SAN DIEGO — On the third day of these Major League Baseball winter meetings, where Seattle general manager Jerry Dipoto has defied the odds by not making a single move, looking ahead to the Mariners’ 2020 roster and the potential pitfalls helps to fill the time without a transaction.

SAN DIEGO – The Mariners’ most coveted player last offseason remains one of their most coveted this offseason, despite an interrupted season in which he missed the last 99 games due to injury.

SEATTLE — This much can be expected from general manager Jerry Dipoto and the Mariners at the upcoming Major League Baseball winter meetings — he won’t be making trades from a hospital bed like last year.

SAN DIEGO — While reporters outside of the Seattle market and various employees from teams around Major League Baseball steadfastly refuse to believe it to be true, the Mariners and general manager Jerry Dipoto appear to be doing what he predicted leading up to the four-day winter meetings —…

SEATTLE — With the demand for Major League catching higher than expected and the Mariners sitting with a small surplus at the position, Seattle general manager Jerry Dipoto tried to capitalize on the situation to acquire some more young talent for his current rebuild with a trade this morning.

SEATTLE — The outcome seemed certain after a seven-run first inning and then became a little less so midway through the game, but it became official late Tuesday evening when closer Daniel Hudson secured the final out of the Washington Nationals’ 7-4 victory over the Cardinals at Nationals Park.

SEATTLE — Exactly a year and a day ago, the first use of the phrase “step back” was used in the context of the Mariners’ potential plans for the offseason.

SEATTLE — The sobering reality of the Mariners’ “step-back” season and all that it would entail on the field — specifically the losing and lack of talent — didn’t set in for most fans until a month into the season.

SEATTLE — With the season now over, the Mariners, according to multiple Major League Baseball sources, will make some changes to their big-league coaching staff after finishing 68-94 in 2019.

SEATTLE — The “step-back” season of 2019 mercifully came to a close Sunday for the Mariners with something that only happened about once every three games after their 13-2 start to the season – a victory. A group of seven Mariners, working in short bursts of either two or one inning, combine…

SEATTLE — On a night when it was supposed to be about him, Felix Hernandez, of course, made it about them.

SEATTLE — The Mariners avoided making Major League Baseball history Wednesday night at T-Mobile Park. And that was a good thing.

SEATTLE — Goodbye was inevitable.

SEATTLE — Unlike the beatdowns they endured at Minute Maid Park, the Mariners weren’t blown out, drubbed, shellacked or whatever word fits your description of decisive defeat.

PITTSBURGH — There was some good, some bad and some in between for Yusei Kikuchi on Thursday.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — After hitting four home runs in his first six games, Kyle Lewis finally hit a rough patch when he struck out four times in his last one.

PITTSBURGH — Scott Servais can surely speak for everyone who bore witness to Kyle Lewis’ first week in the big leagues.

PITTSBURGH — As a junior at Gonzaga in 2013, Marco Gonzales went 7-3 with a 2.80 earned-run average on the mound and led the Zags at the plate with a .311 batting average, earning him the John Olerud Award as college baseball’s best two-way player.

SEATTLE — Kyle Lewis has walked into the major leagues and made things look easy.

SEATTLE — Mariners rookie Kyle Lewis has tied a major league record by hitting a home run in his first three games.

SEATTLE — For the 21st time this season, the Mariners made the ultimate dream come true for a baseball player. Whether pitcher or position player, 21 Mariners joined the elite fraternity who can say they have played in the major leagues.

SEATTLE — As Justin Dunn handed him the baseball, looking to escape the mound and start the process of trying to forget a debut that had gone so very wrong, manager Scott Servais wouldn’t let his rookie pitcher exit in a hurry.

SEATTLE — Kyle Lewis didn’t feel the awkward disappointment on July 12 when the Mariners were no-hit by the Angels on an emotional night at Angels Stadium. 

SEATTLE — A Kyle provided the Mariners with their first run on a night when few were expected with his first homer in his first major-league game for his first big-league hit. 

HOUSTON — When the situation had finally reached the point of embarrassment in the third inning, an escalation that quickly worsened from bad to awful to ‘Dear God, please make it stop,’ two things became very clear.

HOUSTON — A 4-0 lead with no outs in the first inning should inspire a level of confidence.

NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — As the sweat-drenched Arkansas Travelers exited the field at Dickey-Stephens Park on Wednesday afternoon for the refuge of their air-conditioned clubhouse, Andy McKay, the Mariners director of player development, walked into the dugout and motioned to general manage…

CHICAGO (AP) — Willson Contreras spiked his bat in celebration as his soaring drive headed for the bleachers. 

ARLINGTON, Texas — On a sweltering, ruin-your-shirt night featuring the dug-in Texas heat of August in all its glory, neither the Mariners nor Rangers — two teams playing out the string — wanted to push into extra innings. Besides the heat, the Mariners’ bullpen was torched from the three-ga…

SEATTLE — For the first time since being traded to the Mariners in November, 23-year-old starting pitcher Justus Sheffield crossed paths with the team that uprooted his life on the East Coast to send him across the country.

SEATTLE — James Paxton paused for a moment mid-sentence, making sure he didn’t misspeak. He quite clearly enunciated the words “T-Mobile Park” as part of his answer.

SEATTLE — Instead of a pitching duel, it became a pitching lesson.

SEATTLE — Yusei Kikuchi didn’t know when he would return to the M’s rotation.

SEATTLE — Perhaps if the Mariners pushed their opener just a little further into the game, the results might have been different. 

SEATTLE — The Mariners have long been past the point of playing games with postseason implications. That ended around May, if not before. You could argue that hope ended before the season started, given what transpired in the offseason.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — The Tampa Bay Rays struggled during a six-game homestand against a pair of last-place teams but were able to break even due to three walk-off wins.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Tom Murphy is on a power surge unprecedented for a Seattle catcher, and it is coming at a bad time for the Tampa Bay Rays.

TACOMA — In what could possibly be his last game ever at Cheney Stadium, Felix Hernandez received a standing ovation from an appreciative and perhaps nostalgic crowd of 6,978, most of whom were there to see him pitch Monday night in Tacoma.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Brendan McKay couldn’t provide a lift for a depleted Tampa Bay rotation and was headed back to the minors after his latest start.

TORONTO — The Toronto Blue Jays have found home runs are better when they happen together.