The Seattle Mariners had a magical 2025 season, advancing to Game 7 of the American League Championship Series, where they lost to the Toronto Blue Jays.

And coming off that magic, the M's are trying to figure out how to take the next step and advance to the World Series. So far, they've acquired a solid bullpen arm in Jose Ferrer and re-signed Josh Naylor to a five-year deal. But they lost out on a reunion with Jorge Polanco, who just signed a two-year deal with the New York Mets.

So what's next?

In the wake of losing Polanco, the Mariners have been connected to both Brendan Donovan and Ketel Marte on the trade market. They've also been linked, at least somewhat, to both Yandy Diaz and Brandon Lowe, and there's the free agent group of Alex Bregman, Bo Bichette and Kyle Tucker.

Seattle seems far more likely to execute a trade than anything else, but anything is possible.

Why the M's have to strike in the offseason

In 2025, the Mariners were able to hang close in the American League West in the first half of the season, benefiting from a rash of Houston Astros injuries, and then they acquired Naylor and Eugenio Suarez at the trade deadline. Some fans think Seattle can do the same thing again in 2026 - hang close and then make moves at the deadline.

As we recently discussed on the Refuse to Lose podcast, that's not a smart plan:

I see a lot of people wondering if the Mariners can "Okay, can they just kind of do whatever and kind of stay afloat in the first half of the season and then go out and make a difference at the trade deadline in 2026?" I would advise against that. I would very much advise against that and this is why.

The Mariners schedule in August next year is absolutely brutal. I don't have it in front of me, but basically the entire August slate is against playoff teams from this year, and really damn good ones. So if you're gonna just kind of float through the first half of the season and then think you're gonna find impact at the deadline, then August is gonna be very, very difficult. I need them to play well early, get a cushion so that August kind of brings them back to the pack rather than kills them. So they've got to, in my opinion, make moves and make moves now in order to get back to where they were at the end of 2025, and then subsequently, hopefully to a better spot than they were at the end of 2025, which would be getting to the World Series.

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That August slate

vs. Twins (Aug 1-2)

vs. Tigers (Aug 4-6)*

vs. Rays (Aug 7-9)

@ Yankees (Aug 11-13)*

@ Astros (Aug 14-16)

@ Brewers (Aug 18-20)*

vs. Cubs (Aug 21-23)*

vs. Phillies (Aug 24-26)*

@ Blue Jays (Aug 28-30)*

@ Red Sox (Aug 31-Sept 2)*

So, if you're scoring at home: That's 10 series played in the month of August, with seven of them coming against playoff teams. It also includes two separate East Coast trips, which is what harmed the Mariners this past August and September. The Brewers and Blue Jays had the best records in their respective leagues.

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