GM Jerry Dipoto on Mariners’ deadline decisions: ‘I think we did the right thing’

No moves were no moves on deadline day for general manager Jerry Dipoto and the Mariners. While Dipoto said that he got close, perhaps as close as 30 seconds away from getting a deal done, the Mariners’ final trade of the trade season ended up being the one that sent Wade Miley to Baltimore for fellow left-handed pitcher Ariel Miranda 24 hours before the deadline.

“We had a lot of irons in the fire but nothing came to fruition,” Dipoto said Monday after the 1 p.m. deadline passed.

There was plenty of interest in Mariners players from other organizations, but not the players Dipoto was comfortable moving as he keeps an eye on this year and next.

“The greatest opportunities we had were to sell off, and that’s just not something we were willing to do,” he said. “We feel like the core of this team is still very good. It is very difficult for us here a game over .500. We are realistic about where we are in this playoff push. We feel like we have a chance with August and September, but obviously a lot of things are going to have to break right for us. The best thing we can do is focus on the good parts of our roster and how we are going to transition ’16, ’17, ’18.”

Of course, moves were made in the last two weeks starting with left-hander Mike Montgomery going to the Cubs for first baseman Dan Vogelbach, who has hit .216/.356/.405/.761 with eight walks and eight strikeouts in 37 at-bats with Triple-A Tacoma. Drew Storen, who pitched a scoreless inning in the Mariners’ loss to the Cubs Sunday night, was acquired for fellow reliever Joaquin Benoit. And then there was the Miley deal.

“It wasn’t really working here with Wade,” Dipoto said. “He had a great start for us on Saturday. And it gives him an opportunity to move along and go play for anther contender, and we will start over and see what we have got (in Miranda).”

I characterized the move on 710 ESPN Seattle as a do-over. Dipoto traded for Miley in the hope that he would provide stability in the rotation in the form of innings consumed and a decent ERA. We didn’t see that over the first few months. Dipoto elected to move on, gaining both roster flexibility as Miranda has options and dollars to spend next year.

While Miranda is left-handed, the similarities with Miley end there. He throws harder, topping out at 96 mph. He’s younger and could pitch as a starter or reliever; Dipoto believes he could see an uptick in his velocity in relief. We should get our first look at Miranda soon as it appears there is a strong possibility he could get the start Thursday.

We will also see Nathan Karns back in the rotation soon. Dipoto termed his foray into the bullpen as “ill-fated.” The Mariners didn’t see the uptick in velocity and it did not seem to get him back on track as far as consistency goes. Karns will be stretched back out and then will rejoin the rotation in the near future.

While the Mariners didn’t make any more moves on Monday, we could see a waiver trade before the Sept. 1 deadline.

“We will have something on the market in August,” Dipoto said. “I guarantee there will be more activity throughout the league and we will probably be at the center of that again.”

For now, at 51-50 entering Monday’s game, the Mariners are mostly standing pat. Dipoto’s objective was to be opportunistic in the trade market, but in his words, not much opportunity fell in his lap. While no moves are no moves, those sometimes prove to be the best moves. The Mariners go forward having not given up prospects or members of their core. For now, that will have to be good enough. What good enough gets them remains to be seen.

“I think we did the right thing,” Dipoto said. “We kept the pieces that made the most sense for us and we found value where we could find value and we are going to continue to look for it.”