At the end of the 2025 season, the Mariners lost three infielders to free agency, as each of Josh Naylor, Jorge Polanco and Eugenio Suárez hit the open market. That left shortstop J.P. Crawford as the only lock for the 2026 infield. The M’s quickly pounced to bring Naylor back, signing the first baseman to a five-year, $92.5MM deal not long after free agency began.
Reuniting with Polanco and/or Suárez still seems to be on the table but second and third base are open for now. What options do the Mariners have in the system at present? Let’s take a look at the possibilities.
Young is a former first-round pick, with the M’s taking him 21st overall in 2022. He came into 2025 as a consensus top 100 prospect. He was promoted to the big leagues at the end of May and primarily played second base. He eventually took 257 trips to the plate but produced a tepid .211/.302/.305 line, which translates to a wRC+ of 80.
That’s obviously less than ideal but there are some reasons for optimism. Young’s 10.9% walk rate and 18.3% strikeout rate were both strong. His .247 batting average on balls in play was more than 40 points below league average. His average exit velocity of 87.6 miles per hour was subpar but his max exit velo of 114.1 mph was in the top 10% of major league hitters. Perhaps he can tap into that premium velo a bit more as he gets more exposed to big league pitching. He hit .277/.392/.461 for a 120 wRC+ in Triple-A prior to his promotion, so perhaps his uninspiring major league debut was just a blip.
One year after taking Young, the M’s were selecting one pick later in the first round. They used the 22nd overall pick in 2023 to grab Emerson. He had a big rise in 2025, playing 90 games in High-A, followed by 34 in Double-A and six in Triple-A. Between those three levels, he took 600 trips to the plate and slashed .285/.383/.458 for a 129 wRC+. He also stole 14 bases while primarily playing shortstop, plus a few games at third.
Emerson is now a consensus top 15 prospect in the whole league. His Triple-A experience is still minimal and he’s only 20 years old but the Mariners would presumably have at least some willingness to carry him on the Opening Day roster. MLB teams are generally more willing to do that with top prospects these days because of the PPI benefits. The M’s carried 21-year-old Julio Rodríguez on their roster throughout 2022. When he won Rookie of the Year, that netted the M’s an extra pick in 2023. That allowed them to select outfielder Jonny Farmelo just seven picks after taking Emerson.
The M’s presumably won’t just hand a job to Emerson. He will have to earn it in spring. Theoretically, he could take over third base in 2026. Crawford is slated to be a free agent a year from now, at which point Emerson could potentially move over to short. It’s also possible that Felnin Celesten is more of a factor by then. Celesten is considered a better shortstop defender than Emerson but he hasn’t reached Double-A yet.
Bliss was a second-round pick of the Diamondbacks who came to the Mariners in the 2023 deadline deal which sent Paul Sewald to the desert. His 2025 season was marred by injury. First, a torn left biceps required surgery in April. He began a rehab assignment in August but then suffered a torn meniscus in his right knee. Due to that missed time, he has a .214/.287/.367 line in just 110 big league plate appearances over the past two seasons.
His minor league track record is naturally better than that. Bliss has 739 Triple-A plate appearances with a .260/.365/.453 line and 105 wRC+. He’s also huge threat on the bases with at least 50 steals in the minors in both 2023 and 2024. He has lots of minor league experience at both middle infield positions. He never had the same prospect hype as Young or Emerson but the speed and defense could make him a valuable player with even league average offense.
Williamson was a second-round pick in 2023. He generally put up good minor league numbers but with a pesky contact-based approach and very little power. He got into 85 big league games this year and hit .253/.294/.310 for a wRC+ of 76. There could be more in the bat but Williamson is lauded more for his glovework. Statcast only had him as average in the field this year but he was credited with eight Defensive Runs Saved.
Arroyo, 21, was an international signing out of Colombia and is now a consensus Top 100 prospect. In 2025, he got into 65 High-A games and 56 Double-A contests. Between those two levels, he slashed .262/.401/.433 for a wRC+ of 139. He has a bit of experience at third base and shortstop but was kept exclusively at second base in 2025. Since he hasn’t yet played at the Triple-A level, it’s probably a bit of a reach for him to crack the Opening Day roster, but he might have an outside chance. Even if Opening Day is out of the question, a midseason promotion would be a possibility.
Leo Rivas/Miles Mastrobuoni/Samad Taylor
These three are more in the part-time or utility bucket. Rivas can draw walks but has little power. He can play the three infield spots to the left of first base as well as the outfield corners. He could be on the bench but he also has an option remaining. Mastrobuoni’s minor league profile is somewhat similar but he hasn’t hit in the majors and is now out of options. Taylor has just 83 big league plate appearances and is also out of options. He has big wheels and can also play the outfield, so he could be a nice bench piece who comes in for pinch running and/or defensive substitute opportunities.
______________________
Put it all together and it puts the Mariners in an interesting position. They are clearly in win-now mode. They just finished their fifth straight winning season. They won the West for the first time in over 20 years. They came achingly close to a World Series berth. The Astros and Rangers seem to be dealing with payroll issues. The A’s have some promise but still need to build a pitching staff. The Angels have lots of questions to be answered. The division is there for the Mariners to take.
That should arguably tilt them towards going for established big leaguers such as Polanco or Suárez or whoever else. On the other hand, there’s a chance Emerson is a future star who is ready to go. If he struggles in the spring, Williamson at least gives them a glove-first floor as a fallback. At second base, the M’s could leave it open for Young, Bliss and Arroyo to duke it out. Between the three, they would only need one of them to step forward and seize the job.
In an ideal world, a utility player who can also move to the outfield would make a lot of sense, so perhaps the M’s will make a spirited pursuit of Brendan Donovan. He could play second or third if the younger guys don’t take those jobs. If they do, he could move into the corner infield mix with Victor Robles, Dominic Canzone and Luke Raley. If that also got too crowded, the designated hitter spot is fairly open at the moment. Free agents like Willi Castro or Amed Rosario would be less-exciting versions of the Donovan pick-up.
RosterResource has the club slated for a $151MM payroll in 2026. That’s about $15MM below the $166MM they had at the end of 2025. President of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto recently said that next year’s payroll would probably be in a similar range to the prior season. Like all teams, they could use some pitching upgrades, so it will be fascinating to see how much of their remaining resources they use on the infield.
Photo courtesy of Joe Nicholson, Imagn Images
If you don’t get off it and sign Polanco AND Suarez, I am going to be very disappointed in you Jerry!!
mlbtraderumors.com/mlb-free-agent-prediction-conte…
Signing 35 year old Suarez would be a big waste of money he has question marks all over him at this point
Yeah, I misread my pick on him …for some reason, saw Former Team as my choice. Have him going to the Red Sox …let them waste it!
Mariners will fall this year unless they keep them.
My guess is we resign polanco and call it an off-season but I would prefer to get some better bullpen pieces
Really hope we can add a legit 8th inning guy to go along with Polanco
Ben Williamson should not be taken seriously as an internal option IMO. The bat is abysmal, and the glove metrics didn’t match up to hype. We shouldn’t be willing to just hand him 3B if we expect to contend for a World Series. Go pretend to be a serious organization and upgrade an obvious position of need.
Ben’s bat looked a lot better after we optioned him, so if he can be a 95-100 wRc hitter then his defense will carry him. He would have to be one of our 2 worst hitters tho hitting in the 8 hole, but hey we saw Ernie Clement single/double his way into a productive player in the postseason.
8 DRS in less than half a season is incredible. He also showed a lot of offensive growth after being optioned.
Honestly, I think Williamson could develop roughly average extra base power if he can tweak his swing and start hitting the ball in the air more. The defense alone already makes him a second division starter.
Yes, it would be nice to have Polanco’s bat back but it comes with an extensive injury history, which includes IL stints in ’22, ’23 and ’24. Thank him for the production and let him walk. Seattle’s farm system is overflowing with highly regarded infielders, all of whom have earned the right to compete for a starting job.
The Mariners have the prospect talent to seize control of the division in 2027 and beyond, but they need to let the youngsters play.
Polanco barely played second base last year. He mainly was a designated hitter.
That said he’s still a nice bat , but you can’t count on him for a hundred twenty games in the field
I have to say one option is package deal of Luis Castillo, Dominic Canzone,Luke Raley and a prospect for 3rd base or 2nd basement player.. Get Luis Castillo money off the books, mariners can go out get another platoon guy for RF..
I think we absolutely should trade Raley this offseason. Canzone has supplanted him and Raley has to have some decent trade value. Maybe a lefty bullpen arm for Raley?
Castillo trade would be cool. Wouldn’t want to salary dump him or anything, so we would have to get a decent return. But also, Luis is a great 5 starter to have around as he’s been very durable. Just sucks to pay a 5 starter $22m lol
Hopefully we can re-sign Polanco for 3/42 and he can play 60 ish games at 2b, with the rest coming at DH. Maybe Cole or Colt could hold down 2b and we can re-evaluate at the trade deadline. Really wish Polanco could play 3b but he looked awful there last year.
The thing about Felnin Celesten is his defense got a little bit worse in 2025, while Colt Emerson’s defense rocketed up to solidly plus status. I’m still a huge believer in Felnin but he still needs to put together a nice full season before we even think about him in the bigs.
I know some people don’t like Ben because of his noodle bat, but I’d be completely fine with him to start the year, same as 2025. He has contact ability
Polanco’s looking for a 2-3 year deal, at between $15 and $20 million AAV. Given that he’s a below average defender at 2B and has no other position but DH, I don’t see a multiple year deal at that level as good value for the Ms. Over the last three seasons, he’s averaged 1.9 bWAR. He’s going into his 32 y/o season and not getting any better. He played the majority of his games at DH last season and the Ms need to get Raleigh more DH ABs, especially with Harry Ford coming along. Unless Polanco’s market doesn’t develop and, like last off-season, the Ms can get him at a more reasonable level, I don’t see him coming back.
Good point with Harry Ford. If we keep Harry as our second catcher, he would most likely need a good chunk of games at DH to get PAs. That would leave Polanco as a full time (or close to it) 2b, which as you’ve said, is not likely or smart.