The annual Rule-5 Draft passed this afternoon, with the Seattle Mariners neither making any selections nor losing any eligible players in the major league portion. 13 players were taken in total, with only the Chicago White Sox making two picks. The Mariners 40-man roster remains at 38.
While Seattle was not willing to make any selections they’d need to carry on the active roster for most of the year, they were active – and targeted – in the minor league portion. As a refresher, while the Major League portion of the Rule-5 Draft allows any eligible player to be selected by another team if they’ve surpassed the needed threshold of time as a pro without being added to their club’s 40-man roster, the Triple-A portion functions similarly. The difference is simply that players must be added to the 38-man rosters for the Triple-A level, or be subjected to selection from the lower minors at a similar threshold. These rosters are not typically publicly maintained, but generally it affords journeymen or highly blocked/injured players the opportunity to move up the organizational ladder in another location. Baseball America’s explainer can provide greater depth here.
The Mariners made two selections at this level, scooping up 1B Carson Taylor from the Philadelphia Phillies in Round 1, and RHP Sean Hermann from the New York Yankees. It’s Taylor’s second turn through the Minor League Rule-5, having been selected away from the Los Angeles Dodgers by the Phillies at the end of 2023. Philly moved the 2020 4th round pick out of Virginia Tech fully off the catcher position and over to first base, where the stocky slugger ditched switch-hitting as well to hit lefty full-time. An impressive 2024 in hitter-friendly Double-A Reading earned him a cup of coffee in Triple-A Lehigh Valley, but the 26 year old has mustered just nine games for the IronPigs over the past season and a half due to a torn labrum in his right shoulder. Given Seattle has dealt their top prospects at C and 1B from the high-minors in the past five months, Taylor will have an opportunity for serious playing time in Triple-A Tacoma.
Hermann has made the shift to the bullpen in 2025, having missed all of 2024 with Tommy John surgery. The 23 year old was a six-figure signee in the 14th round, lured away from the University of South Florida back in 2021. An encouraging first pro season ran into some trouble with the Low-A Tampa Tarpons, and while playing on Steinbrenner Field had some panache in 2025 thanks to its status as a shared space with the Tampa Bay Rays, Hermann walked a narrow line for success. The righty has some funk to his delivery, using a tight slider and a deceptive low release to mix eye angles despite low-90s velo to get grounders at a healthy clip. He worked multiple innings frequently in 2025, having been a starter in years past, and the 23 year old could see either starting chances or a multi-inning relief role with High-A Everett or Double-A Arkansas.
Headed out the door is just one player, with the Milwaukee Brewers selecting RHP Cole Phillips from the M’s. Phillips has yet to throw a pitch in a competitive game as a professional, despite being selected in the 2nd round of the 2022 draft by the Atlanta Braves. Multiple trips to the surgeon’s table for Tommy John have curtailed Phillips’ progression, leaving his future in significant limbo despite the Texan having shown strong stuff as a prep. Phillips will be 23 in 2026, and was the de facto centerpiece of the return for the Mariners in their salary dump trade of LHP Marco Gonzales and 1B Evan White, which they sweetened by including OF Jarred Kelenic to secure Phillips and RHP Jackson Kowar from Atlanta. Only Kowar remains actively engaged in baseball at present, with Gonzales and White both missing 2025 injured and potentially done entirely. Kowar will likely battle for a bullpen spot in Seattle this spring, though he is out of minor league options, while Kelenic was released by Atlanta in October. Phillips will attempt to debut in 2026 in the minors with the Brewers.