There will be no “Naylors only” party in Cleveland, but the family of Guardians brothers Josh and Bo still has plenty to celebrate. Youngest sibling Myles, a 6-foot-2, 195-pound infielder from Mississauga, Ontario, was selected Sunday by Oakland with the 39th overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft.
Myles becomes the third Naylor brother from the Canadian family selected before the second round of the draft. Josh was the No. 12 overall pick of Miami in 2015 and Bo was taken by Cleveland with the 29th pick in 2018. Myles Naylor was taken with the final pick of the Competitive Balance Round A portion of the draft.
But Myles will not be completely alone when he joins the Oakland farm system. His cousin, Denzel Clarke, was taken by the Athletics in the fourth round of last year’s draft, and is currently playing for the Double-A Midland RockHounds in the Texas League.
The top Canadian prospect in the draft, Oakland selected Myles well ahead of where many scouts projected he would go. The Naylors join the Drews (Tim, J.D. and Stephen) as just the second family with three brothers each drafted before the second round.
Bo Naylor said after experiencing the MLB Draft through Josh’s journey eight years ago, and his own selection just three years later, it is crazy to think his family is seeing a third big league dream realized.
“We’re just trying to make this day as special as possible, given any opportunity that’s granted,” Bo Naylor said. “It’s something to be excited for.”
A Texas Tech commit, Myles Naylor played his prep ball at St. Joan of Arc High School in Maple, Ontario, just like his big brothers. MLB Pipeline ranked Myles Naylor as the 64th overall prospect entering the draft. His highest tools projected his power, arm and fielding at 55s on an 80 scale. The slot value for being taken 39th overall is approximately $2.2 million, according to MLB.com.
Greg Hamilton, manager of the Canadian Junior National Baseball team, has coached all three Naylor brothers as part of the Baseball Canada program. Hamilton said he sees qualities of both Bo and Josh in Myles, but believes the youngest Naylor merits consideration based on his own talents and his own character.
“Myles can stand in his own in terms of his abilities in the game, his talent in the game,” Hamilton said. “He is kind of a little bit of a hybrid of both the other brothers and his personality would stand out a little bit individually as well.”
Josh Naylor said watching Myles go through the draft process has been a source of pride.
“We’ve seen all his hard work pay off, seeing everything he went through as an amateur, all the tough days, the rough kind of tournaments or games or whatever the case, and then all the good days, all the good tournaments, all the good events that he’s done and just to get to this point in his life,” Josh said. “It’s awesome. It’s a cool moment. It’s a moment I feel like he deserves.”
Bo Naylor said the brothers are going out of their way to make Myles’ day special for him in order to recognize all of the hard work he put in to reach this point.
“He’s doing an incredible job just really making this his own,” Bo said. “As easy as it is to compare this with the past two, this is one experience in its own. It’s his, and we’re just trying to make that day super special and unique for him.”