The Seattle Mariners are among the most disappointing teams in Major League Baseball this season. After going 90-72 and reaching the playoffs in 2022, much was expected of the 2023 version of the squad. They're currently 30-31 with a negative run differential. On Thursday, general manager Jerry Dipoto all but admitted the team he put together is not good.
He discussed the squad during his weekly radio spot on Seattle Sports with Brock and Salk. When talking about the team's struggles he said the following:
"And this is just being honest, we could go out and acquire prime Babe Ruth and it's not going to help us. We're not one player away or one magic spell from fixing this."
He's right.
Six of the Mariners' top 10 plate-appearance leaders have an OPS+ over 100. Three of those six are lower than 85. A wRC+ of 100 is league average, regulars Cal Raleigh (98), Teoscar Hernandez (96), Eugenio Suarez (86), A.J. Pollock (53) and Kolten Wong (29) are all below the mark. Wong might be the worst hitter in baseball to start the season. Meanwhile, offseason pickup Tommy La Stella was released after slashing .190/.292/.238 in 12 games.
As far as OPS goes, Hernandez (.700), Suarez (.632), J.P. Crawford (.685), Raleigh (.703), Wong (.424) and Pollock (.548) have all been bad. Even All-Stars Ty France (.758) and Julio Rodriguez (.742) are below where they should be.
The thing is, Dipoto is the architect of this roster. If the Mariners stink, he has only himself to blame. He's been in Seattle since 2015, he owns this. So when he complains about the team's performance, he has only himself to blame.
To his credit, the GM did take some of the blame:
"I’m accountable for putting the players on the field that are underperforming. The players are accountable to upholding their approach, and that’s all we ever ask of them is to uphold the approach."
Seattle still has time to turn this around. But if they don't, Dipoto may be the man to take the fall.
This article was originally published on thebiglead as Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto Admits the Team He Put Together Stinks.