Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto, GM Justin Hollander, and manager Scott Servais conducted an end-of-season press conference with reporters this afternoon. The presser covered a variety of topics, including the club’s plans for the offseason, the future of the coaching staff, and updates regarding a few of the club’s injured players.
Dipoto took the opportunity to respond to comments from catcher Cal Raleigh on the night of Seattle’s elimination from postseason contention, in which he called upon the front office to spend more aggressively this offseason than the club has in the past and referenced other teams that acquired “big-time” pitchers and hitters in recent offseasons.
“His opinions are his own, and I don’t begrudge anybody the ability to share their opinions,” Dipoto said (as transcribed from a video courtesy of Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times), “I don’t know that the solution to our problems is big name players… but would I like to add big name players? Sure, I think we all would. I think that to the extent that Cal was trying to express an opinion, and I can’t speak for him, he wants to get better… we all do. Whether that is by way of a big-name player, you know, there are a number of teams that are evidence that that might not be the only way you can build a roster.”
For his part, Hollander added (as relayed by MLB.com’s Daniel Kramer) that the club has “plenty of resources” headed into the offseason with which to acquire talent, both in terms of player capital for potential trades and financial power, as they look to return to the postseason in 2024. That tracks with publicly available information on Seattle’s financial situation headed into 2024. The club spent $152MM on player payroll in 2023, with the luxury tax payroll just passing $196MM. Before accounting for arbitration-level contracts, the club has around $45MM of budget space if the club’s budget remains stagnant relative to 2023, with over $75MM to work with for luxury tax purposes.
Servais, meanwhile, said (per Divish) that while the roles and responsibilities of certain personnel may change, the club expects to welcome back its entire coaching staff for the 2024 campaign. Hollander, meanwhile, provided updates on several injured players including left-hander Marco Gonzales and first baseman Evan White, both of whom are expected to be ready for Spring Training next year.
The longest-tenured member of the Mariners, rotation, Gonzales made 131 starts for the club between 2018 and 2022 with a 3.94 ERA and 4.35 FIP, but managed just 50 innings of work this season due to a nerve issue that eventually required season-ending surgery. White, meanwhile, underwent hip surgery back in May. The 27-year-old signed a $24MM extension with Seattle prior to his big league debut but has struggled to hit at the big league level, with a career slash line of just .165/.235/.308.
The biggest news, as relayed by Adam Jude of the Seattle Times, was regarding that of left-hander Robbie Ray. The 2021 AL Cy Young award winner underwent Tommy John surgery back in May, and he appears to be making progress as expected in his rehab process, with the club considering a return around the 2024 All Star break to be a “best-case scenario.” That would be just under 14 months after Ray underwent the surgery, on the quicker end of the typical Tommy John rehab for pitchers, which usually takes around 14-18 months. Ray posted a 3.71 ERA across 32 starts for the Mariners in 2022 but made just one appearance in 2023, allowing five runs (three earned) in 3 1/3 innings before departing his first start of the season due to injury.
Ohtani.
Knock it off.
We’re past that now. Julio will come into his own, Crawford will still be right in there. Murphy will be well, and so will Robby Ray.
Not to mention the others who will be ready to roll.
“Murphy will be well”? Are you seriously suggesting getting Tom Murphy back will be some sort of an upgrade this team needs?!?! They need lots of help Fred, and Tom isn’t the answer. Not even close. He’s a backup catcher now. And “knock it off” in regarding a generational player likely looking for a new west coast team where he can compete, where Seattle was the runner up to secure him when he first got here??? NO, don’t “knock it off”. Aim high and stop lowering the dang bar! “Knock it off… Murphy will be well…” tell me this is serious sarcasm!
I didn’t say that having Murphy back would fix everyhing, but it would be one element among all the things the team needs to have happen.
Getting Torrens was just a stop-gap until Murphy is back.
And having Murphy will be a lot better than suffering with O’Keefe as Raleigh’s backup like they did for so long.
That would be a positive step. Like I say elsewhere, they need a lot of things, such as Julio assuming the load a bit better.
I get that Julio struggled at times but the kid put up a top 5 MVP vote season. I dont think Julio needs to assume any more of the load.
That would be a very expensive signing, it’d probably limit any spending Seattle could do to address other areas of need.
The best teams have a next man up mentality. They don’t look to Mighty Casey for their solutions. These Mariners have a great young core that is relevant and competitive. I’d rather they outbid everyone and bring in some Japanese pitchers not named Ohtani who keep their median salary at a level that doesn’t create ego issues.
@Ejemp- I think this discussion is largely irrelevant given Ohtani’s reported interest in Boston and the Dodgers, but if he were to sign with Seattle, I don’t think it would create ego issues. By all accounts, the team is largely devoid of me-first guys and Ohtani isn’t one himself. I suspect he would actually fit in seamlessly. And if the M’s are reported as a suitor, I would speculate that they are actually serious about it. That may have been a factor in not pursuing a high-priced FA last offseason.
Whoever we decide to go after, I hope JD and Hollander find a way to do it without subtracting much from the big league club or draining the resurgent farm.
Why do players think ownership spending fixes a problem on the field? Steven Matz didn’t do anything to bring a world series to STL? Neither did Dexter Fowler, and Wilson’s Contreras first year with the Cardinals has got me saying QUIT IT…. But hey? Spend that money like Ur Steve Cohen out on a date with Taylor Swift? And be sure to record your practices
Like hey now
Ur Rob Gronkowski
Filming practice
Getting paid
Hey now
Ur a tight end
Playing football
Winning rings
All that glitters is gold
Only 7 foot stars break the mold?
My world’s on fire
How about yours
That’s the way I like it
Cause then my dad does my chores?
Why? Brcause spending money on the right FA provides results. Look at the fWAR leaderboard for 2023. 8 of the top 20 were high-priced FAs in the recent years. There were at least 4 I saw between 25-50th in fWAR who were top FAs last year alone (Swanson, Eflin, Bogaerts, Nimmo) and another who would’ve been top 50 had he not been hurt (Bellinger at 55).
I don’t think anyone is advocating for blindly throwing money at FAs, but rather spending on the right players who are the right fit. Matz was a silly signing because he was a year removed from a terrible season and his track record was inconsistent. His peripherals painted him as a #3 or #4 who was probably better suited for a 2 year deL. He wasn’t bad this season, though.
I wish
Had the M’s signed Drury (2B) and JD Martinez (DH), things would have been much better. I’m not guaranteeing they would have signed here but they were available and affordable. Instead, they went cheap with AJ Pollack, Kolten Wong, and Tommy LaStella. They wanted a DH by committee which is a really bad idea. They were rolling in cash but refused to spend. The good news is that they have a surplus of young, affordable and controllable arms. Trader Jerry will hopefully pull off a trade for some decent bats. Would they open the vault for Ohtani? I hear we are one of three teams he would consider. They went cheap last offseason, and it showed when the heat was on. Long time fans are getting weary. This rich organization must commit to winning it all. Some of us are getting tired of empty promises.
I just don’t want to see hard feelings carry over between management and players, and I thnk they have Raleigh’s comments addressed just fine.
They all want to win. When you really want to win, emotions can get a ittle too high, but then reasonable people just have to settle down and move on.
That’s how I see it. The team will basically be back, but just tweaked a bit.
Good enough.
They only want to win 54% of the time, it seems. That was a hideous press conference. Tone-deaf.
Except the Mariners publicly stated goal is to lose 46% of the time….so no the Mariners do not want to win the World Series, they just want to win enough to keep the the profits rolling in.
The Padres would have been better served keeping Ty France than gaining Manny Machado. I hope Seattle fans appreciate him as much as Madres fans miss him.
Big off-season for him. Extremely disappointing year. The bat speed and bat to ball, the stuff that made Ty such a beast to get out over the past couple of years slowed waaaaay down.
Still a young guy and beloved around here, despite some lean months this year. Looks like he was swinging much better the last week of the season.
SODOMOJO, I think Ty, and probably Teoscar also, were trying to take too much on themselves.
I think they will be past that next season, especially if Julio steps up.
I’m very happy to hear he’s spending much of the offseason training with J.P. at Driveline. Let’s get those barrel rates up, Ty!
@myaccount2, That’s great!
I didn’t know about that, and I am happy to hear it.
It may not be the miracle aid like it was for Crawford, but we know what Ty is capable of, so hopefully he can even just get back to that level.
Hahahahahahaha.
No. Manny is vastly superior. France was a flash in the pan.
What exactly is there to appreciate at this point?
Trade an arm for a bat or 2. Sign an arm or 2. Batters not willing to sign with Seattle but pitchers like throwing there.
Well, based on what Jerry Dipoto said concerning Cal Raleigh’s comments I can see we shouldn’t be seeing any quality players added. With that statement, Shohei Ohtani is out! The Mariners are not going to be improved enough to ever win a World Series Championship.
Keep your spirits up, Proudveteran.
You wait … we’ll be cheering in 2024. Dipoto just can’t come right out and actually say anything in these press conferences.
I know that from experience, having held a few of these things with reporters myself.
I know… the truth is so ugly and looks worse than Corel bleaching due to green lawns…. we love lies, sweet little lies
Not necessarily.
But at a press conference you just use “doublespeak” and son’t say anythng that you’ll have to defend right then,
Don’t take questions if the issues are too thorny.
I refer to him as Jerry “Nest Year” Dipoto as he always says next year. No, I don’t buy your double-speak because that is what it is double-speak. Explain to me how other teams come right out and say what they plan to do. Texas said and did it, and so forth with many other teams.
I meant ” Next year”
Yes, Texas was not using double-speak. They just said the truth right out.
Won’t see change until they fire Dipoto and Servias
I agree. It is time for new leadership and I wish that included a new owner that cared about the fans, you know those people making you millions of dollars.
The Mariners made the biggest profit out of any major league team as well.
We didn’t make the playoffs for 20 years and now we suddenly want to get rid of people who did and actually got us to a competitive place? I don’t know about you but I want a chance at the playoffs every year rather than watching pointless games every August again. I guarantee we are much more likely to hire someone like Bavasi or Jack Z again than a Theo Epstein type if we fired Dipoto. We will go back to the basement if we make changes. Grass isn’t always greener.
Jerry Dipoto is one of the leagues worst GM’s. You can say Dipoto got us to the playoffs, last year. You can also say he’s been the reason we’ve missed the playoffs 2 of the last 3 years. There is a reason the Diamondbacks and Angels moved on. (Read up) hell, Kyle Seagler said it best. This front office doesn’t want to win.
This comment tells me you are unaware of many of the other GMs in the MLB and how to effectively and accurately judge an MLB front office.
Why do you think he doesn’t want to win, because he doesn’t spend? The owner sets the budget not Dipoto.
How can you accurately say he’s the reason for missing the playoffs 2 of the last 3 years? Are you going to ignore that we were still in the midst of rebuilding in 2021? Are you going to ignore the payroll limitations? Are you going to ignore the Marco and Ray injuries or the unexpected Flexen implosion? We were 1 game from the playoffs. If you don’t think Marco and Woo would’ve eaten the innings necessary to keep the pen fresh and equate to 1 WAR, I don’t know what to tell you because they almost certainly would have.
Also, you incorrectly cited the Dbacks and Angels moving on from him. The Dbacks wanted to retain Dipoto in a different capacity (he was only interim GM). Instead, Dipoto left and soon after got his own GM gig with the Angels. He resigned from that position, he wasn’t fired. He moved on from THEM because he didn’t like the direction Moreno was forcing him to take (Hamilton and Pujols signings, which blew up in Moreno’s face).
Angels players and coaches wanted to kick his ass for his roster moves. Vernon Wells and Mike Scioscia almost put him in witness protection. Sounds like a guy who was welcome by THEM. Shows how little you know behind the scenes, and easy swallow anything they try regurgitating down your throat
Lmao, yet Moreno wanted him to stay and all those guys got shown the door. Get with reality.
Interesting that you ignore everything I wrote only to add your dramatic little comment, something you weren’t even in the clubhouse for and was refuted by others. Regardless, whether or not he was liked has no correlation to his performance, which goes to show how little of an argument you have.
Lastly, your ad hominem makes no sense. What the hell does “easy swallow anything they try regurgitating down your throat” mean anyway? It’s nonsense. Do you know the definition of “regurgitate” because I’m not sure how “easy swallow anything they try [bringing food from your stomach back up to you mouth] down your throat” is an insult.
So we should be happy with the goal of 54% wins.
Two things:
1. We should be happy with the 54% win goal.
2. Jerry has said time and again that we have money set aside for the trade deadline in case e we need a boost and then don’t use it.
How is Marco Gonzales recovery going Mariner fans?
Always thought a Marco for Ctaylor trade made a ton sense for both parties if Marco is healthy
Homecoming for Taylor whoes OPS I believe would be 4th highest on the M’s (min 300 abs)
Ledger gymnastic move for LAD that could perhaps open up a desperately needed spot for Vargas Busch or Pages that is not currently avail. Taylors contract runs 2 years w added bonus of team option 3rd, Marco expires after next year. I like Taylor but if they can get some good traction/contracts on Kiki Rosario and Heyward he could def become expendable
I always really liked Marco when healthy, even tho we have like 7 potential Sp 5’s you can never have enough
The problem is Taylor strikes out too much. The M’s need some more contact to balance their lineup.
Fair and true but in this next free agency your not going to really have a choice other than to overlook some fleas on the offensive side of the ball
But they could move one of their younger starters and virtually have their pick of what kind of hitter comes back. They could keep Marco for depth for one final season. Their ability to develop pitching sets them apart, much like your Dodgers.
Very true
I just don’t see much interest in Marco at 8 figures even if it is expiring
Trade route might be best for Sea as you suggest as Jerry has done a good job staying away from bloated contracts last few years
Dodgers just have such a rich history in these sorta trades and its sink or swim time for Vargas and Busch,. think Busch is almost 26 already. Perhaps they just hit the trade market as well w their own surplus’s
I definitely see why it makes sense for the Dodgers. I’m just not sure it’s a great fit for Seattle.
Congrats Don , great call on Sea looking to expunge swing and miss hitters, that’s exactly what they have done
* Man, even as a Dodger fan I wanted Ohtani to be a Mariner
Marco is already expendable. Have you seen our pitching staff? We will be getting Robbie Ray back late next year too!
The Mariners received Marco Gonzalez in a trade with the Cardinals for Tyler O’Neill, The M’s traded Chris Taylor. to the Dodgers for Zach Lee.
Was anyone sitting around waiting for an Evan White injury update?
Who?
Get rid of haggerty cabby Ford France Marco trade woo or miller for a 125+wrc bat sign Seattle kid Blake Snell 4/85 million and sign Teo 3/50 million and acquire whit merrifield to play 2b with Rojas as the utility guy..
Mike Ford will not hit better than .200 but he will hit you 30-35 Homers think about that.
Bless your heart if you think Blake Snell only gets 4/85…
Your impulse is good. Tweak for me is not re-signing Two, spending that salary on Matt Chapman, and keep Cabby as long as he continues to annoy pitchers. And make a real run at Ohtani. The team has 13 position players, but only a few anyone even remotely fears. Julio, JP, Cal. And even they strike out way too much.
Please sign the KBO’s superstar, 5-tool player, Jung-Hoo Lee.
That would be a lot of fun
“We’re actually doing the fans a favor”- Jerry DiPoto
“Stfu and go spend some money”
-every single one of us
Agreed!
That was the most tone deaf and insulting press conference to the fan base, maybe possible. I don’t think Dipoto could have put his foot in his mouth any more. Monumental failure.
Jerry went on to say he’s moving the goalposts again, even suggesting they’re doing the fans a favor by not spending. He talked about reflecting on a 10-year plan in which they should win 54% of their games in one of the most bizarre press conferences I’ve ever seen from a president of baseball operations or GM.
I’m done with him. I don’t care if he was misled by ownership. You can’t make promises to a fan base who has never experienced a world Series, then negate them.
The fans have been patient long enough. Give, or get out.
I’m sure some good teams have an average of 54% wins with peak seasons and rebuilding seasons mixed in. But there’s a huge difference when you’ve convinced the fan base to wait for a proper rebuild, cite target dates for World Series contention, then announce a new plan and ask for even more time.
That is indeed moving the goalposts.
That I what I have been saying about Dipoto for years. When I do I become a Mariner hater. I don’t know why so many are enamored by this fool.
So frustrating. I’m sure he’ll sprinkle in a pile of $5-10M replacement level players again and call it good.
I told you.
You understand that he doesn’t set the budget, right? This isn’t his plan by choice, he is just the spokesman/fall-guy for ownership.
What angers me is how he chose to address the fans. He could have said we’ll have limitations & challenges due to a weak free agent class and competitive trade market that will affect their offseason.
Instead, he talked down to fans as if we don’t understand what the right approach is.
It’s really simple. They were given time. The goal should be the World Series–every year.
I’ll reserve final judgement of the team at the end of spring, but I don’t care to hear another word from him right now.
I agree with most of what you said
Agree w most of that. He does get to choose how he spends whatever budget he gets though. He makes pretty poor investments when he does invest, I think. And the comments towards fans were super disrespectful. Generally thats been ownerships approach to fans tho, they treat their season ticket holders like crap. I wont be renewing mine unless they invest.
Season tickets for some increased by 60%. Where’s the return???
A small point of contention… this is NOT “moving the goalposts”.
This is Jerry and Justin lining up with Mather, Lincoln and the ownership.
The goal has ALWAYS been to try to win 54% of the games or roughly 87 games. Ownership has NEVER had the desire to be the best team. They want a competitive team. A team that hopefully if everything goes right, squeaks into the play-offs.
Ownership believes if we fans get used to being in the playoffs, then we will become SPOILED, GREEDY, DEMANDING, and just like many other pathetic fanbases in the league.
Ownership thinks we Seattle fans are perfect now…. sweet, innocent, NAIVE…. and STUPID.
Mather thinks you are willing to wait a few years… 3 or 5 or another 20.
I hope Seattle fans wake up and realize what Dipoto and crew are truly saying, but I’m afraid Mather / Lincoln / Armstrong were always right.
I disagree. I have the quotes from the time of the ‘step back’. They were clear that they would spend once they were out of the rebuild and had a core in place. They even gave a timeline.
They were clear that this would be their time. Now they’re talking 10-year plans? That can easily be taken out of context, but it’s vague enough that it will allow him wiggle room down the road for any further failed seasons….at least as long as he’s still the spokesman for this BS ownership group.
Hollander is the newest spokesman.
Dipoto is a spokesman, but this latest mis-speak may bring an end to it. However, you are correct… Dipoto was just a spokesman.
So was Mather…. and Lincoln… and Armstrong.
The TRUE puppet master has yet to be revealed… but he is a long-standing member of the ownership.
Thus again… we agree. Ownership is the problem. Whether the step back was just a lie or cloud of confusion or whatever…. it really does not matter.
Pressure MUST NOW be brought upon this ownership group.
The only way I see is to keep pointing to the “regular fans” that OWNERSHIP has been lying to them for YEARS… and since it has worked, OWNERSHIP thinks you loyal fans are NAIVE and STUPID.
“Meanwhile” can’t come in the middle of the sentence, Deeds. Only at the start. How do you mess this up three times in one article AND do it in back-to-back sentences? Learn a new word, you hack.
“The longest-tenured member of the Mariners, rotation, Gonzales made 131 starts for the club between 2018 and 2022 with a 3.94 ERA and 4.35 FIP…”
Did anyone ever teach you how to use commas? Because you keep showing that you don’t understand where they go.
Jerry will spend some money and probably won’t spend it well. I doubt we get Shohei but he should absolutely be the top priority. I kinda think they should try to hang on to Miller & Woo both because I doubt Ray or any other SP depth contributes much in 24. Wouldn’t be surprised to see them trade one of them but doubt there is an available bat good enough to make it worth it. Fingers crossed.
Jerry’s comment is very telling: “We’re actually doing the fan base a favor in asking for their patience to win the World Series.”
No chance the Mariners will win a World Series under this leadership. What message does that send to the fans and players.
The Mariners will never win a World Series under the current ownership and management.
I trust this management group and ownership to truly help this team get to the next level like I trust a gator to keep his mouth open as I pet his tongue.
Can anyone guess the 59 yr old who was the last player to drive in a run, at home, for Seattle, in the playoffs. The fact that this guy is the last player to record an RBI at home in the post season is ridiculous!
How did the author come up with a payroll of 152 this year?
Cot’s has Seattle under 137m.
Sportrac has it at 148,253,494 with an estimated competitive balance tax payroll at 177,188,093. 18th in the league, about 60 million below the tax threshold. They can afford Ohtani. Pay the man.
Cot’s is more accurate than Spotrac, but either way, it isn’t 152.
And yes, they can afford Ohtani, and then some.
And nobody–especially Jerry–should think of him as a ‘trophy’. He’s not just a generational player, he’s perhaps the best baseball has ever seen. .The dough he would bring in from marketing alone would likely pay his salary.
Offseason plan
Trade France, and one of Woo/Miller/Hancock and Marco (+/or) mid/good prospects for an impact bat like Goldschmidt or Soto.
Way too much to do…. Trade France and Suarez. France looks like he’s declining, and Geno strikes out far too much. Let Hernandez walk, he’s as bad as Suarez with the Ks. Acquire Soto, see if they can sign him to an extension. Keep Kelenic, he’s likely to get better IMO. Acquire Gorman or preferably Donovan from the Cards to replace Suarez. Acquire a couple of shutdown relievers, as Brash and Munoz seem more like set-up guys. Keep as much of the rotation as they can.
Maybe Mr. big shot should resign! Amazes me Dipoto still has a job! Can’t believe he gets another chance!
They should cut Robbie Ray. He was a mistake signing from the start. $115 million, 5 yr. contract for a pitcher who had 2 good years in 9 seasons (2017 and 2021–15-5, 2.89 ERA and 13-7, 2.84 ERA, respectively) Didn’t show consistency. Even a casual fan wouldn’t have made that signing.
Jerry Dips&*t Dipoto doesn’t know squat.
They needed/need a power hitter, not a mediocre pitcher.