THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: M's a move or two from contending? Depends who you ask

Can an entire baseball team go into a slump?

Apparently so.

Mariners boss Jerry Dipoto suggested on his radio show last week that he believed in the group’s overall talent, but that there’s no question they’re underperforming.

The issue came up because the Mariners, with roughly the same core of players who won 90 games and made the playoffs a year ago, have been treading water around the .500 mark (or below) all season.

Dipoto was asked about trades as the season heads toward the midway mark.

Ironically, MLB Insider Jon Morosi was interviewed on Seattle radio the same day, and agreed with Dipoto on one issue — that no single personnel move would magically turn the season around.

Morosi, however, wasn’t quite as certain that the Mariners currently have the talent to be pennant contenders.

“We are rapidly approaching the point of the season where you’ve got to start making some decisions,” Morosi said.

“I know Jerry loves to make aggressive deadline deals, and probably that’s part of his disposition again.

“But I think that the way they’re performing, and the lack of consistency, gives me a lot of pause as to what sort of deals he could contemplate.”

OH?

Morosi has been an outspoken fan of the way the Mariners have been built, and indicated he was as surprised as anyone that they’re struggled — especially offensively.

He surprisingly suggested that, with the exception of a few key players who are going nowhere, the Mariners might need to “renovate” the roster to find more balance.

More of a serious makeover than Dipoto likely has in mind, in other words.

“I think that you have to look at it, and say rather than going for a ‘Hey, we’ve got to get that one last relief piece to make this a World Series team,’ this team isn’t close to that right now,” Morosi said.

“And it’s a tough thing to say, but any clear-eyed analysis if you compare where the Texas lineup is right now to Seattle’s, there’s just there’s no comparison right now.”

Dipoto agrees with that analysis, but only to a point.

He still likes the roster — even while taking responsibility for acquiring underperforming newcomers Kolten Wong, Teoscar Hernandez and AJ Pollock.

“You can’t really plan for established major leaguers to all stop playing at their established levels, all at the same time,” Dipoto said.

“You’re not expecting a career .257 hitter (Wong) over 10 big league seasons to hit .153.

“There are examples of that all up and down the lineup, just not quite as dramatic.”

Dipoto was totally in agreement with Morosi about being careful not to think he could add one shiny new piece to turn everything around — especially if it meant giving away a prospect the Mariners believe will be productive for years down the line.

But Jerry is more bullish on the players he’s got in the organization right now.

“Frankly, I don’t think this (type of performance) is permanent,” Dipoto said.

“I think we have an incredibly talented group of players — still sub-28 years old on average age up and down our roster, which is by the standards of our league a young team — and I don’t think we’ve seen the end of the Mariners being a good, competitive, contending club.”

MOROSI, on the other hand, agreed that the Mariners have built the foundation to see exciting, successful teams in Seattle — but wasn’t quite as confident about all the current pieces.

The standings bear him out.

He pointed again to the Rangers, who have matched a decent development system with giant financial outlays on free agents.

That can produce an amazing result when everything works, but Texas has just learned that its No. 1 pitching target, Jacob deGrom, will need Tommy John surgery — at age 35, carrying a five-year contract for $185 million.

We can argue the pros and cons of wading into the free agent market in Thursday’s column (and if there’s a way to “do it right”), but for the moment, the Mariners have to find a way to sort out their own issues.

Dipoto thinks the players on his roster can and should “solve it themselves” by sticking to the process that made the Mariners a good team in the first place.

He insists you should never be a .500 team or thereabouts when you have the pitching depth that this team boasts.

Unfortunately, the offense has been asleep — most noticeably by hitting just .226 (25th in MLB) with runners in scoring position.

A year ago, that number was .249, and many, many of those run-scoring hits came in crucial situations.

Morosi suggested that the roster needs a long look, however.

“It is taking a step back, (admitting) we’ve got issues here, and how do we fundamentally change this team? Whether it’s a different kind of right-left balance or a different kind of contact-oriented lineup,” Morosi said.

“But this is not a team that needs an adjustment at the deadline.

“This is one that might need some really major renovations.”

NOTE: In Thursday’s column, we’ll address the question of offseason spending, and whether the Mariners — one of MLB’s most financially successful clubs — could have added pieces to avoid this slide backwards after the excitement of 2022.

If so, where should they be shopping?

In the Shohei Ohtani aisle?

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Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press four times each week, normally Tuesday through Friday unless, you know, stuff happens.

Steve suggests you take his opinions in the spirit of a Jimmy Buffett song: “Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On.”