MLB trade grades: Mariners land Josh Naylor in first big deadline deal

It's MLB commercialized season!

From the aboriginal deals to get things started to the last-minute unreserved of deadline time enactment connected Thursday, July 31, this is your one-stop store for grades and investigation breaking down the details for each commercialized arsenic they spell down.

Follow on arsenic ESPN MLB experts Bradford Doolittle and David Schoenfield measure and people each move, with the astir caller grades astatine the top. This communicative volition proceed to beryllium updated, truthful crook backmost for the freshest deadline analysis.

Mariners get Naylor to footwear disconnected deadline deals

Mariners get:
1B Josh Naylor

Diamondbacks get:
LHP Brandyn Garcia
RHP Ashton Izzi

Mariners grade: B+

This is the archetypal important commercialized heading into the last week earlier the deadline, and it's absorbing successful portion due to the fact that it signifies the Diamondbacks are going to beryllium dealing - Naylor could beryllium the archetypal of a radical that mightiness see Eugenio Suarez, Merrill Kelly and Zac Gallen, perchance spicing up the deadline with immoderate intriguing names.

While 3rd basal was Seattle's biggest violative hole, Naylor gives them a well-rounded hitter who has been 1 of the apical interaction hitters successful the majors this season, hitting .292/.360/.447 with 11 location runs and the 13th lowest strikeout complaint among qualified hitters. Naylor has done astir of his harm against right-handed pitchers, hitting .310/.390/.493 with 9 of his 11 location runs. That's an upgrade implicit incumbent Luke Raley, who has deed .248/.370/.397 against right-handers, but is conscionable 1-for-20 against southpaws, with light-hitting Donovan Solano serving arsenic his platoon partner.

Naylor tin play each time and fits determination successful the mediate of the lineup, which ranks successful the bottommost 10 successful the majors successful strikeout rate, truthful his interaction quality volition beryllium a bully addition. It besides improves Seattle's seat arsenic Raley tin present capable successful astatine close tract (although Dominic Canzone has been hitting well) oregon DH, with Jorge Polanco possibly getting immoderate clip astatine 2nd basal implicit Cole Young. Rookie 3rd baseman Ben Williamson is an fantabulous defender but has conscionable 1 location tally successful 256 at-bats. While Polanco has plentifulness of acquisition astatine 3rd successful his career, helium hasn't started determination since April 4 arsenic a enarthrosis contented has constricted his throwing.

In different words: The Mariners could inactive question an upgrade astatine 3rd base. The Diamondbacks mightiness hold until July 31 to woody Suarez, hoping that 1 of the respective teams that needs a 3rd baseman volition springiness successful with a bully bundle of prospects. The Mariners didn't springiness up immoderate of their apical 10 prospects here, truthful here's guessing that Jerry Dipoto and Mike Hazen aren't done exchanging substance messages.

Diamondbacks grade: B

While Garcia and Izzi didn't fertile successful Kiley McDaniel's apical 10 database of Mariners prospects, that's not needfully a sound connected their potential: Seattle's apical 10 is loaded with apical 100 wide prospects. Garcia was ranked No. 13 connected MLB.com's squad database and Izzi No. 16.

Drafted successful the 11th circular retired of Texas A&M successful 2023, Garcia was a astonishing occurrence communicative arsenic a starter successful 2024, but the Mariners moved him to the bullpen this play and helium conscionable made his MLB debut aft posting a 3.51 ERA crossed Double-A and Triple-A with 42 strikeouts successful 33.1 innings. He throws a mid-90s sinker on with a sweeper and cutter, and held lefties to a .235 mean and .255 slugging percentage. He tin astir apt spell consecutive to Arizona's bullpen close now, with the thought that the Diamondbacks effort him arsenic a starter successful 2026. He's a bully sleeper imaginable successful a commercialized similar this, with astatine slightest a level arsenic a reliever and possibly immoderate upside arsenic a back-end starter.

Izzi is simply a 21-year-old righty with a mid-90s fastball who was a fourth-round prime retired of precocious schoolhouse successful 2022, but helium has struggled astatine high-A Everett with a 5.51 ERA crossed 12 starts. His fastball/sweeper combo could yet enactment arsenic a reliever, though right-handed batters person deed him arsenic hard arsenic lefties. He's a improvement project.

Nothing excessively flashy here, but determination wasn't going to beryllium a immense marketplace for Naylor and helium was competing with the likes of Ryan O'Hearn and Marcell Ozuna successful the 1B/DH class, truthful Arizona astir apt figured it was to onslaught archetypal with Naylor - and springiness them much clip to sermon deals for their different pending escaped agents.