Jerry Dipoto firing would have been justified, but Mariners’ problems go deeper

Jerry Dipoto thinks firing Jerry Dipoto would have been justified.

I agree.

But while manager Dan Wilson, bench coach Manny Acta, infield coach Perry Hill, hitting coach Kevin Seitzer and first-base coach Eric Young Jr. were relieved of their respective duties, Dipoto celebrated his 11-year anniversary with the Mariners on Monday.

Scratch that. “Celebrated” is not the right word.

Not after “we just collectively underperformed in every area,” Dipoto, the Mariners’ president of baseball operations, admitted, summarizing the most disappointing season in franchise history. Because the 2026 Mariners were supposed to celebrate the franchise’s 50^th season with a flourish, dunking on a sad division for a second consecutive year. They were supposed to (finally) ascend from fringe contender into baseball’s stratosphere, validating Dipoto’s bumpy decade in control.

Hell, they were supposed to win a pennant or better, “the whole effing thing,” rewarding your time and money and tattered hope with a trophy this city has never held.

Instead, Dipoto celebrated — sorry, spent — his anniversary explaining why the Mariners are back where he began.

On Sept. 28, 2015, Dipoto was hired to fix a Mariners team that finished 76-86.

On Sept. 28, 2026, Dipoto was asked how to fix a Mariners team that finished 76-86.

In between, there have been 867 wins, 813 losses, untold trades, two playoff appearances, one “step-back,” one division title and one magic moment when the stratosphere didn’t seem so far. Players and managers and stadium sponsors have come and gone. But both Dipoto and disappointing endings have been Mariner mainstays.

So, quick question: How is he still here?

“It’s fair that they ask those questions,” Dipoto said of fans wondering how he hasn’t been fired. “I wake up, and I look in the mirror every day trying to figure out why this happened. For the last five years, we were one of the winningest teams in Major League Baseball. This year we stunk, and it never got on track. Again, that’s on me first. I’m just trying to find solutions. I feel proud of what we’ve built organizationally over these years. …

“If I didn’t have a job today, it would be justified.”

He has a job today, which is why this isn’t purely a Dipoto problem. It’s life in a park where the price of winning isn’t consistently, uncompromisingly paid.

I don’t doubt Dipoto wants to win. Or that owner John Stanton wants to win. Or that general manager Justin Hollander wants to win. The Mariners want to win. Winning is fun. It makes money. But there’s a big difference between wanting to win and being willing to do what’s necessary to win. There’s a difference between wanting to win and needing to win. There’s a difference between wanting to win a World Series and knowing how, which Dipoto acknowledged Monday he’s still working on.

(The previous six months, and 11 seasons, are also an adequate sample size.)

I want a pool in my backyard. But I’m not willing to pay for one, and I don’t know how to build one. So don’t bother bringing a swimsuit. Wanting is not enough.

And for fans, it’s not just the failing. It’s that every possible button wasn’t pushed. It’s that, undeniably, annually, more could have been done.

The Mariners could have fired Wilson earlier, when it was clear their season was going sideways. Of the three MLB teams that dismissed their managers during the season, all three instantly improved.

The Philadelphia Phillies went 9-19 under Rob Thomson, then 78-55 under Don Mattingly. The Boston Red Sox went 10-17 under Alex Cora, then 77-57 under Chad Tracy. The New York Mets went 34-47 under Carlos Mendoza, then 40-40 under Andy Green. Philadelphia and Boston will play postseason baseball this week, while New York was impressed enough with Green that it removed his interim tag.

But Dipoto said: “Clearly it was a thought [to make a managerial move] as the season went along. But out of respect to Dan and the clubhouse downstairs, we decided at a certain point, ‘This is our group. We’re either going to make it with them or make decisions when the season draws to a close.’ ”

If you’re all in, you make the difficult decision. You prioritize saving your season over everything else. You perform surgery before the patient has passed. Even if Wilson is a franchise legend. Even if he’s a model Mariner and the players like him. Even if your 50^th season ceremony is scheduled for the summer. Even if the surgery isn’t guaranteed to be successful.

And for a second consecutive season, the Mariners could have added a difference-making reliever at the MLB trade deadline. In 2025 they lost a bidding war for electric 28-year-old Jhoan Duran. Considering Seattle’s bullpen wilted in October, Duran — a first-time All-Star for the Phillies in 2026 — might have been the difference between an ALCS exit and a World Series win.

If you’re all in, you trade the prospects. You swallow the risk and sweeten the pot. You don’t settle for Caleb Ferguson one summer and Seranthony Domínguez the next.

If you’re all in, your ownership acts accordingly. You try to re-sign left fielder Randy Arozarena, who just completed the best season for a left fielder in franchise history. You give that man more than a standing ovation on his trot out of town. You overpay, undoubtedly. But winning makes money. You repay the afflicted fanbase that just delivered Seattle’s highest season attendance since 2004.

If you’re all in, you probably don’t allow Dipoto an 11-year anniversary. After all, the Houston Astros fired general manager Dana Brown in August, despite Brown earning two division titles in less than four full seasons. Houston then won the AL West for the eighth time in the past 10 years.

But as Dipoto said when he was introduced on Sept. 29, 2015: “There will be areas where we improve quickly. There’s going to be other areas where we require some time. Minor-league player development takes a little bit of time. That’s a slow build, and it takes time for that to develop. The major-league roster foundation is here. What we need to do is work in the in between.”

The Mariners have been masters of the in between. In between the payroll basement and baseball’s big bucks. In between buying at the deadline and actually going all in. In between utter irrelevance and that promised parade.

This is purgatory. This is quicksand that kills you slowly, waiting you out, sapping your spirit. This is a football, held by Lucy, you can never quite kick. Always a spending ceiling. Always a contingency plan. Always one foot in a future that may never arrive. Always an almost, or this year even worse.

Always in between. Never all in.

Maybe a new manager will help. But a new mindset, from Stanton to Dipoto on down, would help even more.