Seattle

Mariners

The Mariners lacked rotation depth beyond their big five last season, and addressing that should be an in the plans for this winter. Dobnak, who debuted with the Twins in 2019 but has barely pitched in the majors the last four years, doesn’t really qualify as a quality fallback at this point — he had a 5.84 ERA in Triple-A last season — but maybe Seattle sees something for him to work on.

Since debuting with the Cardinals in 2024, Loutos has given up 17 earned runs and struck out eight in 12 innings as a major leaguer. He’ll probably wind up back on waivers later this winter, but if not, he’ll battle for a bullpen spot in spring training.

Wilcox was the last of the four players from the Blake Snell trade with the Padres still with the Rays. He made just one major league appearance for the team, giving up seven runs — three earned — in one inning in September. In Triple-A, he showed improved velocity, averaging 95.8 mph with his fastball, and had a 3.70 ERA and a 63/27 K/BB in 58 1/3 innings. He’ll be a long shot to claim a bullpen spot out of spring training.

It was originally an $8 million mutual option, but it converted into a $6 million player option once Polanco reached 450 plate appearances last season. After a strong bounce-back campaign that saw him hit .265/.326/.495, Polanco figures to command at least a two-year deal as a free agent this winter.

Just turning 27 in January, Muñoz would have co-headlined this year’s reliever class with Edwin Díaz had he not signed a long-term deal as a 22-year-old. He’ll get about one-third of his fair-market value next year, and the Mariners will still have club options on him for $8 million in 2027 and $10 million in 2028. At least he can earn up to an extra $2 million next year based on games finished.

Garver had a $12 million mutual option for 2026, but he will instead be paid $1 million and become a free agent. It was a rough stretch for Garver as a Mariner, hitting .187/.290/.341 in 720 plate appearances with 24 home runs and a nearly 30 percent strikeout rate over two seasons. He might find a bidder as a potential designated hitter.

Miller will have a follow-up appointment this offseason with Dr. Keith Meister to determine his next steps after requiring multiple trips to the injured list last season due to elbow inflammation. He managed to make it back for the final six weeks of the regular season after being diagnosed with a bone spur in his elbow back in June. The 27-year-old righty finished with an underwhelming 5.68 ERA and 74/34 K/BB ratio across 90 1/3 innings over 18 starts this past season after posting a stellar 2.94 ERA across 180 1/3 frames over 31 starts during a breakthrough campaign back in 2024. He’ll likely receive another cortisone injection and figures to be ready for the outset of spring training. It’s a relief for fantasy managers that he’ll avoid a surgical procedure, but it makes the issue worth monitoring at the outset of camp next spring.

President of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto and skipper Dan Wilson also noted their desire to bring Naylor back. Hollander also explained that Naylor seemed to enjoy his time with the Mariners, “Everything I got from him was that he really liked it here… Josh just got two months plus the playoffs of what Seattle is like as a sports town. … He’s a really good dude and I really do think he liked it here a lot.” The 28-year-old slugger is hitting the free agent market for the first time following an outstanding season in which he slashed .295/.353/.462 with 20 homers, 92 RBI and a career-high 30 stolen bases in 604 plate appearances between the M’s and Diamondbacks. He’ll be one of the most highly coveted players available on the market this winter.

It looked like Raleigh was going to get his signature October moment when he took Blue Jays workhorse reliever Louis Varland deep in the fifth inning to extend Seattle’s lead to 3-1 at the time. It was his fifth round-tripper of the postseason. Unfortunately, the Mariners’ bullpen was unable to preserve the lead and Raleigh was left in the on-deck circle when teammate Julio Rodríguez went down swinging in the ninth inning to end the series. It was a gut-wrenching loss for the Mariners as they fall just shy of making the World Series for the first time in the franchise’s 49-year history.

Rodríguez poked a double down the left-field line against Toronto starter Shane Bieber to open the contest before Josh Naylor delivered a run-scoring single to right field to put Seattle ahead. He took Bieber deep in the third inning for his fourth big fly of the postseason. It wouldn’t be enough as the Mariners’ bullpen coughed up the lead in the late stages of the contest and Rodríguez wound up striking out against Blue Jays closer Jeff Hoffman to end it.