Santana returning to Guards; Josh Naylor traded to D-backs

Another staple in the Guardians lineup is on the move, but another one is coming home.

First baseman Josh Naylor has been traded to the Diamondbacks in exchange for righty pitcher Slade Cecconi and Arizona’s 2025 Competitive Balance Round B pick, the team announced on Saturday.

After the trade, the Guardians then signed free-agent first baseman Carlos Santana to a one-year, $12 million contract, sources told MLB.com.

TRADE DETAILS
Guardians acquire: RHP Slade Cecconi, Competitive Balance Round B Draft pick
D-backs acquire: 1B Josh Naylor

“Obviously, trades like this involving not only a player of Josh’s caliber,” Guardians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti said, “but someone who’s been an incredible teammate, a great worker, someone who’s developed from an emerging Major League player into one of the more productive hitters in the American League last year [are difficult]. … But in the end, there are sometimes deals like this in which we balance both the present and future.”

The trade isn’t overwhelmingly shocking considering Naylor’s name has popped up in trade rumors all offseason. But the Guardians are trying to make sure that 2025 is even more successful than ’24. That means the return has to be enough to offset a potential 30-homer bat.

At first, that was up in the air when the team had only added Cecconi. He split last season between Triple-A and the Majors. In 20 games (13 starts) with the D-backs, he pitched to a 6.66 ERA with 64 strikeouts and 17 walks in 77 innings. In Triple-A, he owned a 3.06 ERA in 18 games (five starts), ending the season with 9 2/3 hitless innings. Antonetti said that Cecconi will enter Spring Training competing for a spot in the rotation or the bullpen.

“He has a really good track record in the Minor Leagues,” Antonetti said. “His calling card has been his ability to attack the strike zone. Really low walk rates. He’s got a good four-pitch mix. His fastball usually is in the mid-90s. It’s been up to 98 or 99 out of the relief role … We are excited to be able to bring a guy like that into our system.”

But moments later, the Guardians added a familiar face in Santana. MLB Trade Rumors projected that Naylor would make $12 million in his last year of arbitration this winter. That money went straight to signing free agent Santana. However, because the deal isn’t official just yet, Antonetti could not comment on the impending acquisition.

Santana is entering his 16th Major League season. Eleven of those will have been spent with Cleveland. In his previous 10 seasons with the Guardians, Santana hit .251 with an .818 OPS and 216 home runs. Even though he’ll be 39 years old in April, his power hasn’t waned. In each of the last two seasons with the Twins, Brewers and Pirates, Santana hit more than 20 homers.

Naylor has provided depth in the Guardians’ lineup behind José Ramírez for the last few years. He emerged as an All-Star caliber player in ’23 with a standout season, hitting .308 with an .842 OPS. His production wasn’t as consistent in ’24, but his threat in the lineup played a huge part in Cleveland’s success. Now that will be up to Santana to fill.

Santana will be able to play first base, alongside Kyle Manzardo, who had a strong second trip to the Majors at the end of last season to show he’s ready for the big stage.

Antonetti also said that Jhonkensy Noel will be an option to get some reps at first base, as well.

But now, the Guardians need to figure out where they’ll go from here. They’ve traded both of their starting position players from the right side of the infield — Naylor and Andrés Giménez — to help get extra starting pitching depth. They’ll soon add Santana to be able to help offset the loss of offensive production from these deals.

It all comes down to one question: Are the Guardians better today than they were at the end of the 2024 season?

“I hope so,” Antonetti said. “Our goal is to try to repeat what we did last year in winning the American League Central and trying to continue to advance in the postseason and win that final game.”