The Mariners’ 2026 season may have gone sideways, but it wasn’t a total wipeout. Beneath all the frustration, there were still a few real wins - the kind that don’t fix a lost year, but do leave Seattle with something to build on.
Dominic Canzone was one of the clearest bright spots. He turned in the kind of season that changes how a team views a player, finishing with a .264/.336/.484 slash line and an .820 OPS, both career bests. More importantly, he started looking like someone the Mariners can actually trust in the lineup.
Cole Young kept moving forward, too. He handled himself well defensively and grew into a dependable bat in the middle of the order, while also showing he could slide into the leadoff spot when injuries forced Seattle to shuffle things around.
His late-season dip didn’t erase the progress he made. In his second major-league season, Young looked more settled, more confident and more like he belongs in Seattle.
Emerson Hancock also took a meaningful step. After a rough start to his big-league career, he established himself as a legitimate piece of the rotation in 2026. He finished with a 3.57 ERA, and even with a stint on the IL in August, he showed clear growth from where he’d been in previous seasons.
Seattle also appears to have made the right call in the Luis Castillo trade. Letting go of such a key figure wasn’t easy, but his contract had become difficult to defend, and the Mariners moved him before the decline turned into a bigger problem.
There were more encouraging signs on the prospect front, too. Colt Emerson, Kade Anderson, Lazaro Montes and Michael Arroyo all reached the majors, and the club didn’t seem to suffer for bringing them along carefully.
Whether some of them could have arrived earlier is a fair question, but the bigger point is that they’re here now. None of them have hit their ceiling yet.
Randy Arozarena gave Seattle another major positive. He’s likely headed for free agency, but he delivered a huge season before that happens.
He scored 113 runs, second-most in MLB behind only Pete Crow-Armstrong, and set multiple career highs along the way. He was easily the Mariners’ best player this year, and if this ends up being his final season in Seattle, it was a strong one to leave behind.
None of that wipes away the disappointment of 2026. But it does keep the season from being all bad - and it leaves Seattle with at least a little hope heading toward 2027.
In Other News...
Josh Naylor's Honest Mariners Take Puts Focus On What Still Lingers
Josh Naylors first weeks with the Mariners have already given the club a clearer sense of how he views the game, and his honesty comes through in the little things as much as the big ones. The conversation around the Division Series only sharpens that lens, because in a five-game format, an early hole can feel a lot deeper than it does over a longer playoff round, and every detail starts to matter when teams are trying to keep pace.
The Mariners have been looking at those margins closely, from the baserunning basics to the kind of plays that can swing a night, including the one involving Austin Wells against the Yankees. Naylors assessment also lands in a wider baseball conversation that keeps circling back to market perceptions, including the buzz around Munetaka Murakami, but for Seattle the lingering question is simpler and more immediate: whether the club can turn those small corrections into something sturdier before the postseason pressure rises again. [Read more 🡒]
Astros Offseason Could Open A Massive Door For The Mariners
Houstons abrupt playoff exit has only sharpened the sense that a familiar power structure in the American League West could be on the verge of shifting. Even after finishing 81-81, the Astros still won the division, but the season also underscored how much of the roster is built around an aging core and a wave of looming contract questions. For the Mariners, who finished 76-86, that matters because the gap between the two clubs looked smaller in stretches than the standings suggested.
Seattles path back into the race has long depended on more than just improving its own roster. It also depends on whether the teams ahead of it stay sturdy, and the Astros now face an offseason that could force some hard organizational choices. The Mariners had their moments against Houston this year, and if the divisions most established club starts to turn over key pieces, Seattle suddenly finds itself staring at a much more open lane than it had a month ago. [Read more 🡒]
Mariners Prospects Just Hit A Test That Could Change The Conversation
Jonny Farmelo and Felnin Celesten earned a move from High-A Everett to Double-A Arkansas after strong early performances, a promotion that usually signals a prospect is closing in on the next conversation around big-league value. For the Mariners, the jump mattered because both players had been drawing real attention inside the system, and each still sits among the organizations top-100 prospects even after the latest MLB Pipeline update.
The first taste of Double-A, though, has been less forgiving. Their rankings slid in the latest top 100 refresh as the level of pitching sharpened and the offense backed up, with more strikeouts and less production than they showed before the move. For Seattle, the question now is less about whether the talent is still there and more about how quickly Farmelo and Celesten can adjust to the test that often separates promising names from the ones who stay on track. [Read more 🡒]