The Seattle Mariners are still playing for now, but the conversation around their future keeps drifting toward 2027. That’s why the latest round of Logan Gilbert trade buzz lands with a little more weight than the usual offseason chatter. At some point, the question stops being theoretical: maybe they really should move him.
MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand recently put together a new list of offseason trade candidates, and Gilbert is on it. The logic is straightforward.
He’s 29, he’s heading toward free agency after 2027, the Mariners have more rotation depth than they need, and an extension does not appear to be close. That’s the kind of setup that makes teams listen.
There was apparently some momentum on an extension between Gilbert and Seattle at one point, but that seemed to cool after the club pushed harder on the numbers following his rough 2025 season. He has stayed healthy this year, but the dominant version of Gilbert from 2024 - when he posted a 3.23 ERA, led the league with 208.2 innings and finished with a 0.887 WHIP - now looks more like the peak than the baseline.
That matters because the Mariners’ pitching picture has changed around him. Not long ago, in early August, George Kirby and Emerson Hancock were mentioned as possible trade candidates after Luis Castillo. They didn’t move, but the fact that their names were even in the mix says plenty about how Seattle’s once-trademark strength on the mound has shifted.
So the idea of shaking things up doesn’t feel out of place anymore. If the Mariners decide to deal a starter, Gilbert sits right in that middle lane between selling high and acting before the value slips.
The fact that he’s just one year from free agency is part of the equation, but not some brick wall. The Milwaukee Brewers have already shown how clubs can handle that kind of timing, trading Corbin Burnes and Freddy Peralta before their walk years in the last three years.
Peralta is the cleaner comparison here. Gilbert is in his age-29 season, just like Peralta was last year when Milwaukee sent him to the New York Mets. Peralta had more big-league experience at the time, but Gilbert has him beat in rWAR, starts and innings through the same point in their careers.
The Brewers got Jett Williams and Brandon Sproat back in the Peralta deal along with Tobias Myers, and both Williams and Sproat were top-five prospects for the Mets. That package worked out to $44.7 million in surplus value.
Gilbert’s salary only adds to the calculus. He is making $10.93 million now, and another arbitration bump is coming in 2027. That’s why Seattle would not be out of line to ask for a ready-made third baseman or outfielder with multiple years of team control if it ever put Gilbert on the market.
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Seiya Suzuki has emerged as a particularly interesting alternative because his 2026 season gave teams plenty to examine on both sides of the ball. For Seattle, the appeal is as much about fit as it is about talent, since Suzukis offensive production and stronger defensive numbers could make him a cleaner long-term answer if Arozarena reaches the open market. The Mariners may have a more balanced path in front of them than simply trying to keep the current arrangement intact. [Read more 🡒]