Progress is progress. The Mariners improved by 10 games in 2016 -- from 76 victories to 86 -- and just missed their first playoff appearance since 2001 by three games.
To sum up: More speed, better run prevention and added rotation depth.
Dipoto's most significant addition in his first offseason was hiring Scott Servais to manage the club. Along with some help from Cano, Hernandez and others, Servais constructed a winning culture that should help embrace more new faces. The Mariners were 41-32 after the All-Star break, and in contention for the playoffs until the 160th game of the season.
http://m.mlb.com/news/article/213336074/jerry-dipotos-deals-helping-mariners-progress/