5 Reasons the Mariners Will Be Watching the Playoffs from Home… Again

2. Mariners Off-Season Failures

This past off-season, the Mariners made a few flashy moves. Unfortunately, they didn’t exactly work out. Dee Gordon and Ryon Healy have been worth exactly 0.1 bWAR combined. The big free agent signing, Juan Nicasio, was a disappointment although did flash some promise. But at -1.1 bWAR, Dipoto’s off-season was a disaster.

Now, I am a big believer in the process over results. But at the end of the day, GM Jerry Dipoto will be judged on results. And his 2017 off-season was an epic failure.

Perhaps his worst offense is actually what he didn’t do this off-season. Remember when we talked about the Mariners went into the season knowing that Felix wasn’t any good? Also, remember when numerous people voiced their concerns about the health of James Paxton and Marco Gonzales? And whether or not Erasmo Ramirez could hold up as a #4 SP? Now, do you remember what the Mariners did to address these concerns?

Hope it didn’t take you long, because the answer was nothing. Not doing anything to address the biggest weakness on the team turned out to be a massive blow to the 2018 season. Too bad it wasn’t the most obvious thing ever.

Perhaps, even more, aggravating was the market itself. The Mariners really needed pitching prices to remain low, something that hasn’t been the norm in recent years. However, late into free agency, pitchers like Alex Cobb, Jaime Garcia, and Lance Lynn went for reasonable deals.

Now, very few of these free agent signings ended up working out for the signing team. However, we fall back on our process over results conundrum. The Mariners desperately needed starting pitching. Everybody knew it. And yet, nothing happened.

The inability to address the starting staff, as well as the lack of any interest to upgrade the bench and sure up the middle innings are all massive reasons why the Mariners find themselves in the position they are in.