The Seattle Mariners, in need of some help at first base this offseason, are at risk of being left out in the cold.

The M’s have Luke Raley already at first, but he could stand a right-handed hitting platoon partner. In the last few days, several options have come off the board as Christian Walker signed with the Houston Astros, Paul Goldschmidt signed with the New York Yankees, Josh Naylor was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks and Carlos Santana signed with the Cleveland Guardians.

The Santana news was especially devastating, as it seemed like a reunion with him was essentially a lay-up earlier in the offseason.

Pete Alonso is still on the market, but the Mariners seem unwilling to meet the asking price for him. Thus, the options are dwindling rapidly, with Jeff Passan of ESPN taking stock of where the market is at right now:

Over the last 24 hours:

Christian Walker to Houston
Paul Goldschmidt to the New York Yankees
Josh Naylor to Arizona
Carlos Santana to Cleveland

1B still available in free agency: Pete Alonso, Anthony Rizzo, Josh Bell, Ty France. In trades: LaMonte Wade Jr. and Nathaniel Lowe.

Rizzo is out because the M’s don’t need a left-hander. Again, Alonso is likely out because of money. France, who was DFA’d by the Mariners in July, could be a possibility on the short side of the platoon with Raley. Justin Turner was omitted from that list, but he also remains a reunion possibility for Seattle.

In 48 games with the Mariners after a trade from the Toronto Blue Jays this past season, he hit .264 with five homers, 24 RBI and a .363 on-base percentage. He helped the M’s get to within one game of the playoffs.

For the season as a whole, he hit .259 with 11 homers.

Turner just finished the 16th year of his career with the Baltimore Orioles, New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, Boston Red Sox, Blue Jays and Mariners. He’s a .285 lifetime hitter who helped the Dodgers win the World Series in 2020. He just turned 40 years old.

As for France, after being acquired by the Mariners during the COVID 2020 season, he was a firm part of the team’s rebuild, earning an All-Star appearance in 2022 and helping the team break the long playoff drought.

However, France slumped to a poor 2023 and also struggled in 2024 before being designated for assignment. He latched on with the Cincinnati Reds for the final 52 games of the season.

Lifetime, France is a .263 hitter. He hit .250 with the Mariners in 2023 but saw his power dissipate, hitting only 12 homers. He had just eight homers in 88 games for Seattle this year. He did hit five in Cincinnati. He’s still only 30 years old.

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The Vegas Golden Knights (22-8-3) won their fifth straight game at home with a 6-2 victory against the Seattle Kraken (15-18-2) on Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena.

HOW IT WENT DOWN
Vince Dunn gave Seattle an early lead with a power-play goal 2:34 into the first period. Victor Olofsson found a wide-open Keegan Kolesar who scored the tying goal to make it 1-1 with 7:21 to play in the period. A little over a minute later, Brett Howden tacked on his 12^th goal of the season to make it 2-1. Nicolas Hague scored his second goal of the season late in the frame to give Vegas a 3-1 lead heading into the second period. After a scoreless second period, William Karlsson tallied a goal 8:09 into the third period. Three minutes later, Noah Hanifin joined the goal party to increase the score to 5-1. Jaden Schwartz scored Seattle’s second power-play goal of the night, but Mark Stone sealed the 6-2 victory for Vegas with an empty-net goal. Ilya Samsonov stopped 21-of-23 shots.

TOP PERFORMERS
Keegan Kolesar: Kolesar tied his career-high goals (8G) with his game-tying goal in the first period. Kolesar also recorded a two-point night (1G, 1A) to have three multi-point games on the season.

Brett Howden: Howden scored the go-ahead goal in the first period increasing his career-high goal total to 12. With two points (1G, 1A) in the game, Howden has recorded back-to-back multi-point games and his fifth overall this season.

Victor Olofsson: With his assist in the first period, Olofsson has recorded seven points in seven games.

Mark Stone: Stone notched three points (1G, 2A) in the win. Stone has registered a point in 17-of-19 games played.

VGK STATS OF THE KNIGHT
Head Coach Bruce Cassidy tied Gerard Gallant for most wins in VGK history with 118 wins.

Pavel Dorofeyev skated in his 100^th career game on Saturday night.

Jack Eichel tallied two assists on the night, bringing his season total to 35. Eichel reached the 35-assist mark in 33 games, surpassing Mark Stone (43 GP) as the fastest player in franchise to hit 35 assists in a season.

Vegas saw six different goal scorers in Saturday’s win. This is the third time this season Vegas has had six different goal scorers in a game (Oct. 26 vs. SJS and Nov. 23 vs. MTL)

ATTENDANCE: 17,862

LOOKING AHEAD
The Golden Knights close out the homestand on Monday when they face off against the Anaheim Ducks at 7 p.m. at T-Mobile Arena. Watch the game on Vegas 34, stream on KnightTime+, or listen live on FOX Sports Las Vegas 98.9/1340 and Deportes Vegas 1460.

Late in the season, there’s no more wiggle room for the Seattle Seahawks and their playoff push. If they don’t win out, they will need all the chips to fall their way if they hope to get in the dance.

That challenge isn’t getting any easier with the Minnesota Vikings (12-2) coming to Lumen Field for a Week 16 matchup. Seattle (8-6) needs a bounce back from having their four-game win streak snapped last week against the Green Bay Packers.

The Seahawks and Vikings kick off at 1:05 p.m. on Sunday. Here are five storylines to watch in Seattle’s late-season battle with Minnesota.

Minnesota is averaging 113.2 rush yards per game (15th) this season, led by running back Aaron Jones. Through 14 games, Jones has 979 rushing yards and is averaging 4.6 yards per carry. He also has over 1,300 total scrimmage yards this season.

After holding opponents to under 100 rush yards three times from Weeks 9–13, the Seahawks have given up more than 120 ground yards in back-to-back weeks against the Green Bay Packers and Arizona Cardinals. Seattle’s front must provide some more resistance against the Vikings and force Minnesota quarterback Sam Darnold into passing situations.

The Vikings are most dangerous when their offense is balanced. Seattle has to shut that down early in the game.

In Week 15, Seattle offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb gave running back Zach Charbonnet just eight carries, despite trailing by just 10 points with 10 minutes remaining in the game. Charbonnet took one of those carries for a 24-yard touchdown run. During the week, Grubb spoke about the adjustments he could’ve made but didn’t.

“I think that there are points in football games where you might not be able to run the ball anymore depending on how much time’s left and things like that,” Grubb said on Thursday. “But, if you’re looking for a play and you’re trying to spark the offense, I think it always starts with the playmakers. That was certainly the thought, ‘How do we get the ball to [Metcalf] and [Lockett] and [Jaxon Smith-Njigba]?’”

Lead running back Kenneth Walker III is back after a two-game absence that thrust Charbonnet into the starting role. Grubb now has twice the backfield weapons to scheme into his game plan. Seattle is 6-1 this season when they run the ball 20 or more times and 3-5 when they don’t.

Minnesota has the 28th-ranked pass defense this season (244.9 yards per game allowed), which will be enticing for Grubb’s pass-heavy attack. But Geno Smith can’t do it on his own.

Vikings wide receivers Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison have the second-most combined receiving yards (2,014) among pass-catching duos in the NFL this season. They are one of the most dangerous combos in the league, and Darnold has been efficient at getting them the ball.

Minnesota is going to go to its star receivers early and often. Addison and Jefferson make up about 57 percent of the Vikings’ targets in the passing game. The target share, plus the talent level of both, make for a tall task for Seattle.

“Those guys, they play all the positions so you got to account for them and all the spots,” Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald said Wednesday. “Probably the most diverse route tree that we’re going to get from a duo yet this year and they deserve a lot of credit for that.”

The Seahawks’ pass rush has been hot and cold this season. They are fifth in team pressures (262), but 27th in pressure-to-sack percentage (12.21 percent). Seattle was unable to sack Packers quarterback Jordan Love in Week 15, with Love getting the ball out quickly and Green Bay’s offensive line mitigating the pressure.

Seattle’s 32 sacks this season is tied for 20th with three other teams. Darnold has been good for the Vikings when under pressure this season, but his average time to throw jumps from 2.73 seconds to 3.69 — nearly a second longer the Seahawks may have to try and bring him down.

Love also loses about a second on his average while under pressure this season, but he has been getting the ball out quicker than Darnold in general. If Seattle can shut down Minnesota’s run game, they could tee off on Darnold being forced to pass the ball.

Seahawks fans will double as New York Jets supporters this weekend as Seattle hopes the Jets beat the Los Angeles Rams to aid their playoff push. If the Rams win and the Seahawks lose in Week 16, everything would have to fall perfectly in line for Seattle to earn a playoff spot — including beating Los Angeles in Week 18.

With no margin for error, this will be a huge game to decide the future of Seattle’s season. They can fall behind in the NFC West or potentially retake the division lead.

Game Preview: Can Seahawks Bounce Back vs. Vikings in Week 16?

Seahawks Defense Aims For Better Start vs. Vikings

Did Seahawks OC Ryan Grubb Abandon Run Too Early vs. Packers?

Geno Smith, Ken Walker III Good to Go For Seahawks vs. Vikings

Seahawks Preparing For Vikings Offense Brimming With Playmakers