Incredible Story On Mariners Logan Gilbert/Cal Raleigh's Relationship

let's pivot into a more positive note because you wrote just an amazing article about the growth of Cal Raleigh and Logan Gilbert specifically within the Mariners organization getting drafted together being roommates in the minor leagues coming up and having success together on this Mariners team what when you were digging into this article and you can find it at Yahoo sports Jordan Ro it's fantastic very long very in-depth on on that whole story with the two of them what blew you away the most when you were digging for stuff on that story and and finding these little tidbits here and there what what was the coolest thing yeah I mean really cool opportunity to get to talk to Cal Logan talk to depoto talk to service about all this stuff I mean obviously like you know the inspiration of it was not just that they of course Logan being an alsoa for the first time and and C kind of proving himself as one of the best catchers in the League this year I think people are finally starting to acknowledge that uh but that it's happened together and that like they they defined this era of of the Mariners you know in in a very real way I mean when you think about it like all the listen not that fans shouldn't be frustrated with the standards and whatever but like all Cal Raleigh and Logan Gilbert know on the Mariners is is a is a winning team like and in that sense this could end up being by far the most disappointing team that they've played on you know I mean you look at the win totals that since they've arrived I mean they're they're they have a top I'm pretty sure a top seven or eight winning percentage in baseball since those guys have like been a part of the team and so that doesn't feel like an accident because of the stability that both of those guys have provided the fact that Logan has not missed a start since he was called up the fact that Raleigh has has amassed a a larger you know a larger workload and in some ways this is you know problematic because we know that it's some point it's probably hampering his ability to contribute offensively but like that is incredible I mean those that is the definition of of franchise pillars and that was the inspiration for the story and I think talking to people around the team and talking to them it it very much reflected that and it is as simple as um I don't know where the hell they would be without these guys and for as frustrating as this season has been uh those two have have been a constant and Cal's obviously still a flawed hitter to some degree but for what he provides in every aspect I you really can't ask for much more in a franchise catcher I say this all the time on our shows not knowing who you're catcher is is such a difficult place to be as an as an organization any organization like figuring out who your catcher is is just so so so important and the Mariners figuring that out with Cal is just it's just it can't be can't be you know overstated it's it's such a huge deal these pictures are great right and every single one of these guys is unique and dominates and it's so fun to watch but paired with what Cal's done where would this rotation be if Cal Raleigh wasn't here yeah and that and that's the thing right and and Adam Jud just wrote a great story about his kind of recent back and forth with Brian woo kind of getting him to an even higher level and that's the other cool part right I mean besides Castillo who you know arrived via trade all these guys come up and while Logan came up with him I mean Kirby not that far behind and Miller and woo by the time they get there they're like oh yeah like C's the guy there's no question about who I can you know put my trust in and know that the game plan and everything that we are you know looking to do as a cohesive unit is very much in sync and it's it's it's just not an accident I mean that's that's really the basic way to put it is these are extremely talented pitchers but you you just cannot overestimate or underestimate I should say you cannot underestimate how how important the catcher is to that equation on a daily basis I think that's true to and I know the bullpen has has struggled a little bit more recently but but generally over this run he's been a huge part of that success as well I mean the fact that he can feel comfortable with it's not just those five guys it's so many more think about how many different relievers have shuffled through this roster over the last few years A lot of them have had a lot of success and I'm sure C's a big part of that as well I think my favorite thing about the article is when you went back to where they were in college and Logan can't doesn't pitch in the middle of the week because Logan was an absolute stud so it only pitched on Fridays and they would only play Florida State on a Tuesday or a Wednesday and and Logan be sitting there thinking like who is this dude just tearing us up this dude's like a this dude's a pain in the ass c r he is and then all of a sudden they just land together in the same organization and there's the the whole part about Cal not having as great of a junior season and he slipped down draft boards with the Mariners were like oh no we see this yeah we we're not we're not we're not falling for I'd see the deak of him underperforming a little bit we know what this guy is so I thought that was I thought that was super cool especially just just given the the differences the two places those two guys went to school the only similarities though two un those two universities stats and in Florida State share is that they're in the State of Florida that's it true and it's not close I'll give you a little backer I didn't end up including this in the story but Logan was kind of just talking about that Dynamic you know between the two and obviously Cal growing up in a baseball family his dad was a head coach at Western Carolina his dad was a head coach of Tennessee right so like Cal was was was kind of raised in this whereas Logan's just one of the other skinny kids in Florida hoping to throw hard someday you know and so Logan was saying how he you know likes to tease Cal that he was like the Golden Boy and everyone was given to him and you know Logan's the the small school grinder you know whatever and then he's the one and I was like and I told Logan I was like Logan you were the first round pick bro like I like let's just let's not forget who actually was drafted first so I I know that listen I I I mean he's right that like there's a big difference between playing in the Atlantic sun and playing in the Atlantic Coast Conference and he's right about that uh but I think I thought that was a funny Dynamic and especially to like the their friendship and and their relationship too because they've been there to you know side by side since the beginning speaks it's it's very very unique in that sense and I'm I'm grateful you know as someone who just follows this team a lot follows his team closely in terms of off the field stuff having talked to definitely talk to Logan before his debut both of these guys have come out of their shell so much since since the start of their careers and that has also been extremely cool to see and also not a coincidence because that generally happens when you establish yourself as you know two of the best players at their position in the league and that's what makes them comfortable to uh to do that yeah it's crazy when Cal came up he barely talked and then fast forward to the end of 2023 saying Hey listen ownership this isn't good enough like sure we need more from you 100% And and I'm glad you mentioned that because that was another and and I you know I could have the one of the challenges of the story and I'm very happy with how it turned out but especially for me just like by Nature I want to be comprehensive and completionist and like I didn't even touch really the I mean I mentioned you know his Homer to the Clincher um we were what 10 rows apart Lyall right yeah yeah we were both at that game um and like I didn't even like say the word big dumper once in the story like like all that's part of the Cal rally lore too like that's its own article that I think is is interesting as much of course I had to kind of condense it and keep it focused on the two of them kind of in Tandem and and then becoming what they were but there's so much with both of these guys and that that just that just felt like the right time to kind of highlight that story and obviously that was you know that story was I guess dropped like right after the Met series and then Vibes were high and uh not so much a week later but you know those two guys are those two guys are doing their part man so that's all you can ask for them