<p>The trade market continues to be as active as the free agent market this offseason.</p>
<p>On Saturday afternoon, it was announced that the Arizona Diamondbacks <a href="https://twitter.com/JeffPassan/status/1870605853944058010">acquired</a> first baseman Josh Naylor from the Cleveland Guardians in exchange for RHP Slade Cecconi and a Competitive Balance Round B draft pick. Naylor&#8217;s name had been tossed around the rumour mill within the past couple of weeks, with the Blue Jays as a potential suitor.</p>
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<p>This past year, Naylor slashed .243/.320/.456 with a career-high 31 home runs and 108 RBIs, finishing in the Top 10 in the American League in both categories. He also earned his first All-Star game nod, serving as a key offensive cog in Cleveland&#8217;s AL Central Championship run. He fills an immediate need for the Diamondbacks, who lost Christian Walker and Josh Bell to free agency. Naylor is slated to reach free agency following the 2025 season.</p>
<p>The Mississauga, Ontario was drafted by the Miami Marlins but has been buried in multiple trades that each contained a laundry list of players. Naylor made his MLB debut with the San Diego Padres in 2019, which ironically was in Toronto and on the same night as Cavan Biggio&#8217;s debut. He was dealt the following season in the second of the aforementioned trades to Cleveland in a deal headlined by Mike Clevinger. Naylor gradually improved year over year, including posting a career-best .308/.354/.489 slash line in 2023.</p>
<h2>Diamondbacks acquire Canadian Josh Naylor from the Guardians</h2>
<p>Naylor becomes the third Guardian from last year&#8217;s team to be traded this offseason, <a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/blue-jays-missing-on-fried-dropping-spots-in-the-2025-mlb-draft-and-aquiring-andres-gimenez-all-within-an-hour">joining</a> 2B Andrés Giménez and RP Nick Sandlin who were traded to Toronto on December 10th. All trades have their respective motives, and in Naylor&#8217;s case, the Guardians are likely ready to feature Kyle Manzardo as their primary first baseman and also just signed Carlos Santana to a one-year deal.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Full trade, per ESPN sources:</p>
<p>Arizona acquires: 1B Josh Naylor</p>
<p>Cleveland acquires: RHP Slade Cecconi and a competitive balance Round B draft pick</p>
<p>&mdash; Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) <a href="https://twitter.com/JeffPassan/status/1870605853944058010?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 21, 2024</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>Slade Cecconi, a 25-year-old pitcher, is the main piece heading back to Cleveland in this deal.</p>
<p>He was drafted by the Diamondbacks in 2020 and made his Major League debut with the club in 2023.</p>
<p><span style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Between &#8217;23 and &#8217;24, Cecconi made 27 appearances (17 starts), holding a 6.06 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, 4.85 FIP, and 7.3 K/9. He boasts a fastball that sits around 94 mph, as well as a slide, changeup, and curveball that all average standard velocities. None of his pitches miss bats particularly well, something summarized by his chase rate and whiff rate both being at or beneath the 10 percentile per <a href="https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/slade-cecconi-677944">Baseball Savant</a>.</span></p>
<p>The Guardians do have a nice history of developing pitchers in their organization, so they likely believe this arm can be worth their while whether he winds up in the starting rotation or the bullpen. Cecconi will be under team control through the 2030 season.</p>
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The trade market continues to be as active as the free agent market this offseason.

On Saturday afternoon, it was announced that the Arizona Diamondbacks <a href="https://twitter.com/JeffPassan/status/1870605853944058010">acquired</a> first baseman Josh Naylor from the Cleveland Guardians in exchange for RHP Slade Cecconi and a Competitive Balance Round B draft pick. Naylor's name had been tossed around the rumour mill within the past couple of weeks, with the Blue Jays as a potential suitor.
<div class="bam-inline-promotion-block" data-max-length="2" data-placement-id="2110" data-context="web-content-promocard" data-property-id="330"></div>
This past year, Naylor slashed .243/.320/.456 with a career-high 31 home runs and 108 RBIs, finishing in the Top 10 in the American League in both categories. He also earned his first All-Star game nod, serving as a key offensive cog in Cleveland's AL Central Championship run. He fills an immediate need for the Diamondbacks, who lost Christian Walker and Josh Bell to free agency. Naylor is slated to reach free agency following the 2025 season.

The Mississauga, Ontario was drafted by the Miami Marlins but has been buried in multiple trades that each contained a laundry list of players. Naylor made his MLB debut with the San Diego Padres in 2019, which ironically was in Toronto and on the same night as Cavan Biggio's debut. He was dealt the following season in the second of the aforementioned trades to Cleveland in a deal headlined by Mike Clevinger. Naylor gradually improved year over year, including posting a career-best .308/.354/.489 slash line in 2023.
<h2>Diamondbacks acquire Canadian Josh Naylor from the Guardians</h2>
Naylor becomes the third Guardian from last year's team to be traded this offseason, <a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/blue-jays-missing-on-fried-dropping-spots-in-the-2025-mlb-draft-and-aquiring-andres-gimenez-all-within-an-hour">joining</a> 2B Andrés Giménez and RP Nick Sandlin who were traded to Toronto on December 10th. All trades have their respective motives, and in Naylor's case, the Guardians are likely ready to feature Kyle Manzardo as their primary first baseman and also just signed Carlos Santana to a one-year deal.

https://twitter.com/JeffPassan/status/1870605853944058010

Slade Cecconi, a 25-year-old pitcher, is the main piece heading back to Cleveland in this deal.

He was drafted by the Diamondbacks in 2020 and made his Major League debut with the club in 2023.

<span style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Between '23 and '24, Cecconi made 27 appearances (17 starts), holding a 6.06 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, 4.85 FIP, and 7.3 K/9. He boasts a fastball that sits around 94 mph, as well as a slide, changeup, and curveball that all average standard velocities. None of his pitches miss bats particularly well, something summarized by his chase rate and whiff rate both being at or beneath the 10 percentile per <a href="https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/slade-cecconi-677944">Baseball Savant</a>.</span>

The Guardians do have a nice history of developing pitchers in their organization, so they likely believe this arm can be worth their while whether he winds up in the starting rotation or the bullpen. Cecconi will be under team control through the 2030 season.

<hr />

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