Jerry Dipoto Expected To Continue As Mariners Baseball Ops President In 2025
The Mariners’ second-half collapse led to a managerial change, but it doesn’t seem it’ll spur a shakeup at the top of the front office. Ryan Divish and Adam Jude of the Seattle Times report that Mariners’ ownership decided earlier this summer to retain president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto. The report indicates that general manager Justin Hollander — the #2 in baseball operations — will also return.
It seems ownership made the decision not to change the front office at a time when the Mariners looked to be on their way to an AL West title. They got out to a strong start as the Astros and Rangers were struggling and jumped out to a big lead in the American League West. As of June 18, they had a ten-game lead, but things have turned sour since then. They have cooled as the Astros caught fire, so that Seattle now sits 4.5 games behind Houston in the division. It was amid this free fall that Servais was dismissed and replaced by Dan Wilson.
While the circumstances have changed for the worse, Divish and Jude write that Dipoto’s job status is not contingent on the team salvaging a now unlikely playoff berth. The Mariners have never been forthcoming with details on Dipoto’s contract. Divish and Jude suggest the sides might have quietly worked out an extension earlier in the year without announcing it publicly. According to the report, Hollander signed a multi-year extension when he was promoted to GM back in October 2022.
The upcoming season will be Dipoto’s 10th at the helm in Seattle. The M’s have made the playoffs once during his tenure. They snapped a 21-year playoff drought in 2022 and knocked out the Blue Jays in the Wild Card series. They were swept by the Astros in the Division Series. Seattle narrowly missed the postseason last year, ending just behind Houston and the Rangers in a tightly-contested AL West. They finished the season at 88-74.
While the M’s missed the postseason in two of the past three years, they won between 88 and 90 games in each. Expectations were understandably high coming into this season. Seattle has arguably the best starting rotation in the majors. While the front office was seemingly hamstrung by ownership’s payroll constraints that prevented them from making a huge free agent splash, the Mariners acquired Jorge Polanco, Mitch Garver, Mitch Haniger and Luke Raley in an effort to reshape the offense.
None of Garver, Polanco or Haniger have played up to expectations. Julio Rodríguez has slumped through the worst season of his career. Despite bringing in Randy Arozarena and Justin Turner at the deadline, Seattle’s offense has fallen flat. They entered play Thursday with a .217/.304/.365 team batting line. That’s unacceptable production even in MLB’s toughest home park for hitters. Their fortunes haven’t changed since the deadline. The M’s own a .213/.319/.350 slash going back to July 30.
Today’s win over Oakland pushed the Mariners back above .500 at 71-70. There’s a good chance they land above .500 for the fourth straight season, but a win total in the mid-80s would be an obvious disappointment. They’d need a huge 17-4 finish to match last season’s record. Winning 88 games again would probably have been enough to take the AL West in what has been a down year for the division. They’re very unlikely to get there, though, and they’d need a major slump from the Astros to avoid missing the playoffs again.
To Dipoto’s credit, there are plenty of positives to his tenure. Seattle has been one of the best pitching development organizations in the game. They hit on first-round selections of Logan Gilbert and George Kirby, while mid-round picks Bryce Miller and Bryan Woo have blossomed into high-quality arms. The M’s acquired and extended Luis Castillo while locking up Rodríguez as the face of the franchise on a deal that could span the better part of two decades. Even with Rodríguez’s down year, that’s probably not one the organization regrets.
Nevertheless, the bottom line results have not gotten the team into October with any kind of regularity. They rebuilt early in Dipoto’s tenure — probably the right call considering the team’s payroll outlook and thin farm system at the time — but they’ve been in win-now mode for at least the last four seasons. Barring a late push, they’ll only have one playoff appearance in that stretch.
Dipoto has been the sport’s most aggressive executive on the trade front. They’ll again head into the offseason needing to reshape the lineup. That should portend another trade-heavy winter in Seattle, one they hope will get them past Houston in Wilson’s first full season as manager.
White Sox Outright Touki Toussaint
The White Sox sent right-hander Touki Toussaint outright to Triple-A Charlotte, the team announced (relayed on X by Scott Merkin of MLB.com). Chicago designated him for assignment on Tuesday.
Toussaint made it into the MLB bullpen just before the trade deadline. He pitched 11 times and ate 23 innings with a 7.43 ERA. He struck out 22.2% of opponents while issuing walks at a massive 15.4% clip. That’s more or less the same profile that the former first-round pick has shown over his seven seasons in the big leagues. While Toussaint misses bats at a roughly league average rate, he has always had well below-average control.
This was the second straight season in which the 28-year-old pitched for the Sox. Chicago claimed him off waivers from the Guardians last summer. He started 15 of 19 appearances down the stretch, posting an ERA a hair under 5.00. Toussaint held his 40-man roster spot until the end of Spring Training. The Sox outrighted him to Charlotte just before Opening Day. He pitched to a 5.15 ERA in 50 2/3 innings there before being called back up.
Toussaint has multiple career outrights, giving him the right to elect free agency. There may not be enough runway for him to catch on anywhere else this season, so it seems likelier he’ll report to Charlotte and try to return to the Chicago bullpen over the next couple weeks. He’ll be a minor league free agent in the offseason unless the White Sox call him back up.
Boone: Yankees Will Be “Creative” With Closer Role
The Yankees dropped tonight’s rubber match against the Rangers by a 10-6 margin. They’ve lost three straight series overall, dropping two of three against the Nationals, Cardinals and Texas. They had a good chance to secure a series victory and stay ahead of the Orioles in the AL East standings on Tuesday, but Clay Holmes surrendered a walk-off grand slam to Wyatt Langford in a 7-4 defeat.
It was the 11th save attempt which Holmes has squandered this year, three more than any other pitcher. The Yankees stopped short of officially stripping the right-hander of the closer role, yet it seems they’ll move to more of a committee approach in the short term. Before tonight’s game, skipper Aaron Boone told reporters that he’d be “creative” with the ninth inning (X link via Jack Curry of the YES Network). Boone indicated that Holmes remains in the mix for save chances, though it doesn’t appear that he’ll get every one by default.
To Holmes’ credit, he hasn’t pitched poorly overall in spite of the ugly blown save mark. He carries a solid 3.27 ERA over 55 innings. His 25.2% strikeout percentage and 8% walk rate are fine. Opponents have put nearly two-thirds of their batted balls on the ground. Among relievers with 50+ innings, only teammate Tim Hill has gotten grounders at a higher rate. ERA estimators like FIP (2.91) and SIERA (2.82) still suggest Holmes has been an excellent pitcher.
Despite the impressive rate stats, Holmes has found himself walking a tightrope at times throughout the year. He was utterly dominant early in the season. He didn’t allow an earned run until May 20, a stretch of 20 games and as many innings. Holmes carries a 5.14 earned run average through 35 frames since that point. The plus command he showed early on has become far shakier in recent weeks. Holmes is headed to free agency for the first time in his career at year’s end.
His ups and downs are magnified by a bullpen that has been underwhelming lately. Yankee relievers rank 22nd in ERA since the All-Star Break. That’s partially on Holmes, but their deadline pickups of Mark Leiter Jr. and Enyel De Los Santos haven’t panned out. De Los Santos was blasted over five appearances and quickly waived. Leiter has been very homer-prone since landing in the Bronx. Home runs have also been a problem for Luke Weaver and Jake Cousins.
Aside from Holmes, the Yankees have given their highest-leverage work to Tommy Kahnle and Leiter in the second half. Kahnle has pitched well and could pick up some save chances. Boone also left the door open to a potential closing look for either of Luis Gil or Clarke Schmidt (X link via Curry).
Both pitchers are returning from the injured list this weekend. They’ll each occupy a rotation spot for the upcoming set against the Cubs. The Yankees will carry a six-man rotation into next week before deciding whether to bump someone to relief. Nestor Cortes seems the likeliest candidate for a bullpen move, though he doesn’t have the velocity typically associated with a closer. Gil and Schmidt have more prototypical closing stuff.
Kodai Senga Throws Bullpen Session, Could Return This Season
Kodai Senga took a significant step in his rehab from a left calf strain. As reflected on the MLB.com injury tracker, the righty threw a 25-pitch bullpen session at fairly high intensity this afternoon.
While that’s the first of multiple throwing sessions, Andy Martino of SNY reports that the Mets are increasingly optimistic that Senga will return this season. Martino writes that the Mets prefer for Senga to come back as a starting pitcher. Those would surely be abbreviated starts given the limited ramp-up time, but the organization evidently prefers that to having the 31-year-old work from the bullpen.
Any kind of contribution from Senga would be a welcome development. He sustained the calf injury just before the trade deadline. Initial indications were that the strain was likely to end his season. The Mets implied as much by almost immediately placing him on the 60-day injured list, officially ruling him out until September 25. That left all of five regular season games in which Senga could participate.
There wasn’t any guarantee at the time that those games would even matter for the Mets, who were part of a jumbled Wild Card field. New York has remained in the mix and could be fighting for their playoff lives into the season’s final weekend. The Mets secured their seventh straight win with an 8-3 victory over the Red Sox tonight. They’re a half-game back of the Braves for the NL’s final Wild Card spot. The Mets are the only team within four games of Atlanta.
The two teams are squaring up for a potential race to the finish line. The Mets’ opponent when Senga is first eligible to return: the Braves. That’d be the second game of a three-game set between the division rivals. New York then closes the regular season with a three-game series in Milwaukee.
New York has hung in the playoff race despite virtually nothing from Senga. Their presumptive staff ace has made one start. Senga suffered a shoulder strain early in Spring Training, delaying his season debut until July 26. He had worked 5 1/3 innings of one-run ball with nine strikeouts (coincidentally, against Atlanta) before suffering the calf injury as he tried to get out of the way on an infield fly ball.
Senga was an All-Star and finished seventh in NL Cy Young balloting last year. He worked to a 2.98 earned run average in 166 1/3 innings during his first big league campaign. Senga finished second behind runaway winner Corbin Carroll in Rookie of the Year balloting.
The Mets are relying on a rotation of Sean Manaea, Luis Severino, David Peterson, Jose Quintana and Tylor Megill. The Mets will welcome deadline pickup Paul Blackburn — whom they may not have acquired if not for Senga’s calf injury — back from the 15-day IL next week (relayed on X by Anthony DiComo of MLB.com). Martino writes that the Mets are debating whether to move Megill to relief once Blackburn returns. Megill has a 4.95 ERA in 12 appearances, including 11 starts, despite striking out 26% of opponents. The righty has a bit of bullpen experience, having made six relief appearances back in 2022.
Mariners Sign Jesse Hahn To Minor League Contract
The Mariners inked Jesse Hahn to a minor league deal and assigned him to Triple-A Tacoma. Rainiers’ broadcaster Mike Curto tweeted the transaction.
Hahn, 35, is working to get back to the majors for the first time in three years. He was out of affiliated ball between 2022-23 after suffering a shoulder injury. Hahn returned to Triple-A on a minor league deal with the Dodgers. He tossed 41 2/3 innings of 4.54 ERA ball before being released last week. Hahn fanned a solid 24.2% of opponents while racking up grounders at a massive 58% clip, but his results were undercut by very poor control. The righty walked upwards of 18% of batters faced.
The extended layoff presumably hasn’t done Hahn any favors from a strike-throwing perspective. Yet he also battled his command during scattered MLB looks with the Royals between 2019-21. He issued 18 walks across 25 1/3 innings with Kansas City, turning in a 4.62 ERA in the process. Hahn has also pitched for the Padres and A’s and carries a 4.22 ERA over parts of seven major league seasons.
Dodgers To Activate Yamamoto Next Week
Yoshinobu Yamamoto will return to the Dodgers’ rotation on Tuesday. Manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including Alden González of ESPN) that the right-hander will get the start for the second game of next week’s set with the Cubs. Yamamoto is on the 60-day injured list and will need to be reinstated onto the 40-man roster.
It’ll likely be a brief appearance. Yamamoto last pitched in the majors on June 15. A rotator cuff strain knocked him out of action for more than two months. The 26-year-old joined Triple-A Oklahoma City on a rehab stint last week. He only pitched there twice, topping out at two innings. He labored through 53 pitches last night, and while his results weren’t good, he built up enough that the Dodgers don’t feel he needs another rehab appearance.
The Dodgers will presumably limit Yamamoto to somewhere in the 60-75 pitch range next week. L.A. has a decent 5.5-game cushion on the Padres in the NL West. They’re a game up on the Phillies for the top seed in the National League and three clear of the Brewers for a first-round bye. They’re still playing meaningful regular season games, but the primary focus is again on October.
Yamamoto should be able to log four turns through the rotation before the regular season concludes. That’d be ample time to build to a typical starter’s pitch count going into the postseason. If his stuff returns to pre-injury levels, he could be Roberts’ choice to start the first game of a playoff series. Yamamoto’s first MLB start was a nightmare, as he allowed four hits and five runs and didn’t make it to the second inning. The former NPB star has been as advertised since then. In the 13 starts since his debut, he sports a 2.34 earned run average with a 28.1% strikeout rate through 73 innings.
While it’s too soon to make definitive judgments about the Dodgers’ $325MM investment, Yamamoto was pitching like the top-of-the-rotation arm that L.A. expected. He’s part of an extremely high-variance rotation. Jack Flaherty and Gavin Stone are leading the group at the moment. Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow and Clayton Kershaw are on the IL. The Dodgers seem hopeful that both Glasnow and Kershaw will be back with a couple weeks to spare. If they get each of Yamamoto, Glasnow, Flaherty, Stone and Kershaw firing on all cylinders, they’ll go into the playoffs with an excellent rotation. That’s a big ask with the health uncertainty surrounding most of that group.
Kershaw went on the IL over the weekend with a bone spur in his left big toe. The Dodgers will turn to rookie righty Landon Knack in his place for Friday’s series opener with the Guardians, Roberts said (via Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register). Knack has been on and off the MLB roster as an injury replacement throughout the season. He has performed well when called upon, working to an even 3.00 ERA over 48 innings.
The A’s Position Player Core Is Emerging
The A's have quietly been one of the better teams in the American League for the past two months. As USA Today's Bob Nightengale observed last night (on X), only the Astros have a better record among AL clubs since the start of July. Oakland was above .500 in both July and August; last night's walk-off win over Seattle has pushed them to 31-22 since July began. They've outscored opponents by 37 runs in that time.
Their second-half success doesn't have much impact this year. The A's had a dreadful first half that ensures they're headed to a third straight losing season. They'll probably avoid a third last-place finish in as many years, but they're not likely to finish higher than fourth in the AL West. Even with 90 losses still in play, the past few months offer a glimpse at a better future for A's fans who'll stick with the team in Sacramento and Las Vegas. That's particularly true in the lineup, where a controllable core is beginning to take shape.
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Elvis Andrus To Retire
September 4: Now things will be more official shortly. Per another piece from Grant, Andrus will officially retire on as a Ranger Friday, September 6. He will throw out the first pitch prior to that day’s game against the Angels.
August 27: Elvis Andrus has been a free agent since the Diamondbacks released him at the end of Spring Training. While the longtime shortstop has not made any official retirement announcement, it seems he’s prepared to start a new chapter.
Andrus spoke with Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News last week about the considerations in all but officially ending his playing career. The 36-year-old told Grant that he’d initially stayed in shape after being released by Arizona in case another team presented him with an MLB opportunity. After a few weeks, he pulled back on those training efforts.
“Being in the big leagues was always a blessing, but the game has changed, players have changed, teammates changed,” Andrus noted. “Everybody is in their early 20s. Everybody I grew up with is out now. The last five years, I’ve seen all the guys that were my closest friends retire. Over the last few years, I found myself thinking: ‘When is it going to be my time?’
“I thought this was going to be a depressing journey, but it’s been amazing,” he added. “I really thought it was going to be harder to be away, but I’ve really been at peace and I’m at peace with the next decision about the next journey.” Andrus also told Grant that his three children have expressed throughout the summer that they’d prefer he stay home rather than continue to pursue playing opportunities.
Assuming this indeed marks the end of Andrus’ playing days, it’s the conclusion of a very good career. Signed by the Braves as an amateur out of Venezuela, Andrus quickly developed into a top prospect. He and Jarrod Saltalamacchia headlined Texas’ return in the 2007 blockbuster that sent Mark Teixeira to Atlanta.
Andrus reached the majors before his 21st birthday. He emerged as the Rangers starting shortstop by ’09, hitting .267 across 145 games. Andrus finished runner-up behind Andrew Bailey in that season’s Rookie of the Year voting. He earned an All-Star nod during his sophomore campaign and was the everyday shortstop on Texas’ consecutive pennant winners between 2010-11. Andrus topped 30 stolen bases in each of his first three MLB seasons. He earned a second All-Star nod with a .286/.349/.378 showing in 2012.
The Rangers committed to Andrus as their franchise shortstop early in the 2013 season. Texas inked him to an eight-year deal with a $120MM guarantee and a pair of opt-out chances. Andrus remained a fixture of the Ranger infield. He played a strong shortstop while hitting for high averages and playing nearly every game. While he was never a huge power threat, he got to 20 homers with a .297/.337/.471 slash and 88 RBI in a 2017 season that was arguably his best.
Andrus appeared in at least 145 games in each of his first nine seasons. He stole at least 20 bags in all of those years. His offensive productivity was a bit up-and-down, but he remained an average or better overall player throughout the 2010s. His numbers dropped off during the shortened 2020 campaign, leading Texas to ship him to the A’s in a contract swap involving Khris Davis that also netted future starting catcher Jonah Heim.
After spending a year and a half in Oakland, Andrus caught on with the White Sox late in the 2022 season. He hit well over 43 games for Chicago down the stretch and returned to the Sox last year. He hit .251/.304/.358 while splitting time between shortstop and second base in what looks to be his final major league action.
Andrus will be best remembered for his 12-year run with the Rangers. He tallied more than 7000 plate appearances, hitting .274/.330/.372 while stealing 305 bases. A regular on five playoff teams for Texas, he eventually logged more than 17,000 innings at shortstop. Andrus checked off a pair of milestones in his final season, surpassing 2000 career hits and 100 home runs. Baseball Reference credited him with 34 wins above replacement, while FanGraphs graded him at 36 WAR.
Grant also chats with Hall of Fame third baseman Adrian Beltré, Andrus’ longtime infield mate and close friend, about the shortstop’s impact on the Rangers. Texas fans, in particular, will want to read the Dallas Morning News column in full. Grant suggests the Rangers could enshrine Andrus in the organizational Hall of Fame once he officially announces his retirement. If this is the end of his playing days, MLBTR congratulates him on an excellent career and sends our best wishes for his post-playing endeavors.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Orioles Outright Forrest Wall
The Orioles announced this afternoon that outfielder Forrest Wall cleared waivers and was sent outright to Triple-A Norfolk. He does not have the requisite service time nor the previous career outright that would allow him to elect free agency.
Baltimore claimed Wall off waivers from the Marlins last week. They designated him for assignment within a few days. Wall has not played for the Orioles. He has 31 big league games under his belt, split between the Braves and Miami within the past two years. Wall has an impressive .311/.380/.422 slash in that limited time. His Triple-A track record is more modest, as he’s a .269/.355/.387 hitter through 369 games at that level.
The 28-year-old generally gets on base at a decent clip. He doesn’t hit for much power, though, and he’s not regarded as a great defensive outfielder. That’s despite fantastic speed that translates on the bases. Wall has four seasons with at least 35 stolen bases in the minors. He topped the 50-steal threshold in both 2022 and ’23, though he’s 20-28 in that regard between MLB and Triple-A this year. The O’s will keep Wall in Norfolk for the stretch run and could reselect his contract if they want to add a designated pinch-runner. He’d qualify for minor league free agency next offseason if Baltimore doesn’t call him back up.
Latest On Yankees’ Rotation Plans
The Yankees plan to activate Clarke Schmidt from the 60-day injured list to start against the Cubs on Saturday, tweets Chris Kirschner of the Athletic. The right-hander has made three minor league rehab appearances, reaching 4 2/3 innings on 70 pitches in Double-A yesterday.
Schmidt has been out since late May due to a lat strain. That interrupted what looked like a breakout showing for the former first-round pick. Schmidt worked to a 2.52 earned run average while striking out more than 27% of batters faced through 60 2/3 innings. It had started to represent a major step forward from his 2023 work. Schmidt had stayed healthy enough to log 159 frames over 33 appearances last year, though he did so with a pedestrian 4.64 ERA and an average 21.5% strikeout percentage.
Through the season’s first couple months, the Yankees had perhaps the best rotation in the American League. They haven’t maintained that level. Going back to the May 27 retroactive date of Schmidt’s IL placement, New York’s starters rank 24th with a 4.74 earned run average. Of their six starters with 20+ innings in that time, only Gerrit Cole has allowed fewer than four earned runs per nine.
Cole’s 3.65 ERA is itself a disappointment for a defending Cy Young winner. Luis Gil has been inconsistent. Nestor Cortes and Marcus Stroman each have an ERA in the high 4.00s over the past few months. Carlos Rodón had a terrible June, though he has been more effective in recent weeks (and had a dominant 11-strikeout performance tonight).
Schmidt’s return could eventually push one of the veterans from the rotation. Cortes is the likeliest candidate to be squeezed out. Skipper Aaron Boone said on Tuesday that the left-hander will pitch in relief behind either Gil or Schmidt in Chicago (link via Greg Joyce of the New York Post). That’s not officially a demotion, as Cortes will draw back into the rotation next week. New York is off on Thursday but begins a stretch of 10 consecutive game days with the Cubs series. They’ll go to a six-man rotation to get through that run before making a decision on whether to push someone to relief for the rest of the season.
The upcoming relief appearance will be Cortes’ first in three years. He established himself in the rotation with an All-Star showing in 2022. The southpaw struggled through injury last season. Cortes has been healthy this season, tossing 159 innings while tying for the AL lead with 28 starts. His overall production — a 4.08 ERA, 22.1% strikeout percentage and 4.9% walk rate — is solid, but he has a 5.17 ERA in 10 appearances since the start of July. New York considered moving Cortes at the deadline but elected to hold him after moving away from their discussions with the Tigers on Jack Flaherty (reportedly because of an unspecified issue with Flaherty’s medicals).