Hour 4: Which Mariner are you Buying Into This Season?

Get in the freaking auto! From the Quantum Fiber Studio, this is Brock and Salk on Seattle Sports. Brock Huard is my hero. Jim Puder just punched me in the chitney. We're going to give you a minute. That really worked that way, Sherm. This is a show that has my name on it. It's kind of tough, though. Now here are your hosts, Brock Huard and Mike Salk. Hello! Hello! All right, final hour here of our morning. Shannon's going to join us in a little while. We'll do that at 9.30. She's otherwise occupied with Tucker right now. They're hanging out. There's treats. There's back scratches. It's a whole deal over there. So we'll talk to Shannon Brock in 30 minutes. Just to kind of catch up on our couple of days of interviews and talks and all that. Yesterday, I mean, Brendan Donovan and Dan Wilson and Rick Riz and Shannon, of course. Today we had Cal Raleigh. Going to talk a little later to Logan Gilbert. We'll do that after the show today. Am singer. Am singer. I know. No, there are a lot of people. And then I think we'll probably start to have a couple more players over the next few days. I think we've got Julio set up for early Thursday morning, which should be great. So we're kind of working through all of that right now. What's jumping out from the group that we've talked to? Well, it started with Brendan Donovan yesterday and the amazing cuts that Mora and Justin make as they work their butts off down here, Salk. We end. We watch some baseball. Their day doesn't end. They sit and they cut and they put videos together and they do all the amazing work that they do. and Brendan said it yesterday to start the whole shebang and he's going to probably every day somebody's going to say it and that is we're not afraid to say World Series. We're not afraid to say it. I know that's taboo. I know the weight of expectations. You put yourself out there. I know Mr. Stanton did it with Bump and Stacey a couple years ago after the playoff drought and everything else and at that point okay, that's fair. Julio's a stud and Cal's playing every day and your rotation's awesome and it wasn't misguided by John, but it's like this feels so much more substantial and sturdy because there's so many more answers, right? There's so much more. What are you laughing at? What? I'm trying to figure out what is going on there. He's just warming up the rotator. These guys have so many interesting moves and things they do, but that was one I haven't seen. That's a new one? That was like a full wiggle. No, it's like a speed bag with the weighted ball. You'd call it whatever you want, but that was something I've never seen before. Sorry, I didn't mean to distract you. No, just, you know, there's like a sturdiness to the World Series expectations that we have never felt here. So, I mean, it just, I think, flat out. It's not the first time we've heard the words World Series while we're here. It's not the first time there's been high expectation. It's not the first time. I mean, for real, not just the believe big silliness from 2010. Like, there have been other years coming off the playoffs and the next. Like, there were some years of some real like, hey, now there were still ifs. if the lineup can just be league average, if this guy can just hit the back of his baseball card, if, if, if. And this year, again, we've said it a bunch of times. Not as many ifs. Not as many ifs, a lot more expectations. We expect this to happen. We expect this guy to do this. You know, it's hard not to get caught up in it while you're here. I mean, like there is a real sense of confidence. Yeah, I like the term. I think I've said this a couple times, but I think I'm going to continue to land on it because I've seen it in college football programs with my own life experience for a couple decades. It's actually a Sean Payton-ism. He talks about it. But, like, this is a fully bloomed culture. Like, this is a fully, I mean, you're taking pictures right now of these guys getting their work in on the mound. Who's that, Brash? Is that Brash getting in? Well, that's Logan with his ridiculous. Oh, that's Logan right there? I'm trying to get a picture of what Logan is holding. Your eyes are bad. That is Logan Gilbert holding a ball, a plastic ball. It's half full of water. Half full of water with handles on two sides. Yes. What did Cal call it? His pitching nonsense? His pitching toys. I think I know where he calls it that. That's insane. I love Logan. He's one of my favorite people on this team. And whatever works for him, great. Whatever he's doing right now can't possibly help. Just can't. I'm sorry. Oh, you're calling a placebo? I'm just saying. You think that's a placebo? Says the guy who pulled his hamstring in a 200. Shut up. All I'm saying is there's no way each part of that is doing. I'm not saying that like doing something doesn't help. But the two handled ball with a half full of water. Yeah. Can't help. It just doesn't make any sense. You are a silly, silly guy. Am I? Yeah. I don't know. Because actually that's not that uncommon. You'll see they're usually a little more elongated. Sometimes guys do it with sandbags. Sometimes they do that. Because the water moves inside. It is. And it forces all your other little tendons and ligaments and everything to activate. I know. I'm just giving them grief. Yeah, you are. Are you going to do that in the interview, too? Probably. Are you going to be the grief maker this trip? Yeah. I might be. I like teasing the guys. I think they need it. They don't get it enough. Everybody else kisses their rear end. And they go on the national shows. And everyone's like, oh, tell me what it's like to be the big dumper. Where did that nickname come from? And what do you ask? Can you catch 120 games? Yeah. Yeah. Well, you know, because you've got to keep these guys grounded a little bit. Sure. Don't get too full of themselves. Sure. Yep. I did run into somebody in the hallway here that knows. And by the way, Brian Wu, like, you see why Amsinger says what he says as Brian Wu just walks out. You know what Brian Wu feels a little bit like this year? he feels like Logan did last year, where it's like, you know, growing into that body, huh? Like, oh, kind of growing into being a pro in your routine and all of the ways. Like, there's just a different little presence that's emanating from the all-star. Well, because he's no longer the fifth starter. That's right. I mean, a year ago, he was the clear number five, maybe four with Bryce Miller. He's healthy, got great stuff. Question marks. He's number five starter. Yeah. Now Amsinger thinks he's the opening day starter. Uh-huh. What do you think of that? I think Logan's going to start opening. I think Logan will get the opportunity to start opening. I knew that. Yes. And I get where he's coming from. I'm not saying he's wrong. And I understand from the outside you look at it and you say, oh, my God, look what this guy did last year. Now he's the ace. I think that the history for Logan is enough in this group, but the internal politics of this group. I think it was hard enough to go from Luis to Logan last year, the way the respect they all have for each other. I just don't, I'm not saying that Brian Wu may not be the best pitcher on the team this year He might be But there's also a chance he's not Because all of these guys have the capability of being that And I just don't see any reason you would upset the apple cart I'll give you one more little just kind of anecdote And it's been told before So this is not a new story to be written But one more little anecdote on fully bloomed cultures And fully formed programs They have guys that A, want to be around each other and be learned from one another. And that's exactly what this group still does. We saw it a couple years ago when they do their bullpens out here. They all enjoy watching. They all enjoy ribbing. They all enjoy looking at the numbers. They all enjoy looking at what their buddy's spin rate is going to be today and what new little grip can he come together. Again, those are like uncommon things that only happen when you have great continuity and guys that really care about one another, trust one another, love one another. And, you know, we're spoiled. We have it with our football team and we have it with our baseball team. Yeah. And the success on the fields that come with that, it's a byproduct. It's a byproduct. And we are pretty, pretty spoiled here in Seattle. It is crazy when you look at a group of players here, any group, how many people you're like, man, they're really good. Like, I'm just at the moment I'm looking at the pitchers, and I know that the pitching's been good for a while. But literally all five guys in the rotation are over there. I see Brian Wu. I see Bryce Miller. They're together. I see Logan Gilbert. He's using his new water. No, he's right there. He's over there, too. He's right there on the left. Oh, there he is. There's Luis with the whole group, cracking jokes. And I think he's going to throw a bullpen here. Yep. And I saw Kirby over there as well. So all five guys, they're over there. You're right. They're talking to each other. They're working together. And you're like, oh, that guy could be the ace. Oh, that guy could be the ace. Oh, Matt Brash just walked off. He was just doing some stuff. Yeah. He's one of the better setup guys. Hey, there's Andres Munoz. Oh, he's a closer, and he's going to be. Oh, there's Ferrer. He's the new guy. You're like, oh, and there's Gabe Spire at a ridiculous – like, it really does just kind of roll through. And then you go to the other field to our left, and you start looking at, you know, guys as they're taking their bats, and you're like, we looked at the lineup today. Sure. That is a legit major league lineup. And, oh, by the way, at the bottom are two top-tier prospects that you're going to get an opportunity to see maybe this year. It is a very different thing. Quick question for you. If Adam Jude put the whole gear on and he caught Mooney, would it be out of turn when we tape with Logan after the interview? Would it be out of turn if we had you watch the drills? Yeah. If we had you use. I'm not doing that. If we had you go through a series of his drills. I'm not going to do that. You're welcome to do it. No, why don't you do it? I don't want to do it. You're working on your rotational stuff. I don't. No, I'm not. You're golfing later this week. I'm not doing that. Yeah, and if I hurt myself using that stupid water toy and I can't golf tomorrow, I'm going to be annoyed. We'll be right back with everything you need to know, including that major league lineup that's going to be out for later today. It's Brock and Salk, Seattle Sports on 710clsports.com in Peoria and together for now. 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 ERP, 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 datathowins.com to see what Marquee IQ can do. It's spring training, and it's the perfect time to take a swing at Toyota of Kirkland and Toyota of Renton on a new 2026 Tacoma. At both stores, lease the Tacoma for $309 a month for 36 months with $39.99 due at signing. We're financed with 2.99% APR for 48 months. Like spring training, Toyota of Renton and Kirkland and have standout opportunities with new prospects, except their prospects are vehicles that you test drive. They're not ballplayers. But hey, whether you're in the North or the South, they got you covered. This is Toyota of Kirkland.com and Toyota of Renton.com. Offers out through March 2nd, 2026 on approved credit through TFS. Excludes taxes, titles, license, dealers, accessories, and a $200 negotiable dealer documentation. Model 7540. Oh, Brian. When you're running the hurry up and don't have time for your favorite Seattle sports shows, listen to the podcast on demand. How about that? Unbelievable. What a thought. Every hour, every interview, every look behind the scenes. He is your new Seahawks head coach, Mike McDonald. We want to play a certain way, and you're just going to chisel away at it every day. Find us on seattlesports.com, the Seattle Sports app, or wherever you get podcasts. All signs continue to point to it being the right hire. Never miss a minute of Seattle Sports, the home of the Seahawks. Need to know. 15 minutes past every hour with Brock and Salk. Presented by Marquee Data here what you need to know first Well if you want to see a spring training lineup today is the day man get here by uh well noon pacific time in order to wash you got about you got about two hours before the game starts but get here because this is the lineup today for the mariners brendan donovan makes his debut uh third base cal raleigh catching julio in center and then Naylor and a Rosarena and Raley and Canzone. You throw, if eight and nine today were Cole Young and J.P. Crawford, that would probably be your opening day lineup. Instead, you get two great prospects, Michael Arroyo at second and Colt Emerson at short. Will all that with George Kirby on the mound? Yes, please. I believe this is game five. Not that any results really matter, But this is now the fifth game Colt Emerson's playing. They're going to give that young guy still looking for his first knock. He had a nice bat yesterday, and we watched him waste a couple pitches and had a walk and made a nice double play. And, you know, he's doing all the other stuff. But he is getting – he's going to get him when these guys head off to the WBC. He's not a part of that. He's not one of the dozen or so. So they're going to give – I don't know, man, just an early little – Yeah, I think you're right. A little sniff test. They're going to give him a lot of runway here this spring. And I think what Amsinger said earlier is right. He's probably not on the roster to start the year unless he forces his way on the way Julio did a couple of years ago. Like, he's going to have to do something like that in order to get to that point. And he may very well be able to do that. I got nothing but respect for what this kid is capable of. And honestly, the respect is pouring in from around the league. I mean, we heard it from Greg Amsinger, who thinks 98 wins and Brian Wu wins the Cy Young. And this team's in the World Series. Buster only cut three here. Buster on with Bump and Stacey yesterday said kind of the same thing. A World Series appearance seems totally reasonable. I do think that if you pick any other team than the Dodgers to win, given their strength, you're kind of inventing reasons to do that. But I'm picking the Mariners. I've got them on the record. but I just don't want to be like everybody else and pick the Dodgers. I think they really grew last year. And from what I understand, you know, from talking to people in the organization, you know, that conversation's out there in that clubhouse. You know, they're not running from that. They go into the year thinking that they got a real chance to represent the American League in the World Series. Do you think there's the hunted and hunter in baseball as much as there is in the other sports? Yeah. You think there still is? Yeah. Even in three-game series and four-game series and everything else. I think they know who's who and what's what. Yeah. They do. Why? Oh, I think, honestly, just listening to all this sound and sitting with all these guys and the expectations are here, I think that might be the one little flip of the switch to deal with. Like, hey, man, you're going to get everybody's best shot now. You're not surprising anybody, and you're kind of the target. I think that that will be a new world. Not too much, but I think that will be a little bit of a new world order for them. Yeah, I think so. Now, again, you're going to get the pitchers that line up against you. It's not like everybody kind of is going to work the rotation for who's going to face who. But you're going to be on TV more often. You're going to do some national stuff. You're going to have the late Sunday game. All those things are certainly going to be a part of the story and of the situation. There'll be a lot more eyeballs on it, a little bit more pressure on them, and a lot more expectations. Here's the second thing you need to know. I really, Brock, I gotta say, this was not an off-season storyline I expected, and I don't like it. This idea that Demarcus Lawrence may retire, I'm out. I don't like it. Do you want to call him? Can we? I don't have his number. I'll see if I can track it down. I'd like to call him. This feels very personal to you. Like, you care about him so much. You know who I was thinking about? You know our boss's boss lady. You know her son. Remember how I kind of went on a rant about how he got into the college of his dreams, and now he's not sure he wants to go? And then I grabbed his neck in the suite. I said, what are you doing, Jimmy? I said, what are you doing, son? Jimmy, you want to be a pilot? You're going to go to Embry-Riddle. Like, this is not a conversation. Yes. You don't think about, oh, I want to go to a state school in the Midwest. Like, no. You do what you've always wanted to do. Go and become a pilot now. What are you doing? Right. This feels the same way. I feel like I need to talk to DeMarcus Lawrence. He's like, dude, they need you. And you need them. Like, you were so happy last year. You love this. And he'd say, dude, I get to do something very few. It's going to be like Benny and Total Rico. It's like, I got six kids to feed. I got to go out on top. I know. I don't care. Where does it go from here? It goes to go out on top again. Oh. Like another year of it. I want no part of this guy retiring. I think the only avenue that would work with him is you could talk about the expensive kids. Like, I know you've got millions in the bank, but now you've got six. Yeah. Do you know how expensive they are, DeMarcus? You know who he should talk to is Sean Alexander. And Sean, I'm sure, would tell him to play a couple more years, especially if he wants to. He's not even halfway. He's not even halfway. He has six kids. He's not halfway to Sean Alexander. Oh, my God. Please come back to Marcus Lawrence, please. Here's the third thing you need to know. I've just kind of mentioned this throughout the day. As you see some of the guys still wearing U.S. Olympic jerseys. I see an OC, an old 1980 O'Callaghan jersey over there. That's kind of sweet. Josh Naylor came in with a Bruins jersey today, I'm sure, having lost a bet or something over the way the gold medal match went. If you were into hockey or you liked what you watched and you want to watch more, crack and get going tomorrow night in Dallas. And then Thursday, they'll be in St. Louis. Torrent will be at home on Friday night. I think they were opening up the top level for that. I mean, they've been getting 10,000, 11,000 every night. I'm going to guess that's going to be closer to 15 on Friday. Maybe more than that. We'll see. So lots of good hockey out there. that's everything you need to know i don't want to get into all the sort of culture war stuff around the hockey team yeah it's not no i'm not i just said i'm not going to get too deep into it i did mention earlier and i'll say it again i didn't all right just read all the facts of the story yeah just try to do that as much as you can yeah both sides of it it's a really inappropriate joke for the president to make in that moment yeah i'm just going to say that i'm not going to get into any president it's an inappropriate joke What the women accomplished was incredible. If he was just joking and he's not serious about it, I understand that people make jokes. It's an inappropriate joke that a lot of people, I think, are very rightly going to be offended by. The women did an unbelievable thing as well. And there's no reason to make them feel like second class citizens. What they did was incredible. Should the guys have laughed at the joke? I don't know what they're supposed to do. I'm not going to get angry at guys for being in that spot where the president of the United States, regardless of what people may think of him, and regardless of what a fire starter he is, whether you like it or hate what he has to say, everything he says is big news and polarizing. I don't know what they're supposed to do in that moment. Like, yell at him? Like, you know, I don't feel like that would have been appropriate at all. No, sir, Mr. President. Like, I don't think that's right. These guys have been drinking for however long. We saw Quinn Hughes. He could barely function. Quinn Hughes or Jack Hughes? No, Quinn was the one who could barely function. Jack was doing better than Quinn. Quinn's the one who sees ghosts. Okay. I don't know. I've heard those guys. I don't feel like they were necessarily trying to paint the women in that way themselves, especially given how many of them went to the women's games. I think they're in a very difficult spot there. I'm not trying to make excuses, but I think it's a tough spot. And then reporting yesterday that the U.S. women, quote unquote, were refusing a trip to the White House for the State of the Union. While it's not untrue, it is a little misleading. I think. Yes, they probably would have refused anyway, but that's conjecture. The fact is they all have to go back to their schools, to their teams. This isn't like when the Seahawks win and next year they can find a day for them all to go. These guys all go and women all go back to their teams and start play immediately in all different parts of the country. And by the way, while the men had a private plane charter back, the women didn't. They're flying commercial because they don't make as much money and they're flying commercial back from from Italy. So I think that that's worth mentioning. They were very respectful in turning down the offer and said how much they appreciated it. I don't know what else you could ask of them either. Lots of moving parts. It's why we don't do culture war stuff, thankfully. Yeah, well, I think my hope here was to sort of tamp some of it down rather than to amp it up. But I get it. It is really big news in the sports world today. Not everything needs to be part of the culture war going on in our country. Shannon Dreher is the best. She's not a part of culture war. She's not, no. She's just awesome. And she's going to join us here and kind of wrap up the show. We'll do that in a couple minutes. Brock and Salk, Seattle Sports on 710CLSports.com. It's spring training, and it's the perfect time to take a swing at Toyota of Kirkland and Toyota of Renton on a new 2026 Tacoma. At both stores, lease the Tacoma for $309 a month for 36 months with $39.99 due at signing. We're financed with 2.99% APR for 48 months. Like spring training, Toyota of Renton and Kirkland have standard opportunities with new prospects, except their prospects are vehicles that you test drive. They're not ballplayers. But hey, whether you're in the North or the South, they got you covered. This is Toyota of Kirkland.com and Toyota of Renton.com. Offers out through March 2nd, 2026 on approved credit through TFS. Excludes taxes, titles, license, dealers, accessories, and a $200 negotiable dealer documentation. Model 7540. 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. 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. Football season is all about protection and quarterbacks need it on the field and off the field too. That's where Levitt Group Northwest comes in. They're local, they know this community, and they'll actually shop around to get you the right insurance. So whether it's your home, your car, or even your business, Levitt Group Northwest has you covered. Call 877-4-LEVITT. That's 877-4-L-E-A-V-I-T. Talk to a team that knows how to protect what matters most. That's Levitt Group Northwest. Insurance you can count on season after season. 877-4-LEVITT. When you're running the hurry up and don't have time for your favorite Seattle sports shows, listen to the podcast on demand. How about that? Unbelievable. What a thought. Every hour, every interview, every look behind the scenes. He is your new Seahawks head coach, Mike McDonald. We want to play a certain way, and you're just going to chisel away at it every day. Find us on seattlesports.com, the Seattle Sports app, or wherever you get podcasts. All signs continue to point to it being the right hire. Never miss a minute of Seattle Sports, the home of the Seahawks. From the Quantum Fiber Studio, you're listening to Brock and Saul. Weekdays 6 to 10. On Seattle Sports and 97.3 FM HD2. D2. What? As you would imagine, Brock, the text machine handled. Lovely. Two minutes of talk about what happened with the U hockey team Oh boy Great class and plum All over the map I a snowflake Thank you for standing up for women sports It was an inappropriate... You already know what it was. I know. I knew the minute you started. I'll just say, like, you know, I don't know if I would consider that political talk. Some people are like, hey, we don't talk politics. Like, yeah. Yeah, but everything is political. And things kind of drifted into the sports world here. Can we just talk about Logan's half full of water orb? That thing is ridiculous. Well, Shannon reported now. This is polarizing, okay? So I jump on with Wyman and Brady yesterday, and they've gotten some information from somebody, and it turns out it's Shannon Dreyer, that Logan's bag of tricks has been cut in half. I don't know. We're still seeing some odd behavior out here. What is that other thing next to the ball? The cylinder-looking thing? That's another water stick. I don't know why it bothers you so much. It doesn't bother me. It seems like it does. It doesn't. I think it's great. It would have much better balance if you were to go over there and work with that a little bit. I asked him to do a few of the drills. Better body awareness. Thank you. I asked him to do a few. Your release point. Yes. You kind of get a better feel for it. What do you think his answer was? Take a risk, Mike. Take a risk. Do something. Put on video. People want to see it. No. I'm not going to do that. I mean, that is like. I'm not going to do that. The safest thing that you could do out here is pick up that water ball. I'm not going to do that. I don't want to. I don't want to do that at all. I remember you were running around in the outfield at one point. When you were young. When you were much younger. And you were sprung. Yeah. I was in my late 30s, early 40s. A pretty big difference in the last five years or so. I'm not going to do that anymore. I know my limitations. I know what I'm being made fun of. I'm not going to do that. We got our Mariners insider. She was, I watched her earlier, so she was working. She is. You know what that thing sort of looks like from the business, though? Oh, gosh. What? It kind of looks like R2-D2. Like, if you were to put those two things together, don't you think you could make R2-D2? Probably. Yeah, probably. And Logan would be C3PO. get around next to him. Great analysis. Shannon, you were working. I don't know if you're saving this for an article. I don't know if there's anything. It's terribly wrong if Brock is grabbing control right now. I don't know if there's anything you can share from this, but I saw you catch a conversation with Mr. DePoto right after he finished with the MLB set here behind us. Anything new come out of that conversation with Jerry? I don't know. I was just talking to him about a piece that I'd like to put up later today or early tomorrow and just about some observations and some things that just seem like almost seismic shifts that are hard to put fingers on. But you guys spoke with Brendan Donovan yesterday. You're going to at some point run into Rob Ruff Snyder and talk with him. And we all know how Josh Naylor can talk the game as well. And it really just took me back to a couple of years ago at the deadline where they had to go find a Justin Turner to be that and to have those conversations and to talk about roles and to get the conversations going in the hitting cages and things like that. But it has really struck me. I think now the best word is a veteran club. This is a very veteran club. And I don't take for granted those conversations that we are having with these players because you don't hear that as often. And Brendan Donovan talks about he knows what his role is at every part of the lineup. If he's at the top of the lineup, if he's batting third, if he's batting seventh. He said a lineup is a sum of the pieces. they all have different functions. It's not just this guy, this guy, left, right, and all of that. I'm really intrigued about what that can do because we heard talks last year about the conversations that they were having during games. And when things get going, that's when everybody knows what their role is. They are picking up on things that they are seeing out there. Naylor definitely brought an element of that. And now I see two new players in camp who certainly bring that and have had that reputation as well. I think most people would tune in and listen and just assume, and not wrongfully because they're not like we are. They don't get a chance to be embedded for a week or like Shannon every day around the ball club, as close proximity as she has. I think the average fan would think, every player must do that, right? Oh, you're a professional athlete. What are you talking about? Like, you know, Cooper Cup. I brought up the comparison between Brendan and Cooper Cup. Cooper came into that dynamic and changed it. JSN, it's not a surprise that JSN's done what he's done and Puka's done what he's done in L.A. because they had the same influencer. Like this guy that can still play the game, maybe not like he used to, but still play it, but talks it in a way that brings the coach's words and the plans to life. Shane, I think most would assume if there's 26 guys on the active roster, don't all 26 of them do that? No. No, they don't. I mean, first of all, you'll have young guys that are still finding their way. You'll have veterans who just aren't interested in doing that. And they're like, well, I'll lead by example. And this is active leadership that we're talking about. Cal Raleigh, obviously, the same way. And to me, we have seen this lineup for the better part of the last three, four years, depending on who is in it. It hits better when they are hitting together. It's not a matter of a star here, get to the same, despite what Cal did last year, what Julio can do. This has always been a pass the baton type lineup. Let's give them, let's wear out that starting pitcher. And that doesn't mean go up there and try and foul off a ton of balls. That means go out there and have a good at bat. Do not give the starting pitcher options. And to see what can change within a game, especially when you're only seeing a starting pitcher for like two times usually through a lineup now or tendencies. You know, Josh Naylor, we all know he is on top of. You can run on that guy. Look at this move right here. As he is on what the Mariners are doing, too. He's been instrumental in helping tighten up a running game on the Mariners' side of things, too, I've been told. Those conversations are huge, and it also shows incredible investment in team by the players. Yeah, there's a depth to this team right now, to this roster. We've never seen this. We've never seen this level of roster depth at the major league level, and then combined with what they have, not just at the minor league level, but the upper levels of the minor league. I mean, it really is different. With all of that being said, I don't know whether everyone is getting as big a World Series vibe if it's not for the superstar of Cal Raleigh. This is still a different level of superstar than we've seen Brock in our 17 years here. Shannon, I think you're probably, I mean, you were, I forget, did you get a year or two of Griffey at the very beginning of A-Rod and Griffey? Yes. So you did. So you've seen superstars at this level. I got to tell you, Cal is, and I know you feel the same way. He's unique. I cannot think of too many superstars that I've been around like this. I did spend time in and around the Red Sox clubhouse with Manny and Ortiz. And I don't know whether you'd put Dustin Pedroia there, but some of the other guys, John Lester, some really, really big names. And they did not act like Cal. They were not as accessible as Cal. They were not as down to earth as, well, Pedroia was. But the rest of them were not as down to earth as Cal. it just it is a unique style of superstardom it's not a style it's cal raleigh you know that that's him that is him and it's been fun to get to know him uh one of the things that i learned about him as we were doing the show and then as he kind of blew up and what he was doing was he's a guy that he's not afraid of the spotlight which is funny because if you talk to some who were around him before that they'd say oh he's pretty quiet he doesn't really like the limelight doesn't really want to do interviews things like that he's up for everything you know if you suggest to him to go do something it's like all right let's go let's go do it almost has the vibe of a guy who would some and i should have asked him this maybe yesterday well you offended him so you couldn't get to it almost sounds like somebody who had who got the advice hey enjoy this yeah this is you're only going to get this for so long in your life with all of these cool opportunities and weird stuff just go enjoy it because it's not going to last for that long but it's also a guy that takes on more than any other player on this roster not just now but ever has and he still is able to find time for it there is a discipline that he talked about i think it was two years ago we sat down in one of these rooms here and had a long conversation and he basically was planning almost every minute of the day back then to make sure that he had the time that he needed to do what he called a bunch of self-checks to make sure he was where he needed to be, that he was doing everything that he needed to do. And it was from the moment he woke up to the time that he got home. I mean, he is a guy that can handle all of that and can juggle all of that. And it's, you know, it's incredible leadership. I don't think we'll see it again because I don't think I've seen that level before, that kind of commitment and that just availability to everybody around him. Well, I appreciate what... So can he catch 120 games? I know, he didn't like that. How dare you? How dare you? The audacity. Shannon, I appreciate what you said. It's his style of leadership because it's Cal Raleigh. I think you're right. I also hope that other budding young superstars, not just here in Seattle, but anywhere, take note that you can do that. You can continue to be a genuine guy. You can continue to be accessible and have fun and still say no at the right times and not overload yourself. but that it is possible to be a superstar and still behave that way. I think it's a tremendous compliment to him, and I hope that there are other players that learn from him. Don't you think it's a little easier in Seattle than New York and Philly? Of course it is. Of course it is, yes. It's kind of a market that I think it's seen others. Absolutely. The Steve Largent and the Matt Hasselbeck. The Russell Wilsons, right, always just staying grounded and not allowing it to – oh, sorry. Maybe not. Maybe. A little too far there. Let me ask you the question I asked Amsinger earlier today. And that is, now that you've had, what, boots on the ground for about a week, and obviously you've experienced with most of almost all of these players, give me if they're a stock. If you could buy a stock. And some of them are going to be more expensive. Cowell and Jay and Julio are going to be very expensive, right, to try to buy that stock. Some are going to be penny stocks. if you could buy stock with the most value of any player in this organization. That would grow the most. Yeah. Right. You're going to sell it at the end of the year. Yep. That would grow the most. Whose stock is Shannon Dreyer buying right now? This is going to be a long pause. This is bad radio. I'd really have to think about that. Can I give you my answer since I'll give you Shannon a moment to think? Well, Mike McDonald went 17 seconds with Shannon. Yeah, that's true. I mean, is 17 seconds going to be long enough? Good to know there's not a clock on me. My answer would be Luke Riley. I think I said that the other day. You're really in on Luke Raley this year, huh? This is why, though. Again, buying low. The stock is way down right now after having just a miserable year last year. And Shannon said it yesterday. It's mostly hurt. It's not like he just forgot how to play baseball. He's healthy this year. He's being put in a position to succeed, playing against right-handed hitters, primarily, if not entirely. Chance to play right field in DH. There's lots of opportunity for him in two different spots. It's the occasional first base start maybe to give Naylor a break. But I see a guy with very low stock. You said I'm supposed to look at the whole stock value. His stock is down. And I think that there absolutely room for at least to get back to where it was You can make some money in the meantime That good Maybe a little dare to dream on Cole Young It's kind of an interesting spot, just kind of watching him. And he's still unbelievably young, and he got his taste. And there were 30 games there, Shannon, where he was like USDA prime. Like, it was pretty awesome. And then there was some chuck roast at the end, like any young player has. But he's kind of in a unique dynamic with Colt Emerson. because Colt is getting a lot of love. A lot of love. I bet you every national person and everybody that we're going to talk to is because, and that's coming from internal. Are you worried about a little Dustin? Maybe it's going to be a little Dustin Ackley, Kyle Seager. Dustin Ackley gets all the attention, and so does Colt Everson, and then Cole Young just breaks out. It's possible. Yeah. He learned a lot last year, and we'll see what he does. We've already seen, you know, you look at him, the body is different, and he's well aware of what happened last year. In his second year, with what he has behind him, I think that'll be the most interesting to follow. What does he do with this? And, you know, there are two totally different prospects. They were both number one picks, but Young is a player who does a lot of different things. Nothing really stands out, but he is good at everything that he does. And then Emerson is the kind of player that's supposed to be a little bit next level. I think we have found in the last year probably better defensively than we thought. Now the question will be, how does the bat translate to the big leagues? But I do think that Young is going to get that first shot, so that is going to give him the opportunity to do that. What am I seeing on the back of Jerry's T-shirt, by the way? Is this a little nine-on-one? Is this a little homage to 12 is one? I don't know. Nine-on-one. It's a lineup against a pitcher, what we were just talking about at the beginning of this. Is it really? I didn't know there was a shirt, but yeah, that's what that is. Some other answers coming in via text in between the people who are mad. Some other answers. Sell me all the stock you've gotten, Bryce Miller, says the 360. Another guy whose stock is probably down a little bit. And you could buy a little low, not low low, but lower after the injuries last year. A little bounce back, potentially in order. 509 says, I'm going with Robles. Oh, wow. I like that. I like where you're going. The challenge with Robles is just, are there enough at-bats there? He's just such a wild card. He is, too. We don't know what he is. So I don't, you know, there's not, he was absolutely fantastic after the trade. He did nothing last year. I think there will be enough at-bats. And I do think, again, I do think that they are comfortable. If they had to play somebody every day in right field, it would probably be him. But he's got a hit. And also, by the way, if you talk about the injury to Luke Rayleigh, I mean, what he did, jump into a net and fracture in his shoulder, you know, orbit. Fluke. I mean, total fluke. And wrecked, you know, five, four months of the season. And you try to come back and you just never. You made a good point yesterday with Luke. Like, we see these guys come back. But when they miss so much time and they're trying to ramp up and try to get back and try to fix things that are broken, really hard to do. He didn't have a chance. No, really hard to do. See anything else there, Salke? Randy on a contract year. That's a buy. That's pretty good, too. I'm curious if there is. I mean, look, you know how much I love Randy. I'm fascinated by him. He is one of the people that I just like to watch him move around the spring training facility because he just is. He marches to his own beat. He does. As much as anybody. Yeah. And I do think you can do that in baseball in ways that you can't do it in every sport. That's not to say that you do need culture and you do need togetherness and all of that. Like, I can't in one breath say it's important with the nine on one. And then in another breath say, well, it doesn't matter that Randy's not like that. Right. But I think you can be unique. You can, as long as you find ways to fit in with everybody else at the right times, I think you can be yourself. He is a dude who's just immensely talented and athletic. There aren't that many people with his skill sets out there. It's pretty unique. Yeah, but that nine-on-one is real, right? And I think that'll be a real conversation. and you can be more independent contractor, which we talk about in this sport than other sports, and you can go chase your numbers in 30-30 and do all of that, but it's got to be within the realm of Brendan Donovan of, okay, man, that's great. What are you doing to help me behind you or set the table for the rest of it? And that's why they have him in the right spot of the lineup, which they did not at the end of last year. It could be a lot easier for us. Absolutely, go be the 5'6". Correct. Where you don't need to be selfless as much, where you can just go out there and try to knock the ducks in off the pond. Like, that should be a really, really good spot for Randy to now drop lower in the order. And by the way, still have protection. If Rayleigh and Canzone or Roble, whoever it is, have the kind of years that they are capable of that they had last year, he should still get some protection and see some pitches and be able to do his thing. So I think that's a good answer. I like that. I just have no idea what to expect from Randy on a day-to-day basis. And I don't know that anybody does. He is, as you said, a wild card. Kind of fun lineup today, huh? Shane, did you take a look at that? Yeah, it looks like it's going to be their lineup against right-handers, like seven of the nine. Pretty cool, right? And then the two guys that aren't there are top prospects, too. So it's not like it's the seven of the nine, and then you're like, hey, who are these other two, Jim Oaks? Like, they're Quinkle and Royale and Colt Emerson. It's going to be so fun to watch if that four-person, the D.H. right-field mix works. It just is. I know we talked about it yesterday, but that has got the potential to raise profile the numbers of both positions significantly this year. Can you compare and contrast quickly the life experience of Maura and Justin and maybe me being on the Murphy bed a couple nights versus the life experience of Bob Lefkoe and Wyman to come here in a couple weeks? Compare and contrast teams. Well, day parts. You've got your morning crew right here. You've got your night crew there. I think we've talked about they are very snack-focused and centric. Everything revolves around the snack for them. Very snacky. Yes. Very snacky. Yes. See a lot of work going on with both groups. Why are you so quiet? What do you mean? I'm listening. I'm listening to Shannon. This group, the Justin and the Mora, much more likely to go for a long walk or maybe a hike or perhaps find some tacos at a bar somewhere. And the others, it's a full-on adventure that everything has to be planned out and chauffeured and, yes. Oh, it's so fun. It's what makes a team go. Sure. You need the Randy Orozarena's. You need the Brendan Donovan's. Who's our Randy Orozarena? Wyman. Should we put him on the Murphy bed? Who should we? It's got to be Lefkoe, doesn't it? No, Lefkoe. Yeah, put Lefkoe on the Murphy bed. I mean, I believe last year Wyman had to go to the garage and saw something to put under his bed because it was uneven. So, I mean, he might be fine with the Murphy bed. I never heard that, did he? Yeah, he busted out a saw. Yeah, that's true. There's also a problem with our place now because we're staying on a golf course. It's gorgeous. But I've seen a couple of rabbits back there. Uh-oh. And we have a putting green complete with golf clubs and balls. So, I feel like I need to stay away. Maura, if you kill another rabbit with a putt, that would really be incredible. I don't want to kill them. They're really cute. Well, I mean, doing it with a driver was one thing. Like, okay, things happen. We have ducks and geese and rabbits. How's your volume control been around those ducks, geese, and rabbits? She's been crazy. Maura Dooley and Randy Johnson, one and the same. Yep, exactly. Killing animals. Shannon, can I throw out a name at you that we've not talked much about? Oh, wow. He's not been a big talk of camp this year, although he was last year. And it's interesting because he's progressed. What's the word these days on Laz Montes and where he's at in his development? I think it's too early to, you know, we haven't seen quite a bit of him. He had a tremendous at bat, obviously, against Mason Miller in the first game. And, you know, he really takes pride. He doesn't want to be known as the guy who it's all or nothing. He doesn't want to be known as a guy that doesn't have a good eye at the plate. And from what I've understood, there has been some really nice progress in that. There's always going to be a good amount of swing and miss in his game. I think you want that from him. But if you look at him, he is ready to go. We talked with Franklin Gutierrez at FanFest a little bit about him. And Franklin, they put on Julio a couple of years ago to kind of help get him used to center field. And now they're putting him on Montez a little bit more in the outfield. Love that idea. And he said of both of them, he said as good as Julio is, there's more. He can get better. and they said Montez, he does think, even though the knock on him has been defensively, he thinks he will be better than average in left field. I agree. I mean, we watched him last year in right field, and every time we watched him, we came away like, he looks fine. He's not going to be a gold glover necessarily, but he didn't look lost out there. He wasn't taking off the routes to the ball. He wasn't a liability at all. I think the strikeouts are the bigger concern there. He's got to get it to a reasonable rate in the minors in order to make his way up because it keeps getting harder the higher you go. But I hope we're not losing sight. I'm not one of these folks who said, well, you can't give up Las Montes for anything. I'm not like that. It's kind of the case. It sure seemed to be. That was, yeah. But the upside potential of a guy of that size is just so rare. There's nobody else like him in the system, which is why it was important. Everything I had heard, St. Louis wanted Montes, and that just was not happening. And there just is nothing close to that. Is it going to play out? We don't know, but at least you have that opportunity with him. He's very coachable, too, I've heard, which is fantastic. He's got a joy when he walks around here. Sunshine. Yeah, he does. He does. It is a little reminiscent of a young Julio. Not exactly the same. Julio's got a little bit of edge. I haven't really seen it, but I haven't been around Montez as much, so I don't know. Remember the young Julio? I mean, there was no edge. Sitting in the stands, eating cotton candy. Yeah, there was an edge there. There's a little edge now, which there should be. Yeah. I said a younger, minor league Julio. So a little similarity that, you know, we hope it ends up working out. Let me end the show with this, okay? I've got to clarify this. This has come across a text toy. I don't know why. Oh, man, I got distracted. Yeah, let me be abundantly clear. Salk does not have kinkles. No. Whoever has been texting in about that, that is inappropriate. It's odd. For some reason, the hair does not grow about mid-calf down. It was the only spot. It was like all your old ankle tape and spray and stuff that we used to do in the 90s. Nope, that's not the case. Salk's got great ankles and calves. Thank you. So I appreciate that. Please take that back. You don't get offended by the text line often, but that really bothered me. That bothered me. Yeah, that one bothered me. Because I can poke fun at Salk about some things. And I will. Yeah, and there's plenty to criticize here. But cankles? But now you're taking shots at the one decent part of my body. That's right. That's not right. And don't you dare do that. I'll stand up for you. Thank you, Shannon. Ball at the ankles. We'll talk to you tomorrow. Of course, it sounds like we're going to tape with Logan Gilbert in a few minutes, so he'll be with us tomorrow as well. It's another day. We'll see what the day brings. Tremendous lineup today. Stick around for Bump and Stacey. They're coming up next. We'll see you tomorrow. It's Brock and Salk in the hay. Barnsley, everybody. Get to the chopper!