Gwynn & Chris On Demand
Seattle Times' Ryan Divish joins the show to talk about the future of the Mariners
[MUSIC PLAYING] AT&T customers switching to T-Mobile has never been easier. We'll pay off your existing phone and give you a new one free, all on America's largest 5G network. Visit T-Mobile.com/carrierfreedom to switch today. Pay off up to $650 via virtual prepaid mastercard in 15 days, free phone up to $830 via $24 monthly build credits plus tax, qualifying, porting, trade, and service on Go 5G next and credit required. Contact us before canceling entire account to continue build credit to credit, stop, and bounce over for our finance agreement as do. Made it through security. Apparently, we appreciate him joining us here. From the Seattle Times, Ryan, how are you today? Thanks again for your time, sir. Not a problem, sorry, like the T-Mobile security, they can be a little rough sometimes. It's gotten better, but there was no cavity search or anything like that. No good. You didn't have to disrobe or anything like that. Happy to hear that. Ryan, it's been an interesting season, obviously, for the Mariners. I mean, we caught up with you earlier. You know, I thought Seattle was playoff bound. I think they thought they were playoff bound, but you warned us back then. You said, look, this team cannot hit. And as long as they cannot hit, they're not going to make it anywhere. And so it is, despite this incredible pitching staff with Kirby and Logan Gilbert and the guy going to night, Brian Wu and everything else, they're pretty much on the out right now unless something crazy happens. Yeah, I mean, I think there's what, they have 17 games left. They probably have to win 14, I think, even be realistic. I mean, maybe if they got, if they stay within three of the Astros and then they go there and take two of three, when they have to have three against the Astros, they can make it interesting. And they actually have a tiebreaker over the Astros, I believe. They don't have the tiebreaker and the wildcard over. The twins, the Red Sox, or the Tigers, the three teams that they're trying to chase. So that one makes it a lot more difficult. Yeah, they've just done this to themselves. It's not like it's like the opportunity to win the division and the opportunities to find a way to make the postseason was presented to them early on. And they couldn't play 500 baseball from the time they were 10 games up in the division and 13 games up over 500. I mean, like since that day, I think June 19, when they were 10 games up in the division, they only team with the worst record than them is the Chicago White Sox. So that's a problem. I mean, I got a roll last night. It was the 72nd time this year where they scored three runs or fewer. And they only won 15 of those games. Wow. I mean, that says it right there. I mean, one, you score three runs or fewer 72 times out of 150 games. It's almost half or 140 is just half. That's a problem. And then you don't have a way to win those games either. Yeah. I mean, Ryan, the diagnosis is pretty simple to see. I mean, they strike out a lot. And they at least try to live by the homer as we saw yesterday. They got two of the three runs via the homer. And that's it because they don't put the ball and play enough. I want to talk a little bit about the managerial situation, right? I mean, Scott Servers let go. Dan Wilson comes in who was just beloved in the city of Seattle. Is that a-- what's soured with service? And is Wilson a temporary move? Or could this have some lasting power? So with Scott, I think it was-- his contract was up after the season. And so it wasn't going to get renewed if he didn't make the postseason. I was pretty certain of that. I think doing it with, like, what, 34 games left? It was essentially Hail Mary. He was throwing up a Hail Mary. You're hoping that your golden tape against the Packers or whatever, Cordell Stewart and Michael Westbrook, you're just hoping that something good happens. And I mean, like the way the schedule set up, it was possible that it could happen. They just didn't. And so I think that was kind of part of it. I think it was probably a little bit by Jerry DiPoto to shape his job or try and extend his job. And yeah, so Dan Wilson is not an interim. He's a full-time manager moving forward. And that was a bit of a surprise, because you kind of thought, like if they didn't make the playoffs, they would move on from DiPoto as well. But by having a full time-- naming Dan the full-time manager, and really then we kind of broke the news that they're bringing Jerry back. I mean, that's kind of how they're going to move forward. So they'll go the 10th year with DiPoto kind of leading the baseball operation staff. They'll be searching for that second playoff spot since then. What happens to the Mariners now, this time of year? Ryan, when the Seahawks get started and the 12th man and the craziness there for football. I imagine this is a really tough time to be the Mariners organization. I mean, last year, they were in the playoffs this year. It was almost promised to everybody they were going to be there. And then like you said, it looked like they had it locked up and have fallen completely apart. Where do the Mariners kind of rank in the Seattle hierarchy? And how much does a disappointing finish like this hurt this organization? I still think, you know, honestly, like last year, the year before, and even in 2021, they'll draw. Because people, you know, the weather is still nice here and people want to come to the park and be outside. No, and the Seahawks are like the-- in the University of Washington football, it's a different kind of vibe for all of those. You know, there's a little bit easier family atmosphere here. I'm not saying to go in a Seahawks game is like going to the old Oakland Coliseum, watching Raiders play. You know, it's just a different vibe. You know, this is much more kid-friendly. And really, the last few years, when they've been competitive down the stretch, the crowds have been, you know, 30,000. And they've had strong numbers all season. But this last road trip, some of the last two road trips for some of the issues surrounding the team, I think, we'll see it down a little bit, you know, especially this Rangers series this weekend. Schools started up again as well, so that makes a difference. You know, if they were in it, if they're leading the division, Seattle was a baseball town before the Seahawks ever got good. And so in the 2001 season, they sold out every game. And that's the fan base is here and the passion is here. They just haven't kind of lived up to their end of the bargain to really stoke it to higher level. He's better over here. AT&T customers switching to T-Mobile has never been easier. We'll pay off your existing phone and give you a new one free, all on America's largest 5G network. Visit tmobile.com/carrierfreedom to switch today. Pay off up to $650 via virtual prepaid master card in 15 days, free phone up to $830 via $24 monthly bill credits plus tax, qualifying, porting, trade and service on Go 5G next and credit required. Contact us before canceling entire account to continue bill credits to credit, stop and balance and report finance agreements, too. Ryan, well, so we're Ryan Divers joins us here on Gwen and Chris. Ryan, so where does this team go from here, right? I mean, will they spend some money during the off season for free agency? They clearly have a dominant rotation. I mean, when your bullpen is only having to pitch the six occasionally, but mainly the seventh and eighth, most of the time, you're going to-- So how do they jump start-- or what's the plan to jump start the offensive side of this ball club? Yeah, that's a good question. I don't know if they have money to spend. They have some issues with their RSN. You guys know all about that? Yeah, everybody is. And so this past off season, when they were kind of expected to look at some free agents, and there was a pretty big free agent class, or maybe make a run-and-match chat, or look at one of the outfielders or do something, they were told that they could not increase their budget significantly because of RSN concerns. And that hasn't-- the RSN situation hasn't been solved. And if you look at their roster, they get a little more expensive. I mean, Julio Rodriguez's salary bumps up some $10 million this year to $19 million next year. Randy Aurora's arena, they'll pick him arbitration eligibility wise. He'll probably be about $12 million to $13 million next year. Logan Gilbert's at $4.1 million, so he'll probably double that. He's been one of their best guys. Cal Raleigh will be in his first year of arbitration eligibility as will George Kirby. So all of a sudden, you look around, and it's like you bumped up $20 million on your payroll without adding anybody. And so that inflation is going to force them to do that. I think, honestly, if they don't see a serious injection of cash from the ownership group, and I'm not expecting that, I think they're going to have to probably look at trading one of those starters and explore that opportunity because I just don't know that there's any other way. And obviously, as well, hitting here at T-Mobile and some of the reputation that it holds, the struggles, I mean, you're not attracting a free agent to come here. You're certainly not getting a one-year guy in a walk. You're trying to look at pillow contract up and build up. And you're not going to really attract the top name free agents unless you grossly overspend. And they're not in a position to do that. So to supplement their offense, I think they're going to have to look at possibly trading Bryce Miller or Brian Lulu, or one of those guys, and maybe even Logan Gilbert would say, look at it. It's kind of where the raise, what the raise have to do every time they look at how expensive some guys are getting. The mayors aren't poor, but they just don't really invest a bunch. You're not seeing them kick up the payroll the way they probably should or to levels that are commensurate with the interests that they have in the team, the attendance, and really the wealth of the ownership group. I just think that I always joke with people, but they have-- the fans have Nordstrom taste, but the mayors are giving them TJ Maxx budget. Don't let my wife wear that. She loves TJ Maxx. You can get some good deals, but that's a problem when you're shopping for deals. You're trying all these reclamation projects and stuff. When they don't work, it's hard. Some of those reclamation projects cost real money. And Mitch Garber, Mitch Hanniger, Hori Plonko, and they invested probably $35 million in those three guys. And they have not been good this year. That may be true, but this is also true, Ryan. If the Mariners win tonight, they get to keep the Eddie Vedder Cup for an entire off season. Because this would give them the series and their rivalry over the Padres. So don't fret, everybody. There's a lot at stake tonight up there in Seattle. Hey, thanks for the time as always. Go ahead. Yeah, no, it's all good. If the mayors take the Vedder Cup, they're going to take AJ's Jordan basketball shoes in the basketball hoop down in Peoria as well. So take claim. That's right. That's right. These are spring training pair here, the Mariners and Padres. Thanks again, Ryan. We'll see you down in this, Ryan. We don't see you before. We'll hopefully run Indian Peoria maybe. Thanks again. Sounds good. See you guys. Very good. Ryan Davis. She's one of the better guys I like around the league. Joins us from time to time to talk about it at their ball club, but yeah, it's been disappointing finish for the Mariners. It's funny that he mentioned June 19th, Tony, as the day that kind of was demarcation, where they went the other way, because that was the day you mentioned that the Padres went on the upswing. So yeah, if I'm not mistaken, let me look at the schedule real quick. It might have been right after playing it. Yeah, it's right. They swept the Padres if we-- if I remember correctly, and had two short games at home. Let me see. No, it wasn't. That was Philly, but nonetheless. Nonetheless, June 19th was there. The killer day for them, the same on the other side for the Padres. We got our number two, Gwen and Chris, Daley Gambit, and other stuff heading your way. After investing billions to light up our network, T-Mobile is America's largest 5G network. Plus, right now, you can switch, keep your phone, and we'll pay it off up to $800. See how you can save on every plan that covers Verizon AT&T at tmobile.com/keepandswitch. Up to four lines via virtual prepaid guard, a left 15 days qualifying unlocked device, credit, service, ported, 90-plus days with device and eligible carrier and timely redemption required. Card has no cash access and expires in six months. Trying to figure out what to eat for dinner yet again, with north sides and bullion as you're not so secret ingredient, you can skip the drive-through and do dinner at home. Nor taste combos provide a menu of delicious, affordable, and well-balanced meals that you can prepare in 30 minutes or less. Visit nor.com to get quick and easy recipe ideas for your home-cooked weeknight dinners. It's not fast food, but it's so good.