They’ve been together for so long — since the very beginning — that it’s difficult for Mariners pitcher Logan Gilbert to envision working with anyone but his close friend Cal Raleigh as his regular catcher.
“He knows me as a pitcher better than anyone,” Gilbert said.
Gilbert was as happy as anyone when the Mariners signed Raleigh to a six-year, $105 million contract extension this week, locking in their catcher as a foundational piece of their present and their future.
The Mariners hosted a news conference Friday afternoon to formally talk about Raleigh’s extension. Virtually the entire pitching staff sat in the back row to show support for their catcher.
How Cal Raleigh became the conscience of the Mariners
“I’m just super excited for him,” Gilbert said. “You work your whole life for a day like today.”
Could Gilbert’s day come next?
An All-Star in 2024, and the Mariners’ opening day starter this season, Gilbert has been a key part of the Mariners’ success the past few years.
He’d like to remain so well into the future.
“They know where I stand,” Gilbert said of Mariners management. “Seattle has become like home for me, and I’d love to be able to finish my career here.”
Raleigh’s new contract, Gilbert said, “definitely” adds to his desire to stay in Seattle long-term. They were both part of the Mariners’ 2018 draft class, and they both were up-and-coming prospects the Mariners banked on as the club worked through its rebuilding phase from 2019-21.
“We’ve built something here … and you feel like you have a stake in it,” Gilbert said. “You want to see it through.”
Gilbert, 27, is earning $7.6 million this season, in his second year of arbitration. He has two more seasons of arbitration eligibility before he’s scheduled to become a free agent after the 2027 season.
It’s been “awhile,” Gilbert said, since Mariners management has broached the topic of a contract extension with his representation, and he would be reluctant to start negotiations during the season.
As a comparison, the seven-year, $131 million contract extension right-hander Jose Berrios signed with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2022 could be a starting point for Gilbert and the Mariners.
Gilbert, without discussing specifics, said he’s open to the idea of an extension, and the Mariners front office sounds like it is too.
John Stanton, the team’s managing partner and chairperson, said he would be in favor of extensions for all four of the Mariners’ young starting pitchers: Gilbert, George Kirby, Bryce Miller and Bryan Woo.
“I’d love to see Logan stay here,” Stanton said Friday. “Frankly, I’d love to see all the four young pitchers stay here. It takes an interest on the players part and an interest on the organization’s part. But I think we, as an organization, are real believers in having a core group. There’s some symmetry … in keeping a group together that is as talented as our guys are, and I feel great about that.”
Over the past few years, the Mariners have made significant investments to extend homegrown players or players they’ve acquired via trade.
Notably, they’ve extended the likes of Julio Rodriguez, Luis Castillo, J.P. Crawford, Andrés Muñoz, Dylan Moore and now Raleigh — players they’ve identified as core fixtures of the roster.
The Mariners front office has been roundly criticized for its lack of offseason spending on the open market. Stanton has been on the record on multiple occasions saying that the club’s general preference is to not spend on outside free agents, especially on players who are already in their 30s.
“I don’t think folks pay enough attention to the fact we signed Muñoz to an extension; we signed D-Mo to an extension; we signed J.P. to an extension,” Stanton said. “We would love to have those (young pitchers) be with us through their 20s and into their 30s and be able to not only bring a World Series here but (also) play together.”
The Mariners have shown they’re more inclined to invest in players whom they have drafted (or signed as amateurs) and developed through their system.
“I think building the kind of continuity that exists with this group is really important when you’re putting together a winning team, to build the trust in the clubhouse and among the players with each other, with the people around them, and that there is a long-term outcome for them here in Seattle. That’s the goal,” president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto said. “Whether we can do that with other players moving forward … we’re always open to that. And generally speaking, we will keep trying.”
Dipoto added: “We feel good about what we’re doing organizationally, about the players that we have here, and about the way this group plays together. We’re really willing to push our resources toward keeping that group together for a long time, because we feel like this team has a chance to be really good for a long time.”
Since 2022, the Mariners have signed seven players to multi-year contract extensions:
Julio Rodriguez: 12 years, $209 million (2023-29/30-34)
Luis Castillo: 5 years, $108 million (2023-27)
Cal Raleigh: 6 years, $105 million (2025-30)
J.P. Crawford: 5 years, $51 million (2022-26)
Victor Robles: 2 years, $9.75 million (2025-26)
Dylan Moore: 3 years, $8.9 million (2023-25)
Andrés Muñoz: 4 years, $7.5 million* (2022-25/26-28*)
*contract also includes potential option years
