Latest / The Ian Furness Show / Ian Furness 9/15 H2: Are we getting closer to expansion? Joe Sheehan and is he right?

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Ian Furness 9/15 H2: Are we getting closer to expansion? Joe Sheehan and is he right? · The Ian Furness Show

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  Speaker 1: Headlines brought to you by Frostbrook Coors Light 2.
• 0:03
  Speaker 2: Oh, sorry, cold as the Rockies. I'm going to get
• 0:05
  Speaker 2: it right one of these days. M's moved again last night,
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: lost the Angels 6-4. They're now 5.5 behind the Astros
• 0:09
  Speaker 2: and the AL West.
• 0:10
  Speaker 3: 11 games to go.
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: They have to win out, go 11-0 to finish 81-81.
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: Any loss in the final 11, they'll be below.
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  Speaker 4: 500.
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: Doesn't mean they're out of the playoffs, sort of, but
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  Speaker 2: they are.
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  Speaker 5: Out of the wild card.
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: Maybe, well, they're out. Chiefs dominated the Broncos 31-10 Monday
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: Night Football last night. Kenneth Walker III, he went crazy.
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: 173 yards on 23 carries and a touchdown. So strange.
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  Speaker 2: They gave him the ball at 1.4 straight times. Never
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  Speaker 2: seen that before for Kenneth Walker.
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  Speaker 5: What's that like?
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: I kept waiting for George Helani to come in. Didn't happen.
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  Speaker 6: No.
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: Still no update on Sam Donald's injury, other than it's a, quote,
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  Speaker 2: very unique soft tissue injury, and the hip joint is
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  Speaker 2: not affected. That's from the Seahawks yesterday in a statement.
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  Speaker 2: Mike McDonald will speak tomorrow on that. Hour number two.
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  Speaker 2: We'll get to Lund at 2 o'clock. Joe Sheehan at
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  Speaker 2: 1.20 today. When I say we'll get to Lund at
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  Speaker 2: 2 o'clock, he's all giddy and happy. Story posted today,
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  Speaker 2: depending on which odds you're looking at.
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  Speaker 4: The 49ers.
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  Speaker 2: Are now the favorites to win the NFC West at
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  Speaker 2: plus 160. Come on. Seahawks plus 175, Rams at plus 205.
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  Speaker 2: How about the Cardinals at plus 4,500 after last week?
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  Speaker 5: That's, I mean, that's, yeah.
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  Speaker 2: That feels like throwing money away, but what the hell?
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  Speaker 5: Why not?
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  Speaker 2: Who needs money? Who needs it? I mean, what the,
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: $ 5 shekels up there at the Old Sokoma Casino, the
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  Speaker 2: sponsor of our fine program here, snocasino.com. This is, and
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: Ashley has a factor fiction pick coming up today at 2.35.
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  Speaker 2: And we were talking in a break. I'm curious to
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  Speaker 2: see what her factor fiction pick is, if it's college
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  Speaker 2: or pro. If it's pro, I'm really curious because we
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  Speaker 2: are in a survivor pool together that starts this week.
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  Speaker 2: And we're just talking about that. Some intriguing matchups this
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  Speaker 2: week in the NFL looking around. So we'll see what
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  Speaker 2: your pick is later. Ashley, do you realize this is
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  Speaker 2: the first time This is the first time in six
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  Speaker 2: days that we don't have football.
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  Speaker 6: Oh.
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  Speaker 2: Now, I say that.
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  Speaker 5: I was going to say, no wonder my life felt empty.
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  Speaker 2: Hang on. Let me make sure there's no Mac attack tonight.
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  Speaker 5: Oh, yeah.
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  Speaker 2: Not that I see.
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  Speaker 4: No.
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  Speaker 2: Okay, good. I think the Mac attack Tuesday games start later.
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  Speaker 5: I was going to say, is it Wednesday that they
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  Speaker 5: usually play?
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  Speaker 2: Tuesdays or Wednesdays.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, nothing screams fun like Kent State and Toledo
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  Speaker 2: on a Tuesday night.
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  Speaker 5: That's a must watch. Must see TV.
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  Speaker 2: I'm going to be honest with you. I kind of
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  Speaker 2: need the break.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah.
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  Speaker 5: It's a little much.
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  Speaker 2: I kind of need the break. And that's, I can't
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  Speaker 2: believe I'm saying that out loud. Maybe you agree or
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  Speaker 2: disagree with this, 49451 on the Tacoma Dodgers. I kind
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  Speaker 2: of need the break.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: It's been like, we had the first weekend in college football.
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  Speaker 3: Mm-hmm.
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  Speaker 2: And actually, it's longer than that.
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  Speaker 5: We had games Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday for that.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, Monday.
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  Speaker 5: Oh, yeah, and Monday.
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  Speaker 2: Then we had Tuesday off. Then we had the Seahawks
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  Speaker 2: opener Wednesday.
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  Speaker 4: Uh-huh.
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  Speaker 2: Thursday night football, Friday college, a couple of good games
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  Speaker 2: last Friday, Saturday college.
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  Speaker 1: Yep.
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  Speaker 2: Just about took the life out of us in a
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  Speaker 2: lot of ways. And then Sunday, which was a relaxing
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  Speaker 2: day for Seahawks fans sitting at 1-0, but you had
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  Speaker 2: red zone and great Sunday night game all the way through.
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  Speaker 2: And then we had Monday night football last night. I
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  Speaker 2: swear last night at one point I looked at my son,
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  Speaker 2: I'm like, I'm good.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: Like I need a day off.
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  Speaker 6: I like to look forward to Thursday, to football coming back.
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  Speaker 5: I like to have Tuesday, Wednesday off.
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  Speaker 6: And having it on Wednesday, it was different because obviously
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  Speaker 6: it was our team, so we're excited for the start
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  Speaker 6: of the NFL season.
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  Speaker 5: But I don't want that to be a habit, like
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  Speaker 5: a regular thing.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I just didn't like it. I felt like Wednesday,
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  Speaker 2: NFL opener, Seahawks or otherwise, felt a lot. And I
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  Speaker 2: guess maybe probably because it was our team.
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  Speaker 5: And it was great.
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  Speaker 2: One, fantastic, great win. Come from behind all the things
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  Speaker 2: that happened outside of Sam's injury. It just, it felt
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  Speaker 2: like the Apple Cup in September. It just wasn't And
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  Speaker 2: I think it was weird. They always say co football
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  Speaker 2: coaches are creatures of habit and players.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: Football fans are.
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  Speaker 1: Oh yes.
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  Speaker 2: Football fans are as well. Okay, I want to get
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  Speaker 2: to this sound because this crossed a little while ago
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  Speaker 2: and we're all kind of on pins and needles. When's
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  Speaker 2: the NBA going to come back? When's the expansion talk?
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  Speaker 2: I haven't heard it, so we'll play it cold. This
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  Speaker 2: is from the NBA Today show on ESPN just a
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  Speaker 2: short time ago. Shams Charania, how do you say his name?
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  Speaker 2: Did I get it right?
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  Speaker 3: I don't know.
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  Speaker 5: I always say Sharania.
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  Speaker 2: Shams, Shams, whatever his name is. They're insiders since Woj left.
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  Speaker 2: This is him just a few minutes ago.
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  Speaker 4: Senior NBA insider Sham Sharania joins us now. So we
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  Speaker 4: have seen already today Adam Silver addressing that Clippers situation. Meanwhile,
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  Speaker 4: how is he handling the potential expansion of the league,
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  Speaker 4: which is also right there on the front burner?
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  Speaker 1: Hannah, the NBA and Adam Silver are in deeper and
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  Speaker 1: deeper stages of the expansion conversation. And I'm told specifically
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  Speaker 1: for Las Vegas, the next round of bids for an
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  Speaker 1: expansion team in Las Vegas are due on Thursday. And
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  Speaker 1: then final bids expected to be some point shortly thereafter.
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  Speaker 1: My understanding is proposals for that Vegas team is reaching 30%.
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  Speaker 1: and potentially exceeding $ 10 billion. And so far, the Vegas
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  Speaker 1: process has moved with more pace than Seattle, but those
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  Speaker 1: Seattle conversations are continuing as well. And remember, the league
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  Speaker 1: has been targeting as soon as the 2028-29 season for
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  Speaker 1: the start of these expansion teams. They all are also
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  Speaker 1: projecting both teams to be in the top 10 in
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  Speaker 1: terms of market and revenue share moving forward. And so
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  Speaker 1: right now, Adam Silver is going to continue the bids process,
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  Speaker 1: and it's unclear when a final vote would be. And
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  Speaker 1: I think over the next couple of months, we're going
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  Speaker 1: to get clarity on the final offers, potentially $ 10 billion-ish
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  Speaker 1: in Las Vegas, potentially $ 7 billion range. in Seattle, and
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  Speaker 1: then a potential vote to finalize expansion to 32 teams.
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  Speaker 2: That's going to cause, I think, some alarm bells for
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  Speaker 2: people here. But I think we need to listen. Can
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  Speaker 2: you play like I'll tell you when to stop it.
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  Speaker 2: Can you play it again? Because I think there's a
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  Speaker 2: part in here that I think maybe I can try
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  Speaker 2: to clarify. But go ahead and play it again if
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  Speaker 2: you can.
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  Speaker 5: I'll just start from where he starts.
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  Speaker 4: Perfect.
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  Speaker 1: Hannah, the NBA and Adam Silver are in deeper and
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  Speaker 1: deeper stages of the expansion conversation. And I'm told specifically
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  Speaker 1: for Las Vegas, the next round of bids for an
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  Speaker 1: expansion team in Las Vegas are due on Thursday. And
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  Speaker 1: then final bids. expected to be some point shortly thereafter.
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  Speaker 1: My understanding is proposals for that Vegas team is reaching
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  Speaker 1: and potentially exceeding $ 10 billion. And so far, the Vegas
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  Speaker 1: process has moved with more pace than Seattle, but those
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  Speaker 1: Seattle conversations are continuing as well.
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  Speaker 2: You can stop right there. More pace than Seattle. I
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  Speaker 2: don't know what that means other than there's one group
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  Speaker 2: in Seattle.
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  Speaker 3: There's one. So.
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  Speaker 2: Like Seattle's, I believe Seattle's done. Like, I think that's
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  Speaker 2: a safe assumption. Vegas has multiple bidders, at least two,
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  Speaker 2: maybe three. So when they say he's moving at more pace,
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  Speaker 2: maybe he means they're moving, you know, there's more going
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  Speaker 2: on there because Seattle, let me just take, we brought
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  Speaker 2: this up a couple of weeks ago. I think, I
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  Speaker 2: think Booth did a story in the times about a
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  Speaker 2: week and a half, two weeks ago as well on
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  Speaker 2: the whole Tulalip thing. Just make no mistake. That's not
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  Speaker 2: going to happen. Like there's just absolutely, there's no way
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  Speaker 2: that's going to happen. Okay. It makes no sense whatsoever.
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  Speaker 2: Your demographic in that area, north of Everett, by the way.
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  Speaker 5: Yeah. I live up there, which would be convenient to me,
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  Speaker 5: but not to a lot of other people.
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  Speaker 2: No, but even for you, it's like, yeah, you're like,
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  Speaker 2: this is not going to happen. It muddies the waters
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  Speaker 2: for a second, but I don't think it even matters
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  Speaker 2: that much in that regard. As far as.
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  Speaker 2: Vegas, the part that I think he's right on with,
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  Speaker 2: Vegas is going to be more than Seattle.
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  Speaker 4: Why?
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  Speaker 2: Because there's multiple bidders. That's, that's the price goes up.
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  Speaker 2: It's buying a house basically. And all of a sudden
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  Speaker 2: there's multiple bidders. Well, we better go over the asking
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  Speaker 2: price because there's other people doing the same thing. That's Vegas. Seattle,
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  Speaker 2: I think is just sitting back and waiting for the votes.
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  Speaker 2: And basically what we're doing in Seattle, I think is
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  Speaker 2: we're sitting back and waiting for Vegas to get its
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  Speaker 2: blank together. And so much so is, the NBA to
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  Speaker 2: figure out who they want to go with in Vegas,
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  Speaker 2: how they want to go about the process and who's
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  Speaker 2: going to be the owners. Is it going to be Foley?
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  Speaker 2: Is he going to lease the building out? Are they
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  Speaker 2: going to try to get a new building built? All
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  Speaker 2: those things that's taking place down there that is just
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  Speaker 2: such a far different market than us. Our market is
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  Speaker 2: so different because in Vegas, sure, you could play at
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  Speaker 2: T-Mobile Arena. You would be the tenant if Bill Foley,
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  Speaker 2: who owns the Vegas Golden Knights and runs the building,
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: if he doesn't own them, then you'd be a tenant there.
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  Speaker 2: I think that's a really risky proposition financially. You lose
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  Speaker 2: a lot of potential revenue from permanent signage and things
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  Speaker 2: like that, revenue streams, if you're not the person running
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  Speaker 2: the building. But so be it. They can also, as Vegas,
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  Speaker 2: you can build buildings everywhere. It might take a couple
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  Speaker 2: of years, maybe you're a tenant for a couple of years.
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  Speaker 2: No one's approached Seattle about being a tenant at CPA.
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  Speaker 2: And the second that Samantha Holloway brought One Roof Sports
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  Speaker 2: and Entertainment into basically owning and operating Seattle, CPA, 51%,
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  Speaker 2: whatever the number is. Well, then she controls the building.
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: And then she brings in Melinda French Gates as an
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  Speaker 2: investor for the Kraken, who's worth close to $ 30 billion
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  Speaker 2: with a B dollars.
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  Speaker 5: That must be nice.
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: Be nice. You don't have to be a rocket scientist
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  Speaker 2: to figure out, what's going on in Seattle. So I think,
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  Speaker 2: I do think you're going to see, I bet that's
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  Speaker 2: going to get some headlines around Seattle. People will be
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  Speaker 2: talking about it, what's going on. It's a nothing burger.
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  Speaker 2: We're waiting for Vegas. Heard a lot of different times
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  Speaker 2: and dates, October, November, mid-October, mid-November for final votes or votes.
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  Speaker 2: I did think the interesting part that he said about
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  Speaker 2: Vegas getting stuff done, final bids in by Thursday, and
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  Speaker 2: then soon thereafter, it sounds like the NBA will say, okay,
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  Speaker 2: you're the ones. Then they have to go through the
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  Speaker 2: process of vetting and all those types of things before
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  Speaker 2: you have a final vote. That's encouraging. I think we're
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: going to have an active fall and probably more so
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: fall than winter. But I would just... I know it's
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: going to cause some people some stress and some consternation here.
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: What are we doing? What's going on? What's happening? I
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: don't think that's the case. I want to hear what
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: he said. I think you have to listen carefully, you know,
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  Speaker 2: moving at a faster pace than Seattle would get people upset.
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  Speaker 3: Right.
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  Speaker 5: It just means that there's more activity.
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  Speaker 2: As you said, there's more activity. There's no activity here.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah.
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  Speaker 5: And my, my thoughts on it haven't changed at all.
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  Speaker 6: I've been the same since before they even announced that
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  Speaker 6: Vegas and Seattle would be the two cities they're looking
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  Speaker 6: at expansion at, because until they say you've got a team,
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  Speaker 6: I'm not getting excited because everybody thinks, Oh, we're going
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  Speaker 6: to find out this summer.
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  Speaker 5: Oh, we're going to find out this fall. Now the
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  Speaker 5: goal is to find.
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  Speaker 6: Out by the end of the year, that continues to
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  Speaker 6: be our goal. That is what David, or that is
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  Speaker 6: what Adam Silver said. That continues to be our goal.
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  Speaker 6: That doesn't mean we will have an answer by the
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  Speaker 6: end of the year. So it just seems like it
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  Speaker 6: keeps getting pushed out. And until there's something concrete, I
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  Speaker 6: have nothing to grab onto.
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  Speaker 2: And I think if you're, if you're an NBA fan
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  Speaker 2: or a Sonics fan, or just a sports fan in Seattle,
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  Speaker 2: I think the easiest thing to do is say, Hey,
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  Speaker 2: We're going to get a team. It's going to start
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: in 2028. When it's officially awarded, it'll be a big deal,
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: but kind of along your lines, let me know when
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  Speaker 2: it happens, and I'll be excited.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: And then you wait for another two years.
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  Speaker 5: Right, exactly.
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: We have two NBA seasons before we're going to see
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: a ball thrown up in the air at Climate Pledge Arena.
• 11:56
  Speaker 5: Right.
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: But I'm very confident in 2028, we're going to see
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: a ball thrown up in the air in Climate Pledge Arena.
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  Speaker 5: I hope you're right.
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  Speaker 2: I think that's going to happen, but we're just waiting.
• 12:06
  Speaker 2: But let's... Take a deep breath. Anybody moving at a
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  Speaker 2: quicker pace in Seattle, I don't think that's a big deal.
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: You know who's a big deal is Joe Sheehan. Your
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: first effort with Joe Sheehan is coming up next, Ash.
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: Stand by. Ficus plants in the dugout instead of Dan Wilson.
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: We'll see what he's got on the tap today. That's next.
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: Now here's Ian with our weekly baseball fix from Joe Sheehan. JoeSheehan, JoeSheehan.com,
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: the Joe Sheehan newsletter. Joining us right now on the
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: Beacon Plumbing Hotline. Hello, sir.
• 12:32
  Speaker 4: How are you?
• 12:34
  Speaker 3: Good, man. Just doing the math. And I think if
• 12:36
  Speaker 3: the Mariners can win 15 out of their last 11,
• 12:38
  Speaker 3: they can still... Even I've got to drop the bid
• 12:44
  Speaker 3: at this point. I just don't know how you get
• 12:48
  Speaker 3: the gift of the Mariners' September schedule and do with
• 12:52
  Speaker 3: it what they've done. I was up very late Sunday night.
• 12:57
  Speaker 3: I couldn't sleep. And I did a riff on the
• 12:58
  Speaker 3: Mariners and just like, How do you lose five of
• 13:01
  Speaker 3: seven to the A's? How do you blow three leads?
• 13:04
  Speaker 3: How do you lose all these ninth inning lead? I just,
• 13:07
  Speaker 3: I think they're one of the most disappointing teams of
• 13:08
  Speaker 3: the century. I really do.
• 13:10
  Speaker 2: Whoa, stop right there. Say that again.
• 13:14
  Speaker 3: I think they're one of the most disappointing teams of
• 13:16
  Speaker 3: this century. If you look at the talent on hand,
• 13:19
  Speaker 3: the expectations and the fact that they're not going to
• 13:21
  Speaker 3: win a division that might be one with 80 wins.
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: It's amazing. I mean, it's, it's, I think we've all
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: been feeling that for a while. What did we talk about, Ashley,
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: in the first segment today? This season has to be
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: one of the most, and I think we use the
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: term disappointing seasons, in the 50 years of the franchise,
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: and way more so, Joe, than all the 190 lost
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: seasons they've had, and they've had plenty of those. But
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: the expectations coming off last year, everything that's happened this year,
• 13:53
  Speaker 2: and then playing in this particular division... in this particular
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: American league where you just can be average and you're
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: in the playoffs, I agree with you. I don't know
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: the context of other teams this century, but for us
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: here in Seattle, it's got to be one of the
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: most disappointing seasons ever for a franchise that's had more
• 14:10
  Speaker 2: disappointment than success.
• 14:13
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, there's been a bunch. I mean, the
• 14:15
  Speaker 3: 2008 Tigers always come to mind for me, but I mean,
• 14:17
  Speaker 3: there are a bunch along the way, but it's everything, right?
• 14:20
  Speaker 3: It's they're going to fall. I mean, let's say, I
• 14:23
  Speaker 3: think I had them at 93 wins. Let's say I
• 14:24
  Speaker 3: was an idiot. And let's say they're actually an 86
• 14:26
  Speaker 3: win team. Then they're still going to miss that by
• 14:28
  Speaker 3: 10 wins. And, and you make the great point here,
• 14:30
  Speaker 3: which is it's the context of this year's American league.
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 14:34
  Speaker 3: Where you did, you could be disappointing and still probably
• 14:36
  Speaker 3: have won the division. And like I said, I go
• 14:37
  Speaker 3: back to just the last week and change, you know,
• 14:40
  Speaker 3: going two and six, two and six now against the
• 14:42
  Speaker 3: A's and angels over the last, what is it? Almost
• 14:44
  Speaker 3: two weeks. I just, there's just no place for that. And,
• 14:47
  Speaker 3: and again, you know, you weren't expecting, nobody was expecting
• 14:49
  Speaker 3: the 85 Mariners. to do anything. You know, there's only
• 14:52
  Speaker 3: been a fairly small number of stretches in this organization's
• 14:56
  Speaker 3: history where there's been expectations going into a season. You
• 14:58
  Speaker 3: go back to that, you know, 95, actually the 95,
• 15:01
  Speaker 3: 96 to 2001, 2002 run when they really were a
• 15:05
  Speaker 3: great team in there. And of course, you know, then
• 15:07
  Speaker 3: they kind of went in the wilderness 15 years, but
• 15:09
  Speaker 3: starting in 2022, you know, rally hits the home run
• 15:12
  Speaker 3: and they break the post-season streak. This has been one
• 15:17
  Speaker 3: of the only second best run in Mariners history. And
• 15:20
  Speaker 3: they didn't convert last year, up 2-0 and 3-2 in
• 15:24
  Speaker 3: the ALCS. They didn't convert this year with, I know
• 15:29
  Speaker 3: you're sick of hearing me saying this, but the most
• 15:32
  Speaker 3: talent in the division. And, you know, they actually had,
• 15:37
  Speaker 3: Brash notwithstanding, pretty good health this year. It turns out
• 15:39
  Speaker 3: Matt Brash was a 14-win player. I would not have
• 15:42
  Speaker 3: expected that from a reliever. But, like, they didn't have
• 15:46
  Speaker 3: a ton of things go wrong this year. You know,
• 15:48
  Speaker 3: Hancock's on the I.L. um you know castillo tank but
• 15:51
  Speaker 3: he and he was healthy they didn't have like a
• 15:54
  Speaker 3: whole bunch of health things go wrong like a lot
• 15:55
  Speaker 3: of teams did they were fairly healthy and they just
• 15:59
  Speaker 3: didn't play to their level and you say you know
• 16:01
  Speaker 3: how much longer is this team going to stay together
• 16:04
  Speaker 3: how much longer is this core going to be together
• 16:05
  Speaker 3: now rally's under contract nailer's under contract we can debate
• 16:09
  Speaker 3: whether that's a good thing julio's under contract you're bringing
• 16:12
  Speaker 3: up emerson young is young haha the pitchers are mostly
• 16:16
  Speaker 3: under contract. Like you would expect at least in 27,
• 16:18
  Speaker 3: this team to return. But I think the question is,
• 16:20
  Speaker 3: what do they have to do to make sure this
• 16:21
  Speaker 3: doesn't happen again?
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: Joe, we, you know, the, the great comment about the
• 16:26
  Speaker 2: ficus in the, the potted plant and the dugout being
• 16:29
  Speaker 2: better than Wilson. People love that here in Seattle and, and,
• 16:33
  Speaker 2: and strongly agreed with that. Let me, how much blame
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: goes and we'll, we'll really break it down here in
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: a couple of weeks. We kind of wrap things up
• 16:41
  Speaker 2: with Joe, but, but, 11 years of Jerry DiPoto, and
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: it appears, barring a miracle, it appears that in 11 years,
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: two playoff appearances for Jerry DiPoto. And I can point
• 16:53
  Speaker 2: to a lot of good that Jerry DiPoto has done.
• 16:54
  Speaker 2: You just talked about some of the roster guys, and
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: I mean, the Naylor contract notwithstanding, but if you look through, like, yeah,
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: I mean, the young players, the players they have in
• 17:02
  Speaker 2: a contract, the players they've brought up in an organization,
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: finally getting some position players, not just Julio, who they
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: signed as an international player, but others as well. But
• 17:12
  Speaker 2: how much blame goes into roster construction this year? Or
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: is it just guys haven't performed and the manager is
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: over his skis?
• 17:19
  Speaker 3: I think you can say maybe they should have done
• 17:21
  Speaker 3: a better job of bolstering the bullpen. You know, Bizarro
• 17:24
  Speaker 3: had a great year last year. He regressed. Munoz had
• 17:26
  Speaker 3: a great year. He regressed. And they didn't really have
• 17:28
  Speaker 3: a lot of depth on the right side when Brash
• 17:30
  Speaker 3: went out. You know, I could pick on that. But again,
• 17:33
  Speaker 3: it's the core that fell apart. The core is eight
• 17:36
  Speaker 3: wins short of where it should be. And I don't
• 17:38
  Speaker 3: know necessarily that I can blame Jerry DePoto for that
• 17:41
  Speaker 3: when those guys had been so good last year, you know,
• 17:43
  Speaker 3: and Josh Naylor, this is all three of those guys
• 17:46
  Speaker 3: are basically having the worst full seasons of their careers.
• 17:49
  Speaker 3: I have trouble blaming the GM for that. I just
• 17:51
  Speaker 3: don't think I can put that on Jerry. And, you know,
• 17:53
  Speaker 3: I've been so frustrated watching this team over the, I'm
• 17:56
  Speaker 3: not a fan of the Mariners, but obviously I've been
• 17:58
  Speaker 3: backing them all year. I, you know, I had a
• 18:00
  Speaker 3: lot of professional investment in their success. So you got
• 18:02
  Speaker 3: to try to separate out the emotion of those jerks
• 18:05
  Speaker 3: let me down from actual analysis. And there have been
• 18:08
  Speaker 3: times in the last week where like watching how badly
• 18:10
  Speaker 3: they've played in the last two weeks, like maybe this
• 18:12
  Speaker 3: is on the GM, but I don't think that's it.
• 18:14
  Speaker 3: He built what is what the second best Mariners team
• 18:17
  Speaker 3: in franchise history. I don't think you, I don't, I don't,
• 18:20
  Speaker 3: I think the biggest thing he did, he stuck with
• 18:22
  Speaker 3: Wilson too long. And generally speaking, you give the GM
• 18:26
  Speaker 3: a chance to replace the manager. Now he will have
• 18:28
  Speaker 3: done this twice now. And then you focus on the GM.
• 18:31
  Speaker 3: Do I think they can do better than Jerry DePoto?
• 18:35
  Speaker 3: I mean, who's available? But looking at the guys who
• 18:38
  Speaker 3: might be available, I don't think so. I think Jerry
• 18:40
  Speaker 3: DiPoto has earned a chance to make sure that, to
• 18:43
  Speaker 3: say this is a fluke, but I don't think he
• 18:44
  Speaker 3: can be passive this offseason. There's this weird thing where
• 18:47
  Speaker 3: his offseasons are generally passive and his trade deadlines are active.
• 18:52
  Speaker 3: And I think he's got to go out this winter
• 18:53
  Speaker 3: with the intent of saying, you know, we're going to,
• 18:55
  Speaker 3: we've got a lot of players on this roster who
• 18:58
  Speaker 3: are not getting paid nearly what they're worth. And we
• 19:01
  Speaker 3: need to use that savings to to go out and
• 19:03
  Speaker 3: add a five or six win player. I don't think they,
• 19:05
  Speaker 3: maybe they can bring Scoble back home. I mean, obviously
• 19:07
  Speaker 3: that would be a wonderful thing. Although this team doesn't
• 19:09
  Speaker 3: really need starters. You know, can we get a solution
• 19:12
  Speaker 3: in the outfield? Can we get that one extra bat?
• 19:14
  Speaker 3: You're locked in in so many places that it's a
• 19:16
  Speaker 3: tough roster to upgrade as well. So we'll see what
• 19:19
  Speaker 3: he does, but I would not, I mean, I would
• 19:21
  Speaker 3: have like, you know, I would have had Manny active
• 19:23
  Speaker 3: running this team for the last two months. So that's
• 19:25
  Speaker 3: the dugout to the dugout. But I do think that DePoto,
• 19:30
  Speaker 3: he's more solution than problem. And I wouldn't let him.
• 19:32
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and I think, you know, you come in and it's,
• 19:36
  Speaker 2: you know, fan bases want people's heads. That's just the
• 19:39
  Speaker 2: general tone, right? People want people's heads. And the thing
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: with Jerry is, is that, you know, he he can
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: come across as Ashley, help me out here. Is it aloof?
• 19:51
  Speaker 2: kind of smug.
• 19:52
  Speaker 6: I just think, well, no, I think it was almost
• 19:54
  Speaker 6: a little bit of social awkwardness. Like he is so
• 19:57
  Speaker 6: smart and he wants to tell you all the things
• 19:59
  Speaker 6: that are going on in his brain, but doesn't recognize
• 20:01
  Speaker 6: that maybe that's too much.
• 20:03
  Speaker 2: Information to give. Like the 54% thing might be a
• 20:06
  Speaker 2: great example of that.
• 20:06
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 20:07
  Speaker 2: Cause when you really break it down, it kind of
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: makes sense.
• 20:09
  Speaker 5: And, and, but he thought it was positive.
• 20:11
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 20:11
  Speaker 2: But people like, you know, they want full, you know,
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: house cleaning Joe. And I'm kind of, I'm kind of
• 20:16
  Speaker 2: with you. Like I, I think two playoff appearances in
• 20:20
  Speaker 2: 11 years isn't good enough, but at the same time,
• 20:22
  Speaker 2: I look at the roster and, God, at some point,
• 20:25
  Speaker 2: you've got to play better if you're a player, right?
• 20:27
  Speaker 2: And manage better if you're a manager. I don't know
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: if Jerry and Justin Hollander are the problem as much
• 20:31
  Speaker 2: as guys in the dugout and, frankly, the manager, as
• 20:35
  Speaker 2: you said.
• 20:35
  Speaker 3: Right, because when you look at why did the Mariners
• 20:38
  Speaker 3: win 74 games or whatever it's going to be this year,
• 20:41
  Speaker 3: I think it does start with those three guys falling seven,
• 20:44
  Speaker 3: eight wins short of expectations. And even now, The starting
• 20:47
  Speaker 3: pitching has been kind of bad for a while now.
• 20:49
  Speaker 3: And you look at the numbers that Gilbert and Kirby
• 20:53
  Speaker 3: and Wu have put up, and they're going to actually
• 20:55
  Speaker 3: end up being four to five wins short of where
• 20:57
  Speaker 3: you would have expected this year. So I'm not putting
• 21:01
  Speaker 3: that on Jerry DePoto. I'm just not. He developed these guys.
• 21:04
  Speaker 3: He drafted them. He acquired them. I just have a
• 21:07
  Speaker 3: really hard time putting this team's shortfall. There are things
• 21:10
  Speaker 3: I can put on the GM, but the bulk of
• 21:13
  Speaker 3: the Mariners' 2026 disappointments is the players. And two, I
• 21:19
  Speaker 3: would say the second biggest thing is Dan Wilson. And
• 21:23
  Speaker 3: then that's before I get to the front office.
• 21:25
  Speaker 2: You said something there that really kind of piqued my
• 21:26
  Speaker 2: interest too about his philosophy. And it really is that.
• 21:30
  Speaker 2: It's kind of go through and throw a couple, you know,
• 21:34
  Speaker 2: just kind of sprinkle something in here or there. A
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: Ref Snyder, a Pollock, a Colton Wong, whatever it might be.
• 21:41
  Speaker 2: You know, you got these guys, you sprinkle in these
• 21:43
  Speaker 2: These guys that you think are going to be, you know,
• 21:45
  Speaker 2: they can hit left-handers, they can hit right-handers, whatever it
• 21:47
  Speaker 2: might be. You sprinkle these little sprinkles in in the offseason,
• 21:51
  Speaker 2: and then you do your real work in terms of
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: adding the roster at the trade deadline. And the more
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: I think about that, that just doesn't feel like it's sustainable.
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: It feels like you've got to just be better, as
• 22:01
  Speaker 2: you kind of insinuated, if I'm getting you right here.
• 22:04
  Speaker 2: You've got to be better in the offseason, in the
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: winter months. You've got to be better then in terms
• 22:08
  Speaker 2: of roster construction.
• 22:10
  Speaker 3: Well, I think certainly now we can do it. because
• 22:14
  Speaker 3: i can defend him i can look at the roster
• 22:17
  Speaker 3: and say it was the players but you can't go
• 22:20
  Speaker 3: into 2027 with this group of players i think you've
• 22:23
  Speaker 3: got to find some way to aggressively make it better
• 22:25
  Speaker 3: especially when you look at a division that you're still
• 22:28
  Speaker 3: going to come as bad as this has been you're
• 22:30
  Speaker 3: going to go into january and you're going to go
• 22:32
  Speaker 3: into april as the division favorite the astros are not
• 22:35
  Speaker 3: very good the rangers are better but they're getting very
• 22:38
  Speaker 3: old and they haven't been able to develop players of
• 22:40
  Speaker 3: late the batters are going to be the favorite i
• 22:43
  Speaker 3: I think you've got to find a way to bolster
• 22:45
  Speaker 3: the roster in a way that if you do have
• 22:47
  Speaker 3: disappointing performances, you've got more depth to make up for it. Um,
• 22:51
  Speaker 3: you know, it's, it's, it's a very difficult, I do
• 22:53
  Speaker 3: think it's gonna be a difficult roster to upgrade. And
• 22:55
  Speaker 3: when you look at the free agent market, you know,
• 22:58
  Speaker 3: other than Scooble, I'm not going to say it's landmines,
• 23:02
  Speaker 3: but this is the thing about free agency. Now there
• 23:05
  Speaker 3: just aren't that many guys every year that are going
• 23:08
  Speaker 3: to help you. I mean, This research is a little dated,
• 23:11
  Speaker 3: but at one point, maybe 10 years ago, I looked.
• 23:13
  Speaker 3: In the 90s, 75% of the best players in baseball
• 23:17
  Speaker 3: became free agents in their prime or late prime. Now,
• 23:22
  Speaker 3: it's the other way around. 25% of the best players
• 23:25
  Speaker 3: in baseball become free agents in their prime or post-prime.
• 23:28
  Speaker 3: You just can't count on being able to go to
• 23:29
  Speaker 3: the market and find useful ways to spend your money.
• 23:31
  Speaker 3: And The Mets signed Bo Bichette. Would you be happier
• 23:34
  Speaker 3: with Bo Bichette today?
• 23:36
  Speaker 2: Yeah, right.
• 23:36
  Speaker 3: The Mets signed Jorge Polanco. You guys are upset because
• 23:39
  Speaker 3: they let Polanco go, and Polanco has like nine more
• 23:41
  Speaker 3: hits this year than I do.
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: What's your read on Cal Raleigh?
• 23:48
  Speaker 3: Oh, I'm sorry. Was that for me? I think it's
• 23:52
  Speaker 3: an off year. I think I can look at a
• 23:54
  Speaker 3: lot of the long season last year. coming in early
• 23:57
  Speaker 3: for the wbc never really getting right um i think
• 24:01
  Speaker 3: it's a fatigue year i think if i'm projecting rally
• 24:04
  Speaker 3: next year it's a guy i'm taking his baseline from
• 24:08
  Speaker 3: 22 to 25 to 24 and maybe knocking a little
• 24:12
  Speaker 3: bit off that for age so i still think he's
• 24:14
  Speaker 3: a three to four win catcher I think what you
• 24:18
  Speaker 3: might want to look at, and I know they did
• 24:20
  Speaker 3: this with Garver initially, and Johnny Parade is not really
• 24:22
  Speaker 3: the answer. Do you maybe want to invest in a
• 24:25
  Speaker 3: backup catcher who you're more comfortable playing 55 to 60 times?
• 24:29
  Speaker 3: Upgrade that position, and then, you know, Manny Rowley gets
• 24:32
  Speaker 3: 25 starts at DH, and he gets, you know, 35
• 24:35
  Speaker 3: days off. Catches 100 to 110 games. Maybe upgrading the
• 24:38
  Speaker 3: backup catcher spot, spending some money there is a way
• 24:41
  Speaker 3: to go. Get somebody who's a left-handed hitter so he's
• 24:44
  Speaker 3: a better match. um, let's go say it was in
• 24:46
  Speaker 3: better natural rallies.
• 24:47
  Speaker 5: Switch it or so.
• 24:48
  Speaker 3: Just we'll chalk that up to fatigue. Um, find somebody
• 24:52
  Speaker 3: who's a good back. Like that's one. If you're not
• 24:54
  Speaker 3: going to be able to find like a superstar, you
• 24:56
  Speaker 3: got to figure out how do we make this, this
• 24:58
  Speaker 3: roster better. And you know, the garbage thing didn't work.
• 25:00
  Speaker 3: So go out and invest some money in the back
• 25:02
  Speaker 3: of it. You know, that might not be much. That
• 25:04
  Speaker 3: might be going out and trade the Cardinals. have produced
• 25:06
  Speaker 3: like seven starting catchers in the last two years. Go
• 25:10
  Speaker 3: to see if they want to trade a Danny Crooks.
• 25:11
  Speaker 3: Go to see if they want to get Yvonne Herrera,
• 25:14
  Speaker 3: who's actually a guy who's not good defensively, but he
• 25:18
  Speaker 3: can hit. And he's more of a, if we're going
• 25:20
  Speaker 3: to call Cal a catcher DH, Herrera's a DH catcher.
• 25:24
  Speaker 3: So he can catch for you twice a week. He's
• 25:26
  Speaker 3: okay back there, but really he's going to bat in
• 25:28
  Speaker 3: the middle of the lineup or, you know, be really
• 25:31
  Speaker 3: aggressive and go out. They called up Leo Bernal, who's
• 25:33
  Speaker 3: hitting like crazy. And he's not even their best catching prospect.
• 25:36
  Speaker 3: Best catching prospect is a kid named Reno Rodriguez, who
• 25:39
  Speaker 3: slugged like 700 at double a over the last two months.
• 25:42
  Speaker 3: They just, that, that may be the thing to do.
• 25:44
  Speaker 3: Go out and see if you can't match up with
• 25:46
  Speaker 3: the Cardinals on a pitching for catching trade that, you know,
• 25:50
  Speaker 3: makes both teams better. Yeah. But I, It's creativity and
• 25:53
  Speaker 3: aggression in the offseason that we haven't really seen of
• 25:56
  Speaker 3: late that is going to address this problem.
• 25:59
  Speaker 2: There's so many teams in it in the American League still.
• 26:02
  Speaker 2: I mean, the Angels and Athletics and Royals, I think,
• 26:04
  Speaker 2: have all been mathematically eliminated. Everyone else is still technically
• 26:08
  Speaker 2: in it. Seattle, the most disappointing team, as you mentioned.
• 26:12
  Speaker 2: Who else is just a big-time disappointment in the American League?
• 26:17
  Speaker 3: Everybody. Yeah. I'm putting eight of my friends together. We
• 26:21
  Speaker 3: actually are only four games out of the wild card.
• 26:24
  Speaker 3: I think if you're saying who's the next biggest disappointment,
• 26:28
  Speaker 3: the Tigers, who have this incredible third order record. They
• 26:33
  Speaker 3: actually have the third best run differential in the league,
• 26:36
  Speaker 3: and they have to run the table to make the playoffs. Now,
• 26:38
  Speaker 3: they could because they played the Jays this week and
• 26:40
  Speaker 3: the White Sox this week. So they have head-to-head games
• 26:44
  Speaker 3: that give them a puncher's chance. If they run the
• 26:47
  Speaker 3: table there, we'll see where we are on Monday. But
• 26:49
  Speaker 3: I think the Tigers have to be.
• 26:51
  Speaker 2: Oops, we lost Joe there for a second. You with me, Joe?
• 26:56
  Speaker 5: Oops, we lost Joe. Did we lose Joe?
• 27:01
  Speaker 4: There you are.
• 27:02
  Speaker 2: There you are. We lost you for a second.
• 27:03
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it was on me. It wasn't you. The Tigers
• 27:06
  Speaker 3: are the most disappointing team in the AL. They're 20...
• 27:11
  Speaker 3: Jason Benetti is phenomenal. I know he does incredible work
• 27:14
  Speaker 3: for NBC. He had a note last night on the broadcast.
• 27:17
  Speaker 3: They're 21 and 43 in one and two run games.
• 27:23
  Speaker 2: Wow.
• 27:23
  Speaker 3: Scott Harris went out this winter. He signed Kenley Jansen.
• 27:26
  Speaker 3: They retained Kyle Finnegan on a two-year contract, and it
• 27:31
  Speaker 3: was just money that was just wasted. Remember two years ago,
• 27:33
  Speaker 3: they traded Jack Flaherty at the deadline. Yep. And they
• 27:38
  Speaker 3: made the playoffs because A.J. Hinch just went with Scooble
• 27:41
  Speaker 3: and a whole bunch of bullpen games. Their bullpen two
• 27:43
  Speaker 3: years ago got them into the playoffs. Their bullpen this
• 27:45
  Speaker 3: year is taking them out of the playoffs. So I
• 27:47
  Speaker 3: think the Tigers have to be next on that list.
• 27:49
  Speaker 2: I mean, you mentioned there, though, it's interesting, a dynamic
• 27:53
  Speaker 2: of head-to-head games with teams that matter. Because as you said,
• 27:56
  Speaker 2: we all know here in Seattle, they've got this... incredibly
• 28:00
  Speaker 2: soft schedule. I mean, Angels and Rockies, yes, they've got
• 28:02
  Speaker 2: a couple with Houston, but then the Angels again, right?
• 28:04
  Speaker 2: So it's like, you've got these games that, but the
• 28:06
  Speaker 2: problem with those games, even if you win them, you don't,
• 28:09
  Speaker 2: unless you beat the Astros, probably might be over by
• 28:11
  Speaker 2: then anyway, but it doesn't matter because you need, actually,
• 28:14
  Speaker 2: you need head-to-head games at this point in the season.
• 28:18
  Speaker 3: Well, if you're six back, if you're two back, which
• 28:20
  Speaker 3: is where the Mariners should have been, if they'd beaten
• 28:22
  Speaker 3: up the, oh, don't get me started, because we also
• 28:24
  Speaker 3: had the five games against the Rangers and Astros. They
• 28:26
  Speaker 3: took two out of three from the Rangers last week.
• 28:29
  Speaker 3: That was the other thing they had. They had both
• 28:30
  Speaker 3: a very weak schedule and some head-to-head opportunities. They're six
• 28:34
  Speaker 3: back of the Astros. They could sweep the Astros, and
• 28:36
  Speaker 3: it might not be relevant. It's a two-game series. That's
• 28:38
  Speaker 3: just not enough. So, yeah, you want those head-to-head opportunities
• 28:41
  Speaker 3: if you're behind. If you're ahead, obviously, you don't want
• 28:45
  Speaker 3: to have to give those opportunities. It's weird this year
• 28:48
  Speaker 3: in that there aren't a whole lot of these. The
• 28:49
  Speaker 3: Yankees and Rays play next week. The AL East may
• 28:52
  Speaker 3: or may not be in the balance. The Padres and
• 28:54
  Speaker 3: Diamondbacks play the final– final weekend of the season that
• 28:58
  Speaker 3: may or may not determine the NL wildcard. I feel
• 29:00
  Speaker 3: like in previous years, we've been talking about Mariners Rangers. Yes. Yes.
• 29:06
  Speaker 3: Rangers Astros. Yes. And it just didn't, it didn't fall
• 29:09
  Speaker 3: that way this year. And like, look, I'm not going
• 29:11
  Speaker 3: to sit here and make 162 game schedule. I'm not
• 29:13
  Speaker 3: going to say it's hard. There's a lot of things
• 29:15
  Speaker 3: that go into play. It's become more complicated because of
• 29:18
  Speaker 3: the play everybody's schedule, which I think they should get
• 29:20
  Speaker 3: rid of. It's just that the travel and the matchups
• 29:23
  Speaker 3: just become too complicated. But I think you've got to
• 29:25
  Speaker 3: do a better job of getting some of these interesting
• 29:28
  Speaker 3: matchups into September. We just don't have a lot of good,
• 29:31
  Speaker 3: like that last weekend includes five interleague series. And to me,
• 29:35
  Speaker 3: that's the one that should be the easiest to say, OK,
• 29:38
  Speaker 3: we're going to have the Rockies play the Angels and
• 29:40
  Speaker 3: everything else is going to be within the league or
• 29:42
  Speaker 3: the division. Yeah. And instead they have like the Yankees
• 29:44
  Speaker 3: playing the Cubs on the final weekend of the season. So, yeah,
• 29:47
  Speaker 3: they don't have enough head to head matchups, even in
• 29:50
  Speaker 3: this crazy American league. You've got the Tigers playing the Royal,
• 29:53
  Speaker 3: excuse me, the Blue Jays. The White Sox, you've got
• 29:56
  Speaker 3: the Blue Jays playing the Orioles next week. You've got
• 29:58
  Speaker 3: that two-game series between the Mariners and the Astros. But
• 30:01
  Speaker 3: most of it is just watching scoreboards, and I think
• 30:04
  Speaker 3: the game is better if you've got more of these
• 30:06
  Speaker 3: head-to-head matchups.
• 30:06
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's strange. The second year in a row, the
• 30:08
  Speaker 2: Mariners have played the Rockies very late in the season.
• 30:10
  Speaker 2: They finished last year with the Rockies and the Dodgers,
• 30:12
  Speaker 2: which is just– yeah, that seems– it seems like you
• 30:16
  Speaker 2: do a little better job with the schedule.
• 30:17
  Speaker 3: Avoidable. Yeah. It seems avoidable.
• 30:19
  Speaker 2: Yeah, very much avoidable. So they're done, right, as far
• 30:23
  Speaker 2: as the wild card. Are they officially done in the
• 30:26
  Speaker 2: AL West? I mean, if they win out, they're 81-81.
• 30:28
  Speaker 2: Let's assume they don't win out. Can an 80-82 team
• 30:34
  Speaker 2: win the American League West?
• 30:37
  Speaker 3: Yes, because there are head-to-head matchups. The Rangers and the
• 30:41
  Speaker 3: Nationals don't play each other again. So they conceivably could
• 30:44
  Speaker 3: both lose out. Now, that's probably not going to happen.
• 30:47
  Speaker 3: Could they both go 5-7? I mean, have you seen
• 30:50
  Speaker 3: these teams? They can easily go five and seven, but
• 30:52
  Speaker 3: they do. I think that's one of the things we're
• 30:54
  Speaker 3: also talking about here. Where it's not, we're talking about
• 30:56
  Speaker 3: good teams. We say, man, are they really going to
• 30:59
  Speaker 3: lose seven out of 12? No, no problem at all
• 31:01
  Speaker 3: seeing the Astros and Rangers losing seven out of 12.
• 31:03
  Speaker 3: So are they done done? I mean, I think they're done,
• 31:08
  Speaker 3: but mathematically, yes, they can run the table and I
• 31:11
  Speaker 3: will come in here two weeks from today and I
• 31:13
  Speaker 3: will have a nice plate of crow that I will
• 31:15
  Speaker 3: pretend to eat.
• 31:16
  Speaker 2: Yeah, but then you can also say you predicted them
• 31:18
  Speaker 2: to make the playoffs, so that's fine too.
• 31:19
  Speaker 3: No, I finally did get off the train this week,
• 31:23
  Speaker 3: so if they go ahead and win 11 in a row,
• 31:24
  Speaker 3: God bless them. But realistically, does this look like a
• 31:27
  Speaker 3: team that can go 11-1, that can go 12-0? No.
• 31:30
  Speaker 3: I mean, they just lost six out of eight to
• 31:31
  Speaker 3: the A's and H's.
• 31:33
  Speaker 2: They look done. Like just when you look in the dugout,
• 31:35
  Speaker 2: especially after they look done. They look like we're making
• 31:38
  Speaker 2: travel plans is what they look like. And, yeah, can
• 31:41
  Speaker 2: they do that?
• 31:41
  Speaker 3: No.
• 31:42
  Speaker 2: I mean– The fact that they have to go 11-0
• 31:45
  Speaker 2: to finish 500 or 10-1 to finish 80-82, the bare minimum, no.
• 31:54
  Speaker 2: On top of that, Houston's got a series with Kansas
• 31:56
  Speaker 2: City starting tonight. Not every team's going to lose to
• 31:59
  Speaker 2: bad teams like the Mariners have.
• 32:01
  Speaker 3: They've been a couple of years in the past. I
• 32:06
  Speaker 3: was talking to my Texas head earlier today where the
• 32:08
  Speaker 3: Astros have played the A's and lost. The Astros got
• 32:11
  Speaker 3: swept by the A's. over consecutive weeks a couple of
• 32:14
  Speaker 3: years back like it is perfectly this is the thing
• 32:18
  Speaker 3: about baseball it's not just in the postseason we talk
• 32:20
  Speaker 3: about anything can happen and randomness the other the dodgers
• 32:23
  Speaker 3: went oh and six against the reds last year none
• 32:27
  Speaker 3: of these teams are good enough to where you'd say
• 32:29
  Speaker 3: oh no they're obviously going to beat so and so
• 32:31
  Speaker 3: i'm sorry it is not um the astros you know
• 32:34
  Speaker 3: jordan alvarez was two games with an ankle injury um
• 32:36
  Speaker 3: he didn't look right on sunday either he hasn't had
• 32:38
  Speaker 3: a hit since wednesday Um, you know, that's, that's not
• 32:40
  Speaker 3: a very good team. And after Hunter Brown pitches tonight,
• 32:43
  Speaker 3: you know, it's, I think I said last week, it's
• 32:44
  Speaker 3: Larry and Curly on the mound for them. So yeah,
• 32:47
  Speaker 3: they can lose eight out of 12. I think the Rangers,
• 32:49
  Speaker 3: you know, the starting pitching is better, but they have
• 32:51
  Speaker 3: all kinds of trouble scoring runs. They can lose eight
• 32:53
  Speaker 3: out of 12. I think right now it is probably 50,
• 32:57
  Speaker 3: 50 that we get a sub 500 team into the playoffs.
• 33:00
  Speaker 2: God, crazy. Joe Sheehan joining us. Uh, Joe, uh, let's
• 33:05
  Speaker 2: wrap it up with this. Tell us about the Joe
• 33:07
  Speaker 2: Sheehan newsletter.
• 33:09
  Speaker 3: First things first, 30% off, one-day sale. Go to joshian.com.
• 33:13
  Speaker 3: Go to sheennewsletter.bsky.social. That's where I am on Blue Sky.
• 33:18
  Speaker 3: Go to the site. Read all kinds of free stuff
• 33:20
  Speaker 3: and then sign up. 30% off for one year. I
• 33:22
  Speaker 3: guarantee you by the end of October, you'll have already
• 33:25
  Speaker 3: gotten your money's worth. joshian.com, 30% off. That's where I
• 33:28
  Speaker 3: write about baseball. Probably not going to be writing a
• 33:30
  Speaker 3: lot about the Mariners as we go forward here, but
• 33:34
  Speaker 3: I think they're one of the teams that's going to
• 33:35
  Speaker 3: have a fascinating offseason to the extent that any team
• 33:37
  Speaker 3: is going to have an offseason. Obviously, I'll be covering
• 33:39
  Speaker 3: that stuff. I'm kind of looking forward to six weeks
• 33:42
  Speaker 3: of not writing about that stuff. It's pretty much all
• 33:44
  Speaker 3: on the field now. I may duck out to do
• 33:46
  Speaker 3: a Mark Walter thing at some point, but we're going
• 33:49
  Speaker 3: to focus on the field. We're going to focus on
• 33:51
  Speaker 3: the players and the teams and the ball and the games.
• 33:54
  Speaker 3: And then come November 5th, yeah, we're going to have
• 33:56
  Speaker 3: to talk about the other stuff.
• 33:57
  Speaker 5: But for now.
• 33:59
  Speaker 3: It's all about baseball. So again, and yeah, I don't,
• 34:03
  Speaker 3: I don't advertise volume. Volume is not my goal, but
• 34:06
  Speaker 3: over the next two weeks, six weeks, I read a lot.
• 34:08
  Speaker 3: So hope people will check it out and enjoy the newsletter.
• 34:10
  Speaker 2: Go check it out. Joe Sheehan.com and a playoff baseball
• 34:13
  Speaker 2: is the best. Even if you're not involved, it's a
• 34:15
  Speaker 2: lot better if you are involved, but it's still the best.
• 34:17
  Speaker 2: And that's why we love having Joe Sheehan on. Thank you,
• 34:18
  Speaker 2: my friend.
• 34:20
  Speaker 6: Thanks, Ian.
• 34:20
  Speaker 2: That is Joe Sheehan. Big thanks to Northwest Handling Systems.
• 34:23
  Speaker 2: They have everything from forklifts to pallet racks. Conveyors and
• 34:25
  Speaker 2: loading dock equipment. We sell, rent, and service all your
• 34:27
  Speaker 2: warehousing needs. Request a quote today at nwhs.com or give
• 34:31
  Speaker 2: them a call at 425-255-0500. We'll wrap up our number
• 34:33
  Speaker 2: two ahead of John Lund at 2 o'clock, 93.3 KJR FM.
• 34:36
  Speaker 3: Five of seven to the A's. How do you blow
• 34:39
  Speaker 3: three leads? How do you lose all these ninth inning leads?
• 34:42
  Speaker 3: I think they're one of the most disappointing teams of
• 34:43
  Speaker 3: the century. I really do.
• 34:44
  Speaker 2: Whoa. Stop right there. Say that again.
• 34:47
  Speaker 3: I think they're one of the most disappointing teams of
• 34:49
  Speaker 3: this century.
• 34:53
  Speaker 2: I'm going to tell you this right now. The last
• 34:54
  Speaker 2: three weeks, Joe Sheehan has just, I mean, he has
• 34:57
  Speaker 2: brought it in a big way the last three weeks.
• 35:00
  Speaker 5: He's given us a lot to talk about.
• 35:02
  Speaker 2: What did you think of your first venture into the
• 35:04
  Speaker 2: Joe Sheehan territory?
• 35:05
  Speaker 5: He's great.
• 35:05
  Speaker 6: He asked me if I arm wrestled to get this job,
• 35:08
  Speaker 6: and I said, no, I won a thumb war.
• 35:10
  Speaker 5: Very strong hands.
• 35:12
  Speaker 2: Most people think you lost the lottery, but that's okay.
• 35:15
  Speaker 5: I won it.
• 35:16
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I.
• 35:20
  Speaker 3: Think.
• 35:21
  Speaker 2: You'd have a hard argument against what he said, though.
• 35:23
  Speaker 2: And it's based on a lot of things, but I
• 35:25
  Speaker 2: think expectations are the top of the list, right? Because
• 35:28
  Speaker 2: the expectations are one thing. But to be a team
• 35:32
  Speaker 2: that's probably going to be on the outside looking in
• 35:35
  Speaker 2: with this American League. Now, he mentioned Detroit. Detroit's an
• 35:39
  Speaker 2: interesting case. Plus 71 in run differential. Plus 71 in
• 35:44
  Speaker 2: run differential right now. Seattle, just by comparison, is minus 80.
• 35:49
  Speaker 2: Every team in the American League West is a negative
• 35:51
  Speaker 2: run differential. Minus 53 Astros, minus 44 Rangers, minus 60 Mariners.
• 35:57
  Speaker 2: By the way, the minus 60, the Mariners, we can say, well,
• 36:00
  Speaker 2: you know, they had a couple of blowouts in which,
• 36:02
  Speaker 2: you know, yeah, but they also had a 19 run
• 36:04
  Speaker 2: game the other day. Right. And they're still minus 60.
• 36:07
  Speaker 2: A's minus 203, Angels minus 74. I didn't get into
• 36:10
  Speaker 2: it with Joe. Our concern, we talked about this a
• 36:13
  Speaker 2: couple weeks ago, Anders and I. The concern you might
• 36:16
  Speaker 2: also have is, yeah, they might be the favorite going
• 36:19
  Speaker 2: into next season if the Rangers are aging and who
• 36:23
  Speaker 2: knows what's going on in Houston. The Angels have an
• 36:26
  Speaker 2: owner that likes to spend money.
• 36:28
  Speaker 5: Yeah, they do. Yeah, they're lucky.
• 36:30
  Speaker 2: They got that new ownership in L.A. or Anaheim, so
• 36:34
  Speaker 2: to speak. It's going to be a problem.
• 36:36
  Speaker 5: He likes to win.
• 36:37
  Speaker 3: Weird.
• 36:38
  Speaker 5: Yeah, he really does. And he's like, I will spend
• 36:40
  Speaker 5: the money to win.
• 36:41
  Speaker 2: It's a crazy philosophy.
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: I know.
• 36:42
  Speaker 5: It is strange. Especially in a sport where you don't
• 36:46
  Speaker 5: have a salary cap.
• 36:49
  Speaker 2: And I'll just go back. There's a big part of
• 36:51
  Speaker 2: me that wants to and thinks it's important to protect DePoto,
• 36:55
  Speaker 2: I think. Because on the surface, two playoff appearances in
• 37:01
  Speaker 2: 11 years as the guy in charge of baseball ops,
• 37:04
  Speaker 2: not good enough. Right. But I look at the roster
• 37:08
  Speaker 2: and I'm thinking, more than good enough.
• 37:10
  Speaker 4: Right.
• 37:11
  Speaker 6: And we aren't the only ones saying that. National people
• 37:13
  Speaker 6: thought the roster was more than good enough to.
• 37:15
  Speaker 3: Start this year. Yeah.
• 37:16
  Speaker 2: I think Joe said, what did he say? He had
• 37:18
  Speaker 2: them in the 94-win range or something like that this year.
• 37:20
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 37:21
  Speaker 2: They're going to be probably, I mean, Joe said there'll
• 37:25
  Speaker 2: be 74 wins. So I don't know. I mean, I
• 37:28
  Speaker 2: think they might get more than that with the remaining schedule.
• 37:31
  Speaker 2: They'll probably be pushing 78-ish. But even if they get
• 37:33
  Speaker 2: 78 wins, a 78-win season, 78-84? That's a 12-game difference
• 37:43
  Speaker 2: from last year with basically the same roster.
• 37:47
  Speaker 5: It's a massive disappointment.
• 37:48
  Speaker 2: That is one of the biggest disappointments of the century.
• 37:51
  Speaker 2: Do you have to do this? Century.
• 37:54
  Speaker 5: Oh, that's right. Since 2000.
• 37:55
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 37:56
  Speaker 5: I was like, gosh, since 1900.
• 37:58
  Speaker 2: God, Babe Ruth was playing. He must have had some
• 38:01
  Speaker 2: disappointing teams they played with against, right?
• 38:03
  Speaker 4: I guess.
• 38:03
  Speaker 2: No, no. This century is 2000.
• 38:04
  Speaker 5: Okay, so it's not that long.
• 38:06
  Speaker 2: It's still 26 years. Yeah.
• 38:07
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 38:08
  Speaker 3: I know.
• 38:09
  Speaker 2: There's a lot of baseball to be played.
• 38:10
  Speaker 6: But it is better than when I originally thought he
• 38:12
  Speaker 6: was just meaning like in the last 100 years.
• 38:15
  Speaker 2: Hang on. I know. I did have to catch myself.
• 38:19
  Speaker 2: All right. So 30 teams, 26 years. That's 780 teams.
• 38:24
  Speaker 2: You're number one at 780.
• 38:25
  Speaker 5: That's pretty bad.
• 38:26
  Speaker 2: You're number one at 780. Is he really good or
• 38:28
  Speaker 2: really bad?
• 38:29
  Speaker 5: Saying it's not good.
• 38:30
  Speaker 2: Number one at 780 actually could be really good.
• 38:32
  Speaker 3: True.
• 38:33
  Speaker 2: Not in this case.
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: No.
• 38:35
  Speaker 2: Not in this case at all.
• 38:36
  Speaker 6: Nope.
• 38:37
  Speaker 2: All right. Well, John Lund's going to join us here
• 38:39
  Speaker 2: in just a couple minutes. By the way, I teased
• 38:40
  Speaker 2: this earlier. I never got to it. It's not a
• 38:42
  Speaker 2: huge deal. Seahawks thing has come out, the weekly release
• 38:46
  Speaker 2: and all that. Sam Darnold's still listed as your starting quarterback.
• 38:48
  Speaker 2: No other quarterbacks added as of yet. I'm still kind
• 38:51
  Speaker 2: of keeping– I still think they're going to add somebody
• 38:52
  Speaker 2: this week, today, or tomorrow, but we'll see. Just as
• 38:55
  Speaker 2: a number three. But it's a good sign. They didn't
• 39:00
  Speaker 2: immediately go out and say, we've got to find the
• 39:02
  Speaker 2: guy who's the best guy in the market, get him
• 39:03
  Speaker 2: in here right away. They haven't done that, and he's
• 39:06
  Speaker 2: not on IR, which is really good. That's probably the
• 39:08
  Speaker 2: best news of all. They didn't put him on the
• 39:10
  Speaker 2: injured reserve list and have to miss the four games. But, yeah,
• 39:13
  Speaker 2: it's him and Milrow, or Milrow's number three still. So
• 39:17
  Speaker 2: we'll see. Tomorrow, Mike McDonald speaks. We'll try to get
• 39:19
  Speaker 2: some of that sound.
• 39:20
  Speaker 5: We'll take a break.
• 39:21
  Speaker 2: Come back. Our friend John Lund. Oh, hang on. Ashley,
• 39:24
  Speaker 2: I forgot to tell you about this. This is always
• 39:25
  Speaker 2: an adventure.
• 39:26
  Speaker 6: Oh?
• 39:27
  Speaker 5: Should I be nervous?
• 39:28
  Speaker 2: Well, he's never on time.
• 39:30
  Speaker 3: Oh.
• 39:31
  Speaker 2: I bet if we look at the text line, people
• 39:33
  Speaker 2: usually predict. It's kind of like the polymarket stuff. There's
• 39:36
  Speaker 2: a prediction thing on when will Lund actually answer the phone.
• 39:38
  Speaker 1: Okay.
• 39:39
  Speaker 5: That's good. It doesn't stress me out at all when
• 39:41
  Speaker 5: I call a guest and they don't answer.
• 39:42
  Speaker 2: No, it should be fine, though. He just texted me back.
• 39:45
  Speaker 2: Niner's favorite to win the NFC West. It's over. It's
• 39:47
  Speaker 2: fun while it lasted for you guys in Seattle. He'll
• 39:49
  Speaker 2: be fine. He'll join us next.
• 39:50
  Speaker 1: Okay.