Mariners Moose Tracks, 6/7/20: Marco & Monica Gonzales, Buster Olney, and Pokémon

Shameless plug to Go. Read. Draft. Coverage! It’s very possibly the only MLB event we’ll be having this year so get hyped! Or, you know, do not get hyped, but get to know the names you’ll hear Wednesday and Thursday, including a new preview today!

In Mariners news...

• Emma Baccellieri at Sports Illustrated talked to mental skills coaches from several organizations, including Adam Bernero and David Franco in the Mariners organization, about their added importance in this hands-off time, as well as infielder Donavan Walton.
• Mariners catching coordinator Tony Arnerich talks through why he now is a devotee of the “one-knee stance”.

• Always good to see Mariners players working in the community, cheers to Marco Gonzales and his wife Monica.

Around the league...

• Buster Olney of ESPN says MLB’s owners need to take responsibility for their stewardship of the game and present a far better offer to the Players Union to avoid the total loss of a season, among other changes from bother sides.
• No time like the College World Series to break out some tricks!

• Over at Beyond The Box Score, Kenny Kelly looks at how the five-round draft may have lasting negative consequences on MLB and the sport.
• MLB reportedly has not communicated or even shared their health and safety plans for containing COVID-19 in their reopening efforts with health officials in many league areas.
• The heart of baseball has evaporated from MLB, says Maury Brown of Forbes.
• Rest in peace to former Orioles pitcher John Miller, who passed away recently.
• Torii Hunter says he negotiated a no-trade clause to the Red Sox in every contract he had due to receiving repeated racial slurs from crowds there.
• Ryan Sadowski pitched as a member of the Giants organization at the top level of competition in two countries - the San Francisco Giants in 2009, and the Lotte Giants of the KBO from 2010-2012. Bill Francis gets his story for the National Baseball Hall of Fame, and highlights a number of KBO artifacts within the Hall’s archives.
• Ashley Fetters of the New York Times takes a look at how the lack of baseball is impacting the town of Binghamton, NY, with the Rumble Ponies out of commission.
• Nathaniel Grow writes for FanGraphs that the threat of a strike, long the last resort of the MLBPA, may not have the teeth of years past, as MLB owners have revenue streams less dependent on games played.

John’s pick...

• Apparently Pokémon has varied spawn rates on specific notable dates in history?