MLB insiders give a frustrating update on Mariners' offseason pursuits

There would be other details to iron out, but the Seattle Mariners began their offseason with a plan situated on two central pillars: re-sign Josh Naylor, and then re-sign Jorge Polanco. Solid plan, but it had to go out the window as soon as Polanco landed in New York.

That was three weeks ago at this point, and it's mostly been the same names popping up on the trade rumor mill as Plan Bs for Seattle. Trades for Brendan Donovan or Ketel Marte are on the table, and so is a reunion with Eugenio Suárez. Anything said about the Mariners has had roughly a 100 percent chance of name-dropping at least one of those three.

Bluntly, covering all this is beginning to feel like being trapped in purgatory. Please, give us a signing or a trade. Or at the least, some indication that things are moving in one of those directions.

MLB insiders give a frustrating update on Mariners' offseason pursuits

Well, along came Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon of The Athletic on Monday morning with updates on where teams stand at the outset of 2026, and there's an ample section on the Mariners.

Haven't read it? That's OK, because we can summarize it with four words: Nothing to see here.

In fact, it reads like a greatest hits of recent Mariners tidbits. They want to "supplement their young infield talent by adding a veteran hitter," and Donovan, Marte and Suárez are all in play. Yet the state of play is pretty much the same as it ever was: Donovan "holds greater appeal," Marte is more of an "also" sort of fit, and Suárez is an option "if all else fails."

It all tracks, though the most notable part is the one where Rosenthal and Sammon write that talks with the St. Louis Cardinals about Donovan have yet to bear fruit. That's self-evident, and what makes it frustrating is that we know which names are in play. The Cardinals reportedly like Lazaro Montes and Jurrangelo Cijntje, and the Mariners are open to moving the latter.

In fairness to the Cardinals, Donovan is one of those guys who fits just about everywhere. And with Bob Nightengale of USA Today reporting that they are "aggressively" shopping the All-Star utility man, Chaim Bloom clearly aims to get his money's worth. That takes lots of time and lots of careful consideration, and the clock counting down to spring training isn't ticking loudly yet.

Meanwhile, the Arizona Diamondbacks may be ready to pull Marte off the trade market and Suárez is just sort of… there. The M's acquiring Marte has never felt likely anyway, so the most probable outcome is the Mariners either getting Donovan or pivoting back to Suárez if they don't.

They'll be in trouble if they miss out on both. You can assume that the same three names keep coming up because there aren't many feasible options for Seattle otherwise. They're almost certainly not signing Alex Bregman or Bo Bichette, much less Kyle Tucker. And after Donovan and Marte, the trade market really only has speculative long shots like Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Nico Hoerner.

In the meantime, we wait. And clearly, also whine about how much it sucks to keep waiting.