Mariners notebook: Podcast, link and lunch

If you missed the “Hot Stove” show Tuesday night, never fear, we have a podcast. The first hour featured an interview with new Mariners first baseman Adam Lind and a couple of good segments of baseball talk with Mike Blowers. Hour 2 kicked off with a visit from Camden Finney from the Mariners’ marketing department, who stopped by to give us the details on the 2016 promotions and events. In the second half hour we heard from Astros beat writer Brian McTaggart, who gave us a bit of a look inside Houston’s clubhouse, insights on the upcoming season and a closer look at their new budget.

Next week, in addition to the regularly scheduled “Hot Stove” on Tuesday night, we will have a special edition show on Saturday from FanFest from noon to 1:30. We will be broadcasting from the 100 level on the third-base side. If you are at FanFest, join us!

Hutch Award

FanFest is not the only event taking place at Safeco Field next week. On Wednesday, the 51st annual Hutch Award will be presented at the Hutch Award Luncheon, which will take place on the field. St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright is this year’s winner. Hall of Famer Carlton Fisk will be the keynote speaker and former President Jimmy Carter will receive the first Honorary Hutch Award, with his grandson Jason Carter accepting on his behalf. More on the event, which benefits cancer research, can be found here.

Almost there…

The annual pre-spring training media luncheon will take place next Thursday. General manager Jerry Dipoto, manager Scott Servais and a number of Mariners front-office members will brief the media and give organizational updates heading into spring training. There is usually a news item or two that comes out of this event each year. In years past we have heard from trainer Rick Griffin, assistant GM Jeff Kingston and a number of players at the lunch.

Link

A good follow on Twitter for news from Nippon Professional Baseball and the Australian Baseball League is @YakyuNightOwl, who tweeted a link to a Japan Times article today on new Mariner Nori Aoki. He has set a lofty goal for 2016.