Rojas, Voth among 4 players set free at non-tender deadline

SEATTLE -- The Mariners made a few notable roster subtractions ahead of Friday’s 5 p.m. PT deadline to tender contracts to their arbitration-eligible players for the 2025 season, all of which were motivated by payroll.

The group of four that were non-tendered trimmed the 40-man roster to 37, with two weeks until the Winter Meetings.

• UTIL Sam Haggerty
• INF Josh Rojas
• RHP Austin Voth
• RHP JT Chargois (previously designated for assignment on Nov. 19)

Rojas, 30, is easily the most notable of this group, given that he was an above-average defender at third base and had a few strong stretches at the plate last season, albeit in spurts. He hit .318 with a .938 OPS in April and moved into the full-time leadoff role while shortstop J.P. Crawford was on the injured list. But he struggled to maintain that consistency longer term, hitting.192 with a .574 OPS after the All-Star break and eventually moving back into a more defined platoon.

Overall, Rojas -- who was among the key returns in the 2023 Trade Deadline deal that sent Paul Sewald to Arizona -- hit .225/.304/.336 (.641 OPS) with eight homers and 31 RBIs. He’s entering a third season of arbitration eligibility, after achieving Super Two status with the D-backs, thus giving him four years of arbitration instead of the standard three. He’s projected to earn $4.3 million in ‘25, according to MLB Trade Rumors, which uses an algorithm that factors in the player and his performance from the year prior.

Voth, too, was a key contributor last season but in the bullpen, transitioning from a pivot to leverage role down the stretch. The Seattle-area native, who signed a one-year, $1.25 million contract last January, carried a 3.69 ERA in 61 innings over 68 outings, with a 24.6% strikeout rate and 7.3% walk rate. Voth was in line to earn $2.2 million, per MLBTR.

Haggerty, who suffered a season-ending torn Achilles injury with Triple-A Tacoma in late May, was a likely non-tender candidate given that he’ll miss most, if not all, of next season. And Chargois, a Trade Deadline acquisition from the Marlins, was removed from the 40-man when Seattle brought back its former 2019 Draft pick, Austin Shenton, in a trade with the Rays on Tuesday.

The addition of Shenton -- who, like Rojas, bats left-handed and can play multiple infield positions -- made Rojas more expendable ahead of Friday’s deadline.

Friday’s moves freed up a little more than $8 million in projected payroll that the four would’ve earned in arbitration. The Mariners intend to reinject that money into the roster, with its most pressing need being at least two infielders.

Mariners chairman and managing general partner John Stanton told MLB.com in October that payroll will rise from the roughly $145 million figure from last year, but president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto indicated that most of the increases will come in-house via other arbitration-eligible players slated for big raises.

That group includes:

• Randy Arozarena (2nd year arbitration-eligible): $11.7 million projected salary
• Logan Gilbert (2nd year): $8.1 million
• George Kirby (1st year): $5.5 million
• Cal Raleigh (1st year): $5.6 million
• Tayler Saucedo (1st year): $1 million
• Gabe Speier (1st year): $900,000
• Trent Thornton (3rd year): $2.1 million

The deadline for teams and players to exchange arbitration figures is Jan. 10, but agreements can come sooner. Under Dipoto, the Mariners have long preferred not to go to a hearing, where an arbitrator picks one side or the other, though they have done so in recent years with Adam Frazier (2022) and Teoscar Hernández (2023).

The most intriguing candidate is Raleigh, who is coming off a season in which he hit 34 homers and won the Gold Glove Award at the game’s most demanding position, putting him potentially in line for the highest first-year arbitration figure for a catcher. Raleigh recently changed agencies, from Boras Corp. to Excel Sports Management.