Where the Mariners' payroll stands entering 2026 (and what it means)

The Seattle Mariners began their offseason by teasing that payroll would not go down for the 2026 season. And rightfully so. After the 2025 club came just eight outs shy of the franchise's first World Series, doubling down was frankly the only way forward.

As for how things are going, there's bad news and good news.

According to FanGraphs, the Mariners are projected to spend $156.8 million on their Opening Day payroll for 2026. That includes guaranteed salaries, projected arbitration salaries, and odds and ends such as buyouts for Mitch Garver and Jorge Polanco.

The good news is that, even as is, this figure is close to the franchise's high-water mark of $157.9 million from Opening Day of the 2018 season. The bad news is that it's still short of what the team ended up spending at the conclusion of 2025…and even that may be good news in disguise.

Where the Mariners' payroll stands entering 2026 (and its big implications)

Though he didn't put a specific number on the table, Jerry Dipoto did say in October that he expected the club's 2026 payroll to be "similar to where we ended the year, as a starting point."

Though FanGraphs has the Mariners' year-end payroll for this season at $166 million, Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times put it at "around $168 million." If that is true, then Dipoto still has roughly $11 million to work with as he seeks to round out the roster.

That isn't a lot of money, but it isn't an insignificant amount either. It's certainly not a barrier in the way of a trade for Brendan Donovan, who is projected to make $5.4 million in arbitration next year. That kind of money could also buy any number of low-risk free agents, such as Willi Castro, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Miguel Andujar or Ramón Urías.

It's also possible to imagine some budget-stretch possibilities. For instance, a $15 million-per-year deal with Eugenio Suárez shouldn't be out of the question. And while he's surely a less likely acquisition, even Ketel Marte's average salary of $17.1 million for the next six years shouldn't be too rich for the Mariners.

The Mariners could also create more space by subtracting a surplus player from their current roster. They don't have many options in this regard, but Victor Robles and his $5.125 million salary became expendable as soon as Rob Refsnyder came aboard last week.

Even if the Mariners don't follow through on beginning 2026 with a payroll similar to the one with which they ended in 2025, it's worth bearing in mind that the Opening Day figure won't be final. They're likely to add salary as next season goes along, perhaps even a significant amount. To wit, the team added more than $20 million to its payroll throughout 2025, mainly by way of trades for Josh Naylor and Suárez.

For now, patience is the name of the game. It sure beats the name of the game for last offseason, when the Pacific Northwest could only groan as the Mariners set out with and ultimately lived up to much lower ambitions.