The Seattle Mariners have been extremely active early in the offseason.

The Mariners signed first baseman Josh Naylor to a five-year, $92.5 million contract, which will keep him on the team through the remainder of the decade. Seattle also acquired high-leverage left-handed reliever Jose Ferrer in a trade with the Washington Nationals.

The Mariners have remained in discussions with several notable free agents and potential trade targets since the aforementioned moves.

Seattle was unable to pull off a reunion with veteran second baseman Jorge Polanco, who opted to sign with the New York Mets on a two-year, $40 million contract rather than return to the Pacific Northwest for a third season (and beyond).

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Despite losing out on Polanco, the Mariners have reportedly remained engaged in trade talks surrounding multiple All-Star second basemen, including Ketel Marte of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Brendan Donovan of the St. Louis Cardinals.

Seattle, along with the San Francisco Giants, are reportedly the favorites to land Donovan.

At least one MLB insider, Jim Bowden, believes the next big move of the offseason could be a trade involving Donovan and the Mariners are a perfect fit.

"I thought (a trade) would get done during winter meetings. Brendan Donovan of the Cardinals, the No. 1 trade asset that Chaim Bloom has ... (Katie Woo) wrote that the Mariners and the Giants right now are the front-runners for Donovan. ... There are a lot of teams in on Brendan Donovan. ... (He's) a really good fit with Seattle. The Mariners have the farm system, they have the pieces that Chaim Bloom needs. I'm kind of viewing that as the next shoe to drop. There are so many discussions out there about so many players and it's all real. It's all been confirmed. ... Teams are literally listening on everybody."

Donovan is a former Gold Glove-winner (2022) and made the first All-Star game of his career in 2025.

This past season, Donovan scored 64 runs in 118 games and hit 32 doubles and 10 home runs with 50 RBIs. He slashed .287/.353/.422 with a .775 OPS. His batting average was a single-season career-high, his slugging percentage matched a single-season high and his OPS was the second-highest in his career.

There's more pressure on the Mariners to find a second baseman with Polanco no longer an option. If Seattle is unable to pull off a trade with St. Louis, the M's could look toward in-house options Ryan Bliss or Cole Young to find an answer to the position in 2026.

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