Breaking Down Every Major Mariners Contract Decision for 2027

Logan Gilbert’s future hangs over every smaller decision Seattle makes.

Sep 20, 2026; Denver, Colorado, USA; Seattle Mariners pitcher Andres Munoz (75) pitches in the ninth inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Mariners have a long list of offseason tasks. Among them is a stack of paperwork that will tell us exactly how serious they are about fixing this roster.

They still need to hire a manager. They need to confront the player-development problems that left too many young hitters stalled or unprepared to claim permanent jobs. And they need to decide which players from the current roster are worth keeping before they start looking outside the organization for help.

That makes the contract decisions more than simple procedural housekeeping. Every dollar and roster spot matters when the Mariners have this much unfinished work. They cannot carry replaceable players out of habit, assume prospects will solve every opening or let Logan Gilbert enter his final year of club control without a clear direction. Before Seattle can rebuild the roster, it has to decide which pieces are actually worth bringing back.

Mariners Should Exercise Andrés Muñoz’s 2027 Club Option

Muñoz’s contract includes an $8 million club option for 2027 that can climb to $9 million through a games-finished escalator. Either price is a bargain for one of baseball’s best late-inning relievers. Say what you will about the 10 blown saves. We think it was more of an anomaly. His stuff played better than it had in most seasons. Unfortunately his mistakes were punished more often, too.

Regardless, pick it up and move along.

The bullpen’s larger problems don’t change this answer. If anything, its instability makes Muñoz more valuable. Seattle needs fewer question marks around him, not a new question in the ninth inning.

Víctor Robles presents the opposite case. His $9 million club option comes with a $500,000 buyout, and declining it should be as straightforward as it gets. The Mariners bet on Robles after his 2024 resurgence, but injuries and limited production prevented that extension from turning into lasting value.

There is no reason to compound the disappointment by guaranteeing another $9 million. Pay the buyout and use the roster spot on a healthier, more dependable outfielder.

Bryce Miller’s situation is quite unusual. Seattle can exercise a $6.075 million option or pay a $15,000 buyout and return him to arbitration, where he’s projected a $3.9 million salary.

Declining the option doesn’t mean giving up on Miller. It would simply mean choosing the cheaper route to retain him after an injury-disrupted season. Saving roughly $2 million might seem small, but clubs that operate with Seattle’s budget limitations can’t pretend that’s a meaningless margin.

Mariners Must Retain Their Starting Rotation Without Hiding Behind Payroll

The Mariners have 15 arbitration-eligible players, led by four members of the rotation:

• Logan Gilbert: $15.4 million
• George Kirby: $9.8 million
• Bryan Woo: $5.2 million
• Bryce Miller: $3.9 million

That’s $34.3 million in projected salary for four starting pitchers. It’s a substantial commitment. But it’s also the predictable cost of developing good players and keeping them as they move through arbitration. These aren’t unforeseen burdens, and it would lame for the team to use this as an excuse for not improving the offense. The bill has been coming for years now. It’s due.

Brendan Donovan carries a projected $6.1 million salary and remains an obvious tender. His defensive flexibility and ability to move around the lineup make him the kind of player the Mariners need while sorting through several unsettled positions. The only question is if he can stay on the field.

The same basic logic applies to Matt Brash at $1.8 million and Gabe Speier at $3.3 million. Reliable relief pitching is difficult to find, and both have roles worth preserving. Luke Raley’s projected $3.1 million salary is defensible if the Mariners still view him as a useful matchup bat who can cover the outfield and first base. But it’s fair to say he’s a non-tender candidate.

Dominic Canzone is more complicated at a projected $3 million. He has shown enough offensive upside to justify a tender, but Seattle needs to decide if they are going to stay true to his everyday value. Retaining him makes sense if so.

Mariners Need to Get Ruthless With Their Arbitration Decisions

This is where the Mariners need to be ruthless. Eduard Bazardo, Jose Ferrer, Carlos Vargas and Michael Rucker are inexpensive individually. Together, however, they represent several bullpen and 40-man roster decisions for a team that needs more certainty in both areas.

They don’t need to non-tender every reliever. But they also need to improve the pen. Carrying all four may not make sense.

Bazardo projects at $1.5 million, Ferrer at $1.6 million and Vargas at $800,000. Their cases should be judged on role, remaining options and whether the organization sees a specific path to improvement. We suspect all three will stay.

Patrick Wisdom and Rucker sit closer to the edge. Wisdom’s projected $1.1 million salary isn’t the problem. His fit on a roster is. Rucker, projected at $800,000, faces the same situation.

Cooper Criswell, projected at $900,000, offers enough inexpensive pitching depth to merit consideration. Even then, roster utility must matter here, too. The Mariners can’t protect everybody and still claim they have room to reshape the roster.

The tender deadline is November 27. By then, Seattle should have a clear idea of which players serve a defined purpose and which are simply hanging around.

Logan Gilbert’s Contract Decision Will Define the Mariners’ Offseason

Gilbert’s projected $15.4 million salary for 2027 remains a strong value for a frontline starter. The larger issue is that this is his final season of club control.

We’ve just recently covered the topic, but if Gilbert is open to staying, ownership needs to make a serious offer. If the sides are nowhere close, the front office must decide whether one more season of Gilbert is worth more than the impact bat he could potentially bring back in a trade.

However, we’re not saying the Mariners should casually start shopping him. Trading a pitcher of Gilbert’s caliber creates an enormous hole. It only makes sense if the return directly repairs the lineup with young, controllable offensive talent — not prospects several years away and not another collection of possibilities.

Running it back for one more year is defensible if the Mariners are prepared to contend aggressively in 2027. Keeping Gilbert while again building a half-finished offense would be the worst combination.

Four Free Agents Leave Four More Holes to Address

Randy Arozarena, J.P. Crawford, Taylor Ward and Hoby Milner are positioned to reach unrestricted free agency after the World Series.

That removes two outfielders, the starting shortstop and a veteran left-handed reliever from the roster. Seattle may want to retain one or more of them, but none of them are automatic.

The Mariners therefore enter the winter with simultaneous questions in the outfield, at shortstop and throughout the bullpen. We know they have prospects who will probably take some of that time. But that doesn’t mean the Mariners should avoid adding more to the roster to compete for those positions.

Seattle’s option calls are fairly easy. Its arbitration class is expensive but retainable. The real test is what happens after the obvious decisions are finished.