Diamondbacks acquire 1B Josh Naylor from Guardians to replace Christian Walker

The Arizona Diamondbacks have acquired first baseman Josh Naylor from the Cleveland Guardians, both teams announced on Saturday.

Right-hander Slade Cecconi will go to the Guardians in the deal along with a competitive balance Round B draft pick.

This trade comes days after former Diamondbacks first baseman Christian Walker agreed to sign a 3-year, $60 million contract with the Houston Astros, pending a physical. The move left many to wonder what the team was going to do at the open position.

Well, the Diamondbacks got their guy.

Naylor, 27, is entering his final year under team control. He hit a career-high 31 home runs and made his first All-Star team with Cleveland last season, where he played alongside his younger brother, Bo.

“(We) felt like he fits in the middle of our lineup pretty significantly,” Diamondbacks general manager Mike Hazen said. “The thump, he’s a good hitter … we felt like it was a nice fit in our clubhouse with the guys we have. We think it’s going to be a good match with all the work we did.”

Although he brings power to the plate, Naylor’s overall production will likely lack what Walker provided, particularly on defense. Walker batted .251 with 26 home runs in 2024, but his three consecutive Gold Glove awards (2022-24) and his 13 outs above average last season — the most among National League first basemen — set a pretty high bar.

But that’s something the team feels as though can be improved in time.

“We think he’s a really solid first baseman,” Hazen said. “He works really hard at it and we’re going to push him pretty hard, obviously because we value that pretty heavily. And because he works hard, I think we’re going to get a very good first baseman.”

Moments after news of the trade broke, the Guardians agreed on a one-year, $12 million contract with veteran first baseman Carlos Santana — who is now back for his third stint with the team — to fill the void left by Naylor.

As one of the best teams in baseball at developing pitchers, the Guardians saw fit in flipping the former 2015 12th overall pick for Cecconi, who just wrapped up his first full season in the big leagues. He posted a 6.66 ERA across 20 outings (13 starts) with Arizona in 2024 and wraps up his Diamondbacks tenure with a 6.06 ERA in 104 innings. He has the stuff, and the Guardians have what it takes to unlock his full potential.

The Diamondbacks went 89-73 in 2024 and narrowly missed the postseason just one year removed of a World Series appearance. With that being said, it’d be fair to say the Diamondbacks aren’t done making moves.

“Getting this position settled down and identified for us is going to help us sharpen our focus on the next moves we need to make to make the team better,” Hazen said. “We still have a lot of work to do this offseason.”