{"id":92569,"date":"2024-12-21T19:15:48","date_gmt":"2024-12-22T00:15:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=92569"},"modified":"2024-12-21T19:15:48","modified_gmt":"2024-12-22T00:15:48","slug":"diamondbacks-acquire-josh-naylor-trade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/12\/21\/diamondbacks-acquire-josh-naylor-trade\/","title":{"rendered":"Diamondbacks Trade for Christian Walker&#8217;s Replacement"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>According to Jeff Passan of ESPN, the Arizona Diamondbacks will trade for first baseman <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/n\/naylojo01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-12-21_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Josh Naylor<\/a> from the Cleveland Guardians. Cleveland will receive right-hander <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/c\/ceccosl01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-12-21_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Slade Cecconi<\/a> and a Competitive Balance Round B draft pick in return.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Full trade, per ESPN sources:<\/p>\n<p>Arizona acquires: 1B Josh Naylor<\/p>\n<p>Cleveland acquires: RHP Slade Cecconi and a competitive balance Round B draft pick<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JeffPassan\/status\/1870605853944058010?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">December 21, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>Diamondbacks Trade For Josh Naylor<\/h2>\n<p>Arizona will acquire Naylor, 27, one day after losing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/w\/walkech02.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-12-21_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Christian Walker<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/12\/20\/christian-walker-joins-astros-on-3-year-contract\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">via free agency<\/a>. In 633 plate appearances last year, Naylor hit .243\/.320\/.456 (118 OPS+) with a career-high 31 homers in 152 games. He supported these numbers with an above-league-average walk rate and a great strikeout rate. <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/04\/24\/josh-naylor-tapping-into-power\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Naylor&#8217;s hot start<\/a> helped earn him his first All-Star nomination this season.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Josh Naylor last year: .243\/.320\/.456, 31 HRs, 108 RBIs, All-Star<\/p>\n<p>Left-handed bat, 27 years old and entering a walk year.<\/p>\n<p><a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/UpggFq4GCM\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/UpggFq4GCM<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Alex Weiner (@alexjweiner) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/alexjweiner\/status\/1870606851219550295?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">December 21, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Unlike Walker, Naylor&#8217;s value comes solely from the bat. In 1,205 innings at first base in 2024, Naylor was worth -6 Defensive Runs Saved and one Out Above Average. He is also one of the slowest runners in the sport.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlbtraderumors.com\/2024\/10\/projected-arbitration-salaries-for-2025.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">MLB Trade Rumors<\/a> projects Naylor to earn $12 million in arbitration this winter. It&#8217;s slightly more than what Arizona paid Walker last season but significantly less than Walker will make annually on his new deal. Additionally, it&#8217;s unclear if the Diamondbacks are interested in signing Naylor, a free agent after 2025, to an extension.<\/p>\n<h3>Guardians Acquire Slade Cecconi, Sign Carlos Santana<\/h3>\n<p>To acquire Naylor, the Diamondbacks will trade away a high-upside arm in Cecconi. \u00a0A former first-round pick, Cecconi has struggled in the majors in his career but features promise. Since making his debut in 2023, the 25-year-old has posted a 6.06 ERA (70 ERA+) in 104 innings.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Slade Cecconi is rated very well by both Pitching Bot and Eno Sarris&#8217; Stuff\/Pitching+<\/p>\n<p>Hes a 25 year old with 5 years of control.<\/p>\n<p>Plus extension, great command, and a fantastic slider.<\/p>\n<p>Sound familiar?<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 mlbfeeelit (@mlbfeeelit) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/mlbfeeelit\/status\/1870606550949409072?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">December 21, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Though he walked hitters at a very good five percent clip last season, he didn&#8217;t strike many batters out and gave up a whopping 16 home runs in 20 games. On the plus side, he limited hard contact and pitched better in the minors.<\/p>\n<p>In 18 games (five starts) at Triple-A, Cecconi posted a 3.06 ERA with 54 strikeouts and 14 walks in 47 innings. The Guardians are known for getting the best out of pitchers and will look to do so with Cecconi.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, the Guardians will replace Naylor with old friend <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=santaca01,santan005car&amp;search=Carlos+Santana&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-12-21_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Carlos Santana<\/a>, a <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/12\/21\/carlos-santana-signs-contract-guardians\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">signing reported<\/a> right after the trade news broke.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Photo Credit: \u00a9 Matt Kartozian-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>According to Jeff Passan of ESPN, the Arizona Diamondbacks will trade for first baseman Josh Naylor from the Cleveland Guardians. Cleveland will receive right-hander Slade Cecconi and a Competitive Balance Round B draft pick in return. Full trade, per ESPN sources: Arizona acquires: 1B Josh Naylor Cleveland acquires: RHP Slade Cecconi and a competitive balance [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4683,"featured_media":92575,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1071,29,9,35],"tags":[910,2517,4144,3598],"class_list":["post-92569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb","category-diamondbacks","category-guardians","category-news","tag-carlos-santana","tag-christian-walker","tag-josh-naylor","tag-slade-cecconi"],"modified_by":"Lewis Masella, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4683"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92569"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92569\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":92576,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92569\/revisions\/92576"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/92575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}