Mariners’ Jerry Dipoto can take a victory lap after Executive of the Year honors

Baseball America made it official on Tuesday, December 9: Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto is their 2025 Executive of the Year, putting him alongside Pat Gillick (2001) as the only Mariners execs ever to take home the honor.

If it feels like a full-circle moment, that’s because it is. The long, sometimes exhausting “step-back” era finally cashed in on a season where the Mariners didn’t just sneak into October — they kicked the door down, won their first AL West title since 2001 and pushed all the way to a seven-game ALCS.

Jerry Dipoto’s patience pays off as Mariners chief takes home Executive of the Year honors

If you look around that clubhouse, Dipoto’s fingerprints are basically on every locker.

You’ve got the homegrown spine: Julio Rodríguez, Cal Raleigh, Logan Gilbert, George Kirby, Bryan Woo. All drafted or signed under Dipoto’s watch and now carrying real star or frontline-rotation weight. He extended Raleigh on a six-year, $105 million contract, then watched him casually set the single-season home run record for a catcher — and for any Mariners hitter, because why not?

Then there’s the “we’re not afraid to bet on our evaluations” tier. The front office doubled down on Jorge Polanco last winter with a modest one-year deal after a rough, injury-marred 2024. All he did was pop 26 homers with an .821 OPS and turn second base into a real problem for opposing pitchers again.

At the trade deadline, the Mariners went full “win-now” and grabbed Josh Naylor and Eugenio Suárez — the kind of middle-of-the-order firepower this fanbase had been begging for. Naylor responded with a 20–30 season and a big postseason, then signed on for five more years in Seattle. 

It’s also worth remembering how loud things got last winter. Dipoto and the front office took plenty of heat for not splurging on the top of the free-agent market and for being slower than fans wanted to add that “one more bat.” A year later, the plaque from Baseball America is basically saying: yeah, there was a plan.

Executive of the Year isn’t just about nailing one offseason. It’s about building something sustainable. Under Dipoto, the Mariners have stacked multiple 90-win seasons, rebuilt a top-five farm system and now have an AL West banner and a deep October run to show for it.

If you were one of the many who questioned whether the Mariners were serious about going all-in, this is your reminder: the guy who talked about building a perennial contender just got recognized for actually doing it. For once, Jerry Dipoto gets to take a victory lap — and this time, it comes with hardware.