The Mariners have said they want to bring back the group that got them to the American League Championship Series. There's reasons to do that, and there's risk that comes with it too.
At the general manager's meetings last week, Seattle Mariners GM Justin Hollander said that the team hopes to bring back the group that just took them to the American League Championship Series in 2026.
That means re-signing Josh Naylor, Jorge Polanco and Eugenio Suarez, who are all free agents.
I can certainly understand the value in doing that, but it also comes with risks. At the end of the day, I just hope the M's would be doing this for the right reasons.
Let's break it down.
The positives in running it back
1) The Mariners just got within one game of the World Series, some place they've never been before in franchise history. Wouldn't you want to try to replicate what you just did knowing how close you were?
2) The M's clubhouse was immaculate in 2025. The leadership, the vibes, the friendship. Wouldn't you want to try to bottle that up and bring it back next year?
3) The Mariners only had Naylor and Suarez for the final two months of the season in 2025. If you were able to have them the entire year in 2026, wouldn't that make you better, raising your win total and giving you a chance to perhaps earn the No. 1 seed in the playoffs, which affords you the right to play a Game 7 at your place?
For what it's worth, Buster Olney of ESPN made that point to the 'Refuse to Lose' podcast earlier this week, and he added onto it:
If you had Josh Naylor's production and project what he did for the Mariners over the course the full year, that would be pretty good. And you would sign up for that. I am curious about sort of where the numbers are going to be on Suarez because of how much he struggled. And on the other hand, we were reminded in the championship series what his potential impact is going to be. And, and I think you and I have talked about this before, that a lot of the times, the conversations in the conference rooms that teams have when they discuss players...they're not focused on, 'hey, how can we win a short series in October?'
They're focused on 162 games, and Suarez has demonstrated over 162 games that he's going to hit a lot of home runs. And he's going to help you win a lot of games. And it isn't really until you get into September that they begin to hone their roster in a way, typically, where they're looking to win specific matchups in a postseason.
The concerns with running it back
Age, and that all comes with it.
Polanco is 32 and will turn 33 next season. Suarez is 34 and will turn 35. What if those guys regress? What if they get injured? They don't bring much running ability to the table, so do the Mariners really want to play a homer-dependent game again in 2026?
When you factor those ages with Randy Arozarena, who is about to be 31, those questions are fair to ask across multiple roster spots.
The real point
If the Mariners want to keep the band together in 2026, I hope it's because they feel it's the best way to get to - and win - the World Series. Because of their ages, Polanco and Suarez likely won't cost much on the open market, and I'd hope the motivation in bringing them back isn't because of mostly financial reasons.
Naylor will take a real financial commitment, but it's fair to ask about the others as we move further into a very important offseason.
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