Last season the Seattle Mariners ended a 21-year post-season drought. The expectation was that they would return again in 2023, and that goal is still within reach. With just over one week to go before the trade deadline, they find themselves with a 50-48 record, 7.5 games back in the division, and 3.5 back of a wild card spot.
During the offseason, Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto was super aggressive in the trade market, bringing in Teoscar Hernandez from the Toronto Blue Jays, Kolten Wong from the Milwaukee Brewers, and Cooper Hummel from the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Despite his history of being more than willing to trade players, Dipoto will be taking the opposite approach at this year’s deadline. He recently revealed that he plans on standing pat.
In Bob Nightengale’s latest news column, Dipoto indicated that he is not going to buy at this year’s deadline. He referenced working within the ‘margins’ to improve the 2023 team and to better situate themselves for next season.
“We’ve not really separated ourselves in a meaningful way to be aggressive on the buying end. Last year we were very aggressive in the trade market …. We’re probably not going to be in that market. We’re going to be more in the ‘margins’ market. We are trying to find a way that we can get a little bit better in ’23 and better situate ourselves for ’24.”
This may not be news that Mariners fans want to hear, but it should be encouraging that Dipoto doesn’t plan to sell any of his players. Hernandez and Ty France have both been mentioned in trade rumors but with the club hanging around in the postseason race they both will likely remain in Seattle.
We will see how this strategy plays out for Dipoto and if the Mariners can return to the playoffs for a second consecutive season or not.
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