Arizona Diamondbacks Acquire 1B Naylor, Accenting Time-Is-Now Mindset

The Arizona Diamondbacks made their first big winter move when they acquired power bat Josh Naylor, a move that not only addresses a gaping hole at first base but also underscores their time-is-now philosophy. Naylor set a career-highs with 31 home runs and 105 RBIs as a first-time All-Star for Cleveland in 2024. Hee fills the gap created by the loss of free agent Christian Walker, who was expected to leave and made it official by agreeing to a three-year, $60 million contract with Houston on Friday. Full terms have not been announced. The Diamondbacks also had kicked the tires on one of the best players in franchise history history, first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, but Naylor became an immediate target (if he was not already) when Goldschmidt agreed to a one-year, $12.5 million free agent contract with the New York Yankees on Saturday. “We've had an eye on this entire market,” Hazen told reporters in addressing the first base options. “Trades are tough to pull off, so I never know if I'm going to be able to do anything like that, and then you don't know where free agency is going to go. So, we kept our irons in the fire. It's taken a long time (for this market) to settle.” Diamondbacks believe future is now Naylor, 27, has one year of arbitration eligibility remaining as a super-two and is projected to earn north of $12 million in 2025. Spotrac estimates he could earn as much as $14.2 million. He is one of a handful of top-tier Arizona players who will be eligible for free agency after the season, pending any moves CEO Ken Kendrick and Hazen might make as the Diamondbacks look to sustain their recent success. The Diamondbacks won 83 games and reached the World Series in 2023 before falling to the Texas Rangers. Arizona a made a six-game improvement to 89-73 last season but did not make the playoffs because they lost tiebreakers to both the New York Mets and Atlanta Braves, who split a doubleheader played the Monday after the regular season ended after a hurricane forced two postponements. Arizona right-handers Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly, the Nos. 1-2 pitchers in the rotation, third baseman Eugenio Suarez, and left-hander Jordan Montgomery also will be arbitration-eligible after 2025. Gallen and Kelly would seem to be the top priorities. The D-Backs picked up the 2025 options of Kelly ($7 million) and Suarez ($15 million) immediately after the regular season ended. Montgomery exercised his $22.5 million player option after a season in which he went 8-7 with a 6.23 ERA, torpedoing his value on the open market. Gallen, represented by the Boras Corp., is projected to receive about $13 million in arbitration this year. The Diamondbacks sent right-hander Slade Cecconi and a competitive balance Round B to Cleveland for Naylor. Cecconi, a first-round pick in the 2020 draft, was 2-7 with a 6.66 ERA in 20 appearances a year ago, his first real stop in the majors, and would have been a contender for the final spot run the behind Gallen, Kelly, Brandon Pfaadt, Eduardo Rodriguez, Ryne Nelson and Montgomery. Naylor adds another power component to a lineup that includes Suarez, switch-hitting second baseman Ketel Marte, left fielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and right fielder Corbin Carroll. All hit at least 22 homers a year ago. Marte had a career-high 36, Suarez had 30 and Walker had 26. Naylor had a 1.5 WAR in 2024 and has a 5.8 WAR over the last three seasons after becoming a regular with Guardians. He had a career-high 105 strikeouts last season, a function of his career-high 633 plate appearances, but he stings the ball when he puts in in play. His average exit velocity last season was 89.9 mph, 12th among major league first baseman and above that of free agent Pete Alonso (89.8) and the Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman (89.4). Naylor’s 16.6 percent strikeout rate a year ago was sixth-lowest among left-handed hitters in the majors. “We felt like he fits into the middle of our lineup pretty significantly, the thump," Hazen said. "He's a good hitter. He's got really good makeup. We felt like he was a nice fit in our clubhouse with the guys that we have. We think it's going to be a good match.” Arizona led major league baseball in runs (886) and on-base percentage (.337) and and was second to the World Series-champion Los Angeles Dodgers in total bases and OPS, but it also needed offensive help when the DH combination of Joc Pederson and Randal Grichuk hit free agency. Pederson and Grichuk, still unsigned, combined for 25 homers and 110 RBIs in 2024 after signing one-year free agent deals to build their value, and the Diamondback could lean into that market again as it becomes more defined.