Seattle Mariners' big question for '26 isn't the worst thing

The Seattle Mariners enter spring training looking to build on the success of last season.

After going on the deepest playoff run in franchise history, the Mariners are among the early favorites to represent the American League in the World Series by season’s end.

Brendan Donovan is already fitting right in with Seattle Mariners

They’ll be looking to do so with a roster that stayed mostly intact through the offseason.

There were some key subtractions with the free agent departures of second baseman/designated hitter Jorge Polanco and third baseman Eugenio Suárez. But there were key additions as well: utilityman and expected opening day third baseman Brendan Donovan, veteran outfielder Rob Refsnyder and left-handed reliever Jose A. Ferrer.

The roster Seattle put together a season ago had it on the precipice of its first World Series, but has it done enough to push itself over the top this season?

When MLB Network insider Jon Morosi joined Seattle Sports’ Wyman and Bob on Tuesday, he pointed out the one big question he has about the Mariners’ roster.

“Have they addressed enough of the bullpen to fortify that part of the club?” Morosi said. “That might actually be my one question, but that is typically the thing that you can address as the season gets underway. And (president of baseball operations) Jerry Dipoto and (general manager) Justin Hollander have shown themselves to be quite good at bringing along some of the unheralded names and making them into really good bullpen components by the time the season is over.”

If that is the one big question for this Mariners squad, they could certainly be in worse situations. After all, it’s hard to find any MLB team with a complete bullpen until after the trade deadline, let alone February.

And for the M’s, the biggest questions about their bullpen seem to be who will fill out the last few spots.

Morosi: Seattle Mariners are the least-flawed AL contender

They have a formidable group of high-leverage arms capable of shortening games with right-hander Matt Brash, left-hander Gabe Speier and two-time All-Star closer Andrés Muñoz. Right-hander Eduard Bazardo could be thrown into that mix too following a breakout 2025 campaign that he’ll look to build upon. There’s also the new left-hander Ferrer, who the club and advanced metrics are very high on.

That’s five of the eight spots, though all eyes will be on how Muñoz, Speier and Bazardo come out of the World Baseball Classic after shouldering heavy workloads into late October last season.

The candidates for the final three bullpen spots include both familiar names and some new ones.

Right-handers Carlos Vargas, Casey Legumina and Emerson Hancock all remain in the mix after much (or all, in the case of Vargas) of last season with the big league club. Right-hander Troy Taylor, who had a strong 2024 as a rookie but struggled in limited big league action last year, also figures to be competing for a bullpen role with the big club in spring.

The rest of the relief arms on Seattle’s 40-man roster fall into that group of unheralded players Morosi mentioned that the organization hopes to find a gem or two in. That group includes right-handers Cole Wilcox, Yosver Zulueta, Alex Hoppe, Blas

The 28-year-old Zulueta, who was acquired in a trade with the Cincinnati Reds in January, could be the name to watch in that group during spring. He has the most big league experience (23 2/3 innings pitched over 19 games in the 2024 and 2025 season) and an arsenal that fits the mold of the kind of reliever the M’s like. Zulueta features a mid-90s sinker and four-seamer that averaged 98.1 mph in his limited action in the majors last year. His top secondary pitch is a mid-to-upper 80s slider that had a 121 stuff+ grade in 2024 and 115 in 2025, according to FanGraphs. For reference, Muñoz’s slider had a 119 stuff+ grade last season.

Any injuries to the top arms in the Mariners’ bullpen could put them in a tough spot, but that’s something that could be said for just about any team.

Seattle Mariners’ big question for ’26 isn’t the worst thing

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