Diamondbacks Manager Reacts to Josh Naylor Trade

On Thursday, the Arizona Diamondbacks traded first baseman Josh Naylor to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for a pair of pitching prospects.

So begins the deadline festivities. Arizona still has several players on expiring contracts that could be traded, depending on how intensely GM Mike Hazen wants to sell.

On Friday, manager Torey Lovullo made his weekly appearance on Arizona Sports 98.7's Burns & Gambo to discuss the trade and more.

Arizona Diamondbacks' Torey Lovullo Discusses Josh Naylor Trade

"Yesterday was a tough day for us," Lovullo said. "I was out to dinner last night with my wife, and got a phone call that there had been a trade and there was a move."

Lovullo said he had been previously tipped off that a move might have been coming, but did not specify if he knew it would be Naylor.

"When I finally got that phone call, of course, I reached out to Josh, had him come up to my hotel room and just explained to him, look, he meant so much to this ball club. I'm sorry I couldn't manage it better to not get in this position.

"At the end of the day, he's going to go to a team that is right in the middle of a playoff chase.And that's the one bit of satisfaction that I could take from it," Lovullo said.

The skipper spoke positively of Naylor's contributions in his short time with the D-backs.

"His DNA is all over this team. He played hard. He did his job the way we wanted him to. Hopefully we get a good player in return that's going to help us win some baseball games."

Lovullo revealed his message to the team on Friday after the trade, urging his players not to get too caught up in the trade rumors.

"We talked to them about, don't listen to the black noise. You're going to see it. You've been dealing with it for probably the past two or three weeks, and anything is possible as long as you're here.

"Let's go out and play our best game. It doesn't mean that A is going to lead to B, C and D and that we're going to start to clear out this room. We need to figure out how to get the job done today. That's what we're built to do," Lovullo said.

Diamondbacks' Eugenio Suárez

Though Naylor was the first piece to drop, the D-backs still have their best asset in third baseman Eugenio Suárez.

Lovullo talked about the looming possibility that Suárez will be traded, emphasizing that the ultimate decision is Mike Hazen's, not his.

"I think he's a smart guy. You can't deceive him. ... I think he's a realist and he understands there is a chance that this thing does go in the wrong direction and he does get moved.

"I really genuinely think that he has loved his time here. He's told me that over and over again. He said, please don't trade me,'" Lovullo said. "It's not my decision, but whatever happens, I know that the Diamondbacks are a good team because he's been in this organization.

"If he is moved... there's going to be a great reason why he was moved and it's going to make both parties on both sides get a little bit better," Lovullo continued.

Diamondbacks Injury Updates

Lovullo said left-hander Jalen Beeks (low back tightness) should be the first to make his return, followed by Shelby Miller (forearm strain) and eventually Ryan Thompson (scapular strain).

The manager did not have an exact timeline for any of these arms' return, but said that Beeks is "looking really good."

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