Lying would be a terrible look for the front office. It's not a shock that Sasaki has no interest in coming here. It's a franchise that historically a loser franchise, ownership is terrible, the current players are frustrated with the front office and ownership...it's a bad culture here. There is no player in baseball that if they were given a choice of where they wanted to play (all things being equal) would choose Seattle.
I have been thinking and it is in my best interest to reevaluate being a fan of the Seattle mariners. They just search the clearance rack to fill out the roster and show no interest in winning a World Series. Until the current ownership sells they will always be in this state of hoping the bargain bin shopping for a player to have a career year. Our ownership group has no interest in winning anything but 54% A jokers of a franchise.
what Mather effectively did at that Rotary meeting was to make a public declaration that the Mariners as a group embrace a "team concept" which involves only investing enough money into the org to build a SLIGHTLY ABOVE AVERAGE team with enough wildcard factors in the 40 man roster to keep the fanbase, still broken-hearted over last September, coming right back every April with the same hope they came back with the April of the previous year... making a dedicated commitment based on the blind faith that, even though our hearts have been broken over and over again, going further back than we care to remember, ... it'll be different this time. and they expect free agents to be equally naive to this pattern of abuse.
Also, even if your strategy is to be mid, which IS the Mariner's strategy... you never say anything like what the Mariners have put out their publicly. You discredit your organization with players and fans.
What is there to be positive about recently? It has literally all been bad and downhill since Game 1 against Houston. If we won that game I firmly believe we would be on a different path but that Yordan HR did some serious damage to this organization and whether it's coincidence or not, the team just has not recovered or moved forward.
Why us fans continue to fall for bs. Until the fans boycott the mariners game and force a sale of the mariners to ownership that will compete. I'm not wasting one ounce of my time in going to their stadium or watching their games.
Roki was born after the 2001 season. Ichiro's whole Japanese career took place before he was born. Unless he watched the Mariners as a small child he missed Ichiro's entire prime.
The Kevin Mathers interview tells you everything you need to know about this franchise. Stanton tried to cover up the truth bomb but their actions the past few years have only confirmed Mathers comments. Let me know when “throw beers onto the field night” is and that’ll be the one ticket I buy this year.
To all the Mariner fans that care so much about the team, stop caring. Find a new team. Don't continue down this delusional tube of success. It's been a failure franchise, forever. You can always come back but supporting the team with viewership, tickets, fangear, etc just deepens the pockets of ownership and they need to feel the burn. LET THEM FEEL THE BURN.
I also would like to add, I am, have, and ALWAYS will be a diehard Mariners fan!!! Knowing that, no news when it comes to the Mariners shocks me. At this point , IT'S LAUGHABLE!!! I just accept what it is to be a Mariners fan and I am OK with that. At the end of the day, whatever the Mariners do whether it's good, bad or indifferent will not affect how I go about my day.
Seattle would've been able to offer good endorsement opportunity by Japanese companies, pitcher development, shortest flight to and from Japan, west-coast time zone suited for fans in Japan, delicious seafood, as well as Japanese restaurants and supermarkets. Seattle weather, coastal characteristic, and landscape is very similar to Sasaki's hometown in Ofunato. Darvish, Ohtani, and Kikuchi who all know cold long winters have said warm weather benefits their performance, conditioning, and off-season training, which is why they prefer Southern California. But Sasaki also met with teams located in NY, Chicago, and Toronto...so there must be something really missing in either the Mariners or the city of Seattle.
@yo2trader539 That's all fine and good but at the end of the day the Mariners don't offer a consistent winning culture. Which is sad but true. However, the Mariners biggest problem is they're CHEAP!!! Until those things change, the Mariners will continue to be the LONE remaining team to yet have gone to the World Series!!!
The right move now is acquire a 3B. That said, I have no confidence they can do that effectively. They'll either sell low on Castillo or hope on some Moncada type because he's cheap. How much better would this team look with Geno instead of Garver? That's essentially what Geno got salary dumped for.. to sign Mitch.....Garver.... 🤦♂
Happy 200! But......who can be happy with an "UNHAPPY" franchise? The vibe that the Seattle Mariner franchise gives, turns and chases good players away. Then, the front office trades good players away, gives false hope, train future prospects to become good and trades them away and gives away prospects that don't turn out well. Wash, rinse and repeat. Time is running out before the fanbase just completely walks away. Make Mojo Magic happen and GO MARINERS!! ⚾⚾⚾
A meeting was probably never a possibility because it goes like this: Roki asks Jerry "So, if I weren't cheap, would you still want me?" Jerry says, "Well Roki, spending money on free agents isn't a smart strategy."
Best predictor of future behavior is past/present behavior: If it wasn't for Ichiro and Felix, what have the M's done this century? They aren't a serious team, players and agents know it and fans are finally seeing it. I hope the young stars(Kirby, Logan, Cal, etc..) walk into Stanton/Dipoto's offices and say "we won't re-sign long term, because this franchise is inherently broken." Those guys have some leverage if they unite. It probably won't lead to a better team, but it lets ownership know that the lack of re-signing players and free agents is the most obvious public sign to not play here, which hurts the brand, and the M's resale value is all Stanton really cares about.
The Mariners pitch: Hey Roki, do you want to lose upwards of 20 games a year, get dog $#&$ run support and be in the running for the cy young every year? No? You sure? ...
Lyle has improved with his takes over last year, BUT the Japanese believe the Mariners are cursed because we wasted Ichiro, it’s well documented. There’s a reason we went from Ichiro and Kaz Sasaki . Look at kikuchi and shin-soo choo, both went from horrible with the Mariners to above average within a year of leaving the Mariners.
Roki won't have any issue signing a monster deal in a few years. He doesn't need T-Mobile park or the Seattle Mariners. If his career ERA in 3 years is 3.67 (wild random number) he will still get beaucoup bucks the first chance he gets. I agree with why Seattle would be good for him. But it doesn't matter because he doesn't really need it.
The thing that is the obvious answer as to why he had no interest in us is this; we have the best rotation in baseball and can't make the playoffs. He can't help us with that. We may have all these benefits and we may check all of the boxes. But good pitching has proven to not be enough already. And the front office has done nothing except price that it is unwilling to help out the other half of the game.
What was the issue, reputation. The M's have been very vocal they will not spend money on players. We have a terrible offense and frankly looks like its getting worse. His agent may have said "Don't bother talking to Seattle".
You guys will be optimistic because the Mariners will threaten to take away some of the access if you don't change your tune. That's the case or you guys don't know baseball because I listened to your takes on last off season it was bad.
Did you really hate the Polanco trade at the that it happened? Because at the time it looked like a perfectly good trade. He was one of baseball’s best offensive second baseman year over year for a 3 year stretch before 2024
I would point out that Divish has pissed off a lot of people in the Mariners front office, and I wouldn't be surprised if they froze him out. Nobody has said they didn't meet him, the only thing these people are saying is they haven't heard of him meeting with the Mariners. They aren't going to advertise meeting with Sasaki until either he signs in Seattle or signs elsewhere. There's no point in trying to keep talks private, only to advertise it when they may still be in on the negotiations and that nothing has come out and they haven't at least sent a presser about them trying and coming up short, means they are still in on him until he signs elsewhere. Nobody has said it's only three teams, only that he's narrowed his list of finalists, nobody has said he hasn't met with the Mariners, only that Divish hasn't heard that it happened. Logically at the cost of pretty much free, there's no way they wouldn't meet with Sasaki, this is not the same thing as not wanting to give a Brinks truck to Ohtani. Julio was also visiting in Japan early in the offseason, and I wouldn't be surprised if the Mariners went to him and gave a sales pitch to Sasaki in Japan, as a way of trying to separate themselves from the field by going to him, rather than making him go to Seattle. It would help them standout from the other teams, and it would ensure nobody knew about the meeting. Let's look at this logically... They said he was a priority, he easily fits within their payroll model, offers elite upside, comes with minimal risk and nearly zero acquisition cost. So we KNOW the Mariners were willing to make a pitch to him. Sasaki would value travel distance to Japan (Seattle is the closest), pitching development (Seattle is #1), injury avoidance as an organization (Seattle is #1, especially among starters), a ballpark that will give him the best 6 year service time start before free agency (T-Mobile is #1), a farm system that can keep the team competitive (Seattle is #1 overall), and a competitive team that has a core which can win and star caliber talent (mad as people want to be, the Mariners may be the best team in the AL without Sasaki, and with him they are, period). There is really no reason to think Sasaki wouldn't want to play in Seattle. When you consider the natural fit financially and talent wise for Sasaki in Seattle, as well as there being no obvious reason he woudn't sign in Seattle, combined with no announcement from the Mariners on failing to get to the final round of meetings, makes the Mariners an even stronger favorite the longer we don't get a "we failed..." presser to inform the Mariners fans that Sasaki has chosen to eliminate the Mariners from consideration. Everyone says the Dodgers, but they have nearly a dozen starters for 5 spots in the rotation, and while everyone says Roki would definitely get one of them, he'd also be an easy demotion should he struggle, as it would add a year of control. If Sasaki struggles in Seattle, he stays in the rotation, same with San Diego, but not in Los Angeles. He's not on a huge contract like Yamamoto where they have to make it work. San Diego may be in worse shape financially than the Mariners and has zero farm system outside their top two prospects (Salas and De Vries). Does anyone really believe the Blue Jays have a chance? No, not even close. My guess is that they threw them in there to not disrespect the country of Canada, and to show a willingness to consider the East Coast, as a potential future negotiation tactic when he reaches free agency. "I was considering Toronto, so every team is a possibility", which is what I would say if I wanted to get the New York teams, Boston, and Philly pushing up the offers for the teams I am considering on the West Coast following the end of my 6 year service agreement. In a vacuum, Mariners fandom aside, Sasaki would be stupid to pick anywhere but Seattle, so I have to believe it's still at least possible. It might feel like the Mariners have the Mickelson luck when it comes to being a choke artist when it matters most. However, as we have come to learn, Mickelson has gone on to win 6 majors, and it would seem that the Mariners will eventually end up finding success at luring a major free agent, and there's probably never been a more perfect opportunity than a cost controlled future ace, looking for a competitive team in a ballpark which favors pitchers, for a team with prospects to help out over the next half decade plus, and a cast of regulars that while not excellent, do have a great pitching staff, the best CF and C in the game, along with one of the best leadoff hitters over the final 90 games of 2024 (Robles), and there's reason to be excited still, even if not a little frustrated.
Divish doesn’t only get his sources from the inside the Mariners building. He has plenty around baseball. And he said again on Wednesday that from everything he’s heard, they never got a meeting
@MarineLayerPod Yeah, but the difference is that the other sources involve other players, their agents, and different teams that tend to be more outspoken or share things for personal motivations or a lack of desire to remain private. The difference with Roki is his desire to keep things private like Ohtani, and while it was clear Ohtani wasn't going to be an option for Seattle, Roki was labeled very differently and comes with no obvious reason to avoid signing him. My guess is Roki and his agent haven't shared with other people who they have or haven't had conversations, and if the Mariners aren't talking, Roki and his camp aren't talking, and Divish is being left in the cold on this, nobody would know. We heard about Castillo and the Cubs, Red Sox, and Orioles because of the Cubs, Red Sox, and Orioles because all three have a history of talking openly about their agendas. Dipoto has put his foot in his mouth so often recently, I'm not sure if the organization had put a gag order on him and the front office with the exception of very specific talking points.
Like I get everything and content being slim but whats the point in over interpreting this tiny blurb with the Solano signing? I can call Dylan Moore an underrated hitter because no one talks about him but he produces. I can call Raley underrated because he had a great year. Rooker might be underrated a bit but he apparently wasn’t by Oakland since they extended him. I think being underrated is more than just the weighted stats like wrc+ but more of he’s skill to hit the baseball
Jerry pumping it up like Solano's our big fish when he'd be seen as a utility player on any real team seems to be the source of frustration, not Jerry's literal comments or the signing itself.
First off, did this “list” of teams get put out there by Roki? If not then why get bent out of shape over it. Second, I don’t think kids give a shit about what Ichiro or any old players says about an organization. Also, if Im Ichiro, Im telling these new guys to go where their heart takes them. Im not Ichiro. Lastly, they said he wanted to shy away from big market media and he’s gone to a few meetings with the Dodgers which is the opposite of shying away from big market media. So much incongruence.
I'm still praying that we trade Haniger and sign Bregman. I dont expect it to happen, but we need something to get us excited to see this team and right now, it's the same as usual. Low expectations and high hopes. If we by some magical way make it into the playoffs, we'll do something to shoot ourselves in the foot and then the front office will champion this as a successful year. I wish my team could be exciting. Instead I'm more excited for fantasy baseball.
Sorry Lyle, I was expecting them to get roki. I fully had confidence. Sad or not, there is no reason we would be an after thought. Unless shohei and Yamamoto are the only reason.
This is blown way out of proportion. M's did not sign Sasaki because our international pool money was used to sign other prospects. This frankly is just complaining to complain... any GM would be lying if they said they we're interested in Sasaki, but like other GM's, our priorities we're elsewhere. Sasaki is not another Ohtani and doesn't require this much attention.
Who ever is advising sasaki very stupid. I would have advised him to sign in a pitcher friendly park like Seattle. Going to the dodgers is a whole bunch of extra pressure. He is expected to win now but it's going to take some adjustment in MLB. Oh well hope he enjoys the boos
The Mariners need to dump Haniger and Garver for cash which is not much and bring up a couple of guys from our own farm system to take their place. Keep Castillo pitchers of his quality are hard to come by. Turner needs to be resigned!!! Sell off Hancock to another team or trade him. Oh yah! and get rid of Dipoto
Congratulations on making it to 200 episodes! Here's to many more!
Thanks so much! Always appreciate you listening
Lying would be a terrible look for the front office. It's not a shock that Sasaki has no interest in coming here. It's a franchise that historically a loser franchise, ownership is terrible, the current players are frustrated with the front office and ownership...it's a bad culture here. There is no player in baseball that if they were given a choice of where they wanted to play (all things being equal) would choose Seattle.
I have been thinking and it is in my best interest to reevaluate being a fan of the Seattle mariners.
They just search the clearance rack to fill out the roster and show no interest in winning a World Series.
Until the current ownership sells they will always be in this state of hoping the bargain bin shopping for a player to have a career year.
Our ownership group has no interest in winning anything but 54%
A jokers of a franchise.
what Mather effectively did at that Rotary meeting was to make a public declaration that the Mariners as a group embrace a "team concept" which involves only investing enough money into the org to build a SLIGHTLY ABOVE AVERAGE team with enough wildcard factors in the 40 man roster to keep the fanbase, still broken-hearted over last September, coming right back every April with the same hope they came back with the April of the previous year... making a dedicated commitment based on the blind faith that, even though our hearts have been broken over and over again, going further back than we care to remember,
... it'll be different this time.
and they expect free agents to be equally naive to this pattern of abuse.
This is what majority of mid-level teams do.. nothing new, unless you just didnt know/realize it beforehand...
- Lifelong A's fan
@@dre32pitt Except the Mariners are not a mid level team. In 2023 they were 10th in revenue. Even ahead of the NY Mets.
Also, even if your strategy is to be mid, which IS the Mariner's strategy... you never say anything like what the Mariners have put out their publicly. You discredit your organization with players and fans.
35:51 preach! They've been doing that for years
Sigh
27:34 let’s not forget how it went down with Kyle Seger as well
Most of the team will play with a defeatist attitude and I don’t blame them at all. Mariners will not get a penny of my money
Can we actually organize throw beer on the field night
What is there to be positive about recently? It has literally all been bad and downhill since Game 1 against Houston. If we won that game I firmly believe we would be on a different path but that Yordan HR did some serious damage to this organization and whether it's coincidence or not, the team just has not recovered or moved forward.
Why us fans continue to fall for bs. Until the fans boycott the mariners game and force a sale of the mariners to ownership that will compete. I'm not wasting one ounce of my time in going to their stadium or watching their games.
How old was roki when ichiro played? He idolizes guys who play currently. Not 20 years ago when he was a baby.
Roki was born after the 2001 season. Ichiro's whole Japanese career took place before he was born. Unless he watched the Mariners as a small child he missed Ichiro's entire prime.
Yep , when Jordan retired Ya think the new kids idolize Jordan? Nah, they ended up idolizing kobe .
5:39 you play to win the game and it doesn't feel like that's the goal of this organization. So what's the point of getting excited?
There will still be plenty of things to get excited about for 2025! But yeah, the people that run this franchise certainly don’t wanna make it easy
good job guys
Thanks so much for tuning in!
Come on guys, we signed miles masterboni....WORLD SERIES 2025 🎉🎉🎺🎺
😂😂
The Kevin Mathers interview tells you everything you need to know about this franchise. Stanton tried to cover up the truth bomb but their actions the past few years have only confirmed Mathers comments. Let me know when “throw beers onto the field night” is and that’ll be the one ticket I buy this year.
Why meet with a team that is devoid of any winning tradition and a current ownership that refuses to actually want to win?
Only the desperate or DFA’d come to the mariners..
To all the Mariner fans that care so much about the team, stop caring. Find a new team. Don't continue down this delusional tube of success. It's been a failure franchise, forever. You can always come back but supporting the team with viewership, tickets, fangear, etc just deepens the pockets of ownership and they need to feel the burn. LET THEM FEEL THE BURN.
Guys, please do a "how to" for spring training with all your tips for getting the most of it. Thanks!
We’ll have to try and do that in early February when Spring Training gets a little closer!
If the mariners finish April behind the A’s or Angels…then what? Who gets fired?
Nobody. That’s not enough body of work for team results. Takes most hitters a month to get their timing down to live major league starting pitching.
Don't think anyone is getting fired in April
My question is why would he? What can the Mariners offer him?
I also would like to add, I am, have, and ALWAYS will be a diehard Mariners fan!!! Knowing that, no news when it comes to the Mariners shocks me. At this point , IT'S LAUGHABLE!!! I just accept what it is to be a Mariners fan and I am OK with that. At the end of the day, whatever the Mariners do whether it's good, bad or indifferent will not affect how I go about my day.
From a development perspective, everything he said he wants.
Seattle would've been able to offer good endorsement opportunity by Japanese companies, pitcher development, shortest flight to and from Japan, west-coast time zone suited for fans in Japan, delicious seafood, as well as Japanese restaurants and supermarkets. Seattle weather, coastal characteristic, and landscape is very similar to Sasaki's hometown in Ofunato.
Darvish, Ohtani, and Kikuchi who all know cold long winters have said warm weather benefits their performance, conditioning, and off-season training, which is why they prefer Southern California. But Sasaki also met with teams located in NY, Chicago, and Toronto...so there must be something really missing in either the Mariners or the city of Seattle.
@yo2trader539 That's all fine and good but at the end of the day the Mariners don't offer a consistent winning culture. Which is sad but true. However, the Mariners biggest problem is they're CHEAP!!! Until those things change, the Mariners will continue to be the LONE remaining team to yet have gone to the World Series!!!
Anyone ready to trade Logan and Cal now and go back to just watching Everett and Tacoma?
Hope springs eternal
This show is great, but this show is really great if you imagine Lyle is in a therapist session while he’s going on his rants.
😂😂
The right move now is acquire a 3B. That said, I have no confidence they can do that effectively. They'll either sell low on Castillo or hope on some Moncada type because he's cheap.
How much better would this team look with Geno instead of Garver? That's essentially what Geno got salary dumped for.. to sign Mitch.....Garver.... 🤦♂
Why would a player want to come to an organization that pretty much only wants to sign him because he is cheap? The Mariners are so unserious.
Happy 200! But......who can be happy with an "UNHAPPY" franchise? The vibe that the Seattle Mariner franchise gives, turns and chases good players away. Then, the front office trades good players away, gives false hope, train future prospects to become good and trades them away and gives away prospects that don't turn out well. Wash, rinse and repeat. Time is running out before the fanbase just completely walks away. Make Mojo Magic happen and GO MARINERS!! ⚾⚾⚾
A meeting was probably never a possibility because it goes like this: Roki asks Jerry "So, if I weren't cheap, would you still want me?" Jerry says, "Well Roki, spending money on free agents isn't a smart strategy."
Ooohhhh, good call there! 😂🫡🫡
Pretty sure I remember Kikuchi saying that he didn't want to start those final games or supported the decision in an interview
Mariners are not serious 15m budget. Why would Roki join this team and cheapskate ownership....
Best predictor of future behavior is past/present behavior: If it wasn't for Ichiro and Felix, what have the M's done this century? They aren't a serious team, players and agents know it and fans are finally seeing it. I hope the young stars(Kirby, Logan, Cal, etc..) walk into Stanton/Dipoto's offices and say "we won't re-sign long term, because this franchise is inherently broken." Those guys have some leverage if they unite. It probably won't lead to a better team, but it lets ownership know that the lack of re-signing players and free agents is the most obvious public sign to not play here, which hurts the brand, and the M's resale value is all Stanton really cares about.
The Mariners pitch: Hey Roki, do you want to lose upwards of 20 games a year, get dog $#&$ run support and be in the running for the cy young every year? No? You sure? ...
why would anyone come here when everyday the ownership gets called bad. By its own fans and press.
the Mawhine layer podcast is up there
Are you saying it’s people fault for saying it instead of the owners fault for not caring about winning baseball games? Incredible.
@@dcsoda1 well I'm saying this hurts any chance of signing free agents. Whether true or not. To assume you know when you don't is short sighted
@ good to know what you were saying is an equally bonkers point. Free agents aren’t coming because ownership sucks. Not because people say so.
Free agents won't be swayed by what we say on this podcast
Lyle has improved with his takes over last year, BUT the Japanese believe the Mariners are cursed because we wasted Ichiro, it’s well documented. There’s a reason we went from Ichiro and Kaz Sasaki . Look at kikuchi and shin-soo choo, both went from horrible with the Mariners to above average within a year of leaving the Mariners.
Think there’s a lot of reasons Roki may not have been interested. Not just the potential of that one
First to comment but last in the Sasaki sweepstakes
😂😂😂
Roki won't have any issue signing a monster deal in a few years. He doesn't need T-Mobile park or the Seattle Mariners. If his career ERA in 3 years is 3.67 (wild random number) he will still get beaucoup bucks the first chance he gets. I agree with why Seattle would be good for him. But it doesn't matter because he doesn't really need it.
The thing that is the obvious answer as to why he had no interest in us is this; we have the best rotation in baseball and can't make the playoffs. He can't help us with that. We may have all these benefits and we may check all of the boxes. But good pitching has proven to not be enough already. And the front office has done nothing except price that it is unwilling to help out the other half of the game.
What was the issue, reputation. The M's have been very vocal they will not spend money on players. We have a terrible offense and frankly looks like its getting worse. His agent may have said "Don't bother talking to Seattle".
You guys will be optimistic because the Mariners will threaten to take away some of the access if you don't change your tune. That's the case or you guys don't know baseball because I listened to your takes on last off season it was bad.
Did you really hate the Polanco trade at the that it happened? Because at the time it looked like a perfectly good trade. He was one of baseball’s best offensive second baseman year over year for a 3 year stretch before 2024
Solano is the best bat for the money. Lyle isn't wrong, but nobody bats better than Solano for $4m.
TJ and Lyle are great baseball analysts! It’s too bad they cover the sucky mariners. Go Angels!
Does your team care about winning? No
Will you put together a team that can win? No
Can I get wins with a line up who can hit? No
Wasting best young pitchers in the keague, they arent going to stay cheap forever. Trade one or two for offense..
Well the Giants aren't eather and we have one of the best pitchers parks but I'd rather him went to you guys than the Dodgers or even the Padres
We will come in last in the AL West. The new Oakland Athletics!😂
Can't make somebody want to talk to you.
Drink every time they say 'not one meeting'
I would point out that Divish has pissed off a lot of people in the Mariners front office, and I wouldn't be surprised if they froze him out. Nobody has said they didn't meet him, the only thing these people are saying is they haven't heard of him meeting with the Mariners. They aren't going to advertise meeting with Sasaki until either he signs in Seattle or signs elsewhere. There's no point in trying to keep talks private, only to advertise it when they may still be in on the negotiations and that nothing has come out and they haven't at least sent a presser about them trying and coming up short, means they are still in on him until he signs elsewhere.
Nobody has said it's only three teams, only that he's narrowed his list of finalists, nobody has said he hasn't met with the Mariners, only that Divish hasn't heard that it happened. Logically at the cost of pretty much free, there's no way they wouldn't meet with Sasaki, this is not the same thing as not wanting to give a Brinks truck to Ohtani. Julio was also visiting in Japan early in the offseason, and I wouldn't be surprised if the Mariners went to him and gave a sales pitch to Sasaki in Japan, as a way of trying to separate themselves from the field by going to him, rather than making him go to Seattle. It would help them standout from the other teams, and it would ensure nobody knew about the meeting.
Let's look at this logically... They said he was a priority, he easily fits within their payroll model, offers elite upside, comes with minimal risk and nearly zero acquisition cost. So we KNOW the Mariners were willing to make a pitch to him. Sasaki would value travel distance to Japan (Seattle is the closest), pitching development (Seattle is #1), injury avoidance as an organization (Seattle is #1, especially among starters), a ballpark that will give him the best 6 year service time start before free agency (T-Mobile is #1), a farm system that can keep the team competitive (Seattle is #1 overall), and a competitive team that has a core which can win and star caliber talent (mad as people want to be, the Mariners may be the best team in the AL without Sasaki, and with him they are, period). There is really no reason to think Sasaki wouldn't want to play in Seattle.
When you consider the natural fit financially and talent wise for Sasaki in Seattle, as well as there being no obvious reason he woudn't sign in Seattle, combined with no announcement from the Mariners on failing to get to the final round of meetings, makes the Mariners an even stronger favorite the longer we don't get a "we failed..." presser to inform the Mariners fans that Sasaki has chosen to eliminate the Mariners from consideration. Everyone says the Dodgers, but they have nearly a dozen starters for 5 spots in the rotation, and while everyone says Roki would definitely get one of them, he'd also be an easy demotion should he struggle, as it would add a year of control. If Sasaki struggles in Seattle, he stays in the rotation, same with San Diego, but not in Los Angeles.
He's not on a huge contract like Yamamoto where they have to make it work. San Diego may be in worse shape financially than the Mariners and has zero farm system outside their top two prospects (Salas and De Vries). Does anyone really believe the Blue Jays have a chance? No, not even close. My guess is that they threw them in there to not disrespect the country of Canada, and to show a willingness to consider the East Coast, as a potential future negotiation tactic when he reaches free agency. "I was considering Toronto, so every team is a possibility", which is what I would say if I wanted to get the New York teams, Boston, and Philly pushing up the offers for the teams I am considering on the West Coast following the end of my 6 year service agreement.
In a vacuum, Mariners fandom aside, Sasaki would be stupid to pick anywhere but Seattle, so I have to believe it's still at least possible. It might feel like the Mariners have the Mickelson luck when it comes to being a choke artist when it matters most. However, as we have come to learn, Mickelson has gone on to win 6 majors, and it would seem that the Mariners will eventually end up finding success at luring a major free agent, and there's probably never been a more perfect opportunity than a cost controlled future ace, looking for a competitive team in a ballpark which favors pitchers, for a team with prospects to help out over the next half decade plus, and a cast of regulars that while not excellent, do have a great pitching staff, the best CF and C in the game, along with one of the best leadoff hitters over the final 90 games of 2024 (Robles), and there's reason to be excited still, even if not a little frustrated.
Divish doesn’t only get his sources from the inside the Mariners building. He has plenty around baseball. And he said again on Wednesday that from everything he’s heard, they never got a meeting
@MarineLayerPod Yeah, but the difference is that the other sources involve other players, their agents, and different teams that tend to be more outspoken or share things for personal motivations or a lack of desire to remain private. The difference with Roki is his desire to keep things private like Ohtani, and while it was clear Ohtani wasn't going to be an option for Seattle, Roki was labeled very differently and comes with no obvious reason to avoid signing him. My guess is Roki and his agent haven't shared with other people who they have or haven't had conversations, and if the Mariners aren't talking, Roki and his camp aren't talking, and Divish is being left in the cold on this, nobody would know. We heard about Castillo and the Cubs, Red Sox, and Orioles because of the Cubs, Red Sox, and Orioles because all three have a history of talking openly about their agendas. Dipoto has put his foot in his mouth so often recently, I'm not sure if the organization had put a gag order on him and the front office with the exception of very specific talking points.
Again, Mariners prove to have the best farm system in the MLB. FFS
Like I get everything and content being slim but whats the point in over interpreting this tiny blurb with the Solano signing? I can call Dylan Moore an underrated hitter because no one talks about him but he produces. I can call Raley underrated because he had a great year. Rooker might be underrated a bit but he apparently wasn’t by Oakland since they extended him. I think being underrated is more than just the weighted stats like wrc+ but more of he’s skill to hit the baseball
It's less about that specific comment and more about the year over year tone
Jerry pumping it up like Solano's our big fish when he'd be seen as a utility player on any real team seems to be the source of frustration, not Jerry's literal comments or the signing itself.
First off, did this “list” of teams get put out there by Roki? If not then why get bent out of shape over it.
Second, I don’t think kids give a shit about what Ichiro or any old players says about an organization. Also, if Im Ichiro, Im telling these new guys to go where their heart takes them. Im not Ichiro.
Lastly, they said he wanted to shy away from big market media and he’s gone to a few meetings with the Dodgers which is the opposite of shying away from big market media.
So much incongruence.
Passan tweeted his final three teams. And he clearly got that information from Roki’s camp. So yeah
I'm still praying that we trade Haniger and sign Bregman. I dont expect it to happen, but we need something to get us excited to see this team and right now, it's the same as usual. Low expectations and high hopes.
If we by some magical way make it into the playoffs, we'll do something to shoot ourselves in the foot and then the front office will champion this as a successful year. I wish my team could be exciting. Instead I'm more excited for fantasy baseball.
what about bregmans arm?? is it healed?
@gilortiz9809 It should be fine come spring. It was just a bone chip.
Shocking lol
Sorry Lyle, I was expecting them to get roki. I fully had confidence. Sad or not, there is no reason we would be an after thought. Unless shohei and Yamamoto are the only reason.
Big Dumper gone
Gilbert gone
Kirby gone
Munoz gone
Julio will want out this year
We are the laughing stock of MLB
This is blown way out of proportion. M's did not sign Sasaki because our international pool money was used to sign other prospects. This frankly is just complaining to complain... any GM would be lying if they said they we're interested in Sasaki, but like other GM's, our priorities we're elsewhere. Sasaki is not another Ohtani and doesn't require this much attention.
Who ever is advising sasaki very stupid. I would have advised him to sign in a pitcher friendly park like Seattle. Going to the dodgers is a whole bunch of extra pressure. He is expected to win now but it's going to take some adjustment in MLB. Oh well hope he enjoys the boos
i wouldnt be surprised if ichiro told roki in private not to come to seattle. ichiro knows what happens when you come to seattle under this ownership.
why do people make stuff like this up? They must hate winning.
I doubt that! Ichiro still cares about the Mariner's, but he may hate DIpoto!! Dipoto needs to be ran out of town with the owner!!
you guys suck. You don't spend any money. And you don't go to the playoffs. Easy why he don't to come there.
The Mariners need to dump Haniger and Garver for cash which is not much and bring up a couple of guys from our own farm system to take their place. Keep Castillo pitchers of his quality are hard to come by. Turner needs to be resigned!!! Sell off Hancock to another team or trade him. Oh yah! and get rid of Dipoto