According to Jeff Passan, the Seattle Mariners have re-signed Josh Naylor to a five-year contract, and reportedly, the contract is in the $90-$100 million range. This was a deal that had to be done since Naylor was incredible after being acquired midseason at the MLB Trade Deadline in a trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Mariners fans instantly fell in love with him. He played so well, and his energy was infectious. Hopefully for Seattle fans, gone are the years of their ownership cheaping out and not being willing to pay top dollar to players. The Mariners now have Cal Raleigh, Julio Rodriguez, and Naylor locked up until 2030.
They also have an elite starting rotation with the trio of Bryan Woo, Logan Gilbert, and George Kirby headlining them.
Naylor was instrumental down the stretch for Seattle into the postseason, as they had one of their greatest seasons in franchise history, with them advancing to the ALCS and being one game away from the World Series. In 54 games with the Mariners, he hit .299 with a .831 On Base Plus Slugging Percentage, 2.2 Fangraphs Wins Above Replacement, and shockingly 19 stolen bases. He continued his play into the postseason as well, where he hit .348 with a .967 OPS, 3 home runs, and 5 runs batted in across 12 games.
At season’s end, Naylor was unequivocally a top 10 1st baseman in the MLB. Among qualified 1st basemen, he was 10th in Weighted Runs Created+, tied for 2nd in batting average with Freddie Freeman, 11th in OPS, and had a 3.1 fWAR, which was good for 9th in the league.
Seattle just traded away their potential 1st baseman of the future in Tyler Locklear, at the trade deadline to the Diamondbacks for Eugenio Suarez, too, so they really couldn’t afford to let Naylor walk. The Mariners have one of the best farm systems in baseball, but even their best 1B prospect, Luis Suisbel’s Estimated Time of Arrival is 2026, which is why re-signing him had to be their top priority.
Seattle players also mentioned Naylor as one of the smartest baseball players they had ever played with, a true professional, and Cal Raleigh also said that he was the most valuable person in their clubhouse. That just screams a guy that needs to immediately be brought back; the vibes just seem incredibly immaculate around him, and his teammates have spoken very highly of him. Most importantly, he’s really good at baseball too and saved his best baseball of his career for them in a contract season.
I mean, CMON, how can you watch him do this in the postseason and not want to instantly re-sign him? Mariners fans everywhere deserved this, the state of Washington deserved this, and so did the city of Seattle. Raleigh had also mentioned when he signed his extension that he wanted Seattle to be more aggressive in free agency, and here they are holding their end of the bargain so far.
It’s incredibly hysterical just how quickly Naylor won over Mariners fans. He’s one of those guys who has an abundance of energy, so you despise playing against him, but absolutely adore having him on your team. He was incredibly clutch with Seattle; his ability to steal bases while not being quick, and just using his baseball IQ, was a treat to watch. Just the fact that Naylor was unapologetically himself, they really loved his personality, and he played so well, really won everyone over who had any doubts about him.
One of my friends is a Mariners fan, and when the rumors of them trading for him started happening in the early 2025 offseason, he wasn’t enamored at all. Even after they traded for him midseason, he initially wasn’t too keen on it. By season’s end, he grew to be a massive fan of Naylor, and with the news coming out of him re-signing, he was incredibly elated.
Seattle fans didn’t only deserve to have a one-night stand with Naylor, they deserved to reap the benefits of him for as long as they possibly could, which is exactly what they just did by signing him to this extension. Times might finally be changing for the Mariners money-wise, and why not after having such a great season and coming this close to making the World Series? If not now, then when?
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