The Diamondbacks know about their outfield depth, and GM Mike Hazen tells Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic that his stock of middle infielders is also attracting interest. Hazen wouldn’t rule out a trade at the end of the meet. It doesn’t sound like Arizona is busy shopping any of its outfield options but instead is listening to strong interest, given the lack of center field options in free agency and elsewhere on the trade market. Diamondbacks fans, in particular, will want to check out Piecoro’s piece for full quotes and insight from Hazen.
There are four snakes Corbin Carroll, Alex Thomas again Jake McCarthy listed as their starting point heading into the 2025 season, with Lourdes Gurriel Jr. mixing in left field again. There may be some rotation for that team in the outfield and DH spots throughout the season. (Gurriel, it should be noted, is not a center fielder and does not appear to be among the players most in question at this point.)
Of the D-backs’ top three players, only Thomas and McCarthy are potential trade candidates. Carroll, the 2023 NL Rookie of the Year, got off to a slow start in 2024 but returned to form as the season progressed, slashing .256/.348/.522 (136 wRC+) over his final 425 plate appearances. He signed an eight-year, $111MM extension after a short but excellent 32-game cup of coffee late in the 2022 season. He is a roommate in Arizona. Other clubs have probably asked the same, but Carroll is not planning.
Thomas and McCarthy, however, sound less likely to be traded. The former has been ranked as one of the best players in the game for years but has yet to establish himself as a viable everyday player in the majors. He is an outfielder and runner when healthy but has only compiled a .226/.271/.359 batting line in 916 trips to the plate in the majors.
Thomas, 24, isn’t striking out at an alarming clip (19.3%) but he also ranks third among 251 major league hitters (minimum 900 plate appearances) with a 57.2% ground ball rate through 2022. That is the tendency of the underdog. reduced what test reports marked as above-average green power. Thomas has hit 18 homers between Double-A and Triple-A the past few seasons, but has only 20 homers in his 916 big league plate appearances. Without lifting the ball regularly, he’s unlikely to hit for much power in the majors. That said, he made a lot of hard contact this past season (average exit velocity of 91.6 mph, 48.6% hard-hitting average). Even if most of that happens on the floor, a player with Thomas’ speed should see a much better batting average than both the .200 he posted in 2024 and the .260 he’s guarded in his career. There’s a lot to like about Thomas, and there are teams in need of a center fielder who are hoping to get a bargain.
McCarthy, 27, is another solid outfielder — perhaps not quite up to the level of a healthy Thomas — who has turned in a .285/.349/.400 slash line in 2024. He hit eight homers, swiped 25 bags (in 31 attempts) and showed strong contact skills (15.8% strikeout rate). He doesn’t have a lot of power but he also doesn’t have glaring platoon splits. McCarthy doesn’t walk as much as one would like for a prototypical leadoff hitter (6.3% in 2024, 7.1% in career), but he makes enough contact and runs well enough to be a table-setter who can handle all three spots on the field. .
Both Thomas and McCarthy have one minor league option remaining and can be controlled for four more seasons, adding to their bid to win now and rebuilding clubs alike. The Royals, Phillies, Pirates, Reds, Mets and Yankees are other teams that could be in the market for outside help this winter (although some of them obviously depend on the outcome of their pursuit of free agents).
Notably, Hazen indicated that any trades from his major league roster would be made with an eye toward improving another position for the MLB team. The D-backs might lose Christian Walker in free agency, for example, to leave a potential vacancy at the beginning. Hazen has already made it public that he hopes to add another shortstop/closer, though Piecoro made it clear that the D-backs can’t afford to move the multi-year, controllable outfielder in an outright trade.
Fans may speculate on the potential to effectively buy out someone like Thomas or McCarthy for some or all of the remaining $22.5MM. Jordan Montgomery‘s contract. That seems highly unlikely. Four years of Thomas or McCarthy would certainly be worth more than the $22.5MM left on that contract, and even Montgomery himself would probably still command a few million dollars in free agency. Picking up his contract would likely be worth $15MM in underwater money, and that amount isn’t enough to convince a team to part with a major league outfielder.
Source link
