Seattle Mariners' Cole Young Reveals Offseason Goal After Gold Glove Win

On Sunday night, Seattle Mariners second baseman Cole Young was named the Gold Glove winner at second base in the American League, marking the first Gold Glove win of his career.

Young, 23, became just the third Mariners second baseman to win the award, joining Bret Boone and Harold Reynolds, and he also made some history not seen in more than 60 years.

Speaking with the media on Monday afternoon by Zoom, Young expressed excitement at winning the award, as well as gratitude to former Mariners infield coach Perry Hill and his father for pouring time and energy into his career. Though Hill was let go at the end of the disappointing 2026 campaign, Young said that he has spoken to him a few times this offseason and that their relationship won't end just because he's no longer on staff.

Young spent a lot of time last offseason trying to prepare himself for the rigors of a full 162-game season, and he was asked what part of his game he wants to work on and refine this winter:

"Just making sure my arm is strong, just in case, there's a couple times where I played short this year, and I'm so used to the second base throw, so just making sure throughout the season that I'm maintaining my arm strength. And I think that just starts with, in the offseason, just getting on a good program for that.

And that way, if I do play a couple games at short, I'll be in a good position to help the team win. So just making sure I'm doing that. And I think that just, yeah, it just starts right now, just building arm strength and just being versatile."

That's good to hear on both fronts.

While Young led American League second basemen in games played (157), assists, putouts, double plays and fielding percentage, his arm strength was certainly the biggest weakness of his defensive game. 

His arm ranked in just the second percentile of players, per Baseball Savant. He has a quick release which makes up for some of that, but you can never wrong having a better arm.

As for the versatility, that could be important for the Mariners as well. Currently, J.P. Crawford is a free agent, so the team is down an option that can play shortstop. And while Crawford could be back, the team has to have internal options if he does actually leave.

Right now, Colt Emerson is the favorite to start at shortstop on Opening Day, but the team needs a backup. Maybe they will sign one in free agency, but if they think Young can handle the duties sufficiently, then maybe they can spend their offseason resources somewhere else.

The M's went 76-86 this season and missed the playoffs just one year after getting to the American League Championship Series.