Arguably, the worst thing that any MLB team can do during the offseason is overthink things. Take the Seattle Mariners, for example, who clearly wanted to keep veteran first baseman Josh Naylor. The simple approach proved to be the right one, at least in terms of making a contract work, with the Mariners re-signing Naylor to a five-year, $92.5 million deal on Monday.
The 28-year-old Naylor hit .299 with nine home runs, 33 RBIs, and a .831 OPS in 210 plate appearances following a midseason trade. He stole 19 bases without getting caught and posted 2.2 bWAR in only 54 games. Naylor also shone in the postseason, batting .340 with three homers, five RBIs, and a .967 OPS in 12 playoff games.
“Seattle has the best fanbase in baseball,” Naylor said. “They’re electric and support us through and through, and I couldn’t be more thankful for that. I can’t wait to continue to play with these guys and bring the city a championship.”
The Mariners moved quickly, giving Naylor the richest free-agent contract for a position player in Seattle in over a decade. Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto and general manager Justin Hollander knew that keeping Naylor was a priority, and they refused to let him stay on the open market too long.
On the other side of the country, the Philadelphia Phillies would be wise to follow Seattle’s lead and apply similar tactics to retain All-Star slugger Kyle Schwarber.
How Josh Naylor’s contract impacts the Phillies and Kyle Schwarber
To be clear, there are significant differences between Naylor and Schwarber, both in terms of their overall skill set and their free agency value. Naylor turns 29 next June, while Schwarber will celebrate his 33rd birthday in March. Schwarber is almost exclusively a full-time DH, and Naylor has played 445 of 542 games at first since the start of 2022.
However, the key similarity worth discussing is timing. Had the Mariners not re-signed Naylor before December’s Winter Meetings, they risked losing him to another contender. While Naylor might not be the flashiest name at first glance, he’s a steady first baseman with pop, speed, and he’ll regularly provide an above-average OPS.
Schwarber’s power numbers speak for themselves, with him averaging 47 home runs, 109 RBIs, and a .856 OPS over his four years in Philadelphia. Although he doesn’t play the field much anymore, Schwarber’s imposing offensive presence should be enough for him to command a contract exceeding $100 million.
The Mariners just gave the Phillies the ideal way to ensure Schwarber returns for 2026 and beyond. Seattle understood Naylor’s value and met his demands, feeling that he would only help the Mariners’ chances of winning their first World Series in franchise history. We feel comfortable assuming that the Phillies feel the same way about Schwarber, the NL MVP runner-up and one of the league’s premier sluggers.
By no means are we suggesting that the Phillies should give Schwarber a seven-year, $200 million contract if he hypothetically asked for one. However, Phillies lead baseball executive Dave Dombrowski shouldn’t waste his time negotiating and trying to find a middle ground with Schwarber if he’s willing to sign now, just as the Mariners did with Naylor. As we said, there’s no reason to overthink things when the answer might be right in front of you.