New Seattle Mariners general manager Jerry DiPoto resigned from the same position with the Los Angeles Angels last season amid speculation that he and longtime manager Mike Scioscia did not get along. DiPoto touched on the subject Friday when talking with MLB Network Radio about his new job (h/t Matt Snyder of CBS Sports):
I have a manager now in Scott Servais who I do see eye-to-eye with. And we have discussed every move. We have disagreed on many moves this offseason but in a really productive way. Fair or unfair, that was not always the case with Mike. You know, Scott, we talk about it, we cut it up on the floor, we’ll introduce it to coaches and scouts and at the end of the day I think that’s healthy. Healthy disagreement is a good thing, and sometimes in Anaheim, as you saw played out nationally at times in the last four years it wasn’t quite as healthy.
Scioscia has been with the Angels since 2000 and guided the team to a World Series title in 2002. DiPoto took over in 2011, and the team failed to win a playoff series during his tenure.
There was speculation that DiPoto’s beef went deeper, as Snyder noted some thought owner Arte Moreno sided with the manager. Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register called it “no surprise.”
However, in the same interview, DiPoto also said he enjoyed his time in Southern California (via Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times):
I appreciate those [3 1/2] years, and for much of that time, I had a great time. I got an opportunity to work with a manager who I believe is very likely to wind up in the Hall of Fame. And I got a chance to work for an owner who never spared any expense in throwing as much money at a roster as he could, and the aggression they showed was great.
While times were rocky, DiPoto doesn’t seem to be carrying any grudges with him to Seattle. If anything, it seems as though it was a good decision for both sides to part ways, and now the GM is with an up-and-coming team that Baseball Prospectus predicted will win 84 games in 2016, which would be an eight-game improvement from last season (via Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times).
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