The NL West is getting lighter.
On Thursday, some truly shocking news came through the Major League Baseball pipeline: the Seattle Mariners made a trade with a team that’s not the San Francisco Giants.
I was as shocked as you were. I didn’t even know it was legal, let alone a possibility.
The Mariners traded some prospects to the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for first baseman Josh Naylor. Word on the street is that the teams are working hard on another deal, one which would send the other corner of Arizona’s infield — third baseman Eugenio Suárez — back to the team he spent the 2022 and 2023 seasons playing for.
And with that, the Diamondbacks have bowed out of the NL West race, leaving just three teams from what once felt like the runaway top division in baseball.
It’s been a while since the Diamondbacks felt like playoff contenders but, given the sheer talent they have on their roster, and the fact that they’re still just three games below .500, it still feels notable that they’ve gone into full sell mode, even though it’s certainly the right decision.
‘tis the season for teams to pick a direction. The D-backs picked theirs, and it sure wasn’t what anyone thought when the season began.