3 bats and 3 arms for the Mariners to target in free agency

The offseason really began for the Seattle Mariners and the rest of the teams across MLB on Monday when free agents became eligible to sign with new teams.

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Because of an expected lockout that would begin at 9 p.m. on Dec. 1, this next month could be a particularly busy one when it comes to transactions. Teams will try to get any sort of roster building they can done before what could be months of no activity while the players’ union and owners try to hash out a new collective bargaining agreement.

This offseason is a pivotal one for the Mariners as they usher in the Jason Kanzler era and attempt to rebound from a disappointing 2026 season that featured a 76-86 finish in a year they were expected to contend for their first World Series title.

With free agency opening up, here are three hitters and three pitchers that would fit the Mariners’ needs.

Three bats

Seiya Suzuki, RF

Randy Arozarena is expected to the biggest departure from the Mariners this offseason. Assuming the All-Star left fielder signs elsewhere, Suzuki would be the obvious choice as the best replacement option and the biggest splash Seattle could make in terms of acquiring a free-agent bat.

The 32-year-old Suzuki is coming off a strong season in which he slashed .270/.368/.473 with 26 homers and 31 doubles in 153 games for the Chicago Cubs. His 134 wRC+ (100 is league average) and 4.5 fWAR were each top 10 among outfielders leaguewide. He’s also hit at least 20 homers and 27 doubles in each of the past four seasons.

Replacing Arozarena with Suzuki would be a significant drop in value on the basepaths, but also a significant increase in value on defense. Suzuki, who has played almost exclusively in right field in his five MLB seasons, posted 14 defensive runs saved and five outs above average last season, both top five among right fielders.

One complicating factor in signing Suzuki is that the Cubs extended him a qualifying offer. Since Seattle is among the teams that are revenue-sharing recipients, it would lose its third-highest selection in the 2027 draft by signing a player who rejected a qualifying offer.

Daulton Varsho, OF

After a step back defensively in center field from Julio Rodríguez in 2026, perhaps the Mariners could look to add a glove-first center fielder and move Rodríguez to right field a bit sooner than expected. Even if they wouldn’t consider doing so this early, the 30-year-old Varsho could play the corners and greatly help an M’s outfield that ranked third worst in Baseball Savant’s fielding run value metric and tied for fourth worst in defensive runs saved.

Varsho won an AL Gold Glove in 2024, a year he started 76 games in center field and 46 in left field, and his 58 outs above average in the outfield since the start of 2022 trails only Chicago’s Pete Crow-Armstrong. For reference, Rodríguez has posted 35 outs above average during that same span.

For everything Varsho does with the glove, he does leave a bit to be desired with the bat with a career .226/.293/.416 slash line over seven seasons. His breakout year at the plate for Toronto in ’25, when he posted an .843 OPS, 123 wRC+ and 20 homers in 71 games, looks more like an outlier than a sign of progression after his numbers at the plate regressed in 2026.

The other complicating factor is Varsho is a left-handed bat, something the Mariners have plenty of. However, he has fairly neutral splits at the plate with a higher average against southpaws but more power production against right-handers.

Mauricio Dubón, INF/OF

Two areas the Mariners struggled in last season were defense and hitting left-handed pitching. So, a plus-defense utility man with a history of hitting southpaws, like Dubón, makes a lot of sense. There’s also plenty of familiarity with Dubón from his three-plus seasons spent with the Houston Astros (2022-25).

Dubón, 32, produced a .276/.321/.399 slash line with 12 homers, 29 doubles and 10 stolen bases in 153 games with Atlanta last season. He appeared in games at six different positions with the majority of his time coming in left field and at shortstop while posting three defensive runs saved and six outs above average. Dubón is also the only multi-time utility player Gold Glove winner since the award was introduced in 2022, having won three times total including at least once in each league.

Over eight MLB seasons, Dubón has slashed .276/.318/.421 with 21 homers and 43 doubles in 816 plate appearances against left-handed pitching.

Honorable mentions: Ian Happ, OF; Edmundo Sosa, INF; Alec Bohm, 3B; George Springer, DH/OF.

Three arms

Bryan Abreu

Abreu recovered from an abysmal first half of the 2026 season with a stellar second half, but he still had a down year by his standards, posting a 3.73 ERA, 4.62 FIP and 1.36 WHIP while striking out 80 batters and walking 41 in 62 2/3 innings over 66 appearances.

The 29-year-old right-hander has been among the game’s best setup men in recent years, which includes three seasons since 2022 with an ERA of 2.28 or better. He’s also someone the Mariners are plenty familiar with since he has spent all eight of his big-league seasons in Houston.

While Abreu is coming off a down year, he still figures to be one of the more coveted arms on the free-agent market.

Adrián Morejón

If the Mariners were to make a big splash on the pitching side, adding the 27-year-old Morejón to their bullpen is the biggest move they could make.

Among left-handed relievers, Morejón is first in innings pitched (223 1/3) and home runs allowed per nine innings (0.40), second in strikeouts (248) and FIP (2.46), and seventh in ERA (2.58) over the past three seasons combined. Those efforts include an All-Star appearances in 2025. His 25 wins over that stretch also lead all MLB relievers.

This past season, the hard-throwing southpaw had 2.83 ERA, 2.37 FIP and 1.08 WHIP while striking out 17 batters and walking 29 in 86 innings over 76 appearances.

Morejón is another player who was extended a qualifying offer.

Alex Vesia

Vesia, 30, has been a reliable arm for the Dodgers since 2021 and helped Los Angeles win back-to-back World Series in 2024 and ’25. So, he’d bring plenty of postseason experience (31 games worth) to a club hoping to get back to October.

This past season, Vesia posted a 2.64 ERA, 3.10 FIP and 1.07 WHIP with 74 strikeouts to 32 walks over 58 innings in 72 appearances. It was the fifth time in the past six seasons he had a 3.02 ERA or better.

Vesia also gets plenty of swing and miss, which is something the Mariners’ bullpen could use more of. He generated a 33.6% whiff rate and 31.2% strikeout rate in 2026, both 95th percentile or better in MLB. But he did walk batters at a 13.5% clip, seventh worst among relievers with at least 50 innings pitched.

Honorable mentions: Sean Newcomb, LHP; Mark Leiter Jr., RHP; Emilio Pagan, RHP.

For MLB.com’s position-by-position breakdown of this year’s free agent class, click here. 

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