Guardians Front Office Member Explains Josh Naylor Trade

Chris Antonetti talks about the tough decision to trade Josh Naylor from the Cleveland Guardians.

Jul 8, 2023; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians designated hitter Josh Naylor (22) hits an RBI double during the eighth inning against the Kansas City Royals at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images / Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

The Cleveland Guardians made another questionable trade on Saturday evening by sending Josh Naylor to the Arizona Diamondbacks for a young pitcher and a future draft pick.

Chris Atonetti, Guardians President of Baseball Operations, spoke with the media on Sunday morning and explained some of the front office's rationale about why they traded Naylor when they did.

"Obviously, trades like this involving not only a player of Josh's caliber but someone who has been an incredible teammate, a great worker, someone who's developed from an emerging major league player into one of the more productive hitters in the American League last year," said Antonetti.

"Trading someone like Josh is really difficult. But in the end, there's sometimes deals like this where we balance both the present and the future make sense."

"In terms of how we have to operate moving forward, we have to make difficult decisions involving very good players. But our goal continues to be, how do we find a way to field competitive teams both in the near-term and long term, and sometimes that necessitates tough decisions."

Oct 19, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians first base Josh Naylor (22) hits single during the second inning against the New York Yankees during game five of the ALCS for the 2024 MLB playoffs at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Scott Galvin-Imagn Images / Scott Galvin-Imagn Images

Antonetti also touched on the return the Guardians got for Naylor in this deal.

The Guardians got pitcher Slade Cecconi in the deal, and Anoetti is "excited to bring a guy like that into our system and have him work with our pitching group. Hopefully, he can come into spring training, win a job, and contribute from day one."

The Guardians front office member also mentioned that the draft pick is a "really important component" of this trade, given that "the draft is very important method for us to bring talented players into the organization."

While all of these moves may seem confusing or disjointed, Antonetti made it clear that the team's objective next season is to win.

"To be clear, our goal in 2025 is to try to find a way to win the American League Central."