Mariners news on Jerry Dipoto, Cal Raleigh and 2025 roster payroll

A report on Jerry Dipoto’s extension, Cal Raleigh misses out on a major award and a look at the Mariners’ payroll projection for 2025.

It might be the baseball offseason, but there’s still plenty going on around the Majors, including with the Seattle Mariners. Here’s a look at some of the latest news surrounding the club.

Dipoto’s new deal

There was always an air of mystery surrounding Jerry Dipoto’s future in Seattle, particularly after Scott Servais was fired as manager. Even when it did come out that Dipoto would be back next year, this was based on a report as opposed to any official announcement.

As such, there has been the question of what Dipoto’s contract extension looks like? Well, now we have an answer, in a manner of speaking at least.

As per Brady Farkas of Sports Illustrated, the 56-year-old’s new deal is a short-term extension, to remain as president of baseball operations. This information was confirmed by Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times, during a Tuesday appearance on Seattle Sports 710.

Further, Divish advised that the deal was agreed during August, one or two weeks prior to Servais being fired. So what does all this mean?

Now yes, we appreciate that ‘short-term extension’ still sounds fairly ambiguous, but it does at least give a better idea of the situation. If nothing else, it means Dipoto doesn’t have long left to get the Mariners ship turned around.

More specifically, the former Major League player has to improve on his record of just one playoff qualification since he joined the Mariners at the end of the 2015 season. Whether that means he gets one or perhaps two more seasons remains to be seen, but we’re going to find out how much he wants, or indeed can do, to strengthen the ball club and their postseason chances.

Was Raleigh snubbed?

Cal Raleigh has been on a roll lately, winning both the Gold Glove and Platinum Glove awards for this past season. In the process he became the first ever Mariners catcher to win the Gold Glove, and the first Mariner at any position to win the Platinum Glove.

Key to winning these awards for Raleigh, was leading all Major League catchers with 26 catcher caught stealing and 1122.0 innings caught. For the AL specifically, he led all catchers with 13 framing runs and was tied for most Defensive Runs Saved at 16.

The 27-year-old was hoping to make it a trio of honors on Tuesday, with him also named as a finalist for a Silver Slugger Award. However, he missed out to Salvador Perez of the Kansas City Royals, who won his fifth Silver Slugger Award as a catcher.

Certainly Raleigh had a good case, after leading all Major League catchers with 34 home runs and finishing second with 100 RBI. There was also the historical significance of what he achieved in 2024, as he reached 93 homes and surpassed Hall of Famer Mike Piazza for the most in MLB history by a catcher in their first four seasons.

We’re not going to claim the Mariners’ clubhouse leader was robbed of the Silver Slugger Award, but it was close. Perez led all Major League catchers with 104 RBI, and in the AL he led the way with a .786 OPS and was second to Raleigh with 27 home runs.

There have been plenty who do believe Raleigh was snubbed, comparing him favorably to his rival in categories such as his 1122 innings pitched compared to 765, and a slightly better wRC+ of 117 to 115. However, the flip side is that this award is purely for hitting, with Perez having the advantage in batting average at .271-.220, OBP at .330-.312 and slugging percentage at .456-.436.

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What kind of money will the Mariners spend next year?

What the Mariners’ payroll for this past season was, depends on what source you go to for confirmation. For example, Spotrac had them at just under $148.32 million, which ranked them 16th in the Majors.

Meanwhile, FanGraphs had the Mariners at $144 million in 2024, which again is around the midway point in the Majors. The question is, will this be the offseason where the club is prepared to pay big money, to bolster the lineup and compliment the best pitching staff in MLB?

The Mariners have reassured fans that the payroll will go up for next season, but how much is the question? FanGraphs has projected a payroll of $152 million for next season, which while technically an increase, isn’t much of one in the grand scheme of things.

You also have to take into account where the increases are coming from. For example, Julio Rodríguez’s salary will almost double, from $10 million to $18 million.

In addition, consider the players who are arbitration eligible and will likely see significant pay-rises. Randy Arozarena will go from $8.1 million to at least $10 million, Logan Gilbert from $4.05 million to at least $7 million, Raleigh from $795k to around $5 million, and so on.

Now there are places where the Mariners have already started to save money, including declining Jorge Polanco’s club option worth $12 million. In addition, Mitch Haniger has reportedly exercised his player option for $15.5 million which, while the club arguably would have preferred he didn’t do, is at least a decrease from his base salary this year of $17 million.

The point is, that perception is reality, and while the Mariners technically will increase their payroll for next season, it won’t be viewed favorably by fans if the roster is effectively the same as in 2024. They need to commit to bringing better bats in, particularly at second and third base; while most people hope Justin Turner does come back to Seattle, he won’t be enough on his own to pacify a restless and frustrated fan base.

Do you think Raleigh was robbed of the Silver Slugger Award, or do you accept the final decision? Do you agree with the projection for the Mariners’ payroll in 2025, or do you believe it will be higher or lower? Let us know in the comments section below.