remember he told us that he has some new pitches and Cal doesn't like calling them? So when the cat's away, the mouse will play. When the dumper takes off, Logan will call and throw whatever the hell he wants. It says here from Shannon, with Raleigh gone, it appeared Sunday that Gilbert may have taken advantage. Baseball, this is hilarious. is baseball savant registered a number of higher than usual velocity sliders that turned out to be a cutter he has worked on the past two off seasons he told us about that for good measure he also threw two two two seamers a pitch raleigh refuses to call i don't know why but i mean first of all everything with cal and logan is funny the two of them just have such a funny relationship together but the idea of oh cal's gone i'm gonna throw my two seamer like gone for like less than 24 hours right like some kids some kids throw parties when their parents are away logan gilbert's like oh cal's gone you know what i'm gonna do you think he texted cal i'm gonna get real real crazy and throw a two seamer i think one of the funniest things i heard when we were down there was cal talking about logan's wife being a saint and he's like she puts up with all this crazy pitching nonsense right like he just has some kind of random hobby. Yeah. He's so derisive about it. And then when Logan found out that Cal had gotten mad at me about catching 120 games, he was like, oh, well, I'll be bothering him about that moving forward. But the two of them really, they like to get after each other. What was remarkable, just thinking back to last week too, was, and you bring up Logan, that dude was there, I think the longest of any player. Just from the tinkering, the working, the timing, the efficiency, all the stuff on the mound, the stuff behind the seat like that guy is just about his craft right in the in the he just seems to enjoy the most convicted way much right yes exactly exactly kind of like some guys i'm sure with the golf swings are like yeah you know like i want to take over this let me change this let me tweak this what new drill can i come up with this how can i continue to evolve others are like no i'm pretty good kind of kind of like my stuff kind of just refine my stuff and ultimately that's where it's going to end up like and i think why cal says to logan he calls away the game he does for logan like hey man nope major in your majors like this is all fun go ahead and tinker all you want yep and but who knows maybe that little cutter maybe that stuff that well and logan did have a point behind it right especially the cutter he was like look i just need something else to throw when i'm behind on the count so i mean like they he did have some purpose in in tinkering with this but i just hilarious as soon as cal leaves he starts calling his own number and throwing these pitches You want to tell me your story, Brock? I want to hear it. I want to hear your story before we get to this comp. Well, it's not even a story. It's just kind of reading. It's a little bit tied into my blue 88. Like this pre-agency period, Salk, there is going to be a massive amount of traction in the quarterback market. Like there has been really since, I don't know, since John traded Russell years ago. I think that kind of started a lot of this. Like you can't trade a franchise quarter. You can't move on. Like, yes, you can. Yes, you can. And then you see, you know, the Lazarus projects like Sam Darnold come up and now win even a Super Bowl. So to get over that hurdle, like, well, they can get you there, but you're never going to win a Super Bowl. No, you can win a Super Bowl with the reclamation project. So there are a ton of them that are going to be on this market. This comes from an ESPN story last night is they were just kind of looking at this week and where the wheels are going to turn. This has to do with Minnesota. The Vikings are not ready to give up on J.J. McCarthy. their 2024 first-round pick, who missed his rookie season with a knee injury and then struggled mightily through another injury-riddled second season in 25. But they also aren't ready to hand McCarthy the keys for 2026. The odd quarterback landscape of this offseason, and it is odd, makes it difficult to predict where the Vikings land. But if and when, someone such as Geno Smith or Kyler Murray get cut. I could see Minnesota pursuing that kind of passer on a one-year deal. That would be so funny. What are we talking about? And is this one of those situations that we have such proximity to it, both watching Kyler's every start against the Seahawks and living and breathing with Geno for years? That's the direction you're going to go for J.J. McCarthy? And that doesn't seem like either of the – like if you haven't given up on J.J. McCarthy, then why would you bring in two guys that aren't going to be the right influences around J.J. McAfee? Correct. That's what I don't get. That's what you want to bring in? I don't necessarily have a problem with teams taking a chance on Geno or Kyler. Like, hey, we've seen. You're right. The Lazarus Project is a great way of viewing it and terming it, Brock. But I don't know if I want to do that while I've got a top five pick around. You want to bring those two approaches in to J.J. McAfee? No, thanks. That's an out. I'm out on that. You think that would be? That's a no-go. You think that would be a good way to grow and cultivate and develop? It seems like some relationships with teammates are a little murky there. And when you're injured as much as you are in basically your first two years, you're not durable, you're not available. Those are the two guys. Now, Geno's an unbelievably tough dude. And he got hit and just absolutely destroyed behind the worst offensive line in the league last year, bar none. but those are the two kind of guys that you want him to sit at the foot of and learn? I don't think so, man. That doesn't make a ton of sense. That was pretty outrageous. And for those reasons, I'm out. Yes. All right, so you want this comp. This was sent to me by my buddy Nick, and it's from a – It's just kind of how this thing works now. Huh? You get all your show ideas from your friends. From my friends? Apparently, yeah. I mean, he sent this to me yesterday and it was a Reddit thing. I was like, yeah, I'll put that in the show sheet tomorrow. That's actually pretty cool. This is a rant that someone did here on Reddit, and it's specifically about Julio Rodriguez. And it says, I'm so sick of the Julio slander. Quote, he sucks in the first half. He's overrated. He's not clutch. All things I've seen said in Mariners discourse. This is the comparison for Julio and Barry Bond's first four seasons, both ages 21 to 24. When you're on pace to be as good as Barry Bonds, you should not be getting criticized. Julio is still younger than three of the top 100 prospects in baseball. Dude's still basically a kid, and he's already the best center fielder in baseball right now. If he was a free agent right this second, the Yankees or Dodgers would throw a half a billion at him easily. How about you just appreciate that we have an amazing young talent on our team and enjoy it. He's our best center fielder since Griffey, and still people don't appreciate him. And so let me give you some of the comp with Bonds through their first four seasons. Julio, in terms of war, Bonds gets him, but not by much. 23.6 compared to 22.9. So nearly even in B-War. That's baseball reference war. Julio's played in more games by a few, has a few more plate appearances and hits. actually like 120 more hits than barry bonds does uh the home run edge who do you think that goes to that goes to julio because barry did not hit home runs at the prolific rate 12 to 84 rbi julio 341 bonds 223 uh who do you think has more steals that might go to bonds it does by one 117 to 116 you kind of forget the type of player barry was when he was in Pittsburgh. Batting average? Probably Bonds. That era. Julio. 274 to 256. How about that? On base percentage does go to Bonds. 345 to 331, not by much. Slugging goes to Julio. And OPS goes to Bonds by four points in a completely different era. OPS plus, though, playing in this ballpark, goes to Julio. That is pretty crazy. Julio, so I saw the war thing first and was like, yeah, all right, the war is going to be high for Julio, but a lot of that is going to be defense and he's playing center field. No, I think you look at those numbers and Julio's first four years compares not just favorably, better, I think, than Barry Barnes. Okay, then play me cut 16. Then if that is the case and those folks are so furious, and I get some of that backlash because I've had some strong opinions about just the peaks and the valleys of Julio. We would like to see some of those evened out. Here's your hitting coach. When asked in our final interview down there in the spring with Kevin Seitzer, I asked him, hey, give me a couple guys to watch this upcoming season. Your eye just sees something ahead of all of us. He went with the young guys there, but then we asked him about Julio. They all went through ups and downs during the season. and Julio getting off to his prototypical slow start that I hope is going to end this year. I think he's going to be more consistent. I just felt like there was a turning point after the All-Star break, kind of going into the All-Star break, that things changed for him. And I feel like there was a lot that we learned and he learned. And so my hope is that's going to be the big wow. If my memory serves me right, part of the reason it was a constant conversation, some of the fun we had with Jeff Passan, who had the big piece ready to go and never really put in published it, was because that swing rate was off the charts. And then the strikeout rate was higher. It was too much swinging. Yeah, too much swinging and too much swinging and missing. and then that seemed to calibrate a whole lot better in the second half of the season So I talked to Seitzer afterwards I ran into him after we had that conversation I don think this would be off the record Up in Sun City Huh No just before I left the facility No, not up in the facility. He was not playing with the old people in Sun City. That's where I ran into a guy that had played with you two years ago. Amazing. That's still one of the most. It's too bad you hadn't come with me because being paired with the same random person two years apart in two different states would be a pretty remarkable story. It's funny enough that this fella, did you tell me his, the future, was it his son-in-law that he was golfing with? Yes. So if I understand right, Brock was golfing with Dylan, now Haley's husband. This guy was golfing with his daughter's now husband. I don't know the name. That guy, the guy you were playing with, this kid asked him for permission to marry his daughter that day and then got engaged. and Dylan did the same thing. And so did Dylan. And he said, you know, I could kind of tell that the kid was getting ready to do the same thing to Brock. Love was in the air that day. It's hilarious. Yes, that's where the Cupid in me comes out. Lots of weird coincidences. So I asked Seitzer, hey, can you give me a little more on, like, why you think, you know, what it is about Julio and why you think this year is the year? And I don't think this is proprietary. If it is, I really apologize to him because I didn't think this was something that he would mind me saying. He said last year they sort of worked on something where Julio would aim for a spot. Like he would pick a spot out on the field. Maybe it was in center. Maybe it was at the pitcher. Maybe it was to the right of second. Whatever it was, he would take a spot on the field and aim at it when he swung. And that seemed to kind of make things click for Julio. Have you ever heard that? I'd never really heard that as a... It's kind of like Mark Jackson used to do with his free throw form where he put his fingers up there. Maybe. I don't know. Those kickers kind of align themselves as well and kind of make sure you on the first hole at Chambers today. You got your take a little spot that I want to aim at and know that it's going to go nowhere near there. No, it does sound like that was really helpful for Julio in terms of locking into his swing and making it go the direction that he wanted it to go. It doesn't mean the ball is going to end up where you aim it. I mean, you'll take a hit really anywhere on the on the on the field. Lyle, have you ever heard that? Aiming it like one, like trying to hit the ball to one point on the field, kind of aiming at it, and then reacting from there? I've never really heard that before. Yeah, not really. I mean, I'm not some hitting guru, but yeah, I've never heard of it. I didn't think you were. I was not confusing you with a hitting guru. What was the strength of your game at Lake Washington, Lyle? Oh, I could walk. Yeah? Like? Like you had a good eye. In the outfield? No, I would draw walks. No, like you had a good eye. You're pretty good at picking the ball out of the dirt at first base. Were you? I could see that. You like a good short hop? Honestly, I loved them. I almost wanted guys to throw it in the dirt because I like picking it. Yeah, that is kind of awesome. I kind of felt like, and maybe it was because we had a separate dinner, you know, the way all that worked out. I'm sorry it didn't happen this year with you and TJ coming over that there wasn't as much connection made. Maybe it was because of the sting of your eyes. That one day, man, your eyes looked, I felt horrible for you. your eyes i don't know if that was sunscreen or the sun or your retinas were infected i don't know you were just i just didn't feel like we made the same connection and got to talk about your guys's experience was it a a home run experience for you guys down there last week yeah it was great that's one of our favorite weeks of the year just like you guys because you get to be around the team every day and guys are laid back and people are in a good mood yeah it's fun it was a good week was there anything that you learned through the six seven days you guys were down there and you were around the team and you were close to them and kind of like we were each and every day was there anything new that you learned about them that you didn't go to youtube for i didn't go to youtube for i said it's a salk at 6 a.m but we talked to rob refsnyder and on the day where the mariners were facing joey cantillo this week from the guardians who they're going to see likely in the first weekend of the year who's a lefty so naturally if he pitches i'm sure ref refsnyder is going to be in the lineup and he was telling us yeah i got to get over to the game. I'm not playing today, but I need to go sit up on the dugout rail and watch Cantillo pitch. And I'm thinking to myself, you're going to see him in four weeks for what? Maybe two, three at-bats? But he wants to watch his tendencies and watch him up close because four weeks from now he wants to be ready for the guy. Where you figure, I mean, I'd never really heard that before. I figured mostly when guys are setting up to face a starting pitcher, they'll do their hitters meetings and they'll watch some video and they'll do their scouting report but i don't know the biggest thing i picked up is is that story is just a microcosm of the two new guys being absolute workhorses donovan and ref snyder those guys were in the cages for hours hours hours i mean just just kind of again you can't help now that they got those comfortable chairs i mean like why wouldn't they hang out there for hours you can't help but make that comp again to the veterans that were brought in across the street who eat ball live ball talk ball study ball like that's kind of like cooper cup-esque right there right like i'm gonna i'm gonna chase edges and seek every bit of intel and detail that i can and they know exactly who they are brennan on of it knows exactly the kind of player he is what he is what he isn't yeah no i'm sorry to cut you i was reading through all these texts where people are like well edgard said to aim at right center and i have coaches i tell them to aim at right center that's not really what he was saying though this was more like a specific point even more specific Choose a point on the field, and it wouldn't always be right up the middle or always at right center. Just choose a point. And when you swing, try to put the ball to that point, and it seemed like it would really, really helped. What do they say? Aim small, miss small, and then an old golf, right? And if that is like a very detailed aiming point, and okay, maybe I don't hit exactly that spot, but if I'm aiming that particular, yeah, Yeah, that just kind of locks guys in a little bit. Let's see. 509 says, did Maura get drunk at dinner again this year? No. Goodness gracious. Absolutely not. And I would not say she was drunk the year before. She was not drunk at all. Just a little bit of volume control loss. So what? She got a little loud. That's great. She was very curious about the fruit tree out back. Who cares? I take great umbrage with that, all right? She was not drunk. I was the one serving, just like the bearded bear at Haley and Dylan's wedding. They were in charge of making sure nobody got over-served. Damon's future son-in-law was very close, but that was more about the wine at the table than it was the drinks that the bearded bear was serving. So no. No, Maura was just fine. I will speak for you, Maura, and that is absolutely false. Thanks. Correct? Fair? I don't know. I don't want Saul bringing it up anymore because he was out to get me at the John Howie dinner. Out to get you? Thankfully. Why would you say that? I was more, how dare you? He was watching you like a hawk, and you were watching him like a hawk. I know. Maura and I were making evil eyes at each other across the table. It was quite a sight to see. All right, Lyle, here's a final question for you today. I got a text from my wife just a few minutes ago. Brock, this is shocking. Uh-oh. And I'm curious if Lyle will understand. She says, apparently. Like Lane? Exactly. Not quite the same vibe here, though. apparently I'm related, meaning her, not me, related to Martin Van Buren through my mom's mom, which leads me to ask Lyle, who was Martin Van Buren? No idea? What? Come on. Let me just cut you off. No. You listed a bunch of these guys. What was his job? I just said I don't know who he is. Yes, you do. Morris trying. Yes, you do, Lyle. We're not doing this. We're come off spring training. We got all this vibe. We got good vibes. You know who Martin Van Buren is. Take a guess. You do. He held this job from 1837 to 1841. You know who he is. I mean, there's a Van Buren Street in Phoenix. Yes, and it was named after. Don't play dumb on us, Lyle. Don't play dumb on us. There's also a Fillmore and some other streets of similar ilk. Lyle. Come on, Lyle. He was the. Well, Fillmore was a president. Okay. There we go. So that was Martin Van Buren. Now I'm questioning the list of presidents that you gave us. Eighth president of the United States. Maybe he just, that was real memory and it never sunk in. He's got a big dome and some crazy hair. So I don't know how I feel about this whole thing about how they're being related, but MVB. Yeah. What's up MVB? Yeah. How about that? So your girl's got MVB blood and Jonas Salk blood. Yeah. How about that? I mean, you can see how they're destined for greatness. That's why they're going to be stars. Yeah. Of course, he was only a one term president. I think he was the first one-term president. Came after Andrew Jackson, succeeded by William Henry Harrison. Wow. And, yeah, he fought the Whigs, did his best. How about that? Anyway, that's about all I got for you guys today. That's all the news fit to print. That's a little more standard Monday fare for us right there. Was it? Just kind of all over the place. This is going to be a week that something's going to hit. Something's going to hit this week. and I'm not talking about the Mariners down there, and I'm not talking about the start of the WBC or any of that. Something in this pre-agency period is going to hit. The NFL has been topsy-turvy. It just wrecked you some years ago, Salk. Everything you thought you knew, you no longer knew, and then it's kind of been spinning on its own course since. Quarterback market's going to be crazy. Free agency's going to be wild. Seahawks are going to, we love to help win the Super Bowl, are not going to be Seahawks anymore, but there's maybe a big whale looming. It's going to be a fun week, man. Can't wait. We're going to learn a little bit more about what's going on in Vegas tomorrow. Yeah, Jason Horowitz there, Steve Rabel, good radio guy, too. I need to know what's going on there. He's going to do this tomorrow. Kind of what they want, what they need, what they're going to do. I think I need some information. I got the guy for that. All right, good. I trust you implicitly, Brock. All right, everyone, have a great rest of your Monday. Bump and Stacey are coming up next. We'll catch you guys tomorrow morning at 6 a.m. And until then, the hay. Unlike Cal and Logan, like we're great battery mates. You put the fingers down, I'll throw that pitch day after day in the barn. See you, everybody. Get to the chopper!