Lookout Landing

The World Series is over and free agency has begun! We've had a lovely haitus but are refreshed and ready to discuss and debate how the Mariners can best improve themselves this offseason. Hopefully improved health will be a component, but improved talent would make us a lot happier too. Staff writer and offseason > regular season advocate Ben Thoen joins John and Kate to go over some of their desired pathways for filling the holes Seattle has at SP, OF, and 1B. There is, as there likely will be from every day until he signs, some Shohei Ohtani talk, but most of the focus remains on domestic free agents and trade targets. Ben dreams of Yu Darvish. Kate sets her sights on some of the mid-tier pitching options. John is really annoyed by how many former Mariners 1B are now their best choices once again. After a healthy discussion that gets into the Lookout Landing offseason plan, we take questions on specific moves, and somehow devolve into John explaining the concept of kaiju to the group. Kate designs a potent

I don’t know if the refrain I’ve heard often throughout the Mariners corner of the internet rings true for you about these playoffs feeling a vacation has rung true for you, but it sure has for us. This week John and Kate kick their feet up and chat about the scintillating first couple of World Series games between the Astros and the Dodgers. We discuss the Astros potential to appeal to future players with “internships” and what an exceptional time to be a baseball fan this is. We also talk about the Arizona Fall League and the Mariners prospects within. Eric Filia looks mildly intriguing! So do the Mariners' several hard-throwing relievers! The Mariners have shown some ability to maximize their mid-tier prospects, but both of us are very ready to watch Kyle Lewis, Evan White, and co. get extended action in 2018.  After a bit of chatter on the coaching carousel hurling Joe Girardi, Dusty Baker, and John Farrell to the ground of the county fair, we discuss our feelings on Scott Servais (meh) and potential int

Hello! After a brief vacation/some technical issues with our recording software, we are regrettably back on our bullshohei—[John forcibly rips away the keyboard]okay I promise that’s the last one. This time we are joined by Kazuto Yamazaki, NPB expert and author at Beyond the Box Score, Deltagraphs, and elsewhere. Kazuto offers his insight on baseball in Japan, from both a technical and cultural point of view: how does posting work? And what is up with the older gentleman wearing a poop emoji hat? Kazuto profiles a few interesting players before digging into the subject which most piques our curiousity: Shohei Ohtani. Where will he choose to sign? What role will he play for his new team? Will he even come stateside for the 2018 season? We have none of these answers! But listen to us speculate wildly, say what we do know, and overall dream on what acquiring a player of Ohtani’s caliber would mean for a team. Note: if you are interested in learning more about Japanese baseball (if you happen to be a baseball f

The season is over for all intensive purposes, so John and Kate look ahead at what could be done to fix some of the holes for 2018. We discuss and debate the merits of rebuilding fully and tearing everything down as opposed to retooling around the current core, and lament the inability of this team to Just. Do. Everything. Well. At. Once.  Ugh. Afterwards, they take listener questions on what should be done with Félix, first base, Servais, and health-inducing witchcraft. We also debate what constitutes chili and learn about a harrowing experience John had within the Seattle Public Schools system. Music: I'm On Fire - Bruce Springsteen Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After a year of struggling to put together a cohesive pitching staff all season, this week Kate and John examine the starting pitching in the organization. After a brief recap of the Mariners’ current road trip, they peer into their crystal ball to look at the projected rotation for next year and discuss who might be headed for the bullpen. They rank the in-house options and discuss the futures of young players like Marco Gonzales and Andrew Moore, and John briefly forgets about the existence of one Erasmo Ramirez. They also cast an eye to the free-agency options and what type of pitcher the Mariners might be targeting and who said Shohei Ohtani? That was you, you said that, but okay, if you insist we talk about him...Kate talks about what non-baseball-question she’d like to ask Shohei Ohtani, which would be challenging as his English is limited and her Japanese, nonexistent. After a brief break, listener questions are answered that touch on topics ranging from a Yonder Alonso deal (John does not cry YONNNNN

While the trade nearest and dearest to many hearts may be the Leonys Martin trade, conducted in the eleventh hour last night, the Mariners made another deal earlier this week that will impact their playoff odds this year and in the next few seasons more tangibly. The acquisition of Mike Leake was the second trade Seattle has made with the Cardinals to acquire a starting pitcher in the last two months. Kate looked at St. Louis early on as a good trade partner, but Jerry has gone back to the well. To better understand who the M's have gotten in Leake (and Marco Gonzales), we tracked down an expert. Craig Edwards is the managing editor of Viva El Birdos, SB Nation's Cardinals community, as well as a contributor for Fangraphs. We revealed to him how broken we were by weeping for joy when he mentioned Leake usually was only good for 5-6 innings, and inquired on what the experience is of seeing a franchise player you loved like Albert Pujols struggle so mightily for someone else. If you want to find more from Crai

We apologize for the delay in getting this week’s podcast up—we had some technical issues that couldn’t be resolved over the weekend because apparently some people don’t work on the weekend [glares in the general direction of Cast]. This is a lengthy one but we cover a lot of ground. We recorded in three parts, which is how we recommend listening: Part One (23:22): the Leonys DFA, reviewing the Barves series, the team’s unfortunate proclivity for injury, previewing the Yankees series (spoiler alert: John is Nostradamus) and discussing the Orioles series, and what makes last year’s Orioles so much like this year’s Mariners. Part Two (23:22 - 44:35): an interview with Casey Catherwood, in-game entertainment manager for the Tacoma Rainiers and overall delightful human. Casey talks about his love for Tacoma and his passion for record stores that lead to Hi-Voltage Night (which conveniently overlaps with LL Night at Cheney this year). He also gives us an insight into the twisted mind of The Inspector, and provid

John is off finding himself in some wild west town or some bullshit, so staff writer Zach Milkis and fellow book enthusiast joins Kate this week. They talk “Deadgar Weekend” (™ John)  and try to wrest a tiny bit of joy out of what was truly a remarkable suckfest, with mixed results. Speaking of suckfests, Zach and Kate revisit their Curse of the Amazon and ponder if that's the reason for the Mariners' recent struggles. They also make fun of Parker Bridwell’s name for a while, because you make fun of things so they can't hurt you, and discuss the Orioles series, which was...a win? We guess? The duo take a moment out to appreciate the Mariners' women in baseball night, and then look over the upcoming series. Hint: here be dragons. But there might be good things coming in Haniger's return (which might mean bad things for Ben Gamel), Marco Gonzales might be fun, and Emilio Pagan (aka Zach's homeboy) definitely is. Other topics include: book shaming, Matt Christopher, the potential for a Mark Twain/Joyce Carol O

The Mariners have clawed their way, inexplicably, to possession of a Wild Card spot, at least for the moment. John and Kate express their tempered optimism, their fears about the rotation, and appreciation for Ben Gamel and the entire offense. Since we had a flood of great questions we decided to make this an all listener questions episode. We take questions on potential ways to bolster the rotation, the fear of Lollablueza 2.0 this weekend, additional historical versions of the King's Court/Maple Grove, which Player's Weekend jerseys need fixing, and much more. We also discuss how meaningful Edgar's retirement ceremony will be to us, personally, and Kate shares a wonderful story she was told about Shawn O'Malley's generosity. We recorded before last night's loss, so while we do tangentially discuss Servais and his bullpen usage, we do not have any blistering takes on that. Music: Fire - Big Sean, Crash Bandicoot Rap - JT Machinima Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John and Kate return after technical difficulties kept our episode featuring Grant Bronsdon from seeing the light of day. As they both bake in Seattle’s smoggy heat wave, they assess how the M’s stack up against their likely contenders in the suddenly real Wild Card race. The Tampa Bay Rays are essentially the 2014 Mariners, in style and in literal roster construction, we conclude, while the Kansas City Royals are probably hiding Kendrys Morales somewhere in Kauffman Stadium. They debate a potential Jarrod Dyson extension, the mixed bag that was the Rangers series, and some of the strange comforts and frustrations of this bizarre season as it enters the final third. Afterwards, to beat the heat, we play a quick game checking in on some of the biggest free agent signings that the Mariners didn’t make. Music: "Smooth" - Santana; "Fire" - Big Sean; "Louvre" - Lorde Please submit any of your future questions for the podcast to @LookoutLanding or leave them in the comments below. Note: If you’re searching for t

John bails on Kate this week because he is "moving," so Jamey Vinnick of Scout.com joins the show to talk about the Mariners' latest trade. They talk about the power of seeing Tyler O'Neill in the flesh, break down Andrew Moore's recent tough start, and talk about the new (old) Felix Hernandez.  Jamey, who has spent time in Everett and Tacoma watching Brayan Hernandez and Brandon Miller, gives his evaluation on what the Mariners gave away, and Kate discusses who she thinks might amount to the most valuable piece in the trade. They analyze what David Phelps brings and discuss his strengths and weaknesses, and speculate about whether or not he could potentially help the Mariners rotation in 2018. They also watch the Mariners make Felix feel like his old self by giving him no run support over seven strong innings. That part is less fun. You can skip it.  Finally, they take some Twitter questions and are simultaneously struck by a craving for Capri Sun and Fun Size Snickers (Kate) and pepperoni pizza (Jamey).

John and Kate are joined by Jen Mac Ramos to discuss their experiences following the Mariners most successful minor league team this year - the High-A Modesto Nuts. Jen is fairly new to Lookout Landing but far from new to baseball or baseball writing. They can be found writing for Beyond the Box Score (Sabermetrics), McCovey Chronicles (Giants), Purple Row (Rockies), as well as working as a stats intern at Baseball Prospectus and contributing to The Hardball Times. They also filmed a group of minor league baseball players chasing chickens for us this year. Together we discuss the experience of learning to love minor league baseball, finding a connection to a team when it can change entire organizations in a single year, and the impression this year's dominant Modesto team has had on all of us. In an organization slim on high-end talent, we discuss at a few players who have made adjustments this year to improve their value, including OF Braden Bishop, OF Eric Filia, OF Luis Liberato, and OF/3B/C Joe DeCarlo.

As John and I record: Sam Gaviglio melts down, the Mariners forget how to run the bases, and overall look like a garbage team next to the Oakland Athletics as the losing skid at home reaches eight. It’s pretty clear the Mariners won’t be buyers at the trade deadline, so we talk sweet sweet trading action, baby: who has value, who does not, what pieces might come in return, who we think will be traded and should be traded, and who the team will choose to build around. We also dip our toe into talking about some potential trade partners. We head off into talking about morticians vs. funeral directors for a while and John tells a pretty horrifying story about his time spent playing youth baseball and the sweet smell of death, which seems appropriate while watching this particular game. After a quick break, we take some Twitter questions and discuss the Mariners in a post-apocalyptic world, this time in a joking manner. We admire Tony Zych’s Camo Thursdays Everydays and fret about Felix attempting to navigate to

John Trupin and Kate Preusser return to discuss the highs and lows of the past week and project what the Mariners may do in the next month with their roster. 13-3 win over the Astros! Losing four straight. Andrew Moore's debut! Edwin Díaz's struggles. Who do the Mariners best fit with as a trade partner for this year and next? What even do the Mariners have to buy or sell? Does a pitching machine with a smiley face taped to it count as a 4 starter? Some cathartic rehashing of a couple weeks that showed the best and worst of Mariners baseball.   Music: Kurt Vile - Wakin on a Pretty Day, Goldlink - Palm Trees. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kate and John are reunited and bring on LL's minor league expert Ethan Novak to recap and discuss the signs of life shown by the Mariners in the last couple weeks (0:00) that brought some folks back from the brink of declaring the season over. After discussing Mike Zunino, DEFINITELY FIXED HITTER, the absolute absurdity of the AL standings, and the Jean Segura extension, they turn to the main focus of this week: the 2017 MLB Draft (13:10). Evan White is interesting but Ethan wanted several someone elses. Sam Carlson wasn't even supposed to be here. 5th round pick David Banuelos gets compared to everyone's favorite new Rays catcher. 8th round pick Billy Cooke zips his way up Kate's personal prospect rankings. What is up with honor picks? Are any of these guys even good? Why did so many people get picked from places with Olive in their name? Should you even care about rounds after the top-10? WHO IS KEVIN SANTA? After the break (1:01:50) Twitter questions are fielded on potential Hall of Fame players on the Mar

Mariners' speedy outfield prospect Ian Miller joins Kate and co-host Eric Sanford to talk about the joys and trials of life in the minor leagues. He offers a dugout-level view on spring training and what he thinks makes big leaguers stand apart, a discussion of the swing chanes that have led to him seeing a tremendous jump in his numbers this year, and explains the shift in organizational philosophies post-Dipoto-regime from a player's point of view. Other topics covered: imaginary girlfriends, the irresistible allure of Chick-Fil-A breakfasts, and "which guy are you in the fight?" Music: "Kashmir" by Led Zeppelin, "Space Oddity" by David Bowie (both Ian's choices); "Run On" by Moby Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kate Preusser and John Trupin are joined by musician, songwriter, and lifelong Mariners fan Ben Gibbard. After sprinting at full speed through the unpleasant of the Toronto series, Gibbard reveals the origins of his unfortunate lot in life vis-a-vis baseball fandom, including a chance childhood encounter with Alvin Davis on the Bainbridge Island ferry. We discuss the challenges of finding the balance between hope and realism, how Gibbard’s baseball talent stacks up against the current injury-laden roster, the incredible experience of watching Ichiro play and listening to Dave Niehaus, and what the hell is wrong with players and their taste in walkup/entrance music. Afterwards, we take Twitter questions and delve into Gibbard’s burgeoning passion for ultra-running and how he got embroiled in a run involving eating Dick’s cheeseburgers in the midst. We also look at potential musical renditions for the 2017 roster, why our Seager(s) is(are) the best Seager(s), whether Dipoto should blow it up or run it back, wh

Kate and John are joined by staff writers Isabelle Minasian and Jake Mailhot to debate the fantastic production of the Mariners' outfield so far. Jake champions Ben Gamel, John claims Mitch Haniger, Isabelle campaigns for Guillermo Heredia, and Kate takes the task of defending The Field. They debate the season so far, the best moments of each player, and their future gifts. Kate is distracted by minor league push notifications. Afterwards, Twitter questions are taken on the outfield of the past, present, and future, as well as mountain climbing races, potential catcher replacements, and situational acrobatics. Other Topics Include: How Bad Was Casey Fien?, How to Keep a Mariner Safe, Parents Ruining Players, Danny Valencia Knowing a Guy, The Crimson Chin, and more. Music: TheSportReel - That's What Speed Do, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Riding (Day), The National - The System Only Dreams In Total Darkness   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kate Preusser and John Trupin are joined by WFAA Texas Rangers beat writer and storyteller Levi Weaver to preview the upcoming series between the Rangers and the Mariners. Tales of bullpen heartache and Tom Wilhelmsen adoration are traded, and Levi discusses his unconventional pathway to a career in baseball writing. Kate and John do their best to avoid divine judgment while recording in the middle of a thunderstorm and Levi reveals himself to be the black sheep of a family of cowboy church preachers and the head of your new favorite Twitter account. Twitter questions are answered as always, including a Rangers' perspective on the delightful Félix-Beltré friendly rivalrly matchups, and A.J. Griffin's pacifism, and Jerry Dipoto as a dessert on the share table at lunch. Other Topics Include: Life Lessons Through Sheep Riding, Two Turtle Coaches, Joey Gallohmygod, The Island of Dr. Morneau, Camaraderie(?), and more. Music: Lyle Lovett - That's Right (You're Not From Texas), Rainbow Kitten Surprise - Devil Like

A slightly loopy Kate Preusser and John Trupin convene late at night after the Mariners series win over the Detroit Tigers to discuss how the M's can recuperate from their injuries and who has already stepped up. They look at the upcoming schedule, celebrate Leonys Martín's return, and debate if the team will be able to remain a contender while shorthanded. Later, they take Twitter questions, shame their history teachers yet again with poor geographical and mythological recall, and design the perfect bobblehead for Seattle's utility sensation Taylor Motter. Other Topics include: Sprockets, Rainy Springs and Hot Aprils, Lloyd McClendon in the Land of the Soviets, Obsessions with Boogs, Helsinki Syndrome, and more. Music: Farruko - Visionary, Oh Land - Voodoo, Shad - Wild. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices