Mike Hazen In Pursuit of a Right Hand Outfield Bat

Who are some of his options on the free agent market?

During Diamondbacks' GM Mike Hazen's ZOOM media session last night he made clear that he is going to pursue a right handed outfield bat this off season. At the same time the team just designated for assignment two such players, removing them from the 40-Man roster, Jordan Luplow and Stone Garrett. 

Part of that decision had to do with the roster crunch the team had whereby they needed to protect several minor leaguers from the Rule 5 Draft. But an equally large part had to do with disappointment over the season that Luplow had, which Hazen made clear in his press conference last night.  While he pointed out the good start that Stone Garrett had, left unsaid had to be concerns about his swing and miss proclivity, as evidenced by the fact that he got squeezed off the roster. Garrett struck out 21 times over his final 51 PA. He may clear waivers and remain in the organization, but there is a good chance some team will grab him.  

Since Hazen said clearly in the video up top that the left handed outfielders will get the majority of the playing time, here then is the criteria that Hazen must be looking for. We are just looking at free agent targets today, as potential trade targets need to be viewed separately.  

• The player must be willing to accept a part time platoon role, meaning 200-300 planned plate appearances

• He must be someone the team projects to hit better than Luplow, and be effective against left hand pitching. 

• He must be affordable. The team is not likely to pay top dollar for a part time player

This would seemingly rule out free agents such as AJ Pollock, who Michael McDermott profiled last week, Mitch Haniger, or Wil Myers. All of these players will be looking for a full time role, and will command salary in excess of $10 million, which is likely more than the Diamondbacks are looking to spend on this roster spot. (Luplow made $1.4 million last year and was only likely to get between $2-2.5 million in arbitration this year)

Four Players Who Might Fit the Bill 

Andrew McCutchen will be 36 next season. After crushing lefties his entire career to the tune of a .300 batting average and .936 OPS, last year was a down year against southpaws, hitting just .221/.303/.435. But Mike Hazen may be willing to bet on a rebound. McCutchen would also provide the type of veteran leadership the team covets. The Phillies decided to pay a $3 million buyout option rather than pay him $8.5 million to keep him. So presumably he might be available for less than $8.5, perhaps putting him in the D-backs price range. 

Adam Duvall is a 34 year old free agent slugger. He had season ending wrist surgery July 25th to repair a torn sheath tendon in his left wrist. Prior to that he was having a down season, batting just .213/.276/.401, .677 OPS, or 87 OPS+ with 12 homers and 36 RBI in 86 games, 315 PA. 

Those factors may depress his price tag into the D-backs range, and he may have no choice but to accept a part time role initially on a "make good" contract.  Duvall hit 38 homers in 2021, the third time he's crossed the 30 homer threshold. When healthy he is a proven source of power, but is often challenged to keep his on base percentage above .300, (career .289)

Tommy Pham is going to be 35 next year and is also coming off a down year, having hit just .236/.312/.374, .686 OPS 87 OPS+. He did play a full season though getting 622 PA and hit 17 homer with 63 RBI. However last year  against left hand pitching he hit .274 with a .784 OPS, not far off his career line of .276 and .843. Given his age and rough season last year Pham may be a player that is available late in the off season for the taking.

Chad Pinder has a good split against left handed pitching in his career, batting .264/.322/.456, .727 OPS and 31 HR in 689 plate appearances. Keep in mind that his home park in Oakland is a good park for pitchers and poor park for hitters. He's been roughly 14% better than league average against lefties, (114 wRC+). Pinder is likely to be a low cost option, having never made more than $2.3 million in arbitration. It's not clear he would be an upgrade over Luplow though. 

Beyond these options, the list of right handed hitting outfield options on the free agent market that have the potential to be an upgrade over Luplow or Garrett is somewhat limited. 

We'll take a look at potential trade targets tomorrow.