Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Bryan Woo (22) blows on his middle finger before the fifth inning against the Minnesota Twins at T-Mobile Park on May 30. Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

Seattle Mariners Fans Can't Blame Jerry Dipoto or John Stanton For Team's Recent Slide

Originally posted on Seattle Mariners on SI
By Brady Farkas | Last updated Jun 10, 2025 4:00 PM ET

Among Seattle Mariners fans and pundits, there is a constant desire to pin struggles upon Jerry Dipoto and the front office, or John Stanton and the ownership team.

However, over the last week and a half of struggles that have seen the Mariners go from 3.5 games up in the American League West to 3.0 games back? It's neither, and fans need to recognize that too.

I discussed more on the Refuse to Lose podcast, which came out on Tuesday:

In the macro? I think you're right to have that debate. But in the micro, for the last week, plus, it's not on John Stanton and it's not on Jerry Dipoto. It is on the players. And not only is it on the players, it's on your key players. And you need to recognize that. That has been the thing that has frustrated me so much over the last ten days or so.

If this was about Donovan Solano being bad, then we could talk about Jerry Dipoto and how he spends money on bad players. If this was about, Miles Mastrobuoni being bad, we could have the same discussion about why John Stan won't let him have any money. But it's not really that. Okay? The last 10 days, look at what's happened. You blew three consecutive games against the Minnesota Twins. Andres Munoz blew two of them. Andres Munoz is an All-Star. Andres Munoz is your guy that you're counting on. Okay? You can't blame Jerry Dipoto or John Stanton for that.

And it goes beyond that, of course. The Mariners lost a game in which Bryan Woo, a probable All-Star, surrendered a 3-1 lead in the sixth inning. Bryce Miller, a guy who entered the year as a Cy Young candidate, surrendered a 3-1 lead in the fifth inning. Randy Arozarena had a 21-game strikeout streak at one point, and Luis Castillo couldn't protect a 4-0 lead against the Los Angeles Angels.

It's certainly been tough to watch, and there's many reasons for the team's failures, but it's not all easy to blame on the higher-ups. These struggles? These are on the players.

You can listen to the full episode of Refuse to Lose below:

This article first appeared on Seattle Mariners on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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