The 2025-26 MLB season is in full swing! Here at Alofoke Deportes, we keep you updated with analysis and ratings of every major move in this winter market.
From stellar signings that transform the course of your team to impactful transfers, we provide you with a detailed assessment of what these decisions mean for next season and beyond.
Our team of experts will offer you fresh and updated analysis as the movements are finalized, so stay tuned for the latest information from now until the start of spring training.
Mariners Secure Naylor: A Promising Start
The Seattle Mariners have made the first move in the market by securing Josh Naylor with a 5-year, $92.5 million contract.
Rating: A-If there were an award for the most likely free agent prediction, Josh Naylor’s return to the Seattle Mariners would be the top candidate. Therefore, it is not surprising that this is the first significant signing of the offseason (pending medical clearance).
As soon as the Mariners’ season ended with a loss in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series, the management made it clear that re-signing Naylor was their top priority. These public statements are rare, and the Mariners backed up their commitment with a five-year contract.
It’s easy to understand why they wanted Naylor back. The Mariners have been looking for a long-term solution at first base for, approximately, 20 years, really since they traded John Olerud in 2004. Ty France gave them a couple of solid seasons in 2021 and 2022, but since 2005, only the Pirates’ first basemen have produced a lower OPS than Seattle’s.
Naylor, for his part, arrived in the exchange period from Arizona and provided a great spark in the final stretch, batting .299/.341/.490 with nine home runs and 33 RBIs in 54 games, earning him 2.2 WAR. Including his time with the Diamondbacks, he finished with .295/.353/.462 with 20 home runs in 2025. Given the pitcher-friendly nature of T-Mobile Park, it’s not easy to attract free agent hitters to Seattle, but Naylor talked about how he loves to hit there. The numbers back it up: in 43 career games at T-Mobile, he has batted .304 and slugged .534.
It’s important to note that, for a Seattle lineup that relies heavily on strikeouts, Naylor is a high-contact hitter in the middle of the order; he finished with the 17th-best strikeout rate among qualified hitters in 2025. Naylor’s entire game is a bit contradictory. He ranks in the seventh percentile in chase rate, but still had a nearly league-average walk rate (46th percentile) with an excellent contact rate. He can’t run (third percentile!), but stole 30 bases in 32 attempts, including 19 of 19 after joining the Mariners. He doesn’t seem fast on the field, but his Statcast defensive metrics have been above average in each of the last four seasons.
He’s not a star – 3.1 WAR in 2025 was his personal best – but he’s a safe and predictable player to rely on in the coming years. This deal extends to his age-33 season, so there may be some risk at the end of the contract, but for a team with World Series aspirations in 2026, the Mariners needed to bring Naylor back. The front office will be happy with this signing, and so will Mariners fans.
