Morosi: Why this offseason could be different for injured Mariners

It is impossible to know exactly how much injuries played into the disappointing seasons Cal Raleigh and Josh Naylor turned in for the Seattle Mariners, but news Monday the pair underwent surgeries the week after the season ended confirmed the need for surgical repair (Naylor) and a cleanup (Raleigh).

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“It does by way of context, give you a little bit of comfort that there’s an explanation for what had happened in 2026, where for a while it seemed as though there wasn’t a clear reason,” said Jon Morosi on his weekly conversation with Seattle Sports’ Wyman and Bob.

Morosi said what the two were dealing with physically was just one piece of the puzzle.

“We have our theories about maybe in Cal’s case and Naylor too, they played more baseball (World Baseball Classic) than usual in the spring. And then I think especially with Cal, just the way the season started, the short offseason for Naylor coming in the first year of a big contract, there were some headwinds that ended up being significant – and they never really got going,” Morosi said.

“There was that brief moment in time, it seemed, where Cal played a bit more like himself in the second half. But obviously the numbers are what they are, and this is a way of explaining what the numbers are telling us.”

All eyes will be on both players for a bounce back and the first step is a good recovery and rehab, neither of which will be typical with an expected lockout that will prohibit clubs from communicating with players on their 40-man rosters looming.

“I would say it’s suboptimal to be going through a recovery timetable in the midst of what could be a lockout,” Morosi said, “but I’m sure the Mariners are going to communicate very aggressively and forthrightly to the player and or the player’s representatives and the personal athletic trainers they may work with, rehab coordinators, etcetera, about, ‘Hey, this is the plan.’ But there really is not supposed to be dialogue even on a medical basis in communication.”

Morosi pointed out despite the communication blackout, there still could be indicators of just where certain players are in their recovery.

“One thing that actually happened last time around was players that were free agents or those that were coming back from from rehab of a surgery, they would actually post what they were doing on social media,” he said. “… On some level, if your GM sees what’s out there to the world, that’s not illegal. I mean, it’s out there, so you were actually seeing more and more players just putting stuff out there so that the world saw them getting back and working on their trajectory.”

In their press release announcing the surgeries, the Mariners stated both players are expected to be fully recovered prior to spring training. Whether an agreement on the collective bargaining agreement is reached in time for teams to report to spring training as scheduled in February or that date is pushed back, the Mariners and all teams will be anxious to get eyes on all players, not just those who entered the offseason with injuries.

“Last time, as the lockout ended, there was not a flood of information,” Morosi said. “There were multiple players that had to tell their teams, ‘Listen, hey, I got hurt last month,’ or ‘Hey, I’m behind in my recovery.’ It’s a situation that will be something that all teams, not just the Mariners, have to overcome, especially as we talk about Seattle not having a field manager in place right now. So, there’s a lot of getting caught up that I think Seattle’s going to have to do.”

Listen to Wyman and Bob weekdays from 2-7 p.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.

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