Seattle Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto addressed the media in a Monday press conference after Sunday’s season finale. On Sunday, the Seattle Mariners and their manager Dan Wilson decided to move into another direction after a failed season. The organization also fired several coaches earlier on Monday. The Mariners entered 2026 as the favorite to win the American League, but they only won 76 games this season after a teamwide regression.
In response to who deserves blame for this season, Dipoto said, “Collectively, we failed. You know, we failed to live up to our own expectations, which are very high.”
Perhaps refreshingly, Dipoto acknowledged what went wrong this season, and he took a lot of the blame for what occurred. Dipoto took over as the head of the Mariners front office in 2015, but the Seattle Mariners have also only made the playoffs twice in that timeframe. Yet, the Mariners have also been one of the better teams in the MLB since 2021 after the shortened COVID season.
Dipoto said, “I say that it’s fair that they ask [if I should have a another crack at this]. I wake up and I look in the mirror every day trying to figure out why this happened. For the last five years, we’re one of the winningest teams in Major League Baseball. This year, we stunk and it never got on track. And again, that’s on me first and I’m just trying to find solutions.”
Seattle Mariners Jerry Dipoto’s Press Conference Begins 2027 Offseason
One of those solutions will be who will become the next manager of the Seattle Mariners. The franchise will begin its first full on search since they hired Scott Servais prior to the 2016 MLB Season. Dipoto was asked about what they will be looking for in their next manager and if experience was a preresequite.
Dipoto said, “[Experience is] not a prerequisite. It would be preferred. We will go outside to hire our manager. We need fresh thought. We need something new. It could be a shift in programming. It could be a shift in messaging. It could be a shift in language. We’ll collaborate with whoever our future manager is and try to find the right person.”
Another factor that Dipoto addressed was the team culture with the Mariners. He said, “We tolerated an environment where we just didn’t live up to our own standards.” He stressed that the values that the organization teaches in the minor leagues were not being upheld by the former staff at the MLB level. Specifically, the defensive quality that the Mariners want to provide for their pitching staff.
What Else Will Change For the Mariners Before the 2027 Season?
In the press conference, two issues that Dipoto also discussed were the front office’s inability to find right-handed hitting and bullpen depth. He credited Randy Arozarena as one of the few options that have been successful in Seattle’s difficult offensive environment. However, it seems likely Arozarena plays for another organization in 2027. Plus, longtime J.P. Crawford also may not return to Seattle next season. Dipoto mentioned that more bullpen depth will be needed to help the Seattle Mariners. He admitted that Eduard Bazardo and Jose Ferrer were left in impossible positions to succeed.
“We need to add impact back there to join that leverage group. Obviously, we have free agents coming up. You know, J.P., Randy most notably but a couple of others. We need to refill those voids and they’re not small voids to refill especially Randy in left field.”
Seattle Mariners Jerry Dipoto Press Conference On Failed Season