Will Jerry Dipoto take the Mariners far?

Welcome to Seattle Jerry Dipoto! The Mariners newest general manager was introduced just this past Monday and so far I love the guy! Dipoto has noted the problems the Mariners have and has said that he is planning on making sure that each problem is taken care of. Manager Lloyd McClendon has been link to speculations that his job and him coming back next season maybe in jeopardy. ESPN's Jim Bowden noted saying that Dipoto wants to take some time to get to know McClendon before making any decisions. Dipoto was quoted saying that the Mariners OF is the position that needs to be taken care of first, with free agents like Dexter Fowler and Denard Span on the market for this upcoming off season.....not bad targets to help boost the outfield huh?

Dipoto was asked by Seattle Times writer Larry Stone if a Felix Hernandez trade or looking for other opinions besides Nelson Cruz was in the mix. Felix is coming up on 30 years old, which is the typical age that players seem to decline, and Cruz is 35 and has just come off back-to-back 40 home run seasons but Dipoto shot both notions down.

Brad Miller and James Paxton are two high trade targets, even with Paxton's injury plagued 2014-15 seasons, and could be moved possibly this off season for other targets that could help the Mariners this upcoming season. This Tuesday on Mariners Talk podcast both me and Russell will go into more details about who the Mariners could trade for and which team could use both Miller and Paxton. Ketel Marte has the shortstop position locked up possibly. But what about the first basemen position and two other possible outfield spots along with the starting pitching and bullpen? Dipoto faces a difficult off season ahead of him.

Hisashi Iwakuma is up for free agency this upcoming off season so I'm pretty sure that Dipoto will want to lock him up for a couple more years, but what about David Price or Johnny Cueto? Both Price and Cueto are perhaps the highest valued pitchers on the free agency, so is Dipoto going to try and strengthen the starting role with a big signing like Price or Cueto along with Max Scherzer? All three will go off the market quick in my opinion, but again there still leaves the bullpen, first base, and the outfield.  Mark Trumbo or Jesus Monterto will take control of that role, now as for the outfield Cruz has RF locked up but CF and LF are missing. . .so who does Dipoto go after for those two spots?

Jason Heyward, Fowler, Span, and Yoenis Cespedes are all up for grabs. Heyward first off is going to be staying in St.Louis so I'll take him off the list but that leaves Fowler, Span, and Cespedes. Cespedes has done nothing but help the NY Mets get to the postseason for the first time in nine years and to be honest I'm not sure the Mets are going to be able to hold onto to him, so there's where Dipoto comes in and snags one helluva free agent pickup! So, that takes care of LF so now all that's left is CF.

Fowler and Span are the two candidates that are really the only guys that I would consider Dipoto going after. Span is having hip surgery so the question people are asking is this "will Span be the same Span after his surgery"? Good question, if he doesn't have the speed he used to then Fowler is the guy you need. Fowler is going on 30 but the guy still has the speed and the glove to help the Mariners out in a big way.

This Tuesday you can tune into Mariners Talk podcast at 7 PST and hear me and Russell talk about these topics and more.