SEATTLE — In his first offseason in charge of the Seattle Mariners, general manager Jerry Dipoto showed he has a little mad scientist in him.
In an effort to reconstruct Seattle’s roster Dipoto made 11 trades in a two-month span, with no fewer than 34 players changing teams. He spiked those changes by signing another five free agents. The moves came so fast and frequently it was hard to get a grasp on just what Dipoto had Frankensteined together.
But now that the dust has settled and Dipoto has been able to assess his work, he’s come to one conclusion about his creation:
It’s alive!
The Mariners held their annual pre-spring training media luncheon Thursday morning at Safeco Field, and Dipoto believes his flurry of moves didn’t just shuffle the chairs on the deck, they made the team better.
“We talked about a plan, what we wanted to do with this offseason, and how we waned to structure this roster,” said Dipoto, who took over a team that went 76-86 last season and finished fourth in the American League West. “Now as I sit here four-plus months later, I think we did what we said we were going to do. I feel very confident that our game plan has been executed. Now we’re going to find out as the season starts how good the game plan was, but I think we did execute a game plan.”
Seattle’s players are going to need name tags when they report to spring training in Peoria, Ariz., in February — pitchers and catchers report on Feb. 19, position players report five days later. Four of the eight position players at the top of the depth chart — catcher Chris Iannetta, first baseman Adam Lind, left fielder Nori Aoki and center fielder Leonys Martin — are newcomers. New starting pitcher Wade Miley is ticketed for the rotation, while fellow newbie Nate Karns is also a strong candidate to start. And the bullpen has been completely revamped, including the top two arms in closer Steve Cishek and set-up man Joaquin Benoit.
Even the on-field staff is largely new, including manager Scott Servais. The only coaches retained from the previous regime were hitting coach Edgar Martinez, who’s a Seattle legend, and quality control-coach Chris Prieto.
But as the Mariners begin packing for Arizona, Dipoto believes all the moves he made accomplished his offseason goals.
“We talked about the idea of being more athletic in the outfield, and I believe we are,” Dipoto said. “We talked about building a ball club to Safeco Field, and I believe we’ve done that. We talked about building depth on the pitching staff, and I feel like we’ve addressed that need to the best degree that we could.”
Martin and Aoki fit into the first category. Both can run and they should provide a defensive upgrade in the outfield. The improved outfield defense, plus an influx of left-handed bats (Martin, Aoki, Lind), will play better in cavernous Safeco Field. And Seattle has more bullpen candidates than it knows what to do with.
Dipoto also talked about how he believes the team is better suited to get on base. The additions of Lind (.360 on-base percentage) and Aoki (.353), along with a full season from shortstop Ketel Marte (.351), should provide a boost to a team that placed 22nd in the majors in on-base percentage at a paltry .311.
“I like the versatility, I like the athleticism,” Servais said about why he likes his team. “I think to win you have to pitch, have good pitching and defend, and we got a lot better at that, especially in our outfield defense.
“I think also we’re going to be playing a high number of one-run games,” Servais continued. “I just believe in this ballpark, where it’s hard to blow people out or get blown out, you’re going to play tight games. So the ability to get on base and create consistent opportunities to score is important. It’s not just you banging a double off the wall and somebody gets a hit to drive him in, or somebody hitting one out the park. It’s a walk, it’s a hit, moving a guy over, sac flies, different ways to score. The more athletic you are, the better chance you’ve got of that happening. That’s why I like our club.”
But it’s not just the newcomers Dipoto and Servais are excited about. According to Baseball-Reference.com, Seattle had four players last season who were worth 3.4 wins above replacement or more: outfielder/designated hitter Nelson Cruz (5.2), starting pitcher Felix Hernandez (4.4), third baseman Kyle Seager (4.3), second baseman Robinson Cano (3.4). All four are back.
“We didn’t do anything that’s terribly marquee in value, or the sexy offseason moves,” Dipoto said. “But when you’ve got Robbie Cano and Nelson Cruz and Kyle Seager and Felix Hernandez, there’s some star value with that group. We did a fair amount of lifting to create a group around them that we feel can support what they do.”
Therefore the Mariners, who head into spring training having gone 14 years without seeing the playoffs, believe they have the team capable of ending Seattle’s postseason drought.
“We’ll start the season with the idea that we’re going to get into the mid-80s (wins),” Dipoto said. “We’ve built the roster with the idea to get into the mid 80s, and if you can get into that 85-, 86-win zone and let the chips fall where they may, it’s amazing how frequently you’re going to wind up winning a lot more games than that.
“When we look up in September we want to be playing meaningful games with a chance to go play for a playoff spot,” Dipoto added. “That’s the goal, and we’re going to make forward progress.”
Check out Nick Patterson’s Seattle Sidelines blog at http://www.heraldnet.com/seattlesidelines, and follow him on Twitter at @NickHPatterson.
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