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.
