Quote:
Originally Posted by Mariner and Giants Fan
I do doubt that the duo of Dipoto/Servais (along with upper management) will ever produce a winning team based on what I have seen these past 7 years, but I would love to be proven wrong.
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Depending on how you define a winning team, the M's have had winning records in 3/6 full seasons under Dipoto/Servais and are on pace for a 4th. Even though their two best seasons were with negative run differentials, I don't think we really have reason to believe that Dipoto/Servais are the issue, they have clearly been under ownership instructions to gradually reduce payroll. The M's had a top 15 payroll their first 3 years due to contracts already on the books (Cano, Seager, Felix, Cruz) that quietly dropped to bottom 5 in the league. The fact that they've managed to avoid being an embarrassment at any point in that the way the A's or Reds have been recently is a credit to Dipoto/Servais.
It remains to be seen if ownership will be willing to actually open the checkbook now that there is a young core and the chance to build an actual contender. I am skeptical, but I don't think it is really going to matter too much who the GM and manager are if ownership just isn't interested in trying to win.