Mariners' Josh Naylor gets 4-year contract update ahead of free agency

Billy Heyen

Mariners' Josh Naylor gets 4-year contract update ahead of free agency image

Josh Naylor has been an absolute blast since the Seattle Mariners acquired him just before the trade deadline.

Soon enough, there'll be a big decision to make. Naylor was available because his contract expires at the end of the season, which will make him a free agent.

Seattle wants him back.

GM Jerry Dipoto spoke with MLB Trade Rumors and shared these thoughts:

“Yeah I think we would," Dipoto said of wanting Naylor back. “That remains to be seen how Josh feels about the matter. It’s never easy when you’re in a playoff race to open discussions like that. I know that there is interest on our end, and I believe that there is interest on Josh’s end.”

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MLB Trade Rumors analyst Anthony Franco goes on to speculate that Naylor's recent play will likely earn him a four-year deal from whatever team ends up signing him.

Naylor seems to like Seattle. He's hitting .338 with five homers in 19 home games since the trade.

“He’s actually as good as anybody that’s played in the last handful of years at hitting in this ballpark," Dipoto said. "It doesn’t seem to bother him much. We’ll see if there’s an interest in sticking around as a Mariner."

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Naylor has been awesome since his arrival. He's slugging .460 and has eight home runs in 41 games.

And most amazingly, he has stolen 16 bases in 16 attempts.

You can't let those kind of wheels get away.

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Billy Heyen

Billy Heyen is a freelance writer with The Sporting News. He is a 2019 graduate of Syracuse University who has written about many sports and fantasy sports for The Sporting News. Sports reporting work has also appeared in a number of newspapers, including the Sandusky Register and Rochester Democrat & Chronicle