Mariners avoid arbitration hearings with all eligible players

Seattle once again avoids the contentious process of arbitration

The soft deadline for teams and arbitration-eligible players to come to a contract agreement and avoid beginning the lengthy, unfun process of arbitration passed at 10:00am Pacific time today – if you want to learn more about just how much of a drag it is, check out this lovely piece from the late Tim Cantu from 2019. The Mariners were thankfully able to avoid that headache as pitchers and catchers reporting draws ever nearer, as they reached an agreement with each of their seven eligible players.

If that number for Gilbert – who’s in his second year of eligibility, made his first All-Star team, led the Major Leagues in innings pitched last season at 208.1, and received a handful of down-ballot (as well as one second-place; thanks, Alex Speier!) Cy Young votes – feels a bit low to you, you’d be correct. MLB Trade Rumors’ indispensable arbitration projections had LoGi at $8.1 million, $475,000 less than what he and the club ultimately settled for. Arozarena, too, ended up with a chunk of change less than his $11.7M projection, but that’s still a significant raise in his second year of eligibility from his $8.1M salary in 2024. Trent Thornton also earned a nice raise from his 2024 salary of $1.2M, though just a hair under his projected $2.1M.

As for the two first-timers, Calboy’s new terms matched MLBTR’s projection perfectly, and his first Gold and Platinum Gloves almost certainly played a large part in a massive jump from his pre-arb league minimum salary. While George Kirby’s shiny new $4.3M deal is certainly a pretty penny, it’s over a million dollars lower than the projected $5.5M – by far the biggest discrepancy.

Although terms are not yet known for lefty relievers Tayler Saucedo and Gabe Speier, we will be updating this article as information comes in. MLB Trade Rumors has them projected for $1M and $900K, respectively. The Mariners have historically been one of the best teams in the league at avoiding arbitration, with just three players since 2000 going all the way to a hearing. While this offseason has certainly been, to put it kindly, less than ideal, arbitration hearings are exhausting and combative for both team and player, and Seattle was able to keep its reputation for dodging them alive and will.