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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

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The M’s hire another ex-Angel as their newest general manager

The Mariners hope Jerry Dipoto can be the mover and shaker in Seattle he was as general manager of the Los Angeles Angels. (Associated Press)
The Mariners hope Jerry Dipoto can be the mover and shaker in Seattle he was as general manager of the Los Angeles Angels. (Associated Press)

A GRIP ON SPORTS • The M’s will go into the offseason with a new person at the helm of the good ship Mariner: Jerry Dipoto. If history is any judge, he’ll have a tough time keeping the skiff off the rocks. Read on.

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If you are a Mariners’ fan, I’m going to ruin your day with one sentence: The last time the M’s hired an Angels’ castoff as general manager, they endured almost five years of Bill Bavasi. Yep. We’ve gone down that road. Sorry, but it’s true. Now the past doesn’t have anything to do with the present in this instance. More than likely. It’s just coincidence, right? Dipoto wasn’t fired by the Angels for incompetence, as was the case with Bavasi. He left the organization in a power struggle won by manager Mike Scioscia (the two are pictured together in happier times). By all accounts, even those of the main media force in Orange County, Dipoto did a fine job as the Angels general manager, even if most of the big decisions were made over his head. The Angels have a hands-on (and wallet-open) owner in Arte Moreno, so sometimes Dipoto was given a hand that he didn’t ask for – or necessarily want. Dipoto, a former major league pitcher, seems to check off all the boxes the M’s said they wanted in a new general manager. He’s relatively young. He’s a former player, so he’s relatively old school. And he embraces the young school: analytics. In fact, it was that embrace that reportedly led to the Scioscia feud and Dipoto’s ultimate demise in Anaheim. (Which makes the Lloyd McClendon situation interesting. McClendon isn’t on the cutting edge of analytics, though he doesn’t seem as dismissive as some managers. It’s not hard to see him being escorted out the door in a Saturday Night Live skit by guys dressed up as WAR and Rbat.) Still, Dipoto is going to be judged on two things: his moves and the M’s record. (Hey, Doug Fister will be a free agent. With one move, Dipoto can wipe out the worst move of the Jack Zduriencik era, though Fister left Seattle in his prime and would return a 32-year-old, injury-saddled project.) The M’s have already made three big-money moves (Felix Hernandez, Robinson Cano and Nelson Cruz, all of whom are under club control for the next three years at least) so it’s hard to see the franchise taking on another huge contract. Dipoto will have to be subtle in rebuilding a bullpen that needs lots of parts. He’ll need to be smart to revamp an offense that still has holes. And he’ll have to get lucky with the starting rotation, a group that is still banking on some unrealized potential. All of which means, what exactly, when it comes to the bottom line, wins? Who knows? Let’s hope Dipoto wants to build a roster that fits Safeco Field, a park with distinct advantages and disadvantages. The roster, as it currently is complied, has few athletes that actually fit the park’s dimensions. Speed is needed. Lots of it. Power is fine, especially if it can reveal itself toward right field – which is why Cruz and Mark Trumbo seem to be fine as right-handed hitters in a left-handed-hitting-centric park. But pitching and defense are how the M’s are going to be successful. Dipoto is smart enough to realize this. But can he shape a team that fits that need? He’s got a few months to show us he can. After that, the games start. And it’s all about the wins – or lack of same.

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• WSU: It was a busy Monday in Pullman, with the usual football meet-the-media events and basketball media day added on top. Jacob Thorpe had to deal with both, which means there are two stories in the paper today – an advance on Saturday’s California game and a look at Ernie Kent’s second WSU team – as well as more videos than YouTube on the blog. From football, Jacob has video interviews of Mike Leach, Luke Falk, Parker Henry and Taylor Taliulu. He also has the official game notes from WSU. (Speaking of the notes, on the depth chart Falk is still listed as the quarterback starter but there is an "or" before Peyton Bender’s name on the depth chart. Does anyone really believe Bender is a co-starter at the position? Anyone, anyone, Bueller?) From the basketball side, Jacob has video of Josh Hawkinson and Connor Clifford together and Ike Iroegbu and Que Johnson together. And Jacob also has his morning post with links. ... What is going on in Oregon concerning the quarterback position is almost laughable, if it weren’t so sad. ... Now this is laughable. ... Utah’s Travis Wilson ascends to the top of these quarterback ratings after one great game. ... The WSU women's basketball team has received another commitment.

• Preps: The WIAA is moving toward a decision on the state basketball tournaments. There are four alternatives being discussed.

• Seahawks: If Marshawn Lynch’s MRI shows more damage than the Hawks think, then rookie Thomas Rawls will have to be more of a beast in Monday night’s game against Detroit and beyond. ... Dion Bailey was claimed on waivers by the New York Jets. ... Jordan Hill stepped up when the Hawks needed him Sunday.

• Mariners: Of course, the big news was Dipoto's hiring. It seems everyone has questions about Dipoto, though one could say the M’s won the press conference. ... That would be about the only thing they’ve won lately, as the season winds toward its close. They didn’t win last night, with the Astros, fighting for a postseason berth, took a 3-2 victory. ... McClendon seemed upbeat after meeting with his new boss.

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• I was torn this morning. There is another subject out there I wanted to address but couldn’t get to, not with the M’s determining their future course with Dipoto’s hiring. The nice part about this job is there is always tomorrow. Until then ...



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Vince Grippi's daily take on all things regional sports has been moved to our main sports section online. You can find a collection of these columns here.