MLB’s dot com believes Bo Naylor will be the Cleveland Guardians best rookie in 2023

The folks at MLB.com believe that Bo Naylor will be big-league-ready in 2023.

The Cleveland Guardians need help at catcher and prospect Bo Naylor is someone everyone is very high on at the moment. The younger brother of current Guardians player Josh Naylor, Bo is someone who can be both an offensive force at the plate and a defensive dynamo behind it. He’s a truly impressive prospect but he’s far from ready.

The 22-year-old has been inconsistent offensively in the minors the last few years and if we know anything, it’s that prospects who struggle in the minors will not succeed in the majors. Naylor had an awful 2021 in Double-A Akron and started to turn things around in 2022 with the Rubber Ducks. Then he got called up to Triple-A Columbus and his stats took a big hit.

He strikes out at the same pace that Nolan Jones did, and Jones got traded due to that issue. So the idea that Naylor is going to be ready in 2023 to catch for the Guardians is pretty much a pipe dream. I think he’ll be ready in 2024, assuming he can cut down on the strikeouts but rushing him next season isn’t doing him or the club any favors.

Yet, MLB.com believe he’s the team’s best option for Rookie of the Year in 2023.

Bo Naylor likely won’t be ready in 2023 for the Cleveland Guardians

The team needs a new catcher and Sean Murphy of the Oakland Athletics has been brought up a time or two by fans as a potential trade target. Murphy is under team control for the next three years, which would in theory interfere with Naylor’s arrival.

Since Naylor won’t likely be ready in 2023, the Guardians will need to do something, and possibly getting a veteran catcher for a year in free agency may be the way to go. The team parted ways with Austin Hedges, so he won’t likely be back.

Could a reunion with Roberto Perez be in play? Maybe, but unlikely.

Regardless, the Guardians need to fill that position before spring training, and just asking a 22-year-old prospect, whose inconsistent at the moment, to be more ready than he is will be a disastrous outcome.

The Guards can’t afford to rush Naylor and turn him into another Jones or Bradley Zimmer type. Let him develop at a natural pace and then call him up.