Key takeaways from Jerry Dipoto’s Game 161 meeting with the media

Despite the disappointing end to this season, Dipoto believes this group is on track for 2025 and beyond

On Saturday at T-Mobile Park, Jerry Dipoto held an impromptu meeting with the media where he spoke and took questions from local media for approximately 25 minutes regarding the shortcomings of the 2024 season and looking ahead toward the 2025 season. Here are a few of the key takeaways from his remarks, which might or might not replace the traditional scheduled post-season press conference.

Encouraging end to the season reenforces new offensive approach

Pending the outcome of Sunday’s season finale, the Mariners will have gone either 21-13 or 20-14 over the games since they changed managers and hitting strategists. They’ve crawled out of the bottom and near the top in most offensive ranks, and are finishing the season on a strong note. “I think this gives us some insight into just how good we can be,” said Dipoto. “We’ve seen the offense scoring in a lot of different ways that maybe we weren’t scoring before. We’re not reliant on a homer or a walk. We push offense, we’re stealing...we’re playing in a more aggressive style.”

“I think the group has shown us again over these last five weeks why we believe in them.”

For this group, simple is best

The Mariners have preached “control (later evolved to “dominate”) the zone” for all of Jerry Dipoto’s tenure, but that has at times spiraled into overthinking and falling into bad counts against pitchers who can then win the at-bat with their putaway pitch. New hitting coach Edgar Martínez’s simplified approach at the plate, focused on fundamentals via a hitter’s strengths, has given hitters a clearer headspace to focus on what they do well, allowing for a more effective approach at the plate.

“I think Edgar just generally talking about run scoring as opposed to ‘launching your best swing’ has been something of a positive for us,” said Dipoto. “Our players have really responded to what I think is just a mature voice of ‘I’ve been there, and I can help you.’”

“We’re seeing how simple messaging can really pull out the best of what our players have to offer.”

There were those who were concerned about the hiring of Edgar as hitting coach, namely because he had been in that role before, but Dipoto says he’s seen a difference in the Hall-of-Famer-turned-coach since his first time in the role.

“This is as engaged as I’ve seen Edgar in talking about a more team-oriented approach. I think he learned a lot by watching us play when he was in the dugout, and he’s really relaying that to the players in a very translatable way.”

For their part, the players seem to agree. “A very simple, very easy approach to follow,” Cal Raleigh said pregame. “Not thinking about your swing, just focusing on the team, focusing on the task at hand, and letting the rest of it work.” Julio Rodríguez has spoken extensively over the last few weeks about what Edgar has done for him, but maybe said it most succinctly prior to Saturday’s game: “Edgar instilled a lot of things in me that I had forgotten in myself.”

Payroll will increase, although how much remains to be seen

Last year, a number of teams—including the Mariners—were under some uncertainty given the uncertainty regarding television deals via Regional Sports Networks (RSNs). For the Mariners, at least, who purchased their RSN, ROOT Sports NW, that situation has become clearer. “It’s not going to be nearly the concern that it was this past year.”

“I don’t think we’re going down [in payroll]” said Dipoto.

Part of that is internal, such as arbitration salaries, along with a bigger hit from Julio’s deal, “But that won’t be the only rise that we see in payroll,” says Dipoto. “I can’t give you a number, but I can tell you we’re not going the other way.”

The outfield group seems set

In talking about the improved offense down the stretch, Dipoto highlighted first the contributions of the outfielders, starting with the recently-extended Victor Robles—a driving factor in that more dynamic and aggressive offense—followed by Julio, who has been the player we all know him to be over the past six weeks, and the addition of Randy Arozarena at the trade deadline, with Luke Raley, who split time between the outfield and first base after Ty France was DFA’d, also earning a mention for a “terrific” year. One notable absence: Mitch Haniger, who logged around 700 innings in the outfield this year, his most since 2021, but looks to be a candidate for a salary dump trade in the off-season.

Don’t expect the Mariners to trade part of their rotation (although Jerry will always answer a call)

It’s no secret that the Mariners’ success starts (and sadly, often ends) with the starting pitching. While there’s been some speculation from the outside the Mariners could trade some of that pitching in order to reel in a big bat to help the team, Dipoto doesn’t frame it as a likely scenario, although he won’t rule it out, because he’ll never rule anything out. However, “on the continuum of Plan A to Z, that would be Plan Z, times some denominator.”

“We can shoot ourselves in the foot by trying to get too crafty in what we do. Our pitching is how we’re built.”

Veteran leadership is a priority this off-season

In looking at holes that need to be filled for next year, Dipoto spoke glowingly—as later did Cal Raleigh, Luke Raley, and Julio Rodríguez—of the difference-maker Justin Turner has been in the veteran leadership he’s brought to this group, something lacking on this very young club since Carlos Santana left after helping the club break the playoff drought in 2022.

“What we thought we were getting with Justin Turner...multiply that times, however much you’d like, that’s actually what we got. He’s like a hitting coach in a player’s uniform.”

“That’s been a big gift for us, and I think that’s a priority for us in the off-season, maintaining that type of leadership in our clubhouse.”

The future is bright...and far off

Dipoto acknowledged that while the organization has struggled with free agency, bringing in players who will be difference makers despite being in the apparent prime of their careers, their strong farm system has been able to fill holes over the years, although more on the pitching side than the position player side. “Since Scott Hunter took over as our scouting director, we have drafted and developed more major league players than any other team.” [Citation, or at least clarification, needed; Baseball America, among others, seems to believe that distinction belongs to the Dodgers, at least for 2024.]

“We have built the model on developing our own players, developing a young, sustainable roster. A lot of the young players you see here today [the minor-leaguers were at the park on Saturday accepting their awards], these are young, young players. But a lot of them are going to play in the big leagues a lot sooner than you think.”

Whether those players will play in the big leagues for the Mariners or another team remains to be seen.

Dipoto is “frustrated” by team’s inability to make consistent jump from “good” to “great”, but believes this particular group is “the right mix”

Dipoto said the season had many lessons to learn—for players, staff, and for Dipoto himself, as far as where they may be doing things the wrong way and changing not just their approach on the field but also in roster construction, specifically with respect to the demands of the ballpark. “Maybe that’s been the greatest lesson for us this year,” he said.

But Dipoto, like fans, is frustrated with the team’s inability to move to the next level, and to do so with consistency.

“Incredibly frustrating [to fall short again]. It’s why we’re trying to figure out a different way, a different message. Philosophically, we’re all wired to do the same thing, and I think in some ways, what we’ve done, organizationally, we’ve achieved so much. We’ve put a good team on the field for four consecutive years. We’ve talked about creating a sustainable roster. We’re just having a tough time figuring out how to climb that wall from a ‘good’ team to a ‘very good’ team, or a ‘great’ team, and that’s going to be our challenge this off-season.”

It’s frustrating. In many ways, I could look at the teams that are in and we believe we’re as good or better than those teams, and in some ways we perform better than those teams. If you’d asked me at the start of Spring training, you’re going to go 18-8 against the Rangers and Astros, how many games do you think you’re going to win? I probably wouldn’t have said eighty-three or four or five, but that’s where we find ourselves, and we have to find a way, over the course of a six-month season, to be more consistent. This year is a great example. We’ve shown high highs and low lows, and we have to figure out how to create more of an even performance across a six-month season.”

However, especially with the addition of Justin Turner, along with Randy Arozarena and Victor Robles—who have brought “swagger” and “energy” to a club that was playing “static, boring” baseball at times, Dipoto thinks this group has what it takes, comparing past teams to “soups” that haven’t always tasted “great” because “I’m putting in the wrong ingredients; I haven’t always picked the right guys to add to the mix.”

“This time, I think this group is the right mix. I wish we could go start again and play with this group for six months.”