Arizona’s rental first baseman was the first domino to fall in the eventual Arizona deadline sell-off.
From the moment the Diamondbacks paid the hefty price of sending Slade Cecconi to Cleveland in exchange for on-base machine first baseman, Josh Naylor, the countdown to Naylor’s departure started. This is Naylor’s contract year and, even if the Diamondbacks made another trip to the World Series this year, the likelihood of a reunion with Naylor beyond this season was as close as one could get to zero without actually reaching it. As such, when Arizona clearly fell out of any sort of meaningful contention for the playoffs, Naylor instantly became one of Arizona’s biggest trade chips. While it was perhaps a bit surprising to see Naylor representing the first move made by Arizona, the move helped to set the table for the following trades and also established a strong baseline for expected future returns.
Josh Naylor (1B) to the Seattle Mariners for Brandyn Garcia (LHRP) and Ashton Izzi (RHP/A+)
There is simply no denying the fact that Arizona’s pitching pipeline is dreadfully woeful. It may be among the very worst in the entire sport, right there with Colorado who at least has the paired excuses of playing at high altitudes and having a terrible front office. In many ways, the Diamondbacks have the same altitude problem, but they also simply have not targeted quality pitching through draft or trade for some time. As such, Mike Hazen made it abundantly clear that Arizona would be looking primarily for pitching in return for players – pitching preferably close to being MLB-ready. The last part is what made Hazen’s desired targets harder to find. Yet, with the trade of Naylor, Arizona improved the team pitching both now and for the future.
Brandyn Garcia made his debut only 10 days before the deadline. It was a rough debut. Then, his second outing went well before he was traded to Arizona. His Arizona debut went well, but his follow-up two evening later was a disaster. Garcia is still somewhat raw, despite being 25. He is, however, a hard-throwing, strikeout compiling, lefty reliever that has shown good results in high leverage situations in the minors. With five more years of control, if Garcia comes anywhere close to his potential, the Diamondbacks have a left-handed bullpen mainstay that should be around through the majority of the Corbin Carroll window. At many deadlines in the past, Garcia might have been the sole return for Naylor, somewhat underwhelming but not without promise. This season was far from a typical trade window though. Garcia was not the only player returned.
Ashton Izzi is still some way off from being a potential MLB arm. He is currently pitching as a starter for A+ Hillsboro, where in his first outing, he allowed two runs over five innings while striking out six. All indications point to Izzi finishing the season in Hillsboro, but likely being moved up to Amarillo next year. Amarillo will be an entirely new sort of challenge for Izzi as he has never before pitched in such a hitter-friendly environment, nor has he pitched against such a high level of talent. Izzi, despite being about to turn 22, is still filling out physically. This is encouraging, as he has already proven he is up to a significant innings load. Filling out will only help him in that regard. Also, the filling out helps to explain why he has, to this point, struggled some with his command. If and when Izzi stabilizes, his command should improve. The last handful of starts have been better for Izzi this year. He has begun to find a better mix for his four-pitch repertoire and he has started to get the walks a bit more under control. Hopefully, he’ll find some further consistency as he finishes up the last few weeks at Hillsboro.
If things go according to a typical schedule, Izzi should be ready to make his MLB-debut at some point in 2027. It should be noted he will be Rule-5 eligible next winter, so he’ll need to be added to the 40-man roster by then. As such, it is conceivable (though still not likely) that Izzi gets a cup of coffee next September as an audition for his spot on the 40-man roster.
Izzi profiles mostly as a #4/5 pitcher. However, his big-bodied delivery and endurance to pitch to high inning loads makes being a back-end starter more of a solid floor for him. He may also fit in more as a spot-starter out of the bullpen where he can work as a long man. Sure, he could go bust, but so far his development has been in the right direction. If Arizona has indeed found a reliable #4 that can toss 160+ innings year-in and year-out, they will have managed to squeeze nearly as much value out of the return for Naylor as the gave up for Naylor in the first place, though in different disbursement.