Mariners Set Wild Card Roster

The drought is over. For the first time since 2001, the Mariners are in the playoffs — the culmination of a frenetic rebuild from president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto’s front office. The new-look Mariners, bolstered by an aggressive offseason and trade deadline as well as the AL Rookie of the Year frontrunner, won 90 games and closed out their season with a 69-44 flourish, beginning on June 1. Here’s how their roster breaks down…

Right-Handed Pitchers

• Matt Brash
• Diego Castillo
• Luis Castillo (Game 1 starter)
• Matt Festa
• Logan Gilbert (Game 3 starter)
• George Kirby
• Andres Munoz
• Penn Murfee
• Paul Sewald
• Erik Swanson

Left-Handed Pitchers

• Matthew Boyd
• Robbie Ray (Game 2 starter)

Catchers

• Curt Casali
• Cal Raleigh
• Luis Torrens

Infielders

• J.P. Crawford
• Ty France
• Adam Frazier
• Dylan Moore
• Carlos Santana
• Eugenio Suarez
• Abraham Toro

Outfielders

• Mitch Haniger
• Jarred Kelenic
• Julio Rodriguez
• Taylor Trammell

Absent from the postseason roster are Marco Gonzales, who started the final game of the season, and Chris Flexen, who was pushed to the bullpen late in the season due to the strength of the Mariners’ staff. Both could factor into future rounds, if Seattle advances. They’re on the taxi squad alongside lefty Brennan Bernardino and outfielder Cade Marlowe, who’s yet to make his MLB debut but would be first in line should the M’s incur an injury in the outfield.

Jesse Winker, who suffered a neck injury late in the season and was placed on the injured list. That’ll ensure that both Kelenic and Trammell, a pair of former top prospects who’ve crushed Triple-A pitching but have yet to find their footing in the Majors. Even if Kelenic and Trammell have yet to contribute much, the Mariners have received across-the-board contributions have from their draft picks and international signings — Gilbert, Kirby, Rodriguez, Raleigh — and a dizzying array of other trades, some of which have flown relatively under the radar.

France and Munoz, both acquired from the Padres alongside Trammell in a trade that sent Austin Nola to San Diego, have emerged as critical contributors. Crawford came to Seattle from Philadelphia by way of the Jean Segura swap. Swanson was a secondary piece in the James Paxton trade with the Yankees but has emerged as a wipeout reliever. Diego Castillo came over from the Rays last summer, while Brash was acquired from the Padres in exchange for a pitcher, Taylor Williams, who threw just 6 1/3 innings for them. The recently extended Luis Castillo, landed in one of the biggest deals of the deadline season this year, strengthened a rotation headed by 2021 Cy Young winner Robbie Ray, whom the Mariners signed last offseason. That pair will join Gilbert and Kirby in the rotation for years to come in what looks like an increasingly bright future for the Mariners.