Seattle Mariners — Repeat Aspirations With a Power-Heavy Blueprint

Seattle exploded in 2025, winning the AL West behind record power production and a deep lineup that could rattle any pitching staff. Cal Raleigh’s 60 home runs and the in-season acquisition of Josh Naylor made Seattle’s offense the envy of baseball.

Pitching Has Been Solid
While not elite across the board, Seattle’s has one of the deepest rotations in baseball. Bryan Woo, George Kirby and Logan Gilbert make up a true 3-headed monster at the top of the rotation with Woo having a Cy Young-caliber run in the first half of the season (I saw him pitch live in May – he’s THAT good). It wouldn’t surprise me at all if one of these 3 starters won a Cy Young sooner rather than later. The bullpen was also a top 10 unit in terms of ERA.

With the MVP-caliber (and deserving, iykyk) numbers put up by Cal Raleigh, the 30+ homer 90+ RBI season from Julio Rodriguez, and the solid production from Naylor after the trade, it may surprise people to learn that Seattle was closer to the middle of the pack than you’d expect in some major offensive categories. 11th in on base percentage, 17th in total runs and 20th in team batting average. They stole the 3rd most bases in the majors but was also among the league’s worst teams in terms of strikeouts. Julio Rodriguez, Cal Raleigh and Randy Arozarena all ranked in the top 30 for strikeouts with the latter two ranking in the top 8. Considering that those three are also among the team’s top run producers, it makes sense that this team is pretty average in terms of runs.

Offseason Quiet but Compositional
Rather than overhaul, the Mariners leaned into roster continuity. They re-signed Josh Naylor to a 5-year deal after a Postseason run that saw him hit .340. However, the M’s did lose a few key offensive pieces this offseason, and I don’t know if they’ve been sufficiently replaced. They’ve lost two of their top 6 average guys with Jorge Polanco and Ben Williamson going elsewhere.

Biggest Needs
If Seattle wants to take the next step and win a title, their offense needs to be a little more consistent. The power is there, but the high number of strikeouts and low average cause problems (the 84-point difference between Raleigh’s .247 average and Aaron Judge’s .331 LITERALLY cost The Big Dumper the MVP).

The Mariners did take a step to address this by adding Brenden Donovan this offseason, who finished 2025 with a top 20 average in baseball.

Two more moves that could help? Promote their top prospect Colt Emerson (#9). The 20-year-old shortstop is considered one of the best pure hitters in the minor leagues. He draws a ton of walks and doesn’t swing and miss much. Exactly what the Mariners need.

Another approach is to trade for a guy like TJ Friedl. The 30-year-old center fielder is a high OBP guy with 20-home-run power. He is currently under a 1-year arbitration contract with the Reds, but if Cincinnati’s season doesn’t go as planned, they could look to move him. The pot might need to be sweetened, since the Cincinnati has control over Friedl until 2028, but I think Seattle has the goods. Other than Emerson, they have 5 other Top 100 prospects, who could look sweet to a Reds organization who have already promoted two of their top guys, leaving just two T100 prospects in the pipeline, both in the lower levels. This would be a good way to replenish. Additionally, I’d consider throwing J.P Crawford in the deal. He’s 31-a relatively high strikeout guy, and Colt Emerson is likely their shortstop of the future, creating a bit of a middle-infield log jam once he’s promoted.

Our Take
Seattle remains a strong contender, but without addressing their offensive consistency issues, as well as a back-end bullpen arm (maybe like a Pete Fairbanks, who could be available for a trade with the Marlins at the deadline), their dominance could sputter in October-style matchups.