The Mariners’ Triple-A affiliate, the Tacoma Rainiers, is already underway (Max has the recap for you on Triple-A Opening Weekend here.) The Mariners’ Double-A affiliate, the Arkansas Travelers, open up their season at home in Dickey-Stephens Park on April 7. Today the Travs announced their 2026 roster, and the big news is that the Mariners’ two top pitching prospects, LHP Kade Anderson and RHP Ryan Sloan, will skip past High-A Everett and start the season directly in Double-A, often used as a launching pad for the big leagues.
Anderson, a College World Series champion with LSU, was the Mariners’ first-round choice this past draft. A polished pitcher with advanced command over a sophisticated arsenal, it’s not surprising to see Anderson assigned directly to Double-A, as that’s common practice with these kinds of experienced college pitchers. Anderson often draws comparisons to Blue Jays lefty Trey Yesavage, another college arm drafted in the first round, who jumped from A-ball to pitching in MLB by the end of the season. The Mariners are opting to skip Anderson directly to Double-A rather than jump him all over the country, but don’t be surprised to see him up with the big-league team by the end of the year, just like Yesavage.
Sloan is a bigger surprise. Sloan, who just turned 20 at the end of January, was drafted by the Mariners 55th overall out of his Chicago-area high school in 2024, with the Mariners buying him out of his college commitment to Wake Forest for $3M. After taking his draft year to learn the Mariners system and processes, Sloan started 2025 in Modesto, earning a promotion to High-A Everett by the end of the season. The Mariners invited Sloan to big-league camp this spring and he was impressive at every turn, capping off his spring with a dominant performance against the top-ranked Brewers farm in the Spring Breakout game. Sloan impressed the Mariners so much they’re being aggressive with him and sending him directly to Double-A to compete against much older and more seasoned competition. The move also keeps Sloan and Anderson, roommates and friends, together as they continue their big-league journeys.
Two other Top-1oo prospects will join Sloan and Anderson, as Michael Arroyo and Lazaro Montes will return to Arkansas after being promoted from Everett midseason last year. Both righty hitters suffered the “Dickey-Stephens Park” penalty last year, although Arroyo’s bat-to-ball skills helped prop him up even as his power decreased. Montes didn’t suffer quite the power penalty, still knocking 14 bombs, but he did regress as far as contact/strikeouts go, so that’s something for him to work on in a repeat tour of the level.
Here’s the complete roster:
There are a few other Top-30 prospects on this roster: Jared Sundstrom is one, returning to Arkansas after spending all of last year there. Another righty power-hitter, Sundstrom is another one suffering at the hands of the righty-power-suppressing park in Arkansas. Sundstrom got a lot of reps with the big-league club this spring, so expect his tenure to be shorter than last year.
Reliever to watch: RHP Charlie Beilenson
Beilenson was a 2024 fifth-rounder who has an interesting backstory: he grew up in SoCal (Chris Rose was his eighth grade basketball coach at Chaminade Prep, apparently) and went to Brown for his undergraduate, serving as a reliever on their baseball team, before transferring to Duke, where he picked up another pair of graduate degrees while also serving as the Blue Devils’ closer. Beilenson was a money-saver pick after the Mariners spent heavily on their first two picks in Jurrangelo Cijntje and Ryan Sloan, but he’s in a position where he could contribute to the big-league bullpen as soon as this year; he has excellent command and throws strikes, and profiles as a middle-innings reliever. Beilenson – who has eligibility to pitch for three different WBC teams – spent part of this spring with Team Israel, gaining high-level experience.
Sleeper prospect to watch: INF Charlie Pagliarini
Everett AquaSox fans know “Pags” well, but he got a fair amount of screentime with the big-league club this spring, too. Pagliarini isn’t a huge guy (6’0”) but he’s been a three true outcomes kind of prospect so far, albeit with less in the power department; he takes a ton of walks, but he also strikes out a ton. If the power pops at DSP like it did in lefty-friendly Funko Field and he could strike out just a little tiny itsty-bitsy less, there’s a really intriguing profile here.
Post-hype prospect to watch: OF Sammy Siani
I really liked contact-oriented Sammy Siani, who Pittsburgh took 37th overall in the 2019 Draft, but his bat-to-ball skills didn’t play out in Pittsburgh. Maybe Seattle can help unlock some of those tools.
If you have Mariners TV, you should also have access to the Mariners’ affiliates on MiLB TV and you can watch the Travs games for free. You can find the Travs schedule here.
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