Updated Mariners 26-Man Roster Projection

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Mariners middle infielder Ryan Bliss hits a home run against the Royals in 2024. Credit: Ryan Bliss/Instagram [/caption]

The Mariners are nearly three weeks out from their March 27 date with the Athletics on Opening Day. Their roster is shaping up to be mostly unchanged from the last time they saw their division rivals at season’s end last September, but now that spring ball is well underway, we have a bit more clarity as to where things stand with the few camp battles that do exist on the club.

Let’s take another crack at how Seattle’s initial 26-man roster could shake out.

Starting Pitchers (5): Logan Gilbert, George Kirby, Bryce Miller, Luis Castillo, Bryan Woo

Nothing has and, barring injury, nothing will change in this regard. Only question right now is: who will get the ball on Opening Day? It looks like it might be Gilbert.

Relief Pitchers (8): Andrés Muñoz, Gregory Santos, Collin Snider, Trent Thornton, Eduard Bazardo, Tayler Saucedo, Gabe Speier, Casey Legumina

Troy Taylor (lat) was cleared to resume throwing back on February 14, but he still hasn’t appeared in game action this spring. There’s still time for him to ramp up in order to make the Opening Day roster and if he’s healthy, he will. But the window for that to happen is quickly closing. If Taylor can’t make it back in time, that may be the only opportunity for any reliever not named Muñoz, Santos, Snider, Thornton, Bazardo, Saucedo, or Speier to break camp with the club.

The favorite in that regard seems to be Legumina as he’s generated quite the buzz down in Peoria and has backed that up with a good spring thus far, but Seth Martinez, who was claimed off waivers by the Mariners on March 2, could also be in the running given he’s on the 40-man roster and doesn’t have a minor-league option remaining. Camp invitees Shintaro Fujinami and Adonis Medina are certainly not out of the picture either, but they appear to be at least a clear tier below Legumina at the moment. Whoever it may be, though, their time on the roster may be short-lived with Taylor, Matt Brash (elbow), and Jackson Kowar (elbow) working their way back from injury.

There is always the possibility of a trade or a surprise cut/demotion, though only Santos and Saucedo have minor-league options remaining and the Mariners seem to like Bazardo quite a bit. Could Trent Thornton, who’s making $2 million, wind up getting flipped before the end of spring for some bench help?

Catchers (2): Cal Raleigh, Mitch Garver

Garver made some tweaks to his approach this offseason and they’ve paid dividends early on in spring. He’s 5-for-12 at the time of this writing and has hit the ball with authority, boasting a pair of hard-hit singles and an opposite-field home run. He’s a way-too-expensive backup catcher right now, but independent of the money he’s making he’s a perfectly fine fit for that role. If he can be more than that, however, and produce at a level closer to what the Mariners hoped they were paying for back in the winter of 2023-24, that would not only be a gamechanger for the club but for Raleigh, who caught a whopping 135 games this past season.

Raleigh is an ultra-competitor and wants to be on the field as much as possible, but his extremely high usage in 2024 was also undeniably due to Seattle simply lacking better options. If Garver can give manager Dan Wilson a reason to feel at least semi-comfortable with taking one of his best bats out of the lineup with more regularity, what could a better-rested Raleigh look like both behind the plate and in the batter’s box over the course of the year?

Corner Infielders (3): Luke Raley, Donovan Solano, Jorge Polanco

While the Mariners’ corner infield situation projects the exact same as it did a few weeks ago, two of the three players listed above experienced delayed starts to their spring. Solano’s was only due to visa issues that have since been resolved and he’s now playing games, looking as advertised so far while making a pair of starts at third base. Polanco got his first game reps of camp on Monday, going 0-for-2 as Seattle’s designated hitter, but is still not yet cleared to play in the field as the Mariners continue to err on the side of caution with the veteran’s rehab from offseason patellar tendon surgery. That said, barring any unforeseeable setbacks, it is expected that Polanco will be given the green light to get back on the dirt in the coming days, with a few more DH appearances sprinkled in beforehand. What his transition to third base will ultimately look like remains to be seen, but that’s a conversation for another time.

Middle Infielders (4): J.P. Crawford, Dylan Moore, Ryan Bliss, Miles Mastrobuoni

Any spot that may or may not be up for grabs in the Mariners’ position player group almost exclusively ties back to what happens at second base. Ryan Bliss has put together an impressive spring thus far while presumed starter Dylan Moore has yet to record a hit in 15 plate appearances. Moore’s struggles in such a minuscule sample size should hold no bearing whatsoever on Seattle’s assessment of the situation, but what Bliss has shown both on and off the field this spring has raised an interesting question: would the Mariners benefit more from handing Bliss the keys at second base and reverting Moore back to his role as the team’s primary utility man?

While Bliss is a gifted athlete, Moore is better equipped from a positional versatility standpoint and therefore offers the Mariners more off the bench. The ability to play shortstop and give Crawford the occasional day off is especially important and ultimately the reason why Mastrobuoni and Leo Rivas are in the conversation to make the roster. Moore would likely still see a good chunk of his playing time at second base with the way Seattle’s roster is constructed, but specifically designating him as the club’s primary utility player would open up a roster spot for someone with more upside than Mastrobuoni or Rivas, such as Dominic Canzone, Samad Taylor, Tyler Locklear, Austin Shenton, or Ben Williamson. But it also comes down to how much the Mariners are willing to deploy that player. If the answer is “rarely,” then they would likely be far more comfortable with someone like Mastrobuoni seeing the field just once a week rather than one of their younger, higher-potential players.

Rivas rolled his ankle during workouts on February 25 and while he and the team were optimistic he’d be able to return in a few days time, he has yet to appear in a game since, so Mastrobuoni gets the nod here for the time being.

Outfielders (4): Julio Rodríguez, Randy Arozarena, Victor Robles, Mitch Haniger

Despite an abysmal 2024 campaign, it should be assumed that Haniger will make the roster until the Mariners give the public a reason to feel differently about their payroll-related habits. How much he plays appears more dependent on the health and performance of the rest of the roster rather than his own, especially with Moore and Raley’s ability to play in the outfield as well. Other than Haniger, though, Seattle’s collection of outfielders looks about as strong as any other in MLB.