Diamondbacks acquire Josh Naylor from Guardians
The Diamondbacks solve their first base via trade need one day after losing Christian Walker in free agency.
One day after seeing Christian Walker agree to a three-year deal with the Houston Astros, Mike Hazen has found his replacement. ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports Josh Naylor will be heading to Arizona in exchange for right-hander Slade Cecconi plus their Competitive Balance B pick, which is currently the No. 72 pick.
Naylor was floated about as a potential trade candidate here earlier this offseason as a one-year stopgap. A left-handed power bat who makes a significant amount of contact (16.6% strikeout rate), he slots in as the team’s first baseman and cleanup hitter. There are some chase tendencies in his approach, but he typically gets the bat on the ball and hits it hard.
After the deal was reported, Hazen spoke to the media on Zoom with Alex D’Agostino of Diamondbacks on SI reporting the details.
"Felt like he fits into the middle of our lineup pretty significantly, the thump,” said Hazen. “He's a good hitter. He's got really good makeup. We felt like it was a nice fit in our clubhouse with the guys that we have. We think it's going to be a good match with all the work we did."
Naylor is coming off a 31-home run season and his first All-Star appearance. With Cleveland needing to make room for Kyle Manzardo, who they acquired in 2023 for Aaron Civale, they decided to sell high on their starting first baseman.
Cecconi may be a tough pill to swallow if the Guardians are able to get the most out of him. The right-hander struggled in 2024, pitching to a 6.66 ERA in 20 appearances (13 starts). Despite having a long runway to playing time, he was unable to capitalize on the opportunity.
Cecconi flashes potential the potential to be an impact arm with a 94-98 MPH fastball with a hard slider and changeup, but struggles to make pitches facing lineups multiple times through. He could be a potential back of the bullpen arm, but if Cleveland can fix the consistency and conditioning, he could also develop into a potential mid-rotation starter.
"Yeah, tough. He was great for us. He's going to be a really good player in this league. It's tough when you jump off right now because I've said this before... look where Ryne Nelson is today versus where he was six months ago, right?"
With the loss of Walker, the Diamondbacks also got the No. 29 pick in the 2025 MLB Draft. Since Walker declined the $21.05 million qualifying offer and signed a $60 million deal with the Astros, Arizona gets a pick after the first round. With that additional pick, they were more comfortable offering up No. 72 to Cleveland. That pick carried a slot value of $1.09 million in 2023 while No. 29 was slightly over $3 million.
Naylor is projected to earn $12.0 million in his third and final year of salary arbitration. That pushes the Diamondbacks’ projected 2025 payroll to about $161 million, and roughly $12 million left in room. The team still needs to address the back of the bullpen and the DH role before the offseason ends.
Depending on what they do with the left-handed half of the DH platoon, whether that’s re-signing Joc Pederson or taking a chance on Pavin Smith, they’ll still need to sign a right-handed bat.
Michael McDermott is a Contributor to FanSided’s MLB coverage on Call to the Pen, Venom Strikes, Dodgers Way, and Friars on Base. He has been writing about the Arizona Diamondbacks, and their minor league system, for 9 seasons for AZ Snake Pit, Diamondbacks on SI, and Burn City Sports.