The Mariners have made the biggest move of free agency to date, re-signing Josh Naylor to a five-year deal. The $92.5MM commitment was handily their biggest to a free agent hitter in the decade that Jerry Dipoto has run baseball operations. Seattle’s goal of retaining as much of their 2025 roster as possible continues, as Dipoto told reporters at the press conference announcing the Naylor deal that the team is still interested in re-signing Jorge Polanco.
“Polo’ is a great guy, and we have been in touch with him and his (agency),” Dipoto said (link via Adam Jude of The Seattle Times). “I don’t imagine that it’s going to move as fast as it moved with Josh.” Seattle also hasn’t closed the door on bringing Eugenio Suárez, Jude writes, but it appears Polanco is more of a primary focus.
Seattle brought the switch-hitting Polanco back on a $6MM deal last winter. They were rewarded for their faith that his down 2024 season was due to playing through a meniscus injury in his left knee. Polanco popped 26 homers with a .265/.326/.495 batting line over 524 plate appearances. He spent most of his time at designated hitter to keep him healthy but got more regular run at second base in September and into the postseason.
Polanco is going to command a much stronger contract this time around. He’s a lock for at least two years. MLBTR predicted a three-year, $42MM contract covering his age 32-34 seasons. That price point would have been the M’s largest deal for a free agent hitter under Dipoto until the Naylor signing. It seems there’s still room in the budget for a mid-tier free agent deal of that ilk even with Naylor on the books for $16.5MM next season ($10MM salary plus a $6.5MM signing bonus).
Ryan Bliss, Cole Young and Leo Rivas are the second base options for the time being. Top infield prospect Colt Emerson is looming after hitting .285/.383/.458 between the top three minor league levels as a 19-year-old. Emerson seems likelier to break in at third base, where light-hitting Ben Williamson projects as the starter. That could change if the Mariners are unable to re-sign Polanco and wind up focusing on Suárez instead.
Love Gino, but his #’s at T-MOBILE are a drag
Red Sox, where are you????
Polo gives us more flexibility-not that he is that flexible but he has solid contact skills which we need more than Geno’s pop. He is definitely going to be a DH more than on the field going forward if not this year but in the future of a three year contract. He can bridge the gap as Cole Young figures it out. The real question mark for the M’s right now is how do we get AB’s for Harry Ford? Or do we move him and get a back up catcher?
Polanco would be so perfect if he could just play a good 3b. He’s still a perfect fit as a switch hitting DH/2b tho so hopefully we can get him around the 3/42 projection. Maybe 3rd year vesting option?
Except for the 8th inning of Game 5 in the ALCS then Wilson should lower the flag and see what happens
Mariner
I don’t see it. Mariners need to aim higher. I see them signing a Japanese slugger long term. That pitching is too good to not aggressively pursue high ceiling players
I would love to see them sign Munetaka Murakami, but I don’t know if they are going to give someone so much money who hasn’t seen MLB pitching yet.
I’m not sure they have the money left after signing Naylor
Are power numbers just BIGGER in Seatle?
Everyone except Klenic have really good numbers…..
or….
Should the Tigers be targeting their hitting coach?
no, most are worst, especially for righties
I doubt Edgar is going to Detroit. You could offer him a ton of money but he will say no. He played his whole career here doubt he leaves as a coach. He could just go back to his retirement.
Williamson, Young and Emerson give us three talented but light hitting infielders. This isn’t going to work. One of them has to break out with some pop in their bat. Until they show it at the MLB level we need to count on a veteran and the youngsters AB’s will be limited. I will take Kazuma Okamoto.. We are too close to be held back by rookies that cannot hit for power.
Colt Emerson is “light hitting?” That’s not true at all. He’s 20 years old and already at AAA. He will be 20 for 1/2 of next season. His power was almost 20 homers already. As a SS/2b/3b. If he breaks the roster, he likely has a Julio like impact and likely ends up batting first before 2026 is over. Young will grow into his power. Having a roster that relies less on power would be a good thing too.
We can only hope all of that is true. Plenty of prospects have hit in the minors only to find MLB too tough to crack. Julio is a once in a generation talent. Not many have hit like he does even with a couple years in MLB to work on it.
No. We barely beat the Tigers, lost to the Blue Jays and would have been smoked by the Dodgers. If ownership really wants to compete we are going need a veteran payroll north of $200M. Naylor and Polanco are good starts. Okamoto at 3B is a risk but cheaper than Geno. The real prizes are Skubal and Tucker. Sign one of those and we are serious contenders. We cannot beat the Dodgers with a $166M payroll.
The youngsters will need to get their AB’s where they can. We should have a talented, and young bench in 2026.
Find a different team to follow if you want the kind of spending you describe; the current ownership won’t spend at those levels.
Re: Colt Emerson Cole Young and Ben W: It’s obviously unfair to label any Prospect coming up but when you hear guys like Buster Olney describe Colt Emerson as a “Corey Seager type player” You realize he is viewed much differently on the National level than a Cole Young and Ben W. Doesn’t mean he’ll def meet those lofty projections right away in 2026 but he is cut from a different cloth than Young and BW. Emerson has the physical and the all important mental tools to be great at a young age
Imo after his meteoric rise this year he will likely start ST as a Top 10 Prospect in THE whole game. I’m sure you saw he finished 2025 as low as the #11 Prospect in the Nation.
in addition to climbing up the rankings yet again he could easily win the 3B job in 2026. You prob remember he was added to this years playoff roster (taxi squad) in his age 19 season!! You dont go from Sgl A to a Taxi Squad in the Playoffs in the same year if you don’t have the tools to handle the adjustments faced at the upper levels.
Again its unfair to label young players as “the next anything” but the M’s are really fortunate to have Colt Emerson chapping at the door. Every great MLB team has to have a few talented young hitters to inject life into a clubhouse. He is still growing into his frame too! Colt (and the M’s) are absolutely in a great spot for the next 4-6 yrs. I can’t wait to see it play out
In regards to Young and Williamson, 200 at bats tells you almost nothing. Guys take time to adjust sometimes. The Emerson comment is just ignorant so not worth addressing further
Cole Young hit the farthest Home run of all the Mariners players last year. He has plenty of pop.
He is also young, as is Colt, Harry and Williamson. Of that group Williamson is the only one who has been considered light hitting.
Light hitting isn’t bad. Everyone wants the players to hit 30 HRs every year and bat .230. Maybe a guy who hits singles and doubles flirts with .300 or more is a better fit for the team. Base runners are as if not more important than everyone hitting HRs. Yes you need a few HR hitters but also base runners. I would hate it to sign one of those expensive Japanese players and block Emerson and/or Celesten. If Colt isn’t ready put Williamson there until he is. An infield of Naylor Young Celesten and Colt would be a beautiful thing. Then can pay the pitchers to keep them here. We will be fine. If we could get Bregman than I change my mind but the Japanese are a question mark at the plate.
Emersons bat should be MLB ready. He hopefully will play somewhere in 26’ as he will be needed in 27 to replace Crawford as I seriously doubt they will re-sign him to a contract as they don’t need an aging shortstop even though he is a great locker room presence and a fan Favorite. I’ve wondered if he could be better suited for second base this year, but I doubt that they would do that in his last year . Lots of decisions, which hopefully some of them can be sorted out in spring training if one just one of the three young infielders really hits. It could decide a lot of of these questions that were discussing this winter .
Agreed. I doubt they move Crawdaddy off SS in his walk year, they owe him that respect as long as he isn’t terrible defensively which he is not. Serviceable. Plus, having Colt at 3rd is an easier transition option than full SS responsibility right as you are trying to learn the league. Colt’s bat is certainly ready for MLB reps. I see them carrying Cole Young too at 2b even if we sign Polo back. At this point, Williamson seems like a serviceable option to delay Colt if necessary but he might be the odd man out midway thru
I’d prefer to let him walk and pursue a Brendan Donovan trade instead. Resigning Polanco would hurt an already lackluster defense (as it pushes Canzone to RF most days and Polanco to 2B when Cal gets a DH day).
Donovan, on the other hand, begins as a perfect platoon partner for Williamson at 3B while also providing cover for 2B and RF. This would allow Canzone and Ford to be the primary DH options (with Cal getting plenty of DH days). It also makes it easier to find PAs for Arroyo or Montes once they get called up.
I’d even likely prefer a Brendan Lowe trade due to only being a 1 year commitment.
If we add a multi year bat, it needs to be have a primary position that is not DH (ideal would be Bichette or Marte for 2B).
Bo Bichette will likely remain in Toronto or signs with Mets or Yankees. In those lineups, he would really boost his stock. I’d say Dodgers, but that lineup is too crowded and no real spot for Bichette. I would drool over him if the Pirates had a shot at him. Much like you Mariners fan looking for upgrades with a marginal window of success. Mariners have very good pitching stuff and like the Pirates, lackluster offense going into the season. The upper hand Mariners have, they made the postseason last year and the Pirates haven’t seen postseason in 9 years. Losing 8 years straight. I went off topic here because of the similarities between both clubs. I still think Bichette signs with a solid lineup like Mets, Yankees, Phillies, Giants, and Red Sox. Dodgers are out because of their own lineup clog. Padres could be the dark horse team here.
Really an excellent analysis, which I agree with in almost all cases the one point I would bring up, however, is that I’m excited by the Poto signing one free agent, maybe getting involved with Polanco and signing a second by signing free agents the team keeps its core players intact and also keeps our minor league players who are ready to join the team intact my concern heading into the off-season was that they would got the young talent core by trading Ford my favorite player to come up and others plus I’ve heard that the asking price for Donovan is huge. One report that I heard was that they were asking for a young starting pitcher from Mariners one of our core now that’s that’s crazy.
The M’s are probably going to be weaker than they were at the end of last year because they’re not likely to sign both Suarez and Polanco. If they’re able to find a way to get both of those guys back, then they’re a serious threat. Without one of them they’re probably a contender. Without both they look like a middle of the pack team.
They don’t need both. They can go for the best guy they can get that has positional versatility. Cole Young didn’t look terrible. He just had rookie struggles. Ben Williamson hit ok. He just didn’t have power but if you can have smothering defense that can cover for JP’s declining range. Emerson might be able to too if he takes 3b at some point. Polonco makes the most sense but if they don’t have either, they’re still a contender. They’re not a “middle of the pack team” without them. They’re a contender for the players they still have in the lineup (Cal, Julio, Naylor, Randy Arozarena) and a starting 5 that should be healthier in 2025 and was still good enough to get to the 7th game of tha ALCS in 2025. They also have 3 great backend RPs and Bazardo who can be lights out or the 6th inning guy.
Wow. Great analysis. Middle of the pack in the AL West??? Suarez is a not a loss if they don’t resign him. Polanco would hurt a little, but that assumes his production can’t be replaced at least somewhat. Starting pitching returns, mid-bullpen needs some help, but this is still the team to beat in the AL West buddy.
They want a World Series championship. It’s going to be interesting what the other rivals do. We saw the Astros dump Dubon, and right now, the Astros aren’t doing much. They’ll get it going, and so will Texas and the A’s, don’t expect LAA to stop, but Seattle wants to get their things done.
Call me crazy, but Suarez could be good for us next year. He hit almost 40 home runs last year in Arizona in just a couple of months. Remember, he was struggling for the first couple of months of the season. If we had them for an entire season, he could easily hit 40 dingers for us. Even if he only hit 30, are we gonna turn down 30 home runs?
We had him for 3 years and he didn’t hit well. Not sure why you think he will do more than he did. Did you watch the team after the trade? He didn’t hit squat. I love what he does for the team in the locker room but Williamson plays a better 3rd and can be a better contact hitter.
I just want someone who can get on base and consistently hit in the #1 spot.
We’ve got power , need some contact hitters.
I’ll take 2 or 3 singles instead of waiting around for a homer .
Maybe get Arozarena not trying to hit a 5 run home run with every swing.
Yes of course why not Polanco? He’s versatile, he has a career OPS that was the same or better than Santander last year and it obviously drove him nuts not to get even half in one year that Toronto decided to give Santander yearly over 5 years. He held out into February. I wanted my Guardians to nab him after we traded Gimenez but of course our FO doesn’t appreciate slugging so no go on that. Too bad, he was a steal at 7 million, he’s still good for twice that over 3 years at age 32. The guy can hit. Mariners shouldn’t hesitate.
Neither of the Japanese sluggers the two that are posted would solve our problem at third base as they defensively aren’t rated major league caliber. I think the Polanco signing is a good move as the price is right for a solid hitter and he while he can’t play the field that well can be used in spot situations. It’s important to remember that we should leave at bat open for all the young players that are starting to arrive. We could possibly have Williamson Emerson and Young along with Ford on the roster.