Seattle, WA
Dipoto speaks on Seattle Mariners offseason: What we learned
Seattle Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto met with the media in a Zoom call Monday afternoon to discuss the re-signing of Jorge Polanco, and he also took questions about the Mariners’ offseason in general as the team prepares to report to spring training in the next two weeks.
Seattle Mariners Moves: Polanco, ex-Zag added; two DFA’d
The team that will reports to Arizona will look much like the team that departed T-Mobile Park following Game 162 last September, falling just shy of a playoff appearance for a second straight season. Dipoto indicated that week to the media that he didn’t anticipate much offseason movement around the team outside of finding a platoon partner for Luke Raley at first base and filling one of the open spots at second or third base.
While he wouldn’t comment on budget specifics, it was clear early on that if big moves were to be made, they would come via trade with Dipoto’s spending money in the $15-20 million range. No surprise, there was plenty of opportunity to trade with the Mariners receiving inquiries this winter on all five starting pitchers.
“We had more than a few deals that made you scratch your head and say, ‘Hey, what do you think guys?’” Dipoto said Monday. “But by and large, we just feel like the value of what the pitching staff as a whole provides us, there’s a reason why we were so good. And you know, why disrupt? We’re about our pitching. We’re going to lean into it and this is this is who we are.”
Optimistic on offense
For a second straight offseason, Dipoto listened on starting pitching but ultimately decided to not disrupt. What he saw at the end of the 2024 season with the offense perhaps made that decision easier for him. In late September, Dipoto touted improvements that showed what the Mariners’ offense could be after Dan Wilson was named manager and Edgar Martinez interim hitting coach. That belief has carried through the winter.
“We have a good offensive team and we didn’t feel like we needed to do a whole lot but to find ways to support the group that we had,” Dipoto said. “I know the offseason has been long and seemingly slow. We do feel like we made a lot of progress last year and the additions of (Randy) Arozarena, (Victor) Robles, (Donovan) Solano and a healthy Jorge Polanco, with what we think will be bounceback seasons from a couple of guys who didn’t have their best years, stand to be positives for us.”
Not liking where the trade market was taking them, Dipoto turned back to free agent Polanco, who the team had kept in contact with throughout the offseason.
“We were satisfied with where he was from a health perspective,” he said, noting the 31 year old has looked more explosive in his movements and better able to stop after such bursts. “We were excited that he was optimistic about how he felt and about returning to the Mariners. He now knows our ballpark, he knows our manager and staff, and I thought it was a real positive he chose to be here.”
Dipoto believes moving Polanco from second base to third base will be better for Polanco’s health, and a better fit for the roster overall with Dylan Moore and Ryan Bliss better at second base, and prospect Cole Young, a natural shortstop who has played quite a bit of second base, better up the middle.
The importance of the bullpen
It will be a somewhat but not dramatically different look both offensively and defensively for the Mariners in 2025. Will it be enough to compete in an AL West of teams that have also made changes? Dipoto believes that, coupled with another area where he sees improvement, it can be.
“We feel like we’re right in the mix,” he said. “I think the early projection systems feel like we’re right in the mix. A real positive for us is the expected healthy returns of (relief pitchers) Gregory Santos and Matt Brash. It’s maybe the thing that got us most in the last two months of last season was a bullpen that got tired. We pushed really hard on Andrés Muñoz and Austin Voth and Trent Thornton early (last season), and they were all pitching a lot and in very high leverage all the time. I think having guys like Santos, Brash and more time from Troy Taylor give us a lot of opportunity to improve in that area as well.”
Seattle Mariners injury updates
The Mariners could possibly start the season without Taylor, who had a strong debut as a rookie in late 2024, with Dipoto reporting the 23-year-old right-hander suffered a lat strain last week doing workouts.
“We’re going to take it easy on him when we get started,” Dipoto said. “He’s more TBD and we would expect there is at least some potential he is going to have to start the season down in Arizona (at extended spring training) as he ramps up.”
The news continues to be optimistic with Brash, who underwent Tommy John surgery last May.
“Matt’s had a great rehab,” Dipoto said. “He has really not had a roadblock to date. Our present timeline is that we should get him back somewhere around the third week of April, which is pretty exciting. Obviously, that’s tentative. It could change and obviously wouldn’t be at all shocking if he did experience some setback as he starts to ramp up to game mode, but we haven’t seen that yet.”
A healthy Brash will be a welcome sight in Peoria. Missing will be an array of new faces, although Dipoto allowed for the possibility of another move before the offseason clock ticks down.
“We’re still open if the opportunity to add exists out there,” he said, “but we feel like it’s a good team. And if this is our team going into spring training or opening day, we’re pretty excited by it.”
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CHICAGO (AP) — The struggling New York Mets placed former Seattle Mariners second baseman/designated hitter Jorge Polanco on the 10-day injured list on Saturday with a right wrist contusion.
Mariners Injury Update: Latest on Robles, Vargas and more
The move was made retroactive to Wednesday, a day after Polanco went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts in a 2-1 loss at the Los Angeles Dodgers. The 32-year-old Polanco is batting .179 (10 for 56) with a homer and two RBIs in his first season with New York, which has lost nine straight.
“When doctors first took a look at him, it looked like he got hit by a pitch when he didn’t,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “In talking to him, it was just a couple of swings that he took that night. … He didn’t think much of it, but just got worse the following day.
“So you just got to let it calm down a little bit and then we’ll go from there. But we don’t have a timetable for how long this is going to last.”
Polanco, who signed a two-year, $40 million contract with the Mets in December, also has been dealing with an ankle issue.
“He was trending in the right direction,” Mendoza said of the ankle injury. “It’s definitely going to help, obviously now with him being shut down. But the biggest thing now is that we’ve got to take care of that wrist.”
Polanco spent the previous two seasons with the Mariners, who acquired him in a February 2024 trade with the Minnesota Twins.
Polanco struggled during his first season with Seattle in 2024, hitting just .213 with 16 homers in 118 games while playing through a knee injury that didn’t become public knowledge until after the season.
But after the Mariners somewhat surprisingly brought him back for a one-year contract in 2025, Polanco rebounded to hit .265 with 26 homers and an .821 OPS in 138 games last season. He then added three homers during Seattle’s playoff run, along with a 15th-inning walkoff single in Game 5 of the American League Division Series that sent the Mariners to their first ALCS in 24 years.
Seattle Sports staff made additions to this post.
Mariners RHP Bryce Miller to begin rehab assignment
Seattle, WA
Brandon Nimmo hits leadoff homer, Jacob deGrom works 4 scoreless as Rangers beat Seattle Mariners 5-0
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON – APRIL 17: Corey Seager #5 of the Texas Rangers tags out Dominic Canzone #8 of the Seattle Mariners during the fourth inning at T-Mobile Park on April 17, 2026 in Seattle, Washington. (Steph Chambers / Getty Images)
SEATTLE – Brandon Nimmo hit a leadoff home run, Jacob deGrom threw four shutout innings and Gavin Collyer earned his first career win as the Texas Rangers beat the Seattle Mariners 5-0 on Friday night.
Seattle lost its fourth straight game, and was shut out for the fourth time in 21 games, falling to 8-13. The Mariners were shut out six times during the 2025 season. Texas won its third straight game.
Nimmo led off the game with a 372-foot shot to right field off Mariners starter Logan Gilbert (1-3). It was Nimmo’s 16th career leadoff homer and second of the season. He also hit a leadoff home run on April 11 in a 6-3 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
DeGrom effectively maneuvered through Seattle’s lineup, and worked out of a one out, bases-loaded jam in the first inning. The two-time Cy Young Award winner recorded two of his three strikeouts after walking Josh Naylor to load the bases. Randy Arozarena fanned on a curveball, and Luke Raley swung through a fastball.
Texas added to its lead after Nimmo’s homer. Wyatt Langford’s single to left scored Corey Seager, who led off the third inning with a double. The Rangers stretched the lead to 3-0 on an RBI single from Jake Burger in the seventh.
The Mariners’ best scoring chance came in the sixth after Collyer (1-0), who worked 1 1/3 scoreless innings, left the game.
J.P. Crawford singled to left off Tyler Alexander with two out, and Mariners third base coach Carlos Cardoza sent Naylor from second base, but he was thrown out by Langford.
Texas added two more runs in the ninth on a sacrifice fly by Andrew McCutchen and an RBI double by Josh Jung.
Seattle third baseman Brendan Donovan left the game early due to a left hip issue.
Mariners right-hander Bryce Miller, who started the year on the injured list with a left oblique injury, was at T-Mobile Park for the first time this season. He will begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Tacoma on Saturday.
Up next
Mariners RHP George Kirby (2-2, 3.25) will face Rangers righty Nathan Eovaldi (2-2, 5.40) on Saturday afternoon.
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FIFE, Wash. – A portion of southbound I-5 will be closed overnight in Fife Friday and Saturday night, according to WSDOT.
The Washington State Department of Transportation says the purpose of the closure is to install a new electronic sign and will need two nights to do it.
Crews will close southbound I-5 from 54th Avenue to Port of Tacoma Road starting at 11 p.m. Friday night until 7:30 a.m. Saturday morning. Closures will resume Saturday night starting at 11 p.m. as well, and lanes will reopen Sunday morning at 8:30 a.m.
WSDOT says the closure will include the 54th Avenue ramps to southbound I-5.
Detours for weekend I-5 closure in Fife, WA
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The Source: Information in this story comes from the Washington State Department of Transportation.
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