Latest / The Gregg Bell Show / 6-5 H1: Mariners Staying on Top, Keith Law Joins & NHL Discussion

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6-5 H1: Mariners Staying on Top, Keith Law Joins & NHL Discussion · The Gregg Bell Show

0:02
Speaker 1: Welcome to the Greg Ball Show with Christopher Kidd. I
0:05
Speaker 1: am not Greg Bell. I can only aspire to be
0:08
Speaker 1: a Greg Bell. But I am Chris Crawford. I'm honored
0:11
Speaker 1: to fill in today Greg, you know, doing the nice
0:13
Speaker 1: thing and not making me wake up at six am
0:16
Speaker 1: or not even a wake up at six am. From
0:18
Speaker 1: where I am, I'm thinking i'd probably have to wake
0:21
Speaker 1: up about three leave here about four o'clock, Chris, something
0:25
Speaker 1: along those lines. It's uh, look, I'm up anyway because
0:28
Speaker 1: of things that we don't really need to get into.
0:31
Speaker 1: But I don't think I would love the morning shift
0:35
Speaker 1: as much as I would love this one right here.
0:38
Speaker 1: And I'm sure you're appreciative that you got a little
0:40
Speaker 1: bit of extra sleep today, Yes, sir.
0:41
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, Rich knows not to ask.
0:45
Speaker 1: Those days.
0:46
Speaker 2: Morning show is tough, So salute to Chuck buck Ashley
0:50
Speaker 2: for doing it every day, because yeah, that's a that's
0:54
Speaker 2: a beast.
0:55
Speaker 1: It's a gauntlet, that's what it is. It is an
0:58
Speaker 1: absolute gauntlet of a show. We got a lot to
1:01
Speaker 1: talk about today, got to start with the Mariners. Of course,
1:04
Speaker 1: some of you guys know I'm a big baseball guy.
1:06
Speaker 1: You guys love to hate Molly Watt Monday with Ian
1:09
Speaker 1: on Monday's aptly named show. Sometimes we have to do
1:13
Speaker 1: it on Tuesdays because Ian takes vacations and weird stuff
1:16
Speaker 1: like that. It's never on me. I'm ready to go
1:18
Speaker 1: every Monday. It's just those guys, you know, they're so busy.
1:21
Speaker 1: But Mariner's coming off an excellent homestand they do have
1:25
Speaker 1: the eight grain eight game excuse me, winning streak end.
1:29
Speaker 1: But boy, I feel like the vibes changed with the
1:32
Speaker 1: Mariners real quick, Chris, because when they were not at
1:37
Speaker 1: their best, they falled, I believe twenty five and twenty
1:39
Speaker 1: nine on the year, they're four games under five hundred.
1:42
Speaker 1: It's the exact one third point, and you start feeling like,
1:45
Speaker 1: what what am I gonna do? Why did this go
1:48
Speaker 1: wrong again? Well, it's amazing how quick things can change.
1:51
Speaker 1: Because you get two sweeps in a row, both against
1:55
Speaker 1: good baseball teams, by the way, like Arizona is a
1:58
Speaker 1: good baseball team, and now I can't remember who the
2:01
Speaker 1: heck the other sweep was against, but you get it right.
2:04
Speaker 1: And then you win two of three against the New
2:06
Speaker 1: York Mets, who are a little bit of a mess
2:08
Speaker 1: but still a team with some talented players. Boy, I
2:12
Speaker 1: just feel so much better about this baseball team. And
2:14
Speaker 1: maybe that's like such an easy thing to do to say.
2:17
Speaker 1: Boy I sure feel good about the team that's won
2:20
Speaker 1: eight of their last nine games and is in first
2:22
Speaker 1: place in the worst division in the sport. Right now,
2:25
Speaker 1: it is just such a bad division, but they are
2:29
Speaker 1: in that first place. They do have not a commanding lead,
2:33
Speaker 1: but a lead that I feel pretty confident about. And
2:36
Speaker 1: Ian asked us this on Mollywa Monday as we were
2:39
Speaker 1: closing if we thought the Seattle Mariners were going to
2:42
Speaker 1: remain in first place for the rest of the year.
2:44
Speaker 1: I think yes, I do think the Mariners are gonna
2:47
Speaker 1: go ahead for these next ninety eight games. And the
2:50
Speaker 1: mass suggests they probably won't because they'll have a loll
2:54
Speaker 1: a the other team will have it high just because
2:56
Speaker 1: of how little space they have between these other teams.
3:00
Speaker 1: But I kind of feel right now, Chris like this team.
3:05
Speaker 1: It's very hard for me to see them giving up
3:06
Speaker 1: first place in this division right now.
3:09
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't think that's even a hot tick. I
3:11
Speaker 2: think that's more so your belief and what you've already
3:15
Speaker 2: seen so far in this eight span winning street that
3:18
Speaker 2: they did have where they played some good baseball. You
3:22
Speaker 2: had the young guys contributing Cole Young, cold Emerson. They
3:26
Speaker 2: brought production energy that this team needed, especially with guys
3:29
Speaker 2: that were missing. You all know who they are, Kyle Rawley,
3:33
Speaker 2: excuse me. So when you look at it from can
3:37
Speaker 2: his team maintain the lead? The only team that I
3:39
Speaker 2: would be a little worried about is the Houston Texas.
3:41
Speaker 2: Houston Texas, My goodness, the Texas Rangers. That's one team.
3:45
Speaker 2: Whe'm like, Okay, they got some pieces that if they
3:47
Speaker 2: can get hot and go on a run, maybe they
3:49
Speaker 2: can catch the Mariners. But I do think the Mariners
3:52
Speaker 2: are due for another eight ten game wins winning streak
3:55
Speaker 2: that could open this lead up even more, maybe make
3:58
Speaker 2: it five to six games opposed to a couple. So
4:01
Speaker 2: that is kind of where I'm at with it, and
4:03
Speaker 2: I don't think you're I think the optimism makes sense.
4:07
Speaker 2: I would say it's a rough estimate right now, but
4:11
Speaker 2: the fact that they could stay in first, I think
4:13
Speaker 2: they just are the better overall team in this division.
4:16
Speaker 2: I don't see a team that's really going to challenge
4:19
Speaker 2: them outside of the Rangers, and even then they have
4:21
Speaker 2: to be excellent. Yeah, I don't think the Marriags have
4:23
Speaker 2: to be excellent to maintain their lead. They could be good, sure,
4:27
Speaker 2: and they'll maintain the lead.
4:28
Speaker 1: Right. And it's a little bit darning with faint praise, right,
4:31
Speaker 1: Like you're saying that it's a little bit based on
4:34
Speaker 1: those four teams behind them, as much as you're saying
4:36
Speaker 1: this Seattle Mariner team is good. And I'm not saying
4:39
Speaker 1: the Seattle Mariner team isn't good. By the way, Obviously,
4:41
Speaker 1: I've famously famously might be the wrong way to say it,
4:45
Speaker 1: but I've infamously at least said that I demand this
4:48
Speaker 1: team gets to the World Series this year. I demand
4:50
Speaker 1: that the Seattle Mariners in twenty twenty six play in
4:53
Speaker 1: the World Series. And that's based not only on the
4:56
Speaker 1: fact that they've never been, but also based on the
4:58
Speaker 1: fact that I just feel like the American League, even
5:01
Speaker 1: coming into the year, was as wide as ope in
5:03
Speaker 1: as it's been. A number two. You were eight outs
5:06
Speaker 1: away from doing it, so you better do it. After
5:09
Speaker 1: you said let's run it back, you better come out
5:12
Speaker 1: and say we are going to take this thing. And
5:15
Speaker 1: you know it was a slow start, but I feel
5:17
Speaker 1: like they're building too. I'm curious on the four nine
5:20
Speaker 1: four or five to one the Tacoma Dodge text line,
5:22
Speaker 1: what do you guys believe that the vibes have changed?
5:25
Speaker 1: Or is it do you need to see more? Do
5:27
Speaker 1: you need to see this team have more than a
5:29
Speaker 1: hot week and a half before you believe in these things?
5:33
Speaker 1: And we're gonna talk to Keith Law of the Athletic
5:35
Speaker 1: about this at ten twenty, talk about not only what
5:40
Speaker 1: the Mariners have in front of them, but what could
5:44
Speaker 1: possibly be because what Keith Law does better than anyone
5:48
Speaker 1: is judge prospects and potential trade value. And this is
5:52
Speaker 1: going to be a massive trade deadline for the Seattle Mariners,
5:55
Speaker 1: I think. And Keith can tell us some guys who
5:58
Speaker 1: I think makes sense in terms of trades, in terms
6:01
Speaker 1: of you know, I heard Greg talking to Cody Stavenhagen
6:06
Speaker 1: about the to Reek Schooble stuff. You know, you don't
6:09
Speaker 1: immediately think of the Seattle Mariners making a trade for
6:13
Speaker 1: a pitcher, but boy, when you can get a potential ace,
6:17
Speaker 1: like a legitimate difference maker. And I'll point this out too.
6:21
Speaker 1: You know, let's not go completely forward into October, but
6:24
Speaker 1: like bear with me for a second. One of the
6:28
Speaker 1: main reasons the Seattle Mariners didn't go to the World Series,
6:31
Speaker 1: outside of the terrible decisions made by Dan Wilson, in
6:34
Speaker 1: my humble estimation, was that their starting pitching wasn't great
6:38
Speaker 1: in that postseason and having a guy who can be
6:41
Speaker 1: a legitimate number one like to Reak Schooball And I
6:45
Speaker 1: noticed this on ESPN. Jeff Passen wrote, who the number
6:49
Speaker 1: one Mariner trade target should be to Reak Schooble. And
6:52
Speaker 1: there's a little bit of a local tie here. He
6:54
Speaker 1: went to the University of Seattle. He is without question
6:58
Speaker 1: the best left handed pitcher in baseball right now. He's
7:01
Speaker 1: also going to cost a fortune. And if you look
7:03
Speaker 1: at the mayor and a roster, you might say, boy,
7:06
Speaker 1: I'd metch rather than upgrade shortstop defense, or I'd much
7:10
Speaker 1: rather them upgrade at designated hitter or a more reliable
7:14
Speaker 1: corner outfielder. But man, if I can get it to
7:18
Speaker 1: Reak Schooble, and I can take a great rotation and
7:22
Speaker 1: make it in an elite beyond elite, maybe rotation with
7:27
Speaker 1: someone like a Schooble. If I'm not having to move
7:30
Speaker 1: the very best prospects in the system. I think I'm
7:34
Speaker 1: doing it. I'd be curious, Chris, how interested would you
7:36
Speaker 1: be in something like that, Like like and obviously it's like, hey,
7:41
Speaker 1: do you want to reach Schooble, But like, how how
7:45
Speaker 1: pressing do you think it would?
7:46
Speaker 2: Not pressing? But if they can get it done, why not?
7:49
Speaker 1: Sure?
7:50
Speaker 2: I mean that's a that's a home run at a
7:52
Speaker 2: pitching Yeah, and if you can get it done, I
7:55
Speaker 2: don't think it's like, oh, you have to go and
7:57
Speaker 2: get them orrel it's this season is a failure because
7:59
Speaker 2: we that sure, the Mariners don't need that. It would
8:02
Speaker 2: just be a nice addition, Oh for sure. Kind of
8:05
Speaker 2: like I guess maybe Rashichi heat the Seahawks didn't need him. No,
8:09
Speaker 2: maybe they didn't need him, But at the end of
8:10
Speaker 2: the day, he came up really big in certain moments
8:13
Speaker 2: where I think Schooble could do the same thing. In
8:16
Speaker 2: certain moments he would just take over. Obviously it's a
8:19
Speaker 2: little a lot different Chian kick returning and being a
8:21
Speaker 2: wide receiver.
8:22
Speaker 1: But you saw the impact that.
8:25
Speaker 2: Rashid Rashid shi Head had in pivotal games. He won
8:30
Speaker 2: the game the Seahawks two games last year.
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Speaker 1: He sure did. Maybe three.
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Speaker 2: I have to go back and look, but I think
8:34
Speaker 2: Schooble can easily do something similar with the Manners. If
8:39
Speaker 2: they can make something work, I think that's definitely a
8:41
Speaker 2: possibility to go down.
8:43
Speaker 1: Check text line four nine four five one. Do you
8:46
Speaker 1: want the Mariners to try to get to reak school ball?
8:48
Speaker 1: If I see those, I might get a little apoclectic.
8:51
Speaker 1: We're gonna talk about the NBA Finals. We'll talk a
8:54
Speaker 1: little bit about the Stanley Cup as well. But Keith
8:57
Speaker 1: Loskin enjoyed us. Next on Sports Radio ninety three point
8:59
Speaker 1: three Kids now.
9:01
Speaker 3: Back to Greg Bell and Christopher Kidd on your Home
9:04
Speaker 3: for the Huskies, krackin and the twelfth Man. Sports Radio
9:08
Speaker 3: ninety three point three kJ R FM.
9:12
Speaker 1: Chris Crawford in for Greg Bell and joining us now
9:15
Speaker 1: in the Beacon Plumbing Hotline. So and I have talked
9:17
Speaker 1: to for a very long time, mister Keith Lock, Keith,
9:21
Speaker 1: how are we doing today? I'm good, I'm doing okay.
9:26
Speaker 1: I am excited to talk to you about a bunch
9:29
Speaker 1: of prospects stuff, some Mariner stuff, and I'll lead off.
9:31
Speaker 1: It's Mariner prospects stuff. By the way, of course, that
9:34
Speaker 1: we're going to talk to you about, but I want
9:36
Speaker 1: to ask you about kind of your overall thoughts on
9:38
Speaker 1: what you've seen from the Mariners over these first sixty
9:41
Speaker 1: three games in first place. The division has been it's
9:46
Speaker 1: been a division, all right, but it is a team
9:49
Speaker 1: that has played well. Yes, there has been some division
9:54
Speaker 1: from top to bottom, T to B as you like
9:57
Speaker 1: to say, What are your overall thoughts on what you've
10:01
Speaker 1: seen from Seattle playing a lot better as of late,
10:03
Speaker 1: but maybe not quite the first sixty three games they
10:07
Speaker 1: were looking to have to begin the year.
10:10
Speaker 4: Yeah, Well, I mean they've been saved by a bad
10:12
Speaker 4: division obviously, and you know, I think talked even we
10:17
Speaker 4: were saying, seems underachieving in terms of wins and losses,
10:21
Speaker 4: and now you're starting to see that even out they
10:23
Speaker 4: think they're kind of out playing the manager a little bit.
10:26
Speaker 4: I don't think Dan Wilson is particularly great as a
10:28
Speaker 4: tactical manager. He's just been the beneficiarya of a couple
10:32
Speaker 4: of guys getting healthy, a couple of guys playing more
10:34
Speaker 4: up to projections and more up to expectations. Obviously, the
10:38
Speaker 4: biggest difference very last year they had cal Rawly League
10:42
Speaker 4: in this year. He's been bad when he played, and
10:45
Speaker 4: now he's on the injured list. If he comes back
10:47
Speaker 4: and he is even a fraction of what he was
10:50
Speaker 4: last year, that's a huge boost to them, and I
10:52
Speaker 4: think puts them in a position where they can think
10:55
Speaker 4: very strategically towards the trade deadlines. They'll be one of
10:58
Speaker 4: the only contenders, maybe the contender that's not actively looking
11:01
Speaker 4: for starting pitching, which puts them in a pretty good
11:04
Speaker 4: position among buyers in what is probably going to be
11:07
Speaker 4: a pretty good seller's market.
11:08
Speaker 1: Chris Crawford and for Greg Bell talking to Keith law
11:11
Speaker 1: on the Beacon Plumbing Hotline. So I want to ask
11:14
Speaker 1: you about JP Crawford because he's been kind of a
11:17
Speaker 1: little bit of a lightning rod conversation piece, because having
11:21
Speaker 1: a good offensive season and getting on base at a
11:24
Speaker 1: very solid clip, showing some power from the left side,
11:27
Speaker 1: maybe more power than he's shown in quite some time
11:31
Speaker 1: the defense. And I want to ask you, Keith as
11:33
Speaker 1: someone who does not really you know, you lived in
11:36
Speaker 1: Seattle for a little bit, but you don't have the
11:39
Speaker 1: maybe the connection that some other folks have to you know,
11:44
Speaker 1: the organization, like in a fan put point of view.
11:49
Speaker 1: This is a long way of saying, what is the
11:51
Speaker 1: national perspective on JP Crawford's defense at shortstop?
11:55
Speaker 4: He's not good and he hasn't been good in a
11:57
Speaker 4: very long time. Like he was when he was younger.
12:00
Speaker 4: There was a chance, I think when you're still a prospect.
12:02
Speaker 4: At the point when the Mariners traded for him, the
12:05
Speaker 4: Phillies were screwing around with his position, it was sort of, hey,
12:09
Speaker 4: wait a minute, this guy. He was a good shortstop
12:12
Speaker 4: in high school. He's a pretty good athlete, but they
12:14
Speaker 4: have good instincts he should be an above average or
12:18
Speaker 4: plus defensive shortstop, and he was for a brief period
12:21
Speaker 4: of time, but that has I think as he's gotten older,
12:25
Speaker 4: he has lost a step and that has really shown
12:28
Speaker 4: the last two three years or so, where well, you
12:33
Speaker 4: can still live with him because he gets on base
12:35
Speaker 4: and he's got a little bit of pop, and shortstop
12:37
Speaker 4: is a position where he just don't often get a
12:39
Speaker 4: whole lot of offensive production, but he'd give a lot
12:42
Speaker 4: of it back with his glove. And I mean, I'm
12:44
Speaker 4: assuming where we're going with this conversations, they have another
12:47
Speaker 4: guy on the roster who could play a pretty good shortstop,
12:50
Speaker 4: and last I looked was really really hitting despite he's
12:53
Speaker 4: fee old enough to drink yet. I'm not even sure
12:55
Speaker 4: if he's got into that milestone. No, right, So yeah, yeah,
13:00
Speaker 4: I would be thinking about that that Colt Emerson should
13:05
Speaker 4: be the everyday shortstop sooner rather than later.
13:08
Speaker 1: So because though of JP Crawford's ability to get on
13:11
Speaker 1: base and the fact that I don't think teams are
13:14
Speaker 1: going to be super interested in trading him, and I
13:16
Speaker 1: don't think the Mariners would be interested in trading him
13:18
Speaker 1: as a guy who is considered one of their leaders
13:21
Speaker 1: in the clubhouse and one of they're better on base guys.
13:24
Speaker 1: What's the right movement Keith. Is it making him a
13:27
Speaker 1: utility guy? Is it moving him to third base? Because
13:31
Speaker 1: they're not going to move Cole Young off of second base.
13:33
Speaker 1: He's been one of their better defensive players. And also
13:36
Speaker 1: is the future of that position. What's the right answer
13:39
Speaker 1: for JP Crawford Now?
13:41
Speaker 4: One the biggest variable year is JP Crawford isn't the
13:44
Speaker 4: future of anything for the maris right, He's going to
13:47
Speaker 4: continue playing, but he's not going to be a Mariner
13:49
Speaker 4: for much longer. I wonder if he'd have some trade value.
13:53
Speaker 4: IM not saying that they'd necessarily do so. But when
13:56
Speaker 4: everyone's healthy, they have a surplus in the infield and
13:58
Speaker 4: they could trade somebody. It could be him, It could
14:01
Speaker 4: be Brenda Donovan. You know, once I get I should
14:05
Speaker 4: say if and when he's healthy and able to play
14:07
Speaker 4: every day. Given that they just Donod's two years younger,
14:11
Speaker 4: and they just gave up a pretty significant prospect and
14:14
Speaker 4: Duranngelasinia to get Donovan, I have a feeling they would
14:18
Speaker 4: be much more inclined to keep him and trade Crawford
14:21
Speaker 4: at a point, you know, assuming we're close to the
14:22
Speaker 4: trade of Vine, everyone's healthy. But the other thing you
14:25
Speaker 4: do in the short town at least would be try
14:27
Speaker 4: to slive Crawford over to third thirty one. He's been
14:30
Speaker 4: a short stop his whole career. He may say no
14:33
Speaker 4: or say he just doesn't want to that he'll do it,
14:35
Speaker 4: but obviously you need somebody to be at least a
14:37
Speaker 4: little bit committed to a position switch in the middle
14:40
Speaker 4: of the season for it to work out, you know,
14:42
Speaker 4: all of which I think points to at least the
14:44
Speaker 4: possibility of him going somewhere else. For always teams looking
14:49
Speaker 4: for shortstops, you know, just help up the middle looking
14:52
Speaker 4: for starting pitching. There's never enough of those guys to
14:55
Speaker 4: go around at the trade deadline, or to be true
14:57
Speaker 4: in the Austinson too, and that's ultimately I think that's
15:00
Speaker 4: probably that's where they head if everyone's healthy, and that
15:05
Speaker 4: may not happen and maybe that someone else gets hurt
15:08
Speaker 4: or Donovan isn't one hundred percent, and then it's great
15:10
Speaker 4: to have Crawford and just say, hey, well, Keith, you
15:12
Speaker 4: you're going to play a lot, but we're going to
15:14
Speaker 4: slide you between three different positions. You can back up
15:16
Speaker 4: Cole Young, you could back up Emerson. It's short and
15:19
Speaker 4: maybe he's the semi regular at third until Donovan's hundred percent.
15:22
Speaker 1: Keith Lade joining us saw the beacon plowing hotline, so
15:25
Speaker 1: you brought up Colt Emerson, which has just been so
15:29
Speaker 1: fun to watch over these first couple of weeks. A
15:31
Speaker 1: guy who doesn't get to have that first Michelo Ultra
15:35
Speaker 1: until the middle of July, but has looked the part
15:39
Speaker 1: and then some. Keith, do you consider Colt Emerson more
15:43
Speaker 1: of a high floor prospect or a high ceiling prospect.
15:48
Speaker 4: I think he's a high ceiling prospect. I don't know
15:50
Speaker 4: where you land on this one. I think there's so
15:54
Speaker 4: much upside in the back that he has shown such
15:58
Speaker 4: an ability to hit to hit and good pitching to hit,
16:01
Speaker 4: older pitching at young ages, that that just points to
16:05
Speaker 4: a guy who could be an elite hitter for a
16:09
Speaker 4: long time. And in his case, by elite hitter, I'm
16:11
Speaker 4: referring to someone who hits for high average, also gets
16:15
Speaker 4: on base, also hits for some power, because I think
16:17
Speaker 4: he's shown all of that through his My League career.
16:20
Speaker 4: You've seen you've seen probably more of the power than
16:22
Speaker 4: anything else so far in the short time in the
16:24
Speaker 4: big leagues. I would also point out basically everybody who
16:27
Speaker 4: comes up to the big leagues now strikes out a
16:29
Speaker 4: bunch in their first couple of weeks. Oh my god,
16:31
Speaker 4: like Jacob Levallis, I think it was three strikeouts this
16:34
Speaker 4: first game when o'royo I think struck out three times
16:37
Speaker 4: in this first game. But right a passage they have
16:38
Speaker 4: to go through at this point. And the fact that
16:41
Speaker 4: Emerson struck out a little bit that first week or so,
16:44
Speaker 4: and now he's started to make a lot of contact
16:46
Speaker 4: again by the end of the season, I think all
16:48
Speaker 4: of his overall stats. Some of those rate stats are
16:51
Speaker 4: going to look incredibly impressive for a twenty year old,
16:55
Speaker 4: especially given how many good hitting prospects struggle on first exposure.
16:58
Speaker 4: So I see a guy who, you know, my brain
17:01
Speaker 4: wants to say he's going to be a three hundred hitter,
17:03
Speaker 4: Like those aren't things anymore, Just don't see many other
17:05
Speaker 4: like you hit two eighty, you're a star. But he
17:08
Speaker 4: could hit two eighty with a bunch of walks in
17:10
Speaker 4: good power for a shortstop, and that's an All Star.
17:14
Speaker 4: And that's why I am inclined to say the high
17:16
Speaker 4: upside guy. This is a guy I think makes multiple
17:18
Speaker 4: All Star teams.
17:19
Speaker 1: Yeah, if if I was going to answer that question,
17:21
Speaker 1: I think I would have just said yes, because you
17:23
Speaker 1: see them all because of the approach at the plight,
17:27
Speaker 1: the ability to you know, and one of the reasons
17:29
Speaker 1: for those strikeouts is typically guys who strike out a
17:32
Speaker 1: lot are guys who are willing to work outs, and
17:34
Speaker 1: the thing that comes with that strikeout is the chance
17:37
Speaker 1: to draw walks. And we have seen Colt Emerson. The
17:40
Speaker 1: thing that's really impressed me Keith is how good he's
17:43
Speaker 1: been against left handed pitching to start his big League
17:45
Speaker 1: career like the ability to stay in because we have
17:48
Speaker 1: seen the Seattle Mariners want to be Tampa Bay West,
17:52
Speaker 1: and for those unfamiliar with what that means, they want
17:55
Speaker 1: to do the platoon advantage. They very much want to
17:58
Speaker 1: have the Rob Refsnyder and the Connor Joe's and those
18:01
Speaker 1: guys work out. Unfortunately, Rob Refsnyder's been a bit of
18:04
Speaker 1: a disaster. It's been kind of hard to watch. But
18:07
Speaker 1: just the ability to hang in against left handed pitching, Keith,
18:10
Speaker 1: you've scouted for a long time. Why is it so
18:13
Speaker 1: difficult for left handed hitters to face left handed pitching?
18:19
Speaker 4: The long time answer, because this has been a thing
18:22
Speaker 4: forever Earl Weaver was doing the stuff in the seventies,
18:25
Speaker 4: it was that left handed hitters don't see the still true,
18:30
Speaker 4: don't see a lot of good left handed pitching, particularly
18:33
Speaker 4: as amateurs. Right they might start to see it in college,
18:36
Speaker 4: they'll start to see it a little more in the minors,
18:38
Speaker 4: but because there's just not enough good left handed pitching
18:41
Speaker 4: to go around, and those guys get pushed to the
18:43
Speaker 4: majors too. So what is often, I think still true
18:46
Speaker 4: is left handed hitters are not adequately tested or challenged
18:49
Speaker 4: by left handed pitching until they get to the big leagues.
18:53
Speaker 4: I would also add to that that now in this
18:55
Speaker 4: era of advanced pitching development, pitch design coming out of
19:01
Speaker 4: pitching labs, pitch shapes, all unders, throwing around terms here,
19:05
Speaker 4: but that what you get now is a lot of
19:09
Speaker 4: left handed pitchers who are essentially built in a lab
19:12
Speaker 4: to really get left handed hitters out. And I think
19:16
Speaker 4: the increase just in the last couple of years, so
19:18
Speaker 4: much more emphasis on guys with lower slots so they
19:21
Speaker 4: get that lower release height, they can get more ride
19:23
Speaker 4: on the four seamer up top. Yeah, I guess what,
19:26
Speaker 4: a lower arm slot, lower and lower release height makes
19:30
Speaker 4: you even better against same side hitters. They'll be true
19:32
Speaker 4: for rieties too, but for left each it's just compounding
19:35
Speaker 4: the fact that they don't see a lot of good
19:37
Speaker 4: lefties in the first place. And now they get to
19:39
Speaker 4: the majors and there are guys coming from all kinds
19:40
Speaker 4: of crazy arm angles, throwing sweepers and gyro sliders and
19:45
Speaker 4: all kinds of pitches designed very specifically to maximize what
19:49
Speaker 4: that picture can do from that arm slot. Like it's
19:51
Speaker 4: best of luck, guys.
19:53
Speaker 1: It's insane. I have no idea how any of these
19:56
Speaker 1: guys pick up the baseball against some of these guys
19:58
Speaker 1: because it's that low three quarter slot and you're not
20:01
Speaker 1: seeing the baseball until it's too late. I mean, look,
20:04
Speaker 1: it's not the only reason Randy Johnson was effective, but
20:07
Speaker 1: there's a reason Leftanders took the day off that guy
20:09
Speaker 1: because you've you've just and you were at risk of
20:13
Speaker 1: really hurting yourself, either from having the ball hit or
20:16
Speaker 1: from you breaking your neck because of you snapping away
20:19
Speaker 1: from something. That's the other reason they call that mister
20:22
Speaker 1: snappy Keith ad joining us on the Beacon Plumbing hotline. Hey,
20:26
Speaker 1: speaking of leftated pitchers, a certain Seattle Mariner prospect by
20:29
Speaker 1: the name of Katy Anderson now has a sixty seven
20:32
Speaker 1: to seven strikeout to walk ratio with an ERA below
20:36
Speaker 1: one point five. I saw in your latest update, and
20:39
Speaker 1: definitely check that out on the Athletic and we'll talk
20:41
Speaker 1: more about where we can get your fine work. At
20:44
Speaker 1: a second, just how impressed has Kate Anderson been to
20:47
Speaker 1: start his professional career.
20:50
Speaker 4: It's the last I would say, last month or so.
20:53
Speaker 4: Now we're seeing the full Kate Anderson, because early you
20:56
Speaker 4: wasn't very sharp and spring training first to outings or
21:00
Speaker 4: so in a regular season, he was having success, but
21:04
Speaker 4: the stuff was lagged. And then around I don't know
21:07
Speaker 4: a Forril twentieth or son on his game log, but
21:09
Speaker 4: around then things work. Everything's has been gradually creeping up.
21:12
Speaker 4: Then suddenly it's like, oh, wait a minute, this is
21:14
Speaker 4: the guy we all saw at LSU a year ago.
21:16
Speaker 4: He's not bumping the same the top top end velocity
21:20
Speaker 4: on the fastball. He doesn't need to, and I'm actually
21:23
Speaker 4: completely fine with him not doing that, maybe until he
21:25
Speaker 4: gets to the big leagues. He's a minimum three pitch guy,
21:29
Speaker 4: arguably could be a four pitch guy, but it's an
21:31
Speaker 4: elite change up. He throws a ton of strikes, obviously
21:35
Speaker 4: very good fastball command. I mean, I think he's ready
21:38
Speaker 4: in most organizations he'd be in the big leagues, are
21:41
Speaker 4: about to get a call up to the big leagues.
21:43
Speaker 4: You and I talked about this on just a couple
21:47
Speaker 4: of weeks ago two where you were saying you don't
21:48
Speaker 4: think they'll even send him to Colman. They'll probably just
21:50
Speaker 4: leave him in Double A until it's time for him
21:53
Speaker 4: to come out, because PCL's just kind of a garbage
21:55
Speaker 4: place to develop. Anybody pitches in particular, and I could
21:59
Speaker 4: see that. Just let him, you know, you tell him, Look,
22:01
Speaker 4: your lack of promotion is not a reflection on your performance.
22:06
Speaker 4: It's just we'd rather have you be here, and when
22:09
Speaker 4: there is an opportunity in the big leagues, we're gonna
22:11
Speaker 4: call you up. They're, just, as a saying earlier, one
22:13
Speaker 4: of the very few teams that does not actually need
22:16
Speaker 4: additional starting pitching. And maybe they won't, maybe everybody stays
22:20
Speaker 4: healthy all year, but inevitably they're going to need another
22:22
Speaker 4: arm at some point, and that's when you'll see you
22:24
Speaker 4: in the basis.
22:25
Speaker 1: Keith joining us on the Beacon plumbing hotline. So Anderson's
22:29
Speaker 1: been phenomenal. Ryan Sloane got off to a little bit
22:32
Speaker 1: of a slow stark Keith, but has looked excellent as
22:34
Speaker 1: of late. If not for the existence's of one Seth
22:38
Speaker 1: Hernandez in Pittsburgh, could it be argued that the Seattle
22:41
Speaker 1: Mariners have the best left handed and right handed pitching
22:44
Speaker 1: prospect in baseball.
22:46
Speaker 4: I mean, Sloan is further along than Hernandez. Hernandez probably
22:49
Speaker 4: has more upside, but Sloan's got about a year on him,
22:53
Speaker 4: and he's pitching in at a much higher level. I
22:55
Speaker 4: think he's still one level above Hernandez. Or look that
22:59
Speaker 4: Hernandez could be double at any second, given how well
23:02
Speaker 4: he's pitched so far. But also Hernandez is on a
23:05
Speaker 4: very tight niche the time I saw I saw his
23:08
Speaker 4: High A debut, he had five innings. I think he
23:11
Speaker 4: threw sixty two pitches, and so his stuff all looks
23:15
Speaker 4: better because he's barely pitching now. I am not anyway
23:19
Speaker 4: saying Hernandez is going to suddenly be terrible once they
23:22
Speaker 4: stretch him out, But there's a difference, right, The more
23:24
Speaker 4: that you want to see them maintain their stuff and
23:27
Speaker 4: their command over higher pitch count, ninety pitches is probably
23:32
Speaker 4: fine for most of these guys, and it also means
23:34
Speaker 4: they're going to turn the line up over more and
23:36
Speaker 4: have to show that they can get the same header
23:38
Speaker 4: out too, and often three times. I think that's a
23:40
Speaker 4: big difference when evaluating just of a pitcher who's you know,
23:46
Speaker 4: twenty one, twenty two and being stretched out more versus
23:48
Speaker 4: somebody like Hernandez who's twenty, only a year out of
23:51
Speaker 4: high school and just still being used very carefully obviously
23:55
Speaker 4: to try to keep him healthy, so I had flown
23:57
Speaker 4: slightly ahead on the list. They were really close. Just
24:00
Speaker 4: has a better overall arsenal, but Slowan it's one hundred,
24:03
Speaker 4: it's a splitter of slider. Both of those are probably
24:06
Speaker 4: going to be plus pitches in the end. He looks
24:08
Speaker 4: like a number one starter as long as obviously stays
24:11
Speaker 4: healthy and continues to throw strikes. When you got it's power, power, power,
24:15
Speaker 4: You do worry about anybody who's doing that hard on
24:18
Speaker 4: every pitch, Kenny added to track Ken Diddy have the
24:21
Speaker 4: touch and feel to say no, no, no. Twenty five on
24:24
Speaker 4: the black is going to be more than good enough.
24:27
Speaker 1: So it's interesting because I think you make a really
24:31
Speaker 1: good point, and obviously Hernandez has a bright future, but
24:35
Speaker 1: you know, I kind of get it. But to answer
24:37
Speaker 1: that question, are those the two best? Is that the
24:39
Speaker 1: best left handed pitching prospect and right handed pitching prospect
24:42
Speaker 1: in baseball right now?
24:44
Speaker 4: Yes? Yeah, it's those two. Anderson a pretty good bit
24:48
Speaker 4: ahead of the next lefting might have been Liam Doyle
24:52
Speaker 4: from I don't have my list in front of me,
24:53
Speaker 4: but he was pretty high. Offoe was in last year's
24:55
Speaker 4: draft class. And then it's Slowan one and Hernandez two
24:59
Speaker 4: among righties. It's interesting I have heard multiple times if
25:01
Speaker 4: the Mariners didn't take Anderson, if Anderson had been gone
25:05
Speaker 4: at that pick, and a lot of people though the
25:07
Speaker 4: Angels were going to take him at pick two and
25:09
Speaker 4: they took a different college pitcher instead. I think the
25:12
Speaker 4: Mariners might have taken Hernandez, certainly the only high school
25:14
Speaker 4: pitcher they were remotely going to consider. They might have
25:18
Speaker 4: done that, which to me just speaks to how good
25:20
Speaker 4: their amateur scouting staff is. Oh, the guy you took
25:22
Speaker 4: turns out to be awesome. The guy you were going
25:24
Speaker 4: to take instead also awesome.
25:27
Speaker 1: Chris Crawford and for Greg Bell talking to Keith Law
25:29
Speaker 1: on the Beacon Plumbing hotline, I wanted to ask you
25:32
Speaker 1: quickly about Mason Peters, a guy who has pitched really
25:36
Speaker 1: well for Seattle in the lower levels, A guy I
25:39
Speaker 1: believe out of Dallas Baptist. Has he been a guy
25:41
Speaker 1: who's been moving up rankings the list, Keith.
25:45
Speaker 4: Not particularly, just kind of a lower pick, lower ceiling
25:49
Speaker 4: type of guy. I mean, they're you know, I don't
25:51
Speaker 4: want to question what the Maritors have done with their
25:54
Speaker 4: book scouting, end player development. They've done a tremendous job.
25:58
Speaker 4: I think he is. And also he's pitching. Yes's what
26:01
Speaker 4: I thought. I want I look it up just to
26:03
Speaker 4: make sure I wasn't talking out of the year. He's
26:05
Speaker 4: a he's a college product in low A. It's just
26:08
Speaker 4: somebody just asked me this about a guy in an
26:10
Speaker 4: oriole system like that really doesn't tell us the whole lot.
26:13
Speaker 4: It's great that he start of strikes. To me, that's
26:15
Speaker 4: the only thing to really glean from the stat line
26:18
Speaker 4: of a player, a college product who's twenty two in
26:21
Speaker 4: low A like I just last today Friday, yees, So
26:24
Speaker 4: last Friday week ago went down to see a Low
26:26
Speaker 4: A gag Fredericksburg at Delmarva and it's like romper room
26:31
Speaker 4: out there. They're all super young. The quality of play appalling.
26:35
Speaker 4: But you will see Buddy li Willitts was there and
26:38
Speaker 4: Gevin the Scene was there. Two there were three guys
26:40
Speaker 4: I think from last year's at least two guys in
26:42
Speaker 4: the last year's first round in the game. So there
26:43
Speaker 4: were talented players, but the overall level was kind of awful,
26:47
Speaker 4: and a lot of guys who just you know, guys
26:49
Speaker 4: who are eighteen nineteen. They're hitting a buck sixty, and
26:53
Speaker 4: so in the case of someone like Peters, I'm not
26:56
Speaker 4: going to believe anything until he at least moves up
26:59
Speaker 4: to high A and shows particularly continued in miss Bath.
27:03
Speaker 4: The fact that these storm strikes is great because there
27:05
Speaker 4: are certainly plenty of guys who don't even pass that test.
27:08
Speaker 4: But he should be in high A really now. And
27:11
Speaker 4: to see how does this stuff play against at least
27:15
Speaker 4: age appropriate competition, Keith.
27:17
Speaker 1: I got to ask, and this we're talking about a
27:20
Speaker 1: conversation we had earlier. Tarik's Scooble, a guy who I
27:24
Speaker 1: think most of us expect to be on the trade market,
27:28
Speaker 1: number one, with Seattle having six starting pitchers and having
27:32
Speaker 1: guys like Katie Anderson and Ryan Sloan who are right
27:35
Speaker 1: on the precipice, but also acknowledging that when healthy, Turik
27:39
Speaker 1: Schooble is a difference maker for a team that has
27:42
Speaker 1: never been to the World Series. And I also believe
27:45
Speaker 1: I was literally on the precipice of it last year
27:47
Speaker 1: and wide open American League this year. How interested should
27:52
Speaker 1: Seattle be in making a trade for Tarik Schooble and
27:55
Speaker 1: what prospects do you believe should be off the table
27:58
Speaker 1: for a move like that.
28:00
Speaker 4: Honestly, I don't know if I would, because I don't
28:03
Speaker 4: know that he's going to make the marginal difference of
28:08
Speaker 4: having him versus whoever he's replacing regular season rotation, whoever
28:12
Speaker 4: he's essentially bumping from the postseason rotation because they have
28:15
Speaker 4: at least four quality postseason starters. I mean, I think
28:20
Speaker 4: Anderson can, if he has the sort of capacity for
28:23
Speaker 4: the workload, he could start a postseason game for this year.
28:25
Speaker 4: I don't think that's outrageous. I think it'd be the
28:28
Speaker 4: last in line, but I think he could. So how
28:31
Speaker 4: much better is Schooble actually than whoever he's replacing. Then
28:36
Speaker 4: compare that to what the likely cost is going to
28:38
Speaker 4: be when obviously everybody thinks the Dodgers are going to
28:42
Speaker 4: trade for him, and they have the prospects to do so,
28:45
Speaker 4: they can blow anybody else out of the water and
28:48
Speaker 4: some degree not even miss the guys they're trading. So
28:51
Speaker 4: I think the problem for Seattle is that it's just
28:53
Speaker 4: not going to mass where obviously True School is the
28:56
Speaker 4: best picture in the American League when he's healthy, but
28:58
Speaker 4: the marginal game you get from acquiring him is not
29:02
Speaker 4: going to be anywhere close to what you're expected to
29:04
Speaker 4: pay in terms of prospects, and you know what they're
29:07
Speaker 4: going to ask for Ryan Sloane, I mean they're gonna
29:09
Speaker 4: ask kath Anderson. I can say it's got to be
29:10
Speaker 4: one of those guys. And at that point you just say,
29:12
Speaker 4: this is just not a f for us, you know,
29:14
Speaker 4: you say it's not a fair request. It's just that
29:16
Speaker 4: is not worth it to us because we have so
29:19
Speaker 4: much starting pitching. He Schoogles should end up on a
29:23
Speaker 4: team that has a real deficiency in the rotation and
29:26
Speaker 4: also has the prospects to be able to pay what
29:29
Speaker 4: I expect to be a really high priced tick.
29:31
Speaker 1: Keith, you're the man. Tell us where we can read
29:34
Speaker 1: all your good works.
29:37
Speaker 4: It's all on the Athletic the Athletic dot com. You
29:40
Speaker 4: can just search for my name if you're looking to
29:42
Speaker 4: interact with me. Blue Sky is where I actually not
29:45
Speaker 4: just post links but answer people's questions as well. Also
29:48
Speaker 4: been doing some short form videos on both my Instagram
29:51
Speaker 4: and Believe or Not TikTok accounts. The kids are not
29:56
Speaker 4: a big fan of me on the Tech Talk and
29:57
Speaker 4: there's been a lot of critiquing in the house. They
30:00
Speaker 4: don't like how I hold the camera. I gotta try
30:02
Speaker 4: a different different clothes. The youngest said it was cringe.
30:07
Speaker 4: So anyway, it's still work in progress. But feel free
30:11
Speaker 4: to follow me on any of those plays.
30:12
Speaker 1: I'm not going to follow you on TikTok, but I'll
30:14
Speaker 1: follow you to the ends of the earth anywhere else.
30:16
Speaker 1: Thanks so much for joining us, Keith, Yep, my pleasure.
30:19
Speaker 1: We'll talk some hockey Next. Sports Radio ninety three point
30:21
Speaker 1: three KJRFM, Chris Crawford in for Greg Bell. Thanks again
30:27
Speaker 1: to Keith Low for joining us. I thought those were
30:29
Speaker 1: very interesting insights. I kind of discrew with him a
30:33
Speaker 1: little bit about the schooble stuff, but I totally get
30:36
Speaker 1: it as well, Like just how big of a difference
30:38
Speaker 1: would he make when you're having to give up upper
30:41
Speaker 1: echelon prospects. It's tough to say. I just know this,
30:45
Speaker 1: having a Tarik school Ball would make me feel a
30:48
Speaker 1: hell of a lot more confident about this team getting
30:50
Speaker 1: to the World Series. But super appreciative to Keith. He
30:53
Speaker 1: does excellent, excellent work and he's been a buddy of
30:56
Speaker 1: mine for a very long time. I wanted to talk
30:59
Speaker 1: a little bit of about the Stanley Cup because these
31:02
Speaker 1: two games have just been outstanding between Carolina and Las Vegas.
31:06
Speaker 1: And I was joking with Ian Fords. Ian, forness, have
31:10
Speaker 1: you ever heard of him. He's a pretty famous sports
31:13
Speaker 1: reporter or something like that. Anyway, we were talking a
31:16
Speaker 1: little bit about. Man, imagine me telling you twenty five
31:20
Speaker 1: years ago that the NHL Stanley Cup Finals were going
31:23
Speaker 1: to be played in Las Vegas and Charlotte North Carolina.
31:27
Speaker 1: Like he just couldn't have piictured that. It's for a
31:30
Speaker 1: play a league that was constantly you know, Montreal versus
31:34
Speaker 1: Calgary and Buffalo versus those teams. No, you get the
31:38
Speaker 1: Southwest and the mid Atlantic as you two. But boy,
31:43
Speaker 1: these games have been terrific. And unfortunately last night there
31:47
Speaker 1: was some controversy a goal taken away Ivon Barbashev, a
31:51
Speaker 1: goal where there's a big collection of dudes in front
31:56
Speaker 1: of the net, the puck slips through. They argue goalie
31:59
Speaker 1: inter fiew they say it was the right call. But
32:03
Speaker 1: I hate when officials decide stuff like this, man. And
32:07
Speaker 1: it's tough because that's one of those situations where an
32:11
Speaker 1: NHL official has to decide something. You know, it's not
32:15
Speaker 1: one of those things where it's like a blocking foul
32:17
Speaker 1: or a charge foul, like where you can do with
32:19
Speaker 1: no call. Something has to be called there. But gosh,
32:23
Speaker 1: you just and maybe I'm being too dramatic about this stuff,
32:26
Speaker 1: but Chris, anytime I see a call determined a game
32:30
Speaker 1: and something as big as the Stanley Cup Finals, the
32:32
Speaker 1: NBA Finals, the World Series, World Cup, whatever, I'm always
32:37
Speaker 1: irked because I just I really want the players to
32:40
Speaker 1: decide it, even if that's not always a realistic thought.
32:44
Speaker 2: That well said, it's one of those things where you
32:48
Speaker 2: don't want to leave it in the hands of officiating.
32:51
Speaker 4: Hight.
32:51
Speaker 2: I know coaches talk about that with their players all
32:54
Speaker 2: the time. Let's not get to a point where we
32:56
Speaker 2: have to put it in their hands. You do everything
32:58
Speaker 2: in your power. You leave it all on the ice,
33:01
Speaker 2: you leave it all on the field, the court, you
33:03
Speaker 2: name it. But we don't want to put it in
33:06
Speaker 2: the officiating's hands because you just don't know how it's
33:09
Speaker 2: gonna go. And then maybe they review it and they
33:11
Speaker 2: got it wrong, but it's too late, right, they don't
33:13
Speaker 2: go back in time, and they don't go back and say,
33:15
Speaker 2: you know what, we gave them a point that they
33:18
Speaker 2: shouldn't have gotten it's now three to three, will replay
33:22
Speaker 2: the game from three? They don't do that. That doesn't exist. No,
33:25
Speaker 2: So yeah, you would hope that the officials get it right,
33:29
Speaker 2: but they're human. They make errors, and those errors can
33:32
Speaker 2: become costly, and that could cost one team a chance
33:35
Speaker 2: at winning a Stanley Cup.
33:38
Speaker 1: It may have cost Vegas last night because I'm just
33:40
Speaker 1: looking at the stat right here, teams that have got
33:43
Speaker 1: up to nothing in the Stanley Cup have won ninety
33:46
Speaker 1: one percent of the time. Ninety one percent. One one
33:51
Speaker 1: is so different, especially with these next two games taking
33:53
Speaker 1: place in Las Vegas. Like Carolina no longer has the
33:57
Speaker 1: home court home ice advantage. Excuse mean way. I'm sure
34:00
Speaker 1: would scream at me if I said oh court instead
34:02
Speaker 1: of oh mice. But it's huge now because all Carolina
34:08
Speaker 1: has to do is take one game. All Carolina has
34:10
Speaker 1: to do is go get one game in Vegas and
34:12
Speaker 1: then they get home ice right back at them. But
34:15
Speaker 1: these games have been so evenly played. And you know
34:19
Speaker 1: the other thing here is I gotta tell you I
34:22
Speaker 1: have a huge rooting interest for Carolina, not because I'm
34:26
Speaker 1: a huge Carolina fan. It's because I can't listen to
34:31
Speaker 1: the why did this expansion team get two Stanley Cup
34:35
Speaker 1: championships while the other expansion team that comes just a
34:38
Speaker 1: couple of years later is struggling to make the postseason.
34:42
Speaker 1: And guys, it's just not a fair comparison. It's not
34:45
Speaker 1: the league learned from the mistakes they made from the
34:49
Speaker 1: expansion draft. When Vegas just said, you're giving us an
34:53
Speaker 1: opportunity to immediately build a Stanley Cup contender, you are
34:57
Speaker 1: immediately giving that to us. Teams didn't do that with Seattle.
35:01
Speaker 1: Teams just didn't do that. But you can't help make
35:05
Speaker 1: but make that comparison. If you had to pick one
35:07
Speaker 1: of the two to win, who are you picking? Kid?
35:11
Speaker 2: I'm going with Las Vegas.
35:12
Speaker 1: I still believe. Okay, okay, what if? What would you
35:16
Speaker 1: rather see happen? Though?
35:20
Speaker 2: That's a fan give me a Let's go with Sin
35:22
Speaker 2: City again? Okay, okay, that's a party down in Vegas.
35:25
Speaker 1: Yeah. By the way, if you ever get a chance
35:28
Speaker 1: to go to a game there, it's phenomenal. It really
35:30
Speaker 1: is a party. Like everything in Vegas is a party anyway,
35:33
Speaker 1: but like in particular the hockey game. If you can't
35:37
Speaker 1: get into the club, just go to the hockey game instead.
35:41
Speaker 1: You don't have to pay for bottle service that way either.
35:44
Speaker 1: We're gonna talk about some NBA finals next on fort
35:46
Speaker 1: Radio in ninety three point three Kids, arfm