The Athletic's MLB free agent predictions round up the usual suspects for the Mariners

Based on recent news, it seems like the Mariners are finally realizing their full competitive potential. The front office has already been vocal about wanting to gradually increase spending to build what they believe to be a contending roster. Although it's far too early to know where exactly that extra money will be going, Seattle has plenty of potential options to choose from. In fact, according to some, they're fully in the running for pretty much everyone that's available.

Seattle could pursue many of this offseason's hottest free agents

In the latest iteration of The Athletic's Jim Bowden's predictions for the winter's top free agents, the Mariners are referenced as a fit for quite a few — nine of them, to be exact. Some are less surprising than others. To start, there are the three players that were on the team in 2025: Jorge Polanco, Josh Naylor, and Eugenio Suárez.

Polanco's $8 million mutual option is now a $6 million player option after reaching the 450 plate appearance threshold required to vest. However, since he posted a 134 OPS+ and 2.6 rWAR, he may decide to go after a longer deal. Seattle would love to have him back after all of his contributions this year, but they'll have to compete with other teams in search of help at second base.

Bringing back Naylor is one of the Mariners' top priorities and if they could only get their hands on one person, he'd likely be it. Unfortunately, since he's one of the best options at first base, the Mariners will be just one of many interested suitors.

Suárez is the least likely of the incumbent trio to re-sign with the Mariners. While his return to Seattle was initially seen as the best move of the trade deadline, an inability to put it together at the plate after July limited his effectiveness.

When it comes to signing new players, Bowden seems pretty optimistic about Seattle's opportunities. Notably, he highlighted Pete Alonso, Bo Bichette, Cody Bellinger, and Alex Bregman as marquee names that could find a fit with the Mariners. Position-wise, the Mariners need the most help in the corners of the infield, but they'd be remiss to decline opportunities on any premier talent interested in joining the team.

A particularly interesting free agent target is Munetaka Murakami, the Japanese slugging phenom who is about to be posted for the first time, hoping to follow in the footsteps of other recent NPB standouts that have also made the jump to MLB. There are plenty of reasons that he'd be a great addition to the Mariners' roster, but the same could be said for nearly any contender.

A lack of clarity on the team's offseason direction may be frustrating but truthfully, it points to an encouraging shift in reputation for the Mariners. Instead of having glaring weaknesses to fill, they're closer to contention than they have been in years past, and incremental upgrades could be all that they need to cross over into the World Series for the first time. More optionality is always better and if nothing else, it'll make for an exciting winter of rumors.