Front Office Insights with Mariners GM Justin Hollander

Front Office Insights with Mariners GM Justin Hollander

For more on the josh Naylor signing. It’s fresh front office insights presented by sage and we welcome in Mariners General manager Justin Hollander, Justin. First of all, thanks for joining us. Why was Josh Naylor your top priority for everything he just said right there. I mean, how could you not love that? The guy is a competitor. He wants to win. He embraces the community, our team, his teammates, um he’s driven, he’s got grit. He’s the one of the best baseball IQ players I’ve ever been around for all those reasons. It was a great fit. He was after the deadline when we acquired him and to have a chance to run it back with him for the next five years was an absolute no brainer for us. Justin. What surprised you about Josh Naylor when he came over? Was there certain things that he did? You’re like, man, we didn’t know this guy was this good in this area and, and, and was that a big reason that you end up bringing him back? The 30 bags caught me off guard. I didn’t have that one coming. I, we’ve done our homework as a group. Uh around the, talking to people who have been around josh for a while. Um, and they all talked about his baseball IQ the those subtle things he does in a game to help the team win. But the, the solo base did definitely catch us off guard and I think everybody else too, but he’s just an awesome baseball player. He’s a good defender. He controls the strike zone. He makes a ton of which is big for us to put in the middle of our lineup. And the fact that he loves hitting in our ballpark, like that’s not a common thing to come to Seattle and be like, wow , I love hitting in this part and he does and he does it really well and you know, to have him walked in with Cal and julio in the middle of our lineup for a long time is, is really exciting for us nowadays , you know, obviously you guys piecing together a lineup we saw in the postseason, how good it is to have guys top to bottom that can really navigate in a bat when you look at Naylor. I mean, it’s pretty impressive that he hits for the power that he does, but he doesn’t punch out a lot. You know, when you, when you see right here that, uh, you know, one of the best guys at not striking out but also hitting 20 home runs. Um, when you piece together this lineup, was that a big part of signing him back knowing how good he is at, not striking out but still hitting for power huge. You know, it’s something that you want to build a complimentary lineup around, you know, strikeouts, they happen, they happen when guys hit for power. We’re ok with that tradeoff, but you can’t have seven or eight or nine guys who punch out at a high rate and to have a player that’s hitting in the middle of the order behind or in front of real threats like Cal and julio and randy Rose Arena. Um That’s just an impact, skill set for the way the rest of our lineup works. What about his character, Justin and the way he’s able to insert himself into the clubhouse, which it seemed like it was a seamless transition when he made , when you guys made the transaction for him, it really was, you know, he’s kind of a badass. I hope I can say that in the air you can, um he’s, he’s, he’s gritty, he’s tough. He wants to win in the clubhouse. He’s like a gentle giant. He’s, he gets along with everybody. Um I think he mentioned our team do Tucker like four times in his uh his press conference today. Um the clubhouse managers, um you know, the, the coaching staff, everybody that josh was around, he made a positive impact on it. I think the same goes sort of outward for the Mariners like there’s just a great connection from day one. And what he brings on the field is like a real toughness and resolve a will to win. That is a huge positive around our, our environment every day. So you lock down Naylor, you got your guy that you feel like can fit right in the middle of that order. You know, you have a lot of question marks too with Polanco and Suarez and a couple other pieces. Uh What are your goals this off season? And what are you guys still locking into where you feel like you need to get better? Yeah. In the immediacy, we would love to talk about bringing Polo and Gino back. We’ve already opened those dialogues with their agents. Um They’re a big part of what we did last year, especially in the second half. Um And just to keep as much of last year’s group together as we can um would be the goal if we can’t do that. Obviously, we need to find ways to supplement our team in, in different ways. I think the bullpen is gonna be an area of focus for us this offseason along with another bat , for sure. Justin, we’re supposed to be unbiased, but I, I don’t know if you were as disappointed as I was that cal didn’t win MV P probably slightly more is my guess, but I’m not supposed to be unbiased. I am biased. Yeah, I was, I was a little disappointed too. And you know, when you, when, when you, you know, when you, you got a chance to follow him every day, I think one thing about Cal Raleigh is he kind of popped on the scene this year and we’re like, wow, what’s going on out there in Seattle with, you know, the, with hitting 60 home runs being a catcher? But what about him as that leader and, and a guy that you get to watch every day, Justin that, that maybe we don’t see, you know, tell us why he, why you think he should have been MVP. Yeah, it’s i, it’s all the things that people don’t see, it’s the, the toughness at the position to be able to go out there and play as much as he does. No one does that no one goes and plays 100 and 58 games or whatever it is calculated last year, catches 100 and 30. And the, the mental toughness. I know sean you can speak to this when, when you go over four at the plate and you leave a runner on base in a big spot that’s like a, a mental hurdle. You need to clear to go out and go play again the next day. Cal does that and also calls 100 and 30 pitches a night and is the counselor or psychologist for 13 pitchers and is walking around the outfield just trying to get everybody in the right frame of mind to go win the next game. He doesn’t have time to, to sulk or sit on his failures. He has to compartmentalize and move on and there’s really no other position in baseball that has that kind of mental grind on top of the physical grind of squatting all night foul tips, throwing runners out, controlling the running game. It’s just so unique and for him to achieve what he achieved offensively and to help our team win, which is ultimately how Cal is driven. I didn’t have a vote, you know, Aaron Judge is awesome. He’s the best offensive player in the by. Not just a little bit, but I would have voted for CAL because I get to see what he means to our team every day. No, I’m not, I’m not taking anything away from judge at all , but I absolutely everything that you said. And now the world became familiar with CAL rally. It’s something that you already knew. But what did you learn about your team in this, in this postseason? It’s a special group. And, you know, when we met with the media right after the season , I cried, I’ll try not to do that on the air today. Um I, I just think it’s a, it’s an unbelievable group. You know, you pinch the season with 26 or 28 guys. They’re really special people, they will to win their care for each other the way they treat people. Not just their teammates. But coaches fans are, the way they care about. The community is really unique and I think they learned a lot this year. I think they learned about what they can be, um, when they all work together to do it. Um I think we’re gonna be good for a long time. That’s our expectation and the foundation that we have here are special players, but they’re special people and that’s, that’s the most gratifying part when you are part of building a culture that you think is long lasting is to watch the people grow into who they are and see them become difference makers on and off the field. Justin I know you got a lot of work to do this off season to complement all the success that you already implemented in 2025. Thanks so much for taking the time to talk to us. Thanks for having me. Appreciate it guys.

Mariners General Manager Justin Hollander discusses the Josh Naylor signing and the Cal Raleigh MVP votingon MLB Network.

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