Breaking down Seattle's '22 roster options

SEATTLE -- The Mariners are cognizant that it takes a deep, versatile roster to remain competitive throughout the marathon of a six-month season. Their depth was tested countless times during their 90-win year in 2021. Yet, thanks to the diligent additions from outside the organization last offseason -- as well as more ahead of the Trade Deadline, plus reinforcements from what's grown into the Majors' No. 2-ranked farm system -- Seattle's roster stayed afloat.

With free agency looming shortly after the World Series, Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto has already said publicly the club will be active in augmenting its roster with impact Major League talent from outside the organization.

Before we look ahead to who Seattle might target, though, let's examine the in-house options that the Mariners will carry into 2022:

Catcher

Tom Murphy (second-year arbitration eligible)
Murphy looked like he might be a non-tender candidate after slumping mightily during the summer months, but he finished on a higher note and is widely valued for his acumen handling Seattle’s pitching staff. That should likely land him a job again for 2022.

Cal Raleigh (pre-arbitration)
Raleigh hit .180/.223/.309 (.532 OPS) and looked overwhelmed at times in his first big league season. He experienced some issues with swing mechanics that he said he’ll look to correct this offseason and take into Spring Training. Either way, he’s a big part of Seattle’s long-term future.

Infielders

1B Evan White (signed through 2025, club options for ’26, ’27, ‘28)
White’s recovery from left hip surgery in July will be one of the biggest storylines entering Spring Training, especially given that Dipoto wasn’t sure if the 25-year-old would be 100 percent healthy by then. Given his $24 million contract, Seattle is invested in his future. But his spot at first isn’t necessarily written in ink like it was after he first signed that deal -- and the Mariners won’t have any hesitation playing him at Triple-A Tacoma if his bat needs more work.

1B Ty France (pre-arbitration)
France was the team’s MVP in 2021, emerging as not only the Mariners’ most consistent hitter but also a Gold Glove Award-caliber first baseman. Given White’s status and France’s emergence, that position will be perhaps the most intriguing to watch.

2B/3B Abraham Toro (pre-arbitration)
Toro stumbled down the stretch, hitting .183/.259/.260 (.518 OPS) in September, after a hugely productive August. The transition to second base, especially with the opportunity to play every day after filling a bench role in Houston, proved to be more challenging than he or the team anticipated. Depending on what Seattle’s roster looks like after free agency, the Mariners could keep him there or move him back to his natural position at third.

2B/3B/OF Dylan Moore (first-year arbitration eligible)
Moore took a pretty significant step back in 2021 after a hugely productive ’20. This could make him a non-tender candidate, especially given that the Mariners would have to pay him more via arbitration and the club's intention to augment the roster with impact Major League talent this offseason.

SS J.P. Crawford (Super 2, second-year arbitration eligible)
Crawford was the Mariners’ Iron Man last season and he relished that role, starting in 159 games and emerging as one of the AL’s more productive leadoff hitters. He also made a case for a second straight Gold Glove Award -- essentially solidifying his spot at shortstop for the immediate future and beyond, which might not have been the case a year ago.

3B Kyle Seager (club option for 2023)
The Mariners won’t make a formal announcement about their decision for the 34-year-old franchise icon, but all signs point toward the club not exercising his $20 million option for next year, which would make him a free agent for the first time in his career. If this is it for Seager in Seattle, he went out with quite an emotional farewell.

Outfielders

Jake Bauers (pre-arbitration)
What to do with Bauers is one of a handful of decisions the Mariners must make ahead of the non-tender deadline on Dec. 2. But because he plays multiple positions, such as first base, his versatility could play in his favor.

Jake Fraley (pre-arbitration)
Fraley is another player whom the Mariners must consider ahead of the non-tender deadline, especially given their potential outfield logjam in 2022. He was an on-base machine during his peak in early-to-mid summer. But after a stint on the COVID-19 IL, Fraley struggled to regain form. For the season, he hit .210/.352/.369 (.721 OPS).

Mitch Haniger (third-year arbitration eligible)
Haniger seemed like a sure-bet chip ahead of last year’s Trade Deadline -- and even he admitted he thought it was inevitable in a recent piece for the Players Tribune. But in that same essay, the 30-year-old passionately preached urgency when it comes to ending Seattle’s two-decade postseason drought. If the Mariners are going to do so next season, it’s hard to imagine it being without Haniger, who -- despite all the outfield talent in the pipeline -- is Seattle’s only proven commodity at any of those positions.

Jarred Kelenic (pre-arbitration)
A very strong finish in September -- .248/.331/.524 (.854 OPS) and seven homers -- was a run the 22-year-old can hang his hat on heading into the offseason, especially after the psychological toll of his struggles in June and July became even more pronounced than he let on initially. Kelenic will head into Spring Training without the massive pressure of hitting his way onto the roster.

Kyle Lewis (pre-arbitration)
No player entered the offseason with more question marks than Lewis, whose status for next season won’t come into focus until he puts the health of his surgically repaired knee to the test in Spring Training. Dipoto candidly said in his end-of-season presser that the Mariners must proceed, at least for now, with the approach that anything Lewis can “deliver is a bonus for us.”

Designated hitter

Luis Torrens (pre-arbitration)
Torrens finished 2021 on a tear, hitting .321/.333/.436 (.769 OPS) in September and contributing key hits during Seattle’s postseason push. Because his catching wasn’t very strong -- and since the Mariners had Raleigh there as a reinforcement by July -- Torrens shifted almost exclusively into the DH role. He also worked out aggressively with the infielders in the second half, so it’ll be interesting to see if that continues in the spring.

Starting pitchers

Marco Gonzales (signed through 2024, club option for ‘25)
Gonzales was one of the AL’s best starting pitchers in the second half, going 9-1 with a 2.70 ERA in 14 starts after the All-Star break. Perhaps not coincidentally, that run coincided with him being fully recovered from a left forearm strain and his wife giving birth to their first child. All of the chaos subsided, so Gonzales got back to being Gonzales. He’s been the anchor of this rotation all along -- and that won’t change in 2022.

Chris Flexen (signed through 2023, club option for ’24)
Flexen very well might earn down-ballot votes for the AL Cy Young Award, after going 14-6 with a 3.61 ERA and 115 ERA+. More than anything, Flexen exhibited consistency and he was able to stay healthy. The Mariners won 22 times when Flexen took the hill, three more than any other team behind any other starter in the AL. Regression might be expected after such a breakout, but Flexen proved time and again that he belonged back in the Majors after a one-year stint in the Korean Baseball Organization.

Tyler Anderson (free agent in 2022)
Anderson will hit the open market after the World Series, but we’re including him here because of how vocal Mariners manager Scott Servais has been about his desire to bring the lefty back. Anderson stabilized a rotation that was battered with injuries and attrition ahead of the Trade Deadline and his veteran experience down the stretch proved invaluable. After playing on a one-year deal each of the past two seasons, he’s likely going to earn a multiyear contract this offseason.

Yusei Kikuchi (club option for 2022-25 or one-year player option for ’22)
Kikuchi’s second-half spiral cost him his rotation spot during the most critical stretch of the season. Now, the likelihood of the Mariners exercising their four-year, $66 million club option -- which felt like a certainty back in June -- seems way out of reach. The left-hander still holds a one-year, $13 million player option for next season that he, in turn, would be highly likely to exercise.

Logan Gilbert (pre-arbitration)
Though Gilbert cooled off from what was shaping up to be an AL Rookie of the Year-type season, he showed Seattle why his potential is worth dreaming about. The Mariners won a stretch of nine straight Gilbert starts mid-summer, which was the longest such streak since Gerrit Cole in 2019. Since they didn’t call him up until mid-May, his innings allocation allowed him to pitch in the playoff race.

Justin Dunn (pre-arbitration)
Dunn diligently rehabbed from right shoulder inflammation, but he ran up against the clock and wasn’t able to return by the end of the regular season. He’ll have every chance to contribute to the starting rotation next year, but his spot isn’t exactly a lock the way it has been in recent years. The Mariners will want to see that he’s not only healthy, but effective. The 26-year-old’s stuff is among the best on the staff, but he’s struggled at times to harness it, with a 13.3 percent walk rate in 2021.

Justus Sheffield (pre-arbitration)
Though Sheffield was able to recover from injuries by season’s end, his spot upon returning was in the bullpen, not the rotation. He intends to reclaim a spot as a starter, but like Dunn, that won’t be written in ink when he arrives to Spring Training. Sheffield compiled a 10.80 ERA and was tagged for a .937 OPS as a reliever.

Matt Brash (pre-arbitration)
Brash generated quite a bit of hype when he joined the Mariners for the final week of the season, but he never wound up making an appearance, due to game circumstances, down the stretch. Brash, who was named the Jamie Moyer Minor League Pitcher of the Year on that final weekend, will almost certainly be invited to his first big league Spring Training. While he might have more of an outside shot at cracking the Opening Day roster, the fact he was called up in the midst of a pennant chase showed he’s a big part of Seattle’s plans for 2022.

Relief pitchers

Paul Sewald (first-year arbitration eligible)
Sewald was Seattle’s linchpin all season, but especially after it traded Kendall Graveman. There was a point late in the year when Servais called Sewald the team’s MVP, and an argument could be made that the high-leverage reliever deserved that designation. Fatigue clearly began to catch up with the righty down the stretch, especially during the final series of the regular season. Can he keep up this level of success in 2022?

Diego Castillo (first-year arbitration eligible)
Castillo had a mostly strong stint in Seattle after serving as the de-facto replacement for Graveman following the Trade Deadline. His arbitration case will be one of the more intriguing ones to follow, given that he has basically pitched like a closer his entire career but doesn’t have the saves tally to show for it.

Ken Giles (signed through 2022, club option for ’23)
Giles, who has been recovering from Tommy John surgery in Arizona since signing with Seattle in February, will finally get to bring his All-Star contributions to the Mariners’ bullpen next season. Given the emergence of Sewald, Castillo and Steckenrider, it’ll be fascinating to see when and how Giles is used.

Drew Steckenrider (second-year arbitration eligible)
The 30-year-old entered the year on a Minor League contract, looking to re-establish his value after three up-and-down seasons with the Marlins. Now, he’s emerged as one of Seattle’s top leverage arms.

Andres Muñoz (pre-arbitration)
Muñoz offers so much intrigue, given his raw stuff has the potential to be among the best in Seattle’s bullpen. But his only contribution since coming over at the 2020 Trade Deadline was 2/3 of an inning in the ’21 regular-season finale, due to a lengthy recovery from Tommy John surgery in between. Now fully healthy, Muñoz figures to be a huge part of the bullpen next season.

Erik Swanson (pre-arbitration)
Swanson enjoyed a promising transition into the bullpen, including a huge fill-in role during Seattle’s COVID outbreak among its relievers. A major key to his success was the development of his splitter, which became an effective swing-and-miss offering. He’ll have every chance to hold onto his roster spot entering next season.

Casey Sadler (first-year arbitration eligible)
Sadler didn’t just set the Mariners’ franchise record for most consecutive scoreless appearances (26), he also finished with the lowest ERA in team history (0.67) and the lowest mark in the Majors in 2021 among pitchers who threw at least 30 innings. As a waiver claim in 2020, he represents yet another under-the-radar find who has been a huge contributor.

Yohan Ramirez (pre-arbitration)
Ramirez had a few big moments this season while emerging as a low-to-mid-leverage contributor. He was Seattle’s best reliever in 2020 and will look to replicate that success next spring.

Anthony Misiewicz (pre-arbitration)
Misiewicz put together a solid season as Seattle’s lefty specialist, but he also got hit harder down the stretch, as he logged a 7.56 ERA in September. He’ll look to hang onto that role entering camp.

Sean Doolittle (free agent)
Doolittle was claimed off waivers in late August to eat low-leverage innings. Since the 35-year-old is slated to hit the open market and Seattle has plenty of other bullpen options, a reunion seems unlikely.