Seattle Mariners Chairman & Managing Partner John Stanton today announced that Jerry Dipoto has been promoted to become the team’s first-ever President of Baseball Operations. As part of the announcement, Dipoto and the club have agreed upon a multi-year contract extension.

Dipoto also announced that Mariners Manager Scott Servais has agreed to terms on a multi-year extension with the club.

Dipoto will remain as the Mariners key baseball decision maker and will continue to report directly to Stanton and the Mariners partnership group. All aspects of the Mariners baseball operation ultimately report to Dipoto.

Dipoto and new President of Business Operations Catie Griggs are parallel on the Mariners organization chart, and both report to Stanton.

Dipoto is in his sixth full season with the Mariners after he was originally hired on Sept. 28, 2015. He is the ninth full-time head of baseball operations in Mariners history.

“Jerry is a creative, passionate leader with a clear vision for our franchise,” Stanton said. “Following the 2018 season, Jerry came to us with a plan for how to compete for and win championships. He was transparent on the difficulty, but also clear on the goals and milestones. In the two-and-a-half years since, he has led the baseball operations group through challenges on and off the field, while executing on the timeline he laid out.

“Our Major League team, despite being one of the youngest teams in baseball, is competing for a postseason spot. Since near the midpoint of the 2020 season, the club has posted an 91–76 mark, the sixth-best record in the American League (Aug. 21, 2020-current). He has also built a first-class operations and analytics team that enable the Mariners to compete intelligently on the field. At the same time, Jerry and his team have built out our minor league system, which was recently named the top ranked farm system in all of baseball by Baseball America.”

“The Mariners goal, from John and the partnership group, our baseball operation and throughout our front office is to win championships,” Dipoto said. “We set out two-and-a-half years ago to do everything we could to make sure we were building an organization that would compete for multiple postseason berths and championships. I believe we are closer to that goal now than we’ve ever been and am excited to continue to have the opportunity to deliver on that vision.

“The combination of a supportive partnership group, great ballpark, passionate fan base, our talented and driven baseball operations team and beautiful city gives us all the tools we need to attain our primary goal: Winning the World Series here in Seattle.”

Servais is already the second-winningest manager in Mariners history at 419–422 (.498) in his sixth season. He was named as the 20th manager (17th full-time) in Mariners history on Oct. 23, 2015.

“Scott has done a terrific job in defining our team’s culture as one that is driven by process, hard work and heart,” Dipoto said. “That has allowed us to bring young, talented players to the Majors over the past three years and see them adjust and succeed as we build towards a team that competes for championships on an annual basis.

“The resiliency our club has shown in overcoming challenges on, and off, the field over the past two years have been a direct result of Scott’s leadership of the team and coaching staff.”

The Mariners are currently 71–62 (.534) this season, 3 ½ games behind Boston in the AL Wild Card race. Only Dave Roberts (LAD), Terry Francona (CLE), Joe Maddon (CHI/LAA), AJ Hinch (HOU/DET), Kevin Cash (TB), Bob Melvin (OAK) and Craig Counsell (MIL) have more wins since 2016.

“I am very positive about the makeup and direction of our team, in 2021 and beyond, so it’s exciting for me to look ahead to being with this group in this city for years to come,” Servais said. “And I want to be sure to acknowledge the key role the coaches and other staff have played in the successes we’ve had here.

“The support I’ve received from Jerry and Justin, and John and his partners and the fans has meant a lot to me. We have everything we need in Seattle to be successful and that will continue to be my focus.”