The Mariners are still dead-set on trying to contend in 2018, CEO John Stanton tells Larry Stone of the Seattle Times. While the club didn’t ride a wave of “magic” to the postseason this year, as Stanton said he expected, the team is still committed to expanding and relying upon its existing core.
Stanton, who has been running the organization since its sale was finalized last August, is obviously on board with the approach of GM Jerry Dipoto. The org’s top baseball decisionmaker recently chatted about things from his own perspective, emphasizing the strides the team has made in sustainability, even if it has yet to get over the hump and crack the postseason.
Notably, though, Seattle’s payroll does have some “room for growth,” according to Stanton. The M’s opened at $154MM this year and already have around $113MM committed for 2018 (including a pair of buyouts) with just under $30MM in potential arb payouts still to go.
While Dipoto said he did not expect many fireworks over the winter, it seems there’s at least a little space for some additions. What the team likely won’t do, however, is go wild for a major free agent.
Though Stanton says he likes the prior additions of Robinson Cano and Nelson Cruz, that’s not how he prefers to build a roster. “Bluntly, I’d like to see us be strong in the playoffs for a decade,” said Stanton, “and I think we need to have the payroll dollars spent on players that can be with us for a long period of time.”
Rather, any big contracts in the future could go to younger players that earn extensions, Stanton suggests. He cites the Jean Segura and Kyle Seager deals as models for the team to pursue in the future. Rather than bringing in such players once they have reached or perhaps moved past their prime, he’d rather make large but still more manageable commitments to players that have shown merit earlier in their careers.
Of course, that’s more or less the ideal for any organization. For the M’s, the question remains whether enough of the team’s recent acquisitions — both in terms of younger amateur talent and recent trades — will fully establish themselves as core pieces. If so, it’s possible to imagine this club taking further strides and eventually even challenging the ascendant Astros. But that’s far from a given.
A complete rebuild is in store here. Tear it all down and start fresh
Talking about the rangers of course. Right?
Yeah Ranger’s definitely more in need of a complete rebuild than M’s tbh
I get pissed off everytime this comes up… we should be a team built on low to mid 20’s guys right now.
We could have
C–Alfaro
1B–Gallo (Possibly try Mazara at 1B)
2B–Odor
SS–Elvis (28, 29?)
3B–Beltre transition to _____??
LF–Nick Williams
CF–DeShields
RF–Lewis Brinson
Kela, LeClerc, Claudio, Bush and some holes in the bullpen
Dillon Tate (who I still think will be somebody someday)
Plus wholes in the rotation
The problem with that is the “holes in the rotation” when you’ve got an at best, average offense, a weak rotation nearly automatically eliminates you from postseason contention
They’d all be low 20s…. they wouldn’t be trying to win the World Series with the holes. It’d be a team you could build pitching around slowly but surely for at least 6 years.
Believe me, I’m all about pitching and defense. I agree that they’d lose in the playoffs, or probably not even make the playoffs a couple of years. But I think they’d be much better off than they are at the moment
DiPoto has set our rebuild back 8 years because every trade he has trade the youngest and most talented player LEFT Seattle.
Smyly for Gohara, Vargas and others
Miley for Carson Smith
Alfonso for Powell
Valencia for Blackburn
Dyson for Karns (ok Karns isn’t a prospect but he has several years left of control while Dyson our likely gone)
O’Neil for Gonzales (potential MOTO hitter for a 5th starter. Horrible)
Alex Jackson for Povse (hope he makes it but considering Dipoto tried to trade him for Phelps, unlikely)
Lind for prospects
Trumbo for nothing
Garton for a solid 2b prospect
Montgomery for Vogelbach (no way Ms will a rookie 1b start I feel they believe they can contend. He will be traded for a AAAA starter)
Drew Jackson for De Joung
Sighhh, this is a horrible list and one that would make Bavasi proud. Why Is Seattle forsaken.
What am I forgetting? Walker trade only worked out because Segura signed an extension. Imagine if he left after next year.?
Bottom line is we’d have a good farm system if none of these trades happened. Now we have the worst and can’t rebuild
I have hope with Stanton as opposed to Lincoln. I’m not sold on Dipito’s ability to evaluate talent and this organization from a player development standpoint has been substandard for 15+ years. I tend to believe that unless they do a complete rebuild that they will not reverse the lack of playoff trend, but maybe they try one more time in 2018 but their eye really needs to be looking to make major changes again if they do not achieve the playoffs.
Best thing for the organization is to probably clean house, get a true GM that wants to build a strong developmental and scouting group and move forward sooner rather than later.
He has built those things….and changing a culture and the overall development of any organization takes time. You also can’t fault him for injuries that were sustained. Personally, I believe they did great with what they had….plus we beefed up our SP with a lot younger/more controllable guys. Not only will we have a little money, but he’ll have potential trade pieces since we’ll be deep on young starters.
This is the best I’ve felt about out front office in a long time…..but not everyone is perfect nor will there not be mistakes made.
Cano, Cruz, Seager, Haniger, Zunino, Segura, Paxton, Felix, Leake, Diaz, etc.
Why rebuild??? We’re deep….just need to augment with a 1B, SP, and possibly an OF. Maybe a RP. JD knows what to do.
Having heard from both the GM and now the CEO, it would appear that the Mariner’s are going to continue what they have been doing for years. I don’t see a rebuild or even the thought of one coming from this group. They’ll add a player or two and then hope magic strikes and everything goes their way
I believe you’re right about the FO continuing to support the core players through the end of Nelson’s contract (this coming season,) and possibly thru 2019 if they extend Cruz. However, unless they strike it rich with their supplemental signings this offseason I feel like a complete rebuild will be coming in 19′ or 2020 season. Currently there’s simply not enough talent in the pipeline to do otherwise.
They need to go all in or all out, they need to stop being a 76-86 win team
Trade Dipoto
I think this comment is meant to be tongue in cheek but I’m curious- Why? what are your reasons for getting rid of him? Surely Dipoto couldn’t legislate for the massive amount of (fatal) injuries this year. We’ll never know if his 2017 team had enough talent to at least make the WC.
Agreed
But would we only get 10 cents on the dollar like his O’Neill trade?
Like all his trades will we only get 10 cents on the dollar?
Cano is a future Hall of Famer and still a terrific player. He’s given Seattle 20.4 bWAR in 4 years, which is nothing to sneeze at. He was a terrific player when he signed with them–16.3 bWAR in the two previous years. Stanton is right—it’s far better to develop than to spend for past performance, but you have to get lucky, and you have to be willing to be ruthless., and let a 29 year old at the peak of his game leave because you don’t want to pay the back end of his contract. That can be really tough.
If Maitan gets released and cashes in as a free agent what is to keep other big time prospects from seeing this and letting things leak? How much do you think Vladimir Guerrero Jr or Eloy Jimenez could get on the open market? If I remember correctly, both had deals in place long before they signed.
If Maitan gets released, it probably would trigger a wave of players ratting out their respective(!) clubs. But it would send a strong message to teams what the risks are in the future.
That would be amazing for every team other than the teams they are release from. But what would a player be looking for in a team, I would think they would be looking for a rebuilding team.
The player in question is not Maitan though I do think the international market is known to the mlb front office and clubs right now as the wild west. There is so many shady things that unfortunately happen because there not being a international draft. Unfortunately for us fans we were the next club to bite the bullet, I wonder who is next LOL.
Eloy Jimenez wont cash in.
He was traded to the white sox as part of the quintana deal to the cubs.
No way the MLB forces the white sox to release him if the cubs were the ones to violate the rules by signing him……..
Wishful thinking though.
But, if the braves get hit hard and lose maitain you will probably see teams trading highly touted players they signed illegally before they have a chance to rat and before the mlb steps in. No way the mlb forces teams to rescind trades just to make one player’s signing null and void
Then perhaps the Blue Jays and Braves should get together and work out a deal centered around Guerrero and Maitain. Obviously the Braves would need to kick in more than Maitain to get Vlad Jr.
Not sure how a situation like that would work with eloy. The cubs signed him but of course they traded him to the white sox. There’s no way they could punish the white sox for a cubs signing…
No way that Dipoto survives. If only Albert Pujols was a free agent this year………or Josh Hamilton…….or some other overpriced washed up player.
CJ Wilson is available…
Hey Old Ranger … it was not DiPito who wanted to sign those guys it was the owner Morales