In this roundup: the Mariners claim Michael Toglia off waivers, Seattle debates surveillance cameras, and the Seahawks lose rookie Jadarian Price to a chest injury ahead of their game against the Chargers.
Seattle Mariners Claim Michael Toglia: A Hometown Bet on a Former Top Prospect
The Seattle Mariners opened the offseason with a quiet but intriguing move. On Friday, the club claimed first baseman Michael Toglia off waivers from the Cincinnati Reds. Toglia is a Gig Harbor, Washington, native who was once considered one of the most promising players in the Colorado Rockies’ system. For the Mariners, it is a routine roster move—but also an attempt to give a local player a second chance close to home, as reported by Yahoo Sports. Toglia’s story is a classic example of the gap between immense potential and the harsh reality of the major leagues, where talent without consistent contact does not translate into results.
On paper, Toglia’s MLB career looks bleak. In 290 games, he has hit just .198/.275/.384 with 42 home runs in 1,095 at-bats, while posting a minus-3.4 fWAR. In other words, he has collectively provided his teams with more harm than value. Still, in 2024 he hit 25 home runs with a .218/.311/.456 slash line, while his expected wOBA (xwOBA) was .361—the 31st-best mark in the league among players with at least 100 at-bats. xwOBA measures quality of contact and plate discipline while accounting for luck and defensive positioning; it shows what a player’s results might have looked like under average conditions. In other words, the data suggest that Toglia hits the ball much better than his final numbers indicate. However, his failure to make progress in two hitter-friendly parks—Coors Field in Denver among them—remains concerning.
The Mariners’ first-base problem last season was obvious. When Josh Naylor missed games, Patrick Wisdom filled in. In 19 games and 50 at-bats, Wisdom hit one home run with a .106/.160/.191 slash line and a minus-0.6 fWAR. By comparison, Naylor posted just 0.6 fWAR over the entire 2026 season, appearing in 152 games and making 650 at-bats—a modest figure for a player in his role. Toglia also struggled in 2026: over 10 games and 28 at-bats, he hit .115/.179/.192 with a minus-0.5 fWAR. The Mariners are therefore not acquiring a ready-made solution, but rather a lottery ticket: a young local player who once showed significant promise. He is younger than Wisdom, which theoretically gives him a slightly better chance of returning to his former level.
One important detail: Toglia is out of minor-league options. That means that if he does not make the Opening Day roster, the Mariners will have to designate him for assignment—a procedure that removes a player from the 40-man roster and makes him available to other clubs. The team may also need his roster spot for future transactions. As a result, Toglia may remain in Seattle’s organization only briefly. Still, the fact that the Mariners acquired him indicates that the club sees something valuable in him.
What exactly? The answer lies in his scouting evaluations. In the 2019 draft, the Rockies selected Toglia 29th overall in the first round after three seasons at UCLA. Fangraphs’ scouting tool gave him 60/60 grades for raw power and defense on the 80-point scale, while his contact (30/35) and speed (30/30) were rated poorly. In 2024, his hard-hit rate and exit velocity ranked in the 94th and 91st percentiles, respectively, according to Baseball Savant—meaning he was among the top 10% of the league in quality of contact. His downfall lies elsewhere: Toglia has an extremely high whiff rate and rarely makes contact. At the same time, his chase rate that season was 58%, which is not necessarily catastrophic. If the Mariners’ coaches can restore his plate discipline and get him to swing only at pitches he can handle, his hard contact could still produce productive at-bats.
The key insight behind the move is simple: Seattle is not acquiring a finished everyday player. It is making an inexpensive bet on age, local ties and underlying metrics that once pointed to elite potential. If Toglia can reduce his whiffs and return even to his 2024 level, the Mariners will gain first-base depth at virtually no cost. If not, the club can clear his roster spot without suffering significant losses. Either way, this is a typical example of how modern front offices use analytics to find undervalued assets: they look beyond the final slash line and focus on quality of contact and expected statistics. For Toglia, this may be his last real chance to establish himself in MLB—and it is coming literally at home, in his native state.
Seattle’s Camera Debate: Crime-Fighting Tool or Unnecessary Surveillance?
The debate over surveillance cameras in Seattle appears to have reached an impasse, with arguments about public safety and civil liberties colliding with the harsh reality of street crime. On KIRO radio, hosts Jake Skorheim and Spike O’Neill set out to examine why city officials continue to question the need to expand the camera network—cameras the hosts believe would be an obvious resource for police. The discussion centered on recent comments by Seattle City Councilmember Rob Saka, who reacted with undisguised frustration to opposition to installing municipal cameras. He pointed out the absurdity of a situation in which private individuals and businesses can freely use surveillance, while city agencies responsible for public safety are denied the same option. The hosts fully supported that logic, arguing that cameras are primarily a practical tool for solving crimes, not a system of total surveillance. As Jake put it, a camera can be “turned on when needed and turned off when it isn’t,” but it can help find criminals and protect people from further attacks. Spike added that even if a camera does not prevent a crime as it happens, it can help remove a dangerous person from the streets—which is itself a form of prevention.
Despite the apparent benefits, Seattle’s decision-making process has stalled amid bureaucratic reviews. The city’s Office of Inspector General has already conducted an audit and concluded that, in 2025, police generally complied with surveillance-use rules, although it identified vulnerabilities in protections against potential abuse. Mayor Katie Wilson, however, is waiting for another assessment—an audit from New York University’s Policing Project. That decision puzzled the hosts, who felt that the internal review had already answered the main questions. Spike emphasized that the inspector general is an independent, nonpartisan government watchdog, and that seeking an outside opinion should not diminish the work already completed. Meanwhile, opponents from the Communities Not Cameras Coalition continue to argue that spending public money on cameras is ineffective if they do not fundamentally solve the crime problem, and they question how transparently the footage can be accessed. Jake countered that the NYU audit is specifically intended to develop safeguards, making accusations of a lack of accountability unfounded.
The central point of contention has become how long video recordings should be retained. The hosts agreed that short retention periods would be a mistake, since investigations can take months and camera evidence may become critically important long after an incident. Jake suggested retaining footage for a year or two if it could be kept secure, while Spike added that if the data is reliably protected, the length of retention should not matter. As an argument for cameras’ effectiveness, Jake offered a simple everyday example: people buy “Video Surveillance in Use” signs and put them outside their homes precisely because they believe cameras have a deterrent effect. To lighten the mood, he joked that after cameras were installed in the radio station’s studio, he began wearing pants—something he had not done before—because he realized he was under constant observation. The amusing moment nevertheless reinforced the segment’s central point: cameras change people’s behavior, and abandoning them in a city where crime remains a problem is at the very least illogical. Ultimately, the discussion came down to the idea that public safety is not only about punishment but also prevention, and that video recordings are among the few objective witnesses that do not lie or forget. At the same time, “retaining recordings” does not mean granting uncontrolled access. It means storing them according to established rules in secure systems, with viewing rights limited to authorized personnel as part of an investigation. In the hosts’ view, this balance between utility and oversight should form the basis of the mayor’s decision—a decision that will apparently determine whether Seattle gains another tool for fighting crime or remains a city where, as Councilmember Saka said emotionally on air, “everyone has a camera except the people sworn to protect us,” as discussed in this KIRO Newsradio report.
Seahawks Lose Rookie: Jadarian Price to Miss Chargers Game with Aggravated Chest Injury
The Seattle Seahawks are heading into Week 4 of the NFL regular season with serious personnel problems on offense. Head coach Mike Macdonald told reporters Friday that rookie running back Jadarian Price will not play against the Los Angeles Chargers. The injury is to his chest and was suffered in Week 2 against the Arizona Cardinals. Price managed to finish the Week 3 game against the Washington Commanders, but aggravated the injury during practice. Macdonald said it remains unclear whether the issue will bother the player for longer than a week, adding uncertainty to an already fragile situation at running back.
The problem is that only two running backs remain on the 53-man roster: Emanuel Wilson and George Holani. In this situation, the Seahawks will have to elevate a player from the practice squad. Velus Jones Jr. remains eligible for one more elevation, while Ja’Quardian Wright has yet to be elevated to the active roster. Macdonald noted that Wright has health concerns of his own, making Jones the most likely third option. That means the team will have to use a player who is not a traditional running back, which could limit the flexibility of the offensive scheme.
There is some good news for Seattle amid the setbacks. Safety Ty Okada, who missed the previous three games with a hamstring injury, is listed as questionable, but his full participation in Friday’s practice offers reason for optimism about his season debut. The other starting safety, Julian Love, has been removed from the injury report entirely, confirming that his absence against the Commanders was a one-time issue related only to a calf strain. Special-teams player Chazz Surratt, however, has been added to the report as questionable. He did not appear on the lists Wednesday or Thursday, making him a late and somewhat unexpected addition to the injury situation.
For context, the Seahawks are rebuilding under first-year head coach Mike Macdonald, and every available player matters. The loss of Price, who was viewed as one of the team’s promising rookies and had already contributed on offense, is a significant blow to a position that was already thin. Elevating Jones from the practice squad is a tactical compromise: he can play multiple positions but is not a specialized running back. All of this comes ahead of a matchup with the Chargers, who traditionally feature an aggressive run defense. According to Field Gulls, the lack of depth at running back is the coaching staff’s biggest concern heading into Week 4.
Interestingly, Macdonald is not yet willing to predict Price’s recovery timeline. The statement “I don’t know if this will be a problem beyond this week” leaves room for flexibility, but it also suggests that the chest injury could be tricky—such injuries often recur when a player returns to contact. If Price misses several weeks, the Seahawks will have to look for reinforcements in free agency or rely more heavily on a one-back formation, which would make the offense more predictable.
Seattle therefore enters its game against the Chargers with a weakened offense and a secondary that is still not fully healthy, although the returns of Okada and Love could stabilize the pass defense. The question is whether the team can compensate for Price’s absence through creative play-calling and contributions from Wilson and Holani. We will have the answer this Sunday.
