The Seattle Mariners go into Friday with a losing record (30-31) and in fourth place in the American League West. Their season run difference dipped into the red this week after a dismal start in June in which they were outscored by a combined 25 runs in their first five games.
It’s fair to describe the Mariners as one of the majors’ most underwhelming teams — to the extent that CEO Jerry Dipoto doesn’t believe adding Babe Ruth to the Seattle lineup at the peak of his powers would help. No really. That’s what Dipoto said Thursday during his weekly radio show on Seattle Sports. Here’s the notable quote, according to the station: “And this is just fair, we could go out and buy the best Babe Ruth and it won’t help us. We’re not one player or one magic spell away from putting this on to solve.”
Obviously, Dipoto is kind of funny, but his broader point is fair: The Mariners don’t have one or two holes in their lineup that can be patched up with midseason trades. What they have is a group of hitters who have made underperforming the rule rather than the exception so far this season.
The Mariners rank 19th in points scored and 22nd in wRC+, an all-encompassing metric hosted on FanGraphs that is adjusted for margin, among other things. Look at their individual stats, though, and you’ll notice that only four of their top 10 board recipients have an OPS+ of over 100. By comparison, three of the remaining six are under the age of 85.
It’s hard to ignore that each of Dipoto’s notable additions to the off-season lineup underperformed. Second baseman Kolten Wong has been one of the worst hitters in the majors; AJ Pollock hasn’t been much better; and Tommy La Stella, the designated hitter for Opening Day, has already been released. Even Teoscar Hernández, a consistently above-average hitter for the past five years, is on the wrong side of the 100 OPS+ threshold.
|
Teoscar Hernandez |
251 |
97 |
133 |
|
Kolten Wong |
134 |
25 |
109 |
|
A. J. Pollock |
105 |
55 |
115 |
|
Tommy La Stella |
24 |
55 |
100 |
To Dipoto’s credit, he took responsibility for what appears to be an off-season failure: “I am responsible for putting the players on the field who are underperforming. The players are responsible for maintaining their approach, and that’s all we ever ask of them is to maintain the approach.”
Now the question is whether the Mariners can work their way out of the hole they dug. And if not, what will Dipoto do this winter to ensure a better 2024 season.