ESPN MLB Insider Buster Olney on Mariners' Elimination + Goodbye Rick Rizzs and JP Crawford

0:00Some people use ChatGPT to answer questions. Others use it to get real work done. With ChatGPT work, you bring the goal. Plus real inputs like briefs, notes, files, feedback, data, and project plans. It can help turn them into an analysis, tracker, deck outline, prototype, or workflow you can review and keep shaping. You stay in control, giving direction and choosing the final output. Put ChatGPT to work on your most ambitious ideas and projects. Get started at ChatGPT.com by selecting Work Mode, available on Plus and Pro Plants. Hey, it's the Shanty Plummer from FUTTEROUND and Find Out. Coming out of the draft, it's been a special time for us here at FUTTEROUND. I want to thank everyone from the fans to the sponsors, especially Geico. Not just for supporting AZ, but for showing up where it matters, like the business of Women's Sports Summit. That kind of thing really moves the needle. And now that AZ is starting a new life in Dallas, we don't know what next season is going to bring, but we know that we're all on the same team. And it's been amazing to feel the love and support. So keep showing up for our girl.

1:01Show up for each other. Thanks to Geico and our listeners. This is Erin Andrews from Calm Down with Erin in Curissa. So I'm on the road all season long. And when I'm finally home in the summer, the last thing I want is internet that can't keep up. And with everyone home and online all day streaming calls, the whole thing, the one thing that can't slow down is the internet. That's why having fast, reliable internet that can keep up really matters and why you need optimum's famously fast fiber powered internet. Optimum fiber blows flaky 5G out of the water and keeps it's cool with the fastest and most reliable speeds that don't slow down when things heat up. And right now they have the deal of the summer, just $30 a month for five years. So don't wait call 8669 optimum. Visit optimum.com or stop by your local optimum store today. Famously fast fiber powered internet for $30 a month for five years. Can't beat it. Terms apply see optimum.com for details.

2:13All right, welcome back. You're refused to lose territory podcasts here on this Thursday. A rare Thursday night edition just a couple hours away from Mariners Angels kicking off the final home stand of the year. Joining us now is always a final series of the year at this point. Joining us now is ESPN M.O.B. insider buster. All need buster. How are you? Excited for the postseason. Like I did Red Sox in Cleveland on Wednesday night in Boston. So you know, and that was sort of a taste of what we're going to see in October. There are actually a lot of great playoff series. It's just a surprise that the Mariners are not part of it. Disappointing for sure the Mariners are not part of it. They did have a thrilling six five extra innings win on ESPN on Wednesday night against the Astros helping knock the Astros down a peg is all the all that we have to hope for at this point is Mariners fans officially eliminated here on Thursday afternoon because of the Rangers win over the New York Met. So buster. They took it down to the final week of the season, but it was never really all that pretty this year.

3:15And I don't think that that you know, playing relevant games into the last week of the season is going to be a consolation prize any of them would feel good about anybody in the organization because the expectations were so high. You know, they did feel like when we were back in February that they were going to contend for a world series, maybe have their best chance of winning the first championship in the organization's history and they just you know, remind what that that movie failure to launch. I mean, it just never happened. And you know, at the end of the year, I'm sure that there'll be some of the folks in the Mariners organization who they know that they have a lot of work to do before 2027. They know there's assessment. They know that there's going to be changes. I'm sure, but first they want to take a deep breath. I'm sure at the end of what has been just such a frustrating year for them. You know, there's going to be a full post mooredom next week. Jerry DePoto is going to speak with the media next week, I believe. I'm going to do stuff on it. We'll talk next week.

4:16So there's more time for that later. But I will ask you one question post mooredom. The biggest reason the Mariners failed this year to you is what? Like what stands the stars weren't the stars. The stars didn't play like stars. You know, they got to within a game of the world series last year in part because the stars on their team played like stars. Kyle Raleigh had the year that he had. Julio was, you know, terrific Brian Wu. You know, we were talking about him is a sort of edge of the ballot to Sion candidate. And none of those guys like stood out. Josh Neller got paid in a big way last fall and rewarded for how good he looked after he joined the Mariners. And he just wasn't the same this year. The guys who needed to be the bad because look, we can, you know, that during the offseason when they traded for, are they, you know, signed Rob Refsnider and they traded for Brendan Nonnebin. Those are all sort of like ornamental pieces to me. You know, the big question is, you know, the, I think for the 2026 Mariners, the heartbeat of the

5:20team, the core of the team, the spine of the team just never came together where you felt like, okay, Kyle is, you know, he's good to go. He's going to have a big year. Julio never took off the way that he did in 2025. Brian Wu was just inconsistent. All those struggles that he had when he was pitching on the road, which were just, that was just crazy, that a picture of that good. And so they all have, I think, as they go home, you know, individual, you know, things that they need to work on as they prepare for next year. This is not a consolation prize to me. It's just more interesting to me. The Tigers are a team we thought could compete for World Series. They missed the playoffs. The Blue Jays are a team we thought could win the World Series. They missed the playoffs. Now, those teams have different situations in the Mariners do. I just find it interesting, though, that these three teams that all play deep into October last year, all of them failed in 2026. Yeah. And I remember, you know, having a conversation with Jim Leeland,

6:23and then later on, Bruce Bochi, you know, guys who took their teams to the World Series, Bruce Bochi, they won three World Series. And they talked about the question of whether or not there's a hangover after you play deep into October. And they said, absolutely. You know, there is. And whether it's physical, whether it's mental, you know, the expectations of that suddenly come with having success, you know, all the requests that you can get in an off season after you've established yourself as being a star. I mean, all of that added up, but they all say, yes, there's a hangover, you know, physical hangover for some players who played a month longer than what they're used to. The one thing I would say that's different about those some of those teams you listed, if the trade deadline, what a Toronto do, they sold. Right. Like they gave up. They waived the white flag. The Detroit Tigers sold. They traded Terrick School Bull. They gave up. That's what distinguished the Mariners to me was that all the way, I mean, the Texas Rangers could wind up winning the division.

7:23They were trying, they attempted to trade Jacob DeGrom. You know, they're ace pitcher and high spade guy on the team. And the Mariners on the other hand, they tried to, they tried to add, they tried to get better all the way through the month of August.

8:34Hey, it's the Shanty Plummer from Fudaround and find out coming out of the draft. It's been a special time for us here at Fudaround. I want to thank everyone from the fans to the sponsors, especially Geico, not just for supporting AZ, but for showing up where it matters, like the business of Women's Sports Summit. That kind of thing really moves the needle. And now that AZ is starting a new life in Dallas, we don't know what next season is going to bring, but we know that we're all on the same team. And it's been amazing to feel the love and support. So keep showing up for our girl, show up for each other. Thanks to Geico and our listeners. The Crispy Chicken Crunchwrap Slider that you love is back at Taco Bell. And it's back with attitude because now you can enjoy the all-white meat chicken nuggets inside a slider-sized crunch wrap with Hidden Valley Diablo Ranch. What do you love most? The Crispy Chicken Nuggets, the Crunchwrap Slider, or maybe the Hidden Valley Diablo Ranch? Yes, the answer is yes. The Crispy Chicken Crunchwrap Slider, a brand new classic is back, only at Taco Bell.

9:37It just didn't happen for him. Four games left against the Angels this weekend. Buster, George Kirby started last night for the Mariners. There's a lot of smoke around the Mariners shaking up the roster this off season, and kind of changing the ingredients a little bit. It seems like moving a pitcher as is usually the case is the way for them to do that. Kirby's got two years left. Do you think maybe he's made his last start as a Mariner? It's possible because when you look at the construct of the roster, there's certain ways you can go, and certain people you're going to trick. Brian Woe is not going to be traded, right? I mean, given where he is, and it's important to the team. So how do you make your additions? How do you tweak the roster? How do you go forward? It's a lot easier to do it with George Kirby than it is some of the other guys. Here's the X-factor and all of that. No one knows what the economic system is going to look like in a baseball next year. So you and I can talk about, well, you could trade George Kirby. You just mentioned he's got two years left before a free agency.

10:38Well, that's under the rules right now. The other day, I was talking with a long-standing executive who said, he sort of gave his, me in his own personal forecast of where he thinks the negotiation could go. And in the end, he thinks that it's possible that there could be majorly baseball reducing the number of years required to get to free agency. That would change the equation for a guy like George Kirby. Significantly, it would change his trade value. It would probably change any sort of thinking that the Mariners had on what their plans were formed. But you're right, because you're not, again, you're not going to trade your star, but you are going to think about trading the guys who are further down the pecking order. You know, I had AJ Przynski on the show yesterday, and there's going to be time to study this in the offseason. But I'm actually very curious if or how the ABS system might have affected Mariners pitchers this year, because the rotation and the bullpen both regressed. The strike zone is clearly smaller. You talk with managers and coaches all around baseball all year.

11:41Do you think the guys need to pitch differently in an ABS world? And maybe that impacted the Mariners staff. It's possible that it did because the umpires umpire differently than they have in the past. You know, that's sort of the rhythm of umpiring. And as a pitcher, you know, a pitcher with good command, you know, is throwing well early in a game in the past. He might walk an umpire out just a little bit wider on the edges of the strike zone. Well, that wasn't the case this year. Like, if you wanted to get a strike called, you had a throat over the plate. And uh, you know, if if you tried to throw something off the edge and uh, you happen to get a strike called, the the hitter could change it and that changed everything. I do think it's changed a lot about the sport. And I certainly, I mean, I covered, you know, games back in the 90s where it felt like that the it's times the the pitchers are getting six to eight inches off the edge of the plate. Those days are gone. You have to find a way to beat hitters over the plate or get ahead in the count and then get

12:43prompt them through the ball strike count to chase the ball off the plate. This is such a nerdy thing for me to be fascinated by what I'm very, very fascinated by it. I have been conditioned my whole life to think that making contact and putting the ball in play is a successful recipe in offense. But I go, what I look at two guys specifically, Josh Nailer and Ernie Clement to the blue jays. They swing it everything. They also never swing and miss and they never strike out. They've also both had relatively down year certainly from where they were last year. Like, so here are these guys who do this thing that I thought was foundational to offensive success. They don't swing and miss. They put the ball in play. But their ability to put the ball in play seems to be a detriment because they're swinging at bad pitches and hitting them and beating them in the ground. That's right. And look, if you, I've heard so through the year, so many conversations between hitting coaches and managers and hitters, will they'll tell hitters, look, if you swing at pitches

13:43that are off the plate, if you swing at non strikes, they're going to keep throwing you non strikes. I'm always fascinated by the chase rate, the leader board. I love to look at that just to see sort of what the mindset is, the hitters. Because again, pitches are well aware of that. If you chase stuff out of the zone and Josh Nailer is such a, you know, he clearly has a unique ability to make contact, but you do wonder in 2027 beyond, is there going to be adjustment for him in his approach? I think you and I have talked about, you know, the conversation that Alex Breggman had with PCA, Peacchar Armstrong early in the year, where his advice to because Peacchar Armstrong was someone who chased a lot. And Alex Breggman said to him, do me a favor. On the first pitch of the plate, appearance, look for one pitch in one spot, you know, fastball inside. And if you don't get it, just take it. And so he started to do that. And so often his bats start out with a one-on-oh count. And then he sort of expanded that thought.

14:44You know, he put himself in better ball strike counts. You can be aggressive, but you can also put yourself in a better position in terms of hitting your pitches and not pitchers pitches. Jose Altube, you know, is a hyper aggressive hitter, but when he's at his best, he's not chasing. And there's a difference there. The expectation is that when we talk next week, the Mariners will have a managerial opening. That is the expectation. How coveted do you think this job is? I think it's really coveted. You know this because you and you and I talked, I was working on that story about possible changes. You know around baseball, the feedback I got was like, oh my god, Seattle, like that. I mean, people, even though it's been a disappointing season, they look at the organization is continuing to be the sleeping giant of a team that has a lot of resources. They're payrolls in a good place unlike a team like the San Francisco Giants. Their pitching is in a good place. So many of these teams like Baltimore have struggled to develop that

15:44consistent pipeline of pitching. The Mariners have that. It seems like. And I'm sure that there will be a lot of people with other teams, you know, whether it's managerial candidates or coaching candidates, if they go down that road, who are going to look at the Mariners situation with the ballpark, the generally speaking fosters good pitching and feel like, look, we can figure out a way to do better than that team did in 2026. So the criticism from fans is that okay, they're going to have a new manager, but Jerry's just going to hire a puppet. Jerry's just going to hire a yes man. And like, I don't know if that's a fair criticism because I kind of feel like aren't most managers unable or unwilling to buck with the GM says, I mean, the buck show Walters of the world are few and far between now. So I don't know that that makes you a yes man. I just kind of think that's the way baseball is right now. And I think there are a few managers who've carved out some for lack of a better word, some autonomy where they like Dave Roberts, the Dodgers manager now is one

16:46championship. So if he wants to push for something, he's got the statute to do that. And I think he probably is given some, you know, the sort of the length of the rope to do that sort of thing. And they'll they'll follow him in that regard. But there's no question with front offices. They do want someone they feel like they can work with. I do wonder. And again, I'm not around the Mariners all the time. I wonder about managers. My sense of Dan was that I think Dan was so respectful of the information that he was getting from the front office that I wonder if he deferred at times when he didn't necessarily believe in the deferral. If that makes sense to you. Yeah. In other words, and I think there's some managers who find that that balance where they'll say, okay, I got it. I hear you. And I see that information. But let's here's how I want to tweak this or here's one I want to go with this. Terry Frank Hona wants to hold me a story when he's working with Cleveland. You know, they had a they had something was brought to him about a change

17:51from the front office. And he said, look, I'm going to get to where you're going to you're going to get to. But in managing personalities, this is how I'm going to handle it. And it's going to take a little bit of time. So have some patience with me. And I don't know this. I'm not in the not in the room. My sense was that Dan would be the person say, okay, I'll do I'll do what you want. And I don't know if that's necessarily like Jerry, you know, invoking or anyone in the front office invoking that I think that's a personality trait. I think you you want to have a manager who is going to say, okay, I got it. I got your information. But here's how I'd like to use that information. And sometimes because they have more understanding the players personality and the dynamic in the club house. And what's important? They're going to have knowledge of the players personal issues going on. We're there in a better position to apply that than anybody else. I want to get you out of here on two fun questions. It's been a down year. We're going to have a big off season, but a couple of

18:51fun questions. No, not superstitious. This is the final weekend in the broadcast booth for Rick Riz 41 years for Rick Riz in the radio booth for the Mariners alongside Dave Neyhouse and a slew of others. Sense Dave's passing for fifths of the franchise's history has been called by Rick Riz Buster. I mean, you know the connection that broadcasters can have and Rick certainly has it. Yeah. And I earlier this week, I had a conversation with my crew co is in his last week as a giant television broadcaster. And we were talking about this like as and I'm sure this has been the case for Rick. Is that you know, as he goes to the ballpark as he's walking around outside of the ballpark, people are coming up and talking about, Hey, you were a dinner with us. You were in our homes. You know, you were on vacation with us. You were part of what our experience was in the summertime. I don't know if there's a more magical relationship within baseball, then there is

19:52between the broadcaster and the fan base, especially longtime broadcasters. Like I've heard, you know, first four or five, even 10 years, maybe it's not quite there, but over time, they're just as special bond and where that, you know, Rick is someone who is trusted and revered and people know his moods from the tone of his voice. It really is a neat thing. And it's been fun to watch from a far the response that he's getting. You know, I just love the video that of course was sent out with Cal Raleigh giving him the the chest protector. That was a really neat gesture by Cal and I'm glad that Rick is getting his victory lap. ChatGPT can do more than answer questions. It can help you get real work done. ChatGPT work is built for bigger projects with multiple steps. You bring the goal. Along with the information it needs. Like briefs, notes, files, feedback, calendars, data sets, or project plans. Then ChatGPT can help turn all of that into something useful, an analysis,

20:54a tracker, a deck outline, a prototype, or a workflow you can keep shaping. It can also use approved apps, connected tools, files, and browser context to help move the work forward. And you stay in control. You give direction, review drafts, approve actions, redirect the work, and choose the final output. So you spend less time sorting through busy work and more time making progress on the work that matters. Put ChatGPT to work on your most ambitious ideas and projects. Get started at ChatGPT.com by selecting Work Mode. Available on plus and pro plans. Hey, it's the Shanty Plummer from Futterround and Find Out. Coming out of the draft, it's been a special time for us here at Futterround. I want to thank everyone from the fans to the sponsors, especially Geico. Not just for supporting AZ, but for showing up where it matters, like the business of Women's Sports Summit. That kind of thing really moves the needle. And now that AZ is starting a new life in Dallas, we don't know what next season is going

21:54to bring. But we know that we're all on the same team. And it's been amazing to feel the love and support. So keep showing up for our girl. Show up for each other. Thanks to Geico and our listeners. This is Ashley Akinati from the Almost Hymnest Podcast. You ever noticed you and your spouse keep saying, we need to get away, but you never actually plan anything. That was us until we did something fun and spontaneous. We went to resortpass.com. There are hundreds of hotel resorts, pools and spas and private beaches that you can enjoy. You can spend the day at a luxury resort, pool, spa, massage without booking an overnight stay. And listen, I may have only been like 15 minutes from home, but it felt like it was a whole different world. And I'm thinking, this is exactly what I needed. So just go to resortpass.com, choose your resort, choose your day, luxury resort day passes, start at just $25. Once you post your daycation, people are going to ask where you are. Go to resortpass.com,

22:55slash almost famous and use the promo code almost famous to get $20 off when you spend $100. That's code almost famous at resortpass.com slash almost famous. You know, I remember in 2021 vividly, the Mariners had a chance on the last day of the season to make the playoffs. They needed to beat the angels and needed somebody else to lose and they ended up losing, but it was about the seventh inning. Scott Service went out to take out the pitcher. I think, I mean, we just went out to take out Kyle Seeger and Kyle Seeger came off the field for the last time to a roaring ovation. And I think the same thing's going to happen on Sunday for JP Crawford. I'm not sold on the idea that JP Crawford won't be back in 2027, but JP Crawford might not be back in 2027. And yeah, he's going to get a great ovation. And as we look at the last five, six, seven years of Mariners baseball, which they started disassension back to relevance. JP Crawford was the very first one at the forefront of it. Before there was before a Calon Julio, there was JP Crawford. And I think he really does deserve credit for that.

23:56Yeah. I mean, he's been a really good pro for the team. And everything that I understand about his work ethic and the way they conduct himself in the clubhouse, he's been a positive. And then for years to come, they'll be anniversaries. They'll be players will be honored. If someday Julio makes a speech at the Hall of Fame, JP Crawford will be there. He'll be brought back as part of the team. He'll throw out first pitches. It feels like that he's had this sort of tenure with the Mariners that has earned that. Is he Ken Griffey Jr? Is he Edgar Martinez? Randy Johnson is in that realm now in terms of what he accomplished. But he's always going to be someone who's going to be welcome back by the fans. Going to be welcome back by the fans. He was put on the Mariners 50th anniversary all time 50 team earlier this summer. So he's got the stature already. And I think that's only going to continue to grow. And we'll see where he's playing baseball in 2027. Buster, you are on to the playoffs. We are on to the off season, but we'll meet up somewhere intersecting here next week. I don't

24:59know where you will be, but we will find you and we will talk then. And I think there will be a lot to talk about. So thank you for a great regular seasons worth of coverage and appearances. I always appreciate talking with you. We'll do it throughout the off season. It's not going anywhere, but I got to give my thanks to you for the regular season all the time you made for us. So thank you. Well, I appreciate it, Brady. Thanks for having me. All right. That was our ESPNM. We'll be inside our Buster only. So a couple of things actually really just one thing. My initial intention was to talk to Buster early on Thursday and then put a full episode out on Friday, as is typically the case, but because Buster and I had to talk late because of Buster travel schedule, I'm going to put out an episode on Friday, but it's going to come out a little later. Now that the Mariners have been eliminated, I don't feel as guilty about putting something out closer to game time or putting something out in the afternoon. I never like putting something out late because I'm like, okay, well, I'm talking about Wednesday's game. And I wanted to come right out on Thursday because if I put it out on Thursday afternoon and then it bumps into Friday's game and everything's changed. It's all irrelevant. It's not really the case anymore. So the Mariners are eliminated. That's

26:02certainly frustrating. We're all upset by it. But Buster, this interview is going to stand for a bit Wednesday or Thursday night into Friday. Love another full episode coming out on Friday. I promise you. So there will be a full episode on Friday. This interview coming out here on Thursday night. So thank you to Buster again for a full regular season to word of appearance is every week. You never missed one. He doesn't have to do this. He does it because he likes doing it. He does it because he likes talking to Mariners fans. He and I have a good relationship that goes back a while. But I recognize we're lucky to have him. And I think based on the feedback I've gotten, the listeners also recognize that we're lucky to have him. So I appreciate you for tuning in to Buster every single week. And again, he's not going anywhere. He's going to be back with us next week. But now that the regular season is over, I feel compelled to just give him his flowers one more time. So Mariners Angels kick it it off on Thursday, four games to play one last look at Brian Wu one last look at Bryce Miller and Kate Anderson and Logan Gilbert. As always, I appreciate all of you and is always also go amps.

27:14Hey, it's the Shanty Plummer from Futterround and find out coming out of the draft. It's been a special time for us here at Futterround. I want to thank everyone from the fans to the sponsors, especially Geico, not just for supporting AZ, but for showing up where it matters, like the business of Women's Sports Summit. That kind of thing really moves the needle. And now that AZ starting a new life in Dallas, we don't know what next season is going to bring. But we know that we're all on the same team. And it's been amazing to feel the love and support. So keep showing up for our girl. Show for each other. Thanks to Geico and our listeners. Some people use chatGPT to answer questions. Others use it to get real work done. With chatGPT work, you bring the goal. Plus real inputs like briefs, notes, files, feedback, data and project plans. It can help turn them into an analysis, tracker, deck outline, prototype, or workflow you can review and keep shaping. You stay in control, giving direction and choosing the final output. Put chatGPT to work on your most ambitious ideas and projects. Get started at chatGPT.com by selecting Work Mode, available on plus and pro plans.

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