Hawk-Lock":1siouvxi said:
I'm trying to be as optimistic as I can about this team, but it is hard to see a real bright future for the current team. We are the oldest team in the league (I believe we are tied with the Royals), we are suppose to be winning now, and we aren't. And we have little to no farm system. The M's are in a tough spot because we either need to sell out and try to win now, or blow it up and start over. That would likely mean dealing a comination of Felix, Cano and Cruz. I don't see them selling, even if we are out of the playoff race by the deadline. I think Dipoto holds onto his cards and goes for it next year....whatever that means.
I said before the year that our lineup would be the best (least bad) we've had in a decade or longer and that the pitching staff was a huge question mark. It's been a weird season in a lot of ways but in terms of the lineup being above average and the rotation being up and down, that's not a surprise to me.
It's really too bad because before June the pitching was actually pretty solid and the Mariners were legitimately one of the best teams in the AL. Unfortunately in baseball even during a long season you can ruin an entire season with just a few weeks of bad play coupled with bad luck. And in fairness to the 2016 Mariners, they are one of the unluckier teams in baseball this season, trailing a division leader that is THE luckiest.
The future of the Mariners isn't great but there are silver linings to be had. Ownership and management have been massively upgraded on every level during the past year. Even if Dipoto still sucks at scouting, he has ownership that will spend money and the right philosophy he needs to find moneyball additions. And with the exception of Miley and Lind, Dipoto has been good at admitting mistakes quickly.