Josh Naylor Deserves A Contract Extension From The Guardians

The Cleveland Guardians should have Josh Naylor next up on their list of contract extensions to work out.

One critique of the Cleveland Guardians' front office is that they don't spend as much money as fans may want them to. No, they aren't handing out $300 million contracts left and right, but the organization has identified talent they want to keep and locked them up long-term.

Some examples of extensions to players they've reached agreements with over the last two years are Jose Ramirez, Emmanuel Clase, Myles Straw, Andres Gimenez, and Trevor Stephan.

There's another player who deserves to be the next in line for an extension from the team and that's Josh Naylor. In the three-and-a-half seasons in which he's been in Cleveland (wow does time fly), Naylor has been a team player, part of a number of memorable moments, and turned into a darn good baseball player.

Naylor came to Cleveland from San Diego as a part of the blockbuster Mike Clevinger trade with the Padres. His first "full" season in Cleveland was in 2021, but that was cut short by a gruesome leg injury he suffered in June of that same year. 

That was followed by an offseason full of rehab heading into 2022. Still, Naylor had a productive year with the newly-named Guardians posting career highs in batting average (.256), slugging (.452), and OPS (.771).

This was a sign that Naylor could be a nice piece for the Guardians, but most likely in some sort of platoon role.

He took all of that to the next level in 2023 with a clean offseason where he could simply focus on getting better at his game and development. Naylor obliterated his previous career highs finishing with a slashline of .308/.354/.489 and an OPS of .842.

The Guardians finally found their power bat to put behind Jose Ramirez as Naylor hit 17 homers and led the team with 97 RBI in 2023.

One of the biggest factors that an organization should look at when deciding on whether or not to invest in a player is how they've progressed and developed over time. Naylor has demonstrated a willingness to improve and has a work ethic of never being satisfied.

The best example of this is how he adapted to left-hand pitching. This part of Naylor's game had been his biggest weakness during his entire career and everyone knew it. (Gets flashbacks to LHP Wandy Peralta warming up in the Yankees' bullpen with Naylor on deck in the 2022 ALDS.)

Jul 14, 2023; Arlington, Texas, USA; Cleveland Guardians first baseman Josh Naylor (22) in action during the game between the Texas Rangers and the Cleveland Guardians at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports / © Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Naylor's struggles continued at the start of last season posting a batting average below .200 against lefties over the first two months. But he continued to work at it which helped him finish the season with an average of .347 against Southpaws from June 1 and on. 

The Guardians wouldn't just be getting a proven bat if they were to keep him around for the future. Naylor has also developed into a fantastic defensive first baseman. He ranked in the 88th percentile in outs above average and prevented four runs at first base (third highest in baseball) in 2023, per Baseball Savant.

At this point, it's hard to argue the value that Naylor brings to the Guardians on and off the field. Somehow he wasn't an All-Star last season but was arguably the team's MVP.

That's someone worth keeping around.