Official Mariners arm-chair GM offseason thread 2018-2019

[ulmax]

Rbi...a good stat to show risp but not a do
All
Cruz..97
Haniger...93
Seager....78
Healy..73
Segura...63

 

[wazzu31]

By Greg Johns MLB.com @gregjohnsmlb
Oct. 1st, 2018
SEATTLE -- Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto said some reassessment and restructuring of his club's roster is in order this offseason, but coming off an 89-win season with some good young pieces in place he won't be looking to tear down and start over.

Dipoto looks at first-time All-Stars Mitch Haniger and Edwin Diaz as well as up-and-coming starter Marco Gonzales as building blocks for the future, not trade chips to bring in younger prospects in a total youth movement.

"We do have some guys that are aging and some guys that are just coming into their own," Dipoto said. "I think that makes us like most every other team in the league. We just have to determine what our direction is and a lot of our direction will be based on that core of young players."

In meeting with the media the day after the season ended, Dipoto didn't make any declarative statements about whether he'll bring back designated hitter Nelson Cruz or what positions Robinson Cano, Dee Gordon and others would fill next year.

Instead, he said internal meetings regarding all the options have just begun and how things play out will depend on what moves can be accomplished.

Cano said after Sunday's season finale that he expected to return to second base next season. He split time at second with Gordon after returning from his 80-game suspension in mid-August, but Dipoto and manager Scott Servais indicated no such decisions have yet been made.

"Our roster where it's at right now is a long way away from Opening Day," Servais said. "I think it's important to see where we are at that point and see where he fits best. It's about the team. It's about putting the best team out there, giving us the chance to win the most games. We'll see how it breaks out here this offseason."

In the same vein, the Mariners are open to re-signing impending free agent Cruz, but that sounds far from a slam dunk.

"Those decisions have yet to be made," Dipoto said. "Right now it appears there's a very clear need at DH, and we all know and love Nelson. But we have to consider what comes next and the different creative ways a roster might come together. We'll never close the door on considering anything, up to and including bringing him back. I think Nelly would like to be back, but I'm sure he is considering his options as well."

Gordon opened the year in center field, a position he'd never played, then shifted to his natural second-base spot during Cano's suspension. Dipoto acknowledged the club would like to find one spot for Gordon to stick to next year, but wasn't prepared to say where that position would be.

"We asked him to move to center field, and he did yeoman's work at a position he'd never played," Dipoto said. "He did what we asked him to do, because that's what good teammates do. When we asked him to move in to play second base, he did that, too, because that's what good teammates do.

"At the end of the day, we'll have to assess what fits with this roster and where Robbie plays and whether we bring back Nelson. A lot will be judged by what the roster looks like as we go through the offseason. So many different things could happen from trades to free-agent signings that we can't pin ourselves into one single idea or building around one single player. We have to take more of a broad view of a roster than that."

Dipoto believes Gordon and Kyle Seager can bounce back from sub-par offensive seasons and sees help coming as early as the second half of next season from young prospects Evan White, Kyle Lewis and Braden Bishop. He hasn't closed the door on Daniel Vogelbach being an offensive contributor.

Pitching-wise, all five starters are slated to return, though certainly questions linger about Felix Hernandez's status after his difficult 2018 campaign.

In other words, it'll be an interesting offseason in Seattle and while a total overhaul shouldn't be expected, tough decisions and moves are definitely forthcoming.

"Ultimately, we haven't reached our goal here," Servais said. "We may have to make a few changes to get to the goal. And it's not just to make a Wild Card Game, it's to get deep into the postseason and win a world championship."

Greg Johns has covered the Mariners since 1997, and for MLB.com since 2011. Follow him on Twitter @GregJohnsMLB.

I'm really not sure what he is talking about this team is a long way away from opening day? Unless he is trading the younger guys or find someone dumb enough to take on the contracts of Felix, Cano, Seager, Gordon or Nicassio again how is there anything that uncertain?

He's talking so much out of both sides of his mouth it's annoying. He defends the club by saying had anyone said they'd end up with the record they did everyone would have been happy. But going into the season he admitted that there were only a handful of teams not tanking it this year and two of those teams of those teams tanking in Oakland and Tampa finished with a better season.

I fear the offense will be the exact same except Vogelbach will replace Cruz and not much can change on the staff besides filling the bullpen out with crappy free agents he likes. This was the year for them and Jerry squandered it by sitting on his hands.

Jerry is was like a dumbass jockey who had a big lead, saw a horse breaking and instead of grabbing the whip he pulled up and started waving at the crowd.

 

[ulmax]

Rbi...a good stat to show risp but not a do
All
Cruz..97
Haniger...93
Seager....78
Healy..73
Segura...63

These are the guys making the offence
Take away Cruz and segura
Then you better get some darn good
Pitching to compensate

 

[SeattleCoug]

I'm really not sure what he is talking about this team is a long way away from opening day? Unless he is trading the younger guys or find someone dumb enough to take on the contracts of Felix, Cano, Seager, Gordon or Nicassio again how is there anything that uncertain?

He's talking so much out of both sides of his mouth it's annoying. He defends the club by saying had anyone said they'd end up with the record they did everyone would have been happy. But going into the season he admitted that there were only a handful of teams not tanking it this year and two of those teams of those teams tanking in Oakland and Tampa finished with a better season.

I fear the offense will be the exact same except Vogelbach will replace Cruz and not much can change on the staff besides filling the bullpen out with crappy free agents he likes. This was the year for them and Jerry squandered it by sitting on his hands.

Jerry is was like a dumbass jockey who had a big lead, saw a horse breaking and instead of grabbing the whip he pulled up and started waving at the crowd.

Yea its clear they don't want to rebuild which isn't a shock. There will be two more season of half assed attempts to compete and then the next GM and Manager will be in and we can do the dance all over again.

 

[ulmax]

Yea its clear they don't want to rebuild which isn't a shock. There will be two more season of half assed attempts to compete and then the next GM and Manager will be in and we can do the dance all over again.

Yeah..and iknew that Felix was declining
And it would cause the mariners problems
For a few years now....so if they rebuild
It would be after next year at the earlyist

 

[ulmax]

With Cano out 80 games I don't think
We saw what this team could really do

And with romine a poor excuse for a hitter...did not help seager any

 

[ulmax]

With Cano out 80 games I don't think
We saw what this team could really do

And with romine a poor excuse for a hitter...did not help seager any

All that said..they would not need to hit better..if they had better starting pitching

 

[NWinAZ]

The first steps of the Mariners’ offseason - to rebuild or retool?

 

[NWinAZ]

 

[wazzu31]

The first steps of the Mariners’ offseason - to rebuild or retool?

I’m pretty all of us agreed on this going into the season that the farm system blew and the roster wasn’t getting any younger. With the A’s coming in hot at the deadline and with Jerry’s new extension I thought a ballsy move would have been to blow it up as I’ve repeated, I truly think the Mariners could have completely turned their gutter of a farm system into a top 10 one in one deadline.

They’ll never be able to get the value for Paxton, Diaz and Colome that they would have at the or at a deadline. Just look at the Yankees and all their young guys they got when they dealt Miller and Chapman. Same thing with Segura IMO. Haniger is the only real player of value IMO they could net a “blockbuster” type deal in the offseason. Plus we all know the organization doesn’t have the guts to deal with an average of 7,000 for attendance during weekday games.

Forever stuck in the middle, and we have a GM who on a wim just decides to make a trade for just making a trade and you can’t have instability as the main philosophy of your organization and that has what it has been since he took over. I just wish they’d take the philosophy of just hiring a young hot shot who wants to make a name for himself, kind of like Theo Epstein did. Not Theo from Boston but Theo from Chicago where he wanted to prove he could tear it down and start over

 

[SeattleCoug]

Plus we all know the organization doesn’t have the guts to deal with an average of 7,000 for attendance during weekday games.

Well guess what they are anyway except its maybe 12-13K instead of 7. But yeah why sacrifice that extra revenue if it comes at an expense of having a concrete plan to be great. No I don't mean building a team that can hopefully be the 5th best in the AL. Taking the time to actually build something great.

 

[SeattleCoug]

I just wish they’d take the philosophy of just hiring a young hot shot who wants to make a name for himself, kind of like Theo Epstein did. Not Theo from Boston but Theo from Chicago where he wanted to prove he could tear it down and start over

I think we have touched on this before but they just hire GMs who tell them what they want to hear. They want to just tinker with the current roster rather then rebuild or spend big money to really improve. Jack Z and Dipoto are type of people who say a lot of words but at the end of the interview or press conference you don't really learn anything. Sure they sound articulate but if you actually analyze what they say its usually just gibberish

 

[StanMarsh51]

Segura is the best hitting ss in the league
Hate to trade him
But if they have to they should get at least
A pitcher and a utility guy

Over Bogaerts and Lindor?

 

[wazzu31]

Well guess what they are anyway except its maybe 12-13K instead of 7. But yeah why sacrifice that extra revenue if it comes at an expense of having a concrete plan to be great. No I don't mean building a team that can hopefully be the 5th best in the AL. Taking the time to actually build something great.

True, but this team has shown smoke and mirrors and gets the fans at least a little hope so they sell out a few weekend series not named Toronto or Boston.

There just is no reason the Mariners shouldn’t be able to have as healthy a system as a the A’s or essentially anyone. They can afford the top tier scouts, they have top tier facilities in Latin America, are Asians countries favorite team. Sure the amateur draft is a crap shoot but development needs to be a priority somewhere too. Not just have guys in the system and as soon as there is whispers of them being an above average prospect you trade them.

 

[Duders]

From the movie "Frozen": -LET IT GO- The season is a done deal and we all know that some things just never change and the Mariner's organization is proof of that so we might as well just "Let it go".

 

[SeattleCoug]

Not really a bold prediction anymore but I’m betting Segura gets traded.
I guess Servais yanked him for not hustling yesterday. That after the he kinda threw him under the bus a month ago about not playing and susposdely being involved in a clubhouse altercation

I’m for Segura getting traded only because you could actually get value for him I believe despite his poor second half. However it’s weird that Servais chooses him out of all the players to be hard on.

Scratch that I wasn't aware Jean had a no trade clause in his deal. I guess he could still waive it tho

 

[wazzu31]

Scratch that I wasn't aware Jean had a no trade clause in his deal. I guess he could still waive it tho

Eh, if him and Dee got into it the way some reported it and Servais remarks I’m not sure it’d be a hard sell to him to waive it. Just question is would Jerry trade him. Every interview that Jerry has been and Jean has been brought (at least that I’ve heard) he has gone out of his way to pat himself on the back talking about how Jean has been his guy since Milwaukee. Don’t care to look it up but he gives off the impression that he fought with scouts trying to sign him. Very Bill Polian esque with him patting himself on the back for choosing Peyton Manning over Ryan Leaf.

 

[SeattleCoug]

Eh, if him and Dee got into it the way some reported it and Servais remarks I’m not sure it’d be a hard sell to him to waive it. Just question is would Jerry trade him. Every interview that Jerry has been and Jean has been brought (at least that I’ve heard) he has gone out of his way to pat himself on the back talking about how Jean has been his guy since Milwaukee. Don’t care to look it up but he gives off the impression that he fought with scouts trying to sign him. Very Bill Polian esque with him patting himself on the back for choosing Peyton Manning over Ryan Leaf.

If the choice is between Jean and Dee which is likely the case it should be a no brainer. Since they aren't rebuilding keep the better player.

 

[wazzu31]

If the choice is between Jean and Dee which is likely the case it should be a no brainer. Since they aren't rebuilding keep the better player.

It should be a no brained but if they try to deal Dee, I can’t imagine they would get too much back for him as opposed to Jean. But with Jean it’s hard to tell what value he would have, as a SS I can’t imagine he would have any value as all the contenders have established guys. At 2B it is different but generally speaking 2B don’t get top prospects in trades. That’s why IMO he is a deadline type deal so he’d have multiple bidders driving up the price.

 

[ulmax]

2pct and comment

The first steps of the Mariners’ offseason - to rebuild or retool?

trade vogelbach,vincent,and ramirez for a young pitcher like cole irvin to philis and resign cruz..

then trade him for the pitcher that you really want