President of baseball operations for the
Seattle Mariners. Jerry Dotto is on the
line. What's going on, Jerry? Good
morning. Thanks for the time. Jim Duket
and Jim Bowden.
Jerry, you there?
Yeah. Yeah. Can you hear me?
I got you now, Jerry. Um, first of all,
I know you're up there in uh Coopertown
uh today for the Hall of Fame. Uh, and I
want to get to that in a minute because
of each of course. But Jerry, first of
all, congratulations to be able to sit
there and trade for the biggest need
this team had and to do it a week before
the deadline and grab a guy that a year
ago hit 30, drove in 100 for Cleveland,
help Cleveland get to the ALCS. I felt
like that was the missing piece that you
guys had. I now believe strongly that
this is a team that can get to the World
Series right here, right now. Take us
through how this deal came about, how
quickly it was done, when you found out
Arizona was going to be sellers, and how
you were able to close it so quickly.
You know, I there's a lot to unpack
there, but this kind of goes back to
last off season. And you know, when Josh
was still with Cleveland, we had
inquired with the with the tribe about
bringing him over here. And obviously we
we didn't do it at that time and he
wound up headed to Arizona and and we've
stayed in touch with the Diamondbacks
throughout wondering which direction
they might go and and truly until
Thursday morning we didn't have any kind
of clarity and we had talked to them
about a number of different trade
mechanics and and how it might look and
and ultimately on Thursday in in about
an hour we went from you know zero to 60
and we were able to finish a deal pretty
quickly.
Well, that went what went fast for sure.
Take us through if you would, you know,
it's really JB mentioned really almost
perfect fit. Like it really is a really
good fit. But as you kind of see the
lineup, where do you expect him uh to to
be hitting, you know, and then based on
your obviously your conversations with
Dan and then, you know, is it all first
base? Is it a combination of first base
to YH? Like how do you look at him in
the field?
So, I would say, you know, these first
couple of days he's hitting fourth for
us and and it's a really good spot. You
know, we've got Julio in the two-hole
and Julio starting to really trend and
he's getting hot, which is, you know,
the this time of year is generally what
Julio does. And uh Cal Raleigh's having
the year of his life and and we're all
along for the ride and he's hitting
third and you know previously we had
Randy Rosarena in the four hole and then
we would get into this pocket of lefty
hitters you know and dropping Josh in
the four hole and then bumping Rail
Randy to five who's also having a great
year. you know, it allowed us to break
up the the left-hand bats and and have a
couple of lefties and switches spread
through the lineup and and made us less
susceptible to a left-hand reliever just
blowing through us, which is weird to
say by acquiring another left-hand
hitter, but this one is a left-hand
hitter who can hit square in the middle.
Yeah, not only square in the middle,
though. I was making the point that it's
square in the middle in October, too,
right? And that's what I want. You need
a hitter that's going to hit the the
playoff pitching, right? And Naylor does
that. And and I just I mean look, a
Rosarine is at having an unbelievable
stretch here. We always knew he was
capable of doing, but now we're seeing
it. Like now it's here. Like I feel like
every night he's home ringing for you.
Cal Raleigh right now is the MVP of the
league. The injured Aaron Judge may just
give him that 40 home runs and and an
elite framer. Like all the pieces are
there. JRod always has a great second
half as you mentioned. And then you got
all five starters finally healthy,
right? You had to deal with injuries to
start the year, right? you lost two two
of your key starters to get that. But
now over the last month that has really
stabilized. You got an impact closer at
the back end. I mean, this is this is
exciting stuff, Jerry. And to me, the
most important thing for a GM or or
president is to stand up and make the
big move in the middle of a pennet race
when it's needed the most. Like that is
the most important job of why you get
paid, I think. And you just did that.
Now I got to ask you, are you done?
No, that's not the plan. You know, we we
do have other things we'd like to add,
areas we'd like to beef up and, you
know, and I do think one of the you hit
on it early. You know, being able to
acquire Josh a week out from the trade
deadline allows us to to let it come to
us a little bit. And, you know, we were
very aggressive in in our initial
vetting and and we got after it pretty
good in in hammering the phone calls
with the various clubs we thought fit
for us and and we found a perfect fit
for first base and in the middle of the
lineup and and we do have some other,
you know, areas would like to address
you, not the least of which is like
every other team in the postseason hunt
would like to add to that bull.
Yeah. Yeah, for sure. G give us a sense
if you would, Jerry. uh uh phone calls
obviously are going out and coming in,
but you know, there's been a couple of
uh GMs that have said, you know, they
expected it to get really busy after
today. Is that your your sense like the
just kind of the in the in the moment or
you think there's there's some things
that maybe you could even do today?
You know, I I think today's generally
going to be a quiet day, but you know,
we had multiple conversations with clubs
that generally, and this is maybe
midweek, last week, hey, this isn't
going anywhere. We won't do anything
without talking to you. Let's reconnect
on Monday. So, I do suspect that that
starting tomorrow, it's going to get
very interesting. And, you know, it's uh
we've hopefully we're able to to
seamlessly travel out of Coopertown so
it it doesn't catch us. But, you know,
the next couple days are fun and like
Jim said, this is this is kind of why we
do our jobs is is the excitement. This
is when you feel like you can make, you
know, an impact and and really help the
team in real time and and then just get
out of their way and watch them play.
Yeah. And sometimes it takes a couple
years to get it right. Right. I mean, so
last year's moves you made significant
for this year and now now you you make
this huge move. Um, you know, you'd
always talked about one of the infield
corners, first or third base, and there
was a lot of talk about a Yuenio Suarez
as well, which makes sense. The thing I
like about Naylor is you didn't have to
give up your you gave up talent. I get
it, right? But you didn't have to give
up your any of your top top prospects to
be able to land him. And then, you know,
I was as I don't know how to answer,
right? Because I can't sit there and ask
you on the record, but I I I was asked
the question about, okay, would they go
get Suarez now? I'm like, I don't I
don't think they need to because you got
the plus+ defender at third base in
Williamson, right? And now I think your
lineup is good enough to score runs. And
so when you're trying to balance
offense, defense, not that you wouldn't
want another, you know, 40 home run bat,
don't get me wrong, but you know, I kind
of felt like your next thing would
probably be the bullpin as you just
mentioned, just keep adding to the
pitching. Um, is that accurate? Or if
you had an opportunity to upgrade at
third base with an impact bat, are you
still open to that?
No, I think we're open to any way we can
get better. And you know, third base, I
will say this, Ben Williamson at not a
whole lot of minor league time before he
was run into the big leagues. We had a a
weird set of circumstances and he's been
exactly what we could have hoped him to
to be. And and here we are, we're in
July and we're in a pennant race. And I
think most days you want them to hit Ben
Williamson the ball for the last out of
the game. He's he's just been that good
defensively,
you know, and he's sitting at the bottom
of the lineup. He chips in and gives you
a gritty at bat and and it's not it's
not a light stick. He just hasn't really
tapped into his power yet. And um but
he's 24 years old. We think there's a
ton of time for him to to contribute. We
don't want to rob him of his
opportunities, but you know, if there's
a way we can get better and and put a
more impactful team on the field, we
have to to at least be aware of what
that is. Mhm. Mhm. Starter starting
rotations. You guys are back healthy.
Obviously Miller still on the injured
list. What are you expecting uh you know
for him? Like what what's his status at
the moment?
So Bryce threw a a two inning live
session on Friday and and uh you know we
should be he's built up to about 40
pitches. His fast ball's back in the mid
touching 97 and you know he's going to
now be on a normal you know five six day
rehab schedule to build him up. If all
goes well, we should have him back in
our rotation no later than the middle of
August, which would be, you know,
another couple of weeks. And, you know,
that'd be a pretty exciting addition for
us. And, you know, the the guys that we
have, Logan Evans has done a remarkable
job as a rookie of holding the fort at
the back end. And, you know, Woo's
having an all-star season. George and
Logan have really kind of started to
round back into form. And Luis Castillo
has just been steady at it. he just
turns out the innings and and gives you
a chance to win more often than not. And
I I I love our rotation. I think we have
impact at the back of our bullpen and
and our lineup now is as long as it's
been. And I I actually spent some time
last night with Pat Gillick and I said I
I don't think it's aggressive to say our
lineup is about as long as it's been
since he was he was here doing my job.
A while.
Amen. I mean, it's Look, it's good
enough to run the tail. That's why the
third base situation is interesting
because I think the defense is so
important because you get to the
postseason, it's pitching and defense,
right? I mean, you got to score enough
runs, but pitching and defense is
usually the team that's popping the
champagne in October. You know, I look
at the last 30 days, right? Louie
Castillo's RA is 2.1. George Kirby's is
3.3. Brian Woo is 2.3. Logan Gilbert is
2.0. And as you mentioned with Logan
Evans, 4.1. Like that's that's five
starters with Bryce Miller coming back.
I mean, that's just that's just amazing
to me. And the lineup is good, but you
don't talk enough about your defense. I
mean, this is a really good defensive
team besides being a, you know, now a
lengthy lineup, which is special. So, I
look at it, I keep going bullpen,
bullpen, bullpen. Let's just grab cuz
cuz we all watch October now. You you
got you got to have that bullpen. You
just you just do. So, is it fair to say
that's the focus right now? And and by
the way, your farm system's loaded and
your owner's going to willing to spend
some money. I mean, you are equipped to
make another bang bang doto move.
Yeah. This is one of our favorite times
of year, you know, when we put ourselves
in good position. We've always been
given the the ability to go out and do
the fun thing at the deadline. And
that's, you know, the rocking 22 and
Randy Rose Arena and friends last year,
obviously Josh so far and and we are
dialed on the bullpen and and that makes
us like just about everybody else who's
who's trying to get to the finish line.
But, you know, it's a the bullpen, as
you know, is they are the late movers.
And, you know, somewhere in the last,
you know, day or two and and maybe in
the last hour or two, you'll start
seeing some of the the higher impact
bullpen guys go off the board and and we
will be as aggressive in that area of
the market as just about anybody, I
would imagine.
God, I love that quote. We're going to
have to use that like all our promos.
Hey, I need to ask you about Ichiro
Suzuki. This is a special day and it's a
special talent and you know I always
loved watching him just because in BP he
would show you that he had 40 home run
power right but he just you know he
wanted to be a hitter right not a power
hitter which who knows what he could
have done if he wanted to just be a
power hitter but uh talk to me about
your relationship with him what you
witnessed in his career uh the great
sense of humor he has your anticipation
of the speech like break down Ichiro for
all of us
the speech And I said to him last night
and we we had obviously a celebratory uh
dinner party for for Ichiro and and his
family and just celebrating his his
election, but unbelievably disciplined
human being in everything he does. And I
I remember clearly the the moment that
stands out for me with Ichro outside of
meeting him. Actually then met him. We
signed him in spring training to come
back to the Mariners for for part two,
which wound up being, you know, the the
swan song in his career. And it was a
storybook finish up in Japan and and uh
you know, retiring on opening day. It's
just a a phenomenal story. But I had
never met Ichiro and you know, we had
set up a press conference when we signed
him in spring training and he passed
along through his agent John Bogs who
you guys know, great guy. And Bugsy
said, "Hey, Ichi wants to do something
casual, you know, maybe maybe slacks,
you know, golf shirt, simple. He might
even wear a uniform." I said, "Okay,
great." You know, and so we I get to the
the office that day and there's 150
members of the Japanese media in spring
training for a Peoria press conference
and my first reaction when I drove up
was, "Geez." And uh I'd never met Ichi.
And he comes walking up the back steps
to my office and he's wearing about a
$20,000 suit and his hair is jet black
and slick back. The sunglasses I'm going
to I'm going to gauge we're about in the
5K range. And I and I looked at him and
my initial, you know, intro to him as I
I backhanded him in the chest and I
said, I thought we were going casual.
And he said, Jerry, this is casual.
It's just amazing.
But unbelievable unique talent. Just a
great guy.
Oh, that's that's a good story. I I love
that one. Hey, what I know you're up
there in Coopertown, by the way. Uh it's
amazing you have great cell phone
coverage because hardly anyone ever does
up there. So, that's impressive itself.
But, uh what else stands out for you
today with this ceremony? There's so
many so many current, you know, guys
that came you while you're in the front
office while we were in the front office
that are going in. But is there one in
particular besides Ichiro uh that you're
uh that that you're excited to, you
know, to listen to his speech?
You know, sadly, I was really looking
forward to to hearing Dave Parker
because, you know, just where I am on
the age curve when we were growing up.
Dave Parker for that five, six, eight
year stretch with the Pirates was was
as five tool a player as you could
possibly get. and and I know how long a
wait he'd had, you know, but sadly we
won't be able to listen to him. I look
forward to hearing CeCe. I I think CeCe
is a remarkable person who has a great
story to tell and I'm sure his speech is
going to be pretty riveting because of
that. Uh you know, last night in the
plaque room, which is I pinch myself
every time I get the opportunity. You're
you're in baseball, you know, heaven and
you're getting the the back door into
the plaque room and getting to hobnob
with the greatest living players. It's
just a a remarkable scene and and you
know I I I truly try to remember every
time how fortunate I am that you get
invited into those spaces.
Yeah, no question about it. It's a very
special room and only the elite of the
elite get to be there. Jerry, of all the
years that you've been sitting in that
GM chair from the Angels to the
Mariners, it's it's been a minute now.
Is this the best baseball team you have
ever assembled in your career?
You know, I think so. Just on one
through 26, we had a we had a pretty
awesome team with the with the Halos
back in 2014. You know, we had a 98 win
season, won the West. We had superstars
and deep rotation, but this team, I
think, is it it's just deep. Our bullpen
keeps coming at the the the the guys
that are coming out to throw the middle
innings down three are showing you three
pitches and high 90s. And you know, I I
I feel like the combination of defense,
team speed, you know, up and down the
lineup, our contact has really improved
and we've always been relatively
patient. And I think, you know,
sneakily, we hit homers, you know, I I
every time we have a two, three, four
homer game, I I look at Dan Wilson and I
I give him a thumbs up and I say little
things, bro. You just hit it over the
fence. And uh and and I think our
rotation when we're healthy, we are as
good as anybody in the league. and and I
I hope we're able to do the things this
year that our talent suggests we can
because I know the character of the guys
in the room is uh it's I love this team.
I I love our energy. They love playing
together. Our staff is awesome and I
couldn't be more excited for the next
you know what I hope are 70some games.