Former GM's Josh Naylor controversial trade pitch is sure to divide Mariners fans

As the trade deadline inches closer, more and more mock trades are beginning to fly around the internet. One such mock trade, courtesy of The Athletic's Jim Bowden, has proposed a trade that could bring a slugging first baseman to the Seattle Mariners.

Bowden's suggestion is for the Mariners to trade for Diamondbacks first baseman Josh Naylor. In exchange, he has the Mariners giving up catching prospect Harry Ford because adding Naylor "would fill a glaring need in the middle of the Mariners’ lineup and at first base."

However, he also admits that "this is probably too steep a price for a rental."

A Harry Ford-for-Josh Naylor trade would be a hard pill for Mariners fans to swallow

While adding a bat like Naylor's would certainly help the Mariners, giving up Ford for two months of Naylor seems like too much. The trade would only pay off if Naylor can help push the Mariners to the playoffs. At 38-36, they have slipped to the edges of the playoff picture, and it is not a sure thing that adding Naylor could get them back into the dance.

On the one hand, Naylor is a good hitter. He's slashing .304/.359/.471 or a .830 OPS. He's been worth 1.3 bWAR, with 49 RBI and nine home runs to his name.

On the other hand, is Naylor that much of an upgrade over the Mariners' incumbent first basemen? Enough of an upgrade to justify trading one of the top prospects in baseball?

So far in 2025, the Mariners have used a trio of first basemen, including Donovan Solano, Luke Raley and the recently DFA'd Rowdy Tellez. The three of them have combined for -0.6 bWAR so far this year. Raley (0.2) and Solano (-0.3) are expected to platoon at the position going forward.

Naylor is certainly a better hitter and has been worth about two more wins than the Mariners first basemen this year. While WAR does not directly translate into wins, it does give a rough estimate of how much better the Mariners would be if they replaced Solano and Raley with Naylor at first base. The team could win around two more games down the stretch.

Would two extra wins be the difference between the playoffs and sitting home? Perhaps it could, and for a team that has missed the playoffs by a single game in back-to-back years, it might be a risk the Mariners have to take.

And yet, giving up Harry Ford for two potential extra wins — two wins that might not be enough to push a team barely above .500 into the playoff picture — might not be worth it.

Ford has been enjoying a monster season in Triple-A, and although Cal Raleigh has the catching position on lockdown in Seattle, Ford could soon replace Mitch Garver as the team's backup catcher. With Jorge Polanco likely in his last season with the Mariners, Ford and Raleigh could split catching and DH duties next year.

Giving up Ford for Naylor is likely too steep a price, and it will be hard for fans to get behind a lopsided trade like this one.