The Mariners’ place among the 2026 Silver Slugger finalists says plenty about how far the offense fell, and why the pressure now lands on Jason Kanzler and CJ Gillman.
Seattle was not named a finalist for the American League team award on Thursday, a sharp turn after the club was in the mix in 2025. That earlier group looked very different: Cal Raleigh launched 60 home runs, Julio Rodríguez went 30-30, Randy Arozarena posted a 20-20 season, Jorge Polanco turned in what may have been the best year of his career, and Josh Naylor and Eugenio Suárez were in the picture by season’s end.
This year, though, the Mariners were stuck near the bottom of the league in just about every offensive category that matters. They finished third from the bottom in runs per game and slugging percentage, and second from the bottom in batting average. That kind of slide is exactly why the team’s Silver Slugger omission stands out.
Jerry Dipoto, at least publicly, is not promising a giant fix from outside. In an interview with Teren Kowatsch of Roundtable Sports on Wednesday, he mentioned looking for “one, maybe two more bats,” but also said he believes he already has “a pretty complete team.” He pointed to Lazaro Montes and Michael Arroyo as internal candidates to take a step forward, which fits with his long-running confidence in the organization’s younger players.
There’s still room for movement, of course. Arozarena is likely to leave as a free agent, and Dipoto could also be keeping his cards close to the vest for the sake of agents and other executives. But the broader message has been consistent: the front office may add, yet it is not acting like offense is going to be rescued from the outside.
That puts the spotlight on Kanzler and Gillman. The new manager and hitting coach can’t afford to wait around for someone else to solve the problem.
At his introductory press conference on Wednesday, Kanzler was asked by Bucky Jacobsen whether he had an offensive philosophy for the Mariners. His answer was direct, if broad.
“The philosophy is 'Score runs,'” Kanzler said. “And that comes in a variety of different formats.
We have to do that with whatever tools we have available, with whatever player personnel we have available, and whatever matches their strengths. I am not going to impose some sort of sweeping offensive philosophy.
The philosophy is 'Score more runs than the other team, however we can.'”
That approach leaves room for interpretation, and maybe that’s the point. Gillman could steer the Mariners toward the kind of offense he helped build with the Washington Nationals in 2026, where the emphasis was on hunting strikes and driving the ball in the air. That club scored more than 5.0 runs per game and was one of only three teams to do so, alongside the Milwaukee Brewers.
Or the Mariners could lean into something closer to what worked in 2025, when they were top-10 in walks and top-three in home runs. The best answer may be some blend of the two: patience, power, and enough flexibility to make either style work depending on the roster.
However it comes together, the core idea is simple. Raleigh, Rodríguez and Naylor are better hitters than they showed this year. If they rebound, and if Seattle gets more production from Dominic Canzone and Cole Young, better health from Brendan Donovan, plus at least one breakout from one of the young players, the offense can look very different.
That’s the path. Kanzler and Gillman just have to pull it off.
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