Mariners Could Skip a Randy Arozarena Deal Only to Pay Up for Seiya Suzuki

The Mariners are willing to put $23.15 million on the table for one more year of Randy Arozarena. The years after that are where Seattle draws the line. And both sides probably know how this plays out. Arozarena is expected to turn down the qualifying offer, and Seattle stands to get a compensatory draft pick if he signs elsewhere. And the guy the Mariners want to talk to about coming to Seattle? He’s a year older and coming off the best season of his MLB career.

Ryan Divish and Adam Jude of The Seattle Times report that the Mariners don’t plan to pursue a long-term deal with Arozarena and want to gauge whether Seiya Suzuki would be interested in Seattle. They’ve been down this road with Suzuki before. The Mariners pursued him when he came over from Japan, and the Cubs landed him for five years and $85 million. This time, the Times says he could command even more.

Still, we’d make that call. The M’s should want a pretty good answer before writing a big check to a 32-year-old corner outfielder the same winter we let a 31-year-old All-Star walk.

Seiya Suzuki’s glove makes the strongest case for the Mariners

Let’s start with what Seattle would be giving up. Arozarena and Suzuki both hit 26 homers in 2026, but Arozarena reached base more often and slugged a little more. He slashed .281/.381/.484 to Suzuki’s .270/.368/.473. And once they got on, Arozarena stole 26 bases in 34 tries. Suzuki went 3-for-3. We saw what Arozarena could do with a walk and a pitcher who was slow to the plate. That’s a separator in what the Mariners would have to replace offensively.

There’s still plenty to like about Suzuki’s bat. He drew 81 walks in 143 games, compared with 68 in 154 for Arozarena. His .841 OPS would have trailed only Arozarena on the Mariners. We’d love to bring in a right-handed power hitter with patience in the middle of the order all day. The better fit starts to come into focus when we pencil Suzuki into the corner outfield and get those plate appearances from a guy who can help us there, too.

Suzuki was worth +7 fielding runs in right in 2026, his best defensive season with the Cubs. That’s the part of his career year we’d want Seattle’s scouts to spend the most time on. If they see a right fielder who can keep saving runs while supplying 25-homer power, there’s a case for paying him even after Arozarena put up the (slightly) better offensive season. If they see someone who’ll need more DH days as the deal goes on, the argument could potentially get a little shaky.

Jason Kanzler gives Seattle another read on Suzuki

Kanzler spent the past three seasons running the Cubs’ farm system while Seiya Suzuki was in Chicago. That gives Seattle a line to the coaches who saw Suzuki’s defense improve up close. We’d lean on those conversations before paying for his career year. If the Cubs saw changes in his play that they think will stick, we’d feel better about paying him to play right field for the next few seasons. One strong year with the glove is a pretty thin reason to go big on its own.

Arozarena could be in line for a $100 million deal, according to the Times, and Suzuki has a qualifying offer of his own from Chicago. If Suzuki declines it, signing him can carry a draft cost on top of the money. Seattle has to like the player, the defensive fit and the years it’s buying enough to make that math work.

That’s where John Stanton comes in. The Mariners chairman just made clear he’d rather make long-term commitments to younger players. Suzuki is already 32. Checking in on him is easy enough, but if Seattle gets serious about paying him for several years, that tells us the Mariners see enough in his bat and his glove to make an exception.

And if this turns into a real pursuit, it sounds like they’re down to get Ichiro involved again. The Seattle Times reported that the first time around, Jerry Dipoto spent 90 minutes on Zoom with Suzuki and his wife, and the Mariners asked Ichiro to help make the pitch. He took Suzuki out to dinner in Japan. Five years later, Seattle can still call on a Hall of Fame right fielder who knows exactly what it’s like to come over from Japan and play that corner at T-Mobile Park.

We should definitely bring in Suzuki if the Mariners are convinced they’re buying an everyday outfielder whose glove will hold up deep enough into the deal to matter. That’s what makes this worth exploring. We already know how hard it’ll be to replace Arozarena’s bat and legs. Seattle just needs to be sure about what it’s getting back.

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