PEORIA, Ariz. — The boxes are beginning to stack up in front of empty lockers at the Peoria Sports Complex.<\/p>\n
There is a pile of fan mail waiting for Julio Rodriguez<\/a> to answer, while an order of unopened gear sits at Andres Munoz<\/a>\u2019s space. Those items won\u2019t be dealt with until the Seattle Mariners<\/a>\u2019 stars return from the 2026 World Baseball Classic.<\/p>\n And it isn\u2019t just their All-Star center fielder and closer (along with superstar catcher Cal Raleigh<\/a>) missing at spring training. Seattle\u2019s organization sent 18 total players to the tournament — the most from any team in Major League Baseball — including a quarter of its entire 40-man roster.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been overwhelming to the point where we\u2019ve wondered if the federations are aware that there are 29 other teams to purge in the league,\u201d M\u2019s president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto joked over the weekend. \u201cWe have a very diverse roster, and it shows in the tournament.\u201d<\/p>\n With their players representing nations hoping to be competing until the final days of Cactus League play, the vibe has changed at Mariners camp since the full team reported last month.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a little different, for sure,\u201d veteran catcher Mitch Garver<\/a> stated. \u201cThere\u2019s definitely pieces missing in this locker room. But this clubhouse was so tight last year that we\u2019ll be able to find that groove right away when they come back.\u201d<\/p>\n With so many Mariners competing, it\u2019s hard to turn on a WBC game and not see one. It has provided entertainment for their teammates back at camp — and just a little trepidation for the manager and the front office.<\/p>\n \u201cSaw [Byron] Buxton get hit in the elbow,\u201d manager Dan Wilson said last weekend. \u201cThat\u2019s every organization\u2019s nightmare, to see something like that. There\u2019s always that. But you can\u2019t go compete cautiously.\u201d<\/p>\n Dipoto also downplayed the idea that the front office is watching the games with bated breath, even if that feeling did exist in some corners of the sport when the event started nearly 20 years ago. Now, there is a prevailing belief that the benefits outweigh the risks — even from a front office that has been burned before.<\/p>\n \u201cIt happened to us in 2017,\u201d Dipoto said with a sigh. \u201cWe signed Drew Smyly<\/a>. He\u2019s pitching in the WBC, through five innings, was throwing 95, 96 miles an hour. And we felt like the cat that ate the canary. And about two weeks later, he had Tommy John surgery. And that could happen to anybody.<\/p>\n \u201cYour fingers are crossed, just like when your kids are first learning how to drive. They pull out and you\u2019re thinking, \u2018Man, just please come back safe.\u2019 That is my wish for all of the guys that left. And when you\u2019re watching a game, you can\u2019t help but have that in the corner of your mind.\u201d<\/p>\n Dipoto, Wilson and the coaching staff also are watching with a keen eye on how guys are performing — not so much for results but to assess where they are compared with where they would be if they were still in camp. It\u2019s not as easy on television, but at least they\u2019re getting an idea of March performances in high-leverage moments.<\/p>\n \u201cGabe Speier<\/a> threw 11 strikes on 14 pitches, and that\u2019s what you want to see,\u201d Dipoto said of one of his reliever\u2019s appearances. \u201cAnd just like in Arizona, if a ball leaves the ballpark, it is what it is. But what you want to see is execute, throw the ball where you want to in the strike zone, work ahead — all that good stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n What the team loses in its stars leaving for a couple of weeks, it gains in opportunities for others. Garver is an example. Re-signed after camp began — and not long before Raleigh left to play for Team USA — Garver is getting more looks than he would if the 2025 American League MVP runner-up were getting ready for the season ahead of him on the depth chart. The same goes for other catchers in newcomer Andrew Knizner<\/a> and journeyman Jakson Reetz<\/a>, who might not be in camp at all under normal circumstances.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was great to be around Cal for three weeks,\u201d Reetz said. \u201cWe [catchers] miss him here. I\u2019m just trying to enjoy being in this room.\u201d<\/p>\n By the start of February, Dipoto understood what his camp would look like:<\/p>\n \u201cI said it to [top prospect] Colt Emerson in the very early stages of spring training: \u2018My bet is you lead the Cactus League in plate appearances. You\u2019re going to get chances.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Emerson isn\u2019t quite at the top of the list among all players — but he is second on the team with 23 at-bats.<\/p>\n For a very short while — before players left for the WBC — it actually was hard to get at-bats or even a place in the clubhouse at all. In preparation for the mass exodus, Dipoto bulked up his spring roster. He brought in 77 players, estimating it ranks among the most ever for the Mariners.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we had more than that in 2019 when we were in the first year of our rebuild,\u201d he said. \u201cWe just spread it out and we went maybe a layer deeper in what we were doing with our invites. We signed a few more free agents on the minor league side, knowing that we had opportunity to provide. And that opportunity may not leak into the regular season, but for this seven-week period, if you are a minor league free agent and you know you are getting a full run in spring training with all the reps, you\u2019re in. You\u2019ll take that.\u201d<\/p>\n The sheer number of players in camp created a more difficult job than usual for Mariners clubhouse employees Chris Dewitt and Joe Van Vleck. It\u2019s their responsibility to make sure players are set up in the locker room — all 77 of them.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, first of all, we only have 75 lockers,\u201d Dewitt said with a smile. \u201cWe had to add a locker a couple times. And the only two numbers available were 0 and 77, so Garver got No. 77. That\u2019s the new highest number.\u201d<\/p>\n As Vleck added, \u201cWhen we bring in a veteran guy late in camp, you don\u2019t want to put him in a makeshift locker. Connor Joe<\/a> and Mitch Garver<\/a> were late, so we scrambled.\u201d<\/p>\n But the biggest difference from a normal spring training is something that can\u2019t be replicated from afar or covered by replacements to fill out the lineup or solved with some extra jersey numbers: team bonding time.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s more about what you lose in the clubhouse,\u201d Wilson said. \u201cIt\u2019s not work or at-bats. It\u2019s more about losing part of your family for a bit of time. That\u2019s the tough part of the WBC. The camaraderie. Getting to know some of the newer guys.\u201d<\/p>\n Garver agreed.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of those guys that left are the heartbeat of the team, so there\u2019s a shift in the energy,\u201d he said. \u201cBut it\u2019s also cool because there\u2019s guys in there we wouldn\u2019t normally get the opportunity to spend time with.\u201d<\/p>\n As teams are eliminated in the WBC over the next week, players will return to Mariners camp — some with bragging rights after a deep run and everyone with stories to tell of their tournament experience. That\u2019s when spring training will start to get back to normal — just in time for the regular season to begin.<\/p>\n