If the Seattle Mariners mission for 2020 was to tank, they accomplished their mission in convincing fashion. Their 45-115 mark was the worst in Major League Baseball, tying the 1935 Boston Braves for the fourth-most losses in a single season. To make matters worse, the Houston Astros continued to dominate not only the AL West, but the American League as a whole. They won their second World Series in four years, topping the Los Angeles Dodgers, who had reached their fourth straight Series.
But Jerry Dipoto could only focus on his own team at the moment. He didn't need team owner John Stanton to tell him to clean house -- he was more than ready to do that on his own. Nearly $50 million in payroll was slashed when team options were declined on
Mike Leake ($18 million),
Carlos Santana ($17.5 million), and
Dee Gordon ($17.5 million). But just as Dipoto was readying himself for a free agent spending spree, the General Manager was summoned to the Mariners' palatial estate in nearby Bellevue, Washington.
"Jerry, your task this year was to play close to .500 ball this year, wasn't it?" Stanton asked the GM just as Dipoto as he entered the owner's home office. The room was musty and smelled like an antique store.
"Yes, Mr. Stanton..." Dipoto began.
"And you failed that goal completely, didn't you?" Stanton asked rhetorically, not waiting for an answer. "And I seem to recall asking you to get some home run hitters before last season. You didn't do that either, did you?
"Don't bother," Stanton continued. "My secretary, Janice, has been going to Mariners games for two decades. Do you know what she tells me? She says my team sucks, Jerry. She says her boy gets teased when he wears his Cano shirt to school. Imagine that."
Dipoto stood silently as Stanton made his way from his executive desk and starting thumbing through an old leather bound book from one of the room's countless shelves.
"I'm reading this book about pirates chasing some lost treasure," Stanton said, breathing deeply as he adjusted his glasses, nose vectoring towards the book. "The captain claims he knows where it is. But after a while, the crew grows restless, and they start doubting their captain. They don't think he knows where the treasure is.
"Do you know where the treasure is?"
Dipoto gave a nervous smile. If there ever was a hot seat in Major League Baseball, he was sitting in it at this very moment.
"Yes, I do," Dipoto answered, putting on a false front of confidence. "The treasure is
Bryce Harper."
Stanton put the book back in its place on the shelf.
"I'm a collector," Stanton said, fixing his gaze on another old book. "I pay you very well to collect players for my team. I remember you sitting in this very same room, listening to you say that we were going to get the best player of his generation..."
"I didn't think he was going to re-sign with the Angels," Dipoto pleaded. "Nobody did."
"Ah, yes,
Mike Trout," Stanton said smugly. "That's his name, right? You said we were going to sign him, and other good players would follow. Now you say you want to get this Brian Harper fellow?"
"
Bryce..." Dipoto sighed.
"Well, you can forget that little fantasy," Stanton said abruptly. "I've been paying attention to other teams, and how they're winning games. Houston... Los Angeles. Do you know what they have in common?"
"$250 million budgets?" Dipoto muttered to himself.
"Home grown talent," Stanton answered. "Cory Bellinger. Cody Seager. Larry McCullers. (Was he
trying to butcher these names?) Carlos Correa. Jose Altuve. All of them were drafted by the Dodgers and the Astros."
The man had a point. Little as he knew about baseball, he knew enough to realize that even the highest-payroll teams leaned on talent evaluation and development.
"So you're saying we shouldn't go after Harper, or any other free agents?" Dipoto asked, resigning himself to another miserable season.
Stanton removed his glasses, and gave Dipoto a condescending smile.
"Precisely," Stanton replied, then put his hand on Dipoto's shoulder. "Now, don't you worry. I still have high expectations for my team, Jerry. I want us to play .500 ball. I'd like to see an uptick in attendance. And I want to see some of those guys you've been drafting make it onto our club at the park."
Catcher
Cal Raleigh was just about ready for a call-up to the Majors after hitting 15 homers in 89 games in Triple-A. 24 year-old first baseman
Evan White had a .280 career average in 415 minor league games, including 148 in Triple-A.
Cody Clemens, a throw-in player in a midseason trade with the Cubs the year before, had hit a combined 29 homers for Chicago's and Seattle's AAA affiliates that year as a third baseman. Help was certainly on the way.
"Don't disappoint me," Stanton said, showing Dipoto to the door. Jerry thought to himself, this may be the last time he steps foot in this room, and that wouldn't be such a terrible thing.
