Draft weekend is usually about projecting ceilings. The Mariners' 9th-round pick this year is about something rarer: writing a check for a guy who literally cannot throw a pitch in a game right now. Drew Whalen, the Auburn righty Seattle took at pick 280, is coming off Tommy John surgery, and the club still paid him well above slot to skip his last year of college ball.
9th-rder Drew Whalen signs w/@Mariners for $250k (slot 280 value = $202,700). @AuburnBaseball RHP, 11 IP this spring before having Tommy John surgery, low-80s changeup is best pitch, also has low-90s fastball that reaches 96 mph & mid-80s slider. @MLBDraft
The numbers tell the story on their own. Slot value for pick 280 was $202,700, meaning Seattle went nearly $50K over just to get a deal done — real money for a 9th-rounder, let alone one who threw all of 11 innings before going down. Before the elbow gave out, though, Whalen flashed the stuff that made teams willing to gamble: a fastball that touches 96 mph, a mid-80s slider, and a low-80s changeup that's reportedly his best offering.
This wasn't a straightforward sign, either. According to Mariners VP of amateur scouting Scott Hunter, Seattle was "battling NIL money" for Whalen, who had a return-to-Auburn package on the table after his surgery. That's the new reality of the draft's back half — college programs can now out-bid pro teams for players who'd rather rehab on campus than in the minors, and it's forcing clubs like Seattle to pay actual dollars just to keep talent from walking back to school.
Seattle apparently decided the arm was worth the fight. Scouts liked how Whalen moved on the mound and believed the stuff would play as a starter once he's healthy, so instead of losing him to Auburn's NIL offer, they matched the price and got him into their system to rehab as a Mariner. It's a bet with no return for at least a year, maybe more, but if the elbow heals clean, Seattle got a potential mid-rotation look for 9th-round money.
None of this pays off immediately — Whalen won't throw a competitive pitch for the organization until well into his recovery. But it's a window into how far teams will now go to protect a late-round arm from the transfer portal and NIL era, and a reminder that the most interesting picks on day two of the draft aren't always the ones who play right away.