Arizona Diamondbacks Land Former Piece of Matt Olson Deal

Jason Burke | Dec 24, 2024

Apr 22, 2022; Oakland, California, USA; Oakland Athletics center fielder Cristian Pache (20) fields a fly ball during the fourth inning against the Texas Rangers at RingCentral Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Neville E. Guard-Imagn Images / Neville E. Guard-Imagn Images

The Arizona Diamondbacks are taking a chance on a once-promising outfield prospect that was consistently a top-100 prospect from 2019 to 2021, ranking as highly as No. 7 in '21, according to Baseball America.

He was also a big part of the return the Oakland Athletics received from the Atlanta Braves in the Matt Olson deal. We're talking of course about 26-year-old outfielder Cristian Pache.

In between the 2021 and '22 seasons, Pache fell in the prospect rankings, going from inside the top-20 across the three big ranking systems (MLB, Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus), to No. 71 with Prospectus and No. 84 with Baseball America. He was also left off MLB's top-100 list ahead of the 2022 campaign.

It was at that point in time that the A's acquired him, and he became the team's primary centerfielder for much of the season, getting into 91 games with the team while batting .166 with a .218 OBP and three home runs.

While his offensive numbers lagged, his defense at a premium position was among the best in the league. Pache ranked in the 94th percentile with +7 Outs Above Average and the 92nd percentile in arm strength.

The following spring he was out of options entering camp, and manager Mark Kotsay and the A's wanted to see him draw more walks. Apparently he didn't do enough, as he was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies at the end of camp after not making the roster.

In fairness to the A's, they made the right choice in that regard, as the last player added to the 26-man in 2023 was Brent Rooker, who at that point was a waiver claim looking to make a name for himself in the big leagues. He went on to become an All Star in 2023, and an All Star snub in 2024, though he did end up taking home a Silver Slugger award at the end of the year.

Since leaving Oakland, Pache has been used primarily against left-handers, who he hit .314 against in 57 plate appearances in 2023, and just .207 against in 130 plate appearances in 2024 while bouncing around from Philadelphia to Baltimore to Miami.

Pache will be a non-roster invitee to D-Backs camp, meaning that he doesn't have a spot on the 40-man roster, but he will be a part of big-league camp. With Corbin Carroll, Jake McCarthy, and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. in the mix in the outfield, along with Alek Thomas, it's going to be tough for Pache to make the roster out of camp, barring an injury.

That said, if he can hit just a little bit, he still has plenty of tools to be a competent big leaguer, so he'll continue to receive chances to turn things around. For a team that plays on the margins at times, this is one of those deals that you look at and think "if this pans out..."

Pache still has that former top prospect pedigree, and if he shows some progress with the bat in the minors, he could receive a look in Arizona.