Josh Naylor is headed to the American League.
The Diamondbacks first baseman was traded to the Mariners on Thursday night, Seattle announced.
Minor league pitchers Ashton Izzi and Brandyn Garcia are headed back to Arizona as part of the deal in the first significant move before next Thursday’s 6 p.m. ET trade deadline.
Arizona was widely expected to be sellers at the deadline, The Post’s Jon Heyman reported.
The Athletic reported before the trade that Arizona had told other teams that it had intentions of trading at least some of its vets.
The Diamondbacks had also reportedly been scouting the minor league systems of the Yankees, Mets, Cubs, Reds and Mariners, though The Athletic had linked that to teams that had interest in third baseman Eugenio Suárez.
The Mets are not believed to be in on Suarez, according to Heyman, and a deal that is to Arizona’s liking is expected to take longer, with the Yankees, Mariners, Reds and Cubs interested.
The Naylor trade likely signifies more moves to come, with the Diamondbacks sitting near the basement of the National League West. In a radio interview with Arizona Sports on Thursday, Diamondbacks president and CEO Derrick Hall seemed to signal the team could be selling pieces.
“I think it’s time for us to be responsible enough to improve our team with what we have and with that, let’s enhance our future,” he said.
Naylor, playing on a one-year contract, is hitting 292/.360/.447 with 11 home runs in 93 games for the Diamondbacks.
He will be eligible for free agency this coming offseason, and due to the trade, Naylor becomes ineligible for a qualifying offer headed into the winter.
Seattle is in a wild-card position in the American League as they try to catch the AL West-leading Astros, who have a six-game lead in the division.