Brock on M's complete reversal
Posted: Wed Dec 07, 2022 4:09 pm
From Jerry will have all the resource available to ZERO significant FA signings. The Ghost of Mather lives!!!
One of the key topics of Mather's final address to the rotary club was his satisfaction and massive pride saying they survived Covid season "Better than Most" Zero doubt he wasn't the only one with that mentality and zero doubt they are still hyper focused on the bottom line.
One of the key topics of Mather's final address to the rotary club was his satisfaction and massive pride saying they survived Covid season "Better than Most" Zero doubt he wasn't the only one with that mentality and zero doubt they are still hyper focused on the bottom line.
SAN DIEGO — The first two days of the MLB Winter Meetings have come and gone with nary a peep in terms of transactions from the Mariners, which — depending on your perspective as a fan — may feel reasonable, uninspiring or downright maddening.
While players like Trea Turner, Cody Bellinger, Andrew Heaney, Mitch Haniger and Justin Verlander have all found new teams during the first two days of the meetings, Seattle’s president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto has remained silent.
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That’s mostly by design.
Seattle’s front office officials, including general manager Justin Hollander, have met with agents and other teams about potential trades, even though their list of needs at this point in the winter is what Dipoto termed as “finite.”
The Mariners won’t likely be landing any of the top free agents on the market. Their pursuit of any roster additions will certainly come by trade, though that might not happen anytime soon.
“We have to believe — and we talk about this all the time — that if we’re doing a deal, we’re not going to do a deal because we were emotionally driven to a deal,” Dipoto said. “We’re not going to do a deal because somebody else did and we feel like we have to.
“We are also not going to do it (just because) we can. We’re going to do it because we think it’s the right thing to do.”
Before the Mariners even arrived in San Diego for these meetings, they had already done a majority of the heavy lifting in terms of — in their eyes — augmenting the roster.
They traded for Blue Jays outfielder Teoscar Hernández, a proven run-producer, to fill an outfield vacancy. Last week, they swung a deal with the Brewers, landing two-time Gold Glove-winning second baseman Kolten Wong, who had a 116 wRC+ last season.
If you grew tired of watching an offense that last season finished 28th in the big leagues in average (.230) and scored one or fewer runs in a game 29 times (including 12 shutouts), imagine how the Mariners felt. Enter Hernández and Wong.
“I think we’ve gotten better,” Dipoto said. “It might not be the splash that people want to see, but that’s our splash. Let’s just keep getting better.”
Kolten Wong was one of two significant acquisitions the Mariners made before the Winter Meetings. (Katie Stratman / USA Today)
This team is better than the one that won 90 games, took the AL Wild Card Series from the Blue Jays and then lost three games to the eventual champion Astros in the AL Division Series by a combined four runs.
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How much better? That remains to be seen. This isn’t a finished roster, but it’s really close and, honestly, that was mostly the case even after that 18-inning loss to the Astros in Game 3 of the ALDS. Adding Hernández and Wong should help, as will whoever is next through the door.
“We’d like to find one more bat … maybe two,” Dipoto said. “We’re open to doing it, but we’re also perfectly happy to go with what we have.” Dipoto said Monday night that he’d still like to add a right-handed outfielder and maybe someone who could spell Ty France on occasion at first base and rotate through the designated hitter spot in the lineup.
By the end of the day Tuesday that goal hadn’t changed, nor had the club advanced to the point where any player acquisition was imminent. There’s a chance the Mariners leave San Diego after Wednesday with the same team they arrived with.
There’s also a good chance, Dipoto said, the team could select a pitcher — likely a reliever — in Wednesday’s Rule 5 draft. The club has had a history of doing so recently with the selection of pitchers Brandon Brennan, Will Vest and Yohan Ramirez, all of whom made the club following the spring they were selected.
In terms of dipping his toes into the free-agent waters, Dipoto said that can be a slippery slope. There’s a time and a place, he said, to do it. But the club’s goal is to be very strategic about it.
“We’re built on draft, develop and trades,” Dipoto said. “We use free agency in a way to augment our roster … not build it. I think that’s the way championship teams are typically built.”
The Mariners have 11 homegrown players on their current 40-man roster, including a handful who helped the club end its vexing two-decade playoff drought — pitchers Logan Gilbert and George Kirby, catcher Cal Raleigh and outfielder Julio Rodríguez.