The Mariners never expected to contend in 2020, but a lost or truncated season stands to impact the club’s developmental timeline. GM Jerry Dipoto discussed his organization’s approach, especially with regard to its top prospects, with Larry Stone of the Seattle Times.
Dipoto acknowledged the tightrope the team is likely to encounter with exciting young talents such as Logan Gilbert and Jarred Kelenic. On the one hand, the original plan was for such players to open the year “in developmental mode” in the upper minors. And while it went unsaid, it stands to reason that the Seattle front office isn’t anxious to burn up service time unnecessarily.
On the other hand, Dipoto is cognizant of the need to squeeze in as much development as possible. These guys need reps and seem unlikely to find them at Triple-A in 2020. Getting prospects the requisite playing experience “becomes a little more challenging when there may not be a league for them to go play in,” Dipoto explains.
“We are very committed to the idea that their development is more important to us than virtually anything else we’re going to do this year,” says Dipoto. “We’re still committed to that idea, and this will just be a delicate balance for not trying to rush them, but make sure they get the competition reps to the best of our ability.”
It sounds as if it’s still up in the air whether and for how long we might get a glimpse of these highly regarded youngsters. That’s all presuming there’s a season at all, of course.
The Seattle brass is clearly pessimistic about anything like a typical minor-league season. It’s not hard to see why, given the stumbling effort to get a MLB campaign underway. But Dipoto says there is some hope that many minor-leaguers will get some sort of competitive action. He says he’s “optimistic” that minor-league action of some kind will be possible later in the year.
More broadly, Dipoto says, the club is bullish on the organization’s outlook. The Mariners’ slate of future financial commitments isn’t onerous; most of it is promised to younger players. As a whole, the current MLB roster is quite youthful, and there’s hope that some new stars are just on the horizon. It’ll certainly be fun to watch if the M’s decide to throw some of that talent into the bigs in an offbeat 2020 campaign.
trading them
Yeah, that’s not happening.
If Dipoto was going to trade top prospects, it would have happened in 2018 before the deadline. Everyone and their mothers were screaming for Dipoto to move Lewis, Rodriguez, and White–all three if necessary–to get help and try to stay in front of the rapidly approaching A’s.
He didn’t do it and the organization is better for it. So, why would he trade Seattle’s top prospects now, or in the near future, when they’re poised to come out of the rebuild soon? Rebuilding teams don’t trade potential core pieces.
I don’t know if you were joking given the reputation he had prior to last offseason (he only traded one player last winter), but a lot of fans seem to incorrectly believe that his focus is on movement. It’s not.
What the heck are you smoking Stevil? No one ever has said trade Rodriquez or White… and Lewis was not a viable prospect because he was injured for virtually 2 years. JD has chosen his path for this team and he better be correct or it will be another GM pulling the trigger.
You obviously weren’t around through July in the 2018 season. That, or unaware of what was happening.
Lewis returned to the field in 2018, and yes, he had limited value which is exactly why it made little sense to trade him. But fans (and some journalists) were indeed suggesting prospects get moved for short-term help. In case you weren’t aware, they held a wild card position through July–barely. The Athletic featured a post suggesting they go all-in. I believe Keith Law had another one for ESPN and there were others.
The general feeling was they needed to push in all their chips.
Regarding Dipoto’s path, well, no kidding. That applies to every GM. But there’s no reason to think he’s going about things wrong since committing to the rebuild.
Truth! No one was talking about trading those guys in 2018. Some just cannot take Jerry Dipoto criticism. He has been given a very long leash, his plan must show results.
Chester, you and Bil should do a little research. You can start with the sites I cited and move on to the comment sections of local media/fan posts.
Ironically, a lot of fans in the push-in-the-chips crowd were among the most critical of Jerry and there was plenty of criticism over the lack of deadline deals. They had already added Span and Colome after the Cano suspension, but the only real additions at the deadline were relievers.
I don’t need to research Stevil, I’m right here in Seattle and frequent those same sites. There also, wasn’t a “lack of dead line” deals… Cameron Maybin, Zach Duke, Adam Warren, Sam Tuivailala (good, but 5IP then hurt and done)… it’s just that none of them actually help the Mariners win. That’s what you seem to not get about Dipoto’s moves, they don’t ever help the Mariners win, which is the goal, right? Throw in a mid season clubhouse fight, that no one can talk about, and I’d say you’ve got some pretty good evidence that Dipoto resided over a total implosion of a team in 2018.
I don’t know why you’re trying to convince us all that Dipoto saved the fans from themselves.
You don’t need research….right. Then how can you possibly back yourself up like I already have?
I was right in the middle of many of those conversations and few, if any, were pleased with the deals made for relievers (which I had already noted). There was a need for a LHRP, but there was a bigger need for an offensive-minded outfielder (especially in center) and a shut-down starting pitcher.
Seattle didn’t have the chips (in my opinion), but many fans and journalists believed they could pull off bigger deals than what we eventually saw. The moves we did see didn’t pan out, but I believe Dipoto did what he could with the limited resources he could afford to use. I’m glad we didn’t see Lewis sold cheap, or White and Rodriguez moved before their stock jumped significantly.
By the way, that fight between Gordon and Segura wasn’t mid-season. It was in September. Another reason why a little research is wise.
Regarding my intent, this started with another comment about Jerry trading off the top talent. Well, he hasn’t done that, has he? Are you going to argue that that’s more likely now?
Why would I need to research something I lived through less than 2 years ago?
Dipoto fired his bullets, which is why he had “limited resources.” as you describe. Dee Gordon took several prospects to acquire and didn’t do much to help the team win (well, he did walk 9 times). Dipoto traded Seth Elledge (a top relief prospect) for 5 meaning innings of relief pitching. His moves are more miss, than hit.
Because you’re conversing with someone who is offering evidence and lived through it as well. It’s like you’re scared that you might have missed something… which you have.
Dipoto did fire his bullets and missed with many of them. He didn’t have many of them to begin with. He identified who was expendable and who wasn’t and went to work. His only real form of currency was the farm, which was near or at the bottom when he took over, so what did you really expect was going to happen? He nearly pulled it off as well. 89 wins would have been enough to get into the postseason in 2017. Wasn’t to be.
But you’re changing the subject. There were indeed a lot of calls for the rest of the decent prospects to be sacrificed if necessary in order to strengthen their push for contention in 2018. He didn’t do that, and he’s not going to do that now.
For the record, I didn’t like the Tui deal. I liked Elledge a lot. Hated the Sears/Then trade. Didn’t care for the Gordon deal, either, but I understood he had limited resources and had to take some risk to try to get over the hump. I’m just glad he didn’t give up early on Lewis, Rodriguez, or White.
2018 and it’s heady days of Summer…..it was early July and we had just won our 8th straight game. That win put those brutal losses at Boston and NY firmly in the rear view and on the morning of July 4 we were 56-32! We were getting National attention, we had a fairly substantial lead in the WC and we spent nearly 2 weeks in June holding 1st place in the West. The A’s surely can’t keep their winning streak alive….
Early May had one of my all time favorite M’s games- an 11th inn affair vs LAA that saw us go behind in the 8th, the 9th, the 10th and the 11th inn only to battle back in the bottom of each inn then eventually win on a Ryan Healy line drive. I remember thinking to myself on numerous occasions in May and June I don’t care how this season ends this has been the most fun I’ve had as a Mariners fan in years. I was so wrong…. it finished in typical Mariners-fashion. Soul crushing agony and bitter resentment. Oh 2018…
Stevil- I really wanted us to pick up Cole Hamels before the trade deadline. Players obviously have to want to come to Seattle. I’m not sure if we had the prospects to go with the Int. money leftover from the Ohtani bid but I wonder how hard we pursued that Hamels deal? The way our bats went cold in the 2nd half of 2018 I’m not sure it would’ve helped.
Hindsight is 2020 and I’m not sure how we could’ve acquired these guys but Eduardo Escobar or Tommy Pham in addition to Cole Hamels? Oof! Instead we get Cameron Maybin and 3 RP’s who gave us 0.6 bWAR. Speaking of, I’ll never forget it- Zach Duke’s 1st appearance, he came in to get LH Josh Reddick in a tight game and Dave Sims says “Zach Duke hasn’t given up a HR to a LH all season, in fact he’s only allowed 1 HR to a LH in the past 3 seasons!” Or something to that effect.
Very next pitch? Yep, literally, a Reddick HR. That was one of countless sickening feelings in the 2nd half of 2018. Glad we can reminisce, hahaha!
Dead on Stevil.
MLB needs to establish a minor league season in the off season in Florida & Arizona spring training spots for prospects to play in. Just a team of the 30 best prospects to get some game action in this year.
30 prospects of choice id say. these developmental leagues help borderline top prospects the most anyway.
Say like every MLB team gets a 40 man prospect roster. That way each team puts who they want to get reps out there. Also the coaches can all go down there and get lots of individual coaching in.
Hmm… what’s going on here?
When I was 14, there was no fantasy baseball, no Bill James, no cable TV (at least in Chicago). We did have the baseball cards and Strat-o-Matic, though.
APBA was best!
Still have mine from the early 70s.
I’d imagine if the Mariners decide to give their best prospect reps that they’ll essentially field a Triple A team for whatever season might ensue. They have no plans of contending this year, and if the guys are on the playing roster, the service clock is ticking. Might as well do what you can to get these guys up to speed. I wonder how clubs like Baltimore and Miami will approach the season?
Though the major league team is already full of players needing development: White, Long, Crawford, Lewis, Fraley, Dunn, Sheffield, Kikuchi, and maybe Vogelbach, Mallex, and Murphy. It’s not like they have a ton of room to play their prospects during major league games.
This team could look pretty fierce with a young veteran Lewis and the crops of prospects Gilbert, Kelenic, Rodriguez, Kirby, White and maybe Marte or Raleigh.
I think Fraley has a chance to be a stud a the MLB level.
A lot will depend on whether or not there’s an AFL, or an extended AFL, and some of it might depend on the taxi squad if there is indeed a season.
Dunn and Gilbert, and even Delaplane, are all close enough that they could justify roster spots (Dunn’s already on the 40), but Kelenic and Raleigh have yet to master AA. Rodriguez just made it to high-A.
Seems unlikely that any of the top fielding prospects (plus Raleigh) who aren’t on the 40 see MLB this year. Seattle still needs to maximize PA’s for White, Lewis, Fraley, and Long, see if Haniger can rebound, and should probably give Lopes a hard look whenever/wherever they can.
Huge fan of Kelenic. I think he is going to be a star.
I think Kelenic will be a .280/.350 20-HR 10-SB guy. Definitely plus, especially for a CF, but not a star.
He’s 20, he’s in AA, and he has plus hit, power, speed, and arm tools.
That screams star potential.
Jarred Kelenic is a future superstar. He has Bryce Harper Swag with Mike Trout tools.
The Mariners are in a much better situation than a team with aging sluggers like the Twins (Cruz and Donaldson) for example. I would rather have a group of young guys miss a season but still have plenty of time to develop as opposed to having aging sluggers miss a full year of MLB pitching and game speed. The older you are, the tougher it can be to get back into the swing of things.
Still hoping Haniger will be a part of the future M’s mix.
If Seattle still intends to be in contention in 2022, I don’t see how they could afford to trade Haniger (if he rebounds before then). Lewis, Fraley, and Bishop have yet to prove themselves and there may not be any clear answers with any of them before then. Then there’s Kelenic who may not debut til 2021 and Rodriguez who won’t likely debut until 2022.
As promising as many of these guys are, many (if not most) will need some time to settle in before they’re productive. If Seattle’s willing to push back their own general timeline, it may not be a big deal. But otherwise, I think hanging onto Haniger would be wise.
Here’s hoping that the Mariners get Nick Gonzales with the 6th pick!
You can say what you want about Dipoto, but when he took over the Mariners farm system was one of the worst; now it is one of the best.
They are poised to go forward in a positive direction. Of course prospects can fail, but that’s true of any organization.
Too bad they didn’t trade Haniger when they could have. I have the feeling he’s going to be hurt most of the time.