In Mariners news...

• “Mariners” may seem like a pretty innocuous name to those of us who known them our entire lives, but Roger Szmodis, the man responsible for creating the name for the last 45 years of bliss and heartbreak, has been the source of mystery since the team’s inception. However, after a near half-century long search, the Mr. Szmodis has finally been tracked down!
• I can’t explain it, but the way Ty is sitting in this picture speaks to me on a spiritual level.

• Logan’s new pitch looked really good last night.

• ICYMI, Robbie Ray will miss at least two weeks with a flexor strain in his pitching forearm. Lefty Gabe Speier has been recalled from Triple-A to fill the spot.

• In a cruel twist of irony, 2023 Opening Day marked the twentieth anniversary of the 2003 Seattle Mariners rotation. Consisteing of Jamie Moyer, Freddy Garcia, Joel Piñeiro, Gil Meche, and Ryan Franklin, the five came together to start all 162 games of the season.

Around the league...

• The San Diego Padres printing press sprang back into action today when the team agreed to a seven-year, $80 million contract extension with Jake Cronenworth.
• This is the kind of hard hitting analysis that gets me out of bed in the morning. Why the Mariners and Padres are the only two teams in this graphic without names under their portraits has been a topic of much conversation in the sLLack. We suspect foul play.

• Gary Sanchez signed a minor league contract with the San Francisco Giants.
• In some perverse way, someone saying the quiet part out loud can be cathartic. Taking the mask off, even for just a moment is still long enough when the entire world is watching, and Rob Manfred recently did just that. ($)
• So The The Angels Angels of Anaheim have been going through it. ICYMI, Anthony Rendon had a little altercation with a fan after their Opening Day game in Oakland on Thursday. Video of the altercation went viral on Friday, and all that culminated in an absolute circus before the game yesterday.

• Rendon, manager Phil Nevin, and general manager Perry Minasian made themselves available to listen to questions from the media. And listen they did.

• Full disclosure, one of my good friends is an Angels fan. He’s such a good friend in fact, that he actually reads all the stuff I write, even though he dislikes the Mariners just as much as I dislike the Angels. He is absolutely going to get to this section and he’s going to be fully prepared to accuse me of including all of this just to take cheap shots at the Angels, but I feel like it’s critically important to point out that we are two games into the Angels season, and if this isn’t doesn’t end up winning the award for “Best Shot/Chaser Tweets of 2023,” then consider me really excited for what else the 2023 season has in store. I am in no way celebrating an injury for any athlete, least of all someone as chronically injured as Rendon has been the last few seasons, but he’s clearly got a knack for comedic timing.

Nick’s pick...

• Nothing to see here, just a sleepy cat. Happy Sunday everybody!