MLB Insider Calls For Seattle Mariners to Trade Prized Prospect at Deadline in Mega-Deal
Over the weekend, we learned from Bob Nightengale of USA Today that the Seattle Mariners are still interested in acquiring Eugenio Suarez and/or Josh Naylor from the Arizona Diamondbacks at the trade deadline.
Well, on Tuesday, former MLB executive Jim Bowden wrote for The Athletic that he wants to see the M's acquire Naylor for top prospect Harry Ford, who just entered the Top 100 at Baseball America.
Again, the Diamondbacks say they aren’t entertaining the thought of selling at this juncture, but that could change if they don’t play well in the coming weeks. And if that happens, they match up well with the Mariners in a trade involving Naylor, who would fill a glaring need in the middle of the Mariners’ lineup and at first base. An impending free agent, Naylor is coming off a 31-homer, 108-RBI season with the Guardians and has posted a 130 OPS+ this year with Arizona.
Six trades I’d like to see before MLB trade deadline, starting with a Sandy Alcantara swap https://t.co/4UX0aOQ9kA
— Jim Bowden⚾️ (@JimBowdenGM) June 17, 2025
Ford, 22, was a first-round pick of the Mariners in 2021 and is knocking on the door of a big-league promotion, though there are questions about where he'll play given the presence of Cal Raleigh. He's hitting .315 at Triple-A Tacoma with eight homers, 38 RBIs and three stolen bases. He's also scored 38 runs. If the Mariners were to promote him, they could use him at backup catcher and designated hitter, but they still have Mitch Garver on the roster, further complicating things. As a result, trading him and extracting value might be the best way to go for the M's.
Naylor, 27, is hitting .300 with nine homers and 48 RBIs for Arizona, and he's posted an .827 OPS and OPS+ of 130.
He's a free agent at the end of the season.
The Mariners will play the Red Sox on Tuesday night at 6:40 p.m. PT.
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