Seattle Mariners general manager Justin Hollander was like so many others at T-Mobile Park when Josh Naylor plugged a bases-clearing double into the left-center-field gap in the bottom of the eighth inning on Tuesday night.

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“I went ballistic,” Hollander told Seattle Sports’ Wyman and Bob during a conversation Wednesday.

Naylor’s huge hit put the Mariners up 4-3, which eventually stood as the final as Seattle wrapped up just its second playoff berth in the past 24 seasons. And the win pulled the M’s within one win or an Astros loss of clinching the American League West, which they haven’t won since 2001.

It was the latest big moment for Naylor since he was acquired before the trade deadline. The first baseman has been an immediate difference-maker in the middle the lineup while helping the club to a 33-21 record since joining.

Naylor has been particularly excellent at home, defying the well-known fact that T-Mobile Park is as tough a stadium to hit in across the league.

Entering Wednesday, the first baseman was hitting .350 with a 1.010 OPS, six doubles and five home runs in 23 home games with Seattle. And his six game-winning RBIs at home since his first game at T-Mobile Park as a Mariner on July 31 are the most in baseball.

Naylor’s performance has elicited many calls to re-sign the soon-to-be free agent before he has a chance to go else where.

When asked about the possibility of bringing Naylor back by Wyman and Bob co-host Bob Stelton, Hollander shared the same sort of interest president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto did during a recent interview.

“He couldn’t be a better fit in every way on the field, in the clubhouse,” Hollander said. “His baseball IQ is off the charts. His personality, his edge, his grit, his sense for when to do certain things in the game – it’s just all top of the scale. It’s a great fit on our team. We’ve loved having him so far, I hope he’s here a lot longer.”

But it may be a bit before any potential extension talks happen. The Mariners are at least hoping that’s the case.

“We’ll wait until the season’s over,” Hollander said. “I think everybody’s focus is on one thing – and that’s us and him – it’s on trying to win the World Series this year. I don’t think there’s a need to cloud it with contract talks or things like that.

“I’m sure we’ll have conversations when our season ends. Hopefully that’s very late October and we have some celebrating to do first, but I think Josh really likes it here. We like him here.”

Hear the full conversation at this link or in the audio player near the top of this story. Listen to Wyman and Bob weekdays from 2-7 p.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app. 

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