Tigers villainizing Josh Naylor only further proves Mariners got the last laugh

The Detroit Tigers are 12 games under .500 and tied for last place in the AL Central, so they might as well lean into their hobbies. Hating Josh Naylor seems to be one of them, and even we as Seattle Mariners enjoyers think they should go ahead and have their fun.

It makes it easier to say this knowing that Naylor is OK even after Detroit's efforts to villainize him took a dark turn. It was scary when (apparently to the delight of Framber Valdez) he took a 96 mph fastball off his shoulder on Saturday, and it felt like punishment out of line with Naylor's alleged crimes.

Jason Beck of MLB.com laid out the foundation for why Naylor is Public Enemy No. 1 in Detroit, and none of it is terribly convincing. He used to hit Tigers pitching well when he was with the Cleveland Guardians, and he gets up to some annoying stuff on the basepaths. Big whoop, and even his close call with Kevin McGonigle was more of a miscalculation than a serious offense.

Heck, even Tigers fans aren't buying into the whole scapegoat thing. It probably didn't help that Naylor literally laughed it off when Montero plunked him. And even though the Tigers clinched the series with a 5-4 walk-off on Sunday, pissing off Naylor didn't help. He went 2-for-5 to cap a 5-for-13 run through the series.

Clearly, the Tigers need a new hobby. They should try winning, as unlikely as that sounds.

The Tigers can't force a rivalry with the Mariners just by hating Josh Naylor

To dunk on the Tigers after they took two of three from the Mariners does feel a little weird, but not nearly as weird as thinking so little of them while memories of the 2025 ALDS are still fresh.

Last year's ALDS was, by any reasonable measure, an incredible baseball display. The series was even tied at 19 runs apiece right up until the bottom of the 15th inning of Game 5, when the Mariners finally got the last laugh on Jorge Polanco's walk-off.

Even if the "Ain't gonna be no rematch" energy was strong among Mariners fans after that series, it could have been the start of a beautiful rivalry. Coming into 2026, one could have imagined the Mariners winning the AL West, the Tigers winning the AL Central, and then going back at it for Round 2 in October.

This is not going to happen. For all the faults the Mariners have, they're in first place and pegged by FanGraphs as a 64 percent favorite to stay there. The Tigers, by contrast, have lost 61 games since their 2025 season peaked on August 23. Only two teams in MLB have lost more in that span.

The only Tigers-related question that matters is how soon they'll trade Tarik Skubal. Even if it's not to the Mariners, they seem bound to do it eventually. And when it happens, the book on their 2026 season will be closed even if they'll technically still have games remaining.

This doesn't mean the Tigers can't have their grudge against Naylor. It just means that the next time these two teams meet in August, they'll still be what they already are for the Mariners: Not a major concern.

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