Josh Naylor Jolts Lethargic First-Base Market By Staying In Seattle

Seattle slugger Josh Naylor swats a home run against Toronto in the 2025 AL Championship Series. (Photo by Mark Blinch/Getty Images)

Getty Images

The logjam of free agent first baseman has started to move.

That’s because Josh Naylor has re-joined the Seattle Mariners for the longest deal ever issued by trade-maker Jerry DiPoto, the team’s president of baseball operations.

Naylor, still just 29, agreed to a five-year, $90 million contract – the first pact of more than two years during DiPoto’s 10-year tenure.

Both he and the Mariners had been intent on a reunion after narrowing missing the first World Series in team history.

The first major free agent to sign this fall, Naylor is coming off the best year of his career. In a season split between Arizona and Seattle, he hit .295 with 20 home runs, 92 runs batted in, and a career-peak 30 stolen bases – exceptional for a man with limited speed.

The squat left-handed hitter was even better in the Championship Series against Toronto, hitting .417 with three home runs.

Although more than a dozen clubs need first basemen, Naylor’s early agreement probably raises the asking prices of the rest.

Prices Rise

That list is headed by Pete Alonso, coming off a 38-homer season with the New York Mets, plus Paul Goldschmidt, a former National League MVP who spent 2025 with the New York Yankees.

Also available are three-time batting champion Luis Arraez, slugger Rhys Hoskins, switch-hitter Josh Bell, the versatile Wilmer Flores, and home run hitters Kaz Okumoto and Munetaka Murakami, both hoping to jump to the U.S. majors from Japan.

Other familiar first basemen available for the right offer are Ryan O’Hearn, Rowdy Tellez, Ty France, Carlos Santana, Dom Smith, and 41-year-old Justin Turner, hoping to extend his long career.

Although he spent most of last season in the outfield, Cody Bellinger also has considerable experience at first base and could be deployed there on a regular basis. There’s already a small tug-of-war for his services between the Yankees, who had him last season, and the Mets, who hope Bellinger will follow Juan Soto’s 2024 free agent path from the Bronx to Flushing.

MVPs On Market

Both Bellinger and Goldschmidt are former National League MVPs who could return to the Senior Circuit after spending last season as teammates in Yankee pinstripes.

Bellinger, whose left-handed swing proved perfectly suited for the short right-field wall at Yankee Stadium last summer, could also surface in Philadelphia – especially if designated hitter Kyle Schwarber rides his own free-agent status out of town. Another option for the Phils is returning Bryce Harper, a two-time MVP, to right field from first base and signing Bellinger to man the gateway.

The Mets would have a first base vacancy if they lose Alonso, a right-handed slugger whose swing seems tailor-made for Boston’s Fenway Park, where The Green Monster guards left field.

With Naylor no longer available, the Mets might consider one of the power plants from Nippon Professional Baseball. They already have a Japanese pitcher in Kodai Senga.

Other teams reported to be in the hunt for first base help are the Arizona Diamondbacks, Milwaukee Brewers, San Francisco Giants, Cleveland Guardians, Detroit Tigers, and Los Angeles Angels.

Seattle’s latest signing is far from its biggest. During the winter of 2013-14, the M’s issued an ill-fated 10-year, $240 million deal to second baseman Robinson Cano. Under Dipoto, who assumed his GM role in 2016, the only other five-year contract created by the club went to pitcher Robbie Ray, who got $115 million. Like the Cano deal, it turned out to be a disaster.

Naylor’s Impact

Naylor, however, proved a fine fit for the team. Acquired at the 2025 trade deadkube for pitchers Brandyn Garcia and Ashton Izzi, Naylor helped the M’s unseat the Houston Astros in the American League West and defeat the Detroit Tigers in the AL Division Series before taking Toronto the full seven games in the Championship Series.

Seattle remains the only franchise in the majors that has never won a pennant and has reached post-season play just twice in 24 seasons.

Now that Naylor has signed, DiPoto needs to fix the rest of his infield, which also has second and third-base holes created by free agency. Both Jorge Polanco and Eugenio Suarez are on the market.

Naylor’s new contract will extend through his age-33 season.