Reports: Mariners GM Dipoto Ready for “Quieter Off-Season”

The Seattle Mariners have a lot of work to do to reach their 2021 goal of competing for a playoff spot. But according to GM Jerry Dipoto, this off-season could be a little quieter.

Now, to be transparent, the Mariners GM didn’t say they would be dormant (despite the narrative Jon Heyman wants to push). He used the term “moderate” in regards to the number of trades and free-agent acquisition. Said Dipoto:

"This will be a little different offseason than you’ve seen from us, particularly last year’s,” Dipoto said.  “But even years prior, 2016-18, we were so much about making peripheral moves to augment what we thought was a contending core. This is a different scenario. We’re growing a young core and we have to give them an opportunity to play."

For the full conversation with Dipoto, read Greg John’s article by clicking here. But remember, the headline can be misleading. A “quiet off-season”… particularly compared to last years. These type of headlines will be common this off-season. It is a hook. You call it clickbait. But what it usually is is actually just a good headline.

A headline reads “Mariners bracing for slow off-season” is going to garner more attention than something like “Moderate Off-Season for Mariners”. Please keep that in mind this off-season. But in this story, in particular, context is important.

Almost any off-season is going to look “moderate” compared to the last off-season. So think about it. Did this headline grab your attention? Technically, it is accurate. They are expecting to make a few “impact changes”. Therefore, quieter.

But that doesn’t mean it won’t be busy. And it doesn’t refer to the departures at all. The quote is about adding significant pieces. So just remember this during the off-season: a headline without context is just a headline. The only way to know what is actually going to happen is to follow the news yourself and reading and listening to as much information as possible.