At the end of the 2024 season I was upset at the Mariners. Not the players but the organization as a whole who yet again put out an inferior product and tried to sell the fans on a championship mindset. The fans weren't buying it after 24 years of said promise not coming to fruition. However, last season was the first the Mariners finally did what the fans asked, make big moves for big bats who could help carry the team to their goals. The Mariners finally put together a lineup to go with their pitching so they could compete and it worked just as the fans expected. The Mariners won the AL West and were a few innings away from the World Series. What a great season and expectations are high heading into 2026. Let's talk about where the Mariners are at and what they can do to repeat as AL West champions and make another deep playoff push.
Credit: Seattle Times
First let's give credit to Dan Wilson and this coaching staff. They heard the feedback after 2024, made the necessary changes to their coaching staff, and changed their approach and process to every practice and game. This paid dividends for building the championship culture they needed to compete. Also, credit to the front office, general managers, and ownership for going all in at the all-star break and getting 2 big bats from Arizona in Naylor and Suarez, while also grabbing a much needed bullpen depth piece (who unfortunately didn't work out but there was no way to know he wouldn't at the time).
Naylor's presence was key. He was a clubhouse favorite and fan favorite. He provided clutch defense and offense that's been missing at 1B in Seattle for a very long time. Every fan is happy he was able to re-sign with the team in the off-season and hopefully he heals fully this off-season so he can take over where he left off last year.
Let's dig in to how the Mariners can shake off a bad ending to a great season and make a championship caliber team in 2026.
1) Getting On Base and Moving Base Runners (again)
There needs to be more focused on small ball in Seattle. Yes they have the power to win every game but playing in Seattle, the best way to win is sometimes simply stringing together walks, hits, stolen bases, and sacrifices. This puts a lot of pressure on opposing pitchers and the threat of the home run is always there making it scarier for opposing teams to face. Last season the Mariners were 20th in batting average at .244 and were bottom of the league in strikeouts. They need to clean this up, strike out less, and get on base more. Overall the Mariners were #3 in home runs, #3 in stolen bases, and #10 in OBP which is a huge improvement over the previous season so they are trending in a good direction offensively. The challenge here will be filling holes of lost players at 2B and 3B where Suarez and Polanco were both offensive threats.
2) Coaching (again)
I was pleasantly surprised to see Dan and his staff mature last season after squandering the previous season. They really changed up their approach and the results spoke for themselves. However, there's still a lot of coaching decisions that I question throughout the season and playoffs. For instance, when to change pitchers and who to bring in from the pen. Dan has a tendency to let starters go too long who are not on their A-game or pull guys too soon who are dealing. He also has his go-to guys in situations which leads to overuse. This showed in the playoffs when certain arms were simply gassed. I also believe when bases are open to fill them with feared hitters. Springer should've never been able to bat when he hit his 3-run homer in game 7 of the ALCS. First base was open, put him on and pitch for a double play, or at least limit damage to 1-2 runs. Springer was the last person you wanted to face there with 1b open. Hopefully Dan learns from last year's mistakes (he's proven he can) so this season he makes better decisions.
3) Roster Improvements (again)
Yet again, the Mariners need to replace a couple key positions and bolster their bullpen for next season. They have key decisions to make in the infield. They also have a couple RP spots to consider.
I'm skeptical that the Mariners will make anymore big moves this off-season as they re-signed who they needed and still have to deal with arbitration. I would assume the trade deadline will yield any missing pieces of injuries or subpar play require it.
What should the Mariners do to replace the few pieces that are leaving, as well as bolstering their lineup to be more successful and make another championship run? Here's a few areas they can look at:
Weak or Missing Positions:
- 2B/SS: The Mariners don't really have an all-star middle infielder. J.P. is awesome as the oldest Mariner on the active roster but his play has been so up and down that it's hard to rely on him. Additionally, Polanco has left at 2B leaving the middle infield very weak. I would not be against bringing in a 2B or moving J.P. to 2B and getting a good SS. Overall the remaining FA's are not great and using the farm system may be a potentially better option with Cole Young being close to ready for the big leagues and Leo Rivas being a great backup.
- Some FA available at 2B: Adam Frazier, Luis Urias. Some SS available are Luis Rengifo, Ramon Urias, and Tim Anderson.
- 3B: The Mariners are also short a starting 3B with Suarez being gone. The only available FA's left also aren't that great so promoting Ben Williamson again may be the best option.
- Some FA available at 3B: Ramon Urias and Jose Iglesias.
- RP: The Mariners had one of the top bullpens in baseball last year but it was heavily reliant upon a handful of pitchers. The bullpen wasn't very deep and the playoffs showed it. The best RPs were gassed and the middle relievers were not up to the task. The Mariners need to bring in a lefty and righty to use in low leverage situations so the backend of the pen doesn't have to pitch multiple innings.
- Some FA available at RP: Paul Sewald, Andrew Chafin, Joey Lucchesi, Shelby Miller, Jose Leclerc, Rafael Montero, Jalen Beeks
- DH: The M's revolving door of below average hitters at DH needs to stop. They need to find a big bat in free agency who can hit in cleanup. No more experiments like Mitch Garver. I hope they can go grab a bat at some point or find a way to platoon guys to give people a day off from playing defense.
In a nutshell, the M's need a to figure out their infield and bullpen. If they do this then they have a high likelihood of repeating as AL West champions.
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