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Last night, the first domino in the autonomy market fell, as the Mariners agreed with Josh Naylor on the terms of a five-year contract. We knew that the club wanted to keep the player, acquired at the trade deadline, and that Naylor also wanted to stay.
The contract is worth $92.5 million, as we learned this evening.
Josh Naylor's deal with the Seattle Mariners is now official, and it's for five years and $92.5 million, sources tell ESPN.
– Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) November 17, 2025
The question now is, who will be the next big name to sign? And Mark Feinsand, in a piece for the MLB website, mentioned two names to keep an eye on: Kyle Schwarber and… Bo Bichette.
The reason? These are two players who, like Naylor, seem to want to stay with their team… who also want to see them again next year.
From Feinsand earlier today #BlueJays: pic.twitter.com/bdB50wrjjE
– Ben Turner (@benturn22) November 17, 2025
What we can read between the lines here is that in the event Bichette signs early, it's a safe bet that it will be in Toronto. And after all, it makes sense: it's safe to assume that, at the moment, he's concentrating mainly on his negotiations with the Blue Jays, given his desire to stay.
It's probably if things start to drag on that he might really think about going elsewhere.
We know that the winter meetings are usually an important time for free agents during the winter. That's when the market usually gets busy for a lot of big names… but it seems possible that Bichette could sign before they start.
And if that happens, expect him to stay in Toronto… which is clearly the most likely scenario right now.
This content was created with the help of AI.
