Naylor avoids arbitration, signs $10.9 million deal with D-Backs

Canadian slugger Josh Naylor signed a one-year, $10.9-million contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday to avoid arbitration. Photo: Arizona Diamondback

January 10, 2025

By Kevin Glew

Canadian Baseball Network

Canadian slugger Josh Naylor signed a one-year, $10.9-million contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday to avoid arbitration.

Mark Feinsand, of MLB.com, was the first to report the deal.

On December 21, Naylor was dealt to the Diamondbacks by the Cleveland Guardians for right-hander Slade Cecconi and a Competitive Balance Round B draft pick.

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

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.