Jerry Dipoto expected to return as Seattle Mariners president in 2025, per report
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - JULY 18: General manager Jerry Dipoto of the Seattle Mariners looks on during batting practice at T-Mobile Park on July 18, 2023 in Seattle, Washington. (Steph Chambers / Getty Images)
Jerry Dipoto is expected to return as president of baseball operations for the Seattle Mariners for the 2025 season even as the team he oversees flirts with another missed playoff berth, according to reporting from The Seattle Times.
Despite a disastrous last three months that has seen the Mariners squander a 10-game lead in the American League West, Ryan Divish and Adam Jude of The Seattle Times report that Dipoto will remain in his role for at least the 2025 season. General manager Justin Hollander will also return in his role next season.
Since the Mariners took that 10-game lead in the AL West on June 18, they've gone just 27-39 in the 66 games that have followed. Only the Chicago White Sox and Colorado Rockies have managed worse records in all of MLB. That slide led to manager Scott Servais being fired two weeks ago as Dipoto said a different voice was needed for the team. That voice came in Dan Wilson, who was hired as the team's full-time replacement.
"This has not been a terrific run for us over the last two months, and it was a very difficult decision to make, but I thought one that our team was in need of, and we need a different voice and a different direction and I think that can be provided by Dan Wilson," Dipoto said of the decision at the time.
When Dipoto was given the ability to make a managerial change, it was a logical conclusion to reach that he'd be given the time to see that decision play out. Per the Times, the decision to keep Dipoto as team president was made prior to the 1-8 road trip that preceded Servais' departure.
Dipoto can be credited with many positives from his nine-year tenure as the head of the team's personnel department. He's successfuly rebuilt a barren farm system, drafted and developed a pitching staff that has been one of the best in the game, and the 2022 roster that snapped a 21-year postseason drought.
Conversely, the Mariners have just the one playoff appearance in nine years with Dipoto running the team. As much as he's succeeded with pitchers, the team has been pretty awful at finding successful offensive pieces. Several trades and signings meant to fix offensive woes have fallen flat (Jesse Winker, Kolten Wong, Mitch Garver, Luis Urias, A.J. Pollock, etc.)
Dipoto said those failings were forcing the team to re-evaluate their processes when it come to evaluating offensive players and the development programs the team used for hitters.
"Cleary we need a change in the way we're looking at offense, the way we message offense. And our hitters have struggled this year," Dipoto said. "… I wish I could tell you why. I don't know all of the answers, but I do know that we're asking questions, and hopefully, we're asking the right questions, and we'll get to the right answer in time. If we had a magic potion, we would have sprinkled it some time back. We don't. And the best we can do is sit with our players and meet them where they are and try to use the next five or six weeks to build a more productive foundation with a more productive foundation with a different language with our hitting programs."
Dipoto will get at least one more chance to find those answers this offseason, though he will have to contend with raising costs for Logan Gilbert, large contracts for Randy Arozarena, Mitch Garver, Jorge Polanco and Mitch Haniger, and an ownership group that has been averse to expanding payroll.