TRADE! Randy Arozarena Installed to Local Server

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John Trupin
Hello and welcome to a breaking news, breaking news version of they might be Mariners slash meet at the mid the home for all of your some Mfer named Randy. Content from now until at least the end of 2026.

My name is John Troopin, and I am pleased to be talking to you.

In the Randy arose arena era, the Seattle Mariners having made a significant trade, the first major trade, sorry, to AJ Puck, of the 2024 trade deadline, acquiring former, I believe, former all star. Let me, let me double check on that, that I'm, I'm realizing Randy has many accolades. Mostly.

Experian
Definitely an all star. Definitely an all star.

John Trupin
Well, most notably, yes. Thank you. All star, rookie of the year, ALCS MVP, absolute terror of the world baseball classic, and the playoffs writ large.

Randy Rosarina, now a mariner, here to break it down with me. I have Kate Pruser, managing editor of Lookout Landing.com. kate, you're, you're bringing the claws and you're bringing applause, if I'm not mistaken.

Experian
Is that, that's so good. I'm so mad at you. Not only because I just shoved the bite of biscuit into my mouth.

Keep me going as we burn the midnight oil here@lookaiting.com.

John Trupin
That'S true.

At the, at this moment, my hope is that Randy will indeed be able to join the Mariners in the windy city.

Not quite that far east of us, but not quite that far east, either.

But I think just a little bit east, at least, of where I'm coming to you from and certainly east of where Kate is.

We have prospect writer Max Ellingson joining us to revel in some positivity and also talk about the cost here. Max, how are you doing? How's your adrenaline level?

Max Ellingson
I am absolutely pumping right now. It is, it's kind of unreal. I, obviously, we're going to get into the deal, but just to be able to watch a player as fun as Randy and Rosarena, it's an unbelievable feeling, like watching him in the world baseball classic, you know, doing his, you know, patented arm cross and the cowboy boots and everything. Like, I'm just, I'm ready for all of it.

John Trupin
Absolutely. Absolutely.

So let's, let's go through Randy. We're going to start with Randy because that is the man of the hour, and then, then we'll get into the prospects because that is consequential.

And certainly the important thing here is it signifies to me that the Mariners indeed are the buying. They are in, they are trying in in earnest to improve this roster that has been.

Experian
They're trying and they're buying, trying and buying.

John Trupin
There you go. Hey, I appreciate a return serve.

This roster that has been, this, this lineup that has been absolutely abysmal and unpleasant to watch.

Experian
So unpleasant. I do not remember a time I have had less fun even. They're like truly, truly abysmal rosters, like some of the abysmal rosters we have watched. It's worse because you expect more from this crew. Right? Like that was unwatchable baseball that they just played in that series against the Angels.

John Trupin
It was awful. And here to hopefully help turn some of that around is not a superstar, but a very good player in Randy Rosarena, who has been an above average big leaguer for the last three years, has played 140 to 153 games the past three seasons. He's 20. He's in his age 29 season.

He is under contract should them if the Mariners want him because of arbitration through the 2026 season. So this year and two more after it, and in spite of, frankly, a listella like April, I would say he has rebounded to have above average offensive numbers, at least in a number of the advanced metrics, though the, the sort of traditional stats still look a little, have a little bit of a funk to them, a 213 319 398 slash line is understandably a little bit of a, this is the, this is the upgrade kind of vibe. But if you, if you're looking at Randy's both track record and also the fact that that's still a 110 WRC plus and that he's, he's walking 11% of the time, he's striking out around league average 24 and a half or so, and he's still hitting for a very solid, a very healthy amount of power that is very encouraging. More to the point, been one of the best hitters since, in baseball since the start of June, and even in May, he was much more respectable.

So if there is, you know, you can't discount a whole bad month, but the player that he's been performing as in the last 60 to 90 days is much more in line with and even ahead of, uh, who he's, who he was in the first month here. I do. We think.

Where, where are you putting a Rosarina?

We tried to do this exercise a little bit. Where are you putting a Rosarina in the lineup when Crawford and I, Julio are back?

Experian
And let's be clear about.

And Crawford is back because the latest update we have is four to six weeks. So essentially, yes, it takes them out for all of August and he'll play maybe in September or something. So, yeah, I don't know what they're going to do.

Yeah, I don't know what they're going to do, how much time they're going to actually have with JP. And I think that that makes any kind of, like, lineup discussions very difficult to have because, like, they're going to call Cole young up. Like, he's been fine but not great. Played again today in Arkansas, so it doesn't seem like they're calling up anytime soon. Demo. I guess they're like, fine with handing him the reins at short, but he was hot to be in this season. He's not been very good. Like, what is the, what's the improvement that's going to come there? Like, it's not going to be offensive.

I think Cole Young is probably their best bet, and then if he comes, if they do elevate him, he has to be at the bottom of the lineup, I think. Right. So I think. And then we've got Julio out for at least the ten days. I don't think it's going to be the full ten days. It really is just his pivot foot. Like when he twists on it, it hurts.

It's his back foot when he's batting right handed and he says that he doesn't feel like he can be as explosive, as aggressive, but he could do it.

John Trupin
And I do want to stop here and just point out this is a thing that I think Julio has had a few injuries or the whole injured versus hurt thing.

I appreciate about Julio Rodriguez that he pretty often has been willing to tell the team when he is not able to be Julio Rodriguez and that physically and there are times where players need to power through or you, you kind of need players to power through, and I respect and appreciate that immensely. But I also don't think a version of Julio Rodriguez that can't drive off his back foot is helping this roster all that much, especially when compared to if you're able to get Julio in a week and a half or even two weeks that is fully, fully geared up, especially if he's hitting like he was right before this happened, that is an immense, immense improvement. And so I do want to say I am appreciative of that within Julio, because there are a lot of players who play through injury and then tell you learn later, oh, well, they sucked because they were playing through an injury.

Experian
And, I mean, God bless Cal rally, who did that during his sophomore season at Florida.

John Trupin
Probably doing that now, given the multiple foul ball.

Experian
Probably has always been doing that. Probably is doing that right now. But that is why Cal rally fell to the Mariners in the third round, because probably you shouldn't have done that. Probably should have. But, you know, it's. It's tough, and it's tough when you are not in a position where you feel like you can take that time off. So I'm really pleased that Julio recognized, and he said, he's. He said, I respect my teammates, and I respect them too much to be like a subpar version of myself. So I thought that was great. Mature from your 22 year old. 23, whatever. Like, I thought that was a great sign of maturity.

But I don't think he misses a ton of time. But I do think, like, any kind of lineup questions are just. We can't. We can't even talk about that right now.

A Rosenrano bat, two or three or whatever, four.

John Trupin
I think he should be either bat.

Experian
At the top of the lineup. I think that's all we need to say.

John Trupin
Yes. He. I mean, this is. This is a player who has run.

Experian
When Victor Robles isn't batting second.

John Trupin
Yeah.

Yeah. Man, what a. What a team. What a. What a roster here.

Max Ellingson
What a team.

Experian
Look at us. Who would have thought.

John Trupin
Who indeed, Kate?

What about. Because this.

This creates an incentive, I think, you know, Rosarina is probably going to play left. That's where he's mostly played as a pro.

Where do you think? Max, I'd love to start with you and then, Kate, where. Where do you think?

If at all? Do. Do we think this is the start? Do we think this is the biggest move? Or, you know, do we. Do we think this is it?

And if. If they're making a move, where do we think?

Or not even where do we think? But where would you like to see them go for move number two?

Max Ellingson
Yeah, I mean, in terms of name recognition, I could very easily see this being the biggest move. I keep seeing a bunch of people that are basically saying no. Like, there's no excuse not to get Vlad Junior. It's like, well, the excuse could be that Toronto doesn't want to trade him at all. Like they. They've said multiple times, and I know that's kind of changed in the last few days, but, like, he's really good and they also could be a good team in, like, next year. So I could very much see them just not wanting to move him at all.

That said, if they did move him, obviously I would love to see that, but I think, you know, if you can, if I were to just draw it up however I wanted and I could do, you know, I had absolute control.

I think I would still prefer Robert over Vladito just because of the control and the.

The presence of a game outside of just the bat. Vlad's bat is unbelievable, but Luis Robert is a, like, a good defensive outfielder. He has a ton of pop. You know, there's obviously injury questions, there's obviously contact questions, strikeout questions, but, you know, to some extent, that is a reason why he is available. You know, they wouldn't be trading him if he was this perfect 26 year old that they could build around for the next four years. So I'm not. I'm not sure they'll even move him. They. I. I think he's more likely than Vlad junior, but I mean, honestly, like, if they got a backup catcher that could get cal off out from catching five to six games a week and, you know, like, somebody that can actually play shortstop, that's not Dylan Moore, you know, and just. Just kind of like some supplementary pieces and, like, I, like, kind of fire this team up, be like, show the team that, you know, they go and get a rosarena, they go out and supplement this team, and, like, if that doesn't fire up the clubhouse, I don't know what will. Like. So I'm hoping that you give this team a little bit of support, you show them that they're in, and that'll kind of, you know, kind of.

What is it? A rising tide lifts all boats or something like that. Like, that's what I'm hoping for because you were never going to overhaul this entire lineup. You hope that this sparks something and some guys figure it out or something along those lines.

Experian
John, I adore you.

We have not even talked about Randy yet, and you were already trying to trade for other people. Like, slow your roll, stop putting the cart before the horse. We need to talk about what Randy Rose and Rose arena does for this lineup, what he brings to this club right now. Like, I'm sort of agreeing with Max. I think that this is a splash move from a club that is not super well known for doing splash moves. This is a bigger move than I expected. I think we need to just focus. And again, like, we're talking, like, we need to focus on why this trade was made. And also, so there are people out there yelling about his numbers this season. He has been bad. He's been bad. He was bad in April and May. And I know that there are people out there not who listen to this pod because you're all, of course, much smarter than this. But I do feel like we need to address the 211 batting average. We need to, like, talk about what his season has been, what he brings to this club, why we think this is a good ad. We do not need to cast our net so wide, especially in like, we. How long have we been talking? Like ten minutes? Like, no, no, no. Let's, let's bring it back around. Not to tell you how to drive this ship or whatever, but I'm also telling you how to drive this ship.

John Trupin
So what I guess I can say is I think that a Rosarena had a game plan coming into this year. And by I think that, I mean, I have read that Rosa arena had a game plan to try and spray the ball more coming into this interesting and try and put the ball all over the field instead of what he had been, which was not an egregiously pull heavy hitter, but. But someone who, by and large, either pulled the ball into left field or hit it to center. And that's always something that people love to talk about as a thing to do because it makes sense and because Paul Molitor did it or something, or Pete Rose or Rod Carew. And a lot of great hitters did things like that.

And they are in the hall of Fame because they were unbelievable at doing those things.

Most hitters kind of have to make a call on whether you are going to pull the ball, which is where you can hit the ball with more authority, or whether you are going to be a spray the ball singles hitter, you know, the Ichiro, the Tony Gwynn, that type of player, and each round trying to go in again are in or going to be in the hall of Fame because they did something very special.

Randy Rosarena is a good player.

Randy Rose Reyna could not spray the ball successfully in 2024 and still be a good hitter. And there was a via shout out to Dan Zamborski at fan graphs.

There was also a discussion that the Rays hitting coach had essentially echoing this, that he or Rosarina came into the year with a specific game plan and it wasn't working. And so they were trying to shift that during May.

And by the, by late May early June, he had gotten back into the groove of where he was last year, which you see by the fact that if you're just going batting average even, he's been hitting two nineties since the start of June. So.

Experian
Right, right.

John Trupin
This, that, that is what I've got to say about that. He's had like a. I don't know what his WRC plus is. It's in the like 100 6170 range since June, hitting since June, and it's been. It is. He looks like himself, I guess, is what I would say. So, yes, the season long numbers don't look great. No, you can't just discount a month. But that is why when you're looking at the season long numbers, you see the Mariners trading for a guy hitting 213 319 398. You don't necessarily need to be saying this is the upgrade. And, and also you could rightfully say, well, yeah, that is an upgrade from a lot of them.

Experian
Yeah, exactly. From a lot of the team, for sure.

I was reading some stuff about Rosarena as far as, like, changes he made this offseason, and one of the kind of prevailing schools of thought, just from my nosing around on the Internet, this is not necessarily like anything that I think is based on anything other than people who watched him said. This is that he really focused on trying to bulk up over this offseason.

And the idea is similar, I think, to like, Ty Franz. Like, I think Ty, I don't know if it was bulking up or just bulkiness, but I talked to Angie minting about this, like, she thought he lost some of his rotational power because he was just too rod, basically, and it was harder for him to get around.

And I have seen kind of a similar theory floated about Rosarena, that he was trying to bulk up, you know, he trying to maybe hit a few more home runs. And that came at the cost of, like, maybe some of his swing mechanics. I don't know. I do not follow him closely enough to have done, like, any kind of swing analysis or watch for that. But it's something that I saw multiple places.

John Trupin
I definitely think I can see that at least just in looking purely at the, at the video that I've looked at for him this year. So what I also think is Rosarena, he's nothing. He's not necessarily like a Gold glove defender. So there's. There's definitely no.

Experian
I would say that putting him in the same word, in the same conversation as goldlove feels like putting me in the same conversation as, like, Kate Moss. Like, yes, we both share a similar first name, but that is where the similarities end.

John Trupin
Um, is.

Experian
Bless Randy. I love him a lot. I think he's a great corner outfielder. Like, and with a good center fielder, which will eventually be Julio, can be robles right now, can also be class a. Like, they can make up for a lot. Right. I want you to know, very nicely into the corners.

John Trupin
I want you to know I just averted a. A Simpsons level, uh, gaff. Um. Uh, on the.

Experian
You don't know who Kate Moss is.

John Trupin
Uh.

Experian
You don't know who Kate Moss is.

John Trupin
But I also.

Experian
Did you google it? Did you google it while we were talking?

John Trupin
Well, I just wanted to make sure. Kate Moss and Kate Bush. Which one was which? Um, because they're both Kate plants, followed by four letter plant.

Experian
Shush, Max. Shushmax. Sorry, I can only deal with one of you at a time. Also, everyone, please go to Kate's pub, which is my favorite place in the universe and has Kate's on the wall. Lots of different famous Kates. I keep trying to sneak my picture up.

Kate does not allow it, but I keep trying. But anyway, all the various kates are there. You can look them up and.

John Trupin
Absolutely.

Experian
But learn the error of your ways. Okay.

John Trupin
Not named. So I, you know, hard to see.

Experian
I need to just. I need a breather. Go ahead.

John Trupin
I knew one of them was running up that hill, and the other one is not, presumably, could not run up that hill.

Experian
Just does. Too many cigarettes. Too many cigarettes. Yeah.

Okay.

She would get, like, a few steps up that hill. Yeah. Okay.

John Trupin
Well, Randy does not have to run up into any hills, thankfully. Tals is no more, but, um. And he will not be asked to play center field, hopefully. Um, however, he. He can. He can handle left. Fine. Uh, it's not. He is not, in my opinion, a liability out there. Right. This is not like J. Bruce Domingo Santana kind of vibe where it's like. Or Jesse Winker.

Experian
Oh, we're invoking the old text tonight.

John Trupin
I'm just the most versatile other other other good hitting, theoretically left fielders who the Mariners have traded for in the last five years.

Randy is five right pillars.

Experian
They're just pillars.

John Trupin
Pillars of salt. Randy is somewhere between fine to below average in corner outfield, and that is, I would say, perfectly acceptable.

Experian
We got to get Perry Hill to work with outfielders, too. I just. Well, we gotta get him to expand that five, six f's of fielding into some version of the outfield.

John Trupin
Find that fly ball, fetch.

What I will say is. Cause I have to imagine that the idea of the defensive concerns, although there's been some sloppiness in this series that did cause this past few weeks that have cost them. So it may be more forefront, but the bat has to be the primary concern here. But I will say the rays, generally speaking, stuck Randy next to very good defensive center fielders so that he would be.

He had.

Experian
Yeah, yeah.

John Trupin
You know, they had Manuel Margot out there. They had Kevin Kirmeyer out there, and he's going to have Julio out there. So that's going to be. Yeah.

That is mostly what I have to say about Randy. Max, do you have anything more that you want to sort of vibrate in enthusiasm?

Experian
We're done with Randy. We're done with Randy. We're not going to talk about any other things about Randy.

John Trupin
I said, I as an.

Experian
I said, all right. Okay, all right. Okay, okay. Okay.

Max Ellingson
I like Randy. I mean, I could talk about Randy a little bit.

John Trupin
Please.

Experian
Please. Because apparently John's done, so.

Max Ellingson
Yeah, yeah. I mean, Max, just to kind of put a bow on the defense stuff like.

Yeah, like, he's. The metrics aren't, like, super pretty. Like, they're fine. They're not great. But he's still, like, a pretty good athlete. He's got above average speed. Like, it's not like, it's not Nelson Cruz in left field at 40 years old or something like that. Right? Like, it's a 29 year old body.

Experian
Was controlled by, like, a series of puppeteers. Like, you could just paint the rings. Yeah, yeah.

Max Ellingson
Like, he's a good athlete. This is not. This is not a complete fall from grace. I mean, it's not like. And it's not even like the corner defense right now is all that crazy good either.

John Trupin
Yeah. Kenzone and, yeah, Rayleigh's a little.

Max Ellingson
He's solid, but, you know, it's Hannigar.

Hanniger. I think he's fine. I think everything really looks a little awkward.

Experian
Really? Yeah, everything really does. Makes you. It's like, oh, my God. No, there's no chance you guys will get this reference. But there used to be an old cartoon called Family circle, and there was, like, a little kid and his name was Billy, and a famous bit was like he would just wander all around and it would be like these little dotted lines tracking his progress.

And he always, you know, wound up where he was supposed to be, but he took the most circuitous route. And every time I watched Luke Riley play the outfield, that's what it looks like to me. It's just like, he takes the most difficult route possible to get to the ideal result. Really. But I hate watching it. It pains me to watch.

John Trupin
Hey, you're gonna really loathe this, but I am very familiar with a family circus and.

Experian
Family circus? Yeah, sorry. Family circle is a magazine. Yeah, family. Wait, how do you not know? Like the Simpsons and K. Moss, but, you know, family circuit.

John Trupin
As I read the newspaper as a child, I didn't watch tv.

Experian
I don't know what to do with.

John Trupin
You learn to read. Reading box scores. And then I would get the.

Experian
Yeah. You know, and that is one of the sad things about the death of print is, like, I want the children to grow up with box wars with such a little.

John Trupin
Stop talking about Randy and start.

Max Ellingson
No, we are on Randy.

Experian
We are on Randy. We have more things to say about Randy.

John Trupin
Yeah, tell me more about Randy.

Max Ellingson
I mean, okay, so we closed the defense stuff. It's. It's what it is. We didn't trade for Randy to be a gold glove left fielder.

John Trupin
No. Do we think he can hit in t mobile?

Experian
He didn't come. He didn't come here to play defense.

Like, he's not playing defense.

Max Ellingson
I am going to be somewhat of.

I think I have Rose colored glasses because I watched Randy Rosarena in the derby and the all star game last year in person.

Experian
Oh, that's another that Twitter thinks fucked up his or messed up his swing is he was in the home run derby and everyone says that ruined his swing.

Max Ellingson
Is that there's, like, always people that think every single year, regardless of how good or bad they are, that it's a. This home runner. I mean, I don't. I don't put any merit into that.

Experian
But yes, much more challenging is to think about the vicissitudes of being a major league ball player and everything that goes into it. So much easier to just be like, home run or be bad.

Max Ellingson
Yeah. I mean, like, he's.

He was. I think he's going to be fine. He. It is.

I can see the argument. It is the type of player that typically struggles to, you know, when you have majority pull side power as a left or as a righty trying to go to left field, it can be more challenging than if you're, say, left handed or, you know, a switch guy or a more line drive oriented hitter.

But that said, I don't think, like, I think he is of the caliber of player where I'm just not as worried about it. Like, if you look at his career numbers, he's. He's a really, really good baseball player, like, for his career. He's over a 120 plus WRC plus guy. And like, I know, I know people are going to say, well, so was Polanco, and look how he turned out. But, I mean, at the end of the day, you have to. You're like, you have to acquire players that historically have hit. He historically hits. He's been on a wild idea. It's like, like, I'm never gonna. I'm never gonna knock the Polanco deal because he never has not hit in his career up until this point. So it's like.

Experian
And he's starting out of it. He's starting to come out of it.

Max Ellingson
Yeah, I think he is, too. I do think that he will be closer to what he is supposed to be for the stretch run, which would be massive. However, it's just like, you can't knock this deal.

You can't knock the player they acquire because he has a, whatever, 219 batting average or whatever. He's shown signs that he's getting back to where he has been, and he has four years of being a definitively well above average player. And the Mariners, frankly, an average player is a massive upgrade for them. So, I mean, it's. I love. I mean, he's obviously one of, like, my favorite players to watch just as a performer. But it's a easy. He's a damn good player, and they need that kind of bat in this lineup right now.

John Trupin
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Experian
So what I would like to talk about, I totally agree with what you said.

I think just vibes wise, and that's what I want to talk about is vibes, because I am the personality hire.

Let's cast aside numbers and everything.

You know, people have been trying, and I've read a lot of stuff from our sister site, D Ray's Bay.

Great site. You can go check out their coverage of they'll have, you know, from the other side as well as we'll have our own write ups.

But, you know, they've been grappling with this, too. Like, why has this player, who was always really good, just kind of tanked to be in the season? And that's why his and batting average is so low is he was like unfathomably bad at the beginning. And that I think, like, as much as you're like, oh, they come here and they always get worse. Like Jesse winker Polanco, like Fulton Wong, like, yes, that's, that's real. That happens. It's not always, though, a factor of the ballpark, a factor of the environment, a factor of the hidden coat, like whatever.

Sometimes, like, players just fall out of rhythm, they fall out of sync. They have bad years, and you're seeing that happen. For Randy or Rosarena to start this year in an environment where he's comfortable and with a team where he's had success, there's no reason for him to have fallen off this year. But I do think the Reys are in a tough place.

They're in a tough place where they've got the stadium deal up in the air. Like the future of the franchise is a little in doubt, something we in Seattle know a lot about.

And then there's a lot of, there's the tension over wonder. Franco was supposed to be the face of their franchise. He was supposed to be, he was their julio. And now because of his legal trouble, he probably is not going to play baseball again. And I, I think that a lot of the Rays players like the feeling around that team. They just, they should be better than they're performing right now. And, you know, obviously, yes, they're in a tough alien. The Orioles are a juggernaut. Like, the Yankees are always tough, like, but Tampa Bay to me, just hasn't looked like the teens of the past, and I wonder how much all this stuff is impacting them, how much this hanging over their heads.

And so for Rosarina to come to Seattle, and he gets a fresh start, a new city, like, a place that's very hungry, a team that's young, I think he can bring a lot as far as the vibes go, kind of, and it's really sad. I hope Santos is not very hurt, but you felt that from him. You feel that from Robles for sure. Like, they're injecting energy into a club that, you know, a lot of the guys have been here, and they're. They're going through the motions. Like it's the same thing that they've been doing before.

I think. Fresh eyes, fresh, fresh juice, fresh talent.

We've seen it happen with Robles. I think that there's a good chance that a rosarena away from Tampa Bay, I mean, it doesn't hurt either that he, like, has hit very well at T Mobile Park. I think, you know, it's like 50 plate appearances or something. But, you know, he's.

John Trupin
Yeah, he is.

Experian
He's hit pretty well here. He's hopefully coming into a situation that he's excited to be in. Obviously, the Rays are not going anywhere in the aile. So just from, like, a mindset standpoint, a clubhouse standpoint, and I think it's important for the players who are in there to feel like. Cause Cal talked about this at the end of last year. Like, here is the front office saying, we're getting you help, and the help is coming in the form of an all star, someone who has been a proven player. He might not be having the year he wanted to, to. He didn't get off to the start he wanted to. I think, you know, since June, he's pretty much been who he's been.

But what a. What a vote of confidence in the club that is to be like, okay, we think you guys can do it. Here's help, and more is coming. But I think it's now kind of up to the club.

It's up to those guys who have been here all year to be like, okay, thank you. Like, you got us some help. We have been really struggling offensively.

Here's this injection. It's coming at the time where we need it the most, and I would love to see them step it up and. And show the front office that, yes, you make another trait, bring someone else in. I don't think it's gonna happen immediately.

Um, and I do kind of feel like this is like because they'll have a ro. The other thing I like about this trade is they'll have him for a while.

They took on some salary that Tampa Bay maybe didn't want to pay.

They're, I think, gonna kind of try to start a rebuilding cycle. It's a good time to trade with the Reys. Bring me soc paredes next, please. But it's, it's a good opening salvo. And now, John, now would be the time where we can talk about what moves could come after this.

John Trupin
Well, I, I would like to talk about that. I would also note, if I am not mistaken, I mean, this is easily, even just by himself, Randy is the best player, position player that the Mariners have acquired at a trade deadline.

Experian
Yes, easily, easily, easily.

John Trupin
Yeah. You know, like, it probably just pure track record and I.

Experian
They've never been in a place to trade. Like to try to get help at the deadline. They have sold at the deadline.

John Trupin
Right.

Experian
They, they got Castillo at the deadline in 22, which, you know, obviously we know how that worked out. That was great. We love that. But yes, as far as player goes, and let's just all cross our fingers that this, this works out the same because I think that was a similar boot. Like, they were like, okay, we're willing to deal off these players. These part of our, we'll take this hit on our farm system for you guys.

So now you guys step up and they did.

John Trupin
Right. And, and I mean, I think it's honestly, you're absolutely on the money. That is extremely similar. Right. Castillo was not a superstar, but was a very steady performer for several years. He was in his age and had.

Experian
Been an all star.

John Trupin
Right. Had been an all star, but not, was not like a top, was not a top five pitcher, but was a top 15.

Experian
Yeah. Like, maybe not, maybe not the best in the game, but someone who those other players in the clubhouse would know. Like, absolutely.

John Trupin
And the position players.

Experian
Yes. People, people knew him and people similarly know who they know who ran heroes arena is for sure.

John Trupin
So unfortunately, that year they followed the Castillo trade up with Jake Lamb and Kurt Casale.

Experian
Ouch.

John Trupin
Do we think that that's what we're in line for here or do we think that they are cognizant of the situation and are going to act accordingly?

Max Ellingson
I think my gut says that they'll do.

They will. I don't think they're going to go Jake Lamb. I mean, that's just so, that's so sad. Like, that's.

John Trupin
I mean, Max.

Max Ellingson
Yeah, but you know, I find it hard to believe that they go out and they part with these players and then they look at the rest of the lineup and they go, yep, we're good. We've got it fixed. Like, there's. There's definitive holes. Regardless, if you don't fix the shortstop thing, there's holes everywhere. Like, you could pick a position pretty much, like, throw. Throw a dart at the dartboard, and you'd probably could upgrade that position.

So I do think they will bring in at least one more bat.

Experian
Is Hannah. Is Hannah Green in deified to make.

Max Ellingson
I don't know. I don't think they'll dfa him for a Rosarena.

Experian
Or do we think they send, like, class? Well.

Cause what's the roster at? Is that 39 or is that.

John Trupin
They can send. They can send class a down.

Experian
They should. Not right now, because right now they need a defensive center fielder. They can send one of the other Tacoma guys down.

John Trupin
Well, they've. They've got rogue down and they've been. And they've got Marlowe.

Experian
Yeah, Marlowe's a pretty good center fielder. I don't know, but they can send one of those guys down.

John Trupin
It's sort of next. Oh, yeah, exactly.

Experian
You don't have to DFA Hanniger. Right, right.

Okay.

John Trupin
Uh, however it is, I guess. Yeah, it is sort of. It's perplexed. I don't know. What do you. What do you do with that? Right. You know, because you're gonna start a rosemary every day, so I guess you're platooning Hannigar and Rayleigh and rights, but who know, whatever. Whatever you're hoping, it's not that issue. Soon. You're. You're hoping to continue. You're hoping you arrive in Chicago and they have Luis Robert, like, ready to go, ready to walk across the.

Experian
Buddy John.

John Trupin
No, that's. Listen, that's not happening. That's what. Max.

I'm echoing Max.

Max Ellingson
I threw that out there. I'm not saying it's going to happen. I don't think it's going to happen, but it would.

Experian
Let's be real. A rosarina is the big fish. The other move will be a smaller move.

John Trupin
You. But you were thinking that you, you know, you were skeptical of fish.

Experian
Of any kind of fish, for sure.

John Trupin
One fish, two fish, red fish, blue, white.

Experian
Rosarina is a man. Or marina.

Yeah, I was skeptical.

I was skeptical. It's a seller's market. Like, it's. It's.

I'm glad they were able to pull this off. I'm surprised they were able to pull it off, especially at this cost, which I think we should also talk about. That is the whole reason we have Max here.

We should talk about that. But I do think it's.

I think that's going to be their big move. I think the next thing. God, I hope it's not a Jake lambda. Bless you, Jake Lamb. I appreciated you.

They still made the playoffs, even with Jake Lamb and Kurt Cassel being their second big move, but because sometimes it just takes one. One big fish to make an impact. So we'll see.

John Trupin
I mean, it makes not. It's not about whether Rosarin would make an impact. It's that, is it. It's not. It's not likely to be sufficient, especially given that Houston has every reason to continue improving. They have every reason to try and get Isaac parades or they have nothing.

Experian
To get Isak parade.

John Trupin
They can do it.

Max Ellingson
They would be banned if they got. If they mariners could out.

Experian
The mariners could easily outbid them. If the rays make Isaac Paredes available, which I kind of don't think they do this at this point. He is now your franchise.

John Trupin
He's very good.

Experian
Unless they go super, super hardcore rebuild and just ask for, you know, whatever from the farm, which honestly, I would give them. I like socks. I don't know how, like, his skill set would play here, but I just really like him. And. And Munoz are best friends, and I love the idea of, like, the two of them getting to be together. So I have un, uh, it's. It's irrational. I have irrational feelings about Isaka Barades. If he becomes a Nastro, I will literally cry. I will cry on this podcast.

I don't think he does, though. I don't know. I mean, yeah, I don't. I don't know what is next for them. And I feel like it's a fools Aaron to try to predict it because we don't know the market. We don't know who's becoming available. Yeah, okay. I don't know. Maybe Luis Rober is available. Who knows?

Who knows what kinds of deals can be swung? Who knows how things are developing? These things are so far beyond our ken.

John Trupin
So he's got to be much more available than parades, right? Parade. I mean, the razor. The Rays are basically for performing as they were expected to this year, at least by projections, right. They were projected to be about a 500 team because of, as you. As you rightfully noted, right. You know, without Wanda Franco and with a lot of unproven players, they had more variability. But, you know, they've kind of been mediocre, not horrific, and that's, that's where they're at.

Experian
So that's raised baseball, baby.

John Trupin
That's raised baseball, baby.

Yeah. I do think it would be surprising to me, not unfathomable to me, if they traded paredes. I do think I am more hopeful, I guess I like paredes, but I am more fearful of the Astros trading for him than I am expecting that he gets traded at all.

Experian
Yeah. Okay. All right. I understand. We all have things that go bump in the night, and the Astros, just in general, are one of those creatures under the bed, for sure.

I do.

Max Ellingson
Can't imagine another team wouldn't outbid the Astros either.

Experian
Yeah. I just feel like the Astros system is just poor.

Max Ellingson
It's not great. There's a couple, like, Jacob Melton is good, and they took Bryce Matthews is interesting.

They've got some guys, but, like, there are pretty. Any contender that would be in on Paredes could more than likely outbid them. Unless the Astros just went all in. Which they could do.

Experian
Which they could do. And I just don't think they could.

Max Ellingson
They have no reason to.

Experian
Yeah, I agree. And I think, like, if you want any semblance of hope for the Rays, like, it is kind of paredes. And who's the other one, John? Who's the other really good ray player?

Who's the one?

Max Ellingson
I'm forgetting Brandon Lau, the second baseman.

Experian
Or, no, the Laos.

John Trupin
Kind of busted. You're talking about Yandy?

Experian
Yandy. Yep. I was thinking about Yandy. Thinking about Yandy.

John Trupin
Another Mfer named Yandy.

Experian
Yeah. I like Yandy, but he's having a bad year, right?

John Trupin
Yeah. Well, he's dealing with something else.

Max Ellingson
Weird year.

John Trupin
Yeah, he's.

Experian
Yeah, he's also dealing relatedly.

John Trupin
Yeah.

No, no reason to think that it is akin to what's going on with Franco.

Experian
Sure, sure. But, yeah, they're just, I feel like the Ray. The Rays are kind of busted. Kind of broken right now. They, I mean, as much as we're joking about the Mariners being broken, and they are, for sure they're broken in, like, normal baseball ways and not in, like, the way that, like, the A's are broken, which is they're, you know, not going to be they's anymore or the way the White Sox are broken from years of mismanagement. The Rays are a special, their own kind of broken right now. So, yeah, I mean, it's, the ugly part of the trade deadline is you are kind of always like a scavenger bird, like picking over the carcasses of these teams that are not performing or that are having huge crises. And I will be really honest with you, I thought the Mariners were going to be one of those teams when all these injuries hit and this slide started.

I just. I have thought for a long time that they did not really have the juice because they've been so underperforming, even with this amazing pitching staff. It's just you can't play half a game, and that's what they've been doing essentially, all year, and they've gotten away with it.

And I am surprised that they went in this hard.

I think the price was. The price hurts me a little bit, personally, because I love Aidan Smith as a prospect, but I'm very surprised at what the return was. And I love Brody Hopkins, too. Like, I like both those players, and I do think it was hard for them to give them up. But you have to do it. You have to do it. And there's no way it's not a good trade.

Even if a Rosarina gun falls on his face for the rest of this year, then you get him more and you get him in your system, and he's here for a while and he's able to make a life and settle in and be comfortable.

And you always bet the, um, questionable future for the performing present. That is. Those are good trades, and ideally, it'll work out to be a good trade for both sides. I wish Aiden Smith all the best. I really liked him, Max. He was your boy. Like, let's. Yes, let's take a second. Let's pour one out for Aiden Smith, and let's talk about why this was a good return for, like, why the Rays made this deal. Let's talk about that.

Max Ellingson
Yeah. I mean, so Aidan Smith is absolutely 100%. He was my favorite prospect in the system.

Yeah, he loves him. Yeah, he. I tried to put him in every single write up because I just couldn't not do it. I'm sure all the.

Experian
But he was also always doing something worthy of being included. Exactly.

Max Ellingson
I mean, it's like, he's really good.

So. Yeah, I mean, he's just so polished, right? Like, I kept seeing on people on Twitter being like, oh, my God, I can't believe it didn't cost them Michael Arroyo or type Pete. And I was like, Aiden Smith is better than those players, in my opinion. I think he provides.

Experian
He's a real five tool player. Right? Like Arroyo, we love great hit, tool defense, like Taipei, incredible athlete. Super raw in a way that Aiden.

Max Ellingson
Smith is not like Taipei. Taipei's a really good defender. He's got a huge arm.

They're doing this weird left field experiment with him, which is fine, I guess, but I think he's a better defensive shortstop than Colt Emerson.

Experian
You think Tai Pete?

Max Ellingson
Yeah, I do, but.

Experian
Okay, I. Strong disagree. Strong disagree. I think he's good.

I think Colt Emerson is a better.

Max Ellingson
Like, will make Colt Emerson is a more sound shortstop right now, but yes. Okay, but that's a good.

Yeah. Maybe I should clarify that Ty Pete has a better chance of playing like, an above average shortstop at the big league level.

Experian
Just locked Taipei in a room with Perry Hill for, like, three months.

Max Ellingson
And, like, he will.

Experian
He will emerge like Carlos Correa. Pete. Carlos Correa level.

Max Ellingson
Tai Pete can make plays going to his right into the hole and stuff like that. That Emerson cannot do, but that's that Emerson.

Okay. Anyway, we don't have to get into that. That has nothing.

Experian
More ceiling. Sure, sure.

Max Ellingson
Yes. However, Aiden Smith is such for how young he is. He. He's so polished at the plate. He doesn't chase all that much. He takes his walks, he swings at the right pitches, and he hits the ball really hard. Like, there are multiple batted ball events where I've seen him, you know, hit homers. And the modesto announcer will be like, yep, that's 114 off the battery at a foul ball. It'll be. Yeah, that's 111. And he's, you know, at that time, he was a teenager. And, oh, by the way, he plays outstanding outfield defense with a cannon arm. Like, a huge arm.

So. I really liked him. I know.

Experian
We do not. I do. I know that you hate hanging comps on players, but again, just for our listening audience, this is not the minor spot. This is our. Our general pod for people who are not familiar with Aiden Smith and his game.

Is there a player you could pump him to so. Just so people could, like, have it in their mind's eye? I have an idea in my head, but I want to hear what you say.

Max Ellingson
I mean, I don't have anything, like, right off the bat, just because I haven't thought about it. I'm curious on who you have in your rent.

Experian
I think he is a.

Tell us, John. Tell us.

John Trupin
I think you're. You're hoping he becomes Randy Rosarina.

Max Ellingson
I was gonna say something like that.

Experian
All right.

Max Ellingson
No, no, that's not comp wise.

John Trupin
Yeah.

Experian
I mean, no, he is.

John Trupin
Go ahead.

Experian
He is a five tool player. He is a way better defender. He's a center fielder.

John Trupin
Like, no, but a Rosarina was when he was younger and Smith's faster. But. But a Rosarina is 29.

Experian
No Smith. No, no.

The comp I have is Corbin Carroll.

Great bat to ball, incredible athlete, very good defensive player. Asked on the bases. True five two player, tool player, potential rookie of the year. Like, he is that to me. Aiden Smith is that good. He was.

He was also.

He was not my favorite player in the system. Like, personality wise. I will always love Laz, and I maintain a belief in him. But as far as, like. And Farmello. Farmello before he got hurt is. I still believe a lot of in Farmello and believe in Farmello as that kind of similar player.

And the Mariners are lucky they had a glut of these guys. You should not have both Aiden Smith and Johnny Farmello in your system. And I think if Farmello is healthy, maybe the Rays want him instead. He's got a little more prospect shine, but, you know, he's hurt now with Farmello, you're banking on him coming back from a pretty severe injury.

It's not Kyle Lewis. It's not like knee destroying, but it is an ACL injury for somebody who's a center fielder, can be a career altering injury. And I think that maybe had that not happened, it's Farmello going over in this deal instead. And then we're all like, yeah, okay, that's tough, but fair.

Max Ellingson
Yeah.

Is it dissimilar?

Experian
No, I mean, I think Farmello is personally, it might even be like a blessing because I would probably take Farmello just because he's, like, bigger and more physical.

Max Ellingson
Oh, I would, too. Yeah, I agree. But, like, they're of the same ilk. Like, they are.

Experian
Yeah. And I believe they're both five tool players. And I love Smith. I think Smith has the edge in the athleticism.

Like, as far as his outfield def. I mean, Farmello is really electric out there, and he's exciting to watch. I'm just nervous about him because he's a bigger kid, which, you know, again, you see the injury. Bigger guys get injured more often. Smith is a little more compact.

John Trupin
I mean, he's.

Max Ellingson
Yeah, they're both pretty awesome.

John Trupin
I feel Carmelo's list, you know, the same size. Like, they're not.

I don't think there. There's a dramatic difference in their size. And, in fact, mellow is listed at least as smaller.

Experian
Smith is a more compact athlete, to my eye. Like, farmella just has more wiry.

Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. I don't know. But this is I mean, it's not an ins. People are like, oh, that's it, that's it.

That was, those are some tough. Those are some tough gives. And it's interesting to me that Tampa Bay wanted players who were so young.

Brody Hopkins is like, maybe not quite young, but he is to my eye, a very. He's only been playing pro ball like, what, a year?

John Trupin
This is his first. He's debuting this year. Even though he's.

Experian
Yeah, because he, he was hurt. He didn't play in his draft year, right. Even though he's like a college guy.

John Trupin
He. Well, because he was an outfielder. He was a two way player in college.

Experian
Way player.

John Trupin
College of Charleston, then transferred to Winthrop. And he was bad. He was a very bad college baseball player, at least in terms of results. He had like a era just side short of six and he was nothing good hitter. So, like, Seattle picked him based off of stuff, athleticism, like health. And then they wanted to tweak things with him. And so when he came out firing this spring, it was, oh, that's why, you know, I mean, it wasn't like a total shock. Like people thought that he had this, had had this possibility with a good team, but he did it. So, yeah, you know, he definitely put it together.

It seemingly, or at least put a fair amount together, but he's also much more raw than a player typically age 22, 23, having gone through college would be.

Experian
So he is like a definite secondary piece. I like that. Tampa Bay is like, oh, we want, you know, we want the crazy. They could have asked for Logan Evans. Like they could have asked for were Emerson Hancock. Like, I think that there are other players they could have had in that deal, but they were like, let us have a shot. Let us have a shot at developing this guy. Tampa Bay does a good job developing arms. Like they have had a lot of their player development is very good. So I'm excited for what happens.

It didn't feel like a tremendous overpay to me. Me.

It also didn't feel like a tremendous underpay.

I'm curious about who the p player to be named later is going to.

Max Ellingson
Be, but, yeah, I mean, we'll just have to kind of wait. We won't. I would assume it's not going to be an insignificant player, but I also am not going to say that it's, you know, I don't think it's going to be like what they, in the Jesse winker. They had like Connor Phillips, right player to be named later.

John Trupin
That was the player to mean Laminar and that is the fear. But it seems likely that it would be a lesser player than the two in here. Even if it's another pro, I think even if it's another prospect of some capability.

Max Ellingson
Yeah, I would, I think I'm kind of on that same wave as well, John. But I do think when, like, the thing with Hopkins is Tampa really likes arms with, like, outlier traits. Right? Like they, every single person in their bullpen is either like a submariner or extreme over the top or like they've got something like Matt Whisper throwing 90% sliders. Like, they just, they, they pick up guys.

Experian
I love a weird little guy. They love a weird little guy.

Max Ellingson
And Hopkins is that he's got a super low release. He's an incredible athlete. He's a huge guy, but he has a low release. He's kind of like us, you know, kind of slings it in there. And the stuff is really big. He's kind of, earlier in the year, he struggled a bit with command and control, and he'd walk some guys and hit some guys and, but as of late, I mean, the run prevention has never been a problem. His stuff is absolutely huge. So he's certainly not just like a guy. Like people keep saying, like, oh, they turned a fourth and a 6th rounder into Randy. It's like, yeah, they did, and that's an incredible job by the scouting department. But, like, once they're in the department, they're your players.

And these players proved they were better talents than where they were at, and that's why it happened.

John Trupin
I would agree.

I do also think the Rays have a tendency to target not just these sort of outlier traits, but the Rays because of how they operate and because of how many extra draft picks they're given.

Typically they end up with more players on their, for, on the fringe of their 40 man every year.

And so they tend to prioritize lower down the system, younger guys like Smith and Hopkins, at least in terms of distance from needing to be put on the 40 man. So I would say, yeah, shoot for.

Max Ellingson
Ceiling and hope for the best, right?

John Trupin
Because neither of these players are going to need to be put on the 40 man for at least a few years, and the same thing will likely be true of the player to be named later.

I did want to throw because I genuinely do kind of stand by the Rosarena comparison around Smith. Not in terms of, like, frame, obviously, because Rosarina's smaller, but in terms of Smith being, you're hoping for him to be a five tool player who walks and runs a ton and hits for some power.

I think James Outman is another option because I think Carol is the, I do know what you're going for there, but I do want to, at least in my opinion, I don't want Mariners fans to think, oh, they just traded away the like surefire best, like one of the best prospects in baseball, even though I do think that they might have. We don't know well for sure, but the, there's reason, the, the reason to me, I guess that I would.

The, the, what's the opposite? What's the, what's the thing they do when like you're a candidate and they, they do like the opposition case I guess, against Smith is his swing is very consistent but also it's very consistent and I think that that can run into some holes when he is forced to adjust in the in and just off of the zone a little bit and he absolutely can hit the daylights out of the ball. I completely agree and he runs very well, but he is going to have at least a challenge I would like to see him overcome, I guess is hitting in a way that is nothing, just essentially dip and ripping because rightfully his goal is elevating to the pole side. But that is the primary way in which he gets all of his, the majority of his success, I guess I would say. And that's a very good way to go. That is Mitch Hanniger. It went, you know, that was the good version of Mitch Hanniger and that's a good version of many hitters. But it does mean when pitchers start going away from you with off speed, you have to show that you can, you can handle that in some capacity. And I don't know that we've seen enough of that from Smith, which is not really a super fair knock on a guy who's just turned 20, is in his age, 19 season in the California league.

But that's what, those are the things that hold a player back from at least me feeling like, okay, I'm really upset about this deal.

Max Ellingson
Yeah, I totally agree with you, John.

We can talk about these prospects, but when you watch them every day, I'm obviously incredibly attached to them because I watch them every day and I really like them as a player. But you, you can very easily get this kind of hundredth percentile vision of oh my God, this guy's going to be dominating at the MLB. Like they are an able and that's 100 possible. That's the, the risk you run of trading prospects. But, you know, if if Aidan Smith gets to the majors and produced for the Mariners for two and a half years at the level that a rosarena has historically performed, you'd be thrilled. And that's the bet they're making, and that's why there's more pieces involved. But, you know, that's just the threat of trading prospects. I, like, I think I put in the slack, like, right after. Like, I was under the impression of any trade they made involving Aiden Smith would bite them in the ass down the line.

And I don't think that's an impossible outcome to happen, but it's the. It's. They have to get the bat now. They. They need it now.

And that's why you have to move these guys. Like, if you, like, you could say that Aidan Smith is the next Brian Reynolds, and maybe he is, but the. This current front office and this current team can't wait until 2027 for Aiden Smith to become that.

Experian
To be clear, I don't care if Aiden Smith turns into I don't care if Aiden Smith turns into Corbin Carroll. Like, it is still a good gamble.

Max Ellingson
Like, yeah, it's a gamble they have to make.

Experian
It's a gamble they have to make. Like, it would be great if they weren't in this position because they had spent money convincingly in the offseason and we weren't in this position, but offense sucks. It needs a jolt. This is what, and this is what you do when you're a team that doesn't spend money. Like, you build up this prospect capital.

You have to be a little small in, like, how you draft sign, develop, and then that's part of your capital.

And they. They did a great job with Aiden Smith. They got him in the fifth round, they paid him over slot, but not insanely. They have one of the best, most hardworking scouting departments out there. I really do believe that on the amateur side, the major league side, we can talk about a different time, but the amateur side, those guys go places other people aren't. They see things other people don't, and they find things other teams are not finding. And they all work together in tandem, and, I mean, Max and I talked about this a little late. They work together in tandem. They're not all siloed off. And it is a very consistent messaging that these guys all get.

And they. They do a good job communicating. Like, this guy is a fit for our system as far as what he has. This guy is a fit for our system as far as what he does, as far as who he is, and you know, they found Aidan, Aiden Smith as a later round draft pick. They found Bruni Hopkins as a later round draft pick. Neither of those guys are first or second rounders, but they have been developed really well. They have. They were better probably than when they were taken. They were. I called Aiden Smith when he was drafted, the steel of, the steel of the draft overall.

John Trupin
Well, and, I mean, when they took him in the fourth, it was a seven figure bonus. Right. Like they, they did still.

Experian
Yeah, they paid him a lot.

John Trupin
They paid him a lot to, to get him to sign, which, again, you do, because then you can turn that into a very good player, whether that's directly or whether that's by true training.

Experian
A good player for someone else.

John Trupin
A very good player. So I'm thrilled. I could, I completely agree that this could very well be a deal where the, you know, one or both or, I don't know, maybe three. But I think there's a very good chance that we see at least one or two of these prospects in the big leagues and as productive big leaguers. And like, like y'all are saying, like, it's worth it to improve a team that is a game out of the absolutely Al west.

Experian
And I feel like actually, when you.

John Trupin
Get a player for multiple years, right. You get.

Experian
The Mariners do not generally do terribly in these trades. Right. Like, it's either a push or you could say they win the trade. I think that they have a pretty strong track record as far as that goes. What do you want to, who, who is your counter? What's your counterargument?

John Trupin
It's not even a counterargument. It is generally where you'd need to draw the line on. That would be challenging because I think, I feel very strongly that you should not do sort of low level buy trades except for, like, relievers.

And if you're going to buy, you should buy big because the, the odds of a trade deadline, low level move biting, you are lower than, you know, trading a top level prospect. But a, a top level player you get in return is much more likely to perform, whereas prospects are generally closer, tighter together in their odds of performing as big leaguers. So if you're going to be trading prospects anyway, you should trade them for really good big leaguers and those trades. And baseball America has done some good research on that, that those blockbusters, superstar trades pretty overwhelmingly, despite how big the numbers are next to the prospect lists, pretty overwhelmingly work out for the buyer teams.

This, I think, is a little on the edge there, but I am happy with it.

Regardless.

And whether this ultimately is more castillo or winker, I think is.

I think there's good odds for this to be not just a huge, a big positive for this year, but for the year after and the year after, to say nothing of the fact that Randy Rosarena is one of the most, one of the more recognizable players in the sport. And I know we addressed this earlier, but, like, the fact that he is now on the Marine, he doesn't have.

Experian
To be on a Taylor walls anymore win for Randy, honestly.

John Trupin
But, you know, it is, it is legitimizing to the team in a way that we've talked about before, where the roster, the players have talked about this at the end of the year of, like, not feeling supported by the front office and feeling like they're, they're not serious. So the idea of bringing in the, one of the, a very solid general performer, but also one of the best big time performers in, in the history of sport, one of the best playoff hitters in baseball history, like, not a. Not a joke. Third in, I think they saw the stat was third in slugging in the playoffs for players who have at least 100 plays, appearances behind Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.

Experian
Insane, right?

John Trupin
And I don't feel that that's predictive, per se, but I definitely know that it matters to players that you're bringing in a player much like bringing in Carlos Santana matter. Not just necessarily because, oh, he, you know, because you're not expecting mid 2010s Cleveland All Star Carlos Santana. But you are saying, oh, this was a player respected, who has a track record of performing and is still performing now. And I think that makes a difference for the legitimacy of the team and the legitimacy of the organization in the players eyes of y'all are not playing up to our expectations. We're not.

We're not.

We're not doing what we did last year where we gave up on you and we're not kind of half, half assing it.

Well, that's still to be seen. But, like, 2021 and 2023 were both years where they gave up on the team some or didn't really give, give the team a chance and whether they had good reason or not. But this is a, this is a statement of, no, you get out there and win because we think you can win. It doesn't matter that you have scored three runs against the Angels, you know, one run a game over the last, what feels like 15 games.

Get out there. We're bringing in Randy. We're going to keep looking. And that's, that has to feel they're going to wake up. If they weren't aware, if players weren't awake already, they're going to wake up and I think they're going. There is going to be a lot of enthusiasm and hopefully relief as well that, like, okay, we, we have support. We don't all have to press quite as outrageously. So.

Max Ellingson
Yeah. Like, 100%.

Like, he's, he's one of the few guys that they could just go out and, like, as a name by himself, could completely rejuvenate a locker room. Like, no, discredit to Yandy Diaz or whatever. Right. But, like, you go and get Yandy Diaz, it's like, okay, we got a guy. Like, we gotta get Randy.

John Trupin
Probably a better player, but I don't.

Experian
Know that Brent rookerfucker named Randy.

John Trupin
Yeah.

Max Ellingson
Like, it's just like, yeah, it's like he comes walking in in his cowboy boots. Boots. And he's like, all right, we're turning this ship around. Like, you know, you can, you can.

Experian
I hope Max. I hope so bad that that is exactly how it goes.

Max Ellingson
I would love it.

Experian
His, his cowboy boots. Just half an inch taller than Bryce Miller's.

Max Ellingson
Yeah. I mean, I would obviously love it. And, you know, you can, you can kind of get caught up in the, in the, you know, clubhouse and the aura that he brings to and kind of the mystique of him. But just as a baseball. As a baseball move, it's a more than fine trade. They, they gave up some pieces, but they got a piece back. They, you know, they got an established hitter that they get control of for the next three postseason runs. That means something.

So, yeah, I mean, outside of the, you know, the personal aspect of it, it's a good move. The players they gave up are good, and the player they got in return is good.

So it's an incredibly, incredibly fun.

Experian
We really could have just had the whole podcast be just that sentence.

Max Ellingson
Yeah, pretty much.

Experian
Players they give up are good. The player they got back is really good. Have a good night, everybody.

John Trupin
Right.

Experian
I should have just done that.

John Trupin
I want them largely save everyone an.

Experian
Hour of listening time.

John Trupin
I want to wrap because it's late.

Experian
And we've, it's so late making this podcast for you all. Please clap.

Max Ellingson
Jeb bush type.

John Trupin
Yeah.

Experian
You know, Randy, I think, is really going to love the Pacific Northwest.

I think Randy is going to love the Pacific Northwest.

John Trupin
I think he's going to be a great fit.

I do also just want to point that. Put a, put a point on. I love that the Mariners did this trade before the six games or five games before the deadline, would have loved it earlier. But the fact that they were willing to set the start the market, for lack of a better term, we're so.

Experian
Usually not on the mild disrespect. Yeah, I think that that is something that you see out of depot in general. Right. Like, he likes to be the first one. Like he, he does like to be on that side. For all the questions that some of us, some of us on this very podcast were asking about whether or not Scott was going to keep his job, whether or not Jerry and Justin and we're going to keep their jobs. Like, this feels not like a desperation move, but it does feel like, oh, you. Like, there's no way, I think that you can question this move or you can question their jobs or that they are the trying to do everything that they can.

They tried really hard this offseason, given the budget that they had to work with and the choices didn't work out.

And I have been frustrated in the past by specifically depot being like, well, we would do this all over again. I was like, but it didn't work. So listen to the feedback. Listen to the feedback of what the team is telling you. Like, it didn't work. It wasn't like, good process, bad result. It just didn't work.

So this is, to me, an exciting swing, a bigger move than trying to, like, reshuffle these smaller pieces during the off season. And it's funny because Rosarena was talked about this offseason as a potential target. Do you remember that, John, when there were all these rumors? So maybe they were, like, trying to fire him then?

John Trupin
Yeah, I think there's a good chance there because the Rays are famously the cheapest or second cheapest team in the league right after the A's at this point, but with, with some credit to the Marlins. But, but they're, it was, I mean, you what, from everything you out, is.

Experian
It to live in Florida? Why, why are the Florida teams so cheap? I don't understand that. Isn't there money there?

John Trupin
Yeah, but they don't want to pay people. Uh, so that's, the people who have more money are. Yeah, nuts. For whatever reason, not interested in Tampa.

It made sense that they held him because they have a good roster. Not a great roster, but a good roster. And who knows how things could have broken and, you know, they could have been the Red Sox, but instead they're the race.

Then they also could have been the Blue Jays, but instead they're the race so they're, they're sort of the most in between club. I mean, it's very funny that they are one game behind the Mariners and they did this or maybe half a game behind the Mariners if in terms of wild card. Yeah, they're the 52 and 51. Mariners are 53 and 51. And the Mariners are making this move because of the division. You know, they're, they're. They're nine and a half games back. The Mariners are one game back. So that's, that's just how it is. But that is to the Mariners benefit, very possibly eventually to the Raiders benefit.

Experian
Very fun. I'm looking back at. I wrote this up this offseason. I went through the. It was when I did the one star, two star, three star, whatever.

And the, what I proposed at the time in the offseason when there was morose, was reporting that the two sides were talking about Paredes, about a rosarena.

I proposed a rosarena for Brian Wu and Harry Ford.

John Trupin
It would have been.

Experian
It was fair, right?

John Trupin
It was fair, yeah, I think it was. And I mean, we can think slightly differently about that now, for sure, given Wu continuing to perform. And also, I mean, for. Not much has really shifted with Ford, but you could have easily done that, especially getting another full half year, which, hey, the mixed bag of a Randy Rose Reyna has the best ops on the active Mariners, not non Victor Robles edition currently. So that even just. That probably makes a difference. But he's here now, and I cannot wait to see him in America's uniform for the next two and a half years.

Experian
Absolutely. Very exciting.

John Trupin
Well, thank you both. Thank you, Max.

Thank you, Kate.

Thank you to the good people at McDougall bats, thank you to the Tampa Bay Rays and the Seattle Mariners for genuinely giving this fan base. Absolutely the injection of enthusiasm and hope and life that it needs.

Experian
It does feel like one of those where were you when kind of things. I was out on Jetty island trying to forget about which ten out of ten fully recommend, must visit.

Very, very fun little white sand beach out in everett that no one seems to know about. And I was like, I need to get away from the Mariners. I don't want to think about this team for a full day. I just sat out, got sunburned, hung out with my friends, and I got the channel ping in our slack and I was like, no.

I mean, yes, but also, yeah, that I love. You can't. You can't quit this team. You cannot quit them. Just when you look away, that's when they make their move.

John Trupin
They are indeed. They're moving. They're shaking.

And we are.

Bacon.

Experian
We'll have it all for you.

John Trupin
Bacon and eggs in the morning. We will have it all for you. Exactly. Thank you all.

Until next time.

Max Ellingson
Time.

Experian
Adios. In honor of Randy.

TRADE! Randy Arozarena Installed to Local Server - Meet at the Mitt Podcast

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1: Opening Remarks

2: Analyzing Arozarena

3: Future Implications and Strategies

4: Closing Thoughts

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