If it wasn’t already evident, a sign at T-Mobile Park earlier this week showed the feelings many Seattle Mariners fans have about Josh Naylor.

“Sign Naylor now” read a sign hanging from railing of the upper deck in left field.

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It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that fans in the Pacific Northwest are eagerly advocating for the Mariners keep Naylor in Seattle after this season. The soon-to-be free agent has made a major impact at the plate, on the basepaths and in the field at first base since arriving in trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Of course, the most important factors in Naylor sticking in Seattle beyond 2025 are whether or not the Mariners want to keep him around, and if Naylor himself wants to remain with the franchise.

One thing we now know for sure is that there is interest from the Mariners side in getting a deal done with Naylor. It just may have to wait until after the season ends.

President of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto addressed the possibility of re-signing Naylor during an interview on the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast released Friday.

“I think we would (like to keep him), and it remains to be seen how Josh feels about the matter,” Dipoto said. “But it’s never easy when you’re in a playoff race to, I guess, open discussions like that. But I know that there is interest on our end and I believe that there is interest on Josh’s end, and that’s part of the calculus when you acquire players like that. We did this with (Eugenio) Surez, we did it with Jesse Winker – just a number of guys through the years, some that worked out better than others over time. But I think Josh is enjoying his time here.”

A potential hurdle already cleared

One of the more difficult obstacles for the Mariners to overcome when trying sign or re-sign hitters is they’re asking that player to play half of his games at the most difficult ballpark to hit in across baseball. Per Statcast’s park factors, offenses are performing 9% below league average at T-Mobile Park since the start of 2023, which is 5% more than the second-least hitter friendly stadium in the league (Chicago’s Wrigley Field).

But Naylor, who has openly called his new home stadium a “hitter’s park,” has excelled hitting in Seattle since his trade. He entered Friday batting .338 with a .632 slugging percentage, 1.032 OPS, five doubles, five home runs and a 191 wRC+ (100 is league average) in 19 games at T-Mobile Park – all of which has come since the trade. His batting average, slugging percentage, OPS and wRC+ are all tops among players to have at least 30 plate appearances at the Stadium this season.

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

Naylor hasn’t made any declarative statements on if he would like to return to the Mariners, but in this case, Seattle’s home ballpark (and the experience of playing in it in front of large crowds during a postseason push) may actually be a draw rather than a deterrent.

“The fans get so excited. They get pumped up in big moments. It’s kind of unexplainable,” Naylor said after a 5-3 win over the Cardinals on Tuesday. “It’s super cool to be a part of. Sometimes you kind of feel the ground shaking (because) it’s so loud. Sometimes you can’t hear your own thoughts because it’s so loud. And that’s what you want, that’s what you want to play in.”

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