It's been widely assumed that both Kade Anderson and Sloan could help the M's chase the American League West this season, but there could be a major hiccup in that plan.
0The Seattle Mariners enter play on Thursday at 47-46 and just 0.5 games up in the mediocre American League West.
The Mariners entered the season with World Series aspirations, but injuries and underperformance have impacted their ability thus far.
That said, they are still in first place and have a chance to capture a second consecutive American League West title this season.
If they are going to do that, they have to find a way to improve a relatively punchless offense, and they need to improve upon a bullpen that is multiple leverage arms short.
Currently, the M's have Andres Munoz, Jose Ferrer, Gabe Speier and Eduard Bazardo as trustworthy relievers. They can send a starter to the bullpen to clear up the six-man logjam and they can bring up top prospect Kade Anderson to give them six solid bullpen options. And there is also the hope that both Matt Brash and Carlos Vargas return to form to give them the full eight, but that's not a guarantee.
The M's can trade for a reliever at the looming trade deadline as well, but one guy who might not be a choice? Top pitching prospect Ryan Sloan.
About Sloan
A second-round draft pick in 2024 out of the Illinois high school ranks, Sloan is ranked as the No. 5 prospect in the sport by Baseball America. While he doesn't have the production of Anderson in Double-A yet, he has the higher-end stuff of the two. Just 20 years old, he's 2-2 with a 4.04 ERA at Double-A, and he's struck out 77 batters in 62.1 innings.
So why couldn't he be an option?
The looming MLB lockout and possible labor strife that could last into 2027.
There's a few points to understand:
1) If an MLB lockout happens, all players in the players union are impacted. All players on a 40-man roster are officially in the union, meaning they'd all be locked out.
2) Minor League Baseball seasons still happen in a lockout, but players who are on 40-man rosters cannot play, because they are the ones being locked out.
3) If Sloan is going to come up in 2026, then he'd have to be added to the 40-man roster. That means that he'd be locked out, and wouldn't be eligible to play in 2027 until the lockout is resolved, potentially missing critical development time.
If he stays off the 40-man roster, he can play.
What they're saying
We spoke to draft and prospect guru Joe Doyle of Overslot Baseball on the most recent 'Refuse to Lose Territory' podcast to talk about this very topic.
"There's been such an emphasis on Ryan Sloan building up innings, building up to his debut, building up to being a starting pitcher in Major League Baseball.
What happens if there's a lockout through the middle of July? I don't see that happening. But if there is a lockout through the middle of July and Ryan Sloan isn't able to pitch on a Major League Baseball mound until then, all of a sudden, all of that work that you've done with Ryan Sloan is undercut by, you know, let's say he throws 40 innings in 2027. I think that's extremely damaging to one of the most valuable pitching prospects in the sport.
So I think the way Seattle would prefer to see it, he continues to build up his innings in 2026, and then he starts the 2027 season at Triple-A. He has a path towards 150 innings at Triple-A, if that's what's necessary.
And if baseball is here in April, like I think a lot of us are hoping, I think Ryan Sloan is obviously the first player called up, if there's injuries. He might be up as early as May, but I don't think you can risk his development and his inning load with a lockout by adding him to the 40-man in '26."
Of note
The latest edition of the 'Refuse to Lose Territory' podcast is out, talking with Joe Doyle of Overslot Baseball about the draft and the Mariners opportunities at pick 24. Furthermore, the two talk about organizational needs and one under-the-radar trade component from this past offseason.
You can listen to the episode here, or you can watch in the YouTube player below.
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