The Seattle Mariners are heading into an offseason that looks like it needs more than a tweak. After a bad year, change feels unavoidable, and that could mean not just adding help, but moving on from a few familiar names too.
One obvious area for Jerry Dipoto to attack is the offense. The pitching staff is steadier on paper, though it also comes out of the season with its own baggage.
With the trade market still shut down until the first day after the World Series - possibly November 1 - the real sorting-out will wait a little while. But when it opens back up, there are three Mariners who should be in the conversation immediately.
George Kirby is the most obvious major league arm to dangle. If a homegrown starter is going to go, it’s probably him.
He was already a hot name before the deadline, and now he sits in a very workable spot as a winter trade candidate. After back-to-back seasons of diminished returns, Kirby no longer carries the same untouchable feel he had in 2023 and 2024.
He still has the tools to pitch like an ace, but right now he looks more like a pitcher who needs a fresh start than one the Mariners have to build around at all costs.
That doesn’t mean Seattle would be selling low. Kirby still has All-Star credentials, and he won’t turn 29 until February 4, 2027.
He’s under club control through 2028, which makes him the kind of piece another team would pay for. In return, the Mariners could target the kind of impact bat they badly need.
The Cubs, Padres and Giants were listed as possible fits.
Michael Arroyo is a different kind of trade chip, but maybe just as useful. He’s MLB Pipeline’s No. 42 prospect, and when he got his first look in the majors, he hit well enough to turn heads. In 40 plate appearances, he put up a .925 OPS.
The problem is figuring out where he fits long term. Arroyo hasn’t really convinced as a second baseman, and that spot belongs to Cole Young anyway.
Left field hasn’t looked like a clean solution either, so counting on him to replace Randy Arozarena would be a gamble. That leaves the Mariners with a tough but useful option: move him before the fit gets even messier and turn that uncertainty into a bat they can actually pencil in every day.
Then there’s Jonny Farmelo, who is still farther away from the big leagues than Kirby or Arroyo. He isn’t even on the 40-man roster yet, and he only reached Double-A in July. That puts him on a similar track to where Arroyo and Lazaro Montes were this time last year.
Farmelo also gives Seattle a reason to hesitate. He was a first-round pick in 2023, and this season he broke out with an .811 OPS, 17 home runs and 41 stolen bases in 129 games. MLB Pipeline has him at No. 70, and there’s a case that he could rise higher.
But the injuries are impossible to ignore. Farmelo played only 75 games across the 2024 and 2025 minor league seasons, so the risk is real.
That’s why the timing may be right to sell high. With so much young talent already on the major league roster, the Mariners may have to be aggressive about moving even their best prospects if it helps solve bigger problems now.
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For Seattle, the timing is worth watching because the division picture keeps shifting in the background while other familiar names face uncertainty of their own. Angels manager Kurt Suzukis future remains unsettled, J.P. Crawford is still dealing with injury issues as free agency approaches, and the Astros are weighing Lucas Spences recent form as they sort out their postseason plans. In a division where front-office moves can ripple quickly, Oaklands next hire could end up mattering beyond one clubs search. [Read more 🡒]