Seattle

Mariners

The textbook example of emergency pitching depth, Lawrence oscillated between Seattle’s bullpen and Triple-A Tacoma numerous times this past season, pitching to a respectable 3.00 ERA while gobbling up 15 innings over five long relief appearances. He also made one relief appearance for the Blue Jays in late April before returning to the Mariners. The 38-year-old journeyman is back as Seattle’s ultimate contingency plan — the arm you don’t expect to need, but are grateful to have when things go completely sideways.

Zuñiga returns as organizational relief depth for Seattle after latching on in early September after being cut loose by the Phillies. The 27-year-old, who didn’t appear in the majors last year, holds a pedestrian 5.03 ERA over 19 2/3 innings over 17 appearances in the big leagues since 2023.

Saucedo was designated for assignment Tuesday. Thornton suffered a torn Achilles over the summer, and isn’t expected to be ready until the middle of the 2026 season.

Santos, 26, was acquired by Seattle to be a high-leverage relief option in 2024, but injuries and ineffectiveness saw him become an obvious non-tender candidate. The 26-year-old will likely need to sign as a non-roster invite with his new club.

Saucedo loses his spot on Seattle’s 40-man roster after the club picked up reliever Alex Hoppe in a trade with the Red Sox. The 32-year-old southpaw struggled to a calamitous 7.43 ERA over 13 1/3 inning across 10 appearances this past season in the majors.

Hoppe provides Seattle with some additional relief depth entering next season after posting a respectable 4.55 ERA, 1.52 WHIP and 73/34 K/BB ratio across 61 1/3 innings over 44 appearances between Double-A Portland and Triple-A Worcester. The 26-year-old righty was a sixth-round pick in the 2022 MLB Draft.

Heyman fortifies Boston’s organizational catching depth after a strong collegiate career at the University of Florida led the Mariners to take him in the 14th round of the 2025 MLB Draft. The 22-year-old slugging backstop will make his professional debut this upcoming season and figures to move relatively quickly given his age.

The deal is now official. Naylor returns to Seattle after a phenomenal postseason in which he hit .340 (16-for-47) with three homers and two steals across 12 games. The 28-year-old slugging first baseman is coming off the best all-around season of his career, slashing .295/.353/.462 with 20 homers, 92 RBI and a surprising 30 steals over 147 games between the Mariners and Diamondbacks. He’s an extremely challenging hitter to project given his volatile year-to-year power output and an out-of-nowhere spike in stolen bases after recording just 22 swipes combined over the previous three seasons. It’s worth noting that T-Mobile Park remains one of the toughest environments in baseball for left-handed power — though hitters like Naylor tend to treat park factors as optional suggestions rather than actual limitations. Even so, Naylor has firmly established himself as a top-10 fantasy first baseman heading into next season.

The move comes just 10 days after the Dodgers added Ortiz to the 40-man roster to prevent him from becoming a minor league free agent. Ortiz, who turns 26 in January, had a 2.73 ERA and a 72/33 K/BB in 59 1/3 innings split pretty evenly between high-A, Double-A and Triple-A last season. His mid-90s sinker and mid-80s slider might make him a decent MLB reliever, but he’ll probably open next season in Triple-A.

Gough, a 2022 ninth-round pick, had a 4.33 ERA and a 99/47 K/BB in 95 2/3 innings as a starter in low-A ball in 2024 before missing last season after Tommy John. Maybe the Dodgers know something here, but it mostly seems like they decided they didn’t want Ortiz occupying a spot on their 40-man after all.