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Drayer: Seattle Mariners weren't done – How Polanco addition fits

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Drayer: Seattle Mariners weren't done – How Polanco addition fits


After the Seattle Mariners’ trades that brought in Mitch Haniger, Anthony DeScalfani and Luke Raley to the Seattle Mariners three weeks ago had been completed, there was a clear air of relief in a reply to a question posed to president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto.

Mariners Trade Breakdown: Who is new 2B Jorge Polanco?

“I feel like today is the first time all offseason that we can say if we were playing the opening day game tomorrow, we feel good about the team that we have,” Dipoto said in the media call later that Jan. 5 evening. “It’s a complete team.”

While some interpreted that as “the Mariners are done this winter,” in reality it was a statement of fact – and a significant accomplishment given the turn the offseason had taken early on, with Dipoto and general manager Justin Hollander needing to subtract from the roster before they added due to financial constraints.

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For the vast majority of the offseason there were missing pieces – vital pieces. And no, the plan was not to just fill them with utility players. Nonetheless, it was an uncomfortable place to be.

On Jan. 5, they felt they could at least field a good team with the numbers adding up at most positions, some via the platoon, but the hope was they could add.

The target: Jorge Polanco.

Mariners make trade with Twins for All-Star Jorge Polanco

“He’s a guy that we have liked and tried to acquire for years,” said Hollander. “I think I personally made more calls on this trade than I ever have on any trade before at the behest of both my own want to add him to our group, so a really big day for us. (I) feel like it makes us a lot better and excited to add him.”

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The addition of the switch-hitting Polanco at second base will eliminate a planned platoon at that position, likely moving it to third base where the platoon can be better utilized with Luis Urías and Josh Rojas.

Instant Reaction: Drayer with Wyman and Bob on trade for Polanco

“The switch-hit is huge for us the way our team is constructed,” said Hollander. “To have a guy who’s platoon neutral who can hit in the middle of our lineup from either side is a big advantage for Scott (Servais) as he stacks the lineup up to be able to go left, right, switch.”

Polanco, who hit primarily in the top three spots of the order for the Twins in recent years, could slide into the No. 3 spot for the Mariners, solidifying the top of the order before mixing and matching through the middle. The addition gives length to the lineup, and it builds a stronger bench. One of Mitch Haniger, Dominic Canzone or Luke Raley will be available off the bench each night, plus utility player Dylan Moore, catcher Seby Zavala, and Rojas or Urías.

The addition did come at a price both in the immediate and perhaps future, though, with outfielder and top-100 prospect Gabriel Gonzalez and pitching prospect Darren Bowen included in the trade. Off the big league roster, the Mariners could afford to lose the recently acquired DeScalfani, but key reliever Justin Topa will need to be replaced.

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“I definitely do want to take a moment to praise Topa on this call,” Hollander said to the media Monday night. “Justin Topa was awesome for us last year. From Day 1 of spring training, he showed up. He was open to coaching, he was open to new ideas, worked his butt off to make sure he stayed on the mound every day. He was available to us and got huge outs for us all year long. Topa was great, we’ll have to replace that. I think it most likely will be internally with a possibility, like always, that we could add externally as well.”

The bullpen does appear to be thin in established talent, but a strength of the Mariners in recent years has been in uncovering pitching gems. Is the next Topa or even Paul Sewald in the current group of spring training invitees? There are candidates with Jackson Kowar, Carlos Vargas and Prelander Berroa all possessing stuff, though none have yet put it together at the big league level.

Time will tell how it all shakes out, but on paper – multiple projection systems ranked the Mariners second in the division before Monday’s trade – this team is better than the team that finished last season.

Pitchers (and it’s very worth noting the starting five was kept intact) and catchers report to spring training in just over two weeks.

More on the Seattle Mariners

• Mariners sign utility player who is married to Hollywood star
• Baseball America’s Glaser: Mariners prospect Emerson ‘on a rocket’
• Video: Grading Seattle Mariners’ offseason with Mike Salk and Shannon Drayer
• Close Look: Two Mariners legends set to enter Baseball Hall of Fame race
• The fun story of how Cal Raleigh heard about Haniger’s Seattle Mariners return

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High winds cause power outage affecting over 8K Seattle City Light customers

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High winds cause power outage affecting over 8K Seattle City Light customers


Over 8,000 Seattle City Light (SCL) customers have reportedly been affected by outages on Friday evening due to high winds, SCL said.

As of 8:24 p.m., SCL reported 13 active events with 8,318 customers without power.

Seattle City Light is investigating the cause.

The outage can be tracked on this map.

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As of 8:24 p.m., Puget Sound Energy reported 39 active outages with 3,355 customers impacted.

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This is a developing story, and KOMO News will update the information as it becomes available.



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Seattle Mariners announce 3 new hires to 2026 coaching staff

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Seattle Mariners announce 3 new hires to 2026 coaching staff


The Seattle Mariners announced their 2026 major league coaching staff on Friday morning, which includes a trio of new hires.

The Mariners hired Carlos Cardoza as their third base coach, former M’s catcher Austin Nola as their bullpen coach and Jake McKinley as their major league field coordinator.

Salk: The emerging trade targets who best fit the M’s

Cardoza replaces Kristopher Negron, who was hired as the Pittsburgh Pirates’ bench coach. Nola replaces Tony Arnerich, who was hired as the Cleveland Guardians’ bench coach. McKinley replaces Louis Boyd, who is transitioning to Seattle’s assistant director of player development.

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The rest of manager Dan Wilson’s staff remains the same following the club’s deepest playoff run in franchise history.

Senior director of hitting strategy Edgar Martinez, hitting coach Kevin Seitzer and assistant hitting coach Bobby Magallanes are back in the same roles for their second season together.

Seattle’s highly successful pitching brain trust also remains intact, with director of pitching strategy Trent Blank, pitching coach Pete Woodworth and assistant pitching coach Danny Farquhar all returning to their same roles.

Bench coach Manny Acta, first base coach Eric Young Jr. and longtime infield coach Perry Hill are back as well.

Cardoza spent the previous nine seasons as a manager in the Texas Rangers’ farm system, including the past three seasons as Double-A Frisco’s skipper. He managed Frisco to an 84-54 record in 2024, which was the best regular-season win percentage in club history. Following that season, he was named the organization’s 2024 Bobby Jones Player Development Man of the Year.

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Nola is joining the coaching ranks after a six-year career as an MLB catcher with the Mariners (2019-20), the San Diego Padres (2020-23) and the Colorado Rockies (2025).

Nola made his MLB debut with Seattle in 2019 and then batted .306 over the first 29 games of the COVID-shortened 2020 season. He was then dealt to the Padres as part of a seven-player trade that sent two-time All-Star closer Andrés Muñoz, first baseman Ty France, catcher Luis Torrens and outfielder Taylor Trammel to the Mariners.

McKinley spent the past three seasons as the University of Nevada’s head coach. This past season, he guided the Wolf Pack to the Mountain West Conference regular-season title and was named the league’s coach of the year.

Prior to that, McKinley spent three years working in player development for the Milwaukee Brewers, including 2021 as their vice president of player development. In addition, he was the head coach at Menlo College (2014-17) and William Jessup (2018).

Seattle Mariners offseason coverage

• Bowden: Seattle Mariners ahead of the game entering winter meetings
• America’s team? Seattle Mariners the top trending team in 2025
• Notebook: M’s awarded extra draft pick, Naylor wins Canadian award
• Seattle Mariners announce FanFest will return in 2026
• How M’s will approach adding their young talent to contending team

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Capitol Hill businesses on edge with 11 break-ins reported in just one week

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Capitol Hill businesses on edge with 11 break-ins reported in just one week


A rash of destructive burglaries in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood has several businesses fed up.

The Seattle Police Department’s Crime Dashboard, as of Dec. 4, shows 11 reports of break-ins and burglaries on Capitol Hill over a seven-day period, and 30 reports for the entire East Precinct that also includes Central Area, First Hill, Judkins Park, Madison Park, Montlake, and the upper Pike/Pine neighborhood.

Some of the crimes happened earlier, but they are only now being reported. Many workers in the neighborhood did not want to talk on camera but told KOMO News they feel frustrated and, at times, helpless.

Security footage captures a burglar making a beeline for the Ox Burger restaurant’s cash drawer, getting in and out of the busted front door in seconds. The popular restaurant off Madison and 16th Avenue is using insurance to pay for a new entrance. A worker told KOMO News they do plan to use a city grant to upgrade security, and what happened is not surprising to some neighbors.

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“It’s obviously frustrating to them. They have to clean it up, and it creates a situation on their hands,” Noah Boggess said.

It’s one example in a string of reported incidents. Taped to the front door of Cone and Steiner General Store off 19th and Mercer is a plea to ward off potential burglars. The sign reads “ATM has been emptied, cameras have been updated, pretty please don’t rob us.”

“When I first went in there, it made me chuckle, but even more, obviously, it just made me feel bad that something happened,” Boggess added.

Customer Eric Miyake said the same message led him to support the business.

“Are you concerned about property crime in the area?” KOMO’s Jackie Kent asked.

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“I am,” Miyake responded. “This is a great area, and I don’t want to see it vandalized like that.”

A half mile away in the 500 block of Broadway East, La Cocina has boarded up a window and set up chicken wire for added security. The general manager, off camera, said two people broke in on Nov. 23 using rocks and restaurant tables, and got away with arms full of liquor bottles. He’s getting $800 from the city through the Storefront Repair Fund, he said, with hopes to avoid becoming a repeat target.

For Seattle businesses to qualify for the grants, the damage had to have happened after July 2024, and the grants do not cover graffiti or lost or stolen property. The Storefront Repair Fund covers costs for up to three incidents per business for things like doors, locks, and broken or etched windows.

KOMO News asked the Office of Economic Development how many businesses have taken advantage of those grants in 2025 and which neighborhoods needed them the most. The office said it expects to have those answers in the coming days. SPD’s general investigation unit is looking into these reported burglaries and break-ins.

The Greater Seattle Business Association in an email to KOMO News wrote these crimes the past few weeks are concerning, but the group reports the overall number of break-ins and burglaries on Capitol Hill have decreased when compared to the last two years. They’re working with the city to get business repair grants and assess crime prevention through environmental design to help mitigate burglaries.

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“We are continuing to build and maintain our partnerships with various city departments and the new East Precinct leadership to serve our community.,” GSBA Spokesperson Jen Carl wrote. “We look forward to working with the new mayor Katie Wilson and her staff, along with the new Position 9 councilmember Dionne Foster, to continue our public safety efforts.”



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