Entering play on Friday, the Seattle Mariners are officially tied for first place in the American League West with the Houston Astros. The M's haven't won the division since the 2001 season and have 15 games left to make a statement they've been waiting to make for nearly a quarter century.

And though we are in the throws of this season still, the M's do have a big offseason ahead, and president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto recently spoke on that with MLBTradeRumors.

The Mariners are set to have both Eugenio Suarez and Josh Naylor hit free agency in the offseason, and Jorge Polanco is likely to opt-out of his deal, making it possible that the M's lose three key parts of their offense in 2026.

There's obviously the threat of losing them that hurts, the potential cost to re-sign them that could hurt ownership, and the wave of young prospects coming that you don't want to block long-term, while still being competitive in the here and now. How they balance all is that will be a major focal point for Dipoto and his team.

Acquired from the Arizona Diamondbacks one week before the trade deadline, Naylor has become a big part of the M's offense. In 41 games, he's hitting .260 with eight homers, 21 RBIs and 16 stolen bases. He's shown power and a baseball IQ that has been appreciated, and he's played solid defensive first base. At just 28 years old, he's the youngest of the three (likely) free agents.

From MLBTradeRumors:

“Yeah I think we would (like to retain him),” M’s president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto told MLBTR’s Darragh McDonald on this week’s edition of the podcast. “That remains to be seen how Josh feels about the matter. It’s never easy when you’re in a playoff race to open discussions like that. I know that there is interest on our end, and I believe that there is interest on Josh’s end.”

At the risk of being annoying and simplistic, Naylor will be worth whatever one team is willing to pay him. MLBTradeRumors says he could potentially look at four-year deal, while Spotrac values him at three years and $51 million. 

The Mariners certainly have money available after seeing Mitch Haniger, Dylan Moore and Mitch Garver come off the books, in addition to Polanco, Naylor and Suarez. But because of arbitration raises forthcoming, it's unclear exactly how much they'll have. That said, they have enough to make the move for Naylor - if they want to.

ESPN MLB Insider Buster Olney was on the 'Refuse to Lose' podcast on Thursday and had this to say:

And ​I ​think ​it's ​more ​likely ​that ​the ​Mariners, ​given ​how ​they ​spent ​in ​the ​offseasons ​in ​recent ​years, ​would ​go ​for ​a ​shorter ​deal ​with a maybe a little higher AAV. You know, you're ​not ​going ​to ​go ​to ​Josh ​Naylor ​and ​say, ​'hey, ​how ​about ​two ​years ​and ​$32 ​million?' ​You ​know, ​that's ​not ​something ​he ​would ​have ​to ​accept. ​If you're talking about a Polanco? ​Yeah, ​maybe that's the range you get."

You can listen to the full interview with Olney in the player below:

The Mariners will play the Angels on Friday night at 7:10 p.m. PT.