Seattle Sports Insider

JERRY DIPOTO is a GENIUS!!!!

No, I have not lost my mind...

Posted by

4/21/16

YES… JERRY DIPOTO is a GENIUS!!! Perhaps even a miracle worker! Or maybe he has the ability to grant wishes!?!?!

I know I know… It is just another 2 game winning streak by the Mariners… and the game was far from being perfect. And yes the Mariners have not won 2 games in Safeco this year, let alone 2 games in a row. And even if they had, none of this would make Dipoto popular, let alone someone who could be Knighted in King County.

So what has Jerry done to be called a Genius???

How about the 10-4, 10-4, and 8-5… given that those numbers last year were 68-76, 57-81, and 46-93!!!

Still confused?

Tacoma AAA is 10-4 this year. Better yet that despite only a middle of the road pitching staff (7^th out of 16 teams), this team is crushing the ball. They have a TEAM OPS of .862!!! The next closest team is .759, more than 100 points lower!! Hey, even the Mariners only have 3 guys with a higher OPS this year. The Rainiers lead the league in HR’s, batting average (by 28 points), OBP (by 20 points), SLG (by 62 points), hits (by 14), doubles, triples, runs (by 10), and have the 2^nd fewest K’s. This Rainiers team has 9 players with OBP above .340. NINE! Their worst guy went just 2 for 4 yesterday so he may catch the others.

*** You could argue that many players on Tacoma are older and have MLB experience, and maybe are not true prospects… BUT they are controlling the zone!!! So Dipoto has done something right here.

Jackson AA is 10-4 this year. Tell me if you read this somewhere else… Despite only a middle of the road pitching staff (5^th out of 10 teams), this team is crushing the ball. Yes, another Mariners’ farm team LEADING their league in batting average (by 35 points), OBP (by 26 points), and SLG (20 points) … and thus OPS (by 58 points). These Generals are first in hits, triples, total bases, and the fewest K’s!!! Moreover, these Generals have 9 guys with OBP above .350. NINE!!!

*** You could argue that these Jackson players are older (19 out of 26 will be 25 years old or older this year), are repeating this AA level, and only a few are true prospects (at best having 4 of the top 30 Mariner prospects) … BUT these guys were BAD last year, and they have made MAJOR strides that are very noticeable since last year… So obviously Dipoto and crew have at least selected this team well.

Clinton Low A is 8-5 this year. Well these boys at Clinton are a little behind their brethren… it is not that far. As the other teams, pitching could be better (12^th out of 16 teams) … and the team is being carried by the hitters again. These LumberKings are LEADING their league is Batting average by 5 points!!! Also, these LumberKings are in the top 5 in OBP, SLG, OPS, Runs per game, hits, and 3^rd fewest K’s!!! Lastly, these Clinton boys have 6 players with OBP of .380 or higher!!!

*** You could argue that these guys have no power, but they are young (half of the team is 22 years old or younger) and talented (at least 6 of top 30 Mariner prospects). However, of the leading 6 hitters so far – ONLY 1 is highly touted. In fact, the best batting average and OPS hitter is Dalton Kelly – the guy who hit .217 in rookie ball last year. Dalton was the 38^th round pick in the 2015 draft… Despite that, Dipoto and crew decided that Dalton was ready to SKIP EVERETT this year and start in Clinton…, and Dalton is LEADING the TEAM and 2^nd in the LEAGUE in OBP for players with 47 at bats or more!!! You tell me now that Dipoto is NOT a genius. Go ahead. I have many more examples to back this up with so far this year.

Bakersfield High A is 5-9, BUT these guys seem to have read a different memo than the other teams as well. The Blaze boys have the 2^nd best ERA, but are only the 7^th best batting average out of 10 teams. There is plenty of potential here on both sides of the plate. As for pitchers, how about 3 starters with ERA’s 1.62 or less!!! This is even more impressive once you are reminded that home field for the Blaze has a CF wall that is ONLY 360 Feet away from home plate. Further, this is the California league – historically known for all the hitters’ parks in the league. These Bakersfield boys have a TEAM ERA of 2.80. Yes, it is only 14 games, but… Then on the offense, the Blaze have 5 players have an OBP above .375!!! Then there are 2 other players with SLG above .490… and just like other teams, these top hitters are NOT the highly touted prospects. One really ODD fact… the top 2 SLG guys this year – Jay Baum and Kyle Petty - SKIPPED Clinton last year so they could play in Bakersfield. Then, FWIW, the top Mariner prospect in Bakersfield – Drew Jackson – skipped Clinton this year to start for the Blaze. Is this a trend? Weird.

*** Yes the winning percentage for the Blaze is worse than last year, but there are some glimmers of hope here. There are 3 of the top 15 Mariner hitting prospects here, that should start to hitting soon. Lastly, the hottest relief pitching prospect this year is here – the finally healthy lefty flamethrower Ryan Horstman, who has struck out 17 in 9.2 innings with an ERA of 1.86. Keep your fingers crossed for him.

This is a MONSTER turn around for the farm system. NOBODY could have expected anything close to this start… and since we ALL know that Dipoto and crew started preaching to these guys well before Spring Training… Jerry Dipoto is definitely a genius, and he is performing miracles with these young players.

Tags:

Mariners Prospect Talk

Comments

Not really an indication of genius.

Not to be overly negative, but early minor league wins and batting successes aren't really the result, IMHO, of DiPoto doing something that will lead to great things for the Mariners...what he did is cram AAA with MLB fringe players to he'd have some guys to go to if something went wrong up top, which thus created a traffic jam holding players to lower levels avobe the normal ages for those levels.

You could argue that (a) this is what smart GMs do that Z did not and a big part of the reason why the Mariners of 2009-2015 mostly underperformed expectations with a bunch of negative WAR contributions from the failed experiments (and you'd be right) and (b) this will slow prospect progression and thus improve outcomes (maybe)...but the win/loss results down the system won't tell that tale. The only way to know if Z is a genius at developing talent and producing cheap wins for the big league club will be if...here's a fun thought...some of the prospects who are slowed down now come up and actually hit in the bigs and some of the fringe players he stockpiled in AAA put up 0 WAR seasons instead of negative WAR seasons.

That story is not yet written.

Guilty as charged

Yes... I did over hype Dipoto here... oh well.

BUT, in his first 6 months, Dipoto has at least created the appearance of a farm system that is not 28th ranked and a laughing stock, and he may have found a way to get marginal players to look like developing prospects. That is no small feat.

I fully agree that all the teams could fall flat on their faces come June, and all of this instant offense is just a mirage... but this quick start has not been the norm for any Seattle farm club... let alone 3 out 4.

Lastly, the story is not over. The other teams and players will regress or grow or even jump plateaus... and that is all I was trying to do here. Call people's attention to the fact that there may be some hope on the horizon in this farm system that has disappointed us all for so long.

Yeah, but there really isn't

Yeah, but there really isn't hope. It's the same system even if the appearence is hidden by positive net results really created by a lot of older players who arent legit prospects.

Thanks for this post Rain :- )

As the author of the "Mariners B Team" theorem I've got to applaud your sentiments here TR.

True, a short-term won loss record doesn't mean you've stocked your system with blue-chippers. :- ) But MLB teams stock their systems with "org players" (A+, AA and AAA players who will never contribute in the majors) precisely because they like to win at every level. I didn't know the W-L records were as dire last year as you point out.

If DiPoto's farm teams are suddenly winning at every level, he's sure to be very happy about that. A few W's speak more to the issue of moving in the right player-development direction than to basic talent incoming.

Keep us posted TR. If all the minors clubs are comfortably north of .500 in another month, that will be a good sign indeed.