But at the same time, winning with the pitchers he already got would legitimize it more.  The additions late last year of Leake, Ramirez and Gonzales, while not done during the off-season, were clearly done with future years in mind.  Including this one.  Healy, Ford and Nicasio were also varying degrees of win now.  Nicasio is the free agent many are recently saying wasn't signed if I'm reading the complaints right.  And LL put together a pretty good case for Ichiro being the best win now option available to the M's for the situation.  People don't like that he didn't get the #2-3 type they would have.  Some people don't like the Ichiro signing and in both cases they apply what they think it means and often assert it as fact.  While it is possible that unknown motivations could be as bad as some suggest, the known facts show that it might not be the case.  Or certainly not, in my assessment of the assertion that Dipoto, Stanton, etc. don't want to win.

For me, the Twins picking up Lynn changed the landscape of the AL playoff race.  It seems to me at least that in order to minimize the M's playoff chances at this point, Arrietta just needs to sign with Minn or Anah...Snapping him up here would also avoid what almost seems inevitable otherwise. 

Obviously DiPoto wants to win. At least with regard to wanting to win, the issue is not DiPoto but those who run the organization above him. And we need to define what we mean by wanting to win. If it's merely a desire, then of course DP and The Org want to win. If it's putting a plan in place that has a conceivable chance to win if everything falls into place, then yes, DP and The Org want to win. But The Org sets the parameters within DiPoto must work. If you define wanting to win the way successful franchises want to win, you take whatever steps are necessary to make the playoffs more than zero times in sixteen years. This Org wants to win "comfortably." This was true in 2001, when they needed one more bat, it was true before that, and it's been true ever since. Do the M's want to win? Yes. Do they want to win badly enough to do what it takes to put themselves in the best possible position to do so, the way orgs do that will not accept season after season out of the playoffs? No. So the question is, where on the spectrum of definition of wanting to win do the M's fall? The record clearly shows they fall way, WAY over to the side of winning being aspirational rather than intentional.

A team that intended to win in 2018, given the Mariners' roster, would have strengthened the starting rotation significantly.

Everybody wants to win. And Dipoto as an elite athlete who reached the highest league in the world almost certainly wants to win more than just about anybody we normal folks ever met.  The question, as Daddy puts it, is whether the organization will go the extra mile. From this bleacher it sure doesn't look like it.

On the other hand, as Doc points out, DiPo's self-confidence is over the top. And he probably thinks, as Wish says, that this team can largely because of moves he has made. Given good health (huh!) the everyday lineup and bullpen could be superb. DiPo deserves big credit for that. Which leaves the rotation. Seems like every year or two there is an MLB rotation that comes out of nowhere to be really good. The A's do this over and over. The Cardinals. Even Texas has patched together rotations good enough to get an offensive powerhouse into the World Series.

My guess is DiPo sees exactly this scenario with this group - two proven winners up top, a great Number 3 and then the spaghetti wall out of which some really happy surprises could emerge. Would anybody be shocked to see Marco win 15 games? I wouldn't. I mean if Paul Abbott can do it .. . .

There are lots of ifs on this roster - Felix, Healy, LF the bottom of the rotation. If say they hit on half they'll contend. If they hit em all, they'll be something. My concern all off-season has been what happens at the other end of the dice roll. A team like the Astros needs a couple of really bad things to hapopen to NOT contend. We need a couple of really great things to crawl up the ladder.

Is not in your desire vs. Jerry's.  It's in your assessment of the SP on hand vs Jerry's.  It's in your understanding of payroll plans (including arbitration, raises or extensions, cap space, July targets, off-season targets, etc.) vs Jerry's.   It's in your understanding of what players agents are telling teams vs. Jerry's.  It's in your knowledge of other teams assessments of Mariners in trade discussions vs. Jerry's.  It's in your knowledge of costs and availability of other teams players vs Jerry's. 

But if you're psychic enough to know Jerry's thoughts and emotions please give me a call.  You'll know the number.

A little late to this, but Dipoto seems to be as rigid in avoiding extensions as he has been in avoiding large FA contracts, extending only Segura since taking over as GM. So why saddle the 2020/21 team with a big contract after protecting that budget all these years just to make the 2018 a stronger wild card contender? Given that the Mariner’s contract load drops from near $160m this year to ~$90m in 2020 after the Felix and Cruz contracts expire, there should be a growing budget surplus developing.

Clearly Dipoto is determined to navigate the middle way between the two conventional ways of team-building, that being spend big money for big stars, or spend years rebuilding the farm system. His desire to win could be devoted to building a perennial contender first while still competing in the short term rather than the other way around.

That still leaves the option of taking advantage of the slow FA market to get a pitcher on short term deal. But does Seattle have the leverage to make that deal or are they forced to overpay to get a quality arm? If you’re Lance Lynn after being kicked around all winter like a ball at 8-year old soccer game do you sign with Minnesota, an AL Central title contender and consensus wild card lock or Seattle? In other word, Dipoto may be out there pitching one-year deals but is anyone listening?

mild segue:

It's obvious Dipoto's goal is to eek out a wildcard. As he has argued, one could say there are more racing to the bottom than the top. On one hand, that suggests our chances are better. Unfortunately, with a lack of parity, strength of schedule plays a larger role than we are accustomed to seeing in MLB. A quick glance shows Cleveland and Minnesota have a the softest schedule in recent history, with the Tigers, Royals, and White Sox projected as 3 of the 4 worst teams in baseball (we see you, Marlins).

The Mariners, OTOH, have tough sledding week in and week out. According to Fangraphs (depth charts-WAR), we have the 7th best pitching staff and 9th best lineup in the AL (acknowledging the flaws in projections for some of our hitters). That's not quite enough to compete wins-wise with Minnesota getting 50 free wins in division (hyperbole, but not by much) right off the top. Every team in our division can at least hit a little bit. Here's to hoping TEX/ANA/OAK pitching staffs are as bad as they look to give us a fighting chance.

https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/will-more-players-move-up-the-defensive-...

This struck me as one of those things that I never thought of but is so obvious is retrospect:

"Because over the last decade, about 20% of defensive opportunities — as in batted balls in play — have evaporated. In this three-true-outcomes environment, it’s easier to hide a bat, to trade some glove for bat, when the ball is less of a threat to reach the field of play."

Combined with the idea from earlier discussions about 2B being devalued defensively by shifts, this makes DiPoto's move of Gordon look even more brilliant

How many times do you hear announcers say the winning team won because they wanted it more.  But "wanting it more" often just becomes synonymous with weird bounces that come your way, giving the impression of extra-effort and more desire.

I always cringe at that comment. 

I think the only question really worth asking is, has Dipoto used his available resources (salary/prospects) to put together a team that can win on a consistent basis, over a series of years?   If we win 87 games, missing out on the WC on the final day of the season, only to win 76 games each of the next two seasons, then where are we?

Segura, Haniger, Gamel, Vogelbach, Ford, Gordon, Marco, Healy were all short, mid and long-term acquisitions, or ideally so.  Some of those guys cost use S-M-LT guys to get them.  Ultimately, the proof is in the pudding:  Dipoto at least needs to deliver in the short and mid-term areas.  Did he pick the right talent, trading lesser players for more?

If not, he's gone in two years.

Everybody wants to win (even Derek Jeter "wants" to win this season), but if you're not making best use of your resources then you're relying a bit on more than a bit of luck. I can't find much overall fault with Dipoto's use of MiLB prospects, simply because the jury remains out (Tank vs. Marco, for example), but I can whine if I feel he hasn't grabbed impact players (that fit) off the FA list.  MLBT-R reported today or yesterday that we had made a 3-yr bid for Jon Jay, and only when he rejected it did we go out to grab Gordon.  If that is the case, then Dipoto was lucky, then good....all at the same time.

That calm might actually be construed by some as "wanting it less" in a sport like football.  Getting out of your own way and "allowing" winning to happen is often way more successful than wanting that winning.

We "try" to focus in sport, but the funning thing is that we should relax to focus.  Isn't that was Yoda once told Luke?   Ever "try" to "relax?"

Dipoto certainly seems relaxed and Zenny.  I like that about him.  I will like it more if it carries him to some repeated success.