Mariners agree to sign first-round pick Kade Anderson

The Mariners and third overall pick Kade Anderson have already reached an agreement, as Just Baseball Media’s Aram Leighton reports that the two sides have agreed to a deal with a bonus of roughly $8.8M. That would represent a significantly below-slot signing, as the third pick comes with a slot price of $9,504,400.

Anderson rose to prominence over his two seasons at LSU, particularly in the 2025 season when he emerged as a full-time starter and arguably the best pitcher in college ball. Anderson posted a 3.18 ERA over 119 innings (with a 37.4% strikeout rate and 7.28% walk rate) and was named the most outstanding player of the College World Series as LSU captured its eighth NCAA title.

This breakout made the southpaw one of the top prospects of the 2025 draft class and the top pitching prospect in the eyes of some evaluators. Kiley McDaniel had Anderson as the best prospect overall on ESPN’s board, while MLB Pipeline had Anderson second, Fangraphs and Keith Law each had the left-hander third, and Baseball America had Anderson fourth in their rankings.

Anderson’s fastball, slider, and curveball each received at least a 55 from Pipeline and Baseball America on the 20-80 scouting scale, and Pipeline’s scouting report also put a 60 grade on Anderson’s changeup. He throws a lot of strikes with all of his pitches, and Anderson’s fastball is usually in the 92-94 range with the occasional top-out up to 97mph, and this relatively modest velocity is enhanced by plenty of movement. Health is a bit of a question, as Anderson underwent a Tommy John surgery in high school and is of around average size at 6-foot-2 and 179 pounds.

While Anderson doesn’t have a lot of college innings under his belt, it might not take him too long to start knocking on the door for a promotion to the majors. The Mariners are already deep in pitching, and their draft-lottery luck in landing the third pick has now brought a high-level young arm into the organization.