With the 2025 American League West division and a 90-win season on their resume, the Seattle Mariners have been diligently piecing together a roster that could be contenders for years to come. The front office brain trust, general Josh Hollander and president of baseball of operations Jerry DiPoto, has drawn praise from fellow MLB executives for their approach thus far in free agency.
However, it’s the contract structures themselves that have virtually guaranteed that Seattle’s superstars will make up the team’s nucleus for 2026 and beyond. Notably, the trio of Julio Rodriguez, Cal Raleigh, and freshly re-signed Josh Naylor is set to form a powerful 1-2-3 punch for the foreseeable future.
That all started with Rodriguez, who signed a 12-year, $209.3 million contract extension with the team in August of 2022. That takes him through his age 34 season and likely guarantees that J-Rod will spend all (or at least the majority of) his big-league career in the Emerald City.
Then, Raleigh etched out a six-year, $105 million contract extension with the Mariners back in March, which runs through the 2030 season and includes an option for 2031 and a full no-trade clause. The capper came this off-season, as Naylor inked a five-year, $92.5 million deal with Seattle earlier this month. It runs through the 2030 season and includes a $6.5 million signing bonus.
Mariners and Fans Looking Forward to 2026 and Beyond
With that set of sluggers, Seattle has a group that will play in their primes together for at least the next five seasons. They already have a ton of talent surrounding them, and the team leaders will have plenty of help on the way from the team’s Minor League system. Add in their young, solid rotation, and fans in the Pacific Northwest should be doing a lot of cheering in the seasons ahead.
While the team is stll in negotiations to bring back second baseman Jorge Polanco and/or third baseman Eugenio Suarez, they wouldalmost be bonus elements in the makeup of this team going forward. However, with the big bats all locked up, it’s opened up a whole lot of possibilities for Holander nd DiPoto to seek trades and free agency, knowing that a hige part of their lineup hase been accounted for.
The off-season and Hot Stove League are just getting started, but the moves the team has made in advance are already paying off. The Mariners and their fans are entering a new era of baseball in Seattle, and it will be Rodriguez, Raleigh, and Naylor who lead the way.
Perhaps… all the way to the first World Series title in franchise history.
