Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto believes he's played a big part in Seattle's underwhelming season.
"Very," Dipoto said when asked if he feels responsible, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. "Ultimately, the dirt roads lead back to putting the roster together, and that's me. I don't want to minimize the contributions of (general manager) Justin (Hollander) (and) our scouts. But, ultimately, the responsibility is mine."
In particular, Dipoto pointed to the roster's struggles to score runs.
"Me, our coaches, our staff, none of us is blameless. We have really struggled to play offense this year," he said. "And it's not just on our players for not doing that. That would be a cop-out."
Only the Tampa Bay Rays, Miami Marlins, and Chicago White Sox have scored fewer runs than the Mariners in 2024. Seattle also has the worst team batting average (.216) in the majors despite landing Randy Arozarena and Justin Turner at the trade deadline.
The Mariners (65-64) have gone 20-32 after starting the year 44-31. They're now a season-high five games behind the Houston Astros for the AL West lead and 6.5 games behind the final wild-card spot. The downward spiral has left Dipoto wondering if the team needs changes in the clubhouse, which includes longtime manager Scott Servais.
"It definitely has to be a consideration for us, to talk through everything. That's just reality," the 56-year-old executive said. "We've underperformed, and there is some discussion for each of us to have about the part we have played in coming up as short as we have to this point."
The club's offensive struggles have come while featuring arguably the best starting rotation in baseball, which collectively owns an MLB-low 3.27 ERA and the third-best fWAR (13.4).
