Reds' $105M Chase Burns deal shows Mariners the way on Kade Anderson, Ryan Sloan

This has been a big financial year for young MLB players. There have been countless extensions signed around the league for exceptional talent like Konnor Griffin, Cooper Pratt, and JJ Wetherholt. Most of the long-term money has been focused on position players since they tend to be less injury-prone but the Reds bucked the trend, inking a deal with pitching phenom Chase Burns to keep him around through 2033.

The Mariners have participated in the trend, themselves, extending Colt Emerson before he debuted, but they've been apprehensive about making any moves to retain their plethora of homegrown pitching talent. However, their two hottest prospects may finally force their hand.

Will the Mariners make a financial commitment to keeping Ryan Sloan and Kade Anderson in Seattle?

The thesis behind signing promising players early is simple. For the club, it locks in a guaranteed price and buys out arbitration years which can quickly get expensive. Tarik Skubal's record-breaking $32 million arbitration salary for this year is unlikely to be repeated, but it's not uncommon for elite players to earn close to $20 million in their final few years of arbitration.

Additionally, longer term deals often buy out the first few years of free agency, which can give a more frugal club a few more years of a player's prime. In the case of Burns, he'll now hit the open market in his age-30 season, a few years after he would've without the extension. Given Cincinnati's penchant for maintaining a below-average payroll, this is the best way to get as much as they can out of him.

For the player, guaranteed money is a vital hedge against the inherent uncertainty of an athletic career. Injuries or plain old regression can strike at the worst times and Burns can now focus on his long-term viability instead of worrying about getting paid from year to year.

Both Ryan Sloan and Kade Anderson have started to build reputations similar to Burns. Their recent outings in the Futures Game have cemented them as two of the best pitching prospects in the sport, and their price will only continue to increase as their careers progress. Assuming they're called up at some point this year, their service time will quickly accumulate and their salaries will continue to grow exponentially.

Seattle's most recent opportunity to lock down a homegrown pitching talent was Logan Gilbert but after a lukewarm 2025 by his standards, it seems that the front office took their foot off the gas. Now that he has returned to form this year, the organization is likely more interested but he's now just one year away from a potentially far more lucrative contract in free agency.

The decision to pass on Gilbert may come back to haunt the Mariners in the future but the team has now been blessed with two more chances. The front office must decide whether they're willing to make a slightly riskier bet on two of the best arm talents they've seen come through a premier farm system. If they don't, who knows when they'll get another chance to secure the future of the rotation on such team-friendly terms.

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