PEORIA, Ariz. -- Picture the prototypical corner outfielder, and a classic image springs to mind: He has strong wrists and forearms and the ability to hit 20 home runs by accident. The defense might be spotty, but he'll compensate with a penchant for driving balls into the seats.

Corner outfield is changing When Seattle GM Jerry Dipoto opted to go with a more defense-oriented outfield this season, he took note that only 11 MLB corner outfielders hit 16 home runs with a .260 batting average and a .320 on base percentage in 2016. Here are the 11: Players HR BA OBP Mookie Betts 31 .318 .363 Yoenis Cespedes 31 .280 .354 Ryan Braun 30 .305 .365 George Springer 29 .261 .359 Carlos Gonzalez 25 .298 .350 Stephen Piscotty 22 .273 .343 J.D. Martinez 22 .307 .373 Christian Yelich 21 .298 .376 Nomar Mazara 20 .266 .320 Kole Calhoun 18 .271 .348 Brandon Drury 16 .282 .329 Source: Baseball-Reference.com

That's the stereotype, and Seattle Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto isn't hesitant to admit he bought into it until his analytics department took a dive into the numbers.

"If you look at what's available in today's game, sometimes people in the industry get lost in the shuffle of what our expectations are for a position," Dipoto said. "Corner outfielders are supposed to hit like George Foster, but that's really not happening in today's game as much."

To amplify his point, Dipoto offers the following pop quiz: Of the 60 corner outfield spots in 2016, how many individual players hit .260 with a .320 on base percentage and 16 home runs? Those seem like relatively meager numbers, right?

The answer: 11.

"I think it comes as a shock to most [people] when they see the list," Dipoto said.

Armed with the data and a belief that superior run prevention can help offset diminished run creation, Dipoto spent a healthy chunk of his offseason reconfiguring his outfield mix. The results of his experiment could help determine just how far the Mariners go in the American League West in 2017.

GM Jerry Dipoto is hoping that a lack of big boppers in the outfield will be offset by superior run prevention. Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images

Of Dipoto's staggering 13 offseason trades, two reflected a new focus on speed and athleticism in the outfield. In November, he sent pitcher Taijuan Walker to the Arizona Diamondbacks in a five-player deal that brought the Mariners shortstop Jean Segura and outfielder Mitch Haniger, a former first-round draft pick who is poised for a breakout season. Dipoto followed up in January when he sent pitcher Nate Karns to the Kansas City Royals for Jarrod Dyson, a heretofore part-time player who is in line for the most prominent role of his career at age 32.

Throw in incumbent center fielder Leonys Martin and backup Guillermo Heredia, and the four outfielders on the Opening Day roster not named Nelson Cruz entered the season with a combined 48 big league homers. But they can run, field and contribute to the offense in a way that isn't necessarily manifested in big flies. As manager Scott Servais observes, "I don't think any of those guys were acquired just because they can catch a fly ball."

Dipoto, who has a habit of talking faster the more excited he gets, provided a step-by-step look at the factors driving his new approach in an interview with ESPN.com:

Factor 1: The ballpark

When Kansas City assembled a defensive super outfield led by Alex Gordon and Lorenzo Cain, GM Dayton Moore routinely pointed out that the Royals needed to stress defensive acumen because Kauffman Stadium has the biggest square footage of any outfield in the majors.

Safeco Field can be a challenge as well, but not because the outfield is particularly spacious. FanGraphs calculated outfield square footage and found that Safeco ranks 23rd in the majors in ground to cover.

The park's quirkiness is more attributable to atmospheric conditions than outfield dimensions. Safeco was uncharacteristically homer-friendly in 2016, but it's typically a place where fly balls go to die.

"It's a combination of elements," Dipoto said. "The general climate is a little soggier with thicker air, and the ball tends to hang up in the gap. A right-handed hitter will hit a ball to the left-center field gap early in the season, and you're shocked how rarely it leaves the ballpark. But unless you have outfield range, it's still going to be a double."

Factor 2: The 2016 defensive metrics

Seattle's 2016 outfield, which consisted of Martin in center flanked by Nori Aoki in left and a combination of Seth Smith, Cruz and Franklin Gutierrez in right, logged an aggregate defensive runs saved of minus-27 in the Baseball Info Solutions rankings. Among the 30 MLB outfields, only the Minnesota Twins (minus-30), Detroit Tigers (minus-50) and Baltimore Orioles (minus-51) were worse.

This year, FanGraphs projects Seattle to have the fourth-best outfield defense in the majors behind Tampa Bay, Boston and Kansas City.

While Dyson is set to play left and Haniger slots into right, they're both capable of handling center -- and that's important. Seattle was 28-18 last year and leading the AL West by 1½ games when Martin suffered a hamstring injury in late May. When he returned two weeks later, the Mariners had lost nine of 14 and were in second place, four games behind Texas.

"We had to play Leonys into the ground," Dipoto said. "When he didn't play for two weeks, we went toes up."

Factor 3: A fly ball-centric pitching staff

Three of the Mariners' five starters, including Yovani Gallardo, are fly ball pitchers, making a solid outfield even more important. AP Photo/Charlie Riedel

The outfield's failings were magnified by the composition of the pitching staff. According to ESPN Stats & Information, Seattle's staff allowed the ball to be hit in the air 33.4 percent of the time last season -- the seventh-highest rate in the majors. Of the team's five starters, Yovani Gallardo, Hisashi Iwakuma and Drew Smyly (who begins the season on the disabled list) are predominantly fly ball guys, and Felix Hernandez and James Paxton trended more in that direction last season.

In spring training, Seattle's pitchers gained an insight into how ravenous the new outfield would be in its pursuit of fly balls.

"You can't pitch to the ballpark or the way your team is made up," Gallardo said. "But it's a good feeling to know that if you're able to keep it in the park, those guys will be able to track it down."

Factor 4: The rest of the lineup

While the Mariners expect only so many homers from their outfield, they should get plenty of pop from the rest of the batting order.

Cruz, who'll spend the bulk of his time at DH, finished second in the majors to Mark Trumbo with 43 home runs last season. Second baseman Robinson Cano ranked second at his position to Brian Dozier with 39. Third baseman Kyle Seager hit 30 homers and slugged .499, and Segura led MLB shortstops with 41 doubles and was second to Corey Seager with 318 total bases.

"The middle of their lineup -- with the big boys and the power they have -- affords them the opportunity to be less power-profile-oriented on the corners and more defense-oriented in that yard," said a National League scout.

The Mariners were third in the AL in runs behind Boston and Cleveland, and they've replaced Chris Iannetta, Adam Lind, Ketel Marte, Aoki and Smith with Mike Zunino, Danny Valencia, Segura, Dyson and Haniger, respectively. Barring major injuries, Dipoto thinks the team has a good chance to match or exceed its total of 768 runs scored.

Factor 5: A greater emphasis on speed

The Mariners aspire to put more pressure on opposing defenses this year, even though Servais is no fan of the bunt or the hit-and-run.

"I don't like giving up outs,'' he said. "They're precious."

Still, Seattle should be more adept at going first to third, and Servais isn't averse to flashing the steal sign if he thinks his baserunners have a strong chance of making it. Dyson certainly fits the mold in that regard: He has been successful on 85.4 percent of his career steal attempts. Among players with at least 100 stolen bases since 1951, only three (Chase Utley, Jayson Werth and Carlos Beltran) have a superior success rate.

In 2016, the entire Seattle team stole 56 bases. Dan Szymborski's ZIPS system projects the trio of Segura, Dyson and Martin to steal 81 bags this season.

The Mariners are counting on Jarrod Dyson, who becomes eligible for free agency in November, to flourish in an expanded role with Seattle after being traded from the Kansas City Royals. AP Photo/Charlie Riedel

Factor 6: A belief in the power of opportunity

Dyson is an energizer in the clubhouse, and he plays with an edge that might have been missing in Seattle. He's also eligible for free agency in November, and the Mariners hope that's an additional motivating force for him in 2017.

"The goal is to showcase what I can do with 500-plus at-bats," Dyson said. "They told me, 'It's your job to lose,' but I still have the mentality that I've got to earn it and nothing is going to be given me. That keeps me on my toes. I always take the field with a chip on my shoulder to prove people wrong."

Skeptics in the scouting world take note that Dyson has a .590 career OPS against lefty pitching and has yet to exceed 340 plate appearances in a season, so he'll have to prove he can handle a more expanded role. If not, he'll relinquish time to Heredia, Cruz and others in left.

"His attention span will float a little bit," a scout said of Dyson. "When he's engaged, he's very good."

Haniger, with his third professional organization, has reached a potential watershed moment in his career at age 26. He played through injuries and some up-and-down periods with Milwaukee and Arizona before posting some big numbers with Reno in the Pacific Coast League last season. The Mariners think he has a chance to hit .280 with 20 homers, 20 steals and outstanding defense and develop into an A.J. Pollock-type player with a little faith and some patience.

"We like how he's wired," Servais said. "He's ready. Now is his time."

But is it the Mariners' time?

The franchise that brought us Ken Griffey Jr., Jay Buhner and Ichiro Suzuki is opting for a more nuanced and low-key approach to its outfield philosophy in 2017. And if the plan comes up short? Dipoto's history as a dealmaker suggests he'll be perfectly willing to try something else.