Latest / Foul Territory / New M's skipper Jason Kanzler's Press Conference Reaction + MASSIVE moves coming for the Rangers?

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New M's skipper Jason Kanzler's Press Conference Reaction + MASSIVE moves coming for the Rangers? · Foul Territory

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Are there going to be some changes with the Texas
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Rangers or will there be changes? Evan Grant, Dallas Morning News,
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: back on FT. Great article the other day, Evan, and good.
• 0:11
  Speaker 2: To see you.
• 0:12
  Speaker 3: I wanted to get into it because, yeah, good to
• 0:15
  Speaker 3: see you, dude. I'm curious.
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: I know the Rangers clearly want to shed some payroll
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: and get rid of some of the older vets on
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: the team. Are they going to be able to do that,
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: both from a money-moving perspective and some need permission?
• 0:27
  Speaker 4: Well, I mean, the three guys who are the biggest payroll– hits,
• 0:33
  Speaker 4: Corey Seager, Jacob DeGrom, and Nathan Evaldi all have complete
• 0:39
  Speaker 4: no trade abilities. So they definitely need permission from all
• 0:43
  Speaker 4: three guys. And you're not going to be trading any
• 0:46
  Speaker 4: of those guys if you do and getting a full
• 0:51
  Speaker 4: salary relief, right? You're going to have to eat some
• 0:53
  Speaker 4: of that salary that they've got. But I don't see
• 0:57
  Speaker 4: any way for the Rangers to make moves and add
• 1:00
  Speaker 4: to this team if they don't move some of those
• 1:03
  Speaker 4: guys and reallocate dollars, because they are really hemmed in
• 1:07
  Speaker 4: by what ownership has said will be a very flat
• 1:10
  Speaker 4: payroll from last year. They've got a lot of holes
• 1:14
  Speaker 4: without a whole lot of resources to go around to
• 1:17
  Speaker 4: fill them.
• 1:18
  Speaker 5: Who's to blame for this? I mean, the contracts that
• 1:22
  Speaker 5: they've signed up for, they knew these people were going
• 1:24
  Speaker 5: to get older every year. Everybody except for you, Evan,
• 1:27
  Speaker 5: gets a year older.
• 1:29
  Speaker 4: I get a lot older, Kratzy, every year. I age
• 1:32
  Speaker 4: in like dog years at this point in time. But
• 1:36
  Speaker 4: I think that, look, it's a two-pronged issue here. One,
• 1:40
  Speaker 4: I think if your ownership and you committed to all
• 1:42
  Speaker 4: of that payroll in 22 and 23, and look, they
• 1:49
  Speaker 4: added about $ 750 million worth of commitments over those two winters.
• 1:53
  Speaker 4: If you are going to add all of that, you
• 1:56
  Speaker 4: better be prepared to carry that payroll for a while.
• 2:00
  Speaker 4: I think the Rangers were hoping, hoping that their minor
• 2:03
  Speaker 4: league system at that point in time, which looked pretty productive,
• 2:06
  Speaker 4: would graduate a number of players who would be in key,
• 2:13
  Speaker 4: almost core-type roles. And you're talking about Josh Young and
• 2:17
  Speaker 4: Wyatt Langford, Evan Carter, Jack Leiter, Kamar Rocker, to name five.
• 2:24
  Speaker 4: And all those guys have gotten to the big leagues
• 2:26
  Speaker 4: and all have contributed in one way or another, but
• 2:29
  Speaker 4: I would be I'd be hard-pressed to say that any
• 2:32
  Speaker 4: of them have become a star. Josh had a really
• 2:34
  Speaker 4: good year this year at third base, but he was
• 2:36
  Speaker 4: also hurt and missed about 50 games, which has kind
• 2:39
  Speaker 4: of been his track record. So you were hoping that
• 2:42
  Speaker 4: the minor league system was really going to start to
• 2:44
  Speaker 4: bubble up, and so then if your payroll was kind
• 2:47
  Speaker 4: of flat, you'd be okay because you had lower-paid players
• 2:51
  Speaker 4: really picking up a lot of the slack. But you've
• 2:54
  Speaker 4: had the players that were going to get old maybe
• 2:57
  Speaker 4: get older a little bit quicker than you expected. And
• 3:00
  Speaker 4: you've had the younger players not really take the steps
• 3:03
  Speaker 4: that you need to take. So I think it falls everywhere.
• 3:05
  Speaker 4: I think that ownership has dropped the ball a little
• 3:09
  Speaker 4: bit here. I think that the Rangers may have over-evaluated
• 3:13
  Speaker 4: these young players. And they find themselves in a really
• 3:16
  Speaker 4: sticky situation.
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: Yeah, but is it all worth it, Devin, because they
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: won the World Series? Is all this worth it because
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: they won the World Series? I mean, they won the
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: World Series.
• 3:24
  Speaker 5: Three years ago, right?
• 3:25
  Speaker 3: Twenty-three? Twenty-three.
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: So is it all worth it? Because you signed these guys,
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: you got what you wanted, which was a ring. The
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: Rangers had never won it. So is all this now,
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: this is just payback for winning it, but was it
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: worth it?
• 3:36
  Speaker 4: I mean, and that is a question that I don't
• 3:38
  Speaker 4: know that I can answer. I know for fans what
• 3:40
  Speaker 4: it meant. And I know, look, it was great to
• 3:42
  Speaker 4: see a first-time World Series champion again this year in Milwaukee.
• 3:46
  Speaker 4: And it just brought up a bunch of memories of
• 3:48
  Speaker 4: what this fan base went through to win for the
• 3:50
  Speaker 4: first time in 50-plus years when they won in 2023.
• 3:53
  Speaker 6: Right.
• 3:55
  Speaker 4: But this Ranger team has followed it with three consecutive
• 3:58
  Speaker 4: non-winning seasons. And let's remember, they went 2017 to 2022
• 4:04
  Speaker 4: with losing seasons. So it's been a decade of losing
• 4:08
  Speaker 4: with one great hit in there. And that's kind of
• 4:12
  Speaker 4: the existential argument in baseball. Would you trade a decade
• 4:15
  Speaker 4: of losing for one World Series?
• 4:19
  Speaker 3: I don't know.
• 4:19
  Speaker 4: It doesn't feel like it's been terribly satisfying over the
• 4:22
  Speaker 4: last decade. That one year was great, but it doesn't
• 4:25
  Speaker 4: feel like it's been a satisfying decade.
• 4:29
  Speaker 3: I don't know.
• 4:29
  Speaker 5: That ring continues to shine. It doesn't lose its luster
• 4:33
  Speaker 5: unless you stop polishing it.
• 4:35
  Speaker 3: I hear what you're saying. I disagree, too.
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: Just to jump in. Show of hands here. Nine years
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: of stinking, but you get a World Series title versus
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: most of the rest of the league. dealing with what
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: they're doing, like Mets fans out there, Yankees fans out
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: there that haven't won since so long. Would you rather
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: be a Rangers fan or a Yankees fan in the
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: last 10 years? Every Yankees fan would rather be a
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: Rangers fan because they got a title out of it.
• 4:59
  Speaker 4: I think, Scott, the one qualifier here is, theoretically, that
• 5:04
  Speaker 4: sounds great until you go through it. And I know
• 5:07
  Speaker 4: what the fan base here has gone through the last
• 5:09
  Speaker 4: three years when their expectations have gotten raised that this
• 5:13
  Speaker 4: team was opening a window of contention. And it hasn't
• 5:18
  Speaker 4: come to fruition. And now I think that this fan
• 5:21
  Speaker 4: base feels more disenfranchised than they felt in a long time. So,
• 5:25
  Speaker 4: you know, you won that World Series and that year
• 5:27
  Speaker 4: was great. And I do not want to take anything
• 5:29
  Speaker 4: away from it because I know how much it meant.
• 5:31
  Speaker 4: But the last three years when you have raised expectations
• 5:34
  Speaker 4: and did not meet any of them, I think the
• 5:36
  Speaker 4: hangover and the depression hits even harder.
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 5:41
  Speaker 7: Okay.
• 5:42
  Speaker 5: I mean, they finished one game out of the playoffs.
• 5:44
  Speaker 5: I don't know about even the year that they wanted,
• 5:47
  Speaker 5: they weren't, they weren't dominant. They just ended up getting
• 5:50
  Speaker 5: hot and they had two relievers that they were able
• 5:53
  Speaker 5: to ride with some starters. And that was, so they're,
• 5:56
  Speaker 5: I don't think they're as far as you're saying the
• 5:58
  Speaker 5: word depression or depressed over these years, but that's, that's
• 6:03
  Speaker 5: my opinion.
• 6:05
  Speaker 3: I let's go check my Twitter feed.
• 6:08
  Speaker 5: Well, that, Let's maybe use a different platform than Twitter
• 6:13
  Speaker 5: that maybe would give a little bit more positivity.
• 6:16
  Speaker 3: So here's the question then. Twitter's the most accurate thing
• 6:18
  Speaker 3: in the world. It is definitely accurate.
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: Everyone hates their life on there. Who is happy on
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: Twitter besides Brewers fans?
• 6:27
  Speaker 4: And I do think that World Series was worth it.
• 6:30
  Speaker 4: I just do think that Ranger fans right now have
• 6:32
  Speaker 4: seen this club. Look, they won the World Series. Did
• 6:36
  Speaker 4: they take any serious steps afterwards when they won it?
• 6:39
  Speaker 4: to say, okay, we are now a power player in
• 6:42
  Speaker 4: Major League Baseball. Didn't invest after the World Series. Ray
• 6:45
  Speaker 4: Davis kept the payroll flat then. Came back with a
• 6:48
  Speaker 4: losing season. The next year, the first 500, dead 500
• 6:52
  Speaker 4: season in club history. This year, yeah, they finished at
• 6:56
  Speaker 4: 80-82 in the most winnable division in Major League Baseball history,
• 7:01
  Speaker 4: and they still couldn't win it. So it's... I think
• 7:07
  Speaker 4: the bottom line is a World Series is worth it.
• 7:09
  Speaker 4: I think the pain that follows it is really significant
• 7:13
  Speaker 4: and can't be disregarded.
• 7:16
  Speaker 3: That's fair.
• 7:17
  Speaker 5: That's fair. But who's to blame, Evan?
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: Who's to blame for the failure of Evan Carter?
• 7:21
  Speaker 3: I just answered this question.
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: Oh, but Evan Carter, right? He came up at 23
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: and was– this isn't the same question, Evan, so sorry.
• 7:30
  Speaker 3: I'm sorry. I got carried away with you. I know injuries.
• 7:32
  Speaker 3: I got carried away.
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: But did injuries– did they not see the injuries coming?
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: Because in the minor leagues, he was not able to
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: stay healthy, right? Lankford never really played in the minor leagues,
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: so you can't look at his history. You just don't know, right? But,
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: I mean, DeGrom has an injury history. Evaldi has an
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: injury history. They trade a bunch of their minor leaguers
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: for Mackenzie Gore, who wasn't great for him last year, right?
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: So is this a development issue then for whoever's running
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: the Rangers minor leagues and not getting guys there that
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: can help them? Because they had to go get Berger, right?
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: They had to go get two catchers. They had to
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: go get Seager. They had to go get, you know,
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: Brandon Nimmo for Simeon.
• 8:07
  Speaker 5: They had to go.
• 8:08
  Speaker 3: There's really not.
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: I mean, there are some homegrown guys young who can't
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: stay healthy. Another guy, right? Lankford can't stay healthy. So
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: there's not a lot of homegrown guys on this team
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: that are able to stay healthy. So is that a
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: developmental issue or is there something we're missing here?
• 8:23
  Speaker 3: So let's unpack a little bit of that. Look.
• 8:27
  Speaker 4: I don't disagree with you one bit that when you
• 8:29
  Speaker 4: look at Evan Carter, who had played, I think, five
• 8:32
  Speaker 4: games at AAA before he was called up, and you
• 8:34
  Speaker 4: look at Wyatt Lankford, who had played three games at
• 8:38
  Speaker 4: AAA before he was called up, there has been this
• 8:42
  Speaker 4: kind of rush of players to the big leagues maybe
• 8:47
  Speaker 4: before they were completely finished out. On the other hand,
• 8:51
  Speaker 4: when you do win and you are trying to continue
• 8:54
  Speaker 4: to win, And you don't have the financial wherewithal to
• 8:57
  Speaker 4: continue to supplement that. Either you say, well, we were
• 9:01
  Speaker 4: a one-year fluke, or you chase it with some other trades, right?
• 9:04
  Speaker 4: You go out and you make the Gore trade. You
• 9:06
  Speaker 4: make the Berger trade to try and increase your ability
• 9:09
  Speaker 4: to hit fastballs. And so you're robbing one side to
• 9:15
  Speaker 4: try and improve yourself on the other side. And there's
• 9:19
  Speaker 4: always a tax that comes along with that. And I
• 9:21
  Speaker 4: think that's where the Rangers are right now. I will
• 9:24
  Speaker 4: say that this, on the idea of guys coming to
• 9:28
  Speaker 4: the big leagues too fast, let me go back to
• 9:30
  Speaker 4: Evan Carter for one second, right? They're in a playoff
• 9:33
  Speaker 4: race in 23. They have nobody else to go to
• 9:37
  Speaker 4: when they have an injury in the outfield. And so
• 9:40
  Speaker 4: Carter gets called up and then he has this incredible month.
• 9:43
  Speaker 4: I don't think the Rangers were expecting Evan Carter to
• 9:46
  Speaker 4: be completely ready at that point in time. They were
• 9:49
  Speaker 4: hoping he could get them into the playoffs or help
• 9:51
  Speaker 4: get them into the playoffs. He actually takes over October.
• 9:54
  Speaker 4: And so now you get the spring training the next year.
• 9:56
  Speaker 4: What are you going to do? You're going to take
• 9:57
  Speaker 4: the little savior and send them to the minor leagues.
• 10:00
  Speaker 4: So the Rangers were kind of forced into that. And
• 10:02
  Speaker 4: I don't think Evan has gotten finished off. Then you
• 10:05
  Speaker 4: come up with the injury situation and his back issues
• 10:08
  Speaker 4: are something that have dogged him for a long time.
• 10:11
  Speaker 4: Those were relatively healthy this year. Now he's got this
• 10:14
  Speaker 4: hip labrum issue. which you wonder if that's going to
• 10:17
  Speaker 4: impact his speed, right? This is a guy whose speed
• 10:21
  Speaker 4: is probably his best asset, and he's going to miss
• 10:24
  Speaker 4: a significant amount of time next year recovering from this
• 10:27
  Speaker 4: hip injury, and is his speed going to recover? So
• 10:30
  Speaker 4: that's a real issue. Now spin it forward for one second.
• 10:34
  Speaker 4: They've got as talented a prospect as I've seen in
• 10:38
  Speaker 4: the Rangers system in Sebastian Walcott, who I just saw
• 10:42
  Speaker 4: in the Arizona Fall League on a day when he
• 10:44
  Speaker 4: singled and stole a base and hit a grand slam
• 10:48
  Speaker 4: all in the first inning. He is exceptionally talented. He's
• 10:52
  Speaker 4: played two games at AAA at this point in time.
• 10:54
  Speaker 4: And given all the issues that the Rangers have around
• 10:57
  Speaker 4: the diamond, including the idea that Carter's not going to
• 11:00
  Speaker 4: be ready, Sebastian Walcott, who's played some outfield now in
• 11:04
  Speaker 4: the Arizona Fall League and has spent a lot of
• 11:05
  Speaker 4: time working there, is going to be real tempting as
• 11:08
  Speaker 4: an idea to plug in. But if you do that,
• 11:11
  Speaker 4: are you falling back into the same cycle that we
• 11:13
  Speaker 4: just talked about with rushing these guys to the big leagues?
• 11:16
  Speaker 4: So that is going to be a real talking point
• 11:18
  Speaker 4: for the Rangers this winter.
• 11:20
  Speaker 5: That sounded like such an Arizona Fall League inning. A
• 11:23
  Speaker 5: single stolen base and a grand slam in one inning.
• 11:26
  Speaker 5: That's very Fall League-esque. Nothing against the pitchers. The hitters
• 11:30
  Speaker 5: have a little bit of an advantage. But my question to.
• 11:33
  Speaker 3: You is, See why?
• 11:35
  Speaker 5: Is Chris Young, the GM, going to be able to
• 11:38
  Speaker 5: fleece another team like he fleeced the Mets and actually
• 11:41
  Speaker 5: pull this off? You listed the older players. Is he
• 11:46
  Speaker 5: going to be able to find, or is every other
• 11:49
  Speaker 5: team's antennas up? Like, no way we would take a
• 11:53
  Speaker 5: Marcus Simeon on or now take someone else on.
• 11:56
  Speaker 4: All right, well, I think the target, and nobody has
• 11:59
  Speaker 4: said this, but look, there's some evidence to suggest it,
• 12:01
  Speaker 4: but the most logical target for the Rangers, if they
• 12:05
  Speaker 4: want to move DeGrom or they want to move Seager,
• 12:08
  Speaker 4: is to go back to the Braves. The Braves had
• 12:11
  Speaker 4: a trade in place for DeGrom who declined in the
• 12:14
  Speaker 4: middle of the season. I think Jacob would be more
• 12:16
  Speaker 4: willing to reconsider that if it appears the Rangers are
• 12:19
  Speaker 4: not going to be really competitive in 2027. I think
• 12:22
  Speaker 4: the same thing applies with Seager in that Corey's going
• 12:27
  Speaker 4: to be very selective about where he would potentially accept
• 12:30
  Speaker 4: a trade. Atlanta might be one of the few teams
• 12:34
  Speaker 4: to which he would accept it. It's close to his
• 12:35
  Speaker 4: home in Nashville, close to his family in North Carolina.
• 12:39
  Speaker 4: The Braves could use a shortstop, and the Braves are
• 12:41
  Speaker 4: in obviously a winning window. Now, are the Rangers going
• 12:46
  Speaker 4: to be able to get real value for those guys,
• 12:49
  Speaker 4: or is it going to be a salary dump? And
• 12:51
  Speaker 4: that's the other question. But every one of these conversations, guys,
• 12:55
  Speaker 4: is multilayered, and that was something I laid out in
• 12:58
  Speaker 4: the column this week. is it's great to talk about
• 13:01
  Speaker 4: reallocating dollars, but A, you're going to have limited return
• 13:06
  Speaker 4: in terms of dollars on those guys. B, you've got
• 13:09
  Speaker 4: a limited market of teams that are going to be
• 13:11
  Speaker 4: willing to take on significant salary. It's limited even further
• 13:14
  Speaker 4: by the no trade clauses. And so it's a really
• 13:18
  Speaker 4: difficult thing to overcome. And I think it's what's going
• 13:21
  Speaker 4: to be the Rangers' number one priority all November leading
• 13:25
  Speaker 4: up to the lockout. I think that is what is
• 13:28
  Speaker 4: going to dominate All of their talk. How can we
• 13:31
  Speaker 4: potentially move these guys? What dollars could we get back?
• 13:35
  Speaker 4: And who could we then pursue to improve this club?
• 13:39
  Speaker 4: Because this club has a lot of needs. And you're
• 13:42
  Speaker 4: only creating more if you move Corey Seager, right?
• 13:45
  Speaker 6: 100%.
• 13:46
  Speaker 5: Unless you think Sebastian Walcott's two games in AAA are
• 13:51
  Speaker 5: enough for him to play shortstop. Heaven, you're not feeling that.
• 13:55
  Speaker 4: Look, I do think that they need to give Sebastian
• 13:58
  Speaker 4: a little bit more time at the minor league level.
• 14:00
  Speaker 4: I think the past experience should be a guide here.
• 14:04
  Speaker 4: You know, make sure that these guys are refined, especially
• 14:07
  Speaker 4: since speed is going to be a real part of
• 14:10
  Speaker 4: the Rangers going forward. They want Sebastian to master the
• 14:14
  Speaker 4: outfield a little bit more. So I think there are
• 14:16
  Speaker 4: going to be reasons to keep him in the minor
• 14:20
  Speaker 4: leagues potentially to start the season that are practical. There's always,
• 14:25
  Speaker 4: you know, who knows what the CBA is going to
• 14:27
  Speaker 4: look like, but there's always teams that want to finagle
• 14:30
  Speaker 4: service time. But I think there are real reasons here
• 14:33
  Speaker 4: why keeping him in the minor leagues and letting him
• 14:36
  Speaker 4: like dominate AAA for a month or six weeks while
• 14:39
  Speaker 4: he learns the outfield, I think that makes some sense.
• 14:42
  Speaker 5: There are certain trends that I don't just chalk up to, well, okay, whatever.
• 14:46
  Speaker 5: I have conspiracy theories. Is there anything to the increased
• 14:52
  Speaker 5: offense overall after a certain point in globe life. I
• 14:58
  Speaker 5: think it's called globe life at the Rangers home field.
• 15:01
  Speaker 3: I'm forgetting.
• 15:01
  Speaker 7: Yeah.
• 15:04
  Speaker 3: And I think I know where you're going with this.
• 15:05
  Speaker 3: Like early in the season, it seems like it was terrible.
• 15:07
  Speaker 3: We did. Right.
• 15:09
  Speaker 4: And then as, as the temperature heats up, it seems
• 15:12
  Speaker 4: like it does increase. And the Rangers have done a
• 15:16
  Speaker 4: bunch of studies. They've got, they've come up with nothing
• 15:19
  Speaker 4: definitive and, It's a topic I intend to revisit with
• 15:23
  Speaker 4: them this winter. But you're not the only person seeing that, Kratzy.
• 15:28
  Speaker 4: I mean, it does seem like in the beginning of
• 15:30
  Speaker 4: the year, when it's a little bit cooler and rainier,
• 15:35
  Speaker 4: that this part plays absolutely enormous. And then as the
• 15:40
  Speaker 4: season heats up and that, whether it's the cement or
• 15:43
  Speaker 4: it's the glass panels or whatever, it does seem like
• 15:46
  Speaker 4: the ball flies a little bit better.
• 15:49
  Speaker 5: Evan, the people I talk to, in BP, the ball
• 15:52
  Speaker 5: flies normal, same, the whole year. So start looking into
• 15:58
  Speaker 5: your humidor, okay? Because the league has a humidor for
• 16:01
  Speaker 5: every stadium.
• 16:02
  Speaker 4: I know.
• 16:03
  Speaker 5: They manipulate it a little bit. So, Evan, good luck.
• 16:07
  Speaker 4: The humidor issue. Yes, we will get into that. I
• 16:10
  Speaker 4: will just say this. There's one remedy for the Rangers
• 16:12
  Speaker 4: that doesn't have to rely on hitting bombs at Globe
• 16:15
  Speaker 4: Live Field. And that is that with the dimensions in
• 16:18
  Speaker 4: this ballpark and the big alleys and the new emphasis
• 16:22
  Speaker 4: in baseball towards being more athletic, running, aggressive, this could
• 16:27
  Speaker 4: be a very good doubles hitting team. That's what they
• 16:30
  Speaker 4: should be. Who was the guy who made the biggest
• 16:32
  Speaker 4: amount of progress this year?
• 16:33
  Speaker 3: Josh Young. And what did he do?
• 16:35
  Speaker 4: He absolutely dominated the ball in the alleyways.
• 16:40
  Speaker 5: Emphasis because of the two teams that were in the
• 16:42
  Speaker 5: World Series. Is that the baseball emphasis you're talking.
• 16:45
  Speaker 7: About, Evan?
• 16:47
  Speaker 3: Look, I mean, I think there's going to be much
• 16:49
  Speaker 3: more of.
• 16:51
  Speaker 4: An emphasis around the game on athleticism, aggressiveness, and winning
• 16:56
  Speaker 4: without having to rely on three true outcomes.
• 17:02
  Speaker 5: Or maybe they just won't make the playoffs. Or maybe
• 17:03
  Speaker 5: the teams that don't make the adjustment won't make the playoffs.
• 17:09
  Speaker 4: I think that's the conversation a lot of GMs and
• 17:12
  Speaker 4: front offices are having right now. Because the other part
• 17:15
  Speaker 4: of this right now is that teams are going to
• 17:16
  Speaker 4: start valuing those guys more, and so it's not going
• 17:20
  Speaker 4: to be as easy to go pick up a Hamilton
• 17:25
  Speaker 4: or somebody for absolutely nothing and put him in your
• 17:29
  Speaker 4: lineup like the Brewers did and get significant value out
• 17:32
  Speaker 4: of him.
• 17:34
  Speaker 3: David Hamilton, yeah.
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: Yeah, they'll look for those guys. Brewers have 90 of them,
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: and including in their minor leagues too.
• 17:41
  Speaker 3: Evan, good stuff, dude. Good to see you. Happy offseason, Jay.
• 17:46
  Speaker 4: AJ, what was the Georgia-Florida score this weekend?
• 17:52
  Speaker 6: 27-8.
• 17:52
  Speaker 3: It was pretty bad. But I went to Florida-Georgia.
• 17:57
  Speaker 2: I don't know what Georgia-Florida is.
• 17:58
  Speaker 7: I went to Florida-Georgia.
• 18:01
  Speaker 3: It was from the right state of the line. We
• 18:04
  Speaker 3: know how to pronounce it.
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: AJ, didn't we have someone on who said three touchdowns?
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: Wasn't it like a prospect or somebody came on?
• 18:09
  Speaker 7: It was a prospect.
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 18:11
  Speaker 7: Yeah, it was Dak.
• 18:13
  Speaker 5: It was Dax.
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: Oh, Dax Kirby. Yeah, one of the Yankees top guys.
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: All right, well, we're not going to talk about that.
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: We need AJ for the second half of the show.
• 18:20
  Speaker 4: I was there.
• 18:21
  Speaker 3: Good or bad, Evan, I'm there.
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: I'm there going again this weekend to Oklahoma.
• 18:24
  Speaker 3: So good or bad.
• 18:25
  Speaker 7: Are you really?
• 18:26
  Speaker 2: Evan, I show up. Yeah, you got it right, too.
• 18:30
  Speaker 2: Right over left.
• 18:31
  Speaker 7: Yep.
• 18:31
  Speaker 3: All right, y'all. It's always good to talk. Let's talk
• 18:34
  Speaker 3: some more. Yes, exactly.
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: We'll hit you when the Rangers trade all these guys.
• 18:38
  Speaker 3: Talk soon, Evan. Peace out.
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: Mariners coverage for the Seattle Times. It's Adam Jude joining
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: us on FT. Thanks for the time, dude. Good to
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: see you. And we want to hear about. Yeah, good
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: to see you, man. So we want to hear about
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: what's going on out there. What was the reaction to
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: the move to make the decision on Jason Kanzler? And
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: how was the press conference?
• 19:02
  Speaker 7: Yeah, good first impression.
• 19:03
  Speaker 6: Jason Kanzler, I mean, a guy two weeks ago, no
• 19:06
  Speaker 6: one in Seattle had frankly ever even heard of. So
• 19:09
  Speaker 6: we were all doing our homework and trying to catch
• 19:11
  Speaker 6: up as as fast as we could, but there's just
• 19:15
  Speaker 6: not a whole lot of, you know, interviews, not a
• 19:17
  Speaker 6: whole lot of stories out there about him before this week.
• 19:20
  Speaker 6: And so yesterday was just a chance for a lot
• 19:23
  Speaker 6: of us and obviously Mariners fans and all of Seattle,
• 19:26
  Speaker 6: just to hear his voice for the first time and
• 19:29
  Speaker 6: see what he's all about. And as introductory press conferences go,
• 19:32
  Speaker 6: you know, it went about as well as I think
• 19:34
  Speaker 6: he could have hoped and as, as well as the
• 19:36
  Speaker 6: Mariners could have hoped.
• 19:37
  Speaker 7: And said all the right things.
• 19:38
  Speaker 6: And as you guys just talked about, you know, A
• 19:42
  Speaker 6: few jabs at the Houston Astros, his former employer and
• 19:45
  Speaker 6: the team he helped lead to a World Series championship
• 19:48
  Speaker 6: in 22. So he knows what the rivalry is all about.
• 19:52
  Speaker 6: Obviously the Mariners for the better part of a decade
• 19:55
  Speaker 6: were the little brother in that rivalry. And, and you know, with,
• 19:59
  Speaker 6: with cancer coming over here to the other side in Seattle,
• 20:01
  Speaker 6: it's it's a fresh start for him. And it's a complete,
• 20:05
  Speaker 6: it's a complete unknown, frankly, he's never managed at any level. And, Um,
• 20:09
  Speaker 6: I'm curious and looking forward to getting to know him
• 20:12
  Speaker 6: a little bit better and what he is all about. But, um, again,
• 20:15
  Speaker 6: good first impression, you know, as, as, as, um, introductory
• 20:19
  Speaker 6: statements go, you know, ride the lightning is pretty good.
• 20:21
  Speaker 6: He talked about wanting to step on opponent's throats and,
• 20:24
  Speaker 6: you know, there's a little bit of intensity there that
• 20:26
  Speaker 6: had been missing with the Mariners here the last couple
• 20:28
  Speaker 6: of years. And, um, I think, uh, I think the
• 20:31
  Speaker 6: Mariners fans will respond to that. We'll see how the
• 20:34
  Speaker 6: players react to it. Obviously this is all just very
• 20:36
  Speaker 6: brand new and he's brand new. this job, but it
• 20:39
  Speaker 6: seems like so far, so good.
• 20:42
  Speaker 5: The reason that you would change managers or the reason
• 20:46
  Speaker 5: you would go with a little out-of-the-box hire is because
• 20:48
  Speaker 5: you felt like as a team, you fell short. Would
• 20:51
  Speaker 5: you agree with that, Adam?
• 20:52
  Speaker 4: 100%.
• 20:53
  Speaker 6: We've all written for a couple months now. It's the
• 20:56
  Speaker 6: most disappointing season in franchise history. Changes had to be made.
• 21:00
  Speaker 5: Does he fill in those holes that the previous two
• 21:05
  Speaker 5: managers did not. I mean, it's a yes or a no.
• 21:09
  Speaker 5: It can't be a maybe or else why make this higher?
• 21:12
  Speaker 5: It doesn't matter if it was Bruce Bochy that they
• 21:13
  Speaker 5: brought in. If he doesn't fill in those holes, then
• 21:17
  Speaker 5: we're just spinning around in circles and don't give me 54% either.
• 21:20
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 21:23
  Speaker 6: Well, obviously the Mariners are convinced he is, and they're
• 21:25
  Speaker 6: the ones that make these decisions and they don't take
• 21:29
  Speaker 6: my opinion or anyone else's opinion into account. They're You know,
• 21:32
  Speaker 6: what I did find interesting yesterday, too, when Jerry DiPoto
• 21:36
  Speaker 6: and Justin Hollander, the GM, were talking about Kanzler, their
• 21:39
  Speaker 6: experience with him goes back five years. They interviewed him
• 21:43
  Speaker 6: for a hitting coach role on the Major League staff
• 21:45
  Speaker 6: in 2021, and they weren't able to pry him away
• 21:48
  Speaker 6: from the Astros at the time, but they had sort
• 21:50
  Speaker 6: of filed his name away. And as a guy they
• 21:52
  Speaker 6: kept coming back to in various roles, he obviously went
• 21:55
  Speaker 6: on to the Cubs to be their farm director. But
• 21:58
  Speaker 6: it's a guy that they've kind of been infatuated with,
• 22:00
  Speaker 6: it sounds like, for the past five years. In fact,
• 22:02
  Speaker 6: Justin Hollander said that interview five years ago was the
• 22:05
  Speaker 6: best interview for a young coaching candidate that he's ever
• 22:09
  Speaker 6: been a part of. So, again, somebody that they've had
• 22:12
  Speaker 6: their eye on. And when this came up, I don't
• 22:14
  Speaker 6: think he was at the top of the list. I
• 22:15
  Speaker 6: know he wasn't at the top of the list. And,
• 22:18
  Speaker 6: in fact, when the Mariners reached out to Jed Hoyer
• 22:21
  Speaker 6: with the Cubs, Jed Hoyer pulled in Jason Kanzler.
• 22:25
  Speaker 7: To his offense.
• 22:25
  Speaker 6: And he said, hey, you know, the Mariners want to
• 22:27
  Speaker 6: talk to you about a position. What position do you
• 22:30
  Speaker 6: think it is? What's your guess? And Kanzler went through,
• 22:33
  Speaker 6: I think, four or five different positions before they finally
• 22:36
  Speaker 6: came back to, wait, do they want to talk to
• 22:38
  Speaker 6: me about the managing job? So even he was surprised.
• 22:41
  Speaker 6: And he acknowledged yesterday this wasn't a dream job for
• 22:44
  Speaker 6: him by any means. It wasn't his goal to be
• 22:46
  Speaker 6: a major league manager someday. But once he started talking
• 22:48
  Speaker 6: to the Mariners about this, they said, hey, you've got
• 22:51
  Speaker 6: a lot of the qualities, a lot of the experience
• 22:53
  Speaker 6: we're looking for. And it kind of came to fruition, obviously.
• 22:55
  Speaker 6: They had a vision for what they were looking for.
• 22:59
  Speaker 6: And to me, what this signals is is an alignment
• 23:02
  Speaker 6: with the front office from the organization down the minor leagues,
• 23:06
  Speaker 6: bottom to top, top to bottom.
• 23:07
  Speaker 7: And that was something that's been missing, particularly this last year.
• 23:10
  Speaker 7: That's not a knock on Dan Wilson. But when you
• 23:14
  Speaker 7: struggle and you lose the way they did this year and.
• 23:16
  Speaker 6: In the fashion that they lost as frequently as they lost,
• 23:20
  Speaker 6: obviously steps were mixed, missed. The communication was lacking. And
• 23:24
  Speaker 6: that was a point of frustration up and down the organization.
• 23:26
  Speaker 6: Players talked about it that were coming up through the
• 23:28
  Speaker 6: minor leagues. Like, hey, all of a sudden, all the
• 23:30
  Speaker 6: things we were doing in the minor leagues that they
• 23:32
  Speaker 6: had success with, they pivoted and were doing things differently
• 23:35
  Speaker 6: at the major league level. And they didn't quite understand that.
• 23:38
  Speaker 6: So I think this is the Mariners going back to
• 23:40
  Speaker 6: identifying who they are and who they want to be
• 23:43
  Speaker 6: and the systems and the processes and that we can
• 23:46
  Speaker 6: roll our eyes at that all you want. But, you know,
• 23:49
  Speaker 6: those things are important to the Mariners and they're important
• 23:51
  Speaker 6: to many major league organizations, including the team that just
• 23:54
  Speaker 6: won the world series. So I think that's the Mariners
• 23:57
  Speaker 6: going back to like, okay, what's important to us. These
• 23:59
  Speaker 6: last five weeks were a chance for them to identify
• 24:02
  Speaker 6: their core values. And when they, at the end of
• 24:05
  Speaker 6: the day, Jason Kanza was a guy who filled the
• 24:08
  Speaker 6: most of those core values. And, and again, we don't
• 24:11
  Speaker 6: know a whole lot about him, but the Mariners are
• 24:12
  Speaker 6: very confident in who he is and what he can
• 24:15
  Speaker 6: be most importantly.
• 24:17
  Speaker 3: Hey Adam.
• 24:18
  Speaker 7: Okay.
• 24:18
  Speaker 2: So I, now after that whole answer you just gave,
• 24:20
  Speaker 2: I have, like five questions, but I'm going to start
• 24:23
  Speaker 2: with this one. That's not on the manager to deal
• 24:26
  Speaker 2: with the minor leagues. So doesn't that fall on Jerry DePoto?
• 24:29
  Speaker 2: If you said the communication, everything flipped, did they change
• 24:32
  Speaker 2: minor league coordinators? Did they change minor league directors? Did
• 24:36
  Speaker 2: they change field coordinators? Did they change any of that?
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: Because Dan Wilson was there the year before, right? And
• 24:42
  Speaker 2: so then, I mean, what changed? That's a Jerry DePoto.
• 24:46
  Speaker 2: Jerry DePoto, president of baseball ops, changed something.
• 24:48
  Speaker 5: Am I wrong in that?
• 24:50
  Speaker 6: That's fair, but also it's really interesting when you look
• 24:53
  Speaker 6: at their pitching operation. It's been one of the most
• 24:56
  Speaker 6: successful in baseball the last handful of years, if not
• 24:59
  Speaker 6: the last decade. Their pitching coaches at the major league level,
• 25:03
  Speaker 6: Pete Woodworth and Trent Blank, came from their minor league system,
• 25:06
  Speaker 6: came up. They were able to develop their coaching style,
• 25:10
  Speaker 6: their processes, all that good stuff, and it's been fluid
• 25:14
  Speaker 6: all the way through. It hasn't been like that on
• 25:16
  Speaker 6: the hitting side, and I think that was a point
• 25:19
  Speaker 6: of frustration, too. It's really interesting they're bringing back C.J. Gilman,
• 25:22
  Speaker 6: who was their minor league hitting coordinator. He became the
• 25:26
  Speaker 6: director of hitting with the Washington Nationals this last year. Obviously,
• 25:29
  Speaker 6: they had a ton of success in that regard. So
• 25:30
  Speaker 6: they're bringing him back. It's not official yet, but he's
• 25:36
  Speaker 6: going to be their lead hitting coach at the major
• 25:38
  Speaker 6: league level. And so, again, use all the fancy business
• 25:44
  Speaker 6: buzz terms, but the symmetry that they're looking for, should
• 25:47
  Speaker 6: be a little more fluid there too.
• 25:48
  Speaker 7: And yeah, it's fair. That goes from the top.
• 25:51
  Speaker 6: It starts at the top to make sure those systems
• 25:52
  Speaker 6: are in place and the communication is in place. But again,
• 25:56
  Speaker 6: when it came to the execution of that in major
• 25:58
  Speaker 6: league games this year, again, it's not to point fingers
• 26:01
  Speaker 6: at the manager, but he was part of the issue
• 26:04
  Speaker 6: and the communication breakdowns. And the Mariners expect that to
• 26:08
  Speaker 6: be more fluid going forward because they've identified that as
• 26:12
  Speaker 6: one of Jason Kanzler's strengths.
• 26:14
  Speaker 2: Okay, so did they blame Edgar Martinez because wasn't he
• 26:17
  Speaker 2: the lead hitting guy?
• 26:20
  Speaker 5: Dan Wilson, you know, Dan Wilson.
• 26:21
  Speaker 7: Well, Kevin Seitzer's out. Yeah, Kevin Seitzer's out. I got
• 26:24
  Speaker 7: no complaints on that one.
• 26:26
  Speaker 2: But, I mean, Edgar was the– I thought he was
• 26:30
  Speaker 2: the lead hitting guy and kind of Seitzer was the–
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: you know, whatever. However they termed it, everyone said, oh,
• 26:35
  Speaker 2: Edgar's kind of in charge, right? They didn't blame Edgar.
• 26:37
  Speaker 6: Edgar.
• 26:37
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 26:37
  Speaker 2: So Dan Wilson, again, was there the year before they
• 26:40
  Speaker 2: get within a few outs of the World Series for
• 26:42
  Speaker 2: the first time ever. And then from all accounts, again,
• 26:44
  Speaker 2: I'm not there. You're there every day. Dan Wilson kind
• 26:47
  Speaker 2: of changes managerial philosophy, didn't he? Because he was more
• 26:49
  Speaker 2: of a gut guy and he went to more of, hey,
• 26:52
  Speaker 2: I'm going to follow the script that they give me.
• 26:54
  Speaker 2: Is that is that is that accurate to ask?
• 26:58
  Speaker 6: I don't know that he changed a whole lot. I
• 27:00
  Speaker 6: think both sides tried to make it work. You know, again,
• 27:03
  Speaker 6: it was Dan Wilson's first time on the job, too.
• 27:06
  Speaker 6: you know, so much of 2025 was absolutely buoyed by
• 27:10
  Speaker 6: Cal Raleigh's historic 60 homer season. Cal was kind of
• 27:14
  Speaker 6: the consummate team leader in that clubhouse too. And so
• 27:17
  Speaker 6: when things had to be addressed, I think it kind
• 27:19
  Speaker 6: of funneled through Cal and Cal was able to sort
• 27:22
  Speaker 6: of steer things off in a lot of ways. It
• 27:24
  Speaker 6: wasn't just Cal, but I think it's fair to say
• 27:26
  Speaker 6: he was kind of the the leader in that clubhouse,
• 27:30
  Speaker 6: the unofficial captain. And Cal went through his own struggles
• 27:33
  Speaker 6: this year. He was away from the team while he
• 27:35
  Speaker 6: was on the injury list for a few weeks and
• 27:37
  Speaker 6: working through his own issues. And frankly, there was just
• 27:39
  Speaker 6: a leadership void. And you guys will probably agree. I
• 27:43
  Speaker 6: think everything I've heard from major league players is that
• 27:46
  Speaker 6: the best clubhouses are the ones that are run by
• 27:49
  Speaker 6: the players. They set their own standards. They police themselves.
• 27:52
  Speaker 6: But again, when those issues sort of crept up this year,
• 27:56
  Speaker 6: we just never saw any signs of anyone addressing those,
• 27:59
  Speaker 6: whether they were small issues or big issues. And by
• 28:02
  Speaker 6: August and September, those things had crept up and snowballed
• 28:05
  Speaker 6: in such a way that no one was able to
• 28:07
  Speaker 6: stop it. And so it was interesting to hear Jason
• 28:10
  Speaker 6: Kanzler yesterday talk about a lot of the principles and
• 28:13
  Speaker 6: his definition of culture, the things that he's not going
• 28:16
  Speaker 6: to allow and the standards.
• 28:17
  Speaker 7: That he won't let slide by.
• 28:18
  Speaker 6: And again, those are things you expect to hear in
• 28:21
  Speaker 6: an introductory press conference and going through the interview process.
• 28:25
  Speaker 7: He's never done it before, even at the minor league level.
• 28:27
  Speaker 6: So implementing those with established big leaguers, with Cal Raleigh,
• 28:30
  Speaker 6: with the pitching staff, with Julio Rodriguez is going to
• 28:32
  Speaker 6: be really interesting and certainly one of his biggest challenges.
• 28:35
  Speaker 6: But to me, that leadership void was pretty obvious this year.
• 28:39
  Speaker 6: And one of the biggest reasons the Mariners flopped the
• 28:41
  Speaker 6: way they did.
• 28:43
  Speaker 3: Adam, so, all right.
• 28:44
  Speaker 2: I mean, Cal Raleigh hasn't changed. Cal Raleigh, if anything,
• 28:46
  Speaker 2: he's grown, even though he had a bad year. I mean,
• 28:48
  Speaker 2: he's still, he's out there doing press conferences. So I
• 28:51
  Speaker 2: don't know that that's fair to say that Dan Wilson
• 28:53
  Speaker 2: wasn't a leader. He was a leader in his career.
• 28:55
  Speaker 2: He was a catcher. He was out there. Every Mariner
• 28:57
  Speaker 2: guy that ever played with Dan Wilson said, this is
• 28:58
  Speaker 2: our leader. And it was like Jason Veritech, right, when
• 29:02
  Speaker 2: he was at the Red Sox. Everyone just was like,
• 29:03
  Speaker 2: this is our guy.
• 29:04
  Speaker 3: So I don't know.
• 29:05
  Speaker 2: Again, I'm not there every day. You're there every day.
• 29:07
  Speaker 2: But then the Mariners came out and said, we want experience.
• 29:10
  Speaker 2: And then they go hire a guy who's never managed
• 29:11
  Speaker 2: a game in his life. Maybe in Katy, Texas, he
• 29:14
  Speaker 2: managed a physics game they were playing. but he's never
• 29:16
  Speaker 2: managed a major league baseball game. So why come out
• 29:19
  Speaker 2: and say you want experience? And then at the press
• 29:21
  Speaker 2: conference say, Oh, experience. We just said that we didn't
• 29:23
  Speaker 2: really care. We're just kidding guys.
• 29:26
  Speaker 7: Yeah.
• 29:26
  Speaker 6: So you saw all of our initial lists, you know,
• 29:28
  Speaker 6: five weeks ago had guys.
• 29:30
  Speaker 7: With major league, uh, managing experience.
• 29:32
  Speaker 6: Of course, I do think, um, you know, Joe Espada
• 29:36
  Speaker 6: was the safe choice. I expected him to be the choice.
• 29:38
  Speaker 6: And I think all of us are frankly pretty surprised
• 29:42
  Speaker 6: when uh kanzler was was named the manager the other
• 29:45
  Speaker 6: day but um again i i do think if you
• 29:48
  Speaker 6: gave jerry depoto a a mold of clay and allowed
• 29:52
  Speaker 6: him to kind of sculpt sort of the, the modern
• 29:56
  Speaker 6: baseball manager. It would, that manager would think and look
• 30:00
  Speaker 6: a lot like Jason Kanzler. He's got the background, not
• 30:03
  Speaker 6: as a manager, but again, in, you know, research and
• 30:07
  Speaker 6: development and coding and all these things that again, baseball purists,
• 30:13
  Speaker 6: traditionalists might not value right now, but Mariners do as
• 30:17
  Speaker 6: a front office. And I know a lot of other
• 30:19
  Speaker 6: major league front offices do. Um, and cancer can kind
• 30:22
  Speaker 6: of speak all those languages. He can talk to the analysts.
• 30:26
  Speaker 6: He understands the numbers and the data. And, um, it'll, again,
• 30:30
  Speaker 6: it'll be interesting going forward just cause he, you know,
• 30:32
  Speaker 6: how is he as a leader of men again, by
• 30:34
  Speaker 6: all accounts and everyone we've talked to, um, a lot
• 30:37
  Speaker 6: of people are singing his praises and, um, he's well-spoken and, um,
• 30:42
  Speaker 6: you obviously he's self-assured and, Getting to this point, 36
• 30:46
  Speaker 6: years old, the youngest manager in Mariners history, I think
• 30:48
  Speaker 6: second youngest in the game right now. There's a reason
• 30:51
  Speaker 6: for that. And he's obviously impressed a lot of people
• 30:53
  Speaker 6: along the way. And it's a huge task now. And
• 30:55
  Speaker 6: he's got a lot of questions to answer. But his
• 30:58
  Speaker 6: task now is to fill out this major league staff.
• 31:00
  Speaker 6: And you would think the bench coach would be a
• 31:02
  Speaker 6: pretty important role here, probably finding someone with experience. Then
• 31:06
  Speaker 6: he's got to get to know these guys in the
• 31:08
  Speaker 6: next few weeks before the lockout starts, because obviously after that,
• 31:12
  Speaker 6: he's not going to be able to talk to these guys.
• 31:14
  Speaker 2: Adam, I have a question for you. Does coding help
• 31:16
  Speaker 2: you get Julio to hit in April? Does coding help
• 31:18
  Speaker 2: you to get Cal Raleigh and Josh Naylor to hit?
• 31:21
  Speaker 5: I'm just asking.
• 31:22
  Speaker 3: I don't know.
• 31:22
  Speaker 2: Does that help you get those guys to hit?
• 31:24
  Speaker 7: I mean, that's cool.
• 31:25
  Speaker 5: You can code.
• 31:26
  Speaker 2: I mean, my brother can code, but he's not going
• 31:28
  Speaker 2: to manage a baseball team. Like he can build you
• 31:30
  Speaker 2: an app, but he can't manage a baseball team. Also,
• 31:33
  Speaker 2: it hasn't been a driveline. So if I could just
• 31:35
  Speaker 2: get my brother to go to driveline for like two months,
• 31:37
  Speaker 2: get the certificate.
• 31:39
  Speaker 7: You never know.
• 31:40
  Speaker 5: Manager of big leagues.
• 31:41
  Speaker 3: Here he comes.
• 31:43
  Speaker 6: Again, I would say I think others have talked to
• 31:46
  Speaker 6: Alex Bregman about Kanzler, too. I think Alex Bregman had
• 31:50
  Speaker 6: a lot of really positive things to say, worked with
• 31:52
  Speaker 6: him in Houston and was there with the Cubs as well.
• 31:55
  Speaker 6: So I think Bregman's word probably goes a long way
• 31:58
  Speaker 6: as well. But again, we just he's a complete unknown.
• 32:01
  Speaker 6: You know, we spent 45 minutes with him yesterday. Again,
• 32:04
  Speaker 6: good first impression, but still a ton of questions. How
• 32:06
  Speaker 6: is this going to work? And I think there's probably
• 32:08
  Speaker 6: some healthy skepticism there. within the organization, within the clubhouse, okay,
• 32:12
  Speaker 6: who is this guy? What is he going to try
• 32:14
  Speaker 6: to do? But, look, something needed to change, and obviously
• 32:19
  Speaker 6: the Mariners were very thorough in this process, and they
• 32:22
  Speaker 6: said they're very confident in him, and, you know, what
• 32:24
  Speaker 6: else are you going to do? If you're a Mariner fan,
• 32:26
  Speaker 6: you have to trust Jerry DiPoto in this front office
• 32:28
  Speaker 6: at this point.
• 32:30
  Speaker 5: I talked to some of the people that were in
• 32:32
  Speaker 5: that interview process, and they interviewed quite a few guys.
• 32:36
  Speaker 5: If I know more than one guy that's getting interviewed
• 32:39
  Speaker 5: for a position and can talk to him, that means
• 32:41
  Speaker 5: they were interviewing a lot of people. And I'm sure
• 32:44
  Speaker 5: if Jason Kanzler said, me, the manager? I'm sure Alex
• 32:48
  Speaker 5: Bregman was also like, wait, you want him to be
• 32:51
  Speaker 5: the manager? Bregman's like, whew, thank goodness I didn't sign there.
• 32:54
  Speaker 5: But the question is, I feel like the Mariners made
• 32:58
  Speaker 5: moves recently Last year, that kind of, as much as
• 33:03
  Speaker 5: Jerry DiPoto can go all in, he kind of went
• 33:06
  Speaker 5: all in. I mean, you went and got Ref Snyder.
• 33:08
  Speaker 5: You went and signed Naylor back. Like, you were, and
• 33:11
  Speaker 5: I know I'm missing other moves.
• 33:13
  Speaker 7: Brendan Donovan.
• 33:14
  Speaker 5: Brendan Donovan trade.
• 33:15
  Speaker 3: Thank you.
• 33:16
  Speaker 5: I know there was a big one. Is this really
• 33:19
  Speaker 5: the easiest managerial job somebody could fall into of the
• 33:23
  Speaker 5: ones that are available? I know the Astros made the playoffs,
• 33:25
  Speaker 5: but if managerial jobs and a new job is to
• 33:29
  Speaker 5: be had, you just have to improve. Shouldn't this team
• 33:33
  Speaker 5: automatically improve? And is Jerry going to do anything to
• 33:35
  Speaker 5: make the team improve?
• 33:36
  Speaker 6: I think we're going to find out, at least in part,
• 33:40
  Speaker 6: how valuable a major league manager is and can be
• 33:43
  Speaker 6: this next year, even if it's a rookie manager. I
• 33:46
  Speaker 6: think the Mariners are confident very confident that this roster
• 33:50
  Speaker 6: is built to win, that 2026 was just a hiccup.
• 33:55
  Speaker 6: They haven't used the injuries as an excuse at all,
• 33:58
  Speaker 6: but that was a big part of it. Again, Brendan
• 33:59
  Speaker 6: Donovan was supposed to be, he was their big acquisition
• 34:03
  Speaker 6: last year. I was a re-signing nailer, but bringing in
• 34:06
  Speaker 6: Brendan Donovan when he was on the field, he was
• 34:08
  Speaker 6: at times their best hitter, particularly hitting at the, in
• 34:11
  Speaker 6: the leadoff spot. He was supposed to be the guy
• 34:13
  Speaker 6: that kind of drove this offense. And he went through
• 34:15
  Speaker 6: various injuries throughout the year, really the past two years.
• 34:17
  Speaker 6: So obviously getting him healthy is a huge priority for 2027.
• 34:21
  Speaker 7: But you know, I think.
• 34:24
  Speaker 6: That basically you had Cal Raleigh, Julio Rodriguez and Josh
• 34:27
  Speaker 6: Naylor all go through the worst season of their careers.
• 34:30
  Speaker 6: And so if they bounce back to even something, you know,
• 34:33
  Speaker 6: 50 percentiles, you know, back to the baseball card, all
• 34:36
  Speaker 6: that good stuff, an average season for them in 2027,
• 34:39
  Speaker 6: this Mariners team is right back in contention in the AOS.
• 34:42
  Speaker 7: Do you believe that? Do I believe that? I don't know.
• 34:44
  Speaker 6: They've got a lot to prove certainly, but, The Mariners
• 34:47
  Speaker 6: believe that. And I know the players talking to a
• 34:49
  Speaker 6: lot of them in the last week of the season, frankly,
• 34:52
  Speaker 6: they were embarrassed. They knew they were better than what
• 34:54
  Speaker 6: they showed this year, 76 and 86. It felt like,
• 34:58
  Speaker 6: you know, there was just a season long, they were
• 35:01
  Speaker 6: kind of sleepwalking throughout the whole season and they knew
• 35:03
  Speaker 6: how bad the AL West was. And it just felt
• 35:05
  Speaker 6: like at some point they thought they were going to
• 35:07
  Speaker 6: wake up with this laissez faire approach that they could
• 35:10
  Speaker 6: just run off, you know, 16 of 17 in September,
• 35:14
  Speaker 6: like they did in 2025.
• 35:14
  Speaker 7: And, It just felt like they were like, yeah, we're
• 35:18
  Speaker 7: the best team. We're the most talented team.
• 35:19
  Speaker 6: We know we're going to turn around at some point
• 35:21
  Speaker 6: or turn it around at some point. It just, no
• 35:23
  Speaker 6: one kind of started the fire and it never happened
• 35:26
  Speaker 6: for them. And, you know, again, whether the manager was
• 35:30
  Speaker 6: the issue, you know, remains to be seen. Obviously, I
• 35:32
  Speaker 6: don't know if the manager's worth 10 or 15 wins,
• 35:35
  Speaker 6: but like I said, I feel like, you know, a
• 35:38
  Speaker 6: swift kick in the butt, some real leadership in there,
• 35:42
  Speaker 6: some real accountability. There was zero accountability on this roster
• 35:46
  Speaker 6: by the end of the season. There's a lot of
• 35:47
  Speaker 6: discussion about that here in Seattle at the end of
• 35:50
  Speaker 6: the year, and that's a real thing. The players owned
• 35:52
  Speaker 6: up to it themselves. They need to figure that out
• 35:56
  Speaker 6: in the clubhouse on their own, but obviously the manager
• 35:58
  Speaker 6: needs to be part of that as well. It's a
• 36:00
  Speaker 6: big offseason for them in a lot of ways, for
• 36:02
  Speaker 6: Jerry DiPoto, for Justin Hollander.
• 36:04
  Speaker 7: They need to win in 2027.
• 36:05
  Speaker 6: They all know that. And that's why, in particular, this
• 36:08
  Speaker 6: manager hire is so fascinating because they're not on the
• 36:12
  Speaker 6: hot seat, I wouldn't say, but they know they need
• 36:14
  Speaker 6: to win. Like another 76 win season is not going
• 36:18
  Speaker 6: to be acceptable here.
• 36:20
  Speaker 3: Exactly.
• 36:20
  Speaker 7: Yeah.
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: So hot seats the next few weeks, too, to see
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: what the moves look like. We'll bring you back when
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: they do some of those. If you're good for it, Adam,
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: good stuff, dude. Thanks for joining us.
• 36:29
  Speaker 7: Appreciate it, guys. Always fun.