The 2018 Mariners piled up 89 wins, their most victories in a season since 2003, but the club still extended its playoff drought to 17 years. No North American pro sports franchise owns a longer postseason-less streak than the Mariners, who have elected to radically reconstruct their major league roster and minor league farm system over the past couple months. Believing the Mariners were neither good enough to compete for a title nor bad enough to bottom out with the talent they had, general manager Jerry Dipoto set out to “re-imagine” their roster this winter. Dipoto has done just that in ultra-aggressive fashion, having traded one familiar veteran after another in hopes of assembling a roster capable of striving for relevance as early as 2020 or ’21.
Dating back to Nov. 8, the Mariners have shipped out catcher Mike Zunino, left-hander James Paxton, second baseman Robinson Cano, shortstop Jean Segura, first baseman Carlos Santana (acquired for Segura), outfielders Ben Gamel and Guillermo Heredia, and relievers Edwin Diaz, Juan Nicasio, Alex Colome and James Pazos. In return, the Mariners have received a few 30-something veterans (first baseman/designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion, outfielder Jay Bruce and reliever Anthony Swarzak), substantial salary relief (including $64MM from the Cano trade) and a host of potential long-term pieces. The team’s hope is that recently acquired outfielder Mallex Smith, catcher Omar Narvaez, shortstop J.P. Crawford and outfielder Domingo Santana – all major leaguers who are controllable for three or more years – will be part of the solution for the foreseeable future, and it has the same plan for the bevy of prospects it has landed in its multitude of recent trades.
Prior to Dipoto’s November/December transactions spree, the Mariners had the majors’ worst farm system and none of MLB.com’s top-1oo prospects. But they got three such farmhands – lefty Justus Sheffield (No. 31), outfielder Jarred Kelenic (No. 62) and righty Justin Dunn (No. 89) – in those trades. Unsurprisingly, thanks to the additions of Sheffield, Kelenic, Dunn and an array of other prospects, the Mariners now boast one of the majors’ most improved systems, per Jim Callis of MLB.com.
Adding to the long-term optimism, the Mariners made a major strike in free agency to kick off the New Year when they signed Japanese lefty Yusei Kikuchi. While Kikuchi’s not on the level of countryman Shohei Ohtani, whom Dipoto badly wanted last winter before he signed with the division-rival Angels, he could nonetheless be a game-changing acquisition. Kikuchi will slot in near the top of the Mariners’ rotation immediately, and at 27, he’s young enough and controllable for long enough (possibly through 2025) that he could be a key factor for perennially contending Seattle clubs. The same applies to Smith, Narvaez, Crawford, Santana, Sheffield, Kelenic, Dunn (and the other acquired prospects), not to mention outfielder Mitch Haniger and left-hander Marco Gonzales.
Haniger and Gonzales – each controllable for the next handful of years – stand out as the most valuable players remaining from last season’s Mariners team. Both players, especially Haniger, no doubt possess high trade value, but it seems they’ll remain on hand as prominent members of Seattle’s next core. Still, with several other trade candidates on the roster (Encarnacion, Bruce, Swarzak, second baseman Dee Gordon, third baseman Kyle Seager and righty Mike Leake), the ever-active Dipoto may not be done flipping veterans for prospects and/or future salary room in advance of next season.
No matter what happens between now and Opening Day, the Mariners’ 2019 roster will look far different than it did last year, when the club tallied the majors’ 11th-most wins but once again fell short of a playoff spot. Are you on board with Seattle’s decision to take a step back in 2019 with the goal of becoming a perennial contender thereafter? Or should Dipoto & Co. have taken more of a win-now approach this winter in an effort to snap the team’s embarrassing playoff drought next season?
(poll link for app users)
They’re not the Orioles
I think they need to stop straddling and commit to a strategy. This Kikuchi signing makes little sense. Making Haniger basically untouchable makes little sense. I think the front office is being too optimistic about the time when their window will reopen and it will negatively impact the quality of their rebuild.
Kikuchi cost them no talent. How does it not make sense? It’s not like they need the payroll space over the next couple years. They could have him for up to 7 years, which more than covers the start of the next planned contending window.
Signing a free agent with a compensation pick attached would have been a bad move, sure. But how does this hurt them?
They had to overpay to get him in the current SP market and his vslue is questionable even in the short term,let alone when he’s in his mid 30s and losing velocity. Plus, you’re aware that money not spent now can be saved and doesn’t later as the window opens right? Finally, that’s a rotation spit that now will not be used to allow one of their young arms to gain big league experience. It just doesn’t make much sense
$56m guaranteed over 4 years with a club option to extend after year 3 to $109m over 7 years (AAV of 14.m and 15.57m respectively) is an overpay? Contract ends with his age 33 season. Assumption of velocity loss at 33 is pretty presumptuous.
Also, a rotation spot is being used to allow one of their young arms to gain big league experience: Yusei Kikuchi.
Why don’t you take a look at his comps. Alex Wood seems like a good example and he’s making $6MM per year. Same age, except with the benefit of a major league track record. Yeah, big overpay.
And by “young arms” I meant one that is young enough to fit into their likely window.
When his ERA is 5 it’ll be an overpay
Alex Wood is still a year away from free agency. Using the salary from his 2nd year of arbitration eligibility as indicative of what the free agent market is for starting pitching makes no sense.
With Kikuchi signed for 4 (and up to 7) seasons, if he doesn’t fit into what you see as their likely window, the “young arms” you’re looking for are mostly still in high school.
Exactly. Comparing Wood arbitration year to a free agent is nonsense. I’ve seen Wood’s game for the latter part of 4 years and I take Kikuchi sight unseen. Not understanding the cost of starting pitching is ignorance as to the teal cost of assembling a winning pitching staff. It’s a great gamble on Seattle’s part.
Who are your salary comps then. Put up or shut up
Good post!! I agree. This move for Kikuchi fit the M’s “PERFECTLY”! It fits their timeline for the “step back” approach. It helps replace the loss of Paxton and allows Yusei to adjust to the majors and come along slowly as the Mariners have said they are going to do with him.
Beisbolista, pick a #2 or #3 pitcher and you have your comp. that’s what the industry thinks he’ll be. You’re welcome.
Hey man, you’re the one trying to illustrate the big overpay, proving it is your job. Keep trying, In a year where Nathan Eovaldi turned one decent season/good postseason into 4/$64, I want to see the numbers that make 4/$56 (w/team option) for a 27 year old lefty projected #3 such an obvious overpay.
Look what Corbin just got, last offseason with Tyler chatwood too. Pretty cheap for a starter honestly and it being short term he could be a trade chip if they need to develop guys longer or whatever. He never said haniger was untouchable but with the control he said he would need to be blown away. Makes sense to me. Dipoto got out of a really bad contracts this offseason. Got a lot of young talent. Will have blank slate for payroll in two years. Pretty obvious what he is doing. He was going for it before now he isn’t. He hasn’t straddled anything. Just tried to add to the guys he had on bad contracts. I think this offseason for the Mariners has been really great.
He’s not necessarily a #2 or 3 starter. I’ve read several evaluations that have him as a 4 or 5 at best, while a few believe Kikuchi might not even be a quality big league starter.
What Sea did was trade a solid 2 in
Paxton—a proven, known commodity—for a Japanese pitcher who may or may not adapt well to MLB and a minor league pitcher in Sheffield who has already been traded twice before having thrown a single inning in the bigs.
This offseason seems to me to be just another of DiPoto’s usual, two steps forward, one step back then one forward and two back. For all the shuffling of players, the M’s aren’t getting appreciably better.
Plus, do you folks realize you’re talking about “windows” in a year or two and your best player—Haniger—is already 28 years old??
A better comparison would have been Corbin age 29 and more expensive with no opt out and only 1 good season under his belt
You got any of those evaluations handy? Are they actual scouting reports or like, blog posts?
The presumption is Corbin’s turned a corner to Ace/Ace-adjacent and so he got paid like it. Also has two 3+ fWAR seasons to go along with his 6.3 2018 fWAR, so it’s not totally about of the blue. Kikuchi was always going to be a tier below.
Every review I have read says 2 or 3 pitcher. For or 5 is crazy. He has been in Japans top league for 6 yrs and was 2nd in there voting of cy young equivalent . He does not have high velocity of Paxton but he is an experienced winner who should be a very good 3 at worse.
The Mariners direction is to keep shuffling players until the GM gets the payroll down….that he ran up.
The team has no identity other than the GM; no style of playing baseball; and no end in sight to whatever it is they’re doing.
But they are the favorite of fans nationwide that see MLB as a rotisserie league.
Saying that Dipoto ran up the payroll indicates you know nothing about the Mariners.
I know right. Someone hasn’t been paying attention. Lol
Got rid of old payroll that was going to miss the next goal window. Used it on players that fit timeline. I thought that’s what GMs were supposed to do.
Little sense? He would make perfect sense for every team. He signed what could be a 7 year deal. How does that not make sense?
I agree 100%. Either burn it down and start over or they could have kept their core and added to it. They were a starting pitcher and a consistent bat away last year. Dipoto has been terrible managing the starting rotation. He is in love with Marco Gonzales and thinks Mallex Smith is part of the core veterans moving forward? I dont trust him as an evaluator of talent and I have less confidence in his ability (along with the organization) to develop young talent.
Seattle lefthander Marco Gonzales is a former Top 50 prospect who last year ranked 23rd among all starters in fWAR, just ahead of Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke. Gonzales was pitching in the MLB postseason only 16 months after being taken in the first round of the 2013 draft.
The Mariners are fortunate to have Gonzales under team control for another five seasons.
Keep trading vets and stockpiling talent. By the time Seattle is ready to contend again, the AL West shouldn’t be as strong.
Bryce Harper is about to sign 10 years with the Angels…
They’ve had the best player in the world for the past few years and done absolutely nothing
Yeah because the last time they signed a superstar for 10 years it worked out super. I think they won 10 World Series titles in a row.
Wanna bet?
Yes, but maybe not 10 years but definitely the Angels.
If they sign Harper they won’t even try to keep Trout. Is that what you want?
Dipoto just trades because that’s all he knows about being a GM.
he learned the trade on mlb the show 08.
The committed salaries and limited payroll flexibility had a lot to do with it. But that might not be the case in 2021, when the books are almost clean and the many of the top prospects have graduated.
Trades represent the current market inefficiency.
Bidding on top free agents typically results in an overpay known in auction land as the winner’s curse.
All I can say is good luck!
Question:
“No North American pro sports franchise owns a longer postseason-less streak than the Mariners”
Mariners last postseason appearance was 2001, making it 17 years.
The Pittsburgh Pirates made the postseason in 1992, then never again until 2013, making that 20 years…. Nats/Expos went 30 (1981-2012), Royals went 1985-2014 (28 years), Brewers 1982-2008 (25)…. am I missing something??
None of those are current…
Longest currently active streak.
I think the article is missing the word currently “no North American pro sports franchise CURRENTLY owns a longer postseason-less streak than the Mariners.”
The word “owns” implies that it’s current. Snapped streaks are irrelevant.
Longest current streak.
The Mariners are also like 1 of 3 tams that have never won a pennant..
Mariners
Expos/Nationals
Brewers
Its weird because I googled it and 4 of the 7 teams list have won a pennant at least 1 time since 1998 padre and rangers are the only ones from the 7 that won 2 pennants. San Diegos first was in 1984
Brewers have won a pennant
Brewers have won a pennant, just not an NL pennant. They won the AL pennant in 1982.
good research to only get owned for not reading.
I think the Mariners still possess a sneakily competitive team. I’m not saying they’ll make the playoffs by any means, but I still the think the “rebuilding” Mariners do better than the Rangers and the Angels in 2019.
If they would spend a bit of money and land 2 of Moose, Pollock, or Lowrie, then bolster the pen a bit I think they could be a very sneaky team come this season. No way the A’s rag tag rotation can get it done 2 years in a row and no matter how good the angels look on paper they always end up sucking so I could see the mariners making a solid wild card run if some of their youngsters can get it done.
They will make a wild card run… mark my words. #2028
Another poster who thinks spending money equals more wins… Seattle should trade for Pujols you’re saying and will win more games.
The difference is that Pollock and Lowrie can still provide and Pujols obviously cannot..
Never been called a poster before. In order to fill positions of need, you must spend money. That’s what I’m getting at. Not saying spending money equals an automatic ticket
Angels will be better than people think. 80-90 win range. Possibly hitting the mid 90s.
sure…until the rotation hits the dl as normal
I came here to say the same thing. The Angels are criminally overrated every year; once they can stay healthy, they can possibly make noise. But who knows if that’ll happen?
Last place,the only thing they compete for will be that #1 pick(worst record)
No way they come close to the Orioles or Royals.
Thats extremely false, not going to be slightly competitive. Took all those 1 run win miracles to get to 89 last season…run differential?? Did you check it last season? And you think they improved?
this is a playoff team. anything from dee and kyle, plus relief, an innings eater, and they say a utility infielder to make the playoffs.
You realize the Astros and the Athletics are in the same division? Yankees, Red Sox, Indians, who do they beat for a Wild Card???
Hitting HRs with every trade made, excluding Segura trade.
Miracle they unloaded Cano, got 100M in surprus value for Edwin Diaz had season for ages (Cash out unlike O’s Britton)
Mark my words Mets’ fans: Cano is aging… Diaz volatile pos. I believe Jerry pulled off a heist –
Factual brilliant. (Cano’s age increasing, Diaz a closer)
Jerry pulled off a heist when he got the job, when he got an extension,and when he made anyone believe he would make Seattle relevant again soon.
Any time you have over 100 mil owed to a 36 yr old for 5 more yrs and you get rid of a majority of that money let alone get great prospects it’s an absolutely heist.
He might have learned that something from Arte
Every mlb closer or reliever for that matter is volatile. Every mlb player is aging.
Relievers more than any other position, which is what the comment was saying.
Kinda of shocking Dipoto is making random, seemingly aimless moves. Not like him
If Haniger is staying then they’re going in the wrong direction.
Dipoto is a con artist. He has proven that he can’t win with talent so he sells magic beans instead. I’ve been a Mariners fan for many years and I’d take real talent over the hope of young prospects any day. Our organization is VERY bad at developing young talent.
Since when? You guys are actually pretty darn good at drafting and developing talent….you just have a GM that isn’t afraid of trading anyone at anytime.
Dipoto’s players acquired Haniger, Segura, Gonzalez, Gamel, Leake, LeBlanc, Colome, Phelps, carried the team last year, where the over expensive aging core of Felix, Cano, Cruz, and Seager handcuffed the team and all their performances dipped, and were acquired by the former FO!
Dipoto has been operating with his hands tied since he took over. He made a run the best he could and when he saw that we were over performing above our heads, had to step back and “reimagine” the roster.
You think Cruz handcuffed the team last year?
Was it his 851 OPS or his 134 wRC+ that kept the Mariners out of the playoffs?
Numbers dipped bro. Plain and simple. Dont try and tell me they didnt.
He’s not trying to tell you they didn’t. He’s trying to tell you that a really good DH regressing to a “still pretty darn good” DH doesn’t constitute “handcuffing” a team.
I know what he’s trying to say. Do you both know what I’m trying to say is the question here?
He was an aging player who’s numbers dipped. I know Cruz was great last year. He was part of an aging core that was beginning to trend downward. Plain and simple. I LOVED Boomstick, but a 38-year old DH whose stock was beginning to fall wasn’t going to help the club going forward.
And as he had reached the end of his contract, subsequently signing with the Twins for the upcoming season, his effect on the team moving forward is 0. Still failing to see the handcuffed part.
They got the 6th overall pick from 2018 and they didn’t have to lose a 100 games. Ten to twelve teams are tanking. To pick 6th a team has to be dreadful. The mariners also received the Yankees top AAA pitchers and the Mets best starter AA. Oh yeah out from under the second half of a quarter billion dollar contract. Added a center fielder for 4 years, added a offensive catcher for 4 years added a lefty starter for 7 years.
Silly question… all the teams are going in the right direction. They are either improving for 2019 or for further into the future.
Some might say the Mets, White Sox, Padres, Angels, Phillies are going in the wrong direction.
I’m not saying they all are, but I’m saying each could have an argument both ways.
It’s like saying “Are we going in the right direction to the grocery store”? Maybe you want to go the direct route? Maybe you prefer the scenic route? Maybe you want to stop at the girlfriends house on the way? Check out the new construction? Maybe you want shop at Walmart? Whole Foods? Meat and Stuff?
There are no “wrong directions”. Everyone will be getting groceries, but not everyone will be eating Serf and Turf.
There are wrong directions. Doing things that will hurt your team is a bad direction. Don’t be someone who cares more about semantics than discussion.
This new Mariners team is so significantly worse than it was it isn’t even funny. What’s the point of unloading Cano when you pick up Bruce and Encarnacion. They shed 60mm in payroll but picked up 50mm more, and Cano will be more valuable next year than those two combined. Dipoto trades players just to trade them. His moves very rarely if ever make sense. 89 wins won’t be enough to win that division, and they won’t get anywhere near 89 again this season. They need to embark on a full rebuild, preferably with a different GM.
In order to shed payroll without giving up future payroll you have to include prospects or a stud closer like Diaz. It’s much better to add high priced vets that payroll commitment that end in 2019 than 2022 and beyond.
Edwin might not even make it to the spring training if Jerry has his way.
I don’t see a scenario where Encarnacion or Bruce is on the team on Opening Day 2020. One of them is as good as gone now, the other I’d guess is gone in July. So to take on money we aren’t going to keep in order to get rid of a $120M commitment to an aging Cano alone makes all the sense in the world. Add that we got Mallex Smith to play CF in the process and it’s a no brainer.
@Melchez I fully believe the Orioles have no idea as to what they are doing
Just so I understand your perspective on this, what would you do in Elias’ position? He’s restructuring internally a system that was about as broken as it could be, and really has no one that can be traded on that abysmal roster.
I’ll hold on Dipotos moves. Voted yes because I think most of them were for the long term health of the club, but I don’t quite get encarnacion or bruce.
@goplen05… It’s like making sausage…. everyone loves sausage, but it’s not a pretty process when it’s made.
The Orioles are in the killing of the pig part of the making sausage. It’s an ugly situation. They are just starting their rebuild. They are looking at their farm system to fill holes. Their system was really bad. They had decent years, so they had picks in the first round in the 20-30 range, so they haven’t had top picks. They lost their top 2 picks in 2014.because of free agents (Cruz and Jiminez). (They also traded comp pick Josh Hader for Bud Norris) They were non-existent in the International draft.
It will get better but it takes time.
They have number 1 pick in 2019 which will really help their prospects. Figure the number 1 pick will probably be their number 1 prospect. Their second pick will probably be their 4th best prospect. behind Diaz and Montcastle. Their 3rd and 4th pick will probably also be in their top 30.
Then they grind the meat and add seasoning….
Next year they will probably get a high pick also. That’s probably 1 more top 100 prospect and a couple more that could be ranked highly. Add in an a couple International free agents here and there. So in 2 years they could transform that minor league system into 6 to 8 very young top 100 players. Maybe more.
Then they can start cooking the sausage. That’s where it smells good and your mouth starts watering. You know it’s going to be good once it’s done cooking.
These prospects will grow into major leaguers and the Orioles will be contending again. It might take 4 to 5 years, but they will get there.
Dude, your similes are horrible.
Hanging on to Haninger means they want a quick rebuild and can con the fans into thinking they can rebound quickly. If they end up .500 with what they’ve lost and traded they’ll look like geniuses especially when Oakland falls off.
Or they haven’t received an offer of value for a young controllable power hitter. Haniger is the one with value, they are right not to trade him.
Losing Paxton and Segura is a large price to pay but I actually think they did pretty well. Bruce and Encarnacion are prime flip at the deadline candidates that could net them even more long term value. If sheffield turns into a top of the ratation guy, a core of kikuchi, sheffield, and gonzales could solidify a nice young rotation.
Dipoto has set a contention goal of 2020/2021. He has done absolutely nothing, and has done absolutely everything to push to that. The offense is cheap, and about 80 times more productive than 2018. Omar Naravez is better than Mike Zunino offensively, Dee Gordon and Kyle Seager will both be substantially better (since both are now injury free), Domingo Santana is better than Denard span/Ben Gamel, and Mallex Smith is better than Cameron Maybin/Heredia.
I’m not coming out saying they’ll be good in 2019. They won’t be a playoff contender, although they are sneaky good and can be better than we think. Dipoto has acquired players, and prospects that push the 2020-2021 contention model. The only exception is Jarred Kelenic, who is someone you really shouldn’t say no to. Justin Dunn, Justus Sheffield, Erik Swanson, Dom-Thompson Williams, Jake Fraley all fit those years, plus other prospects like Braden Bishop, Evan White, and Kyle Lewis (maybe).
Now with Kikuchi it looks even brighter.
The Mz are that team in your dynasty league thats kinda rebuilding but still has a few guys you would love to own.
By the 2021 compete window, the Mariners will have a solid and extremely cheap core of players. Haniger, Smith, White, Santana, and possibly Kelenic on the offense. Sheffield, Gonzales, Dunn, and Kikuchi as 4 of the 5 in the rotation projects to be legit. They have decent relievers in the upper minors but you can also solidify a bullpen via free agency.
Not to mention, guys like Fraley, Crawford, Marte, Thompson-Williams, Swanson, and Gilbert could all be solid major leaguers.
That is a core that can be kept together for a long time.
People that are frustrated with the bigger picture of Dipoto or do not see it need to learn baseball. yeah I said it baseball. Trading Cano was the smartest move this Off-season by any GM. Signing Kikuchi shows Dipoto can still impress top level F.A. even during his “rebuild”. Dipoto understood that the core players he had in his roster combined with the teams payroll, was not a sustainable approach to competing in MLB nor his division. He used the most valuable pieces he had and put realistic trades together in order to get the value he missed on Dee Gordon, Kyle Seager, Healy, Cano and more. On paper, those players should have performed at a better level than they did. They should have won more games. Dipoto needs top level pitching and that is a sure bet to compete in the AL. This free agent class did not have that it factor to make a difference enough to warrant a huge chunk of their payroll. He got young pitchers that are cost effective and have control. What is wrong with any of that? How is that trading just to trade? He is trying to build around guys like Hanigar and Kikuchi.
9He didn’t miss on Seager and Cano. The former front office organization did. Gordon was fine last year up until his injury. He was also jacked around positions and asked to play in CF last year, something not normal to him. I’m looking for a rebound from him this year.
Otherwise, I agree with most of you’re assessment.
they are retooling…not rebuilding
Coming from a Mariners fan I’m excited for what they are doing. We have been mediocre for years and it was just time. I was disappointed when they traded Diaz but offloading Canos contract and getting some of the Mets’ top tier of prospects was well worth it. I think Jerry has done a nice job since he got here. I love the signing of Kikuchi simply because if he’s not that great, Seattle has the opportunity to decline the club option extension and he has a player option for the 4th year, if he’s great then Seattle can have him for another 4 years. I think they trade Leake and Encarnacion in the off-season, then they’ll trade the vets who are having decent years at the deadline. I can’t think of the last time Seattle has had a top prospect that hit so I’m excited for Kelenic. Not saying he’s for sure going to hit but he looks like a star in the making. Overall I’m very excited for what the future of baseball looks like in Seattle.
I am too. It’s an exciting time to be a Mariners fan. I don’t care what everybody else thinks. I’ve not been this excited over an offseason in years.
I totally agree. Those who are slamming Dipoto for these moves are either trolls or simply don’t understand baseball.
It boggles my mind that some fans actually believe that he should have kept that aging roster together and added to it. Foolishness! The Yanks, Astros, and Red Sox are in another stratosphere!
I think he is doing great. Takes balls to do the smart thing at times when many wont understand.
I think Jerry Dipoto just likes to play Monty Hall. There has been no rhyme or reason to any of his moves over the years. I guess he’s now going to see what’s behind door #3?
The current conventional wisdom among baseball fans and media seems to be that unless a team is trying to win 100 games or lose 100 games they are doing things wrong.
Especially for Mariners fans, since they haven’t been in the playoffs for so long. 100 wins would almost certainly get them into the playoffs, but if they can’t do that they might as well tank and get s high draft pick.
jerry shaved 100 million dollars off the payroll, got younger, and has about the same team as last year. if he signs a couple of relief pitchers or a closer they could be better.
I understand what their GM is attempting to do, I just don’t think trading Segura was a smart move, especially for what they got back. JP Crawford is more than a project.
When have the Mariners had a direction??
Up until Dipoto, Pat Gillick was the GM that engineered a team that won 116 games in a single season. No other major league franchise, save for the Cubs has done that. We were playing lights out up until 9/11. The terrorist attacks stopped baseball for a whole week. When we came back from the break, we were not the same team. The magic, momentum, and chemistry that we had build were sucked out in an instant once the country was reeling. After that, everyone was pulling for New York. Damn terrorists stole my World Series!! Lol
DiPoto went from a team of no real future to a team with promise. There is nothing saying he can’t trade hanigar if he is offered the right value. He just hasn’t been offered it yet as he was for Paxton and Diaz. Encarnacion and Bruce aren’t long term pieces. Why stick with a mediocre middle of the road team going nowhere? It’s literally the worst position to be in.
you calling arizona the team of no real future? if you meant the angels we still are recovering from the damages dip dip inflicted on the team and the farm.
He meant the Mariners roster that Dipoto had. Not a previous team Dipoto worked for.
Arte Moreno ruined your Halos pal, not Dipoto!
It’s not the direction that’s the problem…. They just aren’t getting enough for each piece that they are moving. But yes, the direction is correct.
Disagree, I think they have gotten enough, but agree on the direction.
In order to acquire the players that fit “THEIR” timeline to contend, meant not maximizing the return on each player. I’m ok with that.
down the hill?
What’s the difference between a mosquito and the Mariners? Mosquito stops sucking
There’s a bottom line here. The Mariners as presently constituted are probably a mid-80s wins team, which they were last year. The difference is their they’re quite a bit less expensive, and the farm system , long the dregs of the rating system, has improved to the point of mid-range.
I’d call that a pretty good off season.
say mid-70’s. or even high 70’s.
Will have more than 80 wins.
Might lose a few games in beginning while transitioning bullpen, but once get defined roles the wins will come. Offense is much improved
“No North American pro sports franchise owns a longer postseason-less streak than the Mariners” pretty slick wording of you, but as a Cleveland Browns fan I can’t allow it. Browns made playoffs in 2002 last (17 years ago) and are located in North America in the National Football League. Mariners drought, however EVEN the numbers are, unfortunately doesn’t surpass Cleveland’s losing streak and you’d be hard pressed to sell it.
it looks promising with the new and right qb drafted. hope the sign mike mccarthy and reach the postseason. but then, the owner will mess up somehow.
The Mariners last made the playoffs in 2001. If you start the count with the 2002 season and end in 2018 (last completed season), you get the “17 years” figure from
the article.
So you’re telling me the Browns have been a professional sports team continuously since 2002
What do Billy Graham and the Mariners have in common? They can both make 40,000 people stand up and yell Jesus Christ
Okay, I’m keeping this one
Dipoto is trying to manipulate the fans into thinking it’s not a rebuild. If he thinks they will be a contender by 2020 he is nuts or is lying to himself
It’s a rebuild not a “reimagining” as stated
How do you figure they won’t be a contender by 2021? He said 2021 not 2020.
Haniger, Kelenic, White, Smith is the offensive core with Gonzales, Sheffield, Dunn, and Kikuchi as 4 of the 5 in the rotation.
Add in Santana, Fraley, Thompson-Williams, and Marte offensively. They should be solid for years with that group.
Originally i quickly said no to the poll, but i had to rethink myself. Really, as much talent as the Mariners had in 2018, there was no way that team would would win a World Series. I ultimately concluded that either adding to or subtracting from the roster would be the best course of action, and that either path could be a “right” path.
That being said, i dont approve of HOW the Mariners are going about said course of action. I think Dipoto is the wrong man for the job and that he has shown it so far this offseason. The Mariners would have been much better off trading with a team with better prospects then the Mets, not dealing Diaz for what will end up being so little, essentially selling low on Cano, and getting much more value from Philadelphia for Segura. I will applaud him, at least, for doing well in the Encarnacion/Santana trade though. Otherwise? I wouldn’t be pleased as a Mariners fan.
They can fix everything by firing DiPoto and hiring Kim Ng instead.
Mariners are cursed, lost all faith
It’s the curse of Howard Lincoln!
When it came to Robbie you also had to understand they were looking for salary relief that to them was far more important than prospects which is why they piggyback Diaz in the deal
They could try and trade for Jesse Winker. It seems that he doesn’t have a clear starting role in Cincinatti with the acquisition of Kemp and Puig.
Winker is a great contact hitter with high OBP who would be an ideal 2 hole hitter in most lineups.
Jesse Winker.. Jesse Winker. Oh wait, I was thinking of Jesse Pinkman.