Jeff Passan's latest Josh Naylor take is music to the ears of Mariners fans

The Seattle Mariners have plenty of important decisions to make this offseason, when it comes to determining who they want on their roster next year and how much they should pay them. Indisputably at the top of the list for consideration has to be Josh Naylor.

Naylor has been a revelation ever since arriving in a trade late July from the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for pitching prospects Brandyn Garcia and Ashton Izzi. He's won fans over with his everyman attitude, cerebral nature and the claim he loves hitting at T-Mobile Park, with the numbers to back this up.

The Mariners would seemingly stand to benefit from doing everything they can to re-sign Naylor, but this leads to the question of how much it will take? He's set to become a free agent for the first time in his career this winter, and it will more than make sense if he wants to test the market, to get some vibe for what he's worth and how in-demand he is.

MLB Insider not high on Josh Naylor's value

However, if Jeff Passan is anything to go by, it might not actually cost as much as you might think to entice Naylor to return to Seattle. The ESPN MLB insider justified this by saying first basemen don't get usually get paid in free agency, while noting that the 2024 All-Star specifically is a corner bat without elite power.

Passan made his comments on Tuesday, during an appearance on Seattle Sports radio with Brock and Salk. As for the value of any contract offer Naylor might get, Passan said:

"I think Josh Naylor is a better player than Rhys Hoskins, but I don’t think he’s that much better a player (than) Rhys Hoskins was entering free agency. … So could I see three (years) for $52.5 million (for a Naylor contract)? Is that within the realm of possibility? Absolutely. Could I see four for $80 million? Absolutely. But I don’t think it’s going to take five (years). I don’t think he gets five."

Jeff Passan

Three years and $52.5 million for Naylor would be a big win for the Mariners but, despite Passan having a lot of clout, how much can this particular valuation be trusted? As SoDo Mojo's Jason Wang wrote about last month, this is the same guy who previously wondered if the Mississauga, Ontario native could ink a deal worth more than $100 million.

There will be plenty of people who believe the Mariners should do whatever it takes to get Naylor re-signed. At the same time, there will also be those saying it's not worth going so crazy for a player who is 28, has a larger frame and is more susceptible to injury.

Mariners seem well-placed to push hard at re-siging Josh Naylor

In our opinion, we do believe the Mariners should make a concerted effort to bring Naylor back next season. And for what it's worth, the organization does have a desire to re-sign him. As SoDo Mojo's Zachary Rymer wrote last week, Jerry Dipoto alluded to wanting to re-sign the 2015 12th overall draft pick during an interview on MLB Trade Rumors' weekly podcast.

One final factor to consider in all of this is that it might be best if the Mariners make their pitch to Naylor before the free agency period begins. Because as well as he's played and as much as he might love hitting at T-Mobile Park, it's only going to take one team to make an outlandish offer to turn his head, and the M's will be left blowing in the wind.