It will be several months until the Seattle Mariners have a another chance to try and climb the mountain.

The Mariners came oh so close to reaching their first World Series and having a shot at their first championship, falling to the Toronto Blue Jays in seven games during the American League Championship Series.

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There will be some time to reflect for the Mariners after the franchise’s deepest postseason run ever. But there will also be plenty of work to do in the offseason.

In the case of the front office, it will have key decisions to make on players who are heading to free agency or have options in their contracts.

Here’s a look at the six Mariners players who are heading to free agency or have a player, club or mutual option in their contract for the 2026 season. MLB’s free agency period begins one day after the final game of the World Series.

Free agents
Josh Naylor, 1B

Naylor proved to be everything the Mariners had hoped for when they acquired him from the Arizona Diamondbacks before the trade deadline, and he quickly became a fan favorite in the Pacific Northwest with his gritty play on a nightly basis.

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Over 54 regular season games with Seattle, the left-handed-hitting first baseman slashed .299/.341/.490 with an .831 OPS, 10 doubles, nine home runs and 19 stolen bases in 19 attempts while providing 2.2 bWAR. He was even better in the playoffs, batting .340 with a .967 OPS and three homers in 12 games.

Naylor, who turns 29 next year, is hitting free agency for the first time and figures to be one of the most sought-after first basemen available. How his market shakes out will be interesting to watch. Teams typically don’t value first basemen as high in free agency as they did in the past (as evident by Pete Alonso’s free agency a year ago), and Naylor doesn’t possess the raw power commonly associated with the position. But as the Mariners got to see up close for three months, he makes an impact at the plate, in the field and on the basepaths.

Re-signing Naylor should be the biggest goal for Seattle in free agency.

Eugenio Suárez, 3B

From the fan base to the locker room, everybody was happy to see Suárez don a Mariners uniform once more after Seattle reacquired him from the Diamondbacks in July. However, it was a very boom-or-bust return for the third baseman, with more busts than booms.

Suárez tied his career-high home run total with 49 between Arizona and Seattle in the regular season, but he hit just .189 with a .682 OPS while producing 0.3 bWAR in 53 games after the trade. He redeemed himself in the ALCS, slugging the game-winning grand slam in Game 5 that will forever be a part of the franchise’s playoff lore. But overall, he wasn’t nearly the offensive upgrade over rookie Ben Williamson the Mariners were hoping for.

Suárez will turn 35 next season and is already fighting against the normal regression timeline for his low-contact, high-power profile. He’d certainly be welcomed back to the clubhouse, but any deal to bring back the charismatic slugger comes with rather high risk.

Caleb Ferguson, LHP

The Mariners brought Ferguson in to help bolster their bullpen before the trade deadline. He posted solid numbers for a middle reliever with a 3.27 ERA over 22 innings with the Mariners. However, he gave up three runs without recording an out in the ninth inning of the Mariners’ ALDS Game 3 win over Detroit, and then two more runs in two innings of work in Seattle’s ALCS Game 3 loss to Toronto.

Ferguson turns 30 next year and should be available at an affordable price, but there will be plenty of other comparable bullpen options on the free agent market.

Players with options
Andrés Muñoz

Muñoz continued to make his case for being one of baseball’s top closers with a stellar 2025 campaign. The flamethrowing right-hander had a dazzling 1.73 ERA while racking up a career-high 38 saves and holding batters to a .167 average over 62 1/3 innings.

If wasn’t for Aroldis Chapman’s remarkable year with Boston, Muñoz would be the likely frontrunner for AL Reliever of the Year.

Muñoz, who will be just 27 next season, is on team-friendly deal with club options for each of the next three seasons, including an $8 million option for 2026. Picking that up is probably the easiest decision the Mariners will have to make during the offseason.

Jorge Polanco

Polanco had his worst year as pro after arriving in Seattle last season. He had one of his best this year.

The second baseman/designated hitter batted .265 with with an .821 OPS, 30 doubles and 26 homers, which were all his highest numbers since 2021. He played in 138 games, the third-most in a career that’s featured several stints on the injured list. And he had several big moments in the postseason, including a two-homer game to help the Mariners beat reigning AL Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal in Game 2 of the ALDS, the walk-off RBI single in the 15th inning of ALDS Game 5, a pair of RBI singles in Seattle’s Game 1 ALCS win in Toronto, and a tiebreaking three-run homer in a Game 2 ALCS victory.

Polanco signed a one-year deal with the M’s before this season, a bet on himself that paid off. He accumulated enough plate appearances to trigger an $8 million player option for next season. Now it’s worth wondering if Polanco will want to exercise that option, because he may have played himself into a bigger contract. He will turn 33 next season, meaning this could be his last chance to get a high-dollar deal or one for multiple years.

If Polanco does opt to become a free agent, he should be on the Mariners’ priority list as a DH option and potential insurance at second base if 22-year-old Cole Young struggles early on next year.

Mitch Garver

When Garver was brought in to be the full-time designated hitter before the 2024 season, there was hope that his hitless record at T-Mobile Park prior to signing was just a coincidence and not a concerning trend. But it turned out the 0 for 31 he had produced at his new home ballpark ahead of signing with the Mariners was a signal that he wasn’t the best fit in Seattle.

In Garver’s two years with the M’s, he hit .157 with a .594 OPS, six doubles, 12 homers and 33.1% strikeout rate over 314 plate appearances at T-Mobile Park. On the road, he batted .210 with a .661 OPS, 16 doubles, 12 homers and a 26.8% strikeout rate over 406 plate appearance. Neither were great, but the road numbers were clearly much better.

Garver, who will turn 35 during the offseason, has a $12 million mutual option for next season with a $1 million buyout. It would be shocking if the Mariners picked that up, especially with top prospect Harry Ford seemingly in line for backup catcher duties behind Cal Raleigh next season.

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