The Seattle Mariners are somewhere between hours and days away from hiring their next manager, and the choice appears to be down to former Houston Astros skipper Joe Espada and current Chicago Cubs farm director Jason Kanzler.

While we don't know who the leader is for the job, there is a chance that the team could end up hiring both people, with one as the manager and one as the bench coach.

While the managerial decision is the most pressing thing for the organization right now, offseason roster moves are officially here as well. 

With the conclusion of the World Series, four members of the Mariners have officially become free agents, and we saw the M's make multiple contract decisions on Andres Munoz (option exercised), Bryce Miller (option declined) and Victor Robles (declined) on Thursday.

Here's the situation for Randy Arozarena, with a note on Robles and MIller.

Arozarena, 31, is one of the four M's headed to free agency. However, the Mariners can attempt to keep him in the fold by offering him a one-year qualifying offer contract.

If Arozarena were to accept that contract, the M's would have him for 2027 at one-year and about $23 million. If he declines and signs elsewhere, the M's will get a draft pick from his new team.

The Mariners have until Nov. 2 to issue the qualifying offer and Arozarena has until Nov. 17 to accept or not. The presumption is that the Mariners will give the offer. Even though $23 million would eat into a good portion of the team's offseason budget, you'd have to think they'd welcome him back at that number for just one season. He is a back-to-back All-Star.

The presumption is also that Arozarena will decline, go to free agency and leave the organization, giving them a draft pick.

The Mariners had until Nov. 2 to pick up the team option on the 29-year-old. That option was worth $9 million. Evidently, the Mariners didn't need the entire time to make the decision.

While Robles is a fun player who provides value on the basepaths and defensively, that seems like too much money for the Mariners to stomach. He played just 32 games in 2025 because of injury and he played only 65 more in 2026 because of injuries and seemingly falling out of favor with Dan Wilson. He hit .256 in those 65 games, but he only had nine RBIs and 10 stolen bases.

While they declined the option, there is a chance they could try to bring him back at a different number.

The Mariners do have Luke Raley, Dom Canzone, Julio Rodriguez, Laz Montes and Michael Arroyo in the outfield mix already.

The right-hander will be on the team in 2027, it's just a question at what contract number. We looked at his situation earlier in the offseason.