It’s the first meaningful move of the off-season for Arizona
As first reported by Jeff Passan, the Diamondbacks have traded for first baseman Josh Naylor from the Cleveland Guardians. Arizona will be sending Slade Cecconi and their competitive balance (Round B) pick to Cleveland in the deal.
Naylor is 27 years old, and is a left-hander, so he is not a platoon fit with fellow southpaw Pavin Smith next year. Naylor has some pop, having hit 31 home-runs last year for the Guardians, and made the All-Star team for the American League. His overall offensive production was actually down, his OPS+ dropping to 118 from a figure of 130 in 2023. But his production at the plate has been solid, with a 112 career OPS+. His defensive numbers last year were not good, so it remains to be seen whether the team prefers him or Smith at first. Our colleagues over at Covering the Corner had a review of Naylor’s 2024 campaign, with some interesting insights, not least about his physical shape.
He will be in his final arbitration season, with MLB Trade Rumors projecting him for a 2025 salary of $12 million. It’s interesting that this is more or less the same amount which Paul Goldschmidt will be getting from the Yankees next year, and there would have been no prospect capital needed there. I suspect there will still be moves to come, probably for a right-handed bat, or possibly two. The move splits up the Baylor brothers, as Josh’s sibling Bo had also been playing for Cleveland the past three seasons. They are Canadian, and Josh will be the fourth player from north of the border to play for Arizona, following in the snowshoes of Danny Klassen, Jamie Romak and, most recently in 2016, Adam Loewen.
Cecconi struggled a bit in his second season with Arizona, posting a 6.66 ERA across 77 innings, in large part due to a weakness for long balls. But considering Naylor will be a free-agent at the end of 2025, Cecconi seems a reasonable price to pay. The D-backs got a better draft pick (about #29-30 currently) due to the signing of Christian Walker, well ahead of the Competitive Balance pick they sent as part of the deal (#73 or so). Alex D’Agostino of SI looked at a Naylor trade a couple of weeks ago, and the price suggested there seems higher than was paid: McCarthy would be their choice, with a young pitcher thrown in as well. It wouldn’t be a shock if the Guardians’ asking price is even higher than that.”