Will GM Jerry Dipoto be with Mariners past 2021? Talks ‘always ongoing’
Jun 24, 2021, 11:41 AM | Updated: 12:44 pm
Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto in his sixth season with the team. (AP)
(AP)
The MLB trade deadline is just over a month away, and with the rebuilding Seattle Mariners currently over .500, they have some interesting decisions to make ahead of them.
That includes with their general manager.
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Jerry Dipoto, who as Seattle’s GM will be the person making the decisions about potential deals before the July 31 deadline, doesn’t have a contract past this year. That makes whatever moves are to come in July especially interesting.
On the weekly Jerry Dipoto Show on 710 ESPN Seattle, Dipoto was asked Thursday about his status with the Mariners by Paul Gallant, who included his support for Dipoto getting a contract extension in the question.
“(Talks) are always ongoing, but I agree with you – I am pulling for an extension,” Dipoto said with a laugh.
I asked Jerry Dipoto how he feels about his future with the #Mariners and if there's been contract talks this morning on @710ESPNSeattle.
His answer: #SeaUsRise https://t.co/7cpEjgrORw pic.twitter.com/xEdw2atKHt
— Paul Gallant (@GallantSays) June 24, 2021
Dipoto went on to say that he’s confident he and the Mariners will come to an agreement but that he isn’t letting his contractual status get in the way of his work.
“I try not to worry about it too much. Just like we preach to the players, just focus on what you can control,” he said. “We are making progress (as a team) and I believe that our ownership and (Mariners chairman) John Stanton see that, and that will be reflected in the way that me and our baseball operations are handled moving forward. I can’t say it keeps me up at night because I do believe that what we’re doing here is a long-term effort and it’s headed in the right direction, and our group knows that and I know our owners believe that.”
Dipoto and manager Scott Servais are both in their sixth seasons with the team. Entering the Mariners’ upcoming road trip that begins Friday, Seattle has a 387-397 record under the duo. They both received contract extensions during the 2018 season and compiled a 253-233 record in their first three years with the team, after which Dipoto began a rebuild of the franchise. Though the Mariners are still looking to end a 19-year postseason drought, they have particularly had success building a strong farm system over the past three years, coming into 2021 as third among MLB organizations in MLB.com’s rankings.
Thanks to a recent four-game sweep of the defending American League champion Tampa Bay Rays and 7-2 homestand, the Mariners are near the midpoint of the season with a 39-37 record.
“In the end, I believe that we’ll be here for the foreseeable future and good things will happen, and hopefully we’ll continue to make good decisions,” Dipoto said. “They’ve not all been good, but we’ll continue to make just enough good decisions to wind up in the postseason sooner than later.”
The Jerry Dipoto Show airs at 8:30 a.m. each Thursday on 710 ESPN Seattle’s Danny and Gallant. You can hear this week’s episode in the podcast at this link or in the player below.
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