Keith Law\u2019s Top 20 Seattle prospects list ahead of the season<\/a>.<\/p>\nA left-handed-hitting first baseman, Naylor entered play on Thursday with a .292\/.360\/.447 slash line, 11 homers and 59 RBI, good enough for a 124 OPS+. His contributions have been worth 1.0 bWAR.<\/p>\n
The Cleveland Guardians traded Naylor to Arizona in December ahead of his final year before free agency. In exchange, the Diamondbacks sent pitcher Slade Cecconi and the No. 70 draft pick to Cleveland. Naylor was coming off a season in which he socked a career-high 31 homers and was named to his first All-Star team. This year, however, he has more resembled his 2023 version, with a healthier batting average and on-base percentage, an impressively low strikeout rate and a more modest home run total.<\/p>\n
Naylor turned 28 in June, so though the free-agent market isn\u2019t always kind to first basemen these days, he should be young enough to command a solid, multiyear contract.<\/p>\n
Trade grades<\/p>\n
Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto approached this trade deadline with clear deficiencies in the corners of his infield. The addition of Naylor will improve the offensive production at first base. Naylor entered Thursday with a 123 wRC+, a decent upgrade over the incumbent Luke Raley\u2019s 108 wRC+. Naylor will lengthen the Seattle lineup, but he is unlikely to transform it. Most of his value stems from his ability to get on base, and his power might be suppressed as he exchanges the hitter-friendly confines of Chase Field for the less forgiving T-Mobile Park.<\/p>\n
Diamondbacks general manager Mike Hazen approached this deadline unsure just how much of his roster he might trade away. This move could be the first of a flurry after Arizona was swept by Houston earlier this week. On the surface, the return for Naylor looks light. Garcia made his big-league debut on Monday after converting to relief this season. Izzi, 21, has struggled to throw strikes with Class-A Everett.<\/p>\n
Garcia, a 25-year-old lefty, can help a Diamondbacks bullpen that has been wrecked by injuries this season. Izzi might also be bound for a relief role if he can ever reach the majors. That may just be the going rate for a rental like Naylor. The timing also reflects the reality for Hazen, with the deadline more than a week away. He still needs to maximize a return for third baseman Su\u00e1rez, while deciding whether to move starting pitchers Zac Gallen or Merril Kelly. Either way, he will probably stay in touch with Dipoto. Seattle still needs a third baseman. \u2014 Andy McCullough\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mariners: B
Diamondbacks: B-<\/p>\n
Naturally, it was Jerry Dipoto getting the dealing started with a week to go until the trade deadline. The Mariners GM linked up again with his Arizona Diamondbacks counterpart and frequent trade partner, Mike Hazen, to land a left-handed power bat that will pair well with the one Cal Raleigh is swinging. Naylor ranked 17th on The Athletic\u2019s trade deadline Big Board, one spot behind fellow first baseman Ryan O\u2019Hearn of the Baltimore Orioles.<\/p>\n
For Dipoto, there\u2019s value in striking early and securing his guy before the market starts moving too rapidly. Dipoto engaged in preliminary trade talks with the Cleveland Guardians regarding Naylor last December before he was traded to Arizona for pitcher Slade Cecconi and a draft pick. So far this season, Seattle has split starts at first base between Luke Raley, Donovan Solano and Rowdy Tellez, who was released in June.<\/p>\n
Naylor represents a significant upgrade. After hitting 31 homers last season, he\u2019s batting .292 with 11 homers and 11 steals in 93 games this year. He\u2019s one of the hardest regulars in the sport to strike out; the Mariners have been a bottom-five team in strikeouts the past three seasons. It\u2019s a nice match. And while Naylor\u2019s barrel rate has lagged this season, he\u2019s still showing plenty of power and is a constant force against righties, batting .310\/.390\/.493 this season with the platoon advantage.<\/p>\n
This trade, from the Diamondbacks\u2019 side, is another reminder that first basemen, especially rentals, aren\u2019t terribly valued in today\u2019s game. Arizona didn\u2019t give up a ton for Naylor in the first place, and they\u2019re certainly not bowled over by this return. However, if Hazen had felt he could get a couple top-10 prospects from any organization in exchange for Naylor, he\u2019d have held him longer.<\/p>\n
This is about the going rate. Don\u2019t expect to see O\u2019Hearn fetch much more, barring a late bidding war. The Diamondbacks now have a couple solid pitching prospects with upside, and they\u2019ll turn their attention to the rest of their selling decisions. \u2014 Stephen Nesbitt<\/p>\n
Mariners: A-
Diamondbacks: B-Naylor ranked No. 17 on Big Board<\/a><\/p>\nOf all the flux around this trade market, the situation at first base has appeared relatively straightforward. The Mariners and Red Sox, who entered Thursday tied for the final two wild card spots in the American League, both needed an upgrade there. And Ryan O\u2019Hearn and Josh Naylor were the two ones available \u2014 Nos. 16 and 17 on our Big Board.<\/p>\n
Seattle struck first with Naylor, who has the longer track record of the two. While Naylor doesn\u2019t quite hit for prototypical first-base power, he doesn\u2019t strike out and gets on base at an excellent clip. The Mariners finish a big Step 1 in their deadline plan, and the Diamondbacks can concentrate more on unloading at least two more impending free agents in Eugenio Su\u00e1rez and one of Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly. \u2014\u00a0Tim Britton<\/p>\n
(Photo: Mark Blinch \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Seattle Mariners, who\u2019ve long needed a corner infield slugger to pair alongside switch-hitting catcher Cal Raleigh, have…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35460,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[2317,363,481,99],"class_list":["post-35459","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-arizona-diamondbacks","tag-mlb","tag-seattle-mariners","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35459","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35459"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35459\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35460"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}