When Dylan Cease recently signed a seven-year deal worth $210 million with the Toronto Blue Jays, I argued that the biggest impact on the Seattle Mariners wasn’t on the field, but on their wallets.

See, if Cease, who’s almost 30 and who has never been an All-Star, can get $210 million, what can Logan Gilbert ask for when it comes to an extension from Seattle? How about George Kirby? How about Bryan Woo?

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While we don’t know the specifics of what they’d ask for in the future, we know that the Cease deal has set the bar very high, and it means it’s going to be nearly impossible to keep all three in the future. Heck, the M’s may not be able to keep two of them.

As a result of that, it’s going to be paramount that the Mariners see real positive development from their pitching prospects in 2026. With the team painstakingly close to the World Series in 2025, it will be natural to focus on the major league team and how they can improve in 2026, but under the hood? The pitching development will be very important to monitor, because they are eventually going to need multiple of them to step in – and step up.

The following comes from the most recent edition of the Refuse to Lose podcast

So, you’ve got (Luis) Castillo, who will eventually be gone, and you have at least one of Gilbert or Kirby who will eventually be gone, if not both. That means in the next few years, you’re going to have at least two open spots in your rotation, maybe three. How Jurrangelo Cijtnje, Ryan Sloan, and Kade Anderson develop in 2026 I think is going to be paramount to what this organization looks like in the next few years.

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Those three are going to have to stay healthy. Those three are going to have to be good. They’re going to have to continue to develop, because it’s very clear to me you’re going to need them.

Gilbert is a free agent after the 2027 season while Kirby is a free agent after 2028, so the M’s have some time to develop these arms, but if they want to remain a World Series-contending organization, they’ll need these pitchers to be ready once they get the call, whenever that is.

LATEST PODCAST IS OUT: Brady Farkas is back for the the latest episode of the Refuse to Lose podcast! He is back from Thanksgiving, talking about the M’s surging popularity, an underrated storyline for 2026 and much more, including a conversation with newest Mariner, Alex Hoppe. CLICK HERE:

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CAL AND JULIO PROJECTIONS: The Steamer projections for 2026 are out and they are kind to Cal Raleigh and Julio Rodriguez. CLICK HERE:

BIG MAPLE GETS BIG HONOR: James Paxton is set to receive a big honor from Baseball Canada early in 2026. CLICK HERE:

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