Mariners Insider Podcast: How does slow start to Hot Stove impact M’s?
Nov 20, 2020, 2:13 PM
Action has yet to pick up this offseason for the Mariners and other MLB teams. (Getty)
(Getty)
A good week for a Mariners Insider Podcast, as there was interesting discussion to be had on a number of national topics in addition to some Mariners news.
Mariners insider Shannon Drayer’s latest M’s notebook
James Osborn, AKA “Boy Howdy,” sat down with me for an hour-long chat that kicked off with a closer look at two big pieces of news: the hiring of Kim Ng in Miami as the first woman to be an MLB general manager, and Theo Epstein stepping down as Chicago Cubs president of baseball operations. You can listen to the podcast at this link or in the player below, or watch the YouTube video at the bottom of the post.
While the Ng hiring is certainly barrier-breaking – and I do give some personal thoughts on that – we also get into why it is an incredibly smart hire by Marlins CEO Derek Jeter. A checkmark in the “good” box for baseball, as is the Epstein news, which we also discuss.
On the Mariners front, with the Player Development Fall League wrapped up and players now home, I give a quick recap of the standouts of the camp and what’s next for the minor leaguers. We then get into a lengthy discussion of what so far has been a not-so-Hot-Stove season and what this could mean for the M’s.
They have a plan, but will they stick with it? We know what we expect them to do, but what would it take for general manager Jerry Dipoto to make an unexpected move? What is the case for spending now? Howdy has got names and ideas.
We also touch on the Rule 5 draft and the thinking behind the moves the Mariners were likely to make to protect players. For details on the four players they protected on Friday, click here.
As we were taping, the news that Robinson Canó had been suspended for the entire 2021 season broke, so I give a couple of thoughts about the situation in a postscript as well as explain why the Mariners will still have to pay money owed to the Mets for a season in which Canó will not draw a salary.
If you have topics that you would like addressed or input to anything covered in this hour of baseball talk, hit us up on Twitter: @shannondrayer and @BoyHowdyESPN. And for the previous edition of the podcast, click here.
