Potential Nationals Target Josh Naylor Off the Board After Agreeing to Five-Year Deal

A possible Washington Nationals free agency target is now no longer available.

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Coming into the offseason, the Washington Nationals knew they would need to address some areas of their roster before the start of next year.

With their decision to cut last winter's acquisition Nathaniel Lowe in the middle of the season, that left the options slim. And with Josh Bell becoming a free agent at the end of the year, there isn't a clear-cut answer regarding who is going to man first base for the Nationals in 2026.

That's why names like Josh Naylor and Pete Alonso were thrown around. While Washington isn't expected to be big spenders this offseason, there was some thought that new president of baseball operations Paul Toboni and owner Mark Lerner would want to make a splash.

Well, if they are still interested in going down that route, they won't be doing so with Naylor. That's because Jeff Passan of ESPN reported the slugging first baseman agreed a five-year deal with the Seattle Mariners on Sunday.

BREAKING: First baseman Josh Naylor and the Seattle Mariners are finalizing a five-year contract, sources familiar with the deal tell ESPN. The first major free agent to sign this winter goes back to Seattle, where he was beloved after joining the Mariners in a deadline trade.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) November 17, 2025

Naylor first burst onto the scene in 2022, but it was his 2023 campaign that got him recognition. With the Cleveland Guardians at the time, he finished No. 22 in AL MVP voting after he slashed .308/.354/.489 with an OPS+ of 130. The following year he hit 31 home runs with 108 RBIs and was named an All-Star.

But Naylor had the best stretch of his career with the Mariners. After being acquired ahead of the trade deadline from the Arizona Diamondbacks this past season, he slashed .299/.341/.490 with nine home runs, 33 RBIs, 19 stolen bases, an OPS+ of 138 and a bWAR of 2.2 in just 54 games.

That production carried over into the playoffs, where Seattle was one win away in Game 7 from reaching their franchise's first-ever World Series appearance. Because of that, it was a priority for the Mariners to re-sign him.

Were Nationals Interested in Josh Naylor?

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At the time of writing, it's not clear if there was actually any interest when it came to the Nationals' potential pursuit of Naylor. Because they need a long-term first baseman and Naylor was one of the best on the market, that's where the majority of the connection came from.

How Toboni plans to operate this offseason isn't quite known, either. Most guesses have him and his front office retooling things, which could mean shipping out players instead of acquiring them. However, at some point, the roster will need to be addressed.

Whether first base is going to get solved with a stopgap solution or a real long-term addition is what everyone will be keeping an eye on.