SEATTLE — On the same day that Mariners President of Baseball Operations Jerry Dipoto was named the 2025 MLB Executive of the Year by the Baseball Writers Association of America, he was busy molding the future of his team.

Dipoto won the award for several things, of course, building a roster that went from down and out a few years ago to just eight outs from the World Series. The midseason moves that brought Josh Naylor and Eugenio Suarez to town certainly helped his case.

It’s impressive that by the first week of December, Dipoto had secured the top priority in signing Josh Naylor and then bolstered the bullpen with a high-leverage left-handed reliever. But there’s more work to be done.

As Jerry admitted to the MLB Network crew at the Winter Meetings, partly in jest, he is “jonesing” to make another move.

“We’re still engaged in the free agent market. I would venture to guess either via free agency or trade, we will add one more bat, hopefully within the next seven days,” said Dipoto while on set with the MLB Network crew.

We do have young infielders like Cole Young at second base and Ben Williamson at third base,” Dipoto said. “Ben is, we think, an elite defender now, and he got us through a rough patch last year. And, particularly with a team that’s starting to gradually shift toward more ground ball orientation than fly ball, which we have predominantly been in the past, having a third baseman that can really pick it is really important. Ben can do that. Cole is one of the bright young stars at his position in the game. He’s just going to play his 22-year-old season, and he can really hit. Both of them got their first taste of it last year. We’d like to continue to give them a taste, but we want to take some of the pressure off with a veteran bat who’s been there. It could be a third baseman, could be a second baseman, or some combination of those positions… who can take some of the pressure off their bat and keep us an elite offense.

You can catch more of his interview with the MLB Network here:

That’s a pretty clear game plan, one that feels closer to fruition with how active the Mariners have already been this offseason. To that end, Dipoto talked about the big trade he made last weekend, sending top prospect Harry Ford to the Washington Nationals for high-end reliever Jose Ferrer.

“Ferrer is a guy that we had identified going into this offseason,” Jerry said of acquiring Ferrer. “He was the number one target for us in terms of the bullpen. He is just 25 years old. He’s played two-plus years as a major leaguer. He’ll touch 100 (mph), sits around 97.98. He’s got crazy sink, keeps the ball in the yard on the ground. There’s a lot there to like, and he’s with your club for the next four years or more, and that’s an exciting element.”

Of course, it meant parting ways with Ford, who has a lot of potential and was universally loved by the organization. Dipoto and the M’s felt this move was just best for both parties.

“Obviously, it’s tough to give up a prospect like Harry Ford. We love Harry, born in our system, who came through our system. He’s a wonderful human being, and I think he’s got the potential to be an everyday impact player, but it wasn’t going to happen with us,” Dipoto said, adding that having the best catcher in baseball in Cal Raleigh didn’t help Ford’s path to the big leagues.

“The opportunity to break in as a rookie and cut your teeth as a backup catcher getting 20- 25 plate appearances a month, it’s just really hard, and we thought that would be a complicated matter, and we thought this was the best way to cash in and create impact with the Mariners (in 2026).”

The Mariners are indeed all-in, and as they await the decision from Jorge Polanco this week while weighing options all over, it promises to be the most active—and impactful offseason maybe ever for the Mariners.