Breaking Down Jerry Dipoto's Comments on "The Wheelhouse" Podcast
On Monday, the Seattle Mariners and President of Baseball Operations Jerry Dipoto released another episode of "The Wheelhouse" podcast.
While Dipoto sometimes gets grief for his interviews and commentary, this podcast is a relatively transparent look at where the organization is at and what it's thinking about certain things.
This episode ran about 40 minutes long and featured both Gary Hill Jr. and Aaron Goldsmith of ROOT Sports/Seattle Sports 710 and three things distinctly stuck out:
Talking about Victor Robles
--Dipoto spoke at length about Robles and what he's meant to the organization over the 36 games that he's played with the Mariners. He talked about how sometime's a change of scenery and a change of expectations can be refreshing for players and can allow them to unlock their true talents.
"...Sometimes they just need a change of scenery. They need somewhere else where to go and breathe a little bit. When Victor was in Washington, there's an expectation. He's the premium prospect...And you're carrying a lot of weight when that's the expectation..."
Robles is hitting .349 over his tenure with the Mariners and has filled in admirably in center field for Julio Rodriguez.
The team wasn't doing anything to its starting rotation
Dipoto made it very clear that the Mariners weren't interested in doing anything to their starting rotation. While it would make sense that Seattle wouldn't want to replace any of its current starters, there was always the chance that they dealt from the strength of that group in order to upgrade offense, and they didn't even entertain that idea.
"Our starting rotation, we feel like we have a championship rotation. So we didn't try to scratch out anything in the starting pitching category...We thought we didn't have to worry about the rotation. We like having the depth of Emerson Hancock and Jonathan Diaz in Triple-A..."
The Mariners could have dealt Hancock for a bat, they didn't do it. They could have traded Bryan Woo or Bryce Miller for a bat(s) and put Hancock in the rotation, and they didn't do that, either.
Justin Turner brings valuable leadership
While the idea of a "clubhouse presence" has been somewhat devalued, Dipoto made it clear that it's a real important thing to have. He says that Justin Turner, along with Randy Arozarena, provided clubhouse experience and playoff experience that will pay off for this team.
He mentioned Turner's relatability to players as a big thing as well:
"A guy that gives back. He knows what it was like to be a line cook. He didn't just show up as a celebrity chef. And as a result, I think he's probably in tune with where everybody in that clubhouse is.."
In addition to that, Turner has also popped a grand slam with the Mariners and has had multiple big hits already. That certainly helps as well.
The Mariners will play the Tigers on Tuesday night at 6:40 p.m. PT.
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