Mariners get confirmation 2027 will be loaded with Rookie of the Year candidates

When a team has a year like the one the Seattle Mariners just had, you have to take the silver linings where you can find them. At least they graduated four top-100 prospects to the majors. Even better, only Colt Emerson won't still be a rookie in 2027.

One could have intuited as much about Kade Anderson, Lazaro Montes and Michael Arroyo, but there's a difference between that and doing the actual math on service time, at-bats, innings and whatnot. Matt Eddy of Baseball America actually did, so our hat is off to him for this list of 2026 rookies who will retain rookie eligibility into next season:

Regarding the PPI incentives, it's the Julio Rodríguez thing. If a rookie breaks camp with a team (or is called up within two weeks) and goes on to win Rookie of the Year, his team gets an extra draft pick the following year. Whether this system will carry over to the next collective bargaining agreement is up in the air, but it would seem to have enough merits to do so.

Regardless, the odds of the Mariners going 3-for-3 in putting Anderson, Montes and Arroyo on their 2027 Opening Day roster seem pretty strong.

Anderson is the most obvious pick, even if it requires trading Logan Gilbert, George Kirby or whoever to make sure he has a spot in a five-man rotation. He was arguably the No. 1 prospect in MLB when he debuted in August after he had posted a 1.06 ERA in 18 starts at Double-A. Even if he had some ups and downs, the ups made more of an impression.

Montes and Arroyo will have to earn jobs next spring, yet it bodes well for both that Jerry Dipoto is out there hyping up the team's young players. Montes hit 42 home runs between the minors and majors this year. Arroyo had a slow start to the year, but recovered to hit .301/.378/.511 in his last 97 games between the minors and majors.

The lingering question hanging over the Mariners' top 3 rookies

Of course, we would not be having the 2027 Rookie of the Year conversation if the Mariners had been more aggressive in promoting Anderson, Montes and Arroyo this season. And thus the question: Should they have?

It's a fascinating hypothetical. Anderson was obviously too good for the minors well before he finally arrived on August 22. The Mariners badly needed someone with Montes' power all year. Even at the trade deadline, they were mulling Arroyo as the solution for their need for a right-handed bat.

Still, we can be real here. None of the three looked like a finished product upon arriving in Seattle, so it's no great surprise that none of the three elevated the team's playoff outlook. The Mariners went 15-18 after Anderson's debut, 12-12 after Montes' debut and 10-9 after Arroyo's debut. Even the latter comes with the caveat that he wasn't an everyday player.

Looking back, it's hard to pinpoint a time this year when the Mariners weren't a broken team. That's as opposed to a nearly complete team, and therefore one that might have benefited from the extra one or two percent that Anderson, Montes or Arroyo could have provided.

As such, them getting their feet wet and still retaining rookie eligibility for next season feels like the best possible outcome.

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