SEATTLE -- Aside from the postseason games being played, Jerry Dipoto was the talk of baseball for most of Wednesday in the wake of comments he made at an end-of-season press conference the day prior, when he said that ¡°we¡¯re actually doing the fanbase a favor by asking for their patience to win the World Series,¡± among other topics.

On Thursday during his weekly radio hit with 710 Seattle Sports, the Mariners¡¯ president of baseball operations apologized for his tone and how his comments were received by a frustrated fanbase.

¡°I¡¯m genuinely embarrassed by the way, at least, that comment and especially one other was received,¡± Dipoto said. ¡°I¡¯ve been doing this job, or roles like this, for a long time now and I¡¯ve made mistakes. I¡¯ve made my fair share, like most do. This was kind of one of those times. I just did a poor job of illustrating the points that I was trying to make.¡±

The other comment he addressed centered on winning ¡°54% of the time¡± -- a correlation of 87.5 wins -- and how doing so each year in a 10-year stretch typically leads to a World Series berth. The Mariners finished with 88 wins after reaching 90 in both 2021 and 2022.

¡°That is true in the Wild Card era [since 1995]. It is true in the divisional format dating back to 1969,¡± Dipoto said Tuesday. ¡°You¡¯ve got, I think, an 85 or 90% chance of reaching a World Series if you make that your goal. If we make winning the World Series your goal, we will do insane things that will cut the sustainability part of the project short. That¡¯s not how we think.¡±

Speaking more broadly in reflecting on 2023 and the Mariners' outlook well beyond 2024, Dipoto said that in some instances, he ¡°tried to humor" and "that wasn¡¯t what the moment called for.¡±

¡°I completely whiffed in my attempt to paint a picture baseline of what makes sense to me than our fans and media,¡± Dipoto said. ¡°Our goal isn¡¯t to be mediocre. Our goal is to win championships and then to play a high level for a long time; that¡¯s what I was trying to convey. Obviously, it didn¡¯t help. I wish I could hit reset and try it again. But that moment¡¯s gone.¡±

Dipoto on Tuesday was trying to convey the organization¡¯s view on sustainability, which he reiterated on the radio -- that mortgaging the payroll or prospect capital to add blue-chip players from outside the organization could hinder the club's competitive sustainability, year over year. But it also won¡¯t preclude them from spending from either pool, based on the right fit of impact player.

¡°I think the idea that we have continually gotten better -- we try very hard to be thoughtful in what we're doing,¡± Dipoto said, ¡°because we want this not just to be an exercise for 2022 and 2023. We want this to be 2024 and well beyond. And I do think that we have the talent, both at the Major and Minor League levels, to make that happen.¡±

Dipoto also re-addressed comments from Cal Raleigh, specifically that the catcher was urged by management to apologize for them, as former big league catcher and media personality A.J. Pierzysnki suggested on Wednesday. Multiple sources told MLB.com that Raleigh chose to do so on his own behalf to quell concerns that he was calling out his teammates.

¡°There was no forcible scolding,¡± Dipoto said. ¡°It¡¯s an emotional thing. The games that we play and at the end of emotional runs, you¡¯ll say emotional things. That¡¯s the way you can wrap all of this.¡±

Dipoto is known for speaking transparently, and his comments at the press conference shed light on the front office¡¯s 30,000-foot view of the organization¡¯s trajectory. But for a fanbase of the only team that has never played in the World Series, it was clear that they wanted more in that moment than an analytical assessment.

¡°I hope that given a moment to step away from the emotion,¡± Dipoto said Tuesday, ¡°and when I say that we made improvement in a lot of ways, we got better at everything short of two things -- we struck out too much and we didn¡¯t win as many games as we won last year. But the components of everything that we did on the field, putting the ball in play, creating traffic, pitching, everything that we did year over year was a step forward in how we executed the fundamentals of baseball.

¡°That¡¯s what I was trying to say.¡±