Why the World Baseball Classic will make Mariners' spring training more exciting

For many baseball fans, the World Baseball Classic is even more highly anticipated than Opening Day. The last installment of the event in 2023 gave us a slew of exciting games, along with possibly the greatest at-bat in the history of the sport. The next installment in 2026 seems even more promising, with Team USA bringing their cream of the crop led by Seattle's very own Cal Raleigh, and other Mariners will be participating as well.

Andrés Muñoz and Randy Arozarena have already declared their commitment to play for Mexico. The rest of the Dominican roster has yet to be finalized, but Julio Rodríguez and Luis Castillo are potential commits. Matt Brash pitched for Canada in 2023 and Josh Naylor has stated he intends to join the team for the first time since 2017. So far, there are nine players in the Mariners organization that are anticipated to participate in the tournament.

The World Baseball Classic will make Mariners' spring training more exciting

The unfortunate downside is that the World Baseball Classic takes place in the first half of March, conflicting directly with spring training. This means that for a few weeks, the Mariners will have to tackle the daunting task of playing exhibition games without their star players.

In all seriousness, tenured big leaguers don't take many at-bats to begin with, as work is spread out among all levels of players in a team's system. But for Seattle, an absence of major league talent could be exactly what their farm system needs.

In a recent report by MLB.com's Daniel Kramer about Colt Emerson's possible impact on the team in 2026, it was pointed out that Emerson should be one of several top prospects that are poised to get even more Cactus League at-bats. Lazaro Montes, Jonny Farmelo, Tai Peete, Felnin Celesten, and Luke Stevenson were other players named that could get a closer look this spring.

This is an important development for the club specifically because of how much young talent they currently have. Despite the front office being focused on making the most of the team's current competitive window, they've managed to retain almost all of their top prospects thus far. Even when Randy Arozarena and J.P. Crawford hit free agency in 2027, Seattle is already grooming their replacements.

It may not be enough to call it a "dynasty" without the trophies to show for it, but the future of the Mariners is undoubtedly bright. March will be a big month for everyone on the team, whether they're playing for a championship trophy in Miami or a whole bunch of nothing in Peoria. The team results of spring training may not have an impact on the regular season but individual results could have drastic effects on who takes the field in 2026.