Guardians discussed possible Josh Naylor trade with AL East contender

By now, everyone is very well aware of the trade that sent Josh Naylor to the Arizona Diamondbacks, but it appears that the Cleveland Guardians could have dealt him to another ballclub.

According to a report from ESPN's Jorge Castillo, the Guardians were in talks with the New York Yankees regarding Naylor, "The Yankees engaged in discussions with the Cleveland Guardians on Josh Naylor, but the two sides couldn't come to a resolution, according to a source, before Naylor was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks.". Ultimately, the two sides could not agree to terms, and Cleveland traded Naylor to Arizona for Slade Cecconi and a competitive balance draft pick.

The Yankees had reported interest in Naylor before he was traded by the Guardians, but there is a difference between having interest and genuinely wanting to trade for a player, and it appears that New York was in the latter group rather than the former.

Naylor in New York would have been uncomfortable

It would have been pretty awkward if the Guardians and Yankees actually agreed to a trade that would have sent Naylor to The Bronx. To put it bluntly, Naylor does not have the best relationship with the Yankees or their fanbase.

Everyone remembers Naylor rocking the baby after hitting a home run off of Gerrit Cole in the 2022 postseason. Referring to Cole as his "little (expletive removed) son" while rounding the bases definitely did not do him any favors when it comes to winning over the Yankees' clubhouse or their fans. Granted, this was not the first time Naylor said this after a long ball, but it got more than enough attention considering the circumstances in which it took place (a nationally televised playoff game).

When it comes to what New York might have been offering, it could not have been all that much, as it all took was Cecconi and a competitive balance pick from Arizona to get the deal done. The Yankees are a stubborn organization to make trades with and very rarely offer anything of value in these talks.

More often than not, they try to bully smaller ballclubs into giving up their best players for pennies on the dollar. New York also tends to overvalue their prospects and hang onto them for far too long while still trying to use players with depreciated value as centerpieces in trades for impactful players. This makes it difficult for any team to have a genuine trade conversation with the Yankees and for both teams to receive something close to equal value in the swap.

It would have been nice for the Guardians to get more than they did for Naylor, but it does not seem likely that the Yankees would have been willing to do so. Agreeing to trade Naylor to the Diamondbacks may have provided the best possible return, even though it seems very underwhelming and light.