Mariners Should Break Bullpen Spending Habit to Sign Padres Reliever Adrián Morejón

We know that the Mariners can build a bullpen on a budget. They will spin a waiver claim into a decent sixth-inning arm and squeeze leverage innings out of somebody another organization overlooked. That’s great when your high-leverage guys are healthy and spinning A+ stuff.

But going into 2027, they really should consider paying Adrián Morejón.

Morejón should sit at or near the top of Seattle’s bullpen list this winter. The Padres left-hander is coming off a monster 2026 season in which he recorded a 2.83 ERA, 107 strikeouts and a 1.08 WHIP across 86 innings. Those are workhorse numbers from a reliever with late-inning stuff. No Mariners bullpen arm threw over 67 1/3 innings (Eduard Bazardo) in 2026.

Seattle doesn’t need to stack another interesting arm for the pitching lab. They need the guy a manager can summon to clean up a late inning that has gone sideways. Or deliver a shut-down either inning before handing the ball over to Andres Munoz. Morejón can be that guy.

Adrián Morejón Would Give the Mariners a True Bullpen Fireman

Calling Morejón a left-handed specialist sells him short. Not only can he neutralize a dangerous lefty, you can keep him on the mound for the right-handed bat behind him and occasionally record more than three outs.

He also doesn’t need to be used as a pure setup man. Sometimes the game lands on the table in the sixth. Seattle needs an arm flexible enough to walk right into that mess and clean it up.

Morejón handled 76 regular-season appearances for San Diego. He limited traffic and carried a heavier workload than the typical one-inning setup man. Pair that profile with Andrés Muñoz, a healthy Matt Brash and suddenly the Mariners can attack the most dangerous part of an opponent’s lineup instead of saving every premium arm for a predetermined inning.

Muñoz would remain the closer. Morejón would make sure more leads reach him.

Mariners Need Proven Bullpen Depth Behind Andrés Muñoz

We have seen the problem with Seattle’s preferred bullpen model. It looks clever when everybody is healthy and the reclamation projects hit. It completely falls off the rails the moment an important arm disappears.

Matt Brash made only 20 appearances in 2026 before recurring lat inflammation ended his season. He could return as a major piece of the bullpen. The Mariners still cannot confidently write his name into the setup role.

Seattle would get an established leverage arm it lacked whenever injuries forced everybody else one rung higher. Brash could be deployed according to his health. Gabe Speier and José A. Ferrer could be used where their matchups make the most sense.

Morejón will be expensive, but that’s also kind of the point. The Mariners have proven they can uncover relievers without handing out major contracts. That skill still holds value, but it should never become organizational dogma. Bargain hunting works better when the roster already has enough certainty to survive the bargains that have a high probability to fail.

The lefty offers a level of certainty at a position defined by chaos. He’ll pitch at 28 years old in 2027, placing his prime directly inside Seattle’s competitive window.

There is also no prospect package required to acquire him. Seattle would be spending money rather than stripping another player from a farm system that may need to provide affordable position-player help over the next several seasons. Any potential qualifying-offer consequences would need to be settled once San Diego makes its offseason decision, but this is still a far cleaner acquisition path than trading premium talent for a comparable reliever.

The Mariners have built a rotation capable of handing over close games night after night. They already have one of baseball’s best closers in Muñoz. Morejón is the piece who could connect those two strengths and turn six good innings into a formula opponents hate seeing.

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