The Seattle Mariners have officially made their first player addition of the 2025-26 offseason, bringing in right-handed pitcher Cole Wilcox from the Tampa Bay Rays. Wilcox, who is 26 years old and a former standout pitcher at the University of Georgia, became available when Tampa Bay designated him for assignment earlier in the week.
By acting quickly and dealing directly with the Rays, Seattle didn’t need to wait and hope Wilcox fell to them on waivers. Instead, the Mariners secured him immediately and placed him on their 40-man roster, signaling that they believe he could be a meaningful addition to their pitching staff.
Wilcox’s background has long intrigued scouts. The right-hander was drafted in 2020 with the 80th overall pick, taken in the third round by the San Diego Padres. The Padres selected him earlier than expected for a sophomore-eligible player, and to convince him to forego returning to Georgia, they offered him an impressive signing bonus of $3.3 million.
At the time, the investment made sense. Wilcox was 6’5”, athletic, and possessed the type of lively fastball that teams covet. Before the draft, evaluators admired his arsenal: a fastball that could reach the upper-90s, consistency in the mid-90s, a sharp and deceptive changeup, and a slider that showed flashes of becoming another strong pitch.
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The comparisons between Wilcox and Mariners pitcher Emerson Hancock have been circulating for years — both tall SEC right-handers with mid-90s velocity and similar pitch mixes. Another parallel that has been mentioned is Jackson Kowar, another highly regarded starting pitching prospect from the SEC who eventually transitioned to the bullpen.
Although Wilcox was drafted as a starter, questions existed from early on about whether he would remain in the rotation at the professional level. In college, and later in pro ball, coaches sometimes used him out of the bullpen, largely because of his delivery mechanics and the uncertainty of how well he would sustain his velocity through longer outings. Even so, the raw talent and physical upside were unquestionable, which is why he drew so much interest before turning pro.
Wilcox’s journey took a major turn before he ever threw a pitch for San Diego. During the 2020-21 offseason, the Padres executed one of the most talked-about trades in baseball that winter: they sent Wilcox, several other prospects, and catcher Francisco Mejía to the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for Cy Young–winning left-hander Blake Snell. Snell would go on to anchor the Padres’ rotation for three years, making 83 starts and providing them with elite pitching — posting ERAs and FIPs in the mid-3s and accumulating strong WAR totals during that stretch.
Meanwhile, the players who went to Tampa Bay never made the kind of impact the Rays hoped for. Wilcox didn’t reach the majors until 2025, when he threw just one inning and allowed three runs in his debut. Catcher Blake Hunt, who was also part of the Snell trade, spent the entire most recent season in Triple-A Tacoma in Seattle’s organization. Another player in the deal, pitcher Luis Patiño, eventually became a minor league free agent, and Francisco Mejía has not appeared in the majors since 2023. What once looked like a haul of young talent for Tampa Bay has mostly evaporated from their plans — an outcome that serves as a reminder that prospects often carry more theoretical value than guaranteed impact.
For Seattle, Wilcox represents a low-risk, potentially high-reward bullpen piece. That possibility comes with some context, however. Wilcox underwent Tommy John surgery in 2021. The recovery process cost him much of the 2021 season and the entirety of 2022. When he re-entered competitive pitching in 2023, the dominant velocity and crisp sharpness that once defined his repertoire had not fully returned. Still, he continued working his way up the minor-league system, eventually reaching Triple-A Durham in 2024. In Durham, he was used primarily as a starter. His pitch selection leaned heavily on a combination of sinkers and sliders, and while he didn’t produce many swings and misses, he generated a high proportion of ground-ball contact. His mechanics, however, drew attention for a different reason: his delivery featured a short, abrupt arm action that could look jerky or rushed.
Video clips from his time in 2024 highlight that unusual arm path — a compact motion that allowed him to generate unique movement profiles, especially with his breaking pitches. His slider, thrown in the mid-80s, showed multiple movement patterns: he could manipulate it to sweep horizontally across the zone, or he could throw one with more vertical drop that plunged downward. Setup and release variations allowed him to mix these two looks effectively, and he also retained a changeup that, while seldom used, still showed fade and depth when executed properly. The problem lay not in his pitch quality, but in consistency and command. He would occasionally miss his intended target badly, and when he made mistakes, batters could punish them.
In 2025, Wilcox transitioned into more of a relief role, and the change seems to have unlocked another gear. His arm action became longer and more fluid, allowing for better extension toward the plate. With that improved delivery came an increase in velocity: he now sits regularly at 95–97 mph, and on occasion, hits 98–99 mph with his sinker. Even with the increased velocity and the sharper movement on his pitches, Wilcox still isn’t categorized as a classic swing-and-miss reliever. But the adjustments helped him achieve a 25.1% strikeout rate in the minors in 2025. His walk rate remains higher than ideal, though his ability to induce ground balls provides some margin for error — at least more than a fly-ball oriented pitcher would have.
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Still, control remains the central challenge for Wilcox. Since returning from surgery, repeatability in his mechanics has not been his strong suit, and command within the strike zone has been inconsistent. When his delivery breaks down or loses rhythm, he leaves pitches over the plate, and hitters can elevate them. Because of those command lapses, Wilcox has struggled with giving up home runs, even though his pitch movement should theoretically suppress them. The Mariners likely believe that their pitching development infrastructure, which has a reputation for helping pitchers refine mechanics, could be the key to unlocking Wilcox’s potential.
In 2025, Wilcox posted an ERA of 3.70 but a FIP of 4.97, indicating that his underlying performance metrics suggest room for improvement. Seattle’s coaching staff will almost certainly focus on simplifying his delivery so that he can repeat his mechanics consistently. A smoother motion would not only help him command the baseball more reliably, but could also help him sequence his pitches more effectively, especially with two-strike counts.
The Mariners see this acquisition as a forward-looking move rather than a minor transaction to fill out organizational depth. They are treating Wilcox as a pitcher who could play a real role in the 2026 bullpen, perhaps even as a leverage arm if the development goes as hoped. Seattle’s bullpen has been a strength in recent seasons, and adding a pitcher with Wilcox’s size, velocity, and ground-ball tendencies fits the organization’s profile for multi-inning relief options.
Seattle’s front office has long targeted pitchers who can be molded by their development team. Wilcox checks all those boxes: former high-upside starting pitcher, tons of raw tools, and still enough youth to make growth plausible. His combination of a heavy sinker, improved slider variations, and a useable changeup gives the Mariners a foundation to work with. Whether that results in him becoming a key reliever, a swingman who can cover multiple innings, or simply depth remains to be seen. But the acquisition signals that Seattle is already assembling the pieces needed to build a competitive roster heading into 2026.
In many ways, this first move of the offseason illustrates the Mariners’ strategy: find pitchers with upside who might benefit from a new environment, target undervalued arms with big-league potential, and trust the coaching staff to refine what remains raw. Cole Wilcox may not have reached his original expectations as a prospect — at least not yet. But Seattle clearly believes he still has meaningful potential, and he now has a new opportunity to prove himself.
Consider this the first official roster addition for the Mariners as they begin shaping their 2026 team identity.
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