In the hours leading up to the Major League Baseball trade deadline on July 31, the Mariners tried desperately to fill one last need.
They’d already acquired first baseman Josh Naylor a week earlier, added bullpen depth in trading for lefty Caleb Ferguson two days before the deadline and completed a deal for third baseman Eugenio Suarez 24 hours earlier.
Their focus turned to adding a leverage reliever with the ability to generate swings and misses to help Andres Muñoz, Matt Brash and Gabe Speier cover the late innings.
Their target was Twins closer Jhoan Duran. With Minnesota undergoing a fire sale on players, their best reliever was available to teams. Besides having a 100-mph fastball and nasty secondary pitches, Duran was also under club control through the 2027 season, which made him more valuable to the Mariners.
“We felt like we were in the end zone in one case, and near the goal line with some others,” said Jerry Dipoto, president of baseball operations, just after the deadline. “Would we have liked to add one more guy? Sure. We just came up a little bit short.”
Instead, the Phillies got Duran by offering a pair of Top 100 prospects — right-handed pitcher Mick Abel and catcher Eduardo Tait. The Mariners felt their offer was similar if not better but the trade never materialized.
Not having Duran, or a pitcher like that, to help with the bullpen late in the season and particularly in the postseason was noticeable, if not glaring.
The Mariners will be looking to add depth to the bullpen this offseason. They would like to add an experienced leverage arm similar to Duran as well as another left-handed reliever to help out Speier.
Seattle’s pitching lab, led by assistant general manager Joel Firman, director of pitching strategy Trent Blank and pitching coach Pete Woodworth, has shown a strong track record of finding relievers and making them better with their focus on pitch selection and attacking the strike zone.
Given the rate of attrition and the unpredictable year-to-year performance of relievers, they may want to add more than two relievers if possible. The Mariners bullpen is very cheap with Muñoz making the most at $6 million in 2026. They should use some of the available payroll to address the needs.
A reunion with Diaz would be fun, but they may spread out their dollars to get multiple arms. It also seems unlikely they would give more than a two-year deal to any reliever on the market.
During his tenure Dipoto hasn’t signed many established free-agent relievers to multiyear deals or to contracts larger than $2 million a season. In 2017 before the changed MLB rules, he signed lefty specialist Marc Rzepczynski to a two-year, $11 million contract. In 2018, Dipoto inked right-hander Juan Nicasio to a two-year, $17 million deal. In 2021, he signed Ken Giles to a two-year, $7 million contract.
With Brash getting hurt prior to the 2024 season, Dipoto signed Ryne Stanek to a one-year, $4 million contract. None of those deals yielded the expected dividends as compared to Paul Sewald (minor-league signing), Speier (waiver claim) and Brash (player to be named in a trade), which shows the risk-reward of signing free-agent relievers.
Here’s a look at the top free agent relievers on the market:
The Top Tier
Edwin Diaz (32) — Was it really that long ago when Diaz saved 57 games for the Mariners in a season, using the combo of an electric fastball and a nasty slider? Yes, it was in 2018, and Diaz was only 24 at the time. Diaz opted out of his contract with the Mets, forgoing $38 million over the next two seasons, to become a free agent. He will likely get a four-year contract of at least $15 million-$16 million per season. He does have a qualifying offer attached to him, which is something teams will consider.
Robert Suarez (35) — The Padres closer also opted out of the final two years of his contract, passing up a guaranteed $16 million in hopes of getting a three-year deal with a higher annual salary. He led the NL in saves this season (40), striking out 75 batters in 69 2/3 innings with only 16 walks.
Pete Fairbanks (32) — The Rays declined to pick up their $11 million club option on their closer for 2026, making him a free agent. Fairbanks tallied 27 saves for the Rays while posting a 2.83 ERA. Besides his salary, which is a lot for the cash-strapped Rays, Fairbanks’ strikeout rate has dropped under 25% the past two seasons after sitting at 37 percent in 2023 and 44 percent in 2022.
The best of the rest
Ryan Helsley (31), Brad Keller (30), Sean Newcomb (33), Gregory Soto (31), Luke Weaver (32) and Devin Williams (31)
There are some solid relievers in this group including a few former closers. Williams is coming off a down season with the Yankees, but he will likely command a multiyear contract. He still struck out 35% of the batters he faced this season. Weaver reinvented himself as a short-inning reliever with the Yankees. Soto and Newcomb represent two of the best lefties in the class.
The rest
Right-handed relievers: Shawn Armstrong (35), Scott Barlow (33), Valente Bellozo (26), Scott Blewett (30), Matt Bowman (35), Ryan Brasier (38), John Brebbia (36), Connor Brogdon (31), Nabil Crismatt (31), John Curtiss (33), Chris Devenski (35), Alexis Diaz (29), Seranthony Dominguez (31), Dane Dunning (31), Kyle Finnegan (34), Chris Flexen (31), Carson Fulmer (32), Luis Garcia (39), Kendall Graveman (35), Chad Green (35), Hunter Harvey (31), Thomas Hatch (31), Liam Hendriks (36), Raisel Iglesias (36), Luke Jackson (32), Kenley Jansen (38), Pierce Johnson (35), Jakob Junis (33), Tommy Kahnle (36), Tyler Kinley (35), Michael Kopech (30), Derek Law (35), Jose Leclerc (32), Jonathan Loaisiga (31), Jorge Lopez (33), Chris Martin (40), Nick Martinez (35), Phil Maton (33), Shelby Miller (35), Rafael Montero (35), Hector Neris (37), Adam Ottavino (40), Ryan Pressly (37), Tanner Rainey (33), Erasmo Ramirez (36), Tyler Rogers (35), Jordan Romano (33), Joe Ross (33), Eduardo Salazar (28), Tayler Scott (34), Paul Sewald (36), Lucas Sims (32), Drew Smith (32), Collin Snider (30), Ryne Stanek (34), Chris Stratton (35), Hunter Strickland (37), Erik Swanson (32), Lou Trivino (34), Jose Ureña (34), Bryse Wilson (28) and Kirby Yates (39).
Left-handed relievers: Tyler Alexander (31), Jalen Beeks (32), Ryan Borucki (32), Genesis Cabrera (29), Andrew Chafin (36), Danny Coulombe (36), Caleb Ferguson (29), Sam Long (30), Hoby Milner (35), Cionel Perez (30), Drew Pomeranz (37), Taylor Rogers (35), Brent Suter (36), Caleb Thielbar (39), Anthony Veneziano (28), Justin Wilson (38) and Ryan Yarbrough (34).