Projecting the 2025 Mariners Opening Day roster
With the Cactus League wrapping up, here’s a possible configuration of the roster Seattle will open the season with.
We blinked, and all of a sudden spring training is coming to a close. After today’s Cactus League finale against the Padres, the Mariners will break camp and head north with their Opening Day roster set before taking on the Athletics to kick off their 2025 campaign this Thursday. With roster cuts flying the last week, the shape of Seattle’s roster has started to round into form, and while official confirmation may take some time in between today and Thursday, the M’s will head into the regular season with a roster not too dissimilar from the one they closed out 2024 with, for better or for worse. Nothing will be officially official until Opening Day is hours away, but this approximation should be sufficient as we approach four (4) days until the games start counting for real.
Catchers:
Zero surprises here, as Cal Raleigh will look to build on a scintillating 2024 in which he took home both the Gold and Platinum Glove, as well as bashing 34 homers en route to reaching the 100-RBI plateau. Meaningless for evaluation? Yeah. Still a cool milestone to notch? Absolutely. Calboy will obviously be penciled in for the lion’s share of innings behind the dish, but Mitch Garver will supplant him as needed in the backup role, and look for the Garv man to also see some time at designated hitter, particularly against left-handed pitching. Blake Hunt is the third and final catcher on the 40-man roster, and will be the first guy up to cover any injuries, but look for top prospect Harry Ford to also get time in Tacoma.
Infielders:
If there’s one group that remains largely in flux right up until the start of the regular season, it’s the Mariners’ infield corps. For the sixth straight season, J.P. Crawford will be Seattle’s shortstop, but beyond that, we could see many a configuration as the year wears on. Brought back into the fold after a down year, Jorge Polanco is set to cover third base regularly for the first time in his career, and second base should be handled by Dylan Moore and Ryan Bliss, though the job share remains to be seen, and don’t count out Polanco getting some reps at his more familiar position, especially considering DMo’s ability to cover all over the diamond.
