Trading Josh Naylor this offseason would be a mistake for the Cleveland Guardians

With the Cleveland Guardians' 2024 season coming to a close, it is now time to turn everyone's attention to the offseason and any players who could be on the move. One player, in particular, who has garnered plenty of attention about his future in Cleveland is Josh Naylor.

2025 will be the final season that Naylor will be arbitration-eligible before becoming a free agent. For the longest time, the standard operating procedure for Cleveland has dictated that players fitting this description have been to field trade offers in the offseason with the likelihood of him being dealt either then or before the trade deadline. While this has been an incredibly valuable and cost-efficient way for the Guardians to approach their team-building process, taking this path with Naylor is not something they should pursue.

The Guardians making players available on the trade market before hitting free agency is nothing new, but there is usually one characteristic in particular that most share that Naylor does not have. Star quality. Look at Corey Kluber, Francisco Lindor, and even Jose Ramirez, who was on the trade block before signing his contract extension, all are stars. Naylor is a good player, but make no mistake, he is not a star.

This is not meant to be a slight toward Naylor. Instead, it is an honest assessment of who he is as a player. Naylor can be prone to extreme highs and lows, with the latter tending to be prolonged and the former not occurring often enough. Clearly, Naylor has the potential to be a very productive player, but until he is able to shrink the gap between his talent floor and ceiling, any type of return Cleveland would receive for his services would shrink in value. Taking a fraction of what a player can be worth is not only bad business, it is not something the Guardians do.

Of course, there is a world where it would make sense for the Guardians to trade Naylor, but there are multiple boxes that would need to be checked before even considering that possibility. Unless a contending team finds themselves without a first baseman and is willing to pay a king's ransom and then some, trading Naylor should be completely off the table for the Guardians.