Mariners Hot Stove Show: Shed Long interview, details on Seattle’s deals
Jan 15, 2020, 12:23 AM | Updated: 12:29 am
Shed Long made his MLB debut in 2019, playing several positions for the Mariners. (AP)
(AP)
Weather was no match for Mariners broadcasters Aaron Goldsmith and Gary Hill, who battled their way through the snow Tuesday night to bring two hours of baseball talk to the air with the Hot Stove Show on 710 ESPN Seattle. If you missed it, never fear, we have a podcast.
Drayer: Astros’ punishment is huge moment in baseball history
Hour 1 kicked off with a conversation with Shed Long, who joined the guys from the Mariners Care Community Tour which stopped in Portland earlier in the day. Long talked about what he got out of his first big league experience in 2019, his close relationship with M’s teammate Dee Gordon (which included his breakdown of which of Dee’s cars he likes to drive), and big changes for him in 2020. Why did he change his number and his name? Give the podcast a listen to find out.
Shed then handed the phone off to reliever Brandon Brennan, who was also on tour duties. While last season may have looked like an up and down year for Brennan, who was a 2019 Rule 5 pick by Seattle, he viewed his year a little bit differently and looks forward to what could come in 2020. To that end, he’s spent his offseason close at the training facility in Peoria and is eager to get things going.
The first half of the show also featured a discussion with Rangers beat writer Evan Grant, who broke down what Texas did in the offseason. The Rangers missed out on No. 1 target Anthony Rendon but landed two-time Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber in a trade with Cleveland. Bottom line, they made improvements, and Grant identified an additional target and move Texas could make before spring training. In addition to the Rangers’ talk, Grant weighed in on the Astros’ sign-stealing penalties and gave a list of BBQ places that should not be missed when in the Dallas Metroplex.
In Hour 2, the final guest on the show was Mariners director of analytics Jesse Smith, who gave an inside look at a number of moves Seattle has made in recent years. That includes the trade of Omar Narváez to Milwaukee this winter as well as the acquisition of Brennan. On Brennan, Smith shared an almost unbelievable piece of information about the pitch that prompted the Mariners to select him. It’s fairly well known that the Mariners determined Brennan’s changeup could be a separator and asked him to throw it more when he came to the team, but Smith revealed just how many pitches they took into account when making that decision. It was a new pitch for Brennan and he hadn’t thrown it much to that point.
The Hot Stove airs Tuesday nights on 710 ESPN Seattle from 7-9 p.m. leading up to spring training.
Follow 710 ESPN Seattle’s Shannon Drayer on Twitter.
Drayer: Mariners settle with Haniger, 2 other arbitration eligible players
