Mariners Announce Three Option Decisions

The Mariners announced Thursday that they’ve exercised their $9MM club option on closer Andrés Muñoz. Seattle declined a $6.075MM club option on righty Bryce Miller and a $9MM club option on outfielder Victor Robles.

Miller remains under club control through 2029 via arbitration. The one-year deal he signed when avoiding arbitration last offseason included a club option for his second arbitration season. However, with a $3.9MM projected arbitration salary for Miller (via MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz), the M’s will pay a small $15K buyout on 2026’s option and instead broker a new deal in arbitration. Robles, meanwhile, receives a $500K buyout and is now a free agent.

The 27-year-old Muñoz is coming off a career-worst season that saw him pitch to an uncharacteristically high 4.24 ERA while blowing 10 of the 39 save/hold situations handed to him by the team. Despite the rocky showing, the M’s will give him another look, which isn’t particularly surprising when considering the price of free agent relievers and, more importantly, the fact that his contract contains a similarly affordable $10MM option for the 2028 season.

Despite the glut of blown opportunities, Muñoz averaged 99.8 mph on his heater — his best mark since 2022’s career-high 100.2 mph — and punched out a massive 37.1% of his opponents. His 10% walk rate was worse than average, but not necessarily by an egregious amount. That also represents his best mark since a dominant 2022 campaign.

Muñoz was dogged by a .316 average on balls in play that sat about 26 points higher than league-average and nearly 40 points north of Muñoz’s career level. The larger blemish was a bizarre uptick in home runs. On average, about 12% of fly-balls wind up clearing the fence for home runs. Prior to 2026, Muñoz carried a 10% homer-to-flyball rate. In 2026, he saw a staggering 23.1% of his fly balls turn into home runs — despite calling one of baseball’s most pitcher-friendly parks his home. Homer-to-flyball rate is susceptible to short-term spikes but tends to even out over larger samples. The Mariners are making a reasonably priced bet that’ll be the case with Muñoz and that his elite velocity and strikeout rate will result in him reclaiming his status as one of the game’s best late-inning arms.

Miller, 28, missed the first seven weeks of the season due to an oblique strain. He was healthy the rest of the way, making 22 starts and logging a total of 118 2/3 frames with a 4.17 ERA, a 24.5% strikeout rate and a 7.8% walk rate. The former top prospect had a breakout showing in 2024 (2.94 ERA with plus rate stats in 180 1/3 frames) but struggled through an injury-ruined 2025 campaign (5.68 ERA in 90 1/3 innings, multiple IL stints due to his elbow). He was dominant through his first nine appearances in 2026 before floundering down the stretch with a 6.14 ERA over his final 13 trips to the hill.

There’s plenty to suggest that Seattle might move a starter this winter, though they’d be selling low on Miller if he’s the odd man out. The right-hander is currently one of six starters for five spots, joining Logan Gilbert, George Kirby, Bryan Woo, Emerson Hancock and top prospect Kade Anderson, who impressed in a late-season debut. Young right-hander Ryan Sloan, one of the top pitching prospects in the sport, is looming in the upper minors and should be ready to make his debut at some point in 2027.

The decision on Robles comes as no surprise. The Mariners originally signed him in 2024 after the formerly elite prospect flamed out in D.C. and was released by the Nationals. He was brilliant down the stretch for the M’s that season, prompting Seattle to roll the dice on a two-year, $9.75MM extension with a third-year club option.

Injuries have wiped out any hope of Robles making good on that contract. He was carted off the field after making a sensational catch in right field early in the 2025 season. Follow-up testing revealed both a dislocation and a fracture in his left shoulder, which sidelined him for more than three months. A pectoral strain suffered early in the 2026 season cost him about eight weeks of action. He returned in a part-time role but struggled the rest of the way.

Overall, Robles’ two-year deal saw him take just 263 plate appearances and bat .251/.300/.318. He swiped 16 bags in that short time and still has the speed to cover plenty of ground in the outfield, but he’s surely looking at a low-cost one-year deal with incentives in free agency — if not a minor league deal and non-roster invitation to spring training with his next club.