The Seattle Mariners and Arizona Diamondbacks kicked off the 2025 trade deadline by exchanging three players. First baseman Josh Naylor heads to Seattle to shore up a contending lineup. Going back to the Diamondbacks is two promising arms. But was it enough?
Righty Ashton Izzi, 21, ranked as the No. 17 prospect in the Mariners system per Future Stars Series PLUS. A fourth rounder in the 2022 draft, Izzi has enjoyed a nice ascent through the Mariners system. He’s surrendering more home runs in 2025 than he ever has in his career, but Funko Field in Everett, Washington is laughably small. This is to be expected. Away from Everett, Izzi has posted a 4.50 ERA with 29 strikeouts and 10 walks in 28 innings.
Izzi has tickled the upper-90s but more commonly rests in the 94-95 bucket. He throws two fastballs. Despite generating over 7-feet of extension and holding north of 17 inches of induced vertical break on the four-seamer, he’s posted mediocre swing-and-miss with the pitch. A heavier two-seam fastball has done well creating ground balls and weak contact. Izzi doesn’t hide the fastball terribly well, so while he’s a good mover and releases the ball way out in front, hitters generally pick it up out of the hand early. All this being said, if Izzi is able to click into one more gear by the time he debuts, maybe 95-97, it’s certainly above-average fastball traits.
The slider is a real weapon. It’s firm, tight and short, 84-87 touching 89 mph. It’s a true bullet-spinner with late vertical tilt. It plays beautifully off his two fastballs and has generated whiffs both inside and outside of the zone. It projects a ‘plus’ breaking ball at the next level and should be thrown early and often.
1-2-3 first inning for Ashton Izzi. pic.twitter.com/Ojm3r1cLVU
— Mariners Minors (@MiLBMariners) July 4, 2025
Izzi will mix in a bigger sweeping breaker with considerable lateral tilt. He broadcasts it a bit. There’s also a firm changeup with exciting shapes, however they deviate so hard off the fastball that it’s a pitch that can be picked up out of the hand at times. Izzi’s control is currently on the fringier side across his entire arsenal. His strike quality will have to improve if he’s to start at the next level.
The scouting report reads like a future back-end starter with perhaps the chance for a bit more if the fastball makes one more jump. At worst, Izzi is a mid-leverage reliever with a host of pitches to get both left-handed and right-handed hitters out over an inning or two of work.
Lefty reliever Brandyn Garcia, 25, was an 11th rounder out of Texas A&M in the 2023 Draft. At the time of the trade, he ranked as the No. 19 prospect in the Mariners system per Future Stars Series PLUS. He made his big league debut for Seattle this month. Across two minor league levels, Garcia has posted a 3.51 ERA with 42 strikeouts in 33.1 innings. He’s issued 17 walks along the way.
Garcia is primarily a two-pitch specialist. The sinker has been up 99 mph and will sit 95-97 with heavy shape. It’ll dart hard to the arm-side and can be a true swing-and-miss pitch to right-handed hitters when he’s commanding his pitches. Well-below average extension and fringy command have nullified the effectiveness of his pure velocity at times.
Garcia’s cutter is his best pitch. It’s an upper-80s short-breaker that does a nice job keeping hitters off the barrel of his sinker. Theres’s also a bigger low-80s sweeper that he’ll deploy mostly against left-handed hitters. It’s effective when landed, but he’s often had a difficult time getting to that pitch.
Garcia projects a seventh inning reliever capable of getting outs against left-handed and right-handed hitters. His command will need to take a jump to overcome a lack of deception and extension. If that happens, he’s got a chance to pitch high-leverage spots for the Diamondbacks in the not too distant future. In a lot of ways, Garcia mirrors Seattle right-hander Carlos Vargas — a piece they acquired from Arizona in the Paul Sewald trade in 2023.
While the deal doesn’t seem to have a headline piece for the Diamondbacks, the cost for Seattle feels about right. Naylor gets the label of a slugger, but he’s more of a polished hitter than he is a difference-maker in the impact department. Much of his fWAR (1.4) and wRC+ (123) are derived from his exceptional feel for the strike zone. He walks a ton and hardly ever strikes out.
It’s a good deal for both organizations and likely just the appetizer for a bigger entrée this deadline for Arizona.
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