Speaking Wednesday night at the general manager's meetings in Las Vegas, Seattle Mariners general manager Justin Hollander said that the primary goal of the team's offseason is to keep the group that got to Game 7 of the American League Championship Series together.

That means finding a way to bring back Josh Naylor, Jorge Polanco and Eugenio Suarez in free agency.

From the Seattle Times:

“No changes,” he said. “Same goals, same priorities. I think No. 1 for us is ideally keeping as much of the group that we had last year, that we really believed in, together. And then filling in the rest of the roster as required. Our offseason is largely going to start with the guys who were on the team last year and try to bring as many back as possible.”

While he didn't say it, it's fairly clear that Hollander means the three players above. It's hard to imagine Seattle bringing back Mitch Garver or Caleb Ferguson, who are also free agents. Luke Jackson is an interesting bullpen name to watch and remains a possibility. 

Why would the Mariners want to do this?

There's a few fairly obvious reasons as to why the M's would want to keep this group together, so let's examine:

1) This team won. The Mariners won the American League West for the first time since 2001 this season and these three were a huge part of it. When you get to Game 7 of the ALCS, you are close to getting to the World Series, wouldn't you want to largely run it back and hope for a different result?

2) Good vibes. The clubhouse loved each other in 2025. Would you really want to mess with that?

3) Full season productivity. Suarez hit 49 home runs last season, but only 13 were with the Mariners. Imagine if they had access to the full season version of Geno? And imagine if they had access to the full season version of Naylor? Those could be the differences between 90 wins and 94 wins, which could have earned the M's the No. 1 seed and the right to play Game 7 at home.

4) Money. Because Polanco is 32 and about to be 33, and because Suarez is 34 and about to 35, they won't be very expensive. And that appeals to the M's as well.

What's the risk?

The risk is age, and all that comes with it. Suarez is about to be 35, doesn't hit for a lot of average, doesn't run well, and doesn't play as good a defense as he once did. What happens if the power falls off? What happens if Polanco were to get hurt? He had 26 home runs last season, but nine of them were in March and April. What if he doesn't have a scorching hot start again?

These are realities that could happen.

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