The MLB Draft will begin on Saturday morning in Philadelphia, and here's everything you need to know about where the M's stand.
The Major League Baseball Draft begins on Saturday morning in Philadelphia, serving as a critical point in the MLB calendar.
This is where all teams will work to re-stock their farm systems with high-end talent and high-end upside.
For the Seattle Mariners, who have dubbed themselves as a "draft, develop and trade" organization, the draft is the lifeblood of the franchise.
Logan Gilbert, George Kirby, Emerson Hancock, Bryan Woo, Cal Raleigh, Cole Young, and Colt Emerson are all homegrown players that were selected via the draft.
Furthermore, the Mariners have used draft capital to acquire the likes of Luis Castillo, Josh Naylor and Brendan Donovan in recent years.
As the draft approaches, here's everything you need to know with regards to the M's.
The basics
Draft dates: Saturday, June 11 and Sunday, June 12
Draft time: 10 a.m. PT on Saturday and 8:30 a.m. PT on Sunday
Television network: Picks 1-10 on NBC/Peacock.... Picks 11-40 on MLB Network and MLB.com.... Picks 41-135 on MLB.com.
Day 2 will air on MLB.com
How many rounds?: 20
How many picks per day?: Rounds 1-4 will happen on Saturday and Rounds 5-20 on Sunday
How many picks do the Mariners have on Day 1? Four. They'll pick at No. 24, No. 65, No. 101 and No. 129
Most recent first-round choice: Kade Anderson, SP (LSU)
LSU Tigers starting pitcher Kade Anderson (32) sits in the dugout between the eighth and ninth innings against the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers at Charles Schwab Field. Steven Branscombe-Imagn ImagesHow much slot money do the Mariners have overall? $8,218,000, which is the 24th-most in baseball
Need to know: The Mariners traded a competitive balance pick to the St. Louis Cardinals in the trade that netted Brendan Donovan, meaning the M's don't have the benefit of an extra pick or the extra money that comes with it.
About how the bonus pool works
Each pick in the Top 10 rounds of the draft comes with a slot value attached. You can use your total allotment how you want, but you can't go over in total.
Meaning, if the Mariners want to give $5 million to their first round pick, they can, but they'll only have $3 million left for the rest of rounds 2-10. Teams have to be smart about who they draft, and if they are going to offer them an overslot or underslot deal. It's a balancing act.
Why do the Mariners have so few dollars available?
Well, by virtue of playing so deep into the season in 2025, the Mariners are inherently given less money. They are picking at the end of rounds, which carries lower slot values than those picks at the top of rounds.
Also, by trading the Comp B pick in the Donovan deal, the M's lost an actual draft choice, but also the money associated.
What does this mean for the M's?
We caught up with Joe Doyle of Overslot Baseball on a recent 'Refuse to Lose Territory' podcast to find out.
"The Major League Baseball Draft is not like the NBA Draft. It's not like the NFL Draft. You don't just take the best player available because they're hard-slotted into a certain amount of money.
There are players with high school eligibility, with commitments to LSU and Tennessee, that are tough to draft and sign away from those college commitments because they can get more money in college, and they can get more money in the 2029 Draft.
So I think without a Competitive Balance B pick, Seattle's probably going to have to do one of two things.
One, they can either play it straight up. They can just draft exclusively college players because college players lack the leverage to negotiate a way back to school in 2027.
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, right, and Tiago Viernes announce Colt Emerson as the Seattle Mariners pick during the first round of the 2023 MLB Draft at Lumen Field. Stephen Brashear-Imagn ImagesOr they can do what they did in 2024, and that is draft a player from the college ranks in the first round and then spend big on a player in the second round, a Ryan Sloan type.
But what that does is it means you have to take money that was applied to the third-round pick and the fourth-round pick and apply it to that massive overpay in the second round. So you're punting two of your later picks.
But we'll see what Seattle ends up doing. It's certainly the least amount of buying power and spending power they've had in recent years.
I think they're going to be creative like they always are."
Of note
The latest edition of the 'Refuse to Lose Territory' podcast is out, talking more about the Mariners at this point in the season, and we talk trade possibilities with ESPN MLB Insider Buster Olney.
You can listen to the episode here, or you can watch in the YouTube player below.
JOIN THE CONVERSATION
Remember to join our MARINERS on ROUNDTABLE community, which is FREE! You can post your own thoughts, in text or video form, and you can engage with our Roundtable staff, as well as other Mariners fans. If prompted to download the Roundtable APP, that's free too!
