Mariners Assign Colt Emerson To Minor League Camp
Top prospect Colt Emerson has been reassigned to minor league camp, the Mariners announced. The move likely ends the infielder’s bid for an Opening Day roster spot. Despite his youth, the 20-year-old was said to be in the mix for a big-league job. He’ll now head back to Tacoma for more seasoning.
Emerson held his own during spring action with Seattle. He posted a 111 wRC+ with a pair of home runs and a stolen base. The shortstop kept the strikeout rate at a reasonable 21.3% while walking more than 10% of the time. It’s a tiny 18-game sample, but Emerson held his own in his brief opportunity against MLB-caliber talent.
Seattle had multiple spots to fill in the infield heading into the offseason, with Jorge Polanco and Eugenio Suarez hitting free agency. The club brought back Josh Naylor to handle first base, then traded for Brendan Donovan. The former Cardinal seems to be heading for regular reps at third base. J.P. Crawford has been a mainstay at shortstop. A shoulder injury to the veteran offered a glimpse of hope for Emerson, but it’ll now be someone else who fills in for Crawford if he can’t get ready in time for the opener. Leo Rivas is the most likely candidate.
Cole Young paced the Mariners in plate appearances at second base last season with 254. He scuffled to a .612 OPS in those opportunities. Young finished with an 80 wRC+ over 77 games in his first taste of the big leagues. Spring Training has been a completely different story. The 22-year-old has slashed .294/.368/.725 across 17 spring contests. After hitting four home runs in the big leagues last year, he’s already popped six in Cactus League play. Young has also chipped in four steals.
It probably would’ve taken an undeniable spring performance for Emerson to snag an Opening Day job. While he did reach Triple-A to close 2025, it was only for six games. The likeliest scenario was always that he’d begin the year in the minors. Young’s tremendous Spring Training made it an easier decision for Seattle.
Emerson is the consensus top prospect in the Mariners’ system. He’s in the top 10 overall at ESPN, MLB.com, and The Athletic. The latter has him all the way up at No. 4, behind only Konnor Griffin, Kevin McGonigle, and Jesus Made. Griffin met a similar fate today, getting sent back to minor league camp. McGonigle remains in big-league camp with the Tigers.
Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images
AL West Notes: Pena, Mastrobuoni, Crawford, Neto
Jeremy Pena provided The Athletic’s Chandler Rome with an update on the fingertip fracture that has put Pena’s Opening Day availability in question. The Astros shortstop has been able to partake in most baseball activities, with just throwing and swinging with both hands remaining on the checklist before he can consider a return to game action. Pena has played in four Spring Training games and two World Baseball Classic games with the Dominican Republic, and it remains to be seen how much more prep time he’ll need once he is cleared to play.
“If I get into a game and I feel like my swing is ready to go, then that’s all I need,” Pena said. “For me, it’s a feel thing. Maybe it takes me five games, maybe it takes me three, maybe it takes me one.”
It would appear as though Pena should at least be able to get into some games before the Cactus League is over, even if it remains unclear whether or not he’ll need (what may be a minimal) 10-day injured list stint to begin the season. A fuller re-evaluation of Pena’s status is still a couple of days away, though Rome writes that the shortstop felt good enough to postpone a planned doctor’s appointment.
More from around the AL West…
- Mariners utilityman Miles Mastrobuoni is dealing with a minor calf strain that cut short his participation on Italy’s team in the World Baseball Classic. Mastrobuoni is now back at the Mariners’ camp, and he told the Seattle Times’ Tim Booth that while he doesn’t feel his strain is too serious, he didn’t want to risk further aggravating the injury: “I just really don’t want to deal with this, having it nag throughout the year.” Given the timing, Mastrobuoni (who is out of minor league options) might begin the season on the 10-day injured list to allow him to both fully recover and ramp up for regular-season play.
- Staying in Seattle, J.P. Crawford has been bothered by a sore right shoulder for much of camp, and the shortstop hasn’t played in any of the Mariners‘ last four games. Despite the absence, Crawford isn’t worried about his readiness for Opening Day, telling the Seattle Times’ Ryan Divish and other reporters that the team was just being cautious. Since the M’s have a off-day tomorrow, Crawford will get another full day of rest and rehab before making his planned return to Seattle’s lineup on Tuesday.
- The Angels received a scare when Zach Neto picked up a left hand injury while sliding into home plate yesterday, but the shortstop told reporters (including Jeff Fletcher of the Southern California News Group) that tests revealed only a small hand sprain. Neto believes he’ll be back in action after just a few days. A critical piece of the Halos’ lineup, Neto has hit .253/.318/.458 with 49 homers and 56 steals (translating to a 115 wRC+) over 1156 plate appearances in 2024-25, despite undergoing a November 2024 shoulder surgery that delayed his 2025 debut until mid-April. Another left hand strain ended Neto’s 2025 campaign in late September.
Which Top Prospects Could Be On 2026 Opening Day Rosters?
In the not-too-distant past, it was relatively rare for organizations to break camp with their very best prospects on the roster. It still happened at times, but MLB's service time structure was set up such that keeping a top prospect in the minors for even two weeks to begin the season effectively ensured that he'd be controllable for seven years rather than the standard six. There were obvious exceptions to this thinking -- Atlanta fans surely remember Jason Heyward breaking camp as a 20-year-old and belting a three-run homer on Opening Day -- but there were far more cases of keeping a player in the minors to buy the extra year. Kris Bryant, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., George Springer and others were all called to the majors just when they'd spent enough time in the minors to give their clubs an extra year of control. There was nothing inherently nefarious about the gambit; teams were operating within the collectively bargained rules and making business decisions.
The 2022-26 collective bargaining agreement sought to implement some real incentives for teams to bring their best players north to begin the season, however, and by and large they've been effective. With the Prospect Promotion Incentives (PPI), any prospect who appears on two recognized top-100 lists and is called up early enough to earn a full service year can net his team a bonus draft pick, either in that season's Rookie of the Year voting or in MVP/Cy Young voting over the next three seasons.
There's also a disincentive to holding a player down. For those same qualified top prospects, a top-two finish in either league's Rookie of the Year voting will net a full year of major league service time, regardless of when they were called up. Said prospects still have around 90% of a season in such instances, which is more than enough time to turn in a ROY-worthy performance.
Teams now know that holding a player down for 15 days or so might lead to him getting a full year of service anyhow and comes with the disadvantage of rendering that player ineligible for future PPI picks. As such, it's become increasingly common for touted prospects to break camp on their teams' rosters.
With that in mind, and with fewer than two weeks to go until Opening Day, it seems worth running through a slate of top prospects who could factor into their teams' Opening Day plans.
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Bryce Miller May Start Season On Injured List
Mariners right-hander Bryce Miller may not be available for the start of the season. Per Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times, Miller felt some soreness in his left side today and didn’t finish his bullpen session. “He’s definitely behind,” Mariners general manager Justin Hollander said. “It’s the type of injury where it seems wise not to push him too fast. Obviously, we won’t make any decisions until we need to.”
Miller was slowed by some left side soreness about two weeks ago. An MRI revealed some inflammation and he was given a platelet-rich plasma injection. His planned bullpen session today was part of a ramp-up that could have seen him stretched out for the start of the season. This setback appears to put that in jeopardy. He is not being fully shut down, as he will still be playing catch and doing some other activities, but the Mariners will want the soreness to clear before he fully lets it fly from a mound again.
It doesn’t seem like this is a major issue but it could be an early test of Seattle’s rotation depth. The Mariners have a strong starting group when everyone is healthy, as they have Logan Gilbert, George Kirby, Bryan Woo, Luis Castillo and Miller. Once they have to dip into their depth, things get a bit more questionable. Divish mentions Cooper Criswell and Emerson Hancock as the two guys most likely to step up if Miller does miss some time.
Criswell’s best season to date was his 2024 showing with the Red Sox. He tossed 99 1/3 innings in a swing role, allowing 4.08 earned runs per nine. His 17.2% strikeout rate was subpar but he only walked 7.3% of opponents and induced grounders on 50.3% of balls in play. In 2025, the Sox added some arms and Criswell was mostly blocked, only making seven big league appearances. He had a decent showing in Triple-A, throwing 65 2/3 innings with a 3.70 ERA, 24.5% strikeout rate, 10.1% walk rate and 49.4% ground ball rate.
Despite the passable numbers, Criswell exhausted his final option in 2025, pushing him to fringe roster status. The Sox signed him to a 2026 deal with an $800K salary, a bit above the $780K league minimum, even though he hadn’t yet qualified for arbitration. The plan seemed to be to pass him through waivers, allowing him to serve as Triple-A depth even though he’s out of options. That plan didn’t work, as the Mets claimed him off waivers in December. When the Mets nudged him off their roster, Seattle sent some cash to Queens to get him from DFA limbo.
Criswell’s number are fine but there’s a bit of risk there. His velocity doesn’t reach 90 miles per hour, making him a soft-tosser in this era. He has been able to get guys out regardless, but it’s a fine line to walk.
Hancock is a former sixth overall pick but his big league performance hasn’t lived up to that status yet. Over the past three years, he has given the M’s 162 2/3 innings with a 4.81 ERA, 15.6% strikeout rate, 7.6% walk rate and 40.1% ground ball rate.
One thing that may perhaps work in Criswell’s favor is that Hancock still has an option, so he could be sent to Triple-A to stay stretched out there. Since Criswell is out of options, he needs to either be in the rotation or the bullpen. If Criswell does end up with the rotation spot, that would help alleviate the pressure in the bullpen. Seattle’s eight projected relief arms are all out of options except for Matt Brash and Jose A. Ferrer, who are too good to be sent down.
If Hancock and Criswell are both up in the big leagues, Blas Castano would be the only optionable depth starter in the Triple-A rotation. He has just one major league appearance on his track record and posted a 5.19 ERA in Triple-A last year. The Mariners have Dane Dunning, Jhonathan Díaz, Randy Dobnak and Casey Lawrence in camp as non-roster invitees with some big league experience.
Photo courtesy of Rick Scuteri, Imagn Images
Mariners Add Jacob Nottingham To Minor League Coaching Staff
March 9: Nottingham was brought in as a player on a minor league deal but will actually be converting to coaching, according to a report from Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times. It’s unclear what Nottingham’s exact role in the Mariners organization will be. The news presumably ends Nottingham’s playing career, and we at MLB Trade Rumors wish him all the best in his upcoming move to coaching.
March 8: The Mariners have re-signed catcher Jacob Nottingham to a minor league deal, as noted in the transactions tracker on Nottingham’s MLB.com profile page. It’s unclear if the deal includes an invite to big league camp for the 30-year-old.
Nottingham is a veteran of four MLB seasons but hasn’t appeared in the majors since the 2021 season. A one-time top-100 prospect who was initially drafted by the Astros, he was involved in the 2015 Scott Kazmir swap between the Astros and A’s before being flipped to the Brewers in the Khris Davis deal ahead of the 2016 season. Nottingham lost his prospect shine during his time in Milwaukee and served mostly as an up-and-down catcher for the Brewers from the time of his MLB debut in 2018 until 2021, when he was claimed off waivers by the Mariners. He returned to the Brewers via trade shortly thereafter but was eventually DFA’d by Milwaukee and plucked off waivers by Seattle for a second time later in the year.
Then 26 years old, Nottingham ended the 2021 season with a career .184/.277/.421 slash line across 130 plate appearances in 54 MLB games, which remains his career slash line in the big leagues to this day. Since being outrighted off the Mariners’ roster in 2021, he’s bounced between the Mariners’, Giants’ and Nationals’ minor league systems and also enjoyed a 44-game stint in the independent Mexican League back in 2024. In 293 career minor league games, Nottingham owns a .235/.321/.415 slash line line that’s generally solid by the standards of a catcher. Those numbers are somewhat inflated by years spent in the Pacific Coast League, however, and Nottingham’s 2025 campaign left much to be desired. He appeared in just 17 games in Tacoma for the Mariners organization last year, and in those limited opportunities he struggled to the tune of a .193/.277/.298 slash line.
Given Nottingham’s limited playing time last year and struggles when he did take the field, it’s hard to imagine him being a significant part of the backup catcher conversation for Seattle. Cal Raleigh is, of course, the undisputed top catcher in not only the organization but all of baseball. The Mariners are planning on having Andrew Knizner back Raleigh up this year, although Jhonny Pereda is also on the 40-man roster while Mitch Garver, Brian O’Keefe, and Jakson Reetz are all in camp as non-roster invitees. Some of those depth options figure to have opt-outs in their contracts and could look for greener pastures elsewhere in the likely event they don’t make the MLB club. That’s where Nottingham could come into the picture as a depth piece who is familiar with the organization and can serve as a veteran mentor for pitchers at Triple-A.
Mariners Notes: Miller, Crawford, Labrada
General manager Justin Hollander updated reporters (including Seattle Sports’ Shannon Drayer and MLB.com’s Daniel Kramer) about some injury situations in the Mariners’ camp, including some side soreness for Bryce Miller. The right-hander reported some discomfort on his left side on Thursday, and a subsequent MRI revealed inflammation. Miller received a PRP shot and will be fully re-evaluated in about a week, though he could begin playing catch in a few days.
Drayer described Miller’s shutdown as “very precautionary,” and the soreness was mild enough that Miller might not have even told the team if the issue has arisen during the regular season. That said, there obviously isn’t any reason for Miller or the Mariners to push things during Spring Training. It isn’t out of the question that Miller could start the season on the 15-day injured list as a further precaution, or if he isn’t able to get back onto the mound in a week’s time to continue his normal spring ramp-up.
Miller is already coming off an injury-marred season that saw him limited to 90 1/3 regular-season innings. Bone spurs in his throwing elbow twice sent Miller to the IL, though he returned in the last half of August to make eight more starts, and then posted a 2.51 ERA over three starts and 14 1 1/3 innings in the playoffs.
Rather than undergo surgery to address the bone spurs, Miller has opted for such non-surgical treatments as a cortisone shot, a PRP shot, and a Synvisc injection to try and avoid a procedure. It was just over a week ago that Miller stated he had been able to have essentially a normal offseason, though this seemingly minor bout of side soreness is surely unwelcome.
If things developed to the point that Miller did need an IL trip, Emerson Hancock would probably be Seattle’s top choice as a rotation fill-in. Blas Castano and long man Cooper Criswell are also on the 40-man roster, or the Mariners could opt to select the contract of a non-roster invite like Casey Lawrence or Dane Dunning.
Turning to the diamond, J.P. Crawford is expected to play in his first Cactus League game of the spring on Tuesday. The veteran shortstop will be in Tuesday’s lineup as the DH, as Crawford is still recovering from a shoulder issue that has slowed his progress in camp. Hollander said the plan is for Crawford to return to shortstop the following week, which should give him plenty of time to be ready for Opening Day.
There has never been any concern that Crawford would miss any regular-season action, as the M’s were simply easing Crawford into his spring work. He is taking part in a live batting-practice session today to get some at-bats against actual pitchers under his belt before his debut game.
After an oblique strain and a fractured right hand limited Crawford to 105 games in 2024, he rebounded for a healthy 2025 campaign and a .265/.352/.370 slash line with 12 homers over 654 plate appearances (translating to a 113 wRC+). Crawford is now entering both his age-31 season, and the final year of the five-year, $51MM extension he signed with the Mariners in April 22. With star shortstop prospect Colt Emerson on the verge of his MLB debut, Crawford’s future in Seattle could be in doubt, so he’ll need a strong season to impress the M’s or potential other suitors as free agency looms.
Prospect Victor Labrada made his Triple-A debut in 2025 and could be on the radar for his first big league call-up at some point in 2026, but his season could be delayed by an oblique strain. Hollander said Labrada hurt his oblique yesterday while swinging in the batting cage, and an MRI today will determine the extent of the injury.
Labrada hit .265/.397/.376 over 235 plate appearances with Triple-A Tacoma, and he has an overall .267/.365/.402 slash line across 2155 PA in his minor league career. The 26-year-old doesn’t have much power, but he has terrific speed, with 172 steals out of 222 attempts. This speed and solid glovework at all three outfield positions could make Labrada at least a backup outfielder at the MLB level, and his ability to stick as a regular will depend on how well he can reach base and capitalize on what Baseball America describes as “solid bat-to-ball skills to hit the ball to the alleys.” BA ranks Labrada as the 26th-best prospect in the Mariners’ farm system.
Offseason In Review: Seattle Mariners
The 2025 Mariners were a game away from the World Series. Their two-decade playoff drought and status as perennial runner-up increasingly feels like a thing of the past. They enter the 2026 season as the AL West favorite in projections at both FanGraphs and Baseball Prospectus after a winter that featured multiple upgrades.
Major League Free Agent Signings
- Josh Naylor, 1B: Five years, $92.5MM
- Rob Refsnyder, OF: One year, $6.25MM
- Andrew Knizner, C: One year, $1MM
Option Decisions
- Team declined $12MM mutual option on C Mitch Garver (paid $1MM buyout)
- Team exercised $7MM club option on RHP Andres Munoz
- INF Jorge Polanco declined $8MM player option
Trades and Waiver Claims
- Acquired INF/OF Brendan Donovan from Cardinals in three-team trade also involving Rays; Mariners sent SHP Jurrangelo Cijntje, OF Tai Peete, Competitive Balance pick (Round B) to Cardinals, 3B Ben Williamson to Rays
- Acquired LHP Jose A. Ferrer from Nationals in exchange for C Harry Ford, minor league RHP Isaac Lyon
- Acquired RHP Yosver Zulueta from Reds in exchange for minor league RHP Dusty Revis
- Acquired minor league LHP Robinson Ortiz from Dodgers in exchange for minor league RHP Tyler Gough
- Acquired minor league RHP Alex Hoppe from Red Sox in exchange for minor league C Luke Heyman
- Acquired RHP Cooper Criswell from Mets for cash
- Acquired C Jhonny Pereda from Twins for cash
- Acquired LHP Josh Simpson from Marlins for cash
- Acquired RHP Cole Wilcox from Rays for cash
- Claimed RHP Ryan Loutos off waivers from Nationals
Extensions
- None yet
Notable Minor League Signings
- Mitch Garver, Dane Dunning, Connor Joe, Casey Lawrence, Randy Dobnak, Guillo Zuñiga, Patrick Wisdom, Michael Rucker, Jhonathan Diaz, Brian O’Keefe, Jakson Reetz, Will Wilson, Brennen Davis
Notable Losses
- Eugenio Suarez, Ben Williamson, Harry Ford, Caleb Ferguson, Luke Jackson, Tayler Saucedo (non-tendered), Gregory Santos (non-tendered), Trent Thornton (non-tendered), Jackson Kowar (claimed by Twins)
When fans think of the Mariners, the dominant starting rotation is often the first thing that comes to mind. The 2025 season, Seattle’s best since 2000-02, played out in somewhat uncharacteristic fashion, however. The rotation was solid but not elite. Mariners starters barely cracked the top half of baseball in terms of ERA, due in part to injuries up and down the staff. Seattle’s bullpen ranked top-10 in ERA, however, and the lineup finished tenth or better in runs scored, home runs, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and wRC+. Cal Raleigh, the AL MVP runner-up, played a huge role in the Mariners’ offensive eruption, but the Seattle lineup was a strong unit top to bottom.
Seattle’s deadline acquisition of Josh Naylor from the D-backs played a big part in that. Naylor hit the ground running in the Emerald City and immediately looked at home, slashing .299/.341/.490 with nine homers in 210 plate appearances. The 5’10”, 235-pound Naylor even delighted baseball fans (not just Seattle fans) by somehow going 19-for-19 in stolen base attempts despite sitting in the third percentile of big leaguers in terms of average sprint speed, per Statcast. Naylor entered the season with 25 career steals in 598 games. He played 54 games as a Mariner.
President of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto made it known before season’s end that keeping Naylor was not just a priority for the Mariners but the offseason priority. Appearing on the MLB Trade Rumors podcast, Dipoto told host Darragh McDonald that Naylor was “as good as anybody that’s played in the last handful of years at hitting in this ballpark” while voicing a strong desire to keep the 28-year-old slugger.
True to his word, Dipoto wasted little time in making an aggressive push to keep his newly acquired first baseman. Naylor, who also raved late in the season about how much he loved playing in Seattle, was one of the first major free agents off the board, coming to terms on a five-year, $92.5MM deal two weeks after the World Series wrapped up.
Naylor’s deal is the largest contract the Mariners have given to a free-agent position player since Dipoto began running baseball operations for the Mariners more than a decade ago — and not just barely, but by a magnitude of nearly four times. Dipoto has been open about his desires to avoid building a roster through free agency, and his affinity for working the trade market is well known. That Naylor nearly quadrupled the $24MM guarantee paid to Mitch Garver underscores how strongly the Mariners felt about keeping him. Prior to the Naylor signing, Garver was the only free agent position player to sign a multi-year free agent deal with Seattle in ten years.
While Naylor was the priority, the Mariners remained open to re-signing veterans Jorge Polanco and Eugenio Suarez, both of whom hit in the middle of the lineup down the stretch and into the playoffs. Polanco was always deemed more likely, but the Mariners apparently balked at matching or topping the two-year, $40MM deal he received from the Mets. That $20MM average annual value was steeper than nearly any pundit or fan thought Polanco would command.
The veteran Polanco’s departure left the Mariners in a familiar position. As was the case the offseason prior, the M’s had openings at both second base and third base. Dipoto and GM Justin Hollander spent most of the 2024-25 offseason working the trade market to find an option at one or both positions before ultimately re-signing Polanco to one-year deal that turned out to be a raucous bargain.
For much of the current offseason, it looked as though things might play out similarly. The Mariners engaged with the Cardinals on Brendan Donovan early, but interest in the utilityman extraordinaire was robust. Dipoto and Hollander kept in touch with Suarez’s camp, were at least loosely involved in the market for star NPB third baseman Kazuma Okamoto, spoke to the D-backs repeatedly about Ketel Marte and inquired on the Cubs’ Nico Hoerner. There were surely other trade and free agent targets whose names didn’t become public.
Through it all, the Mariners were cited as one of the top suitors and front-runners for Donovan, who entered the offseason as a veritable lock to be traded by the rebuilding Cardinals. It may have taken longer than fans hoped, but the Mariners eventually got their man on Feb. 2, parting with top pitching prospect Jurrangelo Cijntje, outfield prospect Tai Peete, young third baseman Ben Williamson and a Round B Competitive Balance draft pick (No. 68 overall) in a three-team deal that brought Donovan their way. Seattle’s interest in the former Gold Glove winner dated back to last season, meaning the three-team swap capped off more than a yearlong pursuit of the versatile infielder/outfielder.
Donovan indeed feels like a perfect fit for the M’s. He’s a quality defender at either third base or second base, meaning the Mariners can see which of Cole Young and Colt Emerson stand out the most this spring. The hope is that Emerson is the team’s long-term third baseman — or perhaps shortstop, if J.P. Crawford departs in free agency next winter — and that Young is the second baseman of the future. Donovan’s ability to play either spot lets the Mariners take a flexible approach to their infield alignment. And if both players eventually force their way onto the roster, Donovan can split time between those two positions, the outfield corners and designated hitter.
While Seattle paid a steep price to acquire Donovan in terms of the talent they surrendered, they’re getting him for just $5.8MM this season and can control him through the 2027 campaign. It wouldn’t be a surprise if the two parties eventually talked extension. Donovan was open to a long-term deal in St. Louis even as the Cards embarked on a rebuild.
Time will tell whether he feels similarly about his new surroundings, but at the very least he doesn’t appear to be dead-set on testing free agency 18 months from now. Recent extensions for Tommy Edman and Ryan McMahon paid that pair of comparably aged infielders $70MM total; Donovan might command a bit more, but a five-year deal in that general range (beginning with next year’s final arbitration season) feels like something that could work for both sides, speculatively speaking.
Even if no extension comes to fruition, Donovan will be hitting at or near the top of a deep Mariners lineup for the next two seasons. He’s the sort of versatile, high-contact bat the Mariners coveted several years ago when trying to reshape their offensive identity after years of ranking at or near the top of the league in strikeouts. With Donovan (career 13.5% strikeout rate) and Naylor (career 16%) now helping to anchor the lineup, the M’s have a bit of a different feel than the all-or-nothing bunch to which we’d grown accustomed earlier this decade.
The Donovan trade may have been the Mariners “signature” trade of the offseason, but it wasn’t the only swap of consequence for Dipoto, Hollander & Co. One of the Mariners’ first moves post-Naylor was to address the lack of reliable left-handed relief in their bullpen, swinging a trade for Nationals southpaw Jose A. Ferrer. Many fans were shocked to see the Mariners part with top catching prospect Harry Ford to acquire a reliever, but Ford was blocked by Raleigh with no clear path to playing time in Seattle. That doesn’t mean he can be swapped out for any old bullpen arm, but what Ferrer lacks in name recognition he makes up for in extremely intriguing underlying numbers.
Ferrer’s 4.15 ERA over the past two seasons (4.48 in 2025) isn’t going to garner much attention. However, that mark came playing in front of a porous Nationals defense that rarely did the flamethrowing sinker specialist help. The 25-year-old Ferrer (26 next week) averages a blazing 97.7 mph on a sinker that’s helped him post a gargantuan 61% ground-ball rate dating back to 2024 — fifth highest in all of baseball (min. 100 innings pitched).
In 2025, Ferrer upped his strikeout rate from the prior year’s 19.4% to a nearly league-average 21.9%. His swinging-strike rate rose to a slightly above-average 11.5%. Ferrer has only walked 4.9% of his opponents the past two seasons. That blend of plus command and plus-plus ground-ball tendencies, coupled with even average bat-missing abilities (and a competent defense behind him) gives Ferrer immense breakout potential. Metrics like SIERA (2.97) and FIP (2.95) already feel he’s great, and the Mariners’ track record in coaxing breakouts from unheralded relievers (e.g. Paul Sewald, Gabe Speier, Drew Steckenrider, Justin Topa) shouldn’t be overlooked. Ferrer is controlled for four more seasons and has two minor league option years remaining. Adding him to a bullpen anchored by Andres Munoz and Matt Brash could make for a lethal trio.
Most of the remaining moves were more on the margins of the roster. Rob Refsnyder and his lifetime .281/.383/.443 line against lefties (.302/.399/.560 in 2025) gives manager Dan Wilson a big platoon bat to pair with lefty-swinging outfielder/designated hitter Dominic Canzone, who’s coming off a breakout .281/.358/.481 showing in 268 plate appearances. Canzone more than held his own against lefties, so he’ll still get some left-on-left looks, but all of his power was against righties. Only two of his 22 extra-base hits (one double, one homer) came versus southpaws.
Andrew Knizner was brought in on a moderately surprising big league deal to be the backup to Raleigh. He’s earning just $1MM, so it’s a minimal commitment if Knizner doesn’t pan out. He’s a career .211/.281/.316 hitter whose defensive marks have improved in a small sample over the past two seasons. Notably, he was one of the best catchers in Triple-A last year when it came to challenging pitches under the incoming ABS system, which could have factored into the decision. Catching depth in general was a priority though, as they also reunited with Mitch Garver on a minor league deal and picked up Jhonny Pereda from the Twins in a cash swap.
Assembling a deep collection of optionable arms also proved to be a priority this winter. The Mariners acquired a whopping six optionable young relievers via either small trades or waivers. The current big league bullpen doesn’t have much flexibility — Ferrer and Brash are the only optionable arms, and neither is being sent down anytime soon — so it’s possible something will shake loose later in camp with the Mariners moving on from an out of options arm like Casey Legumina. The Mariners added Yosver Zulueta, Josh Simpson, Cole Wilcox, Alex Hoppe and Robinson Ortiz via trade and claimed Ryan Loutos off waivers. They’ll have plenty of options to evaluate when injuries inevitably crop up among the more experienced members of the bullpen.
The starting pitching lacks that same level of depth, particularly after sixth starter Logan Evans suffered a UCL tear that’ll require season-ending surgery. The Mariners’ top quintet of Logan Gilbert, Bryan Woo, George Kirby, Luis Castillo and Bryce Miller is among the most talented in the game, but the top options behind him are now out-of-options swingman Cooper Criswell, former prospect Emerson Hancock (who’s struggled in the majors thus far) and non-roster veteran Dane Dunning. Finding an optionable rotation candidate or bringing in one more low-cost or non-roster veteran would arguably still be prudent, but even if they opt to do so, it’s not likely to be one of the top names available.
By and large, the Mariners’ heavy lifting is wrapped up. Naylor, Donovan and Ferrer are quality headline additions, but the M’s have done plenty of work to round out the margins of the roster with improved depth to position them for the rigors of a long season. They’ll head into 2026 as a popular pick to win their division at the very least, and better health from their top starters could make Seattle one of the favorites in the broader American League overall.
How would you grade the Mariners' offseason?
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B 52% (1,143)
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A 29% (639)
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C 14% (305)
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D 3% (60)
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F 2% (50)
Total votes: 2,197
Mariners, Brendan White Agree To Minor League Deal
The Mariners are signing reliever Brendan White out of the independent ranks, according to an announcement from the Atlantic League’s Lancaster Stormers. White finished last season with the Stormers after being released from a minor league contract with the Tigers in July.
White, 27, pitched in the majors for Detroit a couple seasons ago. He made 33 appearances and tossed 40 2/3 innings of 5.09 ERA ball as a rookie in 2023. He struck out a quarter of batters faced against a league average 8.5% walk rate. He sat in the 94-95 mph range with his four-seam fastball while using a mid-80s breaking ball almost two-thirds of the time.
The right-hander lost most of the ’24 season to injury. Detroit non-tendered him at the end of the year but brought him back on a minor league contract. White had a rough return to Triple-A Toledo last season. His strikeout rate fell to 17% as opponents rocked him for more than seven earned runs per nine innings. He continued to struggle after landing with the Stormers, giving up six runs while handing out 10 free passes (six walks and four hit batters) across 9 2/3 innings.
White will look to put the down year behind him as he joins a new MLB organization for the first time in his career. He’ll presumably open the season at Triple-A Tacoma.
Mariners Were Reluctant To Discuss Cole Young In Ketel Marte Talks
Among players who were not traded this offseason, few found themselves in more rumors than Ketel Marte. Arizona general manager Mike Hazen maintained throughout the winter that a trade was unlikely and said last month that talks never got close to a deal. Nevertheless, the D-Backs took calls from various teams who had interest in their star second baseman.
The Mariners were among the clubs that checked in as they pursued a high-impact infielder. Seattle surely had some interest in Marte, who began his career in the organization before being traded to Arizona over the 2016-17 offseason. Adam Jude of The Seattle Times reports that conversations about bringing Marte back to the Pacific Northwest didn’t progress far. According to Jude, that’s at least in part because the M’s balked at including second-year infielder Cole Young in a deal.
That aligns with a December report from Jude’s Seattle Times colleague, Ryan Divish, that the Mariners were reluctant to trade off their major league roster. The M’s wound up landing their preferred target, Brendan Donovan, in a three-team trade with the Cardinals and Rays. It required them to part with one big leaguer, third baseman Ben Williamson. Williamson was a secondary piece in that deal, which was headlined by Double-A pitching prospect Jurrangelo Cijntje. A deal built around Young would have subtracted a higher-upside player than Williamson from the MLB team.
Donovan is a more versatile defensive player than Marte. He’s expected to kick over to third base to begin the season. That’ll open the path for Young to win the second base job. The 22-year-old struggled as a rookie, batting .211/.302/.305 with four home runs across 257 plate appearances. He showed an advanced plate approach but didn’t hit the ball hard enough consistently to do damage.
Young lost playing time down the stretch and was left off the playoff rosters. Jorge Polanco was the starting second baseman in October, while the M’s felt Leo Rivas provided a better contact-oriented infielder off the bench.
Jude’s reporting suggests the Mariners haven’t lost any faith in Young’s upside. The former first-round pick was an excellent hitter at every minor league stop. He’d posted a .277/.392/.461 line with more walks than strikeouts over 54 Triple-A games. Young still didn’t put up huge home run tallies, but he hit the ball harder with more consistent gap power against minor league pitching. Although he has exhausted his prospect eligibility, he remains one of the organization’s most promising young players. He’s under club control for six full seasons and would be a borderline candidate for Super Two eligibility over the 2027-28 offseason if he sticks on the MLB roster.
Mariners Notes: Garver, Arroyo, Miller
After the Mariners declined their end of Mitch Garver‘s $12MM mutual option last fall, Garver took his $1MM buyout and then sat through a “super slow offseason. Never really got any good offers or formal offers,” as the catcher told the Seattle Times’ Adam Jude. Garver’s long wait in free agency ended two days ago when he re-signed with the M’s on a minor league deal, and Garver credited his fellow backstop Cal Raleigh with helping get the ball rolling on the reunion.
Earlier this week, Garver said “Cal reached out and said, ‘Maybe you should try calling the Mariners.’ So we called Justin [Hollander, the Mariners’ GM]. Within 24 hours, we were able to work something out.” Reports from December indicated that Seattle had some interest in bringing Garver back, and though Andrew Knizner was signed to a one-year, $1MM guaranteed deal, Garver’s return gives the M’s some more depth behind the plate.
Raleigh made 38 starts at DH last season, as the Mariners wanted to give the slugger a break from catching duties while still keeping his power bat in the lineup. Since a fresh and productive Raleigh is critical to Seattle’s hopes, the team figures to use this same tactic again in 2026, opening the door for plenty of time for a backup catcher. It perhaps isn’t out of the question that both Garver and Knizner are on the 26-man roster, though the M’s are probably more likely to stick with Raleigh and one backup as the catching corps.
Elsewhere at the Mariners’ camp, Adam Divish of the Seattle Times writes that infield prospect Michael Arroyo will get some looks as a third baseman and left fielder once Arroyo returns from national team duty with Colombia during the World Baseball Classic. Arroyo has never played in the outfield as a pro, and played in a handful of games at the hot corner when playing with the Mariners’ Dominican Summer League team in 2022. Otherwise, Arroyo has played exclusively as a middle infielder, and was only a second baseman and DH in the minors in 2025.
Heading into 2026, Baseball Prospectus ranks Arroyo as the 36th-best minor leaguer in the sport, and The Athletic’s Keith Law (49th), ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel (62nd), and MLB Pipeline (67th) all have Arroyo within their preseason top-100 rankings. The consensus on Arroyo’s defense is that he could end up as a decent big league second baseman, though between offseason acquisition Brendan Donovan and a bunch of other infield prospects, it makes sense that the Mariners would want to expand Arroyo’s versatility.
2027 is probably the likeliest date for Arroyo’s Major League debut. He just turned 21 last November, and had a modest .255/.376/.341 slash line over 250 PA with Double-A Arkansas in 2025. Arroyo’s approach at the plate is well-regarded by scouts, but he’ll need some bigger numbers in the minors (and probably an injury or two ahead of him on the depth chart) to get himself on the radar for a big league call-up this year.
In a longer piece from Ryan Divish, Bryce Miller reported good health and a normal offseason routine in the wake of an injury-plagued 2025 season. Miller was limited to 18 starts and 90 1/3 innings in 2025 due to a pair of stints on the injured list, as Miller battled bone spurs in his throwing elbow. Rather than a surgical option, Miller received a cortisone shot and a PRP shot to help his recovery, and he finished his tough year on the high note of a 2.51 ERA over three starts and 14 1/3 innings during Seattle’s postseason run.
Following the season, Miller said he got a Synvisc injection, which is “like a gel, like a joint lubricant.” This allowed him to proceed as normal this winter, and he may be able to avoid surgery altogether.
“[Dr. Keith] Meister was like, ‘Don’t touch it [Miller’s elbow]. If it feels good, don’t touch it’,” Miller said. ” ‘Now that we know kind of how to help it, if you feel anything in the offseason or anything in Spring Training or anything during the year, just get another injection, to get back rolling again now that we know how to fix it.’ He advised against doing anything until I feel something and I haven’t felt anything.”
Miller is already up to 98mph in his live batting-practice sessions, and he has added 15 pounds of muscle over the offseason. Now entering his fourth MLB season, Miller looked like a breakout star when he had a 2.94 ERA over 180 1/3 innings with the Mariners in 2024, before his bone spurs hampered his progress last year.