The Mariners’ playoff path has gone from narrow to nearly nonexistent, and one of the biggest reasons sits right in the middle of their lineup.
Seattle is 67-78 and 6.5 games behind the Cleveland Guardians in the Wild Card race, leaving the club with slim postseason odds. That’s a steep drop for a team that reached Game 7 of the ALCS last season before falling to the Toronto Blue Jays. This year’s group simply hasn’t produced the same punch on either side of the ball.
Josh Naylor’s season has become a major part of that story. The first baseman was one of Seattle’s key offseason bets, and the club doubled down by re-signing him to a five-year, $92.5 million deal before any other major free agent was signed.
“The other major offseason move the Mariners made was re-signing Josh Naylor to a five-year, $92.5 million deal. What stood out about this contract was not only that it made a lot of financial sense, but also that the Mariners got a deal done before any other major free agent was signed,” FanSided's Zachary Rotman wrote.
“They were so quick to double down on Naylor after he provided a spark for them in 2025, but it just hasn't worked out so far.”
So far, it hasn’t. Through 135 games, Naylor is hitting .267/.325/.362 with 10 home runs and 49 RBIs. That production falls well short of what Seattle was chasing when it committed that kind of money, especially compared with the peak of his Cleveland run two seasons ago, when he launched 31 homers and drove in 108.
The Mariners wanted more from him. They needed more from him. And with the season slipping away, there isn’t much time left for either side to change the narrative.
In Other News...
Josh Naylor Has Become A Real Mariners Offseason Dilemma
Josh Naylors first season with the Mariners has given the front office a real winter conversation to have. The 29-year-old has still done a lot of the contact-driven work that has defined his game, but his overall offensive output has slipped from the levels hes established in the past. Home runs, RBIs, slugging percentage and OPS are all down, and for a lineup that expected more impact from that spot, the gap has been hard to ignore.
The odd part is that the underlying shape of his at-bats has not changed all that much. Naylor is still making plenty of contact and keeping strikeouts low, but his aggressive style has led him into more pitches outside the zone, and the quality of the contact has suffered because of it. For Seattle, that creates a tricky offseason question: how much weight to give the steadiness of his approach versus the reality that the production hasnt matched it. [Read more 🡒]
Cal Raleigh's Surge May Not Be Enough To Avoid Mariners History
Cal Raleighs late-season surge has given the Mariners something to feel better about, even if it arrived after a long stretch of offensive frustration. Through Aug. 1, his season had been dragged down by a 70 wRC+ slump, but since then he has looked much more like the middle-of-the-order threat Seattle needed, with a 169 wRC+ and 10 home runs along with four doubles.
Still, the bigger picture has not disappeared. Raleigh is sitting at .184 after 458 plate appearances, and the Mariners are staring at the possibility of one of the rarest kind of club history if that number holds. Evan White remains the only qualified Mariner to finish a season below .200, and Raleighs recent improvement may be enough to keep him from joining that particular list, but the margin is thin enough to keep the question alive. [Read more 🡒]
Mariners Youth Push Just Put Randy Arozarena's Future In Doubt
Seattles push to lean harder into its young core has changed the conversation around Randy Arozarena in a hurry. With Lzaro Montes, Michael Arroyo, Colt Emerson and Cole Young all moving up, the Mariners have signaled a real appetite for accelerating the youth movement, and that naturally brings roster-and-payroll questions with it. Arozarena is in the final year of his arbitration deal, and he is positioned to command a significant multi-year contract when he reaches free agency.
For the Mariners, the issue is no longer just whether Arozarena fits in the lineup. It is whether they want to make a major investment in a veteran at the same moment they are building around younger, cost-controlled players who could define the next wave of the club. Arozarenas own plans for what comes next have not been made public, which leaves the front office with a familiar but increasingly pointed dilemma as the youth push keeps gathering momentum. [Read more 🡒]