Insiders deal blow to Mariners fans' Jerry Dipoto revolt they should have seen coming

The Seattle Mariners have clinched their first losing season in seven years, and there's a segment of the fanbase that wants Jerry Dipoto to pay for it with his job. It is loud. It is also sizable. And yet, it's probably not going to get what it wants.

'Tis the season for reports on how underachievers around MLB might shake things up, and both ESPN's Buster Olney and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic have chimed in on how Mariners owner John Stanton might approach Dipoto's future.

Rosenthal has the stronger position on Dipoto, writing that "there is no indication the team’s largely hands-off ownership is interested in making a change" with its president of baseball operations. Olney alludes to "industry tremors" of a major change atop Seattle's front office, but even he hedges in noting that Stanton is viewed "more as patient than reactionary."

It's hard to take all that in and perceive Dipoto as a dead man walking. And surprising, it ain't. Stanton responded to the Mariners' last disappointing season in 2024 by extending Dipoto. It was a tacit green light for Dipoto to continue playing the long game he's been playing since the late 2010s, and the endgame is still nowhere in sight.

It's more likely to be Dan Wilson who gets the axe for this year. Nobody would be able to call that a case of misplaced blame. Wilson got by fine on sheer vibes late in 2024 and throughout 2025, but he lacked virtually every other quality you want in a manager.

If the Mariners do decide to keep Jerry Dipoto, 2027 must be his last chance to get the job done

At the risk of going against the grain, here's a lukewarm take on Dipoto: It's OK to be merely conflicted about him right now.

Yes, he's been on the job for 11 seasons. And yes, he's produced only two playoff teams. That's not a good batting average, and it's only fair to have doubts about how high the batting average is meant to go. Ever since 2023, Dipoto has been walking around with a scarlet "54" on his chest.

Even so, he's been around for just 22 percent of the Mariners' total lifespan and produced 53 percent of the franchise's winning seasons. We'd be thinking differently about him if the Mariners hadn't narrowly missed the playoffs in 2023 and 2024, much less the World Series in 2025.

Of course, those misses and the outright disaster of this season come back to Dipoto in some way or another. He's very good at drafting, developing and trading, yet somehow bad at building complete MLB rosters. He also has poor taste in managers, as neither Scott Servais nor Wilson developed into a steady hand after being hired by Dipoto with exactly zero managerial experience beforehand.

Setting aside the lockout-shaped elephant in the room, this offseason will represent a golden chance for Dipoto to change these narratives for the better. Ideally, he'll finally learn from his mistakes and nail his hiring of the Mariners' next manager, and then set about reshaping the major league roster so it's deeper and less flawed (particularly defensively).

If Stanton really is as patient and hands-off as they say, Dipoto will have to be his own motivator in these respects. Should he fail to adapt or ultimately just plain fail, that's when Stanton must realize that this tiger is no more able to change his stripes than any other.

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