Diamondbacks acquire Josh Naylor from Guardians

Diamondbacks acquire Josh Naylor from Guardians

After losing Christian Walker to the Houston Astros in free agency, the Arizona Diamondbacks acquired Cleveland Guardians first baseman Josh Naylor in exchange for right-hander Slade Cecconi, ESPN MLB insider Jeff Passan first reported Saturday evening.

According to insider Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, the deal will also include a Competitive Balance Round B draft pick being traded back to Cleveland.

Full trade, per ESPN sources:

Arizona acquires: 1B Josh Naylor

Cleveland acquires: RHP Slade Cecconi and a competitive balance Round B draft pick

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 21, 2024

Slade Cecconi and Comp Round Pick B to Guardians

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 21, 2024

Naylor, 27, has been one of the best power-hitting first basemen in the American League over the last three years. In 2024, he clubbed a career-most 31 home runs with 108 RBIs and 27 doubles; he sported a 9.2 percent walk rate to a 16.6 percent strikeout rate, slashing .243/.320/.456 (118 OPS+) over a career-most 633 plate appearances.

In 2022-23, he posted a combined .807 OPS (125 OPS+), hitting 20 and 17 home runs with 79 and 97 RBIs, respectively. He didn’t surpass 125 games in either season, while playing a career-high 152 games in 2024, respectively.

Naylor is far from the defender that Walker, the best defensive 1B in MLB, is. He had minus-six defensive runs saved with only one out-above-average (OAA) last year. In five seasons at first base, where he’s logged nearly 3,000 innings defensively, he has minus-four defensive runs saved with 10 OAA.

But he’s a rock-solid middle-of-the-order bat to help replace Walker’s production. He’s also seven years younger, entering his age-28 season and the last year of arbitration with a reasonable price tag.

The Guardians know how to develop pitching as well as the majority of organizations. So perhaps they can get something out of Cecconi, who’s entering his age-26 season with a career 6.06 ERA and 4.85 FIP in 104.0 innings.

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This is a breaking news story. Stay tuned for updates.

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