trade deadline looming France, Lewis, and Haniger returning

[D-train]

As I see it, we have starting pitching performing extremely well and a bullpen that is getting better by the day. Obviously the offense is lacking since half the lineup are not every day major league hitters. So, instead of dreaming of the day when Haniger, Lewis and France are all healthy and performing well, why not get busy and trade some prospect for two or three major league hitters? A year ago Atlanta went out and added talent mid-season, didn’t worry about having too much depth and ended up with a trophy. Here in Seattle it’s “OMG, we won’t have enough ABs for Toro and Torrens, and what if JK gets called up?” I I’m not saying they should gut the farm trading for vets, but we have a more than decent chance to ride the hot pitching staff into the playoffs with the addition of a few major league bats, and none of us are getting any younger…

Exactly. But this goes against Jerry's philosophy of going with the bare minimum and hoping everything falls perfectly into place like it never does.

[ice99]

Nobody is ignoring Dipotos successes, draft and signings, etc.

The thing about it is he's been here a long time and the team that matters is 3 games under .500 in a season we could/should have been in the playoff picture. Of course we're going to see some fruits of his labors after that amount of time.

Unfortunately what it has amounted to is a team that's 39-42 after he failed to set the team up for success, again. Way to go Dipoto...

Just out of curiosity, why do you say the team should be in the postseason hunt, or could be? Is it just because there was an implied intention to spend money on free agents in the offseason? I get that we all want the team to be better, but where does the "should" part come from?

90 wins + massive prospect capital + massive salary flexibility (250 million dollars saved since 2018) = "Should"

The league also added a WC slot.

I don't get it where there are people pushing the narrative that they weren't trying to make the playoffs. They paid over $100 million for a pitcher's contract. There were reports that JD was going after Story, and Semien. There was the statement that JD wasn't going to have to shop in the discount section. They acquired a player that was one year before FA, and another that had two years before FA.

[D-train]

If Jerry was hired after the 2018 season his leash would be lengthyer. But he inherited a solid core and added trash to it and expected to make the playoffs. He made his bed.

[Juliooooo]

If Jerry was hired after the 2018 season his leash would be lengthyer. But he inherited a solid core and added trash to it and expected to make the playoffs. He made his bed.

To be fair, he had an older core and no farm system. Nick Niedert and Tyler O'Niell were the best prospects, and they would be lucky to be top 10 in this system. How was he expected to add to the core?

[D-train]

If Jerry was hired after the 2018 season his leash would be lengthyer. But he inherited a solid core and added trash to it and expected to make the playoffs. He made his bed.

To be fair, he had an older core and no farm system. Nick Niedert and Tyler O'Niell were the best prospects, and they would be lucky to be top 10 in this system. How was he expected to add to the core?

Good point they probably limited payroll back then as well. Should have got one stud instead of a bunch of riff raff. Trading Trumbo for Clevenger was absurd.

[bpj]

If this season were a game of poker the Mariners called a couple bets, but they sure didn't push all in.

They could have done way, way more. Instead they called it good with a rookie in the #5 SP spot who has since been made a reliever, and a backup catcher as the DH leaving us way light on depth.

Was obvious they could have done more = they didn't try hard enough to make the playoffs.

[Donn Beach]

Terms of failing to go all in, believe they are playing a long game, valuing years of moderate level competitiveness over a big WS push. We will see if they can pull it off. On one hand, if this is a flash in the pan sort of Pittsburgh pirates deal, that be disappointing. But on the other, if it's more a Minnesota twins deal of years of sustained success that would be nice. My gut tells me, Pittsburgh pirates

[Pharmabro]

If this season were a game of poker the Mariners called a couple bets, but they sure didn't push all in.

They could have done way, way more. Instead they called it good with a rookie in the #5 SP spot who has since been made a reliever, and a backup catcher as the DH leaving us way light on depth.

Was obvious they could have done more = they didn't try hard enough to make the playoffs.

I am just fine with that #5 Brash he has great stuff he just can't keep it in the zone. But Kirby can and he is right at a 100 ERA+ after he got lit up 2 starts ago and added a run to his ERA.

The truth is I don't see a lot of holes if they are relatively healthy. (Spare an elite left-handed BP guy)

[Donn Beach]

Having great stuff doesn't make you a ML pitcher, particularly when you only have two pitches. Putting Brash in the rotation seems kind of a head scratcher to me now after the fact, relative to what a great idea it seemed at the time

[GL_Storm]

Terms of failing to go all in, believe they are playing a long game, valuing years of moderate level competitiveness over a big WS push. We will see if they can pull it off. On one hand, if this is a flash in the pan sort of Pittsburgh pirates deal, that be disappointing. But on the other, if it's more a Minnesota twins deal of years of sustained success that would be nice. My gut tells me, Pittsburgh pirates

I think the plan is definitely for a long competitive window. I think the Astros are the model, but we will see if they can duplicate that level of success.