ANAHEIM, Calif. — Dan Wilson got a phone call, which is probably the way a manager should find out. The rest of his roster seemed to find out via social media or the ticker on the televisions inside the visiting clubhouse.
Either way, the news of Josh Naylor’s trade and arrival created a little bit of a buzz just as the Mariners were getting ready for Thursday night’s game against the Los Angeles Angels.
“We were trying to get prepared for a ballgame at the time, so it was a little more subdued, probably, than normal,” Wilson said. “But this is huge. And looking forward to, like I said, welcoming Josh into a Mariner uniform. A tremendous player and tremendous bat, and really looking forward to how he fits into this lineup.”
Along with their 4-2 win over the Angels to open a seven-game road trip, came the reaction to the Mariners making the first bold move in baseball before the trade deadline.
It was a message from the front office to the clubhouse that what the M’s have done so far is worthy of investment and making a push over the final two months of the regular season.
“Playing in October. You know, the front office is making moves and that’s cool to us. We’re going to go out and win some games and that’s the goal every night,” shortstop J.P. Crawford said.
For Logan Evans, the news of the trade was a little bittersweet. He’s excited to have Naylor be added to the lineup. But it came at the expense of one of his closest friends, Brandyn Garcia, being traded to the Diamondbacks as part of the deal.
Evans, who picked up the win throwing five innings Thursday, said he was able to not get too distracted from his pregame prep as the news was getting out, but did fire off a quick message to his friend.
“I definitely saw it, but I don’t think that it really affected me too much. I texted him and just said, ‘Good luck,’ and I’ll give him a call too,” Evans said.
Matt Brash said that while he and Naylor are both from Ontario, they never overlapped in their baseball journeys. There didn’t seem to be many — or any — previously established relationships with the first baseman, which led to many players saying they were looking forward to getting to know Naylor.
There was also a sense of appreciation for no longer having to face him. In 35 career games against the Mariners, Naylor was hitting .281 with an .811 OPS, seven homers and 26 RBI. That included the series last month in Arizona where he went 8 for 12 with two doubles and a walkoff grand slam.
“I’m very excited to actually talk to him a little bit more obviously. Every time he plays, he’s always locked in, which is really good to add that to the team,” Julio Rodríguez said. “I’m very excited.”
The M’s minor-league affiliates will get a little bit of television time starting in August with a handful of games set to be broadcast on ROOT Sports, the team announced Thursday.
Fourteen games involving the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers, Double-A Arkansas Travelers and Single-A Everett AquaSox will be broadcast beginning Aug. 5 when the Rainiers face the Reno Aces at 12:05 p.m. followed by the Mariners vs. White Sox at 6:40 p.m.
Here’s a rundown of the games to be broadcast (all times PT):
Sept. 18 — Tacoma vs. Oklahoma City, 7:05 p.m.
Aug. 5 — Tacoma vs. Reno, 12:05 p.m.
Aug. 7 — Tacoma vs. Reno, 7:05 p.m.
Aug. 20 — Arkansas vs. Springfield, 4:35 p.m.; and Everett vs. Spokane, 7:05 p.m.
Aug. 21 — Arkansas vs. Springfield, 4:35 p.m.; and Tacoma vs. Oklahoma City, 7:05 p.m.
Aug. 27 — Everett vs. Eugene, 7:05 p.m.
Aug. 28 — Everett vs. Eugene, 7:05 p.m.
Aug. 31 — Everett vs. Eugene, 4:05 p.m.
Sept. 4 — Arkansas vs. Amarillo, 4:35 p.m.; and Tacoma vs. Reno, 7:05 p.m.
Sept. 7 — Tacoma vs. Reno, 1:35 p.m.
Sept. 16 — Tacoma vs. Oklahoma City, 12:05 p.m.
