LAKE ELSINORE — At first, Josh Naylor was shocked – emotional, even a little upset. For a moment, he wondered if an off-field incident involving a knife convinced the Marlins to ship their top 2015 draft pick out of the organization. Then the 19-year-old first baseman remembered what he’d heard from the moment he emerged as one of Canada’s most promising prospects ever: Baseball was a business.
The trade to San Diego was Naylor’s first sobering lesson.
“It was just shocking,” Naylor said outside the home clubhouse at high Single-A Lake Elsinore, the jumping off point for his stay in the Padres organization.