Astros AL West Rival Mariners to Acquire Josh Naylor from Diamondbacks

The Houston Astros’ closest pursuer in the American League West division race is the Seattle Mariners. On Thursday, they got some help.

While the Astros were playing the Athletics in the start of a four-game series, the Mariners were busy sending to two pitching prospects to the Arizona Diamondbacks for first baseman Josh Naylor, as reported by The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal on X (formerly Twitter).

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In return, Arizona received pitchers Ashton Izzi and Brandyn Garcia.

Oddly, Naylor was in Arizona in part because of the Astros. Houston signed former Diamondbacks first baseman Christian Walker to a three-year contract in the offseason. To fill the position, Arizona acquired Naylor from Cleveland.

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Now Arizona will be looking for a new first baseman.

After a rough start, Walker’s bat has come around in the past 30 games, as he’s slashed .281/.328/.421 with four home runs and 19 RBI. His batting average has gone up in the last 15 games (.297) and the last seven games (.321) entering the Athletics series.

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Naylor would seem to fit what the Mariners are looking for at first base, where power has been a problem for them all season. The 28-year-old left-handed hitter was the Miami Marlins’ first-round pick in 2015 out of Canada.

He’s put together a solid season, with a slash of 292/.360/.447 with 11 home runs and 59 RBI. He also has 19 doubles and a triple. He’s hit at least 17 home runs in each of his previous three seasons, including a high of 31 last year with the Cleveland Guardians.

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The trade should make Houston’s final matchup with the Mariners interesting. The Astros end the season with 12 straight games against the AL West. That includes a final home series with the Mariners from Sept. 19-21.

Those games could be critical to both teams as they try to position themselves to make the postseason.

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