AquaSox pitcher included in Mariners’ trade package for Josh Naylor
Published 6:53 pm Thursday, July 24, 2025
The Seattle Mariners acquired first baseman Josh Naylor from the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported. Seattle is sending Everett AquaSox pitcher Ashton Izzi as well as former AquaSox pitcher Brandyn Garcia to Arizona in return.
Garcia was the Mariners’ 13th-ranked prospect, while Izzi ranked 16th, according to MLB.
Left-hander Brandyn Garcia and right-hander Ashton Izzi are headed back to the Arizona Diamondbacks from the Seattle Mariners for first baseman Josh Naylor, sources tell ESPN. That's the full trade.
And so begins deadline season. Buckle up.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 25, 2025
“Izzi is a great kid,” AquaSox pitching coach Matt Carasiti said. “I had a great time working with him. I think he’s got a special arm (and) is going to be a big leaguer. Obviously it stinks that it’s not going to be with us, but that’s the business side of things.”
The Mariners selected Izzi, 21, in the fourth round (126th overall) of the 2022 MLB Draft. The righty posted a 5.51 ERA across 47.1 innings in Everett this season after spending the 2023 season in the Arizona Complex League and the 2024 season with Single-A Modesto.
Izzi’s last outing before the trade was arguably his best of the season. Despite Everett losing 2-1 to the Spokane Indians on Tuesday, Izzi allowed three hits and no walks across six shutout innings. He matched his career-high of seven strikeouts, coming out blazing in his first start after 11 days off due in part to the All-Star break.
“Just keep building on it,” Izzi told The Herald after the game on Tuesday. “Keep doing what I did good (sic) this outing (in the) next outing, and get better in the places where I need to improve.”
Turns out, the next outing won’t be with Everett. Barring a promotion upon arrival, Izzi will move a couple of hours south to join Arizona’s High-A affiliate, the Hillsboro Hops. The next time the AquaSox face their Northwest League opponent will be from Aug. 12-17 in Hillsboro.
AquaSox manager Zach Vincej said he called Izzi shortly after the trade to tell him how proud he was of him.
“He’s a great player,” Vincej said. “It hurts to see him go, but at the same time, our job is to try and get players ready to either move up for us — make it to Major Leagues for us — or make them interesting enough to put them in a trade so we can help our big league team, and that’s really what it comes down to.”
Meanwhile, Garcia is on the move just days after his MLB debut with the Mariners, where he allowed four hits and an earned run in one inning during Seattle’s 6-0 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday.
Garcia’s second appearance went smoother just two days later, notching his first strikeout and allowing two walks in a hitless inning during Seattle’s 10-2 loss to Milwaukee. He was optioned to Triple-A Tacoma on Thursday before the trade.
Garcia, who the Mariners selected in the 11th round (337th overall) of the 2023 MLB Draft, spent part of the 2024 season in Everett, where he went 6-0 across 12 starts and 14 total appearances. He posted a 1.84 ERA across 68.1 innings.
