SEATTLE -- So adamant have the Mariners been about not trading from their starting pitching depth that just a few offseasons ago, Jerry Dipoto called it "Plan Z.”
But this winter, Seattle’s president of baseball operations isn’t ruling it out.
“We've always been open to listening,” Dipoto told reporters at this week’s General Managers Meetings in Las Vegas, including MLB.com’s Martín Gallegos. “We have sometimes been the protagonist in engaging.”
He also added that teams have already reached out to gauge the availability of Seattle’s starters.
“It'll take a lot for us to move one,” Dipoto said, “and I think, in general, our preference would be to keep all your pitchers. You need them. But if they can make us or allow us access to a hitter we otherwise wouldn't be able to access through prospect packages, position-player deals or free agency, then we have to be open.”
The first domino among this group dropped at the 2026 Trade Deadline, when Seattle shipped Luis Castillo to the White Sox in what was both a cost-cutting measure and an avenue to open a spot for top prospect Kade Anderson, who debuted three weeks later.
The club also considered moving Emerson Hancock, and even George Kirby, after the Castillo deal, but it was still looking to salvage its season -- and as such, it did not intend to go into a full sell-off. On paper, these two are likely the most tradeable this winter.
Nonetheless, that the Mariners even reached that point of deliberation on their rotation represented a notable shift in philosophy, given that pitching has been the club’s blueprint of this era -- that, and the value that the entire sport places on starting pitching depth and potential volatility, in the context of health.
Anderson’s arrival, along with the expected 2027 ascent of right-hander Ryan Sloan (MLB Pipeline’s No. 11 overall prospect) and the return of Logan Evans (from an internal brace procedure) would pair with the established five -- Logan Gilbert, Kirby, Bryan Woo, Bryce Miller and Hancock.
“We’re eight deep, in my mind,” Dipoto said.
Of note, this entire nucleus is all homegrown.
“We have this ... group of eight guys who we feel very comfortable can go out and be anywhere from a competent Major League starting pitcher to an elite-level Major League starting pitcher, and probably more of them land on the north end of that description, which is always going to make us a popular call during the course of any type of trade season.”
Moreover, aside from Gilbert, who will become a free agent after next season, this entire group is under club control and either in the arbitration process or pre-arbitration, making them more affordable than most free-agent starters.
Although most of the Mariners’ core is in place for 2027, they do still have a few notable needs this winter -- for at least one bat, if not more, and some legitimate bullpen help.
So, for a club that has, far and away, been more active in the trade market than in free agency, it makes sense that it would consider moving one of its more valuable assets to address those needs.
“Right now we want to get better defensively. We want to find ways to augment our offense,” Dipoto said. “We do have some pitching surplus, which makes us a popular target. We'd like to add to the leverage part of our bullpen. Those are specific targets.
“If we can get the guy who's No. 1 or 2 on our list in November, we're going. And if it means we have to wait until January or February, that's our fallback position. But that hasn't happened to us that often.”