What’s Subsequent: How Josh Naylor's New Deal Impacts the Mariners, Free Agent Market

[ad_1] Bringing again Josh Naylor needed to be the Mariners’ prime precedence this winter. Credit score them for losing no time in getting it executed with a five-year deal for a reported $92.5 million that represented the primary main splash of MLB’s free company.

Mariners basic supervisor Justin Hollander described Naylor to me in October as one of many smartest gamers he has ever had. Naylor’s good 19-for-19 mark on stolen bases in Seattle was an instance of that. Regardless of being certainly one of MLB's slowest gamers, Naylor loved a 20-30 season regardless of having by no means stolen greater than 10 bases in a season — a credit score to his baseball IQ.

It was one factor for Naylor to excel in Arizona, the place he hit 23% higher than league common earlier than his commerce deadline arrival; it was one other for him to be a fair better offensive power in a a lot more durable hitting surroundings in Seattle. Naylor hit 38% higher than league common with 9 homers and 19 steals in 54 video games to shut out the common season with the Mariners. He then confirmed he was up for the problem in October, main the workforce with a .340 batting common and hitting three dwelling runs on their technique to the AL West title and their first ALCS look since 2001.

This is what's subsequent after Naylor's new deal:

What's Subsequent for Seattle

(Photograph by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Pictures)

There’s a purpose the Mariners acquired each Naylor and Eugenio Suarez on the deadline. They wanted extra pop at each nook infield spots, and Suárez is now a free agent. So is Jorge Polanco, which means half of Seattle’s infield continues to be vacant even after re-signing Naylor. The Mariners have choices to fill Polanco’s spot in Cole Younger and Ryan Bliss, however neither can slug like Polanco. In the event that they need to end the job in 2025, they’re going to want so as to add extra energy within the infield. After coming a recreation away from making it to their first ever World Sequence look, Seattle merely couldn’t afford to buy on the margins to handle the offensive vacancies. The commerce was a really perfect match and this transfer is a good begin.

What's Subsequent for Naylor

(Photograph by Daniel Shirey/MLB Pictures through Getty Pictures)

As extraordinary as Naylor’s stolen base whole was, it will most likely be unwise for the Mariners to anticipate him to steal 150 bases over the subsequent 5 years. They need to, nonetheless, have the ability to depend on his contact and on-base expertise. His bat velocity and barrel fee each regressed, and that could possibly be a crimson flag because it pertains to energy manufacturing transferring ahead, however he nonetheless ranked amongst MLB’s prime three first basemen in each batting common (.295) and strikeout fee (13.7%) in 2025. If he can preserve that up whereas enjoying a stable first base, as he has executed for years, he’ll make that contract value it.

Past the sudden surge in steals, Naylor’s offensive profile introduced a component that Seattle coveted. After all, his energy was useful — he hit 51 dwelling runs over the past two years — however his on-base expertise and strategy on the plate have been what meshed so completely for a Mariners workforce that struggled to make contact and racked up a troubling variety of strikeouts over the earlier two seasons.

What's Subsequent for Different First Baseman Free Brokers

(Photograph by Lucas Casel/MLB Pictures through Getty Pictures)

Naylor getting 5 years definitely doesn’t damage Pete Alonso’s trigger as he seeks the long-term deal he wasn’t capable of safe final winter from the New York Mets, however I additionally don’t suppose this pact makes a big impact on the highest of the market contemplating how completely different Naylor’s profile is from the opposite prime first basemen accessible.

Naylor and Alonso are principally foils on the place. Naylor is 28; Alonso is about to show 32. Naylor is understood for his contact, on-base and all-around expertise; Alonso brings energy and gives little along with his glove or on the basepaths, however there are few gamers who can influence a baseball like him. Alonso and Cody Bellinger at all times figured to command the next common annual worth than Naylor, and that is still the case after this deal. With Seattle now not in want of a primary baseman, there are a plethora of groups who may nonetheless use an improve on the spot. There are many choices accessible, from the highest of the home market (Alonso, Bellinger), to the tier beneath (Ryan O’Hearn, Luis Arraez) to the worldwide market (Munetaka Murakama, Kazuma Okamoto).