Mariners 40-Man Roster Players Most Likely to Go This Offseason

The Seattle Mariners recently tendered contracts to all unsigned players on their 40-man roster, but not all of them are guaranteed to remain on the roster heading into 2022.

If the Mariners make any more acquisitions this offseason (which they will hopefully do), or as soon as any of the five players on the Mariners’ current 40-man roster who are on the 60-day injured list (Justin Dunn, Ken Giles, Kyle Lewis, Nick Margevicius, and Evan White) are healthy and their time on the injured list expires, certain actions will need to be taken with specific players on the 40-man roster in order to make room for the new players.

According to MLB.com, the only ways to remove a player from the 40-man roster are to designate them for assignment (DFA), trade them to a different team, release them to free agency, or transfer them to the 60-day injured list. *When DFA’ing a player, they are placed on league-wide waivers for a seven-day period, where they can be claimed by any other MLB team; if they clear the waivers, they can either be sent down to the minor leagues or be released to free agency.

The Mariners’ roster is currently only at 35 due to the five players on the 60-day injured list, but it’s likely that all five of those players (besides Kyle Lewis, potentially) will be ready to roll by Spring Training, and the Mariners are expected to continue to be active this offseason after the current lockout. So, let’s take a look at a few players on Seattle’s current 40-man roster that could be ousted come the spring:

Kevin Padlo

The Mariners outrighted infielder Shed Long Jr. to the minor leagues earlier this offseason instead of keeping him on the 40-man roster, so it seems Seattle sees some value in Kevin Padlo.

Padlo, a 25-year-old utility player who was claimed off waivers from the Tampa Bay Rays in mid-August, has spent the majority of his time in the Mariners organization so far as a member of the Tacoma Rainiers. His brief showing in Seattle last season was unspectacular, as he went 0-for-1 with a strikeout in his only plate appearance.

The Colorado Rockies drafted Padlo out of high school in the 5th round of the 2014 MLB Draft, so he’s always been thought to have an intriguing upside. Perhaps, the Mariners foresee Padlo having the ability to take over Dylan Moore’s spot as the team’s super-utility player, but it will be difficult to evaluate that notion until Padlo gets consistent at-bats in Spring Training.

Due to Moore’s MLB experience and familiarity in Seattle, it’s unlikely we’ll see Padlo eventually take his place on the depth chart, so I believe Padlo will be second on the chopping block (behind Godoy) when the Mariners are forced to make cuts next spring.

Wyatt Mills

Three short years ago, Wyatt Mills was the Mariners’ #10 overall prospect, and their #4 pitching prospect. Armed with a sinker-slider combo and a highly unique delivery, Seattle hoped they were grooming MLB’s next Darren O’Day.

A 26-year-old product of Gonzaga University (and Gonzaga Prep High School in Spokane), Mills made his debut on May 1st, but, unfortunately, the bright lights of the majors have not been kind to him so far. Mills appeared in 11 games in 2021 (spread out through seven call-ups from Tacoma), and posted a 9.95 ERA and 2.053 WHIP while exhibiting poor command and control of his pitches.

Pitchers with funky deliveries are a rare bird in MLB, and there’s a reason for that: submarine mechanics don’t allow for pitchers to exhibit elite velocity, so they rely heavily on pitch movement and location for success. If a pitcher like Mills can’t execute on those latter skills, they will either continuously miss the strike zone, or they will leave low-velocity/low-movement pitches over the middle of the plate for hitters to have their way with.

The Mariners had one of the American League’s best bullpens in 2021, and with the additions of Ken Giles and Andres Munoz next season, they’ll be expected to perform at an even higher level. There will be much less room for inexperienced pitchers next year, so Mills could be on his last legs in Seattle; however, his unique skill set and former top organizational prospect status remain encouraging, so the Mariners would likely seek out a trade instead of setting him loose on waivers.