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Mariners manager vows change is coming

Denny Medley / USA TODAY Sports / Reuters

In 2015, the Seattle Mariners were the laughing stock of the American League West.

A year later, the club was a couple games away from making the postseason.

So to say the Mariners are done working would be far from the truth, and manager Scott Servais is expecting big things to happen this offseason.

"I don't think you'll see us sitting pat," Servais told Bob Dutton of the The News Tribune. "I think we'll be aggressive in trying to get better - maybe in some areas that the normal fan isn't anticipating."

Ever since general manager Jerry Dipoto was hired in September 2015, one thing is clear: The Mariners are anything but stagnant. Of the players on the 40-man roster on the final day of the regular season, 23 of them weren't on it a year ago to the day.

Not only that, but Seattle went from fourth in the division to finishing ahead of the Houston Astros, and three games back of a wild-card berth.

"Last year, there was a lot of turnover," Dipoto said. "And I think the turnover was largely because of how we wanted to play the game."

What's more exciting is instead of filling roles, the club will build around a core group of veterans: Robinson Cano, Nelson Cruz, and Kyle Seager.

It's also expected that Felix Hernandez and Hisashi Iwakuma will headline the rotation, while James Paxton and Taijuan Walker continue to excel.

"I think we have fewer critical holes to fill," Dipoto said. "We have a deeper organization than we had at this time last year. Even now, if you just look at the 40-man roster ... it's deeper with players coming off of positive seasons."

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