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I think James once wrote an article, "What if you became a GM?  Would your dream be to make 12 moves in 2 months, and turn a loser into a winner, solely by virtue of your blinding insight?"  If I remember, right, Bill accused the 1961 Reds of being such a team.  They went from 90-ish losses to 93 wins, and finished 1st in the (divisionless) National League, based simply on a brilliant offseason by their GM.  

One aspect of that coup was that the Reds' SP rotation of no-names piled up a long string of 100-130 ERAs.  This is Dr. D's observation also, that many "surprise" teams wind up with their #3-6 starters having big years.  Obviously, DiPoto is excited about the M's potential to replicate that.

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Moshing off Bob Dutton's article.  There's a growing sense at SSI, that Jerry DiPoto may have just slapped down a Gillick-style "rummy!" call.  Let's distill the stark on-paper moves to a list of meaningful decisions.  We report, you decide:

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1)  DiPoto sloughs off three gifted but "useless" Mariners for an exciting young SP power curveballer and the #26 player on the roster, an interesting do-it-all CF prospect.  [Miller, LoMo and Farq for Nathan Karns SP and Boog Powell CF]

In so doing, Jerry D makes his statement that the M's wasted their kludgy "collection of talent" and that the M's need a ballclub.   Miller, LoMo, and Farq are what Jerry D means when he speaks of talent that does not comprise a Gillick-like club.

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2) Jerry D gushes over Franklin Gutierrez RF and /cosigns his lefty-mashing, classy glove, and makes him part of the "raised floor" going forward.

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3) Joaquin Benoit, a legitimately dominant RP, arrives.  Now, that's what Dr. D calls an "anchor baby."

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4) DiPoto reels in his Gold Glove CF, Leonys Martin, at huge cost.  In so doing, he underlines that he will pay $1.25 on the dollar to get what he wants.  This PRINCIPLE gladdens Dr. D's heart.  Buy a little more house than you can afford, Young Man, the one that you're delighted to live in, and you'll never be sorry.

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5) Chris Iannetta C arrives.  He legitimizes the Mariners' "nerve center," the base of the M's spine.  The M's somehow acquire this ex-DiPoto employee for a fraction of his real worth.  Everybody wants to "buy low," but to make it work requires extra insight.

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6) Steve Clevenger C, #24 roster player and Royals wannabe, parachutes in for Mark Trumbo.  It's a stylistic statement and it saves about $7M.  Dr. D has an inkling for Clevenger not as a concept, but as a specific baseball player.

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7) Justin DeFratus RP arrives as a model of what DiPoto credits himself with --- > that being a special talent for ID'ing (volatile) relief pitching on the cheap.  Dr. D is dubious, but ... fair enough.  This is a colossal aspect of DiPoto's grand themes.  Other such relievers, such as Ryan Cook and Evan Scribner, will follow.

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8) Wade Miley SP arrives at unbelievable cost (Elias and Carson Smith, and don't forget their club-controls contracts).  But, again, DiPoto cashes in "tantalizing upside with unreliable performance" for reliability, in a Japanese paradigm.  He also further sands the wood of his Safeco-shaped sculpture, since Miley is an anti-Fenway pitcher and a quintessential Safeco pitcher.

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9) 1B Adam Lind rolls in, a way-underrated MOTO hitter, because DiPoto paid $1.25 on the dollar and outbid his rivals.  Dr. D stops on a dime, gives $0.09 change, and declares that the whole offseason has become legit.

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10) CL Steve Cishek becomes the go-to man in the 9th.  Yowch.  Chapman or Kimbrel he is not.  This underlines the "trust my genius" aspect of DiPoto's general managing.  I don't, really. But.

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11) SP2 Hisashi Iwakuma follows Miley back into the M's rotation.  The swoooooop is nimble, smart, and decisive.  It overruns the budget, but it states that Kevin Mather wants to WIN baby.  Whoever the M's #6 starter turns out to be, he could be a #2 for SOMEbody.  

Serendipity, baby.  The SSI crowd is now queue'ing up firmly in "JeDi's" corner.

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12) SU-LH Charlie Furbush agrees a deal and is marquee'd by the M's as a realistic savior for 2016.  RP Danny Hultzen is also pushed as a sleeper threat, although he'd have to push past RP Nuno and RP Paxton.

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13) 1B Dae-ho Lee hauled in as the other half of the M's 2016 1B platoon.  If the 2016 ballclub did not look "FUN" before Feb. 3, all questions in this direction have been laid waste.

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Baker's Dozen Dozen) The Other Billy Zoom suggests a coup de grace:  SP Paxton and CF Martin for CF Kevin Pillar, who is a legit club-controls 3-4 WAR center fielder.

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You tell me,

Dr D