Mariners: 3 takeaways from non-roster invites to spring training

A look at what stands out after the Seattle Mariners extend invites to 34 non-roster players to Major League Spring Training in Peoria.

We’re now less than two weeks away from pitchers and catchers reporting in Peoria for the Seattle Mariners and anticipation is understandably growing. The anticipation is even more prevalent than usual, following a season when the team got closer than ever (just eight outs) to making their first appearance in the World Series.

As such Friday was a significant day, with Executive Vice President & General Manager of Baseball Operations Justin Hollander announcing that the Mariners had invited 34 non-roster players to Major League Spring Training. Here are our main takeaways from the list of invitees:

1) Mariners prospects take center stage

MLB Pipeline recently unveiled their preseason top 100 prospects list and it included seven Mariners players. All seven are headed to Peoria including: Colt Emerson (9), Kade Anderson (21), Ryan Sloan (33), Lazaro Montes (43), Michael Arroyo (67), Jonny Farmelo (78) and Jurrangelo Cijntje (91).

Emerson will get the main share of attention with him set to make his Major League debut this year, with the only real question being if it will be at the start of the season or later on in the campaign? Although mostly used as a shortstop in the minors, he has more of a chance of initially seeing playing time at third base (or second) in 2026, pending if the Mariners have one more big move up their sleeve to add a quality infield bat.

Anderson has yet to make his professional debut but is already projected to play in the Majors next year, and plenty of people will be intrigued by how the 2025 third overall draft pick does during his first training camp. Of the other top-rated prospects, Montes arguably has the most to prove after seeing a drop of 14 places in the MLB Pipeline rankings.

2) Major League experience which could prove invaluable

The list includes 10 players with Major League experience. They are: Dane Dunning, Patrick Wisdom, Randy Dobnak, Michael Rucker, Casey Lawrence, Guillo Zuñiga, Will Wilson, Brian O’Keefe, Jakson Reetz and Austin Kitchen.

Dunning in particular is worthy of note, given that he has six years of Major League experience and was a key part of the rotation which helped the Texas Rangers win their first World Series in 2023. He has spent more time in the bullpen since that season, but with Logan Evans now on the shelf for all of 2026, the righty will conceivably be asked to provide depth for the rotation.

Wisdom could prove to be a fun player to root for, having played last year in South Korea but previously hitting 76 home runs and producing a 109 OPS+ between 2021 and 2023 for the Chicago Cubs. And there will be the return of a familiar face in Lawrence, who is a habit the Mariners just can’t quite seem to quit. (Seriously, just look at the transactions log on his MLB.com profile page.)

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3) Other notes

MLB Pipeline have yet to unveil their 2026 top 30 prospects for the Mariners specifically, but based on their final such rankings for last year, nine other prospects have received invites. This includes: Luke Stevenson (9th last year), Teddy McGraw (13), Jared Sundstrom (14), Josh Caron (15), Michael Morales (17), Brock Rodden (21), Charlie Beilenson (25), Victor Labrada (28) and Tyler Cleveland (29).

The other eight players invited to Mariners Major League spring training include: Nick Davila, Gabe Mosser, Connor Charping, Brennen Davis, Spencer Packard, Blake Rambusch, Nick Raposo and Carson Taylor. The full position breakdown of the 34 invitees is right-handed pitchers (13), left-handed pitchers (2), infielders (7), outfielders (6) and catchers (6).

There are a number of notable Mariners taking part in the World Baseball Classic, including Cal Raleigh, Julio Rodríguez, Josh Naylor and Randy Arozarena. As such there will be more opportunities for other players to show what they can do during spring training, and will likely also mean more invites on top of the 34 already extended.

Photos court​‌esy of Mariners Media

Who are you most looking forward to seeing at spring training this year for the Mariners and why? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.