Mariners confident their rebuild is working

[Sexymarinersfan]

By Corey Brock 29m ago

It’s been nearly nine months since the Mariners dove headfirst into their rebuild — eschewing the status quo for the hope they could reverse nearly two decades of mediocrity and irrelevancy.

The club did as much knowing, at least at the outset, that there would be lean times ahead for the major-league team, and that has certainly been the case. Seattle (47-63) has the fifth-worst winning percentage in the American League.

The defense has been atrocious, the pitching generally porous. The Mariners have used 59 different players. Television ratings are down 25 percent, and attendance at home is down roughly 6,000 fans a game from a year ago.

It hasn’t been pretty, at least on the surface.

“We knew what we were getting into,” Seattle general manager Jerry Dipoto said Wednesday. “We knew there would be some pain to tolerate at the major-league level.”

There have been small victories on this path, though, and that was certainly evident in the final minutes before the 1 p.m. PT trading deadline on Wednesday. Dipoto made two trades that, while weakening the big-league team, could potentially pay off for an organization that hasn’t been to the postseason since 2001.

Seattle moved relievers Roenis Elias and Hunter Strickland to the Nationals for three minor-league pitchers, adding several intriguing arms to the system. Separately, the Mariners were able to offload pitcher Mike Leake to Arizona and cash to the Diamondbacks for a versatile minor-league infielder.

These deals were, in reality, an extension of the exercise that Dipoto has engaged in for the past nine months, since that day last fall when the franchise decided to swallow hard and move its current assets for young, controllable prospects with an eye on winning in 2020 or, in all likelihood, 2021 and beyond.

“I think we’ve done what we said we were going to do,” Dipoto said. “We identified young players, we went out and improved our farm system, through the draft and international signings and with a lot of these trades. We have refocused what we’re doing. It’s making a difference.”

While there was a frenzy of deals (and late deals) Wednesday that sent a ripple through the industry, the reality for Dipoto and the Mariners was this: They had already done their heavy lifting, and that came last winter, moving Jean Segura, Edwin Diaz, Robinson Cano and James Paxton and several others for prospects.

And while the big-league team has stumbled far more than it has soared this season, many of the prospectsSeattle traded for, in addition to several of the prospects who were already here, have taken flight.

The Mariners’ Double-A affiliate in Arkansas has 13 of the top 30 prospects in the system, with three top 100 prospects – pitcher Logan Gilbert (No. 51), first baseman Evan White (No. 74) and pitcher Justin Dunn (No. 77).

Outfielder Jarred Kelenic, acquired from the Mets in the deal that sent Cano and Diaz to New York, is regarded as the best prospect in the system. In fact, six of their top 11 prospects weren’t in the organization a year ago at this time. Some were drafted, some international signings and even more acquired through trades.

A farm system that had become a punch line for some cruel joke is now regarded as a top 10 system among all big-league teams.

“There’s guys right now who we’d consider 15th to 20th on our prospect list who just a year ago would have been in our top five or six,” Dipoto said. “That’s how far we’ve come, system-wide. Trades, like we made today, are a big part of that.”

Yes, about those trades.

In the Leake deal, the Mariners acquired 22-year-old infielder Jose Caballero from Arizona. He has posted a .268/.388/.396 line with 28 stolen bases in Class A Advanced Visalia. He’ll eventually report to Class A Modesto.

The relievers the Mariners got from the Nationals come with power arms, two from the left side. Taylor Guilbeau, 26, will report to Triple-A Tacoma for now but you will see him in the big leagues this season, Dipoto said. Guilbeau can hit 98 mph and throws from a lower arm slot and has an above-average slider. Aaron Fletcher, a 23-year-old lefty, averages 92 mph with his fastball and has an above-average slider. He will join the Double-A team in Arkansas.

The last piece of the deal with the Nationals was for a 20-year-old right-hander, Elvis Alvarado, who has been pitching in the Dominican Summer League. A converted outfielder, Alvarado can hit 100 mph. He will now report to Seattle’s entry in the Arizona League. He’s a lottery ticket, really. But he presented the kind of upside the farm system lacked even a year ago at this time.

“It’s rare you get a chance to fill in a lot of prospect depth in one day,” Dipoto said. “We were pretty pumped about that.”

There is, Dipoto said, a lot to be excited about. And that’s a far cry from where this franchise was a year ago at this point, also-rans in its division with another winter of discontent on tap, stuck with an aging and expensive roster. The immediate future looked bleak.

Today, though, there’s hope. We can’t say for sure today (and no one can) if the rebuild will eventually pay off, but what we can say is that it was entirely necessary, and the early returns look promising.

“We understood this was going to be a two-year process. We’re almost halfway home … and we feel we’ve made great progress in laying a foundation,” Dipoto said. “We are really happy with where it’s gone so far.”

~Corey Brock, The Athletic

[Donn Beach]

interesting how intent Dipoto is on locking in a that schedule

“We understood this was going to be a two-year process. We’re almost halfway home … and we feel we’ve made great progress in laying a foundation,” Dipoto said. “We are really happy with where it’s gone so far.”

[bpj]

Two year process, they're right on track in my opinion also.

Major league team is 5 above average players away from contending.

[D-train]

interesting how intent Dipoto is on locking in a that schedule

“We understood this was going to be a two-year process. We’re almost halfway home … and we feel we’ve made great progress in laying a foundation,” Dipoto said. “We are really happy with where it’s gone so far.”

Just will never understand why he said mid 2020 instead of start of 2021. Even if they did it to appease the idiot fanbase I don't even think it would do that unless they are even more idiotic than I assumed.

[Donn Beach]

yeah, I don't think he feels he needs to appease anybody, I think its the way his mind works, like Cashman, doesn't lack confidence, its the polar opposite of Z. Z go on and on and never say a thing, quit even bothering listening to him

[bpj]

I think he understands how few holes there are.

Fill one or two internally
Add one or two in free agency
Trade for one or two

Boom, done.

Knowing Dipoto's tendencies, I dont think he needs more than a year from now to plug the final holes.

[D-train]

I just never in my life have heard a GM say a rebuild will end in the middle of a season.

[Donn Beach]

and not just follow one vague modifier after another...its like a home remodel, be done in June

[bpj]

I just never in my life have heard a GM say a rebuild will end in the middle of a season.

I havent either, but it does make perfect sense to me if you think you're going to add 1 or 2 cogs in your wheel at each season interval.

Offseason, add a couple
Trade deadline add a couple.

It doesn't really seem to be scientific, if I wanted to compete in 2021, I'd make sure the team I wanted to go to battle with was 95% on the field by midseason 2020 to acclimate and become a unit.

[bpj]

If we traded for a 1B, put Nola at 2B and signed the top 2 SP's we'd be contenders next season, imo.

Theres no reason it has to take as long as they're saying, I think they're being safe.