The Seattle Mariners came within a win of reaching the World Series, but they have a lot of work ahead of them just to keep their roster at roughly the same level for 2026.

Colt Emerson is part of the balance Mariners must strike in 2026

There’s the fact that their two big midseason trade acquisitions, first baseman Josh Naylor and third baseman Eugenio Suárez, are set to be free agents. And there’s also the likelihood that second baseman/designated hitter Jorge Polanco, a Silver Slugger finalist, could decide against his player option for 2026 and test free agency himself.

That makes three big potential holes in Seattle’s lineup for next season. How could the M’s go about filling them?

MLB Network insider Jon Morosi pointed at the Mariners’ long-running strength as a means to help them keep the lineup stocked.

“You’ve got seven guys that you believe can start major league games (as a pitcher) for you ideally in 2026,” Morosi said Thursday to Seattle Sports’ Wyman and Bob, “and there are very, very few teams that can say the same thing. … I know it wasn’t perfect by the end, but I think by and large, the Mariners had this year and still have about as much pitching depth as any team does at the major league level.”

The Mariners have generally avoided trading from their starting rotation options in this decade, and they currently have four All-Stars – Logan Gilbert, Luis Castillo, George Kirby and Bryan Woo – plus Bryce Miller, Emerson Hancock and Logan Evans as players who started 16 games or more in 2025.

Seattle also has three starting pitchers in its farm system ranked in the top 100 prospects overall by MLB: left-hander Kade Anderson, the No. 23-ranked prospect and No. 3 overall pick in the 2025 MLB Draft; right-hander Ryan Sloan, the No. 44 overall prospect; and the switch-pitching Jurrangelo Cijntje, who is ranked 90th overall. There’s speculation Anderson could be in the big leagues as soon as next season, whereas MLB.com projects Cijntje to reach the majors in 2027 and Sloan in 2028.

“What I think with the Mariners is they will likely be in a situation where they could trade one of their starters. This might be the time,” Morosi said. “It’s not your first choice, but trading one to get the bat you need might be an appropriate step.”

“The #Mariners have a lot of work do to just get back to being as good of a team as they were this year.”@jonmorosi previews the BIG decisions Seattle will face this offseason on with @WymanAndBob.

(Full Video 📺: https://t.co/c4mVsh9uXl) pic.twitter.com/bBHr4Jhqr8

— Seattle Sports (@SeattleSports) October 31, 2025

As for what should come first, Morosi pointed to the Mariners looking at free agency to add bats, naming a pair of expected free agent corner infielders out of Japan’s Nippon Pro Baseball – the 25-year-old Munetaka Murakami and 29-year-old Kazuma Okamoto – as well as the aforementioned Naylor.

“If I have the budget to go after free agent position players and make a real play for a Murakami or an Okamoto or you bring back Naylor, whatever it might be, and then as a secondary option I think you then look at the potential of moving one of your starters,” Morosi said.

M’s fans should be ready for an uncomfortable Josh Naylor free agency

So how should the Mariners go about these discussions? Morosi said Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto and general manager Justin Hollander should start setting groundwork during the annual GM meetings in Las Vegas in mid-November.

“If you get much past the winter meetings, it can be hard to get full value because other teams are starting to fill their needs. If I’m Jerry Dipoto and Justin Hollander at the GM meetings in a couple weeks, I am mentioning the names – I’m not shopping the players… but I am pricing it out. ‘What do we do, and who has some bats they can give me, and who is really desperate for the pitching that I’ve got?’”

MLB Network insider Jon Morosi is a weekly guest on Wyman and Bob. Listen to his conversation from Thursday in the podcast at this link or in the player near the top of this post. Catch Seattle Sports’ Wyman and Bob live from 2-7 p.m. weekdays.

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