Coming off objectively the best season in Mariners history they’ve been met with a few decisions they need to make this offseason many regarding the expiring free agents from the middle of the lineup. They resigned Josh Naylor on a back-loaded contract, and this is a great first step for the Mariners but with question marks at 3rd base and 2nd base plus depth in the bullpen they should still seek to make a few signings if they want to follow up last season with another playoff run.
Mariners Weaknesses
The Mariners hitting took a real step up compared to the last 4 years of the time when Scott Servais was managing the team going from one of the poorest performing teams batting wise in the league every year. This is largely due to Edgar Martinez being hired as hitting coach and the bolstering of talent. The batting lineup got better and so did the philosophy and coaching. This being said the Mariners still performed like their former selves of the Scott Servais team’s looking to hit lots of homeruns, walk, or strikeout. The team was 6th in the MLB in strikeouts in 2025 with 1446, almost averaging 9 a game. While they were third in the MLB when it comes to home runs and 9th in runs scored, the 7th worst K% is startling.
The Mariners batters had quite a low BABIP (20th/30) and line drive percentage (28th/30) last year. This coupled with the lack of pull% and 16.7% of the balls put in play, being deemed soft contact opens a lot for improvement. They lived and died by the homerun last year and some timely hitting and looking to improve in the other overall hitting metrics would be likely lean to an offensive improvement in 2026.
What the Mariners are Losing
Thankfully the Mariners are not losing Josh Naylor who is a great fit for this team and was spectacular in his try out run at the end of the 2025 season post trade deadline. But they are losing as of this moment Mitch Garver, Eugenio Suarez, and Jorge Polanco as hitters go and Luke Jackson, Caleb Ferguson, Tayler Saucedo, and Gregory Santos for pitchers.
Hitters wise that’s 49 home runs from Suarez split between the Mariners and Diamondbacks last year and Jorge Polanco’s 26 home runs and 30 doubles, both of which ranked 4th and 3rd among hitters in the Mariners lineup. Mitch Garver was a depth piece and provided a few alright at bats but ultimately the Mariners are not losing anything with his departure.
From the pitching perspective you’re losing 2 decent left-handed pitchers but at the end of the day Saucedo and Ferguson don’t really possess the best stuff and with their low velocities make them vulnerable to being hit hard.
Mariners needs
This off-season the Mariners need to find a way to maintain both Suarez and Polanco as the free agent class at 2nd base isn’t very deep and you don’t see many 3rd basemen with 50 home run pop for this cheap come around often. Pitching wise you have to find some bullpen depth and looking at acquiring a solid lefty pitcher to take off some pressure from Gabe Speier in the bullpen would be a massive get for the 2026 season.
Jorge Polanco | Second Base
Polanco, an MLB veteran who turns 33 in the 2026 season, is going to be the Mariners biggest priority after re-signing Naylor in November. Polanco is the perfect DH and 2nd base rotation piece while the Mariners try to work Cole Young into the lineup everyday as he develops. Polanco, a switch hitter last year slashed .265/.326/.495 in 525 plate appearances. He saw a 2nd best 26 home run campaign while adding 30 doubles on top of this. The 15.6% K% is crucial too for the Mariners as keeping someone who had 56 extra base hits and was in the 83rd percentile of strikeout rate is great. Polanco shouldn’t be demanding an expense contact either. With his age increasing and before this season his overall play decreasing, there are questions around how much longer he has left in the MLB. Personally, I think the Mariners can make a 2-year contract with him signing for $30-$35 million. While that feels like a lot for an aging 2nd baseman his great season last year coupled with the fact he can switch hit makes worthwhile, especially with Naylor taking a team friendly back-loaded contract.
Eugenio Suarez | Third Base
Suarez has glaring problems as a hitter like his 29.8% K% rate and only 7% walk rate with the low BABIP of .243 these are all nullified to an extent by his extreme power. 49 home runs last year and 118 rbi’s is something most teams will bite at even if there are other problems. You can afford to have one or two of these guys on your roster. Stick them in the middle of the lineup at the 6th spot and once every couple of games they hit a towering home run that could be crucial. There aren’t a lot of hitters who can barrel and hit the ball as hard as Eugenio Suarez has in his career. While 34 years old Suarez is probably going to be cheaper than we expected when we were watching him hit home runs every night in the 2025 season. I think the Mariners sustained success is going to be paired with can they be a top 10 team in home runs every year and with guys like Cal Raleigh and Julio Rodriguez why not keep another potentially 50 home run hitters in the batting order. 3 years $60-$75 million with club options.
Luis Arraez | Second Base/Designated Hitter
It would be a difficult decision for the Mariners to opt in to paying a guy who doesn’t really hit for power to be your likely everyday DH. With every day DH’s becoming rarer and rarer these days, I see this as unlikely but would love it if the Mariners could fit Arraez in their lineup. The Mariners lack a true leadoff hitter with Randy Arozerana being the guy majority of last year and you don’t particularly love leadoff hitters that strikeout 1/4th of their at bats and only hit .238. While it was nice for the power aspect Luis Arraez brings the complete opposite and would be great as the Mariners leadoff. With a high line drive percentage of 28% almost double the Mariners team LD% and his 3.1% K% you’re getting a guy who finds himself on the base’s a lot more than Arozerana. This coupled with hitters like Raleigh, Rodriguez, Naylor, Arozerana following you’re due to have him touching home plate a lot as a runner. I’d be excited for a true classic leadoff hitter in the Mariners lineup and Arraez at a likely deal of 2 or 3 years and $15-$17 million AAV sign me up.
Munetaka Murakami | Third Base
Mariners once the synonymous franchise when it came to Japanese baseball players and their team would love to get that reputation back from the Dodgers. Munetaka Murakami is the most expensive free agent on this list at a projected contract of 6-10 years and $18-$22 million AAV. This would be a long-term signing which isn’t typical of Dipoto and the front office in the recent years for free agents. His high K% and high BB% rate coupled with strong power makes him a perfect fit for a team identity built on the three true outcomes. This guy is has shown some serious slugging capabilities in Japan and looks to be the top Japanese hitting prospect in this free agent cycle. His biggest concerns are his strikeout rate skyrocketing once he see’s better pitches in the United States but if you can look past that you’re looking at one of the best Japanese hitting prospects ever and his bat if he transitions smoothly into a star, you’re looking at a Max Muncy type of career with his three true outcome playstyle. The worry is you don’t want to invest that much money in someone who could end up like Joey Gallo as many tend to think could be the case. I, however, am not opposed to this and if the Mariners decided to take this chance I’d support fully.
Gregory Soto | Left Hand Relief Pitcher
It would be kind of atypical for the Mariners to look too free agency to find a solid relief pitcher but with the desperate reality of getting another decent lefty in this bullpen and the ability to not trade assets away you might see this happen. I like Gregory Soto a lot for the Mariners at a 2-year $10 million dollar value. I doubt the Mariners splurge that much money on a reliever, but his advanced metrics and sinker coupled with slider pitch mix is kind of been the Mariners Modus Operandi or “MO” this century. Sinker velo sits around 96 and 97 miles per hour on average moving first base side. The slider being his put away pitch with 40 strikeouts and only 2 homers allowed on it against 103 batters is something you love to see. Soto rarely gets hit hard too with one of the lowest barrel rates in the MLB at only 4% and the high chase% and whiff% you find a pretty solid reliever stuff wise. His pitch mix is familiar for the Mariners too, being a lot like Speiers just seeing a lot less use of the fastball from soto but similar in the sense of the sinker and slider being highly relied upon. I’d love to see another strong lefty in our bullpen and Soto brings a lot of what Speier brings allowing us to utilize the lefty matchup a lot more frequently and not be worried about how to use reliable lefties.
Anthony DeSclafani | Right Hand Relief Pitcher
Okay, hear me out on this one. DeSclafani would be a great buy low, high reward get for our bullpen and that’s become common with this Mariners pitching staff utilizing “bad” pitchers and turning them into reliable bullpen guys. The Mariners would get DeSclafani back after he was previously on the team for a few days when they traded Robbie Ray for Mitch Haniger once more. DeSclafani has a 6-pitch mix and after some data visualization I’ve done his splitter is one of the best in the league according to my data. Bringing in a guy with a strong pitch and utilizing his other strengths gives Pete Woodworth a lot to work with. I’d love to see DeSclafani in on a spring training camp invite or actual contract and try to utilize his strengths out of the bullpen and revitalize his career for probably his last couple of years in the league.
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