Dipoto: How Mariners’ clubhouse factors into their offseason targets

The upcoming MLB offseason could be a monumental one for the Seattle Mariners, who are coming off back-to-back 90-win seasons and their first playoff appearance in 21 years.

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It’s expected that the M’s will be major players in free agency, and there are big names available at their two biggest positions of need – the outfield and middle infield. But for a team like the Mariners who have thrived on good vibes in the clubhouse, there’s a lot more to take into consideration than just how a player fits into their lineup.

Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto shared his insight on that during his weekly visit with Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk on Thursday morning, and he said the clubhouse factor is a big one for his team.

“The most sensitive thing that we’ll deal with is the balance between not upsetting the culture that’s developed in our clubhouse and putting a better, improved, deeper team on the field for 2023,” Dipoto said. “… There’s not a roadmap for how to build clubhouse chemistry, but you kind of have an idea of who your guys are, you know their personalities, how they fit together. The on-field stuff is easy. We would like to strike out less, we’d like to walk more, we’d like to raise our batting average – there’s a variety of different statistical goals that you can look to achieve by acquiring a player who does those things well. But more importantly, you’re trying to find the 26 guys that have what this team – the 2022 Mariners – had.”

Dipoto went on to share that the current members of Seattle’s clubhouse play a big role in all this, as well.

“We do, however, check in with our players,” he said, “because for the most part, if you’ve put in the time in our league to become a free agent, then the players around the league probably know you or have an opinion of how you might fit. Those who know our clubhouse culture or our organizational environment best are our players. … It’s asking them what they think, it’s talking to our veteran players about our highest targets in free agency and asking them how they feel about that fit and taking that input.”

The Jerry Dipoto Show airs at 8:30 a.m. every Thursday on Seattle Sports. You can listen to this week’s edition at this link or in the player below.

More on the Mariners from Seattle Sports

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