Fresh Mariners' payroll target heightens expectations for John Stanton to pony up

John Stanton didn't throw out any numbers when talking about the Seattle Mariners' 2027 payroll in September, but he did temper expectations. How else was one supposed to read his threat… er, pledge for a "middle of the road, roughly, payroll?"

Well, either he's had a change of heart or we weren't giving him enough credit. From what Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times said on the latest episode of the Marine Layer Podcast, the Mariners could be eyeing a payroll in the $175-180 million range next year.

Presently, RosterResource puts the Mariners' year-end payroll for 2026 at $164 million. Previous reporting from Divish's colleague at The Seattle Times, Adam Jude, had posited that the Mariners'…