Google News Jerry Dipotto on Julio Rodriguez's new contract: "This was the right time because.."
by | VIEW 577
In Seattle, everyone can be happy after one of the main stars of the team, Julio Rodriguez, extended his contract and will be part of the team for the next 7 years. "What can I say? I'm just happy to be a Mariner,” Rodríguez said for mlb.com “I'm just happy to be a Mariner for as long as I can.
... I love being here. I love being with everybody. And I love to keep representing this city and bring a championship because that's what we want here."
Rodriguez is happy for the opportunity the club gave him, but also for the trust he had from the first day of his arrival.“They’re always showing their loyalty to me,” Rodríguez said. “They’re always showing me the love. They’re always showing me that they care about me. And I really appreciate that. As somebody that my dad told me that at a young age, I should appreciate and be grateful to the people that helped you to get to where you are right now, I feel that's what the Mariners showed to me and that's why I want to be here”.
Scott Servais on contract extension
The manager, Scott Servais, is happy after Roridguez extended his loyalty. He had to praise the qualities that this promising player has. “I think there are two things you can do to gain your teammates' respect,” Servais said.
“First of all, you’ve got to be a good player, and then you have to show up ready to play every day. And his preparation for a guy as young as he is, he asks the right questions, he takes advice from a number of veteran players, coaches, people that have been around him, and he comes ready to play every day”.
Jerry Dipotto, President of Baseball Operations for the Seattle Mariners, believes this is the ideal time for a contract extension. “We felt like this was the right time because waiting a year, waiting two years, two things happen,” Dipoto said.
“One, there is a reasonable show of disrespect, and two, once you get to the arbitration years, it's a lot more difficult to do deals of this length and significance because once the player is close to entering the system, they tend to drift toward [free agency].
And then the next thing you know, he's a 26-year-old free agent and we're all watching. “At 26 years old, as a free agent, the likelihood of us being able to bring Julio back on an eight- or 10-year deal at any price, it just gets far more complicated,” Dipoto said.
"So, we took some risks on the front end to allow ourselves the ability to keep them here at what we thought was a fair price”.