As the deadline to protect minor leaguers from the Rule 5 draft came and went, the Seattle Mariners chose to leave everyone exposed, instead banking on their players not getting selected by other teams. Though this might come as a surprise to some fans, fear not. This is totally expected and looks like the right move long term. Here’s a list of some of the unprotected prospects you might know:
Spencer Packard – OF
Michael Morales – RHP
Marcelo Perez – RHP
Gabriel Sosa – RHP
Luis Suisbel – 1B/3B
Tyler Cleveland
– RHP
Victor Labrada – OF
Taylor Dollard – RHP
There’s a handful of other older relief pitchers like Peyton Alford, Michael Hobbs, Taylor Floyd, and Jason Ruffcorn in the mix as well, but in all honesty, none of these players are all that likely to be selected by another team in a few weeks time. Fangraphs has Morales, Suisbel, and Perez as top twenty prospects organizationally, sure, but all three of those players have some serious warts to their profiles and don’t have nearly the track record to warrant a team handing over the keys for a guaranteed big league role all season.
It wouldn’t shock me to see a player in this organization get scooped up by another team to try and see what they can get out of that player, but the odds they’d last the season on the active roster feel slim. Perhaps a minor league veteran gets a shot somewhere and shines in a smaller bullpen role, but the Mariners have to be content with that being a possibility. Losing out on a late-twenties minor league bullpen arm might come back to bite them if everything goes right, but the odds are slim. The roster spot is worth more than the potential loss.
If there’s a guy I’m most concerned about losing, it’s Tyler Cleveland. He’s been quite solid in the Arizona Fall League and has enough funk to make an MLB career, but lacks any semblance of velocity or pure stuff. The Mariners seem to think they can sneak by and keep him, and I don’t think that’s a terrible bet to make, but he’s unique enough that someone might take a flyer on him.
All that said, losing one of these players won’t be much of a wrench in the plans for 2026. Life’s too short to get bent out of shape over the 40th man on the roster. There’s already been a handful of players added to the fringes of this roster that seem relatively enticing, and those players are frankly far more likely to impact the 2026 pennant push than any one of these players eligible for selection this year. With as active as most expect the Mariners to be this offseason, roster flexibility is critical. Keep things open and hope for the best.
