I used to be on board with the excuse that Dipoto's hands were tied in regards to being allowed to spend money on free agents. Then he spent $46 million on Garver, Haniger, Polanco, and Urias before last season while also getting rid of Teo, Geno, and Kelenic. The M's offense was one of the worst in baseball last year as a direct result of the moves Jerry made when he was allowed to spend on free agents.
They literally had the best starting rotation in baseball, and still managed to miss the playoffs. Why? Because Dipoto spent $46 million on 4 guys that basically tanked the offense. I still find it pretty shocking that a GM can botch an off season as badly as Dipoto did and somehow still manage to somehow keep their job.