All three of John, Kate, and Joe link our podcast-creation-stones once more to cover a highly educated crop of Mariners draftees with minimal pizzazz on the surface. We came into this recording with dissatisfaction in our hearts, but worked our way to a better place. Have a listen!
0 - 14:00: Did we come away from this draft feeling satisfied, or a bit cheated given the talk of upside plays heading into the draft from Jerry Dipoto and his front office? And is a system that only prioritizes and develops certain types of players one that can be successful?
14:00 - 19:30: The counterpoint, if the Mariners can nail their development of a certain profile of player, can they convert that, via internal production and/or trade chips, into a balanced team when it comes to competing? Josh Stowers became Shed Long, yes, but is that enough?
19:30 - 28:45: We dig into our favorite picks on day two of the draft. Joe slots Zach DeLoach in ahead of Jake Fraley in his prospect list, and notes he’s the most visible high upside guy. Without further video, we wonder about the near-prep potential of Connor Phillips, who is an enigma more than anything. John laments a lack of athleticism in the group of post-Hancock picks, even as he croons about Tyler Keenan a.k.a. Tekken and struggles to pronounce Polcovich. Our second lamentation of Tigers envy comes here.
28:45 - 45:00: After John breaks Kate’s spirit by not getting a Burl Ives reference, Kate and Joe list a few of their favorite undrafted free agent targets who might actually sign with Seattle. We all shake our fists at MLB ownership for choosing a system this year that will likely push most talented players away from the Mariners. We debate whether we’ll see a rush of signings or a limited number, in Seattle and nationwide. John notes guys like Ray Kerr and Devin Sweet could be held up for the Mariners as UDFA exemplars, but it’s a longshot all the same. Kate notes there will still be some guys out there who didn’t come to play school.
45:00 - 56:00: We speculate what next year’s draft will look like with so much talent unselected, before John has himself a rant about the dearth of clear middle infield prospects in the system and this draft’s disinterest in addressing it. Eventually, he demands his cohosts get him psyched about Kaden Polcovich, who Joe sees a bit of himself in.
56:00 - 1:05:00: Kate welcomes the Turturro family to the Mariners bandwagon, before some detailing of Zach DeLoach’s swing, and our second Pedro Alvarez reference. We go rapid fire for a bit on questions, with skepticism on a glut of preps in next year’s draft taking the JuCo route.
1:05:00 - End: Looking at the system as a whole, we offer a quick reaction as to what the outfield looks like going forward, and whether it has been overtaken by pitching as the strongest group in the system. We finish up tallying how close we all got to what we individually wanted from this draft.
Music: “Sister Surround” by Soundtrack to Our Lives / “CHANCES” by KAYTRANADA
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