Why Mariners’ Josh Naylor ‘knew’ he wanted to come back to Seattle

Nov 18, 2025, 12:54 PM | Updated: 4:25 pm

Editor, Seattle Sports

We knew the Seattle Mariners wanted Josh Naylor back as the veteran first baseman entered free agency.

Mariners’ offseason opportunities ‘endless’ after Naylor re-signing

It turns out that Naylor and his family knew they wanted to come back, too. That part just wasn’t known until Sunday night when news broke of his five-year contract with the Mariners worth a reported $92.5 million.

That part became really clear when Naylor spoke Tuesday during a press conference at T-Mobile Park.

“Obviously, (I) could have tested the open market. That’s what most of the free agents do,” Naylor said. “For me, I think talking to my agent, talking to my family, we knew where we wanted to go and we got a deal done at a fair rate that we wanted. As great as it is to get the most (money) you can, I am more than comfortable here. I love this place, I love this fan base, I love this city, I love my teammates and I’m super thankful to be back.

“We got a fair deal done and I’m just grateful. I’m blessed. I’m not very greedy in that sense. I just want to win baseball games.”

It’s all love 💙

Josh has a message for you, Mariners fans. #TridentsUp pic.twitter.com/0qJ0lgDkIO

— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) November 18, 2025

Naylor said his family was “part of every single conversation” about where he would play beyond 2025, and even though he only spent three months with the Mariners after a midseason trade, Seattle was agreed upon as a good place to continue his career.

“They knew when we were kind of talking at home after the season, like, this was such an awesome place,” Naylor said of his family. “They got to experience a lot of the playoff games, a lot of the regular season games. So it was kind of an easy decision for us knowing that we loved the city, we loved the team. They enjoyed coming to the ballpark every single day. … This was kind of our main priority to come back here. We wanted to come back here. My whole family loved it, my wife really loved it. And we can raise our kids here, family here for the next five years, which is super cool.”

Josh Naylor credits M’s clubhouse dog Tucker for making him feel at home

Naylor commended the Mariners front office for the way negotiations were handled.

“They were gracious enough to fly out to me before the signing,” he said. “… I was super thankful for that. It was incredible. And then the owner called me, which is super great. I was just very, very grateful for everything that they’ve done, and the communication was key.”

While Naylor played an important role in the Mariners getting closer to the World Series than ever in team history, he said their loss in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series to the Toronto Blue Jays stood out as something he wanted to redeem.

“I want to win for the city. I felt like that last loss, not that I had to come back, but I wanted to come back to give this fan base and this city and my teammates and their families a World Series in the next five years – or multiple World Series, or multiple pennants. The best thing I could give back, I want to give back. They deserve it. My teammates deserve it. My family deserves it. Their families deserve it. The head office and their families deserve it. All the coaches deserve it. I had such a blast, I wanted to run it back with these guys and do it all again.”

On the field, Naylor likes the idea of being a cornerstone in the Mariners’ lineup alongside All-Stars Cal Raleigh and Julio Rodríguez, as well as not having to deal with what the M’s have on the pitching side.

“To be able to hit behind Julio and Cal for the next five years, it’s pretty cool. Probably makes my job a little bit easier because you’ve got to pitch to those two guys, and if you don’t, then Julio has a chance to steal, Cal can also steal bags too,” Naylor said. “… And then the pitching staff – God, the pitching staff is like the best in baseball. It’s incredible. As an opponent, I kind of hated getting ready to face those guys. You’ve got a lot of studs on that end of the game.”