After winning the AL West and reaching Game 7 of the ALCS, it isn’t surprising that the Mariners are looking to stick with a successful formula. That means “ideally keeping as much of the group that we had last year, that we really believed in, together,” general manager Justin Hollander told the Seattle Times’ Ryan Divish and other reporters at the GM Meetings this week.
“Our offseason is largely going to start with the guys who were on the team last year and try to bring as many back as possible,” Hollander said, with the M’s “then filling in the rest of the roster as required.” To this end, Hollander said the team has been in contact with the agents for their six free agents — Josh Naylor, Jorge Polanco, Eugenio Suarez, Caleb Ferguson, Luke Jackson, and Mitch Garver.
“I think they know how we feel, and don’t really believe in progress or no progress,” Hollander said. “When you get to a deal, you get to a deal, but I think everybody’s aware of where we’re at right now and that we do have interest, and we’ll just keep playing it day by day until we can get deals or have to pivot elsewhere.”
Hollander naturally didn’t give any hints about the details of these negotiations, though logic would dictate that the Mariners won’t be re-signing all six players. The M’s have been open about their desire to retain Naylor, so the common belief is that Naylor and Polanco are the most likely internal free agents to re-up for new contracts, while the other four will probably be playing elsewhere in 2026.
The potential departures of Ferguson and Jackson coincide with Seattle’s desire to add to its bullpen, which Hollander said was another “area of focus for us this offseason.” Led by star closer Andres Munoz, the Mariners’ relief corps was more solid than a surefire plus in 2025, as the club’s collective 3.72 ERA (ninth of 30 teams) was undermined by control problems and middling strikeout numbers. Beyond these numbers, Hollander also acknowledged “the realities that our high-leverage group just worked really hard for an extra month of the season. We would be silly not to expect that to take a toll over time….Making the bullpen deeper and longer is important.”
Adding relief help of any kind is the priority, yet Divish feels the Mariners might make a point of adding a southpaw. Gabe Speier is currently the only left-hander projected to be part of Seattle’s bullpen, and minor leaguers Jhonathan Diaz and Tayler Saucedo are the only other southpaws on the Mariners’ 40-man roster.