Josh Naylor’s down year in Seattle is looking a lot more understandable now.
The Mariners announced Monday that Naylor had triangular fibrocartilage complex (TFCC) repair surgery on his right wrist at the University of Washington Medical Center, a revelation that helps explain why his 2026 season never got back on track. After landing in Seattle last year and making a strong first impression in his first season away from the Guardians, Naylor slipped badly this season and finished with a .261/.317/.350 slashline.
That kind of production only sharpened the spotlight on Cleveland’s decision to move on from him, and it made Seattle’s five-year, $92.5 million commitment look rougher by the month. But the wrist surgery gives a clearer picture of why his bat never looked right for long stretches.
Naylor’s power was especially absent. He improved on the .212 batting average he posted in March and April, but the home runs never followed. He ended the year with just 10, matching the 10 he hit across his time with the D-Backs and Mariners last year.
That’s a far cry from 2024, when he put together a huge season with 31 home runs and 108 RBI and earned his first career All-Star nod.
Cleveland’s front office clearly believed the payday ahead made him too expensive to keep, and it traded him to the Diamondbacks for Slade Cecconi and a draft pick that became pitching prospect Will Hynes. Naylor then had his strong run with Seattle after a midseason trade, but his exit never really landed like a gut punch because Arizona had already taken a lesser return for him at the deadline than what it gave up to acquire him.
The Mariners also revealed that catcher Cal Raleigh underwent a left shoulder acromioclavicular (AC) debridement procedure, another clue behind one of the season’s biggest drops. After blasting 60 homers in 2025, Raleigh managed only 23 this year, and Seattle’s struggles in the middle of the lineup traced back in part to that decline.
For Cleveland, Raleigh’s slump mattered too. The Guardians beat Seattle in the season series, and the Mariners’ weaker year also helped depress the American League West enough for Cleveland to earn a postseason bye.
Now the question is whether the surgeries for Raleigh and Naylor can help Seattle get back to the level it expected from this group next season.
In Other News...
Jose Ramirez Decision Could Define Clevelands ALDS Fight
Jose Ramirezs October has become one of the quietest pressure points in Clevelands ALDS push. The seven-time All-Star has dealt with both performance and injury issues across the regular season and the first two games of the series, and the Guardians have spent enough time around him to know how much his presence usually shapes their offense. Even without a hit yet in the postseason, he has still found a way on base twice through walks and scored a run, a small reminder that his impact can show up in different ways.
Still, the Guardians are weighing whether a lineup adjustment might help ease some of the burden and get Ramirez back to his usual rhythm. Moving him down would be a notable call for a player who has long sat at the center of Clevelands attack, but the pressure around him has only grown as the series has unfolded. No decision has been made, and for a team trying to stay alive in the ALDS, how they handle Ramirez may say as much about their confidence as it does about his current form. [Read more 🡒]
Guardians Season May Hinge On Vogts Toughest Pitching Call Yet
With the Guardians on the brink after dropping the first two games of the ALDS, the attention has quickly shifted to the one decision that could shape the rest of the series: who gets the ball in Game 3. Tanner Bibee, Daniel Espino and Joey Cantillo all sit in the mix, and each choice comes with a different kind of risk for a team that no longer has much margin for error.
The discussion around the pitching staff has been about more than just one start, because this is the kind of spot where every move can ripple through the rest of the postseason plan. Cleveland has been forced to weigh upside against reliability in a must-win setting, and with the odds of a comeback already looking slim, the answer to that pitching question may say as much about the Guardians October outlook as the series itself. [Read more 🡒]
Stephen Vogts Most Debated ALDS Decision Put Guardians In A Bind
Gavin Williams gave Cleveland exactly the kind of postseason start it needed, mixing a strong outing with eye-opening strikeout stuff and premium velocity before Stephen Vogt made the call to go to the bullpen in the sixth inning. With the Guardians offense offering little margin for error, every pitch in that spot carried extra weight, and the decision to go to Eric Sabrowski quickly turned into the defining move of the game.
Sabrowskis control issues changed the shape of the inning and the lead, leaving the Guardians to chase a contest that had been in their grasp only moments earlier. It was the kind of sequence that will fuel second-guessing, because Williams had been rolling and the stakes of a postseason game left little room for a short outing to be anything less than airtight. [Read more 🡒]