Mariners' thrilling clinch just gave Guardians firm reminder of sliding doors moment

At a little after 10 p.m. on Wednesday, Cade Smith got Dillon Dingler to ground out to end the Cleveland Guardians’ 5-1 win over the Detroit Tigers that put them on the precipice of clinching a postseason spot. 

About two hours later, the Seattle Mariners had a raucous celebration at T-Mobile Park after clinching their first American League West title since 2001.

While the wins came more than 2,400 miles apart, there are some shared threads across both teams — namely the presence of Josh Naylor. 

In the offseason, the Guardians elected to trade Naylor to the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for starting pitcher Slade Cecconi and a draft pick that became draft pick Wil Haynes. 

And, after an up-and-down start to the season, the Diamondbacks traded Naylor to the Mariners and has provided Seattle with some much-needed thump in the middle of its lineup. 

In total, Naylor’s hit .292 with 20 home runs, 92 RBI and 29 steals this season between his time with the Diamondbacks and Mariners. 

Meanwhile, Cecconi has a 4.15 ERA in 128 innings this season and has helped lead the Guardians’ rotation as they’ve gone on their run toward the American League Central crown. 

Even if comparing Cecconi and Naylor isn’t a perfect science given how different their roles are, they’re still going to be linked forever thanks to how everything went in the offseason. And, depending on the postseason picture shakes out, there’s a chance they could face off in the postseason. 

Slade Cecconi and Josh Naylor will forever be linked

Naylor made his first return to Progressive Field earlier this year, and said that he knew he was going to get traded in the offseason because that’s how the Guardians operate. While he didn’t say anything outright aggressive, he wasn’t exactly bending over backward to praise the organization that helped morph him into an All-Star. 

Meanwhile, Cecconi’s turned into a leader in the clubhouse and on the pitching staff and carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning at one point in the year. Both players have impacted winning on postseason teams, which is all you can ask for when you make a trade. 

The obvious complication is the fact that Naylor was traded mid-season, but the Diamondbacks' minuscule return for Naylor shows that the Guardians made the right decision in trading him for a ready-made MLB contributor and a draft pick that they were able to turn into a promising pitching prospect.

Trading Naylor also gave the Guardians the chance to give first base to Kyle Manzardo and C.J. Kayfus, both of whom have taken their opportunity and ran with it. 

And, perhaps most importantly, they both have multiple years of team control, whereas Naylor will be a free agent after the season. 

Both the Mariners and Guardians seem poised to make noise in October, and they’ll get plenty of contributions from players who will be forever linked thanks to last year’s offseason trade.