Mariners looking to keep roster for 2025, add Bullpen help

After winning the AL West and reaching Game 7 of the ALCS, it’s not surprising that the Mariners want to stick with a successful formula. That means “Ideally, we would keep together as much of last year’s group, which we really believed in, as possible,” said general manager Justin Hollander Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times and other reporters at the GM Meetings this week.

“Our offseason largely starts with the guys that were on the team last year trying to bring back as many as we can”, said Hollander, with the M’s “Then complete the rest of the grid as required.” To that end, Hollander said the team has been in contact with the agents for their six free agents – Josh Naylor, Jorge Polanco, Eugene Suarez, Caleb Ferguson, Luke JacksonAnd Mitch Garver.

“I think they know how we feel, and don’t really believe in progress or no progressHollander said. ‘If you come to a deal, you come to a deal, but I think everyone is aware of where we are now and we have interest, and we’ll just keep playing it day by day until we can make deals or have to go somewhere else..”

Hollander, of course, didn’t give any hint as to the specifics of these negotiations, although logic would dictate that the Mariners won’t re-sign all six players. The M’s have been open about their desire to retain Naylor, so the general belief is that Naylor and Polanco are the most likely internal free agents to re-sign for new contracts, with the other four likely playing elsewhere in 2026.

The possible departures of Ferguson and Jackson coincide with Seattle’s desire to expand its bullpen, which Hollander said was another.area of ​​focus for us this off-season.” Guided by star closer Andrés Munozthe Mariners’ relief corps was more solid than a surefire plus in 2025, as the club’s collective 3.72 ERA (ninth among 30 teams) was undermined by control issues and mediocre strikeouts. In addition to these figures, Hollander also acknowledged “the reality that our highly indebted group has just worked very hard for an extra month of the season. It would be foolish not to expect this to take its toll over time… Making the bullpen deeper and longer is important.”

Adding help of any kind is the priority, but Divish thinks the Mariners could make it a point to add a southpaw. Gabe Speier is currently the only left-hander expected to be part of Seattle’s bullpen and minor leaguers Jonathan Diaz And Tayler Saucedo are the only other lefties on the Mariners’ 40-man roster.