Diamondbacks Acquire Infielder Jace Peterson from Athletics

Arizona expects Peterson to fill in the role vacated when Josh Rojas was traded earlier in the day.

The Diamondbacks continue to make trades as we get down to the final hours ahead of tomorrow's 4pm ET trade deadline. Earlier today, they traded for Seattle closer Paul Sewald. Now they have made a move to address their bench, as they've acquired infielder Jace Peterson from the Oakland Athletics in exchange for right-handed pitcher Chad Patrick. Oakland will also send cash considerations, that will pay down some of Peterson's $5 million salary for the 2024 season. 

"Obviously with the previous trade, we opened up a little bit of a hole in that area on our team" said D-backs general manager Mike Hazen. "We've had interest in him in the past, we had interest this off-season. We like the player, we like the fit on our team."

Peterson, 33, has hit .221 with six home runs and a .637 OPS on the season after signing a two-year, $9.5 million free agent deal with Oakland back in December. While his .637 OPS is below his career average of .660, when adjusting for the ballpark his OPS+ of 84 is right in line with his career average of 83. He slots in as both the left-handed half of the platoon at third base with Emmanuel Rivera and Evan Longoria with the occasional start at second when Ketel Marte needs a day off or  is the DH. That was the role previously held by Josh Rojas before he was dealt to Seattle as part of the Sewald deal.

"That's where we see the fit" said Hazen. "It's a fairly straight line around what [Rojas] was doing for us. I'm guessing the majority of his at-bats are going to be against righties, it'll split off some from Longo and Manny and then backup Ketel, etc."

Patrick, 24, was a fourth round selection out of Purdue Northwest. Touted mainly as a strike thrower, he has quickly worked his way into Double-A Amarillo in his second year in the system. In 19 starts with Amarillo, he's 4-7 with a 4.71 ERA with 90 strikeouts and 36 walks in 91 2/3 innings. He features a low 90s fastball, curveball, slider, and a changeup in his arsenal.

With the closer and a bench bat acquired, the next area the organization could look to add is more certainty to a starting rotation that has dealt with its fair share of injuries and disappointments. Hazen says they are looking to find more bats and arms to improve the roster in the final 18 hours before the deadline.