Assessing Mariners’ reported plans to keep Jerry Dipoto

Sep 6, 2024, 11:00 AM | Updated: 11:32 am

Jerry Dipoto of the Seattle Mariners at batting practice on July 18, 2023. (Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

(Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

Seattle Sports

Just weeks after changes were made on the coaching staff, the Seattle Mariners appear to be standing pat in the front office.

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The Mariners are planning to bring president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto back for another season, according to a report from Ryan Divish and Adam Jude of The Seattle Times on Thursday. The report, which cites multiple unnamed sources with the direct knowledge of the club’s decision-making process, said general manager Justin Hollander and many other staff members in baseball operations will also return.

The team has yet to make an announcement on the 2025 status of Dipoto and others.

The news comes just weeks after manager Scott Servais and hitting coach Jarret DeHart were let go following a disastrous 1-8 road trip that marked a low point of the Mariners’ fall from 10 games up in the American League West in June to second place. As of Friday morning, Seattle was 4 1/2 games behind Houston in the AL West and five back of the second and third wild card spots.

Mike Salk shared his thoughts on the Mariners reportedly bringing Dipoto back for another season Friday on Brock and Salk.

Not a surprising decision

When the Servais and DeHart were let go, Seattle hired a pair of beloved franchise figures with Dan Wilson taking over as manager and Edgar Martinez as hitting coach. The surprising news when those hirings were announced was that Wilson, a longtime M’s catcher, would be taking over as the full-time manager and not on an interim basis. The writing was on the walls after that decision, according to Salk.

“If you hire Dan Wilson as a permanent manager and then fire Jerry Dipoto at the end of the year, you either need to fire Dan as well – which would be bizarre, not like he had done anything wrong in in a month – and then you’re firing one of the most beloved members of your franchise’s fan base,” Salk said. “Or the next person coming in would have to deal with that, and the next person coming in if you would let Jerry go, isn’t gonna wanna have Dan Wilson hanging over him to fire. … And for the most part, anybody new coming in is gonna want their own guy, their person who’s going to put in their system. So I’m not surprised by this.”

The overlooked parts of the job

While wins and loss remain a paramount part of Dipoto’s position as president of baseball operations, there’s much more that goes into it than just the results at the major league level.

The Mariners have succeed in a number of aspects under Dipoto. The most notable of those being drafting and developing pitching. Four members of Seattle’s starting rotation, which has proven to be the best in baseball this season, are homegrown M’s draftees. The team has also excelled at turning bullpen arms that have failed elsewhere into valuable pieces.

The most recent boon to the Dipoto era’s resume identifying young hitters in the draft. Seattle’s farm system currently has eight prospects ranked in Baseball America’s top 100, seven of those being position players. However, they still remain unproven at the big-league level and many are years away from reaching it.

“The president of baseball operations is bigger than what most of us from the outside see. That’s a fact,” Salk said. “The job of the president of baseball operations goes beyond wins and losses. That’s one of the major components of it. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying it’s nothing. It’s an enormous part, but there is more. … When someone like that gets an extension, there must be some feeling that many of the things he’s doing, he’s doing well, even if not all of those things are visible to the public. I think that’s what explains Jerry Dipoto getting more time.”

Poor timing

As mentioned above, the Mariners have gone through a stunning collapse this summer. Their 10-game lead in the division evaporated in just 24 days, which is the fastest-ever for a double-digit lead in the divisional era (since 1969). The fall comes on the heels of a disappointing 2023 when Seattle failed to capitalize on the momentum of its 2022 postseason appearance and missed the playoffs in agonizing fashion by one only one game.

Salk believes the result of this season would be needed for him to make the decision on brining Dipoto back next season.

“At the end of the day, the biggest job – not the only – but the biggest job that a GM or president of baseball operations has to accomplish is winning,” Salk said. “And coming off of a season in which the Mariners made the playoffs, they failed last year. OK, you get to fail. That happens. … Now you are failing again. It’s not over yet. You got 21 games left to go and an opportunity to make up 4 ½, five in the loss column. It’s possible. But I would need that information in order to make a call.”

“… So do I like it?” Salk continued. “I don’t like the timing.”

Listen to the full conversation at this link or in the audio player near the top of this story. Tune in to Brock and Salk weekdays from 6-10 a.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.