Earlier this week, the Seattle Mariners officially signed first baseman Josh Naylor to a five-year contract worth $92.5 million. It’s the biggest free agent contract given to any offensive player in the decade that Jerry Dipoto has been in the front office, and it has M’s fans excited about the team’s chance of repeating as American League West champions in 2026.
As I’ve said many times on the ‘Refuse to Lose’ podcast, signing Naylor was a necessity for this organization, but there are still other things left to do: They need another bullpen arm and they need to bring back or replace Eugenio Suarez and Jorge Polanco.
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Apparently not everyone sees it that way, with some MLB executives saying the Mariners have already done enough this offseason.
The following came from ESPN MLB Insider Buster Olney, who is a weekly guest on the ‘Refuse to Lose’ podcast:
“And ​I ​texted ​you ​as ​soon ​as ​the ​deal ​went ​down. ​I ​mentioned ​to ​you ​that ​no ​matter ​what, ​and ​I ​ran ​this ​past ​some ​executives with ​other ​teams ​after ​I ​texted ​you, ​I ​said, ​’no ​matter ​what ​the ​Mariners ​do ​the ​rest ​of ​the ​winter, ​they’ve ​had ​a ​good ​offseason.’ ​And ​everyone’s ​like, ​’yep, ​that’s ​right.’ ​
They ​don’t ​really ​have ​to ​do ​a ​lot ​because ​their ​rotation ​is ​fine ​as ​it ​is, ​and ​their ​everyday ​lineup ​now ​with ​Naylor is ​fine ​as ​it ​is. Maybe ​you ​go ​after ​Suarez. ​Maybe you ​monitor ​that ​market. ​I mean ​it’s ​pretty ​clear ​they ​want ​to ​re-sign ​Jorge ​Polanco, ​who’s ​a ​good ​player ​for ​them, ​but ​let’s ​say ​everything ​else ​fails, ​because ​you ​got ​Josh ​Naylor ​to ​be ​that ​other guy ​in ​the ​middle ​of ​the ​order ​along ​with ​Cal (Raleigh), ​along ​with ​Julio (Rodriguez). ​I ​think ​they’ve ​had ​an ​excellent ​winter.”
ESPN MLB Insider Buster Olney on Naylor Signing + Skubal Trade Possibility + Felix HOF
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Naylor hit .295 last season between the Arizona Diamondbacks and Mariners. He hit nine home runs for Seattle while also stealing 19 bases in his two-month cameo. He also popped three home runs in the American League Championship Series as Seattle got to Game 7 of the series against the Toronto Blue Jays.
The baseball world will reconvene at the winter meetings from Dec. 7-10. At that point, we might see some of the bigger deals go down. Kyle Tucker, Framber Valdez and Bo Bichette are three of the biggest names on the free agent market.
The M’s have been linked to Polanco, who has been projected to get a two or three-year deal.
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LATEST PODCAST IS OUT: Brady Farkas is back for the the latest episode of the Refuse to Lose podcast! He covers the Josh Naylor news from every angle including the message it sends to the clubhouse and fanbase. Also, what’s next for Seattle? LISTEN HERE:
COLT TIME in 2026? According to a new report from Adam Jude of the Seattle Times, Colt Emerson could win the starting third base job in 2026. Here’s the positive – and negative – of that. CLICK HERE:Â
HOW ABOUT COLE? If Colt Emerson could also win the starting 2B job, what does that mean for Cole Young? CLICK HERE:Â
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