Seattle Mariners General Manager Jerry Dipoto.
If you go to any sports team fansite and scroll through comments, there’s a familiar refrain: Our GM is ruining the team, possibly intentionally. In most cases, that logic is wrong; most GM’s bat around .500 when it comes to trades and signings. They may have a few misfires, but there’s an underlying logic that infuses in their decisions. A front office shot caller rarely makes moves just for the sake of making moves or without a clear plan. Unfortunately for Seattle Mariners fans, Jerry Dipoto is the type of GM that makes their nightmares into reality.
It’s not just that Dipoto’s moves don’t work out. But it’s hard to figure out what he’s trying to accomplish. He’s held on to veterans with value while rebuilding and dealt for the future while trying to contend. That’s the problem with his tenure. At the end of the day, the Seattle Mariners are running in place.
Let’s look at this season’s current roster post-trade deadline. I’m not going to kill him over trading Kendall Graveman. Relievers are pretty fungible. If Dipoto could get controllable talent before losing him, then that’s the move to make.
The issue is that move is only made if you don’t think your team is a real contender this year (he’d be correct in that assessment). If that’s the case, then why turn around and give up talent for another closer, Diego Castillo, who will cost Seattle the same if not more than Graveman would have as a free agent in arbitration next year, a 37-year-old reliever in Joe Smith, and rental starter Tyler Anderson?
If he’s raising the white flag and alienating the players, at least go all the way. Why are Mitch Haniger and Kyle Seager still on the team if Dipoto isn’t willing to make a run with the current roster? This one foot in and one foot out strategy isn’t working. It’s also why the Seattle Mariners have been on a hamster wheel with Dipoto running the team the last five years.
All his deadline deals this year didn’t accomplish much. He swapped out closers, added another mediocre starter, and angered the team and fanbase. Once again, the M’s can slowly fade from contention like they would have done without those moves.
Maybe he’s waiting for Julio Rodriguez, Noelvi Marte, and Emmerson Hancock to arrive like the cavalry in an old Western. If that’s the case, he’s in for at least a one-to-two-year wait. That’s when the non Jarred Kelenic, Cal Raleigh reinforcements arrive. And as we’ve seen with Kelenic and Raleigh, there is an adjustment period.
This team is nowhere near championship caliber. It’s hard to see how these moves bring the Seattle Mariners any closer to a title. It’s just more of Captain Dipoto shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic while M’s fans float on a life raft as Chris Taylor sinks to the bottom of the ocean. The right call was to offer out Mitch Hanniger, Seager (with cash), and Graveman and bring in as much talent as possible.
As far as the current roster goes, Seattle lacks any high-end talent and is overly reliant on low-ceiling players. Ty France is fine as a supplemental piece, but I’m sorry to say a .276/.344/.436 slash line is not the makeup of a foundational player, certainly not at first base. He could move over to third once Seager goes, but that would force Abraham Toro to continue playing out of position as a second baseman.
Toro has a nice run going since joining the team. However, I assure you he is not Ryne Sandberg, Rogers Hornsby, or even Bret Boone. Over almost 300 career plate appearances, his slash rate of .193/.276/.350 was far from inspiring. Maybe Toro turns into a rich man’s Cesar Hernandez. But it’s more likely he’s a .260 hitter with a little pop. To quote Harry Doyle (Major League), “I think I’ll wet my pants.”
As far as the rest of the lineup goes, they have Luis Torrens (who is Joey Gallo with half the home runs and no defensive value), as well as the soon-to-be, departed Haniger and Seager. Then there are J.P. Crawford and Kyle Lewis, who fit right in with possibly adequate duo of Toro and France and a few other non-entities. Kelenic looks good since his recall, but so did Dustin Ackley and Jesus Montero.
The rotation consists of Yusei Kikuchi, Marco Gonzales, Anderson, Logan Gilbert, and Chris Flexen. If Dipoto’s goal is three or four 3’s and a 2, he hit his target. Justus Sheffield is lurking around with third-starter aspirations, so maybe that’s still a possibility. The bullpen has proved solid with a few surprising seasons from journeymen. Even so, I wouldn’t hold my breath on a repeat performance.
Dipoto has kept the team in a perpetual state of “two years away” for almost six years. He’s the equivalent of a restaurateur who changes the menu and decor every three years. But he keeps the same terrible chef and waitstaff and can’t figure out why his business doesn’t improve. It’s time to move on from Jerry Dipoto. Maybe with a new GM, they can contend in…oh, I don’t know…how does two years sound?
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