Why A’s Pitchers Won’t Like Who the Mariners Are Targeting in Free Agency

If the Mariners get their man, that would be another bat in their lineup for A's pitching to be wary of. Seattle already had a terrific offense on the year, posting a 113 wRC+ in 2025, ranking them No. 3 overall. While their ranking slipped from August through the end of the season going from three to five, their productivity was better, posting a 117 wRC+ after acquiring Naylor.

The A's biggest calling card is their offense, with three players named as finalists for the Silver Slugger award. Yet, it was Seattle that had the better bats. While Suárez may not be back, holding onto Naylor would be a great move for the Mariners, and one that could keep the A's at arm's length.

Seattle already has one of the better pitching staffs in baseball, and keeping their offense performing at a high level would make things extremely difficult for the Athletics.

At the same time, it's unlikely that Cal Raleigh will hit 60 home runs next year, which could have a big impact on the team's overall production. That's why retaining Naylor could be a big move.

How Naylor Has Fared Against A's

The sliver of bright side for the A's is that their pitchers were able to do fairly well against Naylor this season, with the slugger batting .238 with a .304 OBP and two home runs against them this season—all as a member of the Mariners. That said, he still held a .876 OPS in those six games played.

Over his career, he's given A's pitching nightmares, batting .293 against them with a .363 on-base and eight home runs across 24 games. He also holds a .961 OPS in that span. For context, just Aaron Judge (1.144) and Shohei Ohtani (1.014) were the only two players that had a higher OPS this season among qualified hitters.

Of course, if you take the qualifier down to 400 plate appearances, A's rookie first baseman Nick Kurtz would have also wedged in there with a 1.002 OPS. This is the kind of company Naylor has kept when facing the A's in his career.

The .876 OPS he posted this season would have ranked closer to 15th in baseball, which is more in the range of a resurgent Pete Alonso. The Mets first baseman held an .871 OPS this season.

The Battle Ahead

The Mariners made it to Game 7 of the ALCS this postseason, and while the A's played them tough in the regular season, Seattle is still ahead of them on paper. From the A's perspective, nearly splitting with Seattle this season was a win of sorts, given how much they've struggled against the Mariners in recent seasons.

The hope is that they'll be able to overtake Seattle if not in 2026, then in the near future. With Texas aging and Houston missing the postseason for the first time since 2016, the A's and M's could be on a collision course the next few seasons.

Adding Naylor would be a big step for the Mariners asserting their supremacy this winter.