Mariners Moose Tracks, 7/14/17: Jerry Dipoto, Jose Quintana, and Tim Tebow

It’s finally here! The return of regular season baseball! It feels like it’s been longer than usual, too. So rejoice, fans of Pacific Northwest bat-and-ball games! And while you celebrate, here are some links to get your day started.

In Mariners news...

• Halos Heaven talked about the differences between Jerry Dipoto and Billy Eppler — the Angels’ current GM. Both teams have connections to both guys, since Dipoto used to be the GM for Los Angeles while Eppler was the runner-up to Dipoto for the M’s GM job a few years ago. It’s a fascinating read.
• Make sure to come on out and see Mike Cameron!

• Jerry Dipoto thinks the Mariners have underperformed up to this point in the year and expects things to get better.

In Mariners minors news...

• The Tacoma Rainiers had a lightning-quick return to the regular season after hosting the All-Star Game, but their bats did not as the team fell to Fresno 5-1.
• Meanwhile, Everett’s pitching did wonderfully as the AquaSox defeated the Dust Devils 5-1.

• Sam Carlson threw in his first game in the Mariners organization!

Around the league...

• This news is likely old to most of you, but the Cubs pulled off a mid-July blockbuster by acquiring White Sox starter Jose Quintana for some top prospects. In case you missed it, Kate talked about what this means for the Mariners this summer.
• In the world of an unemployed Ken Rosenthal, it’s reddit users with very NSFW usernames who scooped the Quintana deal.
• Colby Rasmus decided to “step away” from baseball. I sure hope everything is alright.

• The Los Angeles Dodgers have been on a tear lately and are now the new favorites to win the World Series.
• As if the Dodgers needed any more help, the team is looking to acquire Zach Britton from Baltimore.
• The staff of The Ringer gives its predictions for the second half of the MLB season.
• Tim Tebow is a superior baseball player compared to Michael Jordan, writes Alex Kirshner at SB Nation. The slugging outfielder hit a walk-off homer in last night’s game.
• Check out this awesome visualization of the All-Star starting lineups by the teams they’ve represented throughout the years, as presented by #Cut4.
• In a more minor trade, the Yankees picked up first baseman Garrett Cooper from the Brewers yesterday.
• Those stinkin’ Astros might be the best offensive team in MLB history. It does kind of help that they are playing in one of the best offensive seasons for the league ever.

Anders’ picks...

• This has got to be one of the strangest things I’ve ever seen. What would you do if you got a note like this?