00:00We got breaking news from Jeff Passan that Brendan Donovan is headed to Seattle.
00:05Donovan, who has established himself as the premier utility piece in Major League Baseball,
00:11is part of a three-team deal between the Cardinals, the Mariners, and the Tampa Bay Rays.
00:15I have no idea how the Tampa Bay Rays get involved here.
00:18All I know is that they're going to make out like bandits with a great prospect coming back.
00:24I don't know what's going where.
00:25I just know they're getting prospects.
00:27But Brendan Donovan goes to Seattle.
00:28Seattle had a glaring deficiency at second base and at third base, frankly.
00:34And they had a couple of options.
00:37They could have given the keys to the Corvette to Cole Young and Colt Emerson and said,
00:44hey, you guys are top 100 prospects in baseball.
00:47Colt Emerson is a borderline top 10 prospect in baseball.
00:50Let's see what you can do.
00:51Colt Emerson's 20 years old.
00:53Colt Emerson looked really good in two weeks in AAA,
00:56but he just got up to AAA at the end of the year.
00:58So you would be banking on so much unknown at third base and enough that you liked in the back half of the year in the big leagues from Cole Young.
01:06That was option A.
01:08Option B was go hunt in the waters of a Horner, a Donovan, somebody else.
01:17Option C was free agency.
01:20Go get a Luisa Rice.
01:21Go get a Renjifo if you wanted to bargain hunt a little bit.
01:25Maybe reunite with a Eugenio Suarez.
01:28I think they chose the best option because adding Brendan Donovan to the top of that lineup,
01:33like Julio hitting leadoff and Donovan hitting second,
01:36and then you go to the big dumper hitting third in Cal Raleigh.
01:39This lineup is looking more and more flawless when we were talking about how flawed they were for the last three, four years.
01:47I'm really not surprised that the Mariners went after Brendan Donovan because not only, like you said,
01:52that they have an opening at second base and he clearly will play that position at a very high level,
02:00but it's also the fit in the lineup that I really like.
02:03Last season, the Mariners had a great offense led by Cal Raleigh, led by Julio Rodriguez, like you said,
02:08but they had some deficiencies.
02:09They striked out at a top 10 rate in Major League Baseball last year.
02:14They had the seventh highest strikeout rate as a team,
02:16and they also had the 10th lowest batting average as a team.
02:21This was a team that was built to hit the long ball, right?
02:24And they took their strikeouts in stride, and they said, well, we're going to hit more home runs,
02:27so it's going to be okay, and we're going to make a run in the playoffs,
02:30and that's exactly what they did.
02:31So they still have a lot of those power hitters, but now you bring in Brendan Donovan,
02:35who's consistently going to be hitting in the 280 to 290 range,
02:38making really, really good ABs in front of guys like Julio Rodriguez,
02:45in front of guys like Cal Raleigh.
02:48Like, this is an addition where you might be at seven pitches by the time you get to Julio Rodriguez in the two spot,
02:55but not only that, he's going to soak up a bunch of pitches from the opposing pitcher,
03:01but not strike out.
03:02Struck it at a 13% rate last year.
03:05So not only is he a great fit at second base, improves their defense, and also provides some flexibility,
03:11he can go play the outfield.
03:12But he's such a good fit for this lineup.
03:15They don't need guys.
03:17They had a bunch of home runs.
03:18They need guys who are going to get on base.
03:20That's what Brendan Donovan does.
03:22They need guys who don't strike out.
03:24That's what Brendan Donovan does.
03:26So he's such a good fit from so many different angles.
03:29That's why I love the fit.
03:30But we don't know what's going in return.
03:34I don't think it's going to be crazy expensive, but at least Mariners fans know.
03:38Let's say they give up maybe a little bit too much.
03:40You got a three-win player coming in who's a perfect fit for your lineup.
03:44I think there's a chance the price is a little high.
03:46And they also have this revolving door that they can utilize at DH.
03:50I think that the DH spot will mostly be used by a Canzone and a Rob Refsnyder.
03:55But I don't think you're married to that.
03:57Refsnyder can play the corner outfield.
03:59There are options there with him.
04:01But I just look at what's to come in that infield.
04:05And Ben Williamson slash Colt Emerson at third base.
04:07Cole Young at second base.
04:09Donovan can fit so many different boxes.
04:11And it doesn't stop anyone from blossoming.
04:14Like, that's my biggest thing.
04:16J.P. Crawford was really good last year.
04:18J.P. Crawford's in the final year of his contract.
04:20So is there a world that Cole Young plays shortstop in 2027?
04:25Maybe.
04:25Is there a world that Cole Young blossomed into a darn good second baseman?
04:30Yeah, absolutely.
04:31Could do the Terang thing and just never leave.
04:33Colt Emerson.
04:34Is his first taste of big league ball going to come at third base?
04:37Probably.
04:39Could Colt Emerson still keep that shortstop intrigue?
04:42Maybe.
04:43There are just a bunch of different...
04:45Like, we're not at a fork in the road because there are six different ways the road could go.
04:49And they're all sunshine.
04:50You're not going to the big bad castle at the end of this weird fork in the road right now.
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