Jerry Dipoto throws water on Mariners' hot stove 

Blake Snell, Cody Bellinger, Jordan Montgomery, and Matt Chapman are in limbo thanks to a shift in talent acquisition from dolling out substantial free-agent contracts to taking the trade route. The first spring training games start this weekend; each is still unemployed. With each passing day, the narrative is becoming more centered around the Boras Four having to take shorter-term deals with player options. A market seemingly driving down salary and year commitments is a best-case scenario for a Mariner front office under owner-imposed budget constraints. 

Seattle Times and Mariner beat reporter Ryan Divish jumped at the chance to stoke the embers of the hot stove this week. On his podcast "Extra Innings" and Seattle Sports 710, he mentioned that the Mariners were interested in perennial American League Gold-Glover Matt Chapman. 

With all the smoke surrounding a Mariners and Matt Chapman union, fans started picturing what a 2024 lineup would look like with the elite defender penciled in at the hot corner. Jerry Dipoto, the team's president of baseball operations, effectively doused the flames for a big swing when he joined Softy on KJR yesterday. 

I would say not very high. We've focused our off season on building the team you see on the field. We're not actively looking to change the way the team looks today.

Dipoto added the token GM speak, saying they were always listening and could make a move if opportunity knocks. There is a good chance this is the longtime executive's way of saving face during an offseason that started horrendously and ended up okay. It could also be a ploy to temper the narrative and the Mariner's interest in driving down the sticker price. Regarding executives looking to build out their rosters for the 162-game grind, determining truth and fiction is like reading tea leaves. Sometimes, you must let the scenario play out and hope for the best. 

Either way, there are better fits for the reimagined 2024 roster than Chapman's elite glove and diminishing offensive skills. If the 30-year-old infielder is what Dipoto and General Manager Justin Hollander envision in their ideal Mariner third baseman, they probably would've just kept Eugenio Suarez. The hot stove is most likely extinguished, at least for the Mariners, as they gear up for an exciting camp filled with great storylines, just not any tied to the Boras Four.