Seattle Mariners’ Logan Gilbert addresses if he would sign an extension

The Seattle Mariners have built a strong core of homegrown talent.

There’s Julio Rodríguez in center field, Cal Raleigh at catcher, All-Star staring pitchers Logan Gilbert and George Kirby, and budding potential aces Bryce Miller and Bryan Woo. All were Mariners MLB Draft picks or, in the case of Rodríguez, an international free agency signing.

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Rodríguez is the only one of them, however, to have signed a long-term contract extension with the team, which has left a pretty big question mark over the team’s future. Will the M’s be able to keep those players past their initial contracts, or will they forgo extensions with Seattle to test free agency?

Among those players, the 27-year-old Gilbert is set to reach free agency first (along with Raleigh) following the 2027 season. So where is his mind at on that? Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk got to the bottom of it Wednesday during a conversation with Gilbert at spring training in Arizona.

“Do you find yourself thinking about what the future holds for you?” asked host Mike Salk.

Gilbert, who the Mariners selected 14th overall in the first round of the 2018 MLB Draft out of Stetson University, made it clear that he likes his current situation and is by no means closing the door on extension talk with the M’s.

“It crosses your mind for sure,” Gilbert responded, “and year after year – the last couple years at least – your name loosely gets thrown in trade stuff. Half of it has no bearing probably, but that’s just how the business goes.

“I love being here, and I’m not just saying that. I’m sure everybody on a headset would say that, but they’ve been good to me.”

Gilbert acknowledged that there have been extension discussions before with the Mariners.

“I’m definitely open to it. It has to be the right situation for sure, but I’m definitely open to it,” he said. “We’ve had, I mean, loose talks. Haven’t gotten there, but it’s been optimistic I would say.

“Everybody wants to get to free agency. That’s the gold standard, you want to get there just to see what your market value is, what you’re worth, but something could happen before that for sure … Seven years is a long time so it’s tough to actually make it to free agency.”

Gilbert, who led MLB with a 0.887 WHIP and 208 2/3 innings pitched as a first-time All-Star in 2024, noted that he doesn’t take for granted the role the Mariners have played in him becoming one of the best pitchers in baseball.

“I’ve talked to other guys recently that come from other organizations, and they come here and (we talk about) how well we do pitching and how they help you understand yourself to be successful,” Gilbert said. “I could have went to any team and it could have probably gone really wrong, but I came here and they helped me and established who I am.

“So I love being here and hopefully it stays that way for a long time.”

Hear the full Brock and Salk conversation with Seattle Mariners pitcher Logan Gilbert in the podcast at this link or in the player near the top of this post. Catch Brock and Salk from 6-10 a.m. weekdays on Seattle Sports.

Seattle Mariners spring training coverage

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