The Seattle Mariners are set to make 20 picks in the 2026 MLB Draft, and it all starts at No. 24 overall in the first round.
That spot gives Seattle a very different kind of draft than the one it enjoyed a year ago. After taking Kade Anderson at No. 3 overall in 2025, the noise around this class may not be quite as loud. Even so, the Mariners have built a reputation for evaluating talent well, which keeps plenty of attention on what they do when they’re on the clock.
The draft opens Saturday, July 11 at 10:00 a.m. PT in Philadelphia and runs through Sunday, July 12. Rounds 1 through 4 will be completed on Day 1, with Rounds 5 through 20 coming on Day 2.
Seattle’s bonus pool comes in at just over $8.2 million, and the slot value for the No. 24 pick is about $3.8 million. That gives the Mariners some room to maneuver as they decide how to distribute money across the class.
Still, this isn’t the kind of draft where Seattle can sit back and wait for the obvious names to fall. Picking late in the first round means fewer premium options and more pressure to identify value where others see risk. The Mariners will have to trust their scouting and their player-development group to sort through the board.
There are a few different paths they could take with that first selection. They could lean toward a college player with a clearer route to the majors, swing on a high-upside high school talent, or try to work an under-slot deal that opens up more money for later picks.
That last approach doesn’t sound especially like the Mariners, at least not this deep in the first round. And based on their recent drafts, they don’t seem locked into one type of player anyway. Colt Emerson, Jonny Farmelo and Tai Peete were all high school picks, while Kade Anderson, Jurrangelo Cijntje and Cole Young came from college.
At No. 24, the draft gets harder to read. The top tier should be mostly gone by then, which leaves Seattle to decide which imperfections it believes it can clean up. That’s where the Mariners’ process will matter most.
We’ll be adding a draft tracker on July 11 to follow Seattle’s moves through the 2026 MLB Draft.
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