Naylor’s future with Guards up in the air
- col-dave-mast
- December 12, 2024
- 33
One Cleveland Guardians centerpiece for the future is now gone. Will another one soon follow?
The Guardians recently shipped All-Star defensive wiz and three-time Gold Glove winner second baseman Andres Gimenez to Toronto for some far cheaper players who are not of his caliber.
However, the move did rid the Guardians —known for their tight wallets — of a fairly large contract.
As MLB winter baseball talks heat up, one hot topic since the Cleveland Guardians gave us all a season of totally unexpected success and a fantastic journey to the AL championship series this fall circles around one Josh Naylor.
Naylor has been a revelation the past two seasons, especially since coming off a major knee injury that was quite frightening.
Plus, for a guy who was groomed as an outfielder, his defense at first base has been incredibly admirable.
Naylor is coming off an All-Star season in which he banged out 31 home runs and drove in 108. Add that to his 2023 campaign that saw him drive in 97 runs and it’s been a remarkable couple of seasons.
However, there are some alarming concerns that accompany Naylor.
First, he is in a walk year and his price will skyrocket next season if the Guards want to hang on to his services.
Then, based on his batting average dropping from .308 to .243, it appears as though Major League opponents have figured out one simple flaw in Naylor’s game, that being he loves to swing hard.
Too hard probably.
His second-half stats would add to that theory because he wasn’t great after the All-Star break.
Far too many times, Naylor is picking up his helmet off the ground after coming unglued on a swing, swings that are often taken chasing balls out of the strike zone.
Now I wouldn’t mind so much if he had the capacity to crank it down a couple notches when he gets two strikes to work harder to put the ball in play, something he hasn’t shown much interest in doing thus far.
However, to be honest, I don’t want to judge him solely on what happened through one season of play, especially one that saw him earn a spot on the AL All-Star team.
That part of the game isn’t what concerns me.
What truly leads me to believe pursuing a trade now as compared to later is a possibility is Naylor’s body.
Guys with that particular build tend to have a much shorter life span in the Majors.
Perhaps the best comparison is Prince Fielder, a similarly built slugger who dominated the game when he came in at age 22. However, by 29 he was pretty much completely done.
Granted, Naylor carries it well. The guy can run, and frankly, he isn’t a liability on the bases and he’s agile around first base on defense.
Yet it doesn’t escape me that players with that chunky build tend to flame out rather quickly in their careers.
All that said, Naylor plays with an unending amount of passion, which I love and admire in a player. Naylor is a guy who is going to give you everything he has, and any manager would love to have a roster filled with guys like that who have Naylor’s gift at the game.
Yet I can’t help but be concerned that because of his build and because he is an all-or-nothing swinger at the plate, he may not maintain the game at the highest level.
Because of that and because of one other factor, I believe a deal might benefit the Guardians now rather than later.
The other factor to consider is Kyle Manzardo is waiting in the wings, and first base is his only ticket to playing time other than tying him up as a full-time DH, which is a death knell for a 24-year-old youngster who oozes potential.
During Cleveland’s playoff run, I saw a young player producing some quality at-bats, regardless of whether those at-bats resulted in hits.
It felt like when Manzardo came back after being sent down midseason, something clicked and he kind of found himself, perhaps gaining confidence.
I think Manzardo may be ready.
Considering Naylor is still just 27, he will never be more marketable than he is now, and several teams would love to add a big banger to the middle of their lineup.
The one biggest deterrent is Cleveland is one of those teams that could use a big banger in the middle of its order, which kind of flies in the face of trading Naylor.
It should be an intriguing offseason for the Guards, who also have entertained the idea of parting with playoff hero Lane Thomas in center field, a position they are far less capable of replacing.
Too many times I’ve seen teams consider trading a player and then wait too long to deal him, only to see his value dry up.
My gut tells me that could happen to Naylor, and it hurts me deeply to say that because I think he’s a fantastic talent who leads both on the field and in the clubhouse for this organization and was a catalyst in one of the most enjoyable Cinderella baseball seasons I’ve seen over my years as a Cleveland fan.
I would love it if Naylor was manning first base next spring for the Guards, but I’d understand it if they went another direction.