TJ Cotterill
The News Tribune
SEATTLE — Believe it or not, not every button Jerry Dipoto has pushed has turned out in the Seattle Mariners favor since they brought him in as their general manager in September of 2015.
But it certainly seems that way.
Some of the trades that have earned him the moniker of “Trader Jerry” have culminated in most of their biggest contributors this season, from Dee Gordon, Jean Segura and Mitch Haniger, to Marco Gonzales, Mike Leake and Wade LeBlanc — just to name a few.
And on Friday afternoon the Mariners announced that they agreed to a multi-year contract extension that will keep Dipoto running the team’s baseball operations for at least a few more years. His contract was reportedly set to expire at the end of this season.
“As I said when I arrived here, I believe this organization has every opportunity to be successful on a consistent basis,” Dipoto said in a press release. “The combination of a supportive ownership group, great ballpark, passionate fan base and beautiful city gives us all the tools we need to consistently compete for division titles, and division titles give us the opportunity to attain our primary goal: Winning the Word Series here in Seattle.”
Terms of his new contract weren’t immediately available.
“Jerry arrived here two-and-a-half years ago with a specific plan for our franchise,” Mariners president and CEO Kevin Mather said in a press release. “He has successfully executed that plan, resulting in a younger, more athletic and most importantly, far more successful major league team.
“At the same time, he has upgraded nearly every aspect of our overall baseball operation, improving systems, staff and communication in our major league operations, our player development system, our pro and amateur scouting departments and our revamped high performance area.”
Dipoto became the Mariners’ ninth general manager in club history when he took over before the 2016 season for Jack Zduriencik.
Dipoto is one of the few running baseball operations around major league baseball to also be a former major league player. He was a reliever from 1993-2000 between the Indians, Mets and his final four seasons with the Rockies.
