Red Sox Deadline Target: 1B Josh Naylor
A masher with a magnetic personality, Josh Naylor feels like a match made in Heaven for the Boston Red Sox.
Even before this recent 10-game winning streak, the first base platoon of Abraham Toro and Romy Gonzalez had been a revelation for the Boston Red Sox.
Into the All-Star Break, those two are slashing .296/.340/.491 with 10 home runs and 41 runs batted in across 347 plate appearances.
Even as Toro’s regressed a bit at the dish, he’s made some timely plays during this winning streak to further emphasize how much he’s meant to the Cinderella-esque turnaround.
That said, neither player has an extensive track record of maintaining performance deep into the season. As a result, it appears perhaps in Boston’s best interest to get another impact bat at the first base position this summer, then moving Gonzalez to a true second base platoon with Marcelo Mayer.
Toro, in that reality, becomes a bench bat that offers some infield versatility or DFA fodder, a la Dominic Smith in 2024.
Josh Naylor is *the* guy for first base-needy teams this summer. An expiring contract on a 47-50 Arizona Diamondbacks team, Naylor is slashing .294/361/.456 with a 126 wRC+ and 11 homers in 87 games.
He’s a luxury that’s acting as a hindrance to draft lottery odds for a team with no real pathway to contention in 2025 as of right now.
What I like about Josh Naylor
When this team was at its most inconsistent offensively, it struck out a ton and struggled to move runners around independent of runs scored.
Naylor is a career 16% strikeout rate guy, down to 12.5% in 2025, and is hitting .303 in 105 plate appearances with runners in scoring position this year. Increase the intensity to runners in scoring with two outs and Naylor is a .306 hitter, but the wRC+ jumps from 118 to 151 in 42 plate appearances.
Naylor also has postseason experience, though something of a mixed bag for results (.256 hitter, 87 wRC+). He did hit a home run of New York Yankees right-hander Gerrit Cole in 2022, however, and hit one of the most iconic celebrations in postseason history.
His magnetic personality would fit right in with this group and it’s hard to not get excited about that individual fit even above his talent.
The lefty bat also hits the ball in the air over 50% of the time — 17.5% line drive, 36.8% fly ball. For someone in the third percentile for sprint speed, not having to leg out ground balls certainly increases chances of reaching base.
On fly balls, he’s a pretty balanced bat in terms of direction. The tried-and-true method for producing nowadays is pulling the ball in the air, but Naylor going opposite field on fly balls roughly a third of the time bodes well for success at Fenway Park.
He also feels like an obvious trade-for-and-extend candidate, or at least someone you’d keep beyond the 2025 season by re-signing him in free agency.
With money freed up thanks to the Rafael Devers trade, and uncertainty surrounding the first base position long term, it just makes so much sense for Boston and Naylor to pair up.
What I don’t like about Josh Naylor
Red Sox manager Alex Cora seems pretty stoked about how athletic and versatile this current iteration of the team is. Naylor is a first baseman, and not a super athletic one.
Sure, he mashes, but defensively he’s regressed to -5 defensive runs saved and -2 outs above average this season — the first time he’s been in the negative for both as a big-leaguer.
Additionally, the power for him is way down this season. Last year in Cleveland, he posted a .213 isolated power (difference between average and slugging) and that’s down to .162 in 2025.
This is entirely due to a regression in home runs, as his doubles pace is pretty similar and he’s even added his second career triple this year. Last year, he hit 31 home runs in 152 games; this year, the pace is 19 over 150 games.
Seeing as he went from Cleveland to Phoenix, that’s a pretty staggering reality.
Lastly, there’s always a fear when acquiring a rental that this marriage only lasts the rest of the season. Even if Naylor crushes the ball and the Red Sox are a legitimate World Series contender, there’s a chance he leaves in the offseason a la Kyle Schwarber in 2021.
Schwarber only cost the Red Sox Aldo Ramirez … Naylor will almost certainly cost more as there are more teams in contention with the third wild card team.
What would a trade package look like?
Red Sox get: 1B Josh Naylor
Diamondbacks get: 1B/OF James Tibbs III (No. 7 on Sox Prospects) and RHP Jedixson Paez (No. 17)
Immediately providing value to his new organization, Tibbs headlines a package for Naylor at this summer’s deadline. For Double-A Portland, Tibbs is slashing .257/.349/.351 with four extra base hits and five runs batted in but he’s someone the organization valued for his swing decisions and ability to drive the ball with authority.
I just question Tibbs’ long-term pathway to MLB playing time as he’s probably a first baseman, which is a fairly low-value position especially if you’re not a lock for 30-plus homers and 100-plus RBI.
I view Tibbs’ ceiling as a quality MLB bat with so-so defense, which is a fine player but not a high-ranking first baseman.
Paez is a sad part of the outgoing for me as I truly think he’s got a bright future as a professional starting pitcher. You just can’t teach that kind of command and he’s seen small gains in velocity each of the past two seasons. If he can get his velocity to top around 96 instead of 94, there’s some real potential for him there.
He hasn’t pitched since April 26, but this kid had eight strikeouts and zero walks in his first three starts (nine innings) before a blow-up in his final start that also saw him placed on the injured list.
Garrett Crochet has been everything the Red Sox needed and more
During the offseason, the Red Sox found their ace in Garrett Crochet when they acquired him from the Chicago White Sox. While the Red Sox had to give up a lot of talent, they knew Crochet would be worth it. Through the first half of the 2025 campaign, he has been everything the Red Sox needed and more.