The Mariners are heading into a winter of roster math, and the arbitration deadline is where some of the first decisions get sharp in a hurry. Seattle has until Nov. 27 to tender contracts to 15 arbitration-eligible players, and while several names are straightforward, a few others sit in that uncomfortable gray area between useful and expensive.
The easiest calls on the board look pretty clear. Logan Gilbert, Bryan Woo, George Kirby, Carlos Vargas, Jose A. Ferrer, Matt Brash, Brendan Donovan, Gabe Speier, Bryce Miller, and Dominic Canzone all appear to be safe bets to get contracts.
Patrick Wisdom feels like the cleanest non-tender candidate. The 35-year-old is projected at $1.1 million in arbitration, which is a steep price for a player who got only 47 big-league at-bats this season.
He hit .106 with one homer and four RBIs. At the same time, he was a real presence in the minors, batting .278 with 35 homers and 78 RBIs while driving Triple-A Tacoma’s offense.
That said, the number still feels heavy for what Seattle got in the majors.
Luke Raley is a much trickier call. When he’s healthy, he’s the kind of player teams like to have around.
The problem is the Mariners haven’t had him at full strength for either of the last two seasons. He went deep 22 times for Seattle in 2024, then played only 73 games in 2025.
He appeared in 95 games this season, but by the end he was on the 60-day injured list and clearly not himself even before that. He had a huge April and finished with 15 homers, but the .232 average shows the uneven production.
His $3.1 million projection is reasonable enough, yet the fit gets murky with Canzone and Lazaro Montes already covering a lot of the same ground. Seattle could keep Raley, start Montes in the minors, trade Montes, or even tender Raley and then move him.
All of those paths are in play.
Cooper Criswell is another one to watch. The 30-year-old right-hander filled an important swing role in the bullpen before going down in June, then came back in September.
He finished 4-2 with a 3.32 ERA, and his projected $900,000 salary is manageable. Still, if the Mariners really intend to build a bullpen they believe can contend, there’s no guarantee he’s part of the final picture.
He’s out of options, which only adds to the pressure on his spot.
Eduard Bazardo brings a similar kind of dilemma. He was a major part of the bullpen run to the American League Championship Series in 2025 and helped again through the first half of 2026, but he faded late and ended up 4-4 with a 4.01 ERA.
The workload clearly caught up to him after back-to-back seasons with 73 appearances, plus a deep playoff run and a World Baseball Classic trip. His projected $1.5 million salary is modest for a reliever, so he looks likely to be tendered, but if Seattle adds more bullpen depth, he could still slide down the pecking order.
The other name in the mix is Rucker, who is projected at $800,000 and is also out of options. That makes his bullpen status uncertain as well.
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The explanation may sound sensible in the abstract, but it lands in a market where the Mariners payroll still sits 16th among MLB teams and below the league average when adjusted for inflation. Stanton also drew a clear line between Seattles philosophy and clubs such as the Dodgers, underscoring a roster-building strategy that prioritizes age and control over the kind of older free-agent spending many fans continue to wonder about. [Read more 🡒]