Over the last several years, the Seattle Mariners have cultivated one of the best farm systems in baseball.
In 2025, the Mariners had as many as nine top 100 prospects according to both MLB Pipeline and Baseball America.
Advertisement
Seattle has also been able to open up a contention window for itself. This past season, amidst several injuries at various positions, the M’s were one win away from the World Series for the first time in franchise history.
This offseason, the Mariners have worked to preserve their contention window by bringing back Josh Naylor on a five-year deal and acquiring left-handed reliever Jose Ferrer from the Washington Nationals.
Seattle has been named among potential suitors for several All-Star or award-winning players this offseason, including St. Louis Cardinals second baseman Brendan Donovan and Detroit Tigers starting pitcher (and back-to-back Cy Young winner) Tarik Skubal.
Recent reports have indicated the Mariners won’t acquire Skubal but is interested in Donovan.
Advertisement
Whatever moves Seattle makes the rest of the offseason, it’s important it keeps the top end of the farm system within the organization.
The Mariners aren’t a high-market team and, despite having more money to spend this year compared to other offseasons, don’t have as much spending power as high-market teams.
This leaves Seattle limited in who it can bring in and who it can re-sign.
In a recent episode of the “Refuse to Lose” podcast between Roundtable Sports’ Brady Farkas and ESPN’s MLB insider Buster Olney, the latter expanded on how important it is for the Mariners, regardless of what deals they make, to preserve the high-end talent in the minor leagues.
Advertisement
“As we go forward and the Mariners make their choices, keeping that pipeline talent developed is the most important thing,” Olney said on the podcast. “If you are not going to be a team that spends money like the Mets or the Yankees or the Dodgers or the Blue Jays, you have to keep that pipeline of talent going. When we talk during the winter time and we talk about potential asking price for a guy like Tarik Skubal, if you’re the Mariners, the first thing you’re doing is protecting that young group of players that you have and not using those assets if you’re not prepared to spend that kind of money.”
To illustrate Olney’s point, four of Seattle’s five starting pitchers were drafted and developed by the teams. The market for quality starting pitchers is expensive. Dylan Cease recently signed a seven-year, $210 million contract with the Toronto Blue Jays. When time comes for the Mariners to extend their pitchers, it will be expensive and the club can’t bring back everybody.
Seattle currently has three top 100 pitching prospects: switch-pitcher Jurrangelo Cijntje, left-hander Kade Anderson and right-hander Ryan Sloan.
The full podcast episode and discussion between Farkas and Olney can be found here:
ESPN MLB Insider Buster Olney on Jorge Polanco’s Market, Cole Young’s Future and the WBC
Advertisement
Remember to join our MARINERS on ROUNDTABLE community, which is FREE! You can post your own thoughts, in text or video form, and you can engage with our Roundtable staff, as well as other Mariners fans. If prompted to download the Roundtable APP, that’s free too!