The Seattle Mariners may not bother investing in quality free agent hitters, though they’re certainly not averse to retaining their own players when the price is reasonable.
The Mariners and Platinum Glove catcher Cal Raleigh have agreed on a six-year, $105 million contract extension, ESPN reported. The deal will buy out Raleigh’s final three years under arbitration and keep him in Seattle during what would have been his first three years as a free agent.
Raleigh, 28, was due to make $5.6 million this season in his first year of salary arbitration. Instead, his $17.5 million average annual value will kick in this season and tie him to the Mariners through 2030.
While Raleigh is just a career .218 hitter, he hit 30 and 34 home runs the past two seasons and accrued 4.7 WAR in 2024, when he won his first Gold and Platinum gloves while handling the Mariners’ peerless pitching staff.
Those pitcher-catcher relationships will continue through the end of this decade, a key facet to the Mariners’ extremely pitching-centric approach. Their rotation of Logan Gilbert, Luis Castillo, Bryce Miller, George Kirby and Bryan Woo combined for a 3.38 ERA, tops in the American League and second only to Atlanta in the major leagues.
It was their flaccid offense that kept them out of the playoffs for the 22nd time in 23 years, though, and the Mariners did little to solve that problem, adding only first baseman Donovan Solano and re-signing infielder Jorge Polanco in free agency.
Yet the catching will be spoken for. And Raleigh joins center fielder Julio Rodriguez as long-term pieces of Seattle’s puzzle; Rodriguez signed an extension that guarantees him $209 million over 12 years, with various club and player options that vary based on his performance.