The Seattle Mariners started 2020 with a bottom-5 roster because of a lack of proven talent, pitching stability, and the fact it was going to be a developmental year for the duration and a lot of kids were going to get a lot of time.

Still won 27 gms (equivalent of 73), which is at worst slightly exceeding win-loss expectations in a year when the club wasn't making decisions based on their goal to win games. FTR, Texas and LAA were TRYING the whole time.

The Mariners rebuild is on schedule, and that in and of itself is a rather huge accomplishment. A lot of attempts at a full rebuild don't even get THIS far before suffering setbacks. It's also enormous they haven't abandoned the plan like the previous regime did in Year 2.

The baseball folks & ownership are all on the same page. Young players are shoving their way into the conversation rather than being dragged into it, there are numerous high-end talents on the brink -- the second and third groups will be better than the first, and all signs ...

... point to the development staff -- minors and majors -- are quality.

The most difficult part of a rebuild like this isn't going from bad to mediocre/average, it's going from mediocre/average to good. and from good to elite.

The next 3 years will tell the tale, but the first two chapters were written and executed very, very well, and there's little to no evidence to support anything else.

You might not see it, or like HOW they're doing it -- maybe you absurdly think SEA should've just spent ...

... their way to contention -- but there's no intelligent denial in the very early success of the Mariners process.

The hardest part is in front of them still, but anyone questioning Jerry Dipoto's job security should be ignored. There's no grounds for it, whatsoever.