The Mariners have enough offseason decisions to fill a whiteboard. We've already covered every Seattle player approaching free agency and who is worth keeping, so Randy Arozarena , J.P. Crawford , Taylor Ward and Hoby Milner are excluded from this list.
These are players Seattle controls but could deliberately move on from before Opening Day.
This is the next layer of players Seattle controls but could decide to move on from anyway. Some departures might be predictable. And it would be a wild thought to believe all four of these moves would happen. It's just a list of possibles. After a 76-win season, running everything back would feel less like patience and more like denial. So let's dive in.
Robles' 2024 arrival was one of the best surprises of Seattle's recent past. He was a spark in the batter's box, he ran wild and created a kind of havoc that made routine games entertaining to watch. We haven't seen that guy since we injured himself in San Francisco early in 2025.
Injuries limited his availability, and he finished 2026 with a .623 OPS and zero home runs in 133 at-bats. Speed and defense still have value, but the Mariners would essentially be paying $9 million for a fond memory and a part-time outfielder.
The Mariners can decline the option for a $500,000 buyout, and they probably should. It's not that he can't return in some capacity, but certainly not at the same price.
The Mariners have younger outfielders pushing for opportunities, and Robles hasn't provided enough offense or availability to justify starter money.
This one would genuinely hurt. Gilbert finished 2026 with a 3.73 ERA, 205 strikeouts and a 1.09 WHIP across 186 innings. He's still very much a frontline starter, even after a season that frustrated him.
The problem is the calendar. Gilbert is entering his fourth and final arbitration season before reaching free agency after 2027. MLB.com has already identified him as a logical offseason trade candidate, and the reasoning is obvious.
Seattle should make another serious attempt to extend him. If the two sides remain far apart, the Mariners must use his value while they still control the outcome. Letting Gilbert enter 2027 without an extension would leave the organization vulnerable to losing him for little more than a compensatory draft pick.
Any trade would need to return an established, controllable impact hitter. Another package built around players who might help in 2029 would be useless to a team paying Julio Rodrguez, Cal Raleigh and Josh Naylor to win now.
The Mariners spent years waiting for Hancock to become a dependable major-league starter. He finally did in 2026 by posting a 3.57 ERA and 1.14 WHIP over 138 2/3 innings. He's far more tradable about that kind of season.
Seattle actively listened to offers for Hancock before the trade deadline. He remains inexpensive and is under club control through 2030. He just proved he can handle a full-time rotation role. Plenty of teams will probably have room for him and they sort out their 2027 rotation.
Kade Anderson has already reached the majors, while Ryan Sloan remains a major piece of the organization's future. That creates options, though it doesn't make Hancock disposable. His 2026 season gave Seattle the leverage they lacked earlier in his career.
Hancock is probably the easiest starter to trade. If the Mariners move him, the years of control should still command a decent return.
Kirby is the least likely departure here. He might also create the loudest, or at least the closest comparable offseason headline to Gilbert.
His 2026 numbers weren't great. He posted a 4.33 ERA, 1.40 WHIP and 148 strikeouts across 174 2/3 innings. The pinpoint command that once defined him became less reliable, and opponents stopped looking uncomfortable against him. Teams would still line up for the chance to fix him.
Kirby is a former All-Star with two seasons of club control remaining. At his best, he fills the strike zone without serving batting practice and works deep into games. That reputation hasn't disappeared. When trade rumors around Kirby intensified, they had an effect beyond Seattle. According to Jeff Passan, the possibility that controllable starters like Kirby could enter the market helped push Detroit to seek final offers for Tarik Skubal and complete its deal with the Dodgers .
The Mariners would risk selling low, so a Kirby trade cannot be another exchange of immediate talent for distant possibility. Seattle would need to receive the best position player in the deal, preferably one capable of anchoring the lineup for several seasons.
The Mariners cannot spend another winter admiring their pitching depth while hoping the lineup repairs itself. A 76-win team has already done enough hoping.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/mlb/mariners/onsi as 4 Mariners Most Likely to Be Gone Before Opening Day 2027 .
