At a luncheon on Thursday, Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto looked back at the Mariners’ offseason in a wide-ranging, and a transcript of his remarks has since been provided by Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times. I highly recommend you read the whole thing, but here are some of the highlights.
- The Mariners are “probably done making significant moves” this offseason, Dipoto says, after an offseason in which they’ve acquired Adam Lind, Nori Aoki, Wade Miley, Joaquin Benoit, Steve Cishek, Leonys Martin, Chris Iannetta and Nate Karns, among others, while also re-signing Hisashi Iwakuma.
- One theme for the Mariners this offseason seems to have been having hitters post higher on-base percentages. Dipoto mentions that he thinks the team as currently constituted is a good bet to post higher OBPs than it has in the recent past. The team also held a “hitting summit” earlier this month in which they had hitting coach Edgar Martinez work with hitters on controlling the strike zone. “Edgar Martinez was perhaps one of the greatest right-handed hitters I’ve ever watched and did a better job of controlling the strike zone than about anyone that you could imagine in the last 30 years, and one of the best of all time,” says Dipoto. “It was a very easy thing for him to teach.” Last year, the Mariners finished 11th in the AL with a .311 OBP. New additions Lind and Aoki, both of whom posted OBPs above .350 last year, should help with that total.
- Much of the Mariners’ Opening Day roster currently appears set, but Dipoto mentions that there will be competition in the bullpen and the back of the rotation, and also for a right-handed platoon partner for Lind. Gaby Sanchez, who recently joined the M’s on a minor league deal, will be one possibility there, along with Jesus Montero and Stefen Romero.
- If Iannetta is healthy and all goes well, he will be the Mariners’ starting catcher, Dipoto says. Ideally, they would prefer to have former top prospect Mike Zunino — who hit just .174/.230/.300 in an ugly 2015 season — start the season at Triple-A Tacoma. Dipoto notes that Zunino zoomed through the minor leagues after being drafted third overall in 2012. In total, he’s spent just 462 plate appearances there.
- Dipoto says the team imagines itself with a win total in the mid-80s next season, with the possibility that it could win more.
The Mariners offseason remind me a lot of the 2013 Red Sox.
They addressed a lot of their holes without making the huge trade or sig
I hope the season ends like bostons 2013 season did
DiPoto made a ton of moves to shake things up. Unfortunately none of those moves were a franchise changer. It seems Cano is playing with no interest in being there. The pitching staff is good but not a staff that scares any team after Felix Hernandez. I think they are a third place team at best.
Well, first off the whole Cano thing was already debunked as nonsense. But, either way he’s still there for a long time. They’ve got a good core. Felix, Cano, Seager and Cruz is a pretty good start. They didn’t need to sign David Price and Jason Heyward. They needed to raise the floor, they needed to fill the black holes at different positions. So saying they didn’t make any earth shattering signings or trades is obvious. They didn’t need to though. They will have one of the better rotations in baseball. Worst case this is a decent 80 win team. Best case they’re a playoff team Frankie boy
Agreed with the rotation, it is scary good on paper. Problem is the health of Iwakuma and Paxton. Those 2 stay reasonably healthy? Felix, Iwakuma, Paxton, Walker and Miley are as good, or better than any team can field.
Low scoring games will have to be how this team wins, because the ‘pen was neglected, unless DiPito does some bargain bin scrounging late. I hope he signs Badenhop and a few others to help it out. That amazing rotation can’t go 7-8 innings every time.
Well said.
Do you think they are better then the angels? I think Dipoto messed up by trading away carson smith
Carson Smith is awesome. One of my favorite relievers. The Angels are a tough guess. If they aren’t that good they don’t have the trade chips to fix holes. I think Houston was a flash in the pan last year. I think they’ll take a step back this year and then be really good next year
A lot of things have to go right for the angels, they traded away their trade chips for simmons, which i am not happy with. Newcomb would of taken over for wilson in 2017 if he was ready. But Simmons is a big upgrade over aybar. Moreno and Eppler didn’t want to go over the luxury tax. I hope the platoon of gentry and nava will work.
Seattle traded away a reliever for a lefthanded starter — slotted behind Felix Hernandez, Hisashi Iwakuma and Taijuan Walker — who has averaged 198 innings a year over the past four seasons. The Mariners traded high on Carson Smith’s impressive 78 MLB innings.
Robinson Cano congratulated his “Mariner family” just this month:
https://twitter.com/RobinsonCano?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
I suspect Cano is interested in playing in Seattle this season.
Would you rather have cano or nick Franklin
Haha
Cano had a .660 OPS pre ASB and a .926 OPS post ASB. It really was the Edgar factor. Cano turned it around about a week after Edgar arrived. The other thing to note is Cano played the 2nd half of the season with an abdominal hernia. He had 2 hernias repaired this off-season. Cano will be very good this year.
He also had a stomach virus that wouldn’t go away for the first two months of the season that caused him to have to return to the clubhouse to puke. Also dealt with the death of his grandfather, which hugely impacted him.
“Probably done making significant moves.”
That’s funny because the Mariners never made a significant move to begin with.
The managerial hire reminds me of the 2012 Red Sox. Predict clubhouse rebellion against DiPoto’s puppet. He can’t work with anyone that dares to disagree with him.
If Dipoto was still with the angels and Scioscia was fired, Im pretty sure Servais would of been the angels manager.
That was the actual plan and one of the roots of the feud in Anaheim. Dipoto was too concerned with implementing his own philosophy and trying too hard to be Billy Beane when he should’ve just been a GM and let his staff do their jobs. Dipoto just didn’t have the skills to get the Angels on board and should’ve just paid attention to what the Angels actually need to win.
M’s haven’t made any real exciting moves but in the past, they’ve made some pretty big buys but haven’t panned out—-Beltre, Figgins, Silva, Sexon. Cano is still TBD and the contract will be ugly in a few years but if they can win now, then it’s ok. I thought Cruz would be a bust in Seattle but he had a great first season for the M’s. In baseball, stars may put fannies in the seats but it doesn’t guarantee victories. Remember, the M’s set a MLB record for victories AFTER losing ARod, Randy Johnson and Junior.
This season kind of reminds me of 2001, going into this season this years roster is better than the roster going into the 2001 season(we weren’t expecting much that year), but I don’t expect them to win 100 games
So he does moves that make sense with the Mariners…ruined the Angels
Beltre was not a bust his bat did not fit well at Safeco but his D did. I would like the team to make one more move and sign Lazarito but ownership will not take chances like that. They are too concerned about turning a profit than taking risks. I keep going Nintendo will put then up for sale but too no avail. You would think they could use the money to make a better game platform.
Adrian, at age 26, had just come off his career year, 48-121 .334. He averaged about 21-88 ..266 the five years he had in Seattle. Not a Josh Hamilton bust but not the player the M’s paid for. His one season in Boston and the last five in Texas have put him in great position for the Hall of Fame.
I think they would run into a bidding war for Lazarito with the yankees and red sox
The Mariners have done a very good job of adding to their current roster. Putting in a solid DH/1B in Lind who can give them 20ish HR’s and hit around .280, adding Aoki who rarely strikes out and is always putting the ball in play can be an underrated move. Adding 2 starters in Miley and Karns to their rotation while keeping Iwakuma is huge for them. Then adding 2 very good late inning relievers. This could be remembered as a very under the radar offseason for the Mariners if they turn this into a solid season. They didn’t add any superstars, but they filled a couple lineup spots with, a couple rotation depth addings and a few late inning relievers. None of these moves look great by themselves, but combined they look great to me.