Gerard Peter Dipoto (born May 24, 1968) is an American

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

executive and former professional player. He is currently the President of Baseball Operations for the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...

and previously worked in front office positions for the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The ...

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team h ...

, and

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

. Dipoto played in MLB for the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central division. Since , they have ...

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major lea ...

, and

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fi ...

from 1993 through 2000.

Early life

Dipoto was born to Gerard & Barbara Dipoto and has two siblings, Marc Dipoto and Lori Dipoto-Dorsey. He played high school baseball at

Toms River High School North Toms River High School North is a four-year comprehensive public high school, and was the second public high school established in Toms River, in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States, operating as part of the Toms River Regional Schools. ...

Toms River, New Jersey Toms River is a township in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States. Its mainland portion is also a census-designated place of the same name, which serves as the county seat of Ocean County.Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a public research university in Richmond, Virginia. VCU was founded in 1838 as the medical department of Hampden–Sydney College, becoming the Medical College of Virginia in 1854. In 1968, the Virginia ...

(VCU) and played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

for the

VCU Rams The VCU Rams are the athletic teams of Virginia Commonwealth University of Richmond, Virginia, United States. The Rams compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association as members of the Atlantic 10 Conference. The most succe ...

Professional career

The

selected Dipoto in the third round of the

1989 Major League Baseball Draft First-round selections The following are the first round picks in the 1989 Major League Baseball draft on June 5. Supplemental first round selections Other notable players * Brian Hunter, 2nd round, 35th overall by the Houston Astros * Ti ...

. He made his major league debut in 1993. After the 1994 season, the Indians traded Dipoto with

Paul Byrd Paul Gregory Byrd (born December 3, 1970), is an American former professional baseball starting pitcher, who is currently a TV sports broadcaster for Atlanta Braves games on Bally Sports Southeast. While pitching in Major League Baseball (MLB), ...

, Dave Mlicki and a

player to be named later In Major League Baseball, a player to be named later (PTBNL) is an unnamed player involved in exchange or "trade" of players between teams. The terms of a trade are not finalized until a later date, most often following the conclusion of the seaso ...

(minor leaguer Jesus Azuaje) to the

for

Jeromy Burnitz Jeromy Neal Burnitz (born April 15, 1969) is an American former professional baseball player. Burnitz was a right fielder in Major League Baseball who played with the New York Mets (1993–94, 2002–03), Cleveland Indians (1995–96), Milwaukee B ...

and Joe Roa. After the 1996 season, he was traded by the Mets to the

for Armando Reynoso.

Front office career

Forced to retire during the spring of 2001, Dipoto went to work in the Colorado Rockies front office as a special assistant to then-general-manager Dan O'Dowd. In 2003, he became a scout for the

, and in 2004 was a part of the World Series winning team as a scout. In 2005, he returned to the Rockies as the head of professional scouting. When Josh Byrnes, whom Dipoto had known since his days as a Rockies player, became the General Manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks, Dipoto went with Byrnes to Arizona and became the Director of Scouting and Player Personnel. Byrnes was fired on July 1, 2010 and Dipoto was named interim General Manager. On September 22, Kevin Towers was named the new Diamondbacks General Manager. Dipoto was offered the opportunity to remain with the Diamondbacks. On October 28, 2011, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim announced Dipoto would be their next general manager, replacing Tony Reagins. Angels' owner

Arte Moreno Arturo "Arte" Moreno (born August 14, 1946) is an American businessman. On May 15, 2003, he became the first Mexican-American to own a major sports team in the United States when he purchased the Anaheim Angels baseball team from the Walt Disney ...

said that "one of the reasons we hired Jerry is that I really liked the way he viewed baseball analytics." However, Dipoto and manager

Mike Scioscia Michael Lorri Scioscia (, ; born November 27, 1958), nicknamed "Sosh" and "El Jefe", is an American former Major League Baseball catcher and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). He managed the Anaheim / Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim / Los An ...

disagreed regarding the use of analytics in baseball decisions, and a rift developed between the two when Dipoto fired

Mickey Hatcher Michael Vaughn Hatcher (born March 15, 1955) is an American former professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder, third baseman and first baseman from through , most notably as a member of the L ...

from the role of the team's

hitting coach In baseball, a number of coaches assist in the smooth functioning of a team. They are assistants to the manager, who determines the starting lineup and batting order, decides how to substitute players during the game, and makes strategy decisio ...

. Despite rumors that the Angels might replace either Dipoto or Scioscia after the 2013 season, Moreno announced that both would return to the Angels for the 2014 season. Tension between Dipoto and Scioscia continued during the 2015 season regarding the way Scioscia and his coaches delivered statistical reports developed by Dipoto and the front office to their players. Dipoto resigned his post on July 1, 2015. On August 12, 2015 the

hired Dipoto in an advisory role. After the

fired Jack Zduriencik after seven years with the club, they launched a GM search which lasted exactly one month, culminating with the hiring of Dipoto on September 28, 2015. On September 1, 2021, the Mariners promoted Dipoto to president of baseball operations and signed him to a multi-year contract extension.

Personal life

Dipoto and his wife, Tamie, have three children: Taylor, Jordan, and Jonah. He is also a

thyroid cancer Thyroid cancer is cancer that develops from the tissues of the thyroid gland. It is a disease in which cells grow abnormally and have the potential to spread to other parts of the body. Symptoms can include swelling or a lump in the neck. Ca ...

survivor, having undergone curative thyroid surgery in 1994.

References

External links

, o
Retrosheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dipoto, Jerry 1968 births Living people Arizona Diamondbacks executives Baseball players from Jersey City, New Jersey Boston Red Sox scouts Canton-Akron Indians players Charlotte Knights players Cleveland Indians players Colorado Rockies executives Colorado Rockies players Colorado Springs Sky Sox players Kinston Indians players Leones del Caracas players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim executives Major League Baseball general managers Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball scouting directors New York Mets players Seattle Mariners executives Sportspeople from Jersey City, New Jersey Sportspeople from Toms River, New Jersey Toms River High School North alumni VCU Rams baseball players Virginia Commonwealth University alumni Watertown Indians players Peninsula Oilers players