Jerry Dipoto on the #Mariners 2025 Season | Seattle Sports

Uh, you know, we’re still we’re still in the recovery phase. Uh, I don’t know what stage of grief I’m in, but I’m been one of them and and I imagine everybody else is too, but, you know, taking a step back. An incredibly exciting season. You know, especially the last eight weeks or so. Couldn’t be prouder of our guys. You know, we won the the AOS for the first time in a generation. Uh, a lot of guys had fantastic seasons and, you know, to come within eight outs of of making it to the World Series. Yeah. painful, but you know, we’ll wake up at some point in the offseason and get back after putting our team together for 26. Uh, you know, can’t say enough about our fans and the way they showed out from, you know, the the the workout days to putting people in the bowl and and uh, you know, the environment, the atmosphere that we played in in both the ALDS and the ALCS was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. and and I’ve experienced a lot of cool things and and that was it was unbelievable. So, uh hopefully we’ve we’ve taken a huge step this year. Hopefully we take, you know, another big one next year. Jerry, just what have the last couple days been like for you? There’s no blueprint for how to handle something like this, but just how have you sort of processed it? Yeah, not a lot of talking, you know, um mostly ignoring, a lot of uh you know, communication, trying to to just lay low. I think that’s probably true of our of our staff, our players, is is just trying to disconnect for a minute. And, you know, a number of friends who who do what I do for a living suggested, you know, that it might be wise just to take a week or so and and and not think about baseball. And uh but that it’s probably not our nature. We’ll we’ll get back after it next week and and start working at it. But, you know, for now, mostly just uh, you know, replaying just like everybody else, our fans, replaying a variety of different, you know, events in our heads. And, you know, we’ll probably I will see George Springer on the ceiling of of my sleep for years to come. It’s just he’s tormented us for years. And, um, you know, but again, really proud of of what we’ve been able to accomplish, you know, on in the big picture this year and and looking forward to to getting to work to put together a good team again for next year. And when it comes to heading into I know you’re taking some time off, you know, taking a breath, but but given the success of the team this year, does heading into this off seasonason feel different than previous offseasons? Uh, no. I I I can’t I don’t know. You know, that we’re I’m I’m still in game seven. So, you I I don’t really know what this feels like other than, you know, we’ve got a great foundation. We have I I think universally one of the best scors in baseball, you know, in in in terms of top- end prospects, preparedness of those prospects, guys who are near and ready. We’re excited by that. And I look at the core of our team and, you know, most of them are in their mid late 20s. Most of them are having what should be the best years of their career. You know, our our starting rotation returns in full. you know, we’ve got core players like Cal and Julio and JP through the middle and young players that populate other spots on the field, productive veterans all over this the the field that return and you know and we’re we’re right in the prime of what we should be doing. So, it’s uh it’s exciting and and I can’t say the only thing that makes that different is that this year we go in being the divisional champions and and that means something to us. You know, it was part of our part of our our goal. No, the moves you made at the trade deadline clearly made a difference. Um, obviously Josh and and J down the stretch in the playoffs. How much of a priority is bringing Oh, let’s start with Josh back next season. Yeah, obviously it’s a priority and you know, we will take a step back from where we are before we truly assess and we’ll communicate with the players before we say anything publicly, but um you know, we’re we’re still, like I said, in in grief mode and so are they, but loved every minute with with those guys and with others who are pending free agents or potentially pending free agents. And you know, we’ve obviously been in planning mode, in competitive mode, and trying to put together plans and and rosters to win games. And uh you know, we’ve we’ve discussed 2026 and beyond, and we we do that fairly regularly, so it’s not going to sneak up on us. Uh but it is appropriate to communicate with those guys before we do it publicly. Obviously, World Series being the goal, but is there maybe this isn’t the right word, a certain validation that the the moves that were made resulted in what we saw? Obviously the the clubhouse culture we all saw how special it was and yet no matter who you added deadline or whatever like that was maintained and carried you this far. Uh you know I don’t know if validation is the right word. I I feel like, you know, from from the guys we’ve drafted and developed, signed internationally and developed, the the group that’s in there, the players that we’ve added through the years, you know, Louis Castillo, Randy Rose, there’s they fit and, you know, our our environment, our atmosphere, our culture is developed by those guys that, you know, they’re the ones that do it. And I thought Dan and the staff did a wonderful job. And you could not have hit any better on the the additions we made at midseason. And you know, we knew Gino and we knew he would fit. He’s uh I mean, it’s the the good vibes is kind of fun, but it’s who he is. He he’s just such an easy guy to play with and and and a mentor for a lot of the players and just how you should carry yourself and and meet the challenges. And uh we didn’t quite know what what we would get in the big picture with nails. We knew we were getting a hardcore player who was going to go out and and and drive. He played with with a grit and a fire that that we really wanted and uh couldn’t have been more impressed with the with everything he brings to the table. The leadership, the just a quality human being. You know, he’s he’s got the snarl on the field. But he is he is a wonderful guy, incredibly smart, high baseball IQ, good teammate, uh hits just about every box, and couldn’t have performed any better for us from start to finish. when you you know he as many people as he would be able to tell he would always say he loved Seattle he loved excuse me love being able to play here and everything that from the other side of it like how cool is it to hear that you know he was here for three two three months and it’s like yeah he really fell in love with this place too you know I said this near year’s end when we were going through some of our prep for the the postseason and then in the ALDS part of our roster building plan has become what we do at the deadline you know it’s a it’s a way for us to access players that that we generally take advantage of and we lean into our prospect system. We lean into uh where we are on the wind curve at that time and and we rely on Seattle, you know, our fan base, on the beauty of the city, the weather that we get. You know, when you pick somebody up in in July and bring them into Seattle, they’re probably not going to be disappointed by what happens over the next three months. and and uh when you’re in a great run like our team was on at the end and you experience our fan base in full force the way we did in September and into October, I don’t know how you couldn’t fall in love and and that’s part of the calculus and and I think it’s part of why, you know, guys like Louie and Randy or even the players who’ve been here, Cal, JP, Julio, they want to stay and and we want them to and and I think that’s true of of Josh and Gino and you know there’s there are others, you know, Polo had a wonderful year for us and and there’s a decision on the table with him. Uh it’s it’s going to be an interesting couple of weeks here, but by and large, I like these kinds of problems. They’re good when you have good players to deal with. Jar, you just you listed a lot of reasons why you guys are in a great, you know, position in terms of the core being young and in their prime and their farm system, all those things. Philosophically from your position, what’s most important to make sure that this is the beginning of a sustained run? What’s your role in that? Would you say? Uh, you know, I I feel like we’ve already experienced the beginning. you know, this is this is this train’s been moving for a while. I think people are just now catching on to it. And, you know, we’ve I think we’ve had, you know, it’s the first time in our organization’s history. We’ve had five straight winning seasons. We’ve won 90 games, three of the last five years. We’ve been to two of the last four postseasons. We’ve now won a division title. We’re just checking off boxes. And, you know, there’s two big boxes for us to check off. One is to be the American League champs and the other is to win the World Series. And you know, the part that I play in it is shared with Dan, with Justin, with our front office group, and our baseball ops team is is to put the best team we can on the field for the present and for the long term. And, you know, my job is more big picture. You know, Dan’s job is more riveting down to the day-to-day. But on some level, we all, you know, hold on to the to the rope of both of those things and and we’re comfortable with our process. Going back to the the farm system, we saw kind of the first wave of those players come in this year. When you look at the foundation of this roster, do you feel this is kind of the ideal situation to start working in the guys like Cole, like Michael, like Laz, and the rest of rest of those guys? Uh, I mean, I don’t know if there’s if there is ever an ideal, you know, it’s just their time. Their time is when their time is. And you know with we saw Cole for I would say a number of months in the in the middle of the summer this year perform. You know he he was going there were about six eight weeks there where he was one of the better second baseman in the league. Uh and then he hit a slump toward the end of the year and obviously we made a decision to uh to hold him off the postseason rosters and play polo more frequently at second base. But, you know, Ben Williamson carried us through a really tough time simply by playing elite defense and contributing where he could with the bat and then he had an opportunity to go back to TripleA and reset a little bit. Thought he was great. Uh, we did carry him on one of the rosters simply because we knew we could rely on him to to convert outs and and give you a gritty at bat. But, you know, Colt Emerson will play a part in our season. I’m certain of that in 2026. And, you know, his rise has been quick. We’ve got, you know, depending on who the the the system or or or grading group is, we’ve got eight or nine of the top hundred prospects in baseball. And and those guys tend to come quick and they let you know when they’re ready, you know, and we’ve played it that way with Cal, with Julio, with Logan, with George, with Woo, with Bryce, you know, it’s as these guys have have made their way toward the big leagues, we we just make sure that nothing gets in their way when it’s their time. And, you know, this is a little different. We have a builtout mature team. We have a a number of star players around the field that I think the world at large just found out were stars and and uh you know we’re going to have to be a little choosier with how we implement our young players, but they’re going to play a big part in what we do, you know, now and moving forward. That’s how you sustain. You mentioned discussions about plans for 2026. What do you anticipate payroll to be next year? Similar to this year? I would I would say similar to where we ended the year, you know, as as a starting point. So, you know, we we ended the the season, I think, with the second highest or highest payroll that we’ve ever had as a franchise. And and this was always the goal was to methodically build toward what we were doing. And, you know, I’m comfortable that the resources that we’re given, we’re we’re going to have every ability to go out and put together a championship quality team. Um, and like we have in in recent years, when we get into the right position, I’m certain that we will be aggressive in doing the next thing. Does that include at the deadline? Will you be able to do that too next year? You know, we’ve always been able to do that. Uh it’s a if I look back over these last 5 years, you know, it’s a it’s we we tend to just monitor where we are and then in seasons like 22 and 24 and 25, we lean in and and a lot of our team I I said this toward the end, there was a point in September this year where 11 of our 26 active players were acquired at trade deadline trades. So, you know, in one way or the other, we’ve always been a a very active team in general, but particularly active at the trade deadline. And, you know, and that’s where that’s where Nails and and Gino and Randy and The Rock and and I could go on. Mooney and Brash, they they all came from that time on the clock somewhere in the last five years. So we’re in and you know and if if it means you’re acquiring you know real earners guys like Gino or Josh or or Louis Castillo or Randy you know I think we’ve been in that boat for a while now and the commitment that we get from ownership is real and you know this year the the uniqueness was that we added two of those types of players and I think it shocked people but you know it we have the the support of our ownership group and and they’ve always been open to us pushing in and you know we did push this this summer in a way that maybe we didn’t quite push before. But we think that’s again part of our roster building model is to really lean into what we can access in July and lean on our city, our ballpark, our fan base, and our atmosphere to to really help seal the deal because it’s the best recruiting tool we have. When you push like that in the middle of the season and ownership sees the the amazing magic that happened at this ballpark and the incredible success in the rink of a World Series, do you think the effect of that to them kind of sends the message of maybe we can feel a little bit more comfortable extending our budget more than we’re comfortable doing? Or do you think that it only confirms their belief of no, we feel comfortable as a mid market team in terms of payroll? Um, I don’t know the answer to this question. Yeah, you’ll have to ask somebody else. That’s not, you know, I I can’t answer but to say that the resources we’ve been given us put us right about in the middle from a from a lead perspective and and payroll. We’ve been very aggressive at trade deadlines to push in when it’s our time. We do have star players. We have signed some of the biggest biggest extensions in in recent baseball history uh with with our center fielder especially and and and our catcher. We have the We have star power. We pay our stars. We keep our our players. I I’m very comfortable with the resources that we’ve been given and our we’re not in a contest to see if we can outspend somebody. Just make smart moves to put the best team on the on the field. If you could use one word or phrase to wrap up this season. I know I’m putting you on the spot with that question, but how do you feel right now? Uh, I mean, I’m gonna have a different word now than I’ll have in in a couple of weeks, you know, but disappointed. Disappointed. Uh, and I know everybody else is too. It’s, you know, disappointing. Is it not satisfying though to start to see what you have built? You said before progress isn’t linear, but to see this team go further than to see all that with the home room and the additions and the trade acquisitions, like is that not you’ve built something sustainable? And that was always, you know, the goal broadly. Um, we’ve talked for years about wanting to build a sustainable team, getting here, being at this this in this position every year. You know, I’d like to win more than 90 games and and not have to squeak through, but you know, this year we charge through. And, you know, to do it with players that we’ve known since they were 16, 17, 20 years old, it’s a it’s an amazing feeling. You know, when you’re walking around the clubhouse and and they feel like family. Um, you know, every player, you know, I said this near years end. Justin and I have been together here nine years. Dan has been here for his baseball life, you know, at least. And and you know, the others in our system, Scott Hunter and Andy McCay and and the people who bring the ideas to life and help these players develop, they’ve all been here for for a decade. And you know, when you have that type of familiarity and all of those people were traveling with the team, you know, toward year’s end and were in Toronto and, you know, the satisfaction that you feel when those those same players that you knew when they were in HP camp coming in for their first opportunity to, you know, to see what the Mariners were about and they still invest in them. And I guarantee you this that there will be players on there just like our our top draft picks, welcome and invite the next group of top draft picks. Those players will be on the phone talking to minor league players that are in our system today that they may never have met to sing the virtues of the high performance camp and the things that we do because of the impact that it’s had on their career. And and and that’s Woo, that’s Bryce, that’s Cal, that’s Logan. They do it all the time. It’s Julio. and they do it without being asked, which I think is that’s when you know your culture is good. To be able to have locked Cal down the way you did before the season, major coup. Do you foresee trying to do something similar with Logan this off season as well? Yeah, I will talk to Logan before we talk to anybody else about that. Hey, you know, the playoffs are different and I think anybody that was even traveling along with you felt that. I mean, it’s very different. What What are some things that you guys learned from going that deep? You know, I I I say this and and and I I try very hard to live it is there there is no success in failure. You’re just learning more, you know, and and sometimes you learn more and you get a little hardware along the way. Um we’ve learned a lot of lessons in these these last handful of years um what to do, what not to do. But I think for our players, what they learned is what they’re capable of. And you know, I think that was a big lesson for all of us to learn. You know, you for years we’ve had a really talented roster. We would get to a certain point and we would just stall, you know, and there was no next phase. There was no next jump or charge, you know, you just wait. You can’t wait to win. You push through. And I and I think the effort that we saw from our players, the commitment from our staff that there was there was fatigue, there was mental exhaustion, there was intensity in a baseball game that that few of our players or staff had ever experienced before and they met it. You know, that’s that’s what we learned. That’s what we learn. What stands out to you about Dan as a manager? His calm. Uh it’s he is methodical in everything he does. He trusts in the people around him from the coaches to the players especially the players uh leans in and wants it to be a playerdriven environment with player leadership that that comes from the clubhouse out and you know his leadership style is to cultivate that leadership uh within the clubhouse and and has been from the time he was working as a special assistant and in player development. you know, he is he is more thoughtful about the player as a person than just about anybody I’ve been around in in baseball. It’s a it’s a tough line to to tow as a manager because the win is so important and and so many so many in that position through the years, and this dates back before any of us were born, that they will sacrifice whatever needs to be sacrificed for the win. and and and Dan will sacrifice whatever he needs to sacrifice for the person. And I think the result of that is then the players want to win in in a in a different way than than just the day they show up on the first day of spring training because of the way they’re they’re treated. And um can’t say enough about who he is as a person. You all deal with him. He’s just tremendous human being and uh he is the the the idea of doing the right thing. You don’t have to suggest that to Dan, you know, he’s he just naturally does it. Um, I think the players love him and and you know when he is when he is in the moment I think he is more prone to leaning into the village. You know, we talk all the time about, you know, every season, every this organization. It’s about the village. It’s about your PD. It’s your scouting. It’s it’s people who don’t work in baseball operations who contribute to what we do every day. It’s and it it extends through our fan base. It’s you need every one of them to create anything from from guidelines, plans, player plans, you know, game plans, energy, whatever that thing is. And um and Dan understands all that. He’s he’s lived a number of different, you know, I guess lives as a as a mariner. And, you know, he’s been the community guy, he’s been the catcher, he’s been the manager, he’s he’s done a lot of things. and and uh and I hope he’s here for years more to to keep doing it.

Mariners President of Baseball Operations Jerry Dipoto addresses the media following the 2025 season.

Complete coverage & more interviews at SeattleSports.com.

0:00 – Reflecting on the 2025 Season
1:07 – Handling a tough end to the season
2:20 – State of the team heading into the offseason
3:40 – Josh Naylor and Eugenio Suarez’ impact on the 2025 team and pending free agency
6:15 – How the trade deadline impact roster building
7:30 – Continuing to build on winning season & playoff success
8:40 – Timelines for Mariners prospects
10:45 – Payroll for 2026
11:25 – Impact of being active at the trade deadline
14:00 – One word to describe the Mariners season
14:45 – Building sustainable success & culture
16:55 – Learning from a deep postseason run
18:12 – Dan Wilson’s impact as manager

34 comments

  7. Thank God for the Hawks winning otherwise Monday would have been dang near unbearable as a Seattle sports fan. With that said there are a lot of things to be proud of with the Mariners this year. This will hurt until April period. No getting around it.

  11. Dipoto got smart this year and one thing is that he did not trade as much… most of his trades turn to sh _ t. Also, Dipoto admitted that he made mistake by not signing Polanco and then signed him.. Dipoto admitted that he made a mistake by not signing Geno the first time and then signed him. Both of them helped the M's win the division but both crapped out during the playoff…errors, falling down on the bases, not hitting. Naylor…that play where he blocked the double play by jumping up, reminded me of Machado, a dirty player..not very becoming of a professional. Taveras.. still in AAA.. a seasoned vet with WS experience…WHY?… another stupid Dipoto trade. We will see how the off season goes but if "past is prologue" as Shakespeare would say, not confident in Dipoto.

  12. Been a Jerry fan since day 1. As a Mariners fan, I am proud of Jerry, heartbroken and disappointed like everyone one else, but what Jerry has done in Seattle is impressive. He laid out a clear plan from the beginning and honestly it sounded like fluff, but here we are 10 years later and he has fulfilled his promise and has this ship going in a great direction. This organization has its challenges as we all know, but he has built something that is and will be sustainable and we can all hang our hats on that. They have a window to capitalize on this team, we are in the window now. The challenge will now be overcoming and getting a ring before the window closes.

  15. Normally, I despise Jerry, especially for that bonehead "54%" quote from last year but I'll give him credit for taking the top 2 agents at the deadline (Naylor, Geno). I posted before that he wont get Geno because it was Jerry that let him go, and that his ego wont correct that mistake, but he proved me wrong. 14:24 "Disappointed". Then dont make us feel this way next year.

  17. Mariners are a mid-tier, mediocre organization. They had the 15th highest payroll of the 30 MLB teams, right in the middle. They were outclassed by the Blue Jays, and they would have been trounced by the Dodgers.

  18. Mariners have a great core for next year. The M's need a couple of HoF players with winning WS experience, and better 7 to 9 players. Ownership needs to step it up.

  20. We were 8 outs away and I was really mad at Dan Wilson for the past few days. Im still mad but not as mad. But with some thought, we went up against a team spending almost 100 mil more on payroll and took them to the edge. Thats 3-4 good-great players worth of money. We have a young core especially on the pitching end on their arb-esq contracts. So if the ownership decides to bring it up to 200-250 mil range to go for it that would put us over the hump I think. But knowing what John Stanton does. Hes just gonna do John Stanton things and keep this team at 150 or below.

  22. You beat a lot of awful teams the last few weeks of the regular season, and you were lucky to get past the Tigers. You win the first two in Toronto and then lose 4 out of 5. Don't know if that is a positive.

  24. he has built a tremendous farm team and has also signed Julio and Cal long term and drafted some amazing pitchers. I can tell this dude cares and maybe this profit swing with winning the AL West can get this ownership group to open up their wallets and pay our homegrown players. I do think we should sign Logan Gilbert long term but after his horrible post season, maybe we get him cheaper.

  25. The only thing that outweighs the disappointment was witnessing the INCREDIBLE teamwork and leadership of literally everyone on the field and in the dugout. Can wait for next year. 💙💛⚾️🔱

  29. Seattle fans that critiques Jerry, are not well versed on what he’s done. Keep in mind, his first 1st round pick won ROY, his Second won a gold glove. Acquiring Teo & Jesse Winker were smart moves, so them not working out is like blaming the buyer of a Lemon Law car as a bad buyer. he’s made some bad deals, but that happens when your willing to take the shot. Look at your core and farm system, plus what he’s been able to add. Free agents haven’t wanted to come, and purse strings are tight. He has one of the hardest restraints, yet look at his team. He’s doing great.

  31. In a jam with Series on the line, 2 run lead, 2 jays on, no outs, 3 innings left….WHY wouldn't you put your best reliever in? Get out of this jam and odds are in your favor. Mess this up and your season ends! Why, Why Why?

  32. Please DON'T bring Geno back. He's horrible. Much rather have Ben Williamson at 3rd. I do agree with re-signing Naylor. But I believe that the priorities are getting more depth, a better offense, a better bullpen, and a better starting rotation. It was clear during the playoffs, especially against the Blue Jays that we need to improve all those things, especially our offensive and pitching depth. I think we need Lazaro Montes up next year and perhaps Michael Arroyo. I believe we NEED Kyle Tucker and Alex Bregman. I would like Brandon Lowe, I'd like Polanco back, I'd like Zac Gallen and Ranger Suarez. I want Devin Williams, Carlos Estevez and Taylor Rogers. I think we should trade Luis Castillo and Randy Arozarena, along with maybe 1-2 other players (Emerson Hancock or Colt Emerson) to the Yankees for Camilo Doval and David Bednar. I would like Framber Valdez, Lourdes Gurriel Jr, and Luis Arraez, but they're not as high of a priority. Bring up Kade Anderson and consider trading George Kirby while he still has value. It's clear that, besides Castillo, is our worst starting pitcher, although Gilbert and Miller aren't too good, and I have concerns about Woo. We need to trade Cole Young and Dom Canzone while they still have value. Let Garver, Raley, Robles, and other horrible players go. I'd say fire Dan Wilson and hire Alex Rodriguez (the most brilliant man in baseball) as your manager, and bring in Big Papi in on your coaching staff, along with Pedro Martinez, and retain Edgar.

    If we want a World Series title, this is what we need to do.

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