What's in store for AL West champs in 2026?

This story was excerpted from Daniel Kramer's Mariners Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

SEATTLE -- When the Mariners return to the Pacific Northwest, they’ll be going into an environment where temperatures will be cut in half.

From the record heat in the Phoenix valley this month to the mid-50s anticipated on Opening Day, the club will look to keep its hot Spring Training rolling into Thursday’s regular-season opener against the Guardians (7:10 p.m. PT).

With all that in mind, here’s a look ahead to Seattle’s 2026 season:

What needs to go right: Play to their potential

For the first time in this era of Mariners baseball, Seattle will enter Opening Day with virtually no question marks on its roster.

The lineup features five All-Star selections within the past two seasons. The rotation could reclaim its reputation as the sport's best, if it stays healthy and plays to its ceiling. The bullpen features one of the American League's best closers (Andrés Muñoz), setup men (Eduard Bazardo) and lefty specialists (Gabe Speier), along with spin specialist Matt Brash and newcomer Jose A. Ferrer.

The farm system features prospects who could help as soon as this season. On paper, the Mariners could win the AL West by a wide margin -- but that will hinge on the club playing to its potential.

“Nothing in baseball is easy,” Julio Rodríguez said. “But what I know for sure is that as a team, we have a better understanding of who we are and all the things you've got to do and sacrifice to get there.”

Great unknown: Can the rotation stay healthy?

This was the prevailing adversity that the club faced in 2025, when Logan Gilbert, George Kirby, Bryce Miller and Bryan Woo each missed extended time -- yet the Mariners still went on to win the AL West for the first time in 24 years.

Miller is already dealing with a left oblique issue and is expected to begin the regular season on the IL, which will force Seattle's front office to tap into its depth, likely via de facto injury fill-in Emerson Hancock. The club already lost Logan Evans to an internal brace procedure in January after a solid rookie season, and it could lean on No. 2 prospect Kade Anderson later this summer.

But keeping the main five healthy over the next six months could catapult the Mariners to winning the division by a healthy margin.

Team MVP will be: Rodríguez

This might be a bolder take, given that Rodríguez will bat either directly in front of or behind Cal Raleigh, last year’s AL MVP runner-up. Yet that’s just how much potential the three-time AL All-Star brings entering his age-25 season, and the Mariners are bullish that this will be the year the star center fielder finally puts it all together for the entire season.

“I learned a lot of things about myself and what makes me, me,” Rodríguez said of his finish to 2025. “And I think that's just kind of what I want to bring. I don't want to necessarily change anything. I just want to go out there and compete the way I know how to compete and let everything else play out.”

Team Cy Young will be: RHP George Kirby

There was a different aura to Kirby this spring. He’s more at ease -- jovial, even -- which speaks to what teammates and coaches have attributed to more conviction. That’s not to say he has ever doubted himself. But Kirby coupling the maturity he’s showing with a sky-high ceiling could lead to him putting together the monster season that he has long been capable of.

After all, this is the arm that the Mariners entrusted to start their first game of the AL Division Series and Game 7 of the AL Championship Series.

“To have [manager] Dan [Wilson] and the team believe in me to go in some of those big games is huge, just for confidence,” Kirby said. “It just does a lot for the mental game.”

It’s all in there, and he sure seems poised to maximize that potential.

Bold prediction: They win the AL pennant

OK, this isn’t that bold given that it’s precisely what the clubhouse is saying out loud. But advancing to the World Series is also a frontier that this franchise has never reached.

The Mariners might have the AL’s most complete roster, buoyed by legitimate talent. And they now have the experience -- and heartache -- of coming oh so close last year.

“I think if there's anything different, that's what it would be -- is that we've been there,” Wilson said. “We understand it, and that's a motivator for us.”