The standard industry narrative regarding the Mariners’ farm system paints a grim picture. It goes more or less like this:
General manager Jerry Dipoto and his lieutenants inherited a mess from predecessor Jack Zduriencik, that said mess was the key factor in Zduriencik’s dismissal, and that Dipoto made things worse through a series of win-now deals.
For example, ESPN.com’s Keith Law recently ranked the Mariners’ system at No. 28 among the 30 clubs for a second straight year while citing "years of poor drafts," and pointing to Dipoto dealing "three of the team’s top dozen prospects.