Jerry Dipoto believes fervently in the Mariners’ approach to squad-building.

Or at least, he says he does.

Seattle’s front office calls it “DDT,” which stands for draft, develop and trade.

Dipoto has claimed that their method is the surest way for the Mariners to create a system that can keep the club in pennant contention over the long term.

They’re not against healthy spending, Dipoto insists, but most of the money should go to long-term deals that allow them to keep players they have developed internally — like Julio Rodriguez — rather than firing shots at wildly expensive free agents each year.

Seattle’s approach has shown at least partial success, with last year’s playoff team led by Rodriguez, catcher Cal Raleigh, pitchers Logan Gilbert and George Kirby – along with key contributors acquired by trading their own young talent (J.P. Crawford, Ty France, Mitch

Haniger, Eugenio Suarez, Marco Gonzales, Andres Munoz, Matt Brash and deadline splash Luis Castillo).

They now can finally add a productive Jarred Kelenic to that list.

The Mariners claim they’re not simply being financially cautious with this strategy.

They believe it’s the best way to get a true bang for your buck in the crazy world of Major League Baseball.

IT’S NOT like they’ve refused to get in their pockets for anything but backup infielders, either.

They signed free agent Robbie Ray, the reigning Cy Young Award winner, to a five-year, $115 million deal prior to the 2022 season and then, after they’d traded some of their most prized minor leaguers for Castillo, they locked up the former Cincinnati ace with a five-year contract worth $108 million.

Couple that with a spectacular deal for J-Rod — a flexible agreement that could skyrocket past $700 million — and you can see why Dipoto is adamant that the Mariners are not afraid to spend big money.

And yet …

Fans in the Northwest are watching as the Rangers, who spent staggering sums on infielders Marcus Semien and Corey Seager – along with pitchers Jacob deGrom, Andrew Heaney and Nathan Eovaldi – are running away with the race in the AL West.

That’s despite almost no production from deGrom, who is set for a second Tommy John surgery at age 35, likely wasting a five-year, $185 million contract.

Critics on social media have been howling at the Mariners, who basically went cheap this past off season — adding second baseman Kolten Wong and platoon outfielder AJ Pollock.

Both have been zero help, and Wong essentially has been replaced by unfancied minor leaguer Jose Caballero.

Seattle’s one major trade involved sending one of their bullpen stars, Erik Swanson, to Toronto for slugger Teoscar Hernandez.

Swanson has been terrific for the Jays, with a 2.56 ERA and a WHIP of 0.85, while Hernandez leads all of MLB in strikeouts.

You can call these unlucky deals (Wong had a career average of .257 over 10 years, and now can’t hit OR play sound baseball).

Alternatively, you can holler that maybe the Mariners, coming off back-to-back 90-win seasons, should have been shopping in a richer neighborhood.

By the way, it has not escaped the fan base that Forbes magazine deemed Seattle the most profitable club in MLB a year ago with $84 in operating income, AND that the Mariners increased in value more than any other franchise (29 percent to $2.2 billion).

IN OTHER words, yes, there’s some money sloshing around in the Mariners’ vault, but executives from other clubs claim they’ve gotten the sense that Dipoto and GM Justin Hollander weren’t allowed to spend much of it.

Given his job description, Dipoto can’t exactly blast club chairman John Stanton and admit that the Mariners are building the roster at a thrift store.

However …

With this current team floundering around .500 – in a season when they were expected to contend, and which will see Seattle host the All-Star Game – there will be even louder calls for some free-agent additions during the next off season.

Dipoto will once again point out that throwing money around doesn’t guarantee success, and use the Mets and Padres (baseball’s versions of drunken sailors) as classic examples of money-wasting.

None of that is likely to get the Mariners off the hook, especially in a year when the sport’s most glamorous and dynamic player, Shohei Ohtani, will be a free agent.

To be fair …

Demanding that your team land Ohtani (even if you’re the highest bidder, somewhere between $600 million and infinity), is being a little rough.

There will be plenty of cries for Ohtani in Seattle, though.

Make no mistake.

AS IF that situation weren’t tricky enough, there’s more bad news for Dipoto and the Mariners.

This is a very lean year for offensive players, which clearly is Seattle’s most pressing need.

One possibility …

In fact, perhaps the ONLY exciting possibility (assuming Ohtani doesn’t turn up under the Space Needle) is Korean outfielder Jung-hoo Lee, who is being posted for sale by the KBO Kiwoom Heroes.

Lee is 25, by far the best hitter in Korea, and he’s nicknamed “Grandson of the Wind” (you’d think a PR department could do something with that).

In 2022, his numbers were .349/.421/.575, with 23 home runs.

Major league scouts believe he can be a .300 hitter and potential All-Star here in the States.

After Ohtani and Lee, there’s Matt Chapman (yawn) and a handful of guys who would get the same reception as Kolten Wong.

It will be fascinating to see if the Mariners alter their philosophy heading into ’24 and, if so, how much?

They’ll have to do SOMETHING, because although they have tons of young pitching, their best position player prospects (Harry Ford and Cole Young) are two or three years away from Seattle.

Over to you, Jerry.

Get creative.

Email: scameron@cdapress.com

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

If you believe that this column, and others, have perhaps been too rough on Kolten Wong, bear in mind that in his days with the Cardinals, he once got picked off first base to become the final out in a World Series game – when he was the ONLY man on base and the Cards trailed by two runs.

So, when Wong forgot the number of outs in a game with the Mariners this year, the Cheap Seats crowd would argue it should have been no shock.

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