SeaSide Thoughts: Can the Mariners turn the tide?

It starts internally

Mariners President Jerry Dipoto did not win over many fans when he once again discussed on his weekly radio spot about the state of the team. He acknowledged disappointment, but maintained a steadfast philosophy of “Draft, Develop, Trade”. He firmly is against the massive free agent contracts and believes that is an unlikely pathway to success. He also stated that Seattle is not one piece away from fixing things, but they collectively need to get better to achieve any goals. 

While I take a strong issue with Dipoto’s free agency beliefs, I commend his tenacious vision of how he wants his team built (and shame on ownership if he’s forced to talk like this because they won’t financially support a more aggressive approach). I also agree with his declaration that this starts with the team that is currently in the clubhouse. 

"“This is a commitment from 26 players on a roster to reverse our course, and between now and the end of July, if we show progress in that way, then we’ll go out and solve what problem or problems we can solve. But we’re not going to flip out our roster for six or eight new players. Again, I feel we are young, we are sustainable, and we are struggling. The worst time to make decisions is when you’re at your worst. So I think the appropriate measure is take a deep breath, watch what’s happening around the league for these next 30-40 days and put yourself in a position to make a difference when it comes that time. But to think, ‘Oh my gosh, we need to trade all these guys and start over,’ that’s absurd. We built this, it’s a good team, we’re coming off back-to-back 90-win seasons, we’re .500, we don’t have 15 wins (on the season) today. We just had a really crummy week.”"

Jerry Dipoto

While I think there’s more to this than a crummy week, the point remains. If Seattle wants to stay in the hunt, the heavy lifting needs to be done internally.