The Seattle Mariners are coming off a historic 2025 season. Making it further into the postseason than ever before since becoming a franchise in 1977. They were only eight outs away in Game Seven from a World Series appearance. With Spring Training started, it is time to start thinking about the direction the Mariners are heading into this season.
Team Direction
Since the season ended, Seattle has shown no signs of slowing down or changing their winning mentality going into the 2026 season. Over this past off-season, they have signed Josh Naylor (five-Year, $92.5 Million) to the largest free-agent contract for a position player since Robinson Cano in 2014. It is also the largest signing under the President of Baseball Operations, Jerry Dipoto. The Mariners also traded for another left-handed arm in Jose Ferrer, strengthening the bullpen. The Brendan Donovan trade got the Mariners the infielder they needed. Seattle has shown that it intends to win by getting the players that it needs and building a star lineup from top to bottom.
Win-Now mentality
Since the trade deadline last season, the M’s have shown that they are settling into the win-now mentality to get them to the World Series. With trading for Eugenio Suarez and Naylor at the deadline last year, even when they had contracts ending at the end of the season. They showed that they are willing to “rent players”, which is very uncommon for this team. Especially with how their upper management has shown to run things in years past.
Seattle needs to capitalize on this year. They have several key players’ contracts ending after the 2026 season, and there is not a lot of time with this current roster. Since bringing up Logan Gilbert in 2021, Seattle has built one of, if not the best, starting rotations in Baseball. But this rotation won’t last forever, and after getting so close to success, the staff has developed a lineup to provide run support for this rotation.
The Mariners are known for their farm system and for creating great prospect talent. They do not usually trade any of their top prospects away, especially before seeing them at the Major League level. That changed this offseason, when they traded both Harry Ford and Jurrangelo Cijntje for key roster pieces to fit this current lineup. Proving the case, the Mariners are all in this season, furthering their win-now mentality.
This Season Compared to Last
Last season was a season the city of Seattle will not forget, but it is going to be a tough road recreating that success with the many heroics they had all season. Cal Raleigh, coming off a historic season, breaking multiple home run records, and being a large key to the success they had. Cal is expected to have another productive year at the plate, but it will be difficult to duplicate that performance.
With trading for Donovan this offseason, instead of re-signing Suarez, the M’s are trading power for contact. Eugenio brought great power to the table. He hit 49 home runs last year, but had a 29.9% strike out rate that jumped up to 35.9% after joining the Mariners. Donovan has a career strikeout rate of 13.5%. In past years, the strikeout rate has been an alarming problem for the Mariners, but this addition and subtraction show the direction the team wants to go in.
The team last season also faced several injuries throughout the season, especially in their pitching staff. Staying healthy this year will be a large factor in their success. With the whole roster looking ready in spring training, it is a good sign that the team is ready to go with no major injuries to start the season. Hopefully, all Mariners participating in the World Baseball Classic stay healthy for Opening Day.
A New Standard Set
The ultimate goal for the players, and the expectation from the fans, is to make it back to the American League Championship Series and make it to their first-ever World Series. This Mariners roster finally got a taste of a divisional championship and an ALCS appearance. They are ready and want more this coming season. Fans should be very excited and look forward to seeing what this year brings for the city of Seattle.
Main Photo Credit: John Froschauer-USA TODAY Sports