Justin Hollander on the #Mariners 2025 Season | Seattle Sports

Justin Hollander on the #Mariners 2025 Season | Seattle Sports

And it definitely leaves you feeling hollow. Um, you know, somewhere in between where Cal was at postgame, uh, after game seven and like where Giannis was at a couple years ago where he talked about there’s no failure in sports. Like I’ll start to move along that spectrum over the next few days and weeks from it feels very much like a failure to thinking about big picture where we are and the steps we took this year, but it’s hard right now. mentioned just the steps that a lot of the players took like Gabe there was also that flip side of for a lot of the season you guys were working around injuries trying to stay afloat for the first half and then you made that push just where’s the confidence level is the wrong word I know you guys have confidence in the players but where are you at in just the potential you guys can take next year yeah um you know I’m certainly not anticipating this being a one and done for for this core group of players um they’re they’re good people they’re great people. They work hard. They care about each other. They care about winning. I think it’s raw for everybody right now because of all they put into it. Um but I think everybody knows in their heart of hearts that um our window didn’t just end um because we came up a run short in game seven. Um that there’s there’s more in front of us and that you know the best versions of a lot of these players are still to come and you know that’s you know we’ll get there all um when we start to get more into the offseason and think more about it. But I think all the everybody is now focused on like what each of us, me, Jerry, the coaching staff, each player individually could have done like 1% more of to go play a game tomorrow. Um, but I do think this this group’s going to be together a long time and, you know, we should be back in the same spot with a chance to to go further and for years to come. From your position, like everybody says this isn’t an ending, it’s a beginning. How do you ensure in your position make sure it is a continuous for you? Yeah, I mean, you can never have too much talent. You can never um quit trying to find pieces to to add to the team. You know, that that that’s where my head is going to be probably in 48 hours or so um once I get a chance to decompress a little more is is what does this team need going forward? And you know that starts with the guys who have a chance to be free agents uh in a couple weeks and seeing if we can bring as many of those guys back as possible and then add to parts of our club that you know we feel like you know either didn’t meet expectations or you know as we look in our crystal ball we think are areas where we can improve upon like we can’t we can’t rest on our laurels. Um we weren’t good enough. We we were good enough to win the division. We were good enough to win a series but and those are great things and I I don’t want to diminish those at all. I’m really proud of, you know, some things we accomplished this year, but there’s still more things to go and we need to get better. We need to do more. We need to be better. Do you have you have like needs you think that need to be addressed? And obviously like the guys that are up hope and hope because the free agents, but beyond that, like you look at like you need to add more middle relief. I think my like, you know, I’ll answer your question by sort of repeating it. like I think you know present you know our four, five and six hitters have a chance to be free agents um in the coming weeks. So we need to figure out what’s going on in our corner and field um and our DH spot and and how we solve those problems or or those holes going forward. And then I’m always going to lean towards you can never have enough pitching. You know, we’ve been really really blessed with tremendous talent and tremendous health um until this year. And this year we we had some of the health bug bite us. Um and we got exposed for part of the season. Um just where we really felt like we we were a little naked in terms of um the next guy up over and over and over again. And our guys did a great job. Some guys came in and filled in really admirably. We asked a lot of Emerson Hancock and Logan Evans. We asked a lot of, you know, some of the relievers on the team who stepped up, you know, and when that happens, you know, you get guys like Bizardo and Vargas who sort of revealed themselves to to maybe be able to deliver more than than you had anticipated. Um, when you broke camp in the spring, um, but we’re always going to need more pitching. You know, the the league tells you a story every year and if you don’t listen to it, you’re crazy. Is that you can never have too much pitching. Jerry mentioned, you know, not there’s not always an ideal situation to start to integrate the the farm guys in, but we’ve kind of saw this year the first wave of those guys and, you know, Colt was on the taxi squad. Obviously, Laz, Michael are kind of knocking on the door a little bit, just when you assess everything with the moves you can make in the trade market, free agency and them. Is is that like a good problem to have or is that just kind of like, you know, more focus on kind of unraveling the possibilities on how the roster can fall for 2026? Yeah, excuse me. Um, uh, you know, I spent some time on the plane back a few minutes with with Ben Williamson and Cole Young, just telling them how proud I am of them. It’s really hard to come to the big leagues and essentially, you know, jump for most of the AAA experience and do it for a good team. Um, and those guys did it on a good team and they made real contributions uh, on a good team and they carried themselves the right way every day and they fit in with their teammates. Um, and they did a great job and you know, it is a challenge to young players. I think that there are teams that do it. We’re going to have to be one of those teams that do it. It’s a disservice to those players to never give them a chance to break in, succeed, fail, and then succeed again. Um, so they are going to be a part of what we do going forward. Um, and there’s going to be more of those, you know, cult like you mentioned, Colt Emerson, Harry Ford, Michael Royal, Laz Farm, and then talk about the pitchers like Derangelo and Kade and Ryan Sloan. And I’m just naming a couple of guys. Like there’s going to be a lot of guys that that come through over the next couple years. It’s our job to build a roster that can support the growth that they’re going to need to have in order for us to reach the ceiling that we need to have, which is going and winning a World Series. You can’t do that without developing your own homegrown players and your own homegrown differencem players. You know, I don’t these guys aren’t role players. These guys are everyday guys to all star to maybe more than that. And we need to find a way to make sure that we give them enough runway. to show what they can be while also making sure that we give our team the steadiness and the foundation to go out and win the division. What do what do you think they’ll take away from Cole, Cole, Harry, the ones that were along for the ride here through October? How hard it is to win um over the course of the season. Think about what our team did when they stepped on the gas um after that Atlanta series and you know won 17 of 18 and they did it and they gained like three games in the standings because you know the the team start to separate themselves as the year goes along and they watched the preparation that guys like Randy Julio and Cal put in to go post 150 times during a season and take 700 plate appearances and do it day after day. Um I’m exhausted cuz I travel with them and I have a cold right now. these guys went out and posted um and played their asses off um for six straight months and then did it for a seventh month in October. Um the major league season is a grind and I think watching those guys go prepare every day is something that will sit with them and help them as they start their own major league journeys and and understand how hard it is to be really good in the big leagues day after day. I asked Dan a couple times uh just the culture of winning that was established in the minor leagues with those clubs and what they’ve done. You know, I know I know you just talked about, you know, no solace and coming one game short, but now that you guys have made it to that point and have, you know, established that success, do you feel like that that’ll just continue to help as you integrate more guys in from the farm system? Yeah, I think, you know, the experience of winning matters um asking guys to come through the minor leagues um and treating it like a a pickup game or an experiment doesn’t prepare them for what it takes to go win major league games. Um, and I think Andy, um, McKay and Justin Tulle have done a fantastic job along with Luke Carlin, CJ Gilman, um, our minor league pitching coordinators of, of just making sure that, you know, when players come here, they come here with the expectation that we’re here to win. We’re not we’re not here to play pickup game. Um, and so that’s, you know, it’s really invaluable. Um, I think that our players that have come through, um, and I mean, you guys are around them a lot. I I think they’re wired the right way. They do the right things. They prep the right way. They’re not going to be walking into the big league clubhouse the first day or out, you know, for early work the first day and be blown away that people actually work here because they do it every day down there. So, do you think um your the perception of the organization has increased seeing the fans, seeing your success? I mean, players, free agents want to go to a winner. You guys have shown the chance to win at the same place you want to be. Yeah, I hope so. Um, you know, that’s obviously not for me to say. Um, I think we need to continue to win. Um, winning begets winning in some ways. Um, and I think, you know, the players that have come here, I don’t think it’s just the results on the field, it’s the culture downstairs. Um, they care about each other. They’re really good people. Um, they pull for each other. They they work together. Um, I’m really happy for our fans. Um, you know, it’s it’s unacceptable, um, that they had to wait so long for a winning team. And obviously, you know, we’ve had a, you know, by pure record, a winning team, um, for the last 5 years. Um, and that’s that’s positive. And I think continuing to um give them reasons to believe is important. They they deserve it. They’ve earned it. Um and it was probably one of the one of the coolest parts of um Game Five was all the people that I’m friends with or that have been around us that sent me videos of um hugging in the stands. Sorry. Um after Chino hit the Grand Slam. Uh and just seeing what that means to people in Seattle. They deserve it. Um, they really do. I’m sorry, guys. Um, and I was so happy for them. Do you uh have you gotten to know, you’ve only had a few months with Josh. He’s not the most open book in the world. Have you gotten a feel of his personality? I mean, you’re going to try and get him to come back, but have you gotten a feel? Like, it’s different like with Luis, he kind of throws it out there. Yeah. Um, I I never really had a problem connecting with Josh. um you know, maybe less of an open book for you guys than for me. Um I found it to be very easy to talk to. Um fun to be around. Um really smart and a joy and like easy to talk with and you know the way that the transaction worked. We were on the just the time that we were on the road when we acquired them. We came home for a little bit and we’re right back on the road. Um, and really starting with the the series in Atlanta, um, when I started uh, sort of being with the team full-time. Um, just the chance to spend a few minutes with him every day or every couple of days. Like I I I think he’s kind of an easy person to spend time around. I think his teammates really like him. Um, and I I everything I got from him was that he really liked it here and, you know, was able to spend a few minutes with him after the game and, um, you know, definitely a priority for us. He fits in grid here. Um, and just a really good person, easy person to like. I mean, you can’t have had a better recruiting pitch than the last two months. For sure. For sure. Um I remember when we traded for Luis. Um that um I think his first home start was against the Yankees. It was a packed house and it was like an unbelievable I think it was Derrick Cole against Luis and um I think nobody threw a pitch under like a,000 m hour other than Paul Sewald in that game. And it was like a 13 inning war. He he said something after the game like, “Wow.” Um this is a place I want to be. And that that was a moment in time obviously and I think like you said Josh just got you know two months plus the playoffs of what Seattle was like as a sports town. Um he got a behind the scenes tour from the Kraken. Um I I believe he’s negotiated some ice time with Ron Francis as well. Um so um no he’s a he’s a really good dude and I I really do think he liked it here a lot. um not just downstairs, teammates, coaches, um hopefully Jerry and I, but I think you know the the the city, the environment, the region, um the whole vibe of it all. I I I think it was a big positive for him. And you know, that’s what you want. I I said I got asked a couple times this year, you know, do you feel the pressure of, you know, you got to bring this guy back and our fans love him. And I said, I’d feel much worse if our fans were like, “Wow, that was a terrible trade. Get this guy out of here. He’s horrible and doesn’t fit in.” And like I think that you know the best thing that you can hope for when you acquire someone is they go play great, you go deep in the playoffs, they love it and want to be here. And I think we checked all those boxes. So we we’ll try and figure it out. How how terrifying would he look on skates? Um, I’m guessing he’s a better skater than most, but yes, I uh I can imagine him charging at you with no fear would would would strike some uh some trepidation in people’s minds based on how he took the the throw from shortstop the other day. I’m guessing you’re going to feel it more than he’s going to feel it if he runs into you. I I asked Dan this earlier, too, but when you when you see Cal’s comments after the game saying, you know, in my mind, this is a failure. You know, we have higher expectations than this. What what do you kind of make make of that for him kind of still wanting to have this Northstar be higher for you guys and have the bar where it’s at where he wants it to be? Yeah, I uh I said it earlier probably before you came over. Um I’m probably closer to that resting position right now myself and over time I’ll probably evolve into like proud of what so many people accomplished this year and what what everyone did um this year and um sort of take a step back into the individual highlights as opposed to the end result. But um we should have big aspirations. We have a really good team. Um, we’ve been working for this for a long time uh in our front office with our coaches um in PD and scouting. Um I didn’t feel like I walked in the front door and we’d achieved what we should have um whatever night that was two nights ago. Like there’s still more meat on the bone. Um there’s things we want to accomplish that we need to accomplish. So um you know is it a failure? um we didn’t achieve what we wanted to and you know in our minds what we probably should have. Um it doesn’t mean that there weren’t positive steps or good things that happened along the way. Um you know I said it earlier I use the example again like right now I’m most closer to Cal that it’s a failure than Giannis which is there are no failure in sports. Um and maybe I’ll evolve over the next couple days and weeks and and think more big picture about where we are organizationally. Um but yeah it’s we didn’t get it done. we we did not get far enough and I take responsibility for that. Um there’s more that we could have done to give our players 1% more of a chance to get there and that will be sort of where my head is at um once I wrap my mind around that we’re home right now instead of playing tomorrow is what else what more can we do to go get there because we have a group of players as a core that is good enough to go be playing tomorrow and we’re not. And we saw you in the in the clubhouse there after the game too Jerry as well. How important was it for you guys to to be in there and and touch the guys and kind of give, you know, give them pats on the back and do did your best with that? Yeah. Um, you have to ask them how important it is for them. It was important for me. I love these guys. I mean, I think about God, I’m going to let all the emotion come out today. Um, I think about this the the place that Brian Woo was two years ago and where he is today and the strides he’s made in his career and not just on the field with you guys see, but as a leader in our organization and and and what message he sends to everyone about how much he cares about winning. And I think about Cal and and how far he’s come um since he came to the big leagues and where he is now. I mean, he’s the MVP of the league. Um, and you know, that’s that’s a big distance. He’s he’s come and he’s done it through will and work and determination. And then guys like Gabe Spy who last year, two years ago, 24 had, you know, about as tough a year as you can have um with a lot going on and he put a lot of pressure on himself and he kicked the door back open for himself with the work he did last offseason and you know, so it was important for me to tell those guys how I feel about them, how how much I care about them, how much that, you know, Jerry and I recognize what they go through every day to go do this for the organization, for our fans. Like playoffs are a grind. Um those those guys went out there every day and you know said I’m available every day. Um you know Julio played every day in center field basically this year. Cal played every day behind the plate and when he didn’t play behind the plate he caught and he had 65 homers and was going to win the MVP. Olio went 3030 again. Um so many guys put so much on the line. Um Logan and um George and Bryce battled through injuries and were probably at their best when it mattered the most. Um, particularly I was so happy for Bryce to get out there and do what he did over the last couple days. So, um, I hope it mattered to them. It matters to me to be able to tell them how much I care about them. All right, that’s all we have.

Seattle Mariners General Manager Justin Hollander addresses the media following the 2025 season.

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