Stanton on Free Agency

[D-train]

[D-train]

2025 Payroll. So Sorry Big Maple, it seems Soto is not in the cards...

By Ryan Divish and Adam Jude
Seattle Times staff reporters
A year ago, Mariners chairman John Stanton promised that player payroll would increase for the 2024 season.

And it did … on the margins.

The Mariners’ season-ending payroll in 2023: roughly $140 million.

The Mariners’ season-ending payroll here at the end of the 2024: roughly $145 million.

Stanton has taken similar stance entering the 2024-25 offseason. He has, according to multiple sources, promised that player payroll will increase for the 2025 season.

How much? That’s not entirely clear.

How will that influence the club’s offseason spending? That’s not entirely clear, either.

What is clear: The Mariners do not intend to dive into the deep end of the free-agent pool this winter.

Which means they won’t pursue the likes of Juan Soto or Pete Alonso or Alex Bregman or any other high-priced veteran. Not because they can’t afford it, Stanton has explained, but because as a matter of baseball economics the Mariners don’t want to pay top dollar for aging players.

The scars of the Robinson Cano contract, 11 years later, still feel like a fresh wound for the Mariners. So stupid. He lived up to the contract and then they were able to dump his salary when they traded for him. Hilarious JK was part of a salary dump both times he was traded.

“We’ve got the resources to be able to do the things we need to do to put a good team on the field,” Stanton said in an interview with The Times in June. “We’ve never been focused on free-agent bats, [those] kind of big-dollar free-agent bats as a matter of strategy, not because of anything having to do with resources.”

After missing out on the playoffs in each of the past two seasons, this looms as one of the most important off seasons in club history.

The team’s finances have been an increasing source of frustration for a fan base eager to see the club supplement its roster around a talented core that helped the Mariners end a 21-year playoff drought in 2022.

“My objective for us is to have a sustainable product on the field, meaning a team that is consistently competing every year,” Stanton said in The Times interview. “We’ve grown payroll each of the last three years. Maybe not as much as you would like us to … but we all deal with constraints, right? But we are doing everything we can to put a competitive product on the field.

“I think we’ve got a terrific team, and we built it the right way. And the most important thing to me is, is it sustainable over time?”

The Mariners’ payroll spending peaked in 2018 at roughly $162 million, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts. That was the final year of the Felix Hernandez/Cano/Kyle Seager/Nelson Cruz core, and that figure ranked as the 10th-highest payroll in MLB at the time. (The Mariners’ projected $145 million payroll for 2024 ranks 18th.)

The Mariners began their “step back” rebuilding plan after that season, and their payroll decreased each of the next two seasons.

A year ago the Mariners offseason was defined by cost-cutting — “payroll flexibility,” as the team called it.

They chose not to bring back Teoscar Hernandez; Also stupid. No chance he was coming back. they traded away popular third baseman Eugenio Suarez for virtually free; and they moved on from former top prospect Jarred Kelenic as a means to dump two other bloated contracts.

Will the Mariners have to take a similar tact this offseason?

Given the Mariners’ ongoing uncertainty surrounding ROOT Sports, their regional sports network, player payroll is not expected to make a sizable increase for 2025.

Three MLB sources recently told The Times that Mariners president Jerry Dipoto has been given a contract extension to return for a 10th season in charge of baseball operations.

Dipoto, in an impromptu news briefing Saturday afternoon in the Mariners dugout, laid out a general plan for how the front office is approaching the offseason. He acknowledged that the Mariners’ payroll will increase simply because their young core players — notably, Julio Rodriguez, Logan Gilbert, Cal Raleigh and George Kirby — are due (deserved) salary raises.

“Last year, we had a pretty good feeling that there were a number of teams that were in a unique situation due to the RSN issues,” Dipoto said. “I don’t know how that’s going to play out this season or what it’s going to mean for other teams in the league. The only thing I do know going into this [off]season is how it’s going to play out for us, and it’s not going to be nearly the concern that it was this past year.”

The Mariners bill themselves as a draft-develop-trade organization, and that’s what they will again lean back on this offseason to supplement their roster … on the margins.

“Our team is here,” Dipoto said. “They’re under [club] control. And obviously we’ve been fairly active in the trade market, and there are different ways that we can address our holes that maybe don’t include [trading away] the players that are here.

“But our team is as sustainable as it gets, and with very few exceptions, it’s the same way in 2026.”

Projected 2025 Mariners payroll
Guaranteed salaries:
Luis Castillo: $24.1 million
Julio Rodriguez: $18 million
Mitch Haniger: $15.5 million*
Mitch Garver: $11.5 million
J.P. Crawford: $11 million
Victor Robles: $4.1 million
Dylan Moore: $3.7 million
Andres Muñoz: $2.5 million

Total: $90.4 million
*player option

Players eligible for arbitration:
Randy Arozarena: $10-12 million*
Logan Gilbert: $7-8 million*
Cal Raleigh: $5 million^
Josh Rojas: $4 million*
George Kirby: $4 million^

Total estimate: $30 million-$33 million

Note: Listed salaries for arbitration-eligible players are rough estimates based on player performances from 2024. Cal Raleigh, the leading candidate to win the AL Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards, could set a salary record for a first-time arbitration-eligible catcher.

^first year of arbitration
*second year of arbitration

Not yet eligible for arbitration:
Matt Brash
Luke Raley
Gregory Santos
Bryce Miller
Bryan Woo
Collin Snider
Leo Rivas

Total salary estimate for pre-arbitration players: $5 million

Total estimate for 2025 payroll (as of Sept. 30): $125 million-$128 million

Free agents: Justin Turner, Yimi Garcia.
Club option: Jorge Polanco, $12 million. Team is expected to decline the option.
Bullpen questions: Relief pitchers Tayler Saucedo, JT Chargois, Austin Voth, Trent Thornton and Gabe Speier are third-year arbitration-eligible. Not all are expected back in 2025.
Also: Luis Urias, third year of arbitration (a potential candidate to be non-tendered); Sam Haggerty, third year of arbitration (recovering from Achilles tendon injury).

[Big_Maple]

2025 Payroll. So Sorry Big Maple, it seems Soto is not in the cards...

Lamentably, I sort of figured that was the case when they said they were standing pat with their outfield. It was nice to dream, though.

I had actually been working on an offseason plan the last 2 or 3 days trying to put together something that made sense in light of Dipoto's remarks. But everything I came up with was about as pointless as a plot line in a porno.

As far as I can tell from what Dipoto - and now Stanton are telling us - we aren't touching our outfield. We aren't trading a pitcher. We aren't pursuing tier 1 or 2 players in free agency. We have 2 grossly overpaid hitters who can't hit (and are ostensibly untradeable). And we have a bunch of guys in in the infield we'd like to upgrade but have nothing to offer in return. So we're going to run out the same group of idgits again next year while every other team makes improvements, and then expect that this time we will win the world series.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. But hey, at least we're sustainable.

[D-train]

2025 Payroll. So Sorry Big Maple, it seems Soto is not in the cards...

Lamentably, I sort of figured that was the case when they said they were standing pat with their outfield. It was nice to dream, though.

I had actually been working on an offseason plan the last 2 or 3 days trying to put together something that made sense in light of Dipoto's remarks. But everything I came up with was about as pointless as a plot line in a porno.

As far as I can tell from what Dipoto - and now Stanton are telling us - we aren't touching our outfield. We aren't trading a pitcher. We aren't pursuing tier 1 or 2 players in free agency. We have 2 grossly overpaid hitters who can't hit (and are ostensibly untradeable). And we have a bunch of guys in in the infield we'd like to upgrade but have nothing to offer in return. So we're going to run out the same group of idgits again next year while every other team makes improvements, and then expect that this time we will win the world series.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. But hey, at least we're sustainable.

If the M's were a porno it would be two ugly people holding hands for 90 minutes...

[Big_Maple]

If the M's were a porno it would be two ugly people holding hands for 90 minutes...

[TraderGary]

Brain dead. That's the only logical conclusion for why Stanton and Dipshit would continue to alienate this fanbase year after year. A fanbase that was promised and deserves so much more.

I understand now why Dipoto was given an extension. No other GM or President worth their salt would put up with this kind of crap from ownership. Stanton is nothing more than a greedy and lying POS. Each and every season ticket holder should be cancelling their season tickets, along with a note to Stanton that says, "SELL THE TEAM!!"...... oh yeah, and "FUCK YOU!"

I'll never understand why anyone would want to own a sports team when they clearly and obviously don't give a damn about winning and possess no civic pride whatsoever.

[Big_Maple]

I'll never understand why anyone would want to own a sports team when they clearly and obviously don't give a damn about winning and possess no civic pride whatsoever.

"The <insert city name here> <insert team name here> will make me a metric shit ton of money. "

Seattle just happened to have a team available for purchase.

[D-train]

Brain dead. That's the only logical conclusion for why Stanton and Dipshit would continue to alienate this fanbase year after year. A fanbase that was promised and deserves so much more.

I understand now why Dipoto was given an extension. No other GM or President worth their salt would put up with this kind of crap from ownership. Stanton is nothing more than a greedy and lying POS. Each and every season ticket holder should be cancelling their season tickets, along with a note to Stanton that says, "SELL THE TEAM!!"...... oh yeah, and "FUCK YOU!"

I'll never understand why anyone would want to own a sports team when they clearly and obviously don't give a damn about winning and possess no civic pride whatsoever.

He has said he runs it like any other business which means maximizing profits over all else. This means if his profit margins are lower than his other businesses, even if he wins a WS, he would still consider it a failure. The MFer has no heart or soul.

He thinks that fans would rather have a team win 85-90 wins a season and make the playoffs a few times a decade than win a WS and then have a down year like the Rangers just did.

[TraderGary]

Brain dead. That's the only logical conclusion for why Stanton and Dipshit would continue to alienate this fanbase year after year. A fanbase that was promised and deserves so much more.

I understand now why Dipoto was given an extension. No other GM or President worth their salt would put up with this kind of crap from ownership. Stanton is nothing more than a greedy and lying POS. Each and every season ticket holder should be cancelling their season tickets, along with a note to Stanton that says, "SELL THE TEAM!!"...... oh yeah, and "FUCK YOU!"

I'll never understand why anyone would want to own a sports team when they clearly and obviously don't give a damn about winning and possess no civic pride whatsoever.

He has said he runs it like any other business which means maximizing profits over all else. This means if his profit margins are lower than his other businesses, even if he wins a WS, he would still consider it a failure. The MFer has no heart or soul.

He thinks that fans would rather have a team win 85-90 wins a season and make the playoffs a few times a decade than win a WS and then have a down year like the Rangers just did.

Yep, I completely agree with everything you said.

[Pharmabro]

2025 Payroll. So Sorry Big Maple, it seems Soto is not in the cards...

By Ryan Divish and Adam Jude
Seattle Times staff reporters
A year ago, Mariners chairman John Stanton promised that player payroll would increase for the 2024 season.

And it did … on the margins.

The Mariners’ season-ending payroll in 2023: roughly $140 million.

The Mariners’ season-ending payroll here at the end of the 2024: roughly $145 million.

Stanton has taken similar stance entering the 2024-25 offseason. He has, according to multiple sources, promised that player payroll will increase for the 2025 season.

How much? That’s not entirely clear.

How will that influence the club’s offseason spending? That’s not entirely clear, either.

What is clear: The Mariners do not intend to dive into the deep end of the free-agent pool this winter.

Which means they won’t pursue the likes of Juan Soto or Pete Alonso or Alex Bregman or any other high-priced veteran. Not because they can’t afford it, Stanton has explained, but because as a matter of baseball economics the Mariners don’t want to pay top dollar for aging players.

The scars of the Robinson Cano contract, 11 years later, still feel like a fresh wound for the Mariners. So stupid. He lived up to the contract and then they were able to dump his salary when they traded for him. Hilarious JK was part of a salary dump both times he was traded.

“We’ve got the resources to be able to do the things we need to do to put a good team on the field,” Stanton said in an interview with The Times in June. “We’ve never been focused on free-agent bats, [those] kind of big-dollar free-agent bats as a matter of strategy, not because of anything having to do with resources.”

After missing out on the playoffs in each of the past two seasons, this looms as one of the most important off seasons in club history.

The team’s finances have been an increasing source of frustration for a fan base eager to see the club supplement its roster around a talented core that helped the Mariners end a 21-year playoff drought in 2022.

“My objective for us is to have a sustainable product on the field, meaning a team that is consistently competing every year,” Stanton said in The Times interview. “We’ve grown payroll each of the last three years. Maybe not as much as you would like us to … but we all deal with constraints, right? But we are doing everything we can to put a competitive product on the field.

“I think we’ve got a terrific team, and we built it the right way. And the most important thing to me is, is it sustainable over time?”

The Mariners’ payroll spending peaked in 2018 at roughly $162 million, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts. That was the final year of the Felix Hernandez/Cano/Kyle Seager/Nelson Cruz core, and that figure ranked as the 10th-highest payroll in MLB at the time. (The Mariners’ projected $145 million payroll for 2024 ranks 18th.)

The Mariners began their “step back” rebuilding plan after that season, and their payroll decreased each of the next two seasons.

A year ago the Mariners offseason was defined by cost-cutting — “payroll flexibility,” as the team called it.

They chose not to bring back Teoscar Hernandez; Also stupid. No chance he was coming back. they traded away popular third baseman Eugenio Suarez for virtually free; and they moved on from former top prospect Jarred Kelenic as a means to dump two other bloated contracts.

Will the Mariners have to take a similar tact this offseason?

Given the Mariners’ ongoing uncertainty surrounding ROOT Sports, their regional sports network, player payroll is not expected to make a sizable increase for 2025.

Three MLB sources recently told The Times that Mariners president Jerry Dipoto has been given a contract extension to return for a 10th season in charge of baseball operations.

Dipoto, in an impromptu news briefing Saturday afternoon in the Mariners dugout, laid out a general plan for how the front office is approaching the offseason. He acknowledged that the Mariners’ payroll will increase simply because their young core players — notably, Julio Rodriguez, Logan Gilbert, Cal Raleigh and George Kirby — are due (deserved) salary raises.

“Last year, we had a pretty good feeling that there were a number of teams that were in a unique situation due to the RSN issues,” Dipoto said. “I don’t know how that’s going to play out this season or what it’s going to mean for other teams in the league. The only thing I do know going into this [off]season is how it’s going to play out for us, and it’s not going to be nearly the concern that it was this past year.”

The Mariners bill themselves as a draft-develop-trade organization, and that’s what they will again lean back on this offseason to supplement their roster … on the margins.

“Our team is here,” Dipoto said. “They’re under [club] control. And obviously we’ve been fairly active in the trade market, and there are different ways that we can address our holes that maybe don’t include [trading away] the players that are here.

“But our team is as sustainable as it gets, and with very few exceptions, it’s the same way in 2026.”

Projected 2025 Mariners payroll
Guaranteed salaries:
Luis Castillo: $24.1 million
Julio Rodriguez: $18 million
Mitch Haniger: $15.5 million*
Mitch Garver: $11.5 million
J.P. Crawford: $11 million
Victor Robles: $4.1 million
Dylan Moore: $3.7 million
Andres Muñoz: $2.5 million

Total: $90.4 million
*player option

Players eligible for arbitration:
Randy Arozarena: $10-12 million*
Logan Gilbert: $7-8 million*
Cal Raleigh: $5 million^
Josh Rojas: $4 million*
George Kirby: $4 million^

Total estimate: $30 million-$33 million

Note: Listed salaries for arbitration-eligible players are rough estimates based on player performances from 2024. Cal Raleigh, the leading candidate to win the AL Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards, could set a salary record for a first-time arbitration-eligible catcher.

^first year of arbitration
*second year of arbitration

Not yet eligible for arbitration:
Matt Brash
Luke Raley
Gregory Santos
Bryce Miller
Bryan Woo
Collin Snider
Leo Rivas

Total salary estimate for pre-arbitration players: $5 million

Total estimate for 2025 payroll (as of Sept. 30): $125 million-$128 million

Free agents: Justin Turner, Yimi Garcia.
Club option: Jorge Polanco, $12 million. Team is expected to decline the option.
Bullpen questions: Relief pitchers Tayler Saucedo, JT Chargois, Austin Voth, Trent Thornton and Gabe Speier are third-year arbitration-eligible. Not all are expected back in 2025.
Also: Luis Urias, third year of arbitration (a potential candidate to be non-tendered); Sam Haggerty, third year of arbitration (recovering from Achilles tendon injury).

I am dumping all these guys spare JT.

It may not be sexy but 125M owed 150-155 Projected = 25-30M in salary. Do a Haniger salary dump trade with the White Sox Save say 9M/15.5 M/ That gives you 35-40M.

Trade for Rays Lowe*10.5/11.5 500k buyout, and Yandy Diaz 10M, and a 12M team Opt. and no buyout
And
Do a 1 year for lefty stud BP in A. Chapman. Something like 6-9M 1 year.

I know I am one of many here that have clamored for a lefty power arm to match Munoz, Brash, Santos and Chapman would be just that. He can still pump 105. I think the M's would get the best out of him like the Royals did in 2023 183 ERA+.

It looks like the Rays played Lowe 58 times at 2B, 37 @ DH, and 13 games as a 1B
Yandy is listed as a 3B/1B but he played all of his games at 1B/DH in 2024 and only 6 games at 3B in 2023. But, back in 2022 he played almost exclusively at 3B.

What would it look like:
1. Robles RF
2. JRod CF
3. Cal** C
4. Randy LF
5. Raley* 1B/DH
6. Yandy 1B/DH/3B
7. Lowe* 2B
8. Garver C/DH/1B
9. JP* SS

Bench
Utility Moore
C/DH Garver
3 of the stack (Bliss, Marlowe, Rivas, Locklear, Taylor, etc)

SP = Same
BP
Closer Munoz
Set-up RH (Brash, Santos, TT, Snider)
SET-UP LH= Chapman
Low leverage= JTC, Buzardo,

+ whoever this year's Tyson Miller, and Sniders that we bring in.

I could see Moore playing a lot of third base. But if Raley, Yandy, and Garver are all hitting you could see Yandy at third to get the bats in. This is why I was asking about Raley possibly picking up 3B.

And if that is the budget you would still have 5,10, 15M to fill in at the deadline for injuries/performance.