Fresh Mariners' payroll target heightens expectations for John Stanton to pony up

John Stanton didn't throw out any numbers when talking about the Seattle Mariners' 2027 payroll in September, but he did temper expectations. How else was one supposed to read his threat… er, pledge for a "middle of the road, roughly, payroll?"

Well, either he's had a change of heart or we weren't giving him enough credit. From what Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times said on the latest episode of the Marine Layer Podcast, the Mariners could be eyeing a payroll in the $175-180 million range next year.

Presently, RosterResource puts the Mariners' year-end payroll for 2026 at $164 million. Previous reporting from Divish's colleague at The Seattle Times, Adam Jude, had posited that the Mariners' 2027 payroll would "remain in the same ballpark" at around $165-170 million. With a projected 2027 payroll of $143 million, that worked out to an offseason budget of $22-27 million for new salaries.

That's a decent chunk of change, but not so decent as to allow for hefty optimism for pursuits of marquee free agents. To wit, we haven't been sold that the Mariners would be able to land Seiya Suzuki or Adrian Morejon despite their purported interest in both players.

An expanded Mariners payroll range means bigger expectations for the offseason

If the Mariners' actual budget for new salaries is more like $32-37 million… well, that changes things. That hypothetically leaves room for Suzuki or Morejon, who are projected by MLB Trade Rumors to sign multi-year deals worth averages of $26.25 million and $16 million, respectively. Heck, you can even imagine a scenario in which the Mariners fudge some numbers and land both.

Of course, it's important to keep at least one foot rooted in reality. Jerry Dipoto has an "internally and to trade first" mentality that is backed up by his history, which really only consists of two big-ticket free agent signings in 10 years running the Mariners. Moreover, early deals for Evan Phillips and Jake Bauers have pushed expectations for this year's top free agents above where they were at the outset. Good for them. Bad for mid-budget clubs like the Mariners.

There is nonetheless a good argument for the Mariners to get aggressive. Just in the abstract, it's what they need to do reestablish their status as a contender following this year's 76-86 disappointment. More specifically, they're only going to be so capable of contending if they don't find serious solutions for their major needs: two bats and two leverage relievers.

It helps that the Mariners don't need to go all-in on free agency to find the solutions they seek. They also have plenty of trade capital, including in the form of starting pitchers. And if George Kirby, specifically, is the guy to go, that would free up about another $10 million in payroll space.

Either way, the notion of a payroll as high as $180 million darn well should be possible for the Mariners. Even if such a payroll would represent a franchise-high, an inflation-adjusted version of their payroll from a decade ago would come out to $220 million.

Simply to this extent, fans have every right to want more than a $180 million payroll. But if that's what Stanton delivers, he'll still have bought some much-needed goodwill if nothing else.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow