Guardians deal Josh Naylor to Diamondbacks

Ontario Blue Jays and Junior National Team grad Josh Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) has been traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Photo: Arizona Diamondbacks

December 21, 2024

By Kevin Glew

Canadian Baseball Network

The Cleveland Guardians have dealt first baseman Josh Naylor to the Arizona Diamondbacks for right-hander Slade Cecconi and a Competitive Balance Round B draft pick.

The two teams announced the transaction on Saturday evening.

In 2024, Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) registered career-highs in home runs (31) and RBIs (108) in 152 games for the Guardians. He topped all Canadians in RBIs and tied with Tyler O’Neill (Maple Ridge, B.C.) for the most home runs. Naylor also finished second among Canuck big leaguers in hits (137), runs (84), doubles (27) and walks (58).

For his efforts, he was selected to the All-Star Game for the first time and was named a Silver Slugger Award finalist. The Canuck slugger alum added nine more hits in the post-season to help lead the Guardians into the American League Championship Series.

Naylor earned $6.4 million in 2024, is scheduled for a raise and like Vladimir Guerrero is eligible for free agency after the 2025 season. Already Cleveland moved INF Andrés Giménez, who has three years and $49,713 remaining on his contract, to the Blue Jays.

His strong performance in 2024 came on the heels of his outstanding 2023 season in which he won the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame’s Tip O’Neill Award, as the top Canadian player. Despite missing more than a month with an oblique injury in 2023, Naylor led all Canadian big leaguers in batting average (.308), slugging percentage (.489), OPS (.843), doubles (31), RBIs (97) and stolen bases (10).

The 2024 campaign was Naylor’s fifth with the Guardians. After honing his skills with the Ontario Blue Jays and Junior National Team, Naylor was selected 12th overall by the Miami Marlins in the 2015 MLB draft. After tenures in the Marlins and San Diego Padres organizations, he was traded to the Guardians, along with fellow Canadian Cal Quantrill (Port Hope, Ont.), on August 31, 2020.

In exchange for Naylor, the Guardians receive Cecconi, a 25-year-old right-hander who went 2-7 with a 6.66 ERA in 20 appearances (13 starts) for the D-Backs in 2024. He had 64 strikeouts in 77 innings.

The 6-foot-4, 220-pound righty was the D-Backs’ Competitive Balance Round A selection (33rd overall) in the 2020 MLB draft out of the University of Miami.

He made his big-league debut with the D-Backs in 2023 and proceeded to post a 4.33 ERA in seven games (four starts) with the Diamondbacks that year and was a member of their 2023 NLCS roster.

The Guardians have also secured the D-Backs’ 2025 Competitive Balance Round B Draft pick in the deal. The Guardians now own the first and third picks of Competitive Balance Round B (The draft order has yet to be finalized).