Seattle Sports Episode 3

The host of the show talks about the Seattle Sports Weekend, including the Kraken's victory at the Winter Classic against the Las Vegas Golden Knights. They discuss the positive aspects of the event, such as the weather and the uniforms. However, they also mention that the Winter Classic had low viewership compared to previous years. The host believes that the Kraken's victory shows that the team is improving and gaining confidence. They also discuss the goaltending situation and suggest that Joey DiCord has been performing well and could be a better option than Philip Grubauer, who has struggled this season. The host emphasizes the importance of gaining ground in the standings to secure a playoff spot. I invited them in, and I left them alone. This is Seattle Sports Weekend. Your host, me. Hello there, welcome to the show. Welcome to 2024. Yes, you survived. You made it. And here we are right now, keeping up with our New Year's resolutions. And let's just say, we have a lot to cover on the show today. This is the best possible problem I have for me. I don't know why I have to come in here to be entertained for a couple of hours, if I make a step up. But no, I do not need to do that. We have lots to cover on the show today. We've got tough tees in action, playing for a championship on Monday. We're coming off a great victory with the Kraken at the Winter Classic. And we've got the struggles of the Seahawks, and the strains of the Mariners. So I guess the question that remains is, where do we start? Well, I think we're going to start with the Kraken, because it's my favorite team in Seattle. And let me just say, I do have to eat some crow right now. They played fantastic in the Winter Classic against Las Vegas. I did not expect that outcome. I remember on the show last week, I said, I predicted the loss. I thought they'd be competitive, but I didn't think they'd actually beat the Las Vegas Golden Knights, that have been pretty much one of the stronger teams in the NHL all season long. Let's start off with the optics of the actual event. I would have to say we got very, very lucky during this Winter Classic, because everything just kind of came together, worked out perfectly. Seattle was nice and sunny that day, maybe halfway cloudy, but no precipitation. The roof of T-Mobile Park was open. Everyone was having a good time out there on TV. It looked like Seattle was a bit like a winter wonderland, which I think is great, because the Winter Classic is supposed to be winter-esque, I would say. And as we know, haven't seen any snow in Seattle this year yet, but at least we had that illusion of having it be nice and snowy outside for the players. So I think everyone had a good time out there, enjoyed themselves. The sight lines did not seem that bad, either. I'm looking at some of the photos online. It seems that everyone was able to see pretty well. And the camera angles looked pretty good, too. Watching this on TV was not hard to watch. I know we've watched some games in the past where it was hard to see what's going on, and that was not the case this time. Everything looked great from a fan's perspective, so I would say that it all came together just the right way. Also, I mean, we can't even get past the fact that these uniforms were just fantastic. I mean, bringing back that old school style from the Seattle Metropolitans, I would love to see that as a third jersey all the time. I think it looks great. So kudos to that one. I think that Seattle really needs to make sure that they find a way to integrate that back into their scheme somehow. Having that be an alternate jersey somewhere would be fantastic. And besides all of that, besides all the optics of the game, I mean, you had Hart out there performing as part of the game, some other performers as well. You just have to love that and see all the flybys and everything. That was so much fun to see. And I really do hate to say this because I had fun watching this on TV, but this was one of the least watched winter classics in history. I think that people were not super interested based on the fact that it wasn't a wintry, winter wonderland climate, wasn't one of the most interesting games that people wanted to watch. Even though they missed out, I mean, I had fun watching that game. That was great, watching these two teams duke it out. But I guess that people want to see their New York versus Chicago. They want to see their Detroit versus Buffalo, unfortunately. So didn't get the viewership that we had hoped for. I do think that the NHL has overmarketed this whole winter classic thing to be something that it's not in some ways. And I think the winter classic really is about having that kind of winter wonderland feel. I think maybe this should be reserved for those teams in the Northeast, whereas this could be more like a heritage classic type thing or the stadium series where teams do get to play outside, but it's not really marketed as the winter classic per se. So I'm not really sure this went perfectly from a sales standpoint or from a success standpoint for the NHL, but I think it was great for Seattle. We showcased the city. We had a great time out there, and our team won, beating one of the toughest teams to beat. You really can't complain about any of that. But there you go. They did it. A 3-0 victory over the Las Vegas Golden Knights at the winter classic, and the goaltender Joey Diacord with a 35-save shutout. Now I think this victory does provide some level of confidence that the Seattle Kraken have turned the ship around a bit. And the beginning of the season was rough. We know that for sure. We saw them at the bottom of the standings. They really were not playing a very good defensive game all season long. And now all of a sudden things are really starting to click and turn around, and I really do think this is going to continue going forward. I thought that we were on the cusp of getting back to our winning ways sometime in the middle of December, but I think at this point we've shown the league that we are back and we can provide a good solid game, play all 60 minutes, and come out with a nice clean win. And there are some questions that remain about our goaltending situation, and I think this is probably the most serious problem we're going to have to address going forward. And actually it's a good problem to have, and I'll explain why. So you've got Philip Grubauer, who's been struggling with a long-term injury since December 9th. And as we know, Grubauer has been one of my favorite goalies on the Seattle Kraken, despite him not playing the best this season. And I think he was the best choice for the Kraken to have on the team when they first entered the league. I think he provided a lot of good support, provided a level of confidence for the team when they were first getting their feet wet with some of these games. But I'm not sure at this point that Grubauer is the future of the team, and I'm going to explain why. So you've got Joey Dichord, who played amazing in net at the Winter Classic. And if you think that was a flash-in-the-pan victory right there, it was not. He's been playing well for the Kraken since Grubauer left. So we're going to dig into that, but before we do, we're going to talk about the contract situation right now real quick. So Joey Dichord assigned to the 2024-2025 season a salary of $1.2 million. That is extremely friendly to the Seattle Kraken. That is something you definitely cannot pass up after 2025. If he sticks around, we're going to have to pay him a lot more, obviously, but that's a very, very friendly contract right there. Where is Philip Grubauer assigned for three more years with a salary of $5.9 million? And that could be potentially problematic if he doesn't find his game in the next couple of months, if he comes back from that injury, because right now it doesn't seem like he's really ready to jump back into his starting role. He's going to need some conditioning before he can do that. Now you also have to look at Chris Drieger, who's basically goalie B to goalie A right now, backing up Joey Dichord with Philip Grubauer gone, and he's likely to be sent back down to Coachella after Grubauer returns. His contract does expire at the end of the season. We don't know what's going to happen there. Anything's possible. And I do want to take some time to dig into Dichord's numbers because these have been extremely solid all season long. So he's got 24 games under his belt right now in the season. He has a goals against average of 2.29 and a save percentage of .922. So extremely strong numbers from Dichord, from a guy that most people didn't even know coming into the season. So I think that's fantastic to see. He's definitely showing that he can be that A1 goalie. When do we need somebody to rely on in a game like that? So since December 12th, though, now this is really interesting. So he's played nine games since December 12th, and, again, Grubauer was out after December 9th, that injury, and his numbers here are even better. So his goals against average are 1.31 and the save percentage is .958. So when you dig into those statistics right there, he's actually improving as time goes by. And since getting the job starting each and every game, he's been an extremely solid player to rely on every single time we step on the ice. Now Phillip Grubauer's numbers have been a bit ugly this season, to say the least. He's played 17 games so far. Goals against average of 3.25 and a save percentage of 88.4%. So not the best, but that is far off his career average. So we know he can do better than that. He's going to have to come back, do some conditioning, obviously. Maybe he can get back to playing the way he was playing before, being that reliable goaltender that you can always count on and rely on. But at this point, I don't think it's a good idea to start him in net, especially when we're trying to make up some ground in other teams right now and get back into that playoff hunt. And with the NHL, I will say that the playoffs do have a habit of sneaking up on you rather quickly. It seems like you have all this runway leading into April and May when the playoffs begin. But as of right now, we're at a spot where we really can't step off the gas. We have to keep gaining some ground. We want to get back into that comfort zone of knowing that we're a solid lock to make the playoffs if the season were to end. So right now the Kraken are sitting in 10th place, as I mentioned before, in the NHL standings with 41 points. Right behind them is the Arizona Coyotes with 40 points, and the Calgary Flames with 39 points. Now both of these teams have been pretty mediocre at best. They win a couple games, they lose a couple games, but they really don't get far above 500. Whereas the Kraken have won six games in a row at this point. So I think it's safe to say that they're gaining some serious ground. They've got the Blues right in front of them. They've got the Oilers also riding a six-game win streak. So things are looking really, really good for that team as well. And that's why you can't let off the gas. You've got to keep winning these games. You've got to get in the mix and solidify some sort of spot for yourself in the playoffs. I do think that they have a good chance against some of these teams. You've got the Kings in the mix as well, the Stars up there who are cooling off a little bit, and, of course, the Golden Knights, which have really cooled off the past couple of games. Their last ten games they are 3-7-0. So I think it's safe to say that as long as that pattern continues for a while, we do stand to gain some ground, but it's going to be tricky, to say the least. And you've also got the Vancouver Canucks and the Winnipeg Jets leading the league right now, which is something I definitely did not expect to see at the beginning of the season. So what did the Kraken need to do going forward right now? Well, I think it's safe to say we've got to keep playing Joey Dichord. His goaltending has been extremely solid. We don't want to go back to inconsistency. We want to stick consistent as much as possible. Now, you can't play him in every single game, so I guess the question remains, do you bring Grubauer back from that injury, do you make him the backup, or do you stick with Chris Strieger? And I think in this case, I think you want to play your more expensive talent. I think you want to play Philip Grubauer. But I don't think it's safe to play him in every single game. I think you want to stick in a situation where he plays a couple of games here and there, gets some confidence back, but you're not going to rely on him to win every single game, as we've already got somebody who's proven they can do that, when they're given that kind of responsibility. And the Kraken are in a great situation right now because they've got this great young goaltender in Joey Decord who's putting up these great numbers. He's a cap-friendly hit. His salary is low. But the only downside to that is that you want to rely on the guy who's also being paid the most in this case, and that, of course, is Philip Grubauer. You don't want to send him down to Coachella making that kind of money. You want to find a way to use him and use that to your advantage. And I think that his leadership and experience is something extremely useful to the team. Even if he's not playing, he can be on the bench providing that support, that experience, providing extra confidence to somebody like Joey Decord out there trying to make these saves. And in a situation where Decord can't play, I think he's a good option to jump in there and play the rest of the game. And let's be honest about one thing right now. This is the best possible problem to have if you're a Seattle Kraken fan. You've got to be happy about how this is shaping out right now, just because good goaltending is hard to come by. And the fact that we've got so much of it is really giving us some confidence, I think. I mean, you've got teams like Toronto out there who are still playing well. I think that Toronto is fifth in the Eastern Conference standings right now. But their goaltending has been inconsistent at best. They sent down Ilya Samsonov because he just was inconsistent, couldn't make serious saves and it mattered. And now they're having to play Martin Jones, who's having a bit of a renaissance right now, even though he's had struggles in places like San Jose. I would argue he's more of a backup than a starter. But that's who you've got to rely on. You have no choice. You've got to rely on the guy who's keeping you in the game, and he's given Toronto a chance to win. And the situation could not be more different in Seattle because we've got good goaltending. We have a chance to win every single time we step onto the ice. And yes, things could be better in certain areas. It would be kind of nice to have more firepower. But the goaltending is the most rock solid that I've seen of any team this season. So I think that the future is bright in Seattle. And I do expect to see a deep playoff run come April and May. So let's look into the crystal ball right now for one quick second. And yes, I did say that I thought the Seattle Kraken would make the playoffs. And yes, I stand by that. And I guess I would say that my ultimate hope when they get to the playoffs is that they have a chance to face some of these teams that have some of the opposite strengths that the Kraken have. So let's think about the Edmonton Oilers for one second. This is one team that really does have the firepower nailed down perfectly. They've got Conor McDavid. They've got Leon Dreisaitl. They are a very, very dangerous team offensively. But the defense just isn't quite there. We've seen them do a lot better the past couple of games. Their goaltender was really, really rough earlier on in the season, but he's done significantly better as of late. It's Stuart Skinner, of course. And I think it would be interesting to see what would happen if you had a dynamic between the Kraken and the Oilers where you've got opposite issues and opposite strengths. So in this case, you'd have all that firepower facing up a very good defense, a very good goalie like Decord, and see if we actually have what it takes to get by a team like Edmonton where they have been this perennial team the past couple of years doing pretty well in the playoffs, haven't gotten to that Stanley Cup level yet. But I think we do stand a pretty good chance. And I think we face off against the Canucks. I do think the Canucks have the edge. They've got the firepower and the goaltending. But it'll be interesting to see what happens when we get to the playoffs later on this year. It's coming up faster than you think. Okay, we do have to take a break. Coming up, we're going to talk about the Seattle Mariners, some of the struggles, some of the triumphs. And we're going to talk about what they've done the past couple of days. It's going to make them a lot more competitive as we stick around for Seattle Sports and Weekend Show Sports. ♪♪♪ Okay, it's Warren. Yes, I'm back. I'm here to tell you all about Seattle Golf Pass. And this year you can start your new year off right by keeping up with some of those New Year's resolutions to get outside and stay active. So Seattle Golf Pass is offering 25% off the Ultimate Golf Package and admits to over 50 private golf courses across the Pacific Northwest. Now, I admit I am no professional golfer. The last time I was on a golf course, the club slipped out of my hands and went flying down the fairway. And that was right in front of the clubhouse, mind you. But I still had a great time out there. So will you, I guarantee it. Now, maybe you forgot a gift for Dad for Christmas. Don't worry. Think no further. Seattle Golf Pass has you covered. Get your pass before the offer expires on January 15th. You can find them online at seattlegolf.com. It is seattlegolf.com. When you have big plumbing problems, you need superhuman solutions. I love getting to this part of the show, the second segment, because that means we've covered the first segment. The nerves are gone. We've covered the second segment. We've covered the first segment. We've covered the second segment. We've covered the third segment. We've covered the fourth segment. We've covered the fifth segment. We've covered the sixth segment. We've covered the seventh segment. We've covered the eighth segment. We've covered the ninth segment. We've covered the tenth segment. We've covered the twelfth segment. We've covered the twelfth segment. We've covered the tenth segment. We've covered the eleventh segment. We've covered the twelfth segment. We've covered the twelfth segment. We've covered the twelfth segment. We've covered the twelfth segment. I love getting to this part of the show, the second segment, because that means we've covered the first segment. The nerves are gone. We are firing on all cylinders, of course, and we are going to be discussing one of my favorite topics coming up here on the show. That is the Seattle Marathon, and these guys have caused me so much stress over the past couple of weeks with everything going on, and I think it's getting a little bit better. We're going to dig into that here on the show, and let me just say this. I do think things are going to improve this upcoming season. It's not as bleak as it was, but I also don't think that we're really standing out yet, either. So let me talk about what the Seattle Mariners did last week. So the Seattle Mariners made a huge trade. So Cy Young winner Robbie Ray is heading down to the San Francisco Giants. He's gone. And in return, Seattle is bringing back a familiar name, Mitch Hanager, an outfielder, which you probably know very well by now, and Anthony Di Scalfani, who's a right-hander. So you're probably wondering right now, so is this actually going to be an upgrade? I mean, Mitch Hanager, very, very special player to the Mariners, of course, but is this really going to be an upgrade? Of course, Anthony Di Scalfani, do we really know much about him? I mean, we've seen him play before, but is he really going to be a huge upgrade as well? And I think we really have to dig into Robbie Ray first, and we need to talk about how he was essentially out all season last year. He had to undergo that Tommy John surgery for the elbow injury that he had, and he was pretty infamous in Seattle for that bad game against the Houston Astros in the 2022 playoffs. Now I do believe that Robbie Ray is a very, very talented pitcher. Do not get me wrong on that. He can be streaky in the sense where he has all these games where he plays extremely well, and a couple of bad games just kind of unravels for him. So I would say that a change of scenery for him is not necessarily a bad thing. And really, what does this mean for the Mariners? So you're bringing back a fan favorite. You've got Mitch Hanager back, who's a player that people love in Seattle. I think that this is going to be a very popular move, and you're going to create some budget latitude. So we could potentially chase after other talent, and there is some very, very good talent still out there on the market right now. I really do wish that they would have done a bit more on this one, but we're going to get into that here in a bit. And let me make you feel a little bit better about this right now, because the Mariners also did something else. They are also bringing in Luke Raley from the Tampa Bay Rays, which I think could be a very decent addition to the team. So these guys, three guys coming back in, it does replace some of the talent that we lost. I'm still very upset right now, I would say, about the whole situation that unfolded a few weeks ago when we lost some of my favorite players in the team. Watching some of these guys walk out that I thought really had some potential, like Kelnick, was not the most fun thing to see. And I really did lose a lot of confidence in the team seeing that happen, because I just thought, well, this guy could be the future of the team. Why are we letting him walk out the front door and not really getting anything in return? And I would say that what we've got right now is something in return that could be potentially a game-changer next season. And I think it's very important to ask a very fundamental question right now, is what else can we do? Because, yes, this does help, but it doesn't fix the situation completely. I think this is more or less a Band-Aid when you need stitches. And I think it's important to address the other options that we have, the latitude of options available to us, that could potentially dig us out of this hole and get us back to being a competitive team next year. So I would say we need to bring in somebody like Blake Snell, who is a native right here of Washington State. He grew up in Shoreline, and he was the 2023 National League Cy Young winner. And he really does want to play here in Seattle. He's expressed interest in doing so. It seems like this could be a great natural fit for him if that's something he wants to pursue, which obviously it sounds like he does want to. The question remains, though, do the Mariners want to pull the trigger on somebody like that who could potentially provide that support? Be a more expensive option, but also at the same time give you a lot more latitude to win some of these games. And I think that someone like Blake Snell absolutely does that 110%. And last time we talked about the Mariners, I mentioned Randy Rosarena, and I'm going to say this again, I think that he is a potentially important option to look at as well. I don't know if there's been any movement in the past couple of hours or so with him, but at this point it is somebody you need to consider. You have to think about these players who are going to cost you some money, but you're going to have to do something because doing nothing at this point still is not enough. And the fact that you've got Michanagher back is great, do not get me wrong, but it's not a permanent solution. You're going to need some more firepower than that. You look at other teams out there right now that have added so many other players, so much more talent, and you've got to find the mix of talents and the balance of how you want to go about that. And I think that the Mariners are wise in one regard. Shohei Otani may be my favorite player, and he may have a lot of amazing talent offered to a team like the Mariners. And, yes, I wish we would have pulled the trigger on him to bring him on the team, but I don't think that the L.A. Dodgers are smart right now to pull the trigger on all these other guys as well. They're basically investing very heavily in this team, a financial commitment that is unheard of at this point, to bring in all this amazing talent without having any proven success on the field yet. And I do think that these guys are going to be a game changer for the team. I do think that they have a great chance of winning the World Series next year. But as we've seen time and time again in any sport, sometimes the bot team doesn't actually win you the championship. And I'm not sure bringing in all these guys, all this talent, is going to provide a guaranteed win. So if I'm Jerry DiPoto in the Seattle Mariners, here's what I do. I go out there, get some big names, you know, some decent names in this case, like Randy Rosarena, maybe Blake Snell, of course, somebody like that. These guys can provide a lot of support to the team, but they're also not going to break the bank. I mean, yes, they're going to be expensive, do not get me wrong. They do cost a lot of money to bring in some of these bigger name players, but you're also not handing out giant contracts that could sink the team overall later on if you're the L.A. Dodgers. So in this case you have lots of latitude to work with, plenty of room if you want to bring in other guys further down the road, but you're giving yourself the option because you've got to be competitive and you've got to give yourself a chance to at least stand up and potentially win a game against a team like the L.A. Dodgers, which is going to be difficult. I mean, as we know, there could be a situation where the Mariners could face the L.A. Dodgers in the World Series, and we could potentially see that being a four-game sweep for the Dodgers because they've got so much talent and we just don't stand a chance or hold a candle in this case. And you could get yourself into a situation in the Mariners where maybe you do get through to the World Series, you face a team like the L.A. Dodgers on the other side, and that team has so much talent it's going to be like a four-game sweep or something like that. But in this case, you know, at least you had the talent to get you to the World Series. You know you're capable of getting that far, but you need more firepower to actually get over that hump and provide yourself that level of skill to actually win the World Series when you get there, which is something that I think we sorely lack at this particular moment in time. We do need to have more talent if we want to get to that level. And I can tell you right now, people like Blake Snell could get you to that level. Randy Rosarena could do it as well. So at this stage of the game, that's something that you have to consider. And I still see a lot of people online on Twitter, Facebook, all the social media channels talking about the manager of the Seattle Mariners, Scott Service. And I really don't understand the hate that he gets. And I think of Scott Service as being this manager who's a bit like a baseball maestro. He's in the dugout. He's providing the support to these players and years-back players that were not that skilled yet, providing them some of the skills, the leadership necessary to get to that next level to win some of these key games. He has the ability to help that team get to the playoffs and win some games in the playoffs. But one thing we need to remember is Scott Service is not out there. He's not playing the game himself. He's just trying to get these players to be able to do it on their own. And I think he's done an extremely good job of doing so at this point. There's nothing that you could say right now that could take that away from him because he's done an extremely good job trying to get this team ready. The only thing you could provide him at this point is more firepower to actually get the job done. And that's what Jerry DePoto has to do. He's got to provide the coach or in this case, the manager all the tools necessary to win these games and to have the firepower necessary to be competitive. And I think it's safe to say at this point, I think we're 70% of the way there. Maybe that's a bit ambitious on my part to say we're 70% of the way there. I don't think that we're going to be a world series caliber team next year, but I definitely think that we're not that far off. But the only thing that remains is that you really have to find that firepower. If you want to reach that next level of play, it's just, it's not good enough to leave it the way that it is because we know this team isn't ready. And teams like your Houston Astros, your Arizona Diamondbacks, of course, now your LA Dodgers could just destroy this team. If you're ever facing them in the playoffs. So I, myself am the Mitch Hanninger fan. I think that he does provide a level of support that we need on this team. So I think this is a good trade. I think that some people online though, think that they're pretty funny because some people on Twitter, on Facebook, some of the other social media channels have kind of given the Channinger a hard time about this whole situation. Asking questions online, like do you know if the Mariners still have bobbleheads of you to give out some of the games? As we know, they used to love doing that a couple of years ago. I'm sure they will bring that back. I think that the Mariners like doing stuff like that for the fans. I don't think that that's the most important thing to focus on right now, though. I think we've got to focus on the play on the field if we actually want to focus on how to make this team better. But I guess it's kind of nice to have some of these gimmicks here and there. But it all boils down to one important thing. It's that leadership really is key. A strong leader in the manager, like Scott Service, is extremely important. But having some of these veteran players out there like Hanninger do indeed help to get this team further along the line of being a competitive team that can provide experience, leadership, and, of course, mentorship to some of these younger players who are trying to find their name, trying to find their way in the world of MLB baseball, which is not an easy world to navigate at all. So in this case, it's a wise trade, and 100% I would do the exact same thing if I were in Jerry DiPoto's shoes. If you want to focus for one quick second on Robbie Ray, the person we're giving up, it is sad to see him go. I think he's been a great pitcher in certain games we've had over the past couple of years. But at the same time, his struggles have definitely been apparent. When you've got a player who's been on long-term injury for a while, you don't really know what's going to happen when they come back. So there's no guarantee he's going to come back and be the same player anyway. Obviously, we're hoping that he does well. We're hoping that he does come back and play well. But at this point, you can't guarantee that, and you don't want to take a chance on him if you're the Seattle Mariners. And I think there's one thing that I have to admit right now, and that's the fact that I really do have some uncertainty about the Seattle Mariners' bullpen. And I think that we have a lot of good talents. Don't get me wrong, Logan Gilbert is extremely promising, fantastic player, has a chance to steal a couple games for you here and there, of course. But we need more of that. And I think that Robbie Ray was a great addition to our bullpen for quite some time, though he's had his struggles, obviously. So at this point, seeing him go is not the end of the world. But really you have to find some other guys who can also provide that support because I don't think that we have enough in our bullpen to get us through a couple of rounds of the playoffs. I think that at this case right now, in our situation as it stands, we are still lucky if we make the playoffs at all. And watching Paul Seewald leave, win the World Series with the Arizona Diamondbacks, stings because you know he's one of the best pitchers out there. So happy that he was able to win a World Series. He deserves it. But at the same time, that's the kind of guy you've got to have back in Seattle because you need somebody who can steal these key games. Just go out there, put on a clinic, and win the game. At this point, I don't know if we have enough in our bullpen to get that job done. And as we saw last season, there were so many games that we could have won, we had a good chance to actually break through, get to the other side where we made the playoffs, and pitching really did cost us a playoff berth. Now, besides the Mariners, there are some upsides to some of the other trades out there that we have to talk about right now. So the Toronto Blue Jays have also made some trades that helped the team, I would say, in some ways, but also hurt the team in other ways as well. And this team is one of the Mariners' arch rivals, so it's kind of good to see them struggle a little bit in terms of adding enough to the team to be competitive. I don't think that the Blue Jays really made themselves any more competitive. I think they're probably going to stay the same next season. So at least the Mariners can rely on that. They know that they don't have to face off against some teams that have added so much in their own individual division, because otherwise it would just be an impossible task. So in this case, that does provide us some level of support next season, though I don't think you really want to be in a spot where you're relying on other teams not to add anybody or not to get any better. In this case, you've got to focus on what you're doing. Are you getting any better? And in this case, it's hard to say for sure the Mariners have added enough to be so much better than they were last year. They're no worse, but they're not necessarily better in this case. So time will tell. My prediction right now is that I think the Mariners are going to start off the season a little bit rough. I think we're going to see a lot of games drop at the very beginning of the season, which is going to be concerning for a lot of fans. However, I do think as the season goes on and that leadership is provided, I do think this team is going to get a lot better. I think they're going to win a lot of games. Whether or not they get into the playoffs is another story. At this point, I think it's definitely kind of a bubble situation where they might do it, they might not. If you bring in somebody like a Rosarena, you bring in a Blake Snell, I think you give yourself a much, much better chance of making that a guaranteed yes, we're going to be in the playoffs, and yes, we're going to win some key games in the playoffs. So my hope right now is that we see the Mariners pull the trigger on some other players. They bring in some more key talent, which they've got to do right now. They want to be competitive. And I think if they do that, they give themselves a much better chance. As it stands right now, though, I don't think that they've done enough. I think in this case, they've dug themselves out of the hole, but they've also not given themselves the right tools to get the job done yet. So we're going to have to wait and see what happens with this. My hope right now is Jerry DiPoto, if you're listening, you've got to get busy in some of these contracts and try to bring in some of these key players, or else it's not going to be the success that you're ultimately looking for in this next upcoming season. So let's see what you do. Let's give you some more time to figure this out. We're all hoping that we see some big names start arriving in Seattle sometime soon, though. This is the weekend show on Seattle sports. We have to take a quick break, of course. And when we come back, we have to discuss the Seattle Seahawks. And they are playing a game today that could decide the fate of whether or not they're going to be a playoff team or not. And, of course, we have to talk about the Green Bay Packers, because they could spoil it all today as well. We have our experts joining the show coming up next to talk about that, unpack some of this information, and find out if the Seahawks have what it takes to break through to the other side. So stick around in Seattle sports for the weekend show. My name is Warren. I'll see you next time. Good-bye. Good-bye.