Brock and Salk

Salk says we often compare football to chess but baseball has some similarities as well. For football, it’s because of the strategy but in baseball, it’s the way your weakened or strengthened position dictates how you move.  Brock agrees but sees more of a boxing parallel. Then, we go through the 6 players that Jim Bowden has as the most likely to be dealt after interviewing 35 MLB executives. Plus, Brock answers three football questions in Blue 88.

Another lousy day at the plate has Salk fired up as he outlines 3 big problems facing the offense at game 82 in the season. Why is Julio currently the worst at-bat on the team? We revisit the conversation with ESPN's Jeff Passan. 

We discuss some of the Mariners storylines Salk may have missed on his vacation. Then, we talk through our immediate reactions to Bryan Woo exiting last night's game with an apparent hamstring injury? Has anything that's happened with him in recent weeks changed your mind about what you want the M's to do at the trade deadline? Plus, Salk is back so it's back to the long list version of Ranked.

Hockey gets so much right. We discuss how cool the "gloves" introduction video was last night and how much Salk loves all of the traditions involving the Stanley Cup before being joined by ESPN's Senior MLB Insider Jeff Passan to discuss the impending trade deadline and why it will be an "extreme" seller's market.

Brock gets to play a little bit of Salk's Euro trip jeopardy before getting into why the M's 'definitely' need some help on offense and with a leverage arm in the bullpen. When will this trade market actually open up so the M's can get to work on some solutions? We learn about Leslie Frazier’s biggest role/impact he could make with the Hawks in Brock's Blue 88. 

Salk returns from vacation to share some details of his trip (including how everybody got sick) and how a little break from baseball was good for his perspective on the team. The Mariners lose an ugly one in Tampa and the Panthers are Stanley Cup Champs. We revisit the conversation with Alvin Davis.

We discuss what Alvin Davis had to say about the league attacking Julio differently at the plate. Then, Evan Closky of 10 Tampa Bay Sports joins us to preview the Rays series and some trade potential trade candidates for the M's. Plus, we rank sports comebacks in honor of the Oilers feat in taking the Panthers to a game 7.

Will anything change for Julio this season? The slump has seemed to last and as David Schoenfield writes his chase rate is worse than it was as a rookie and finds himself tied for the AL lead in striekouts. Former MLB Rookie of the Year and "Mr. Mariner" himself, Alvin Davis joins the guys to discuss the minor league system and upcoming M's prospects. 

It doesn't take long for the lead to grow & shrink in the AL West and Mike Lefko (in for Salk) and Brock spend some time discussing what the M's inconsistency has looked like the past week. Maura plays a round of Buy/Sell with some MLB and NFL questions before Brock's Blue 88. 

Not a great weekend for the M's as they see their double-digit AL West lead drop to 6 as both the Rangers & Astros sweep aside their opponents while the Mariners drop 2 of 3 to the lowly Miami Marlins - but why are the home/away splits so bad? The NHL Stanley Cup heads to a game 7 and we hear some deeper details on the Rays from Evan Closky (10 Tampa Bay) ahead of the M's series in Tampa.