Under Jerry Dipoto, a new approach for Mariners already taking shape

With the Mariners new manager safely hired, the World Series in full swing – and then some! – and a few weeks until the free agent bonanza is set to begin, I think I can finally take a couple weeks off. Before I shut things down completely however, I wanted to put a few thoughts together on what we have seen since Jerry Dipoto was hired as Seattle’s general manager just one month ago.

The No. 1 thing that jumps out to me is Dipoto has a plan – more than a plan, actually. So many plans it seems have been more about one goal: Get to the World Series. Sounds great, but what about the plan? How do you do that? It is clear Dipoto has a strong winning baseball philosophy and believes cohesion and identity throughout the organization is vital to success and maintaining success. While he admits there will be missteps along the way, I don’t believe we will see stops and starts or changes in his philosophy. He has the time and the experience – broad experience – behind him to have confidence that what he believes will work, and I don’t believe he will be easily swayed from that vision. I don’t think we always saw that in the past.

Plans and visions are great, but what I find encouraging in this case is it appears that there are actionable steps behind them. Dipoto’s ideas aren’t just in his head. At his introductory press conference he mentioned a manual he has put together for his front office members. New manager Scott Servais put together an organizational manual similar to the “Cardinal Way” manual for the Angels organization. It’s a road map for players coming up through the system; boxes must be checked, and foundations must be set at the lowest levels and carried through each step of the way.

How will this and Servais’ experience as a farm director translate to the major league level? That’s the wait and see. I understand why there would be skepticism about hiring a manager who had never held a managerial or coaching position in an organization. As I said in my previous post, Dipoto clearly puts a higher value on other aspects that he believes are vital in the day to day running of a big league team. I have heard concerns from fans that the veterans will not respect him. This to me falls more into the movie baseball category, right there with the “yes man” comments. In real life baseball, the thing that you have to remember is every player, coach and staff member in that clubhouse has the same goal. Unless the manager makes major missteps, and let’s remember he is no stranger to a clubhouse or clubhouse culture, I don’t think they will care as long as his main goal is the same as theirs. There is no new manager hazing or testing. There’s not time for that, not if they want to win, not if they want to put up their individual numbers.

Could we see missteps? Sure. But Servais won’t be on an island. He will have a staff beside him – an interesting staff at that. The experienced Tim Bogar as bench coach. The respected Edgar Martinez as hitting coach. New pitching coach Mel Stottlemeyer Jr. left the impression that he will bring a little edge to the group in the short time I had to talk to him. Returning infield coach Chris Woodward is highly thought of by players including Kyle Seager, who carries perhaps as much weight as anyone in the clubhouse. If the cohesion is there with the staff, this could be a very strong group.

It will be interesting to see them in action. Servais stated that competing is more than trying hard. The thought behind the action is important. How will this look to the players and how will it look to us, say when the team is on an extended losing streak? He talked of controlling the line of scrimmage, the strike zone. How is that put into practice at the major league level? How about in the minor leagues? Controlling the zone is not a new concept to the organization as it has been a stated focus, complete with yearly “C the Z” awards in the minors. How does this new group get better buy in?

Then there is the mental side of the game. The Mariners now have a renown mental skills coach, Andy McKay – who was also a longtime college and high level summer league coach – running the farm system. Dipoto is a huge believer that conquering the mental side of the game is the next frontier in improving performance. For all the talk of Dipoto being a numbers guy, he talks with much more passion about this aspect of the game. Dan O’Dowd, one of Dipoto’s most trusted advisors, told him that McKay would be the biggest impact hire he could make. Analytics at this point may be a given, and Dipoto wants the Mariners to stay on the cutting edge of improving performance. I’ve seen the organization dabble in this through the years with everything from a uniformed performance enhancement coach on staff, to more stealthy professionals on hand for quiet talks if a player so desired, to a flotation tank (no joke), to handouts left in meeting rooms, and there has been evidence of take-as-you-want type programs. I expect it will be different under Dipoto.

I expect a lot will be different under Dipoto, and to be honest, in the early going it’s been a lot to take in. At the end of the day, however, what we are seeing and hearing now will be little more than reference points, things we go back to after we actually see what we have heard in action. It sounds good, but of course it should at this point of the game. If nothing else, it has been interesting and will only get more so as we get to know Dipoto and staff better and start to see player moves. If it stays interesting, if Dipoto sticks to plan, we will see it work or not work. At some point there could be a lot of “I told you sos” from the skeptics. On the other end of the scale, I think there is a good chance there isn’t middle ground. If it works I think we will hear a lot of talk about the Mariners organization being the newest model for success.

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