The Mariners’ season ended in heartbreaking fashion in Game 7 of the ALCS against the Blue Jays, and they will now turn their attention to the offseason with the goal of building a clearly World Series-caliber roster (even if they just fall behind). They will face the departure of several key free agents – Eugenio Suarez, Josh Naylor and Jorge Polanco Chief among them. According to Daniel Kramer of MLB.com and Adam Jude of The Seattle Times, Naylor is the team’s top priority among all potential free agents.
The 28-year-old Naylor (29 next June) has performed well after sending young pitchers through trades Ashton Eads and Brandon Garcia Back to Arizona. Already coming off a fine season with the D-backs (.292/.360/.447), Naylor found another gear in the Emerald City, blasting a .299/.341/.490 slash line (137 wRC+) and surprisingly stealing as many bases (19) in 54 games as he had in his entire previous career (25).
In many ways, Naylor embodies the approach the Mariners have sought in recent offseasons, where improving the club’s contact skills has been a goal (a goal they have largely failed to achieve). He’s striking out just 13.7% of the time this year (compared to 16.2% with the Mariners) and 15.2% since 2020. He’s not a traditional first baseman, but Naylor typically hits around 20 homers per season — he hit nine in 54 games with the M’s — and did have 31 on his resume for the 2024 Guardians.
Entering his age-29 season and coming off the best year of his career without a qualifying offer attached — he was ineligible for one after being traded midseason — Naylor will be a hot commodity in free agency. In the nearly decade that President of Baseball Operations Jerry Dipoto has been running baseball operations in Seattle, he has only offered one multi-year contract to a free agent position player; Mickey GarverA modest two-year, $24MM contract signed before the offseason. Clearly, that needs to change in order to retain Naylor.
Still, Dipoto told MLBTR’s Darla McDonald on our podcast last month that the Mariners do have interest in retaining Naylor long-term and believe the feeling is mutual. Dipoto noted that Naylor is “as good at hitting as anyone has been in the last few years.” [at T-Mobile Park]” — is known to be one of the most pitcher-friendly stadiums in the game. Naylor himself also spoke to Jude colleague Ryan Divish about this last month, stating that he “can’t wait” to come to T-Mobile Park as a visitor and stressing how much he loves the stadium and the atmosphere the fan base creates. He used the word “awesome” several times when recently talking to Kramer and Jude about his experience at T-Mobile Park. Seattle and the “ride or die” mentality of Seattle fans.
Even with mutual interest, the Mariners would have to go well beyond their previous comfort level in free agency to retain Naylor. At just 28 years old, he has produced four straight seasons of well-above-average offense, and he should be able to sign a deal that will extend to at least four years and possibly up to six years. To retain Naylor, Seattle will likely need to more than triple, or even quadruple, its investment in Garver. Currently, the M’s have about $139MM on the books for next year (once Andres Munoz’s option is exercised), according to RosterResource, although non-tenders and trades will certainly impact that amount. Their salary at the end of the season is approximately $166.
To be clear, the Mariners under Dipoto have signed players to lucrative long-term contracts — but not exclusively free-agent position players. left handed Robbie Ray After winning the Cy Young Award in 2021, he signed a five-year, $115MM contract as a free agent. Mariners contract extension Luis Castillo Acquired from the Reds in a deadline trade and signed a five-year, $108MM contract. Of course there are local stars Carl Rowley (six years, $105MM) and Julio Rodriguez (12 years, $210MM) signed a nine-figure extension to stay in Seattle long-term.
The Mariners will prioritize Naylor over other free agents, but that doesn’t necessarily mean Polanco and Suarez will leave. Both Jude and Kramer agree that having the best prospects Colt Emerson and slick defense Ben Williamson In the mix at third base, re-signing Suarez on a significant multi-year deal covering his 30s is unlikely. However, both have also expressed interest in retaining Polanco, who has enjoyed an impressive rebound after re-signing following a knee injury that derailed his 2024 season.
Polanco underwent surgery last October and returned this year with a .265/.326/.495 batting line (132 wRC+) and 26 homers in the regular season. He hit three more home runs in the postseason, including two long balls against a possible American League Young Champion (for the second consecutive season) Tarik Skubal.
Mariners have high-money long-term option at second base with former first-round pick and top prospect Cole Youngbut the 22-year-old Young hit just .211/.302/.305 in his first 77 MLB games this year. Even if Young is the long-term answer at second base — and some early struggles in less than 300 games will do little to diminish the chances of that happening — Seattle could return Polanco to his role as primary designated hitter and part-time infielder. That’s the role he’ll play in 2025, playing 88 games at DH, 38 games at second base, five games at third base and even one game at first base.
Like Naylor, Polanco will ask the Mariners to sign a multi-year contract, albeit not on the same scale. Polanco will turn 33 in early July next year. It seems likely that his contract will be limited to three years, especially given his recent injury woes. He still requires a bigger commitment than what he made to Garver in free agency two years ago, but not a huge one.
Mariners brass will be speaking to the media at their end-of-season press conference later this morning (1 a.m. PT), and they’re sure to touch on this and a wide range of topics as they look ahead to the offseason, so there’s likely going to be a lot of Mariners news in the near future.
