The 1 thing nagging at Mariners fans as Opening Day creeps closer

With less than a month left before pitchers and catchers report to spring training, the offseason is beginning to wind down. The list of available free agents grows smaller by the day and trade negotiations are being finalized. The Mariners seem to have been left out of all the recent action aside from some new rumors, but that seems okay.

Projection systems still seem optimistic about what Seattle could accomplish in 2026 with the roster they currently have, and the recent passivity could be because the organization front-loaded their work. They successfully signed Josh Naylor, traded away Harry Ford to bolster the bullpen with Jose A. Ferrer, got a promising platoon bat in Rob Refsnyder, and made some additional moves to get even more depth.

The front office did all of this without sacrificing meaningful prospect equity, which could be why Jerry Dipoto has been receiving more praise as of late. However, despite the encouraging signals from the machines and models that power many of today's advanced predictions, fans may still be feeling uneasy about what the team has, or more accurately hasn't, done.

The Mariners still seem one big move away from truly elevating their championship equity in 2026

The fact that Seattle signed the seventh-largest free agent contract of the offseason so far is encouraging in and of itself, but that may be due to lower expectations rather than objective evaluation. Compared to other teams, they haven't done nearly enough to improve their World Series chances.

The Blue Jays moved the needle by acquiring Dylan Cease, Kazuma Okamoto, Cody Ponce, and Tyler Rogers. On top of their already colossal payroll, the Dodgers have committed to another $300 million in free agent contracts thanks to their signings of Kyle Tucker and Edwin Díaz. The Cubs reloaded their bullpen and snagged Alex Bregman while the Orioles paired a Pete Alonso signing with a Taylor Ward trade.

After years of falling short, it's understandable that fans may want to hedge their bets by building the most well-rounded roster possible. There are still uncertainties in this lineup, especially in the infield, and that risk should be enough of an incentive for the front office to make one more move before it's too late.

On one hand, the rest of the AL West has been similarly boring this winter but after Seattle's postseason run, it's clear that they're no longer competing with the four other teams in their division. Instead, they must now set their sights on the ultimate prize and construct a roster that's capable of getting them there.