The Seattle Mariners acquired first baseman Josh Naylor from the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday night, kicking off Major League Baseball’s trade season with a deal that bolsters Seattle’s efforts to return to the postseason and signals the Diamondbacks are open for business.
The deal, which sends left-handed pitching prospect Brandyn Garcia and right-handed pitching prospect Ashton Izzi to the Diamondbacks, reinforces Seattle’s intentions to aggressively add to its roster before the July 31 deadline.
The Diamondbacks, who entered the season with hopes of returning to their form in 2023 when they made a surprise run to the World Series, are expected to be similarly busy, with a number of impending free agents like Naylor. Among third baseman Eugenio Suarez and right-handers Merrill Kelly and Zac Gallen, Arizona has some of the most sought-after players on the trade market.
Naylor, 28, is a slugging first baseman whose low strikeout rate makes him particularly appealing to teams. Arizona acquired him over the winter from Cleveland, where he had spent the majority of his career following a trade from San Diego.
In 93 games this season, Naylor is hitting .292/.360/.447 with 11 home runs, 59 RBIs and 49 strikeouts in 394 plate appearances. Naylor, a 2024 All-Star known for occasional displays of on-field emotion, has hit .267/.329/.444 with 95 home runs and 402 RBIs in 691 career games. He has played 103 career games at designated hitter, where he could see time in Seattle, which ended a 20-year postseason drought in 2022 but finished one game behind the final wild-card winner in the American League each of the past two seasons.
While Garcia, 25, made his major league debut earlier this week as a reliever, he blitzed through the Mariners’ system as a starter after they selected him in the 11th round of the 2023 draft out of Texas A&M. With a power sinker that runs into the high 90s with a breaking ball that works from his low-slot delivery, he could wind up in either role. As a starter last season, he put up a 2.48 ERA between High-A and Double-A in 116 innings with 134 strikeouts and 47 walks, while in relief this year he struck out 42 and walked 17 in 33⅓ innings with a 3.51 ERA.
Izzi, 21, was a fourth-round pick out of high school in 2022 who tamed the California League last year with a 2.85 ERA in 110⅔ innings. Over 47.1 innings at High-A this season, he has struck out 54, walked 21 and allowed eight home runs with a 5.51 ERA.
Arizona, whose core of outfielder Corbin Carroll, second baseman Ketel Marte and shortstop Geraldo Perdomo remains one of the most talented in the game, has sought pitching on the trade market following injuries to Corbin Burnes and Jordan Montgomery and a 50-53 start. With Kelly and Gallen potentially leaving via free agency, bolstering the rotation going forward is seen as a priority, especially with a likely deal for Suarez, who is regarded as the best position player readily available at the deadline.
The Mariners, meanwhile, did not tap into their cadre of high-end prospects who comprise arguably the best farm system in baseball. Seattle has been loath to deal the best of them — including shortstop Colt Emerson, outfielder Jonny Farmelo and right-hander Ryan Sloan — for short-term options. The Mariners’ minor league pitching depth grew beyond Sloan and switch pitcher Jurrangelo Cijntje when LSU left-hander Kade Anderson fell to them with the No. 3 pick in the draft over the All-Star break.
The Mariners defeated the Los Angeles Angels 4-2 on Thursday night and sit five games behind Houston for the AL West division lead but, at 55-48, have a half-game lead over Boston for the second wild-card spot in the AL.