Jerry Dipoto’s 5 Best Moves as Seattle Mariners General Manager

Seattle Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto has come under fire in recent days, thanks in large part to a completely made up hysteria that he somehow misleads fans about the team time table. Today, we give him some props.

Since taking over as the Mariners General Manager in October of 2015, Jerry Dipoto has been the busiest GM in the game. At least, right up until this winter. With so many moves being made in his 4+ years at the helm of the Mariners, it is hard to remember them all. But some stick out above the rest.

Today, we are going to focus on 5 of the best moves Jerry Dipoto has made as GM of the Mariners. With the sheer volume of moves, some are bound to be good, just as some are bound to be bad. But despite what narrative the uniformed and disinterested masses wish for you to believe, Dipoto has done a nice job thus far.

Now, keep in mind, this is an editorial. Meaning the 5 moves I would call as Dipoto’s best may not be the 5 you would choose, and that is okay. Dipoto has made dozens of moves that have worked out well for Seattle, so narrowing it down to 5 isn’t an easy task.

And notice, that I haven’t used the word “transactions” before now. So while most of the following moves are a trade, in house roster decisions are still eligible for this list. Some of my choices are for personal reasons, others will be based purely on production and thought process behind the move itself. With that in mind, let’s get started.

5. Trading Taijuan Walker & Ketel Marte for Jean Segura & Mitch Haniger

Entering 2019, this deal looked like an absolute steal for the Mariners. Mitch Haniger was coming off an All-Star season and Jean Segura had turned in two All-Star level quality seasons before being shipped off to Philadelphia for a package that ultimately turned into J.P. Crawford, Isiah Campbell, 3 months of Edwin Encarnacion, and Juan Then.

But Ketel Marte had a coming-out season and Haniger missed most of the season with various injuries and the deal lost a bit of its shine amongst Mariners fans. At least to some. But at the end of the day, the Mariners got at least 2 All-Star seasons from Haniger and Segura and Dipoto’s valuation of both was spot on.

While Segura was coming off a big season in Arizona, there were still questions surrounding him. Many wondered if he could repeat his previous seasons’ numbers and most were convinced he couldn’t be an everyday shortstop. Dipoto gambled that he could and he was right.

All Haniger had done at the time was have a strong minor league season and flash in a short September call-up stint, but looked more like a 4th outfielder than anything else. Haniger almost immediately became the best all-around player on a good Mariners team.

Whether the Mariners get any more value out of Haniger, which is a relatively safe bet, or not doesn’t really matter. In this trade, Dipoto thought he knew more about upside in these two players than the rest of baseball did, and he was absolutely right.

This may be his best “pre-rebuild” move as Mariners GM and it was a damned good one too.