We are back, baby, after a long hiatus caused by the deadly trifecta of the holidays, Hall of Fame craziness, and Kate forgetting that it was her turn to edit the podcast. But Kate, John, and Matthew are back, with a Frankenstein pod stitched together from bits of the forgotten pod and this newer version [ummm the podcast was actually the doctor?].

0 - 30:00: Intro and apologia and EDGAR MARTINEZ IS OFFICIALLY A HALL OF FAMER. We make some sounds! Kate waxes long (very long) about her love of Edgar Martinez and community service, and wonders why not all baseball players don’t follow Edgar’s advice to just hit the ball where it is. Matthew describes the creamy skin of Alex Rodriguez, for some reason. John’s mic makes a weird popping noise at one point, sorry about it. Also Kate accidentally refers to Albert Pujols’s career in the past tense, and she is very sorry about it.

30:00 - 50:00: Media Day rundown. Kate recaps the highlights and summarizes the major takeaways from the day, as observed by someone sitting at home in front of the computer, including a renewed push to Control the Zone, the farm system and Andy McKay, and the first public comments by members of the front office about Dr. Martin’s accusations. Matthew looks at the players who spoke during Media Day and notes that the Mariners are infringing on Chris Rock’s copyright. Kate points out how diverse the team is getting, especially at the lower minors (and invokes this adorable moment of Taiwanese prospect Jingyu Chang hanging out with 2018 draftees Cal Raleigh and Logan Gilbert), and points out that with the departure of Nelson Cruz, Dee Gordon seems to have become the de facto clubhouse leader.