Eight months ago, the Cleveland Guardians made the hard decision to trade Josh Naylor to the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for Slade Cecconi and a Competitive Balance Round B draft pick. While the trade made sense from a baseball standpoint, given he was entering his final year of arbitration and was standing in the way of Kyle Manzardo at first base, his departure still angered Guardians fans, given what he meant to the fan base.
And while those wounds may still be there, the trade is looking more and more like a win for the Guardians, especially after Cleveland’s strong draft today.