Diamondbacks Set High Price for Young Outfielders

Despite strong interest, trades not easy to come by.

As most of the top free agent outfielders have found new homes this off-season, attention has turned to the trade market as teams try to improve their rosters. The Diamondbacks, thanks to their surplus of young and controllable outfielders, are a major player in this market. Between three successful drafts, they have five left-handed hitting outfielders on their 40-man roster. As a result, teams have called Arizona about the availability of their outfielders in a potential trade.

The D-backs have already told other teams that Corbin Carroll, their top prospect, is off limits. On the other outfielders, Arizona is willing to listen and have set a high price on each of them. Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported that when the Mets called about acquiring Alek Thomas, that Arizona asked for Brett Baty to be included in the deal. The Mets balked at the offer and elected to re-sign outfielder Brandon Nimmo to an eight-year, $162 million contract instead.

Thomas entered the season as the 32nd and 18th ranked prospect on Baseball America's and MLB Pipeline's Top 100 prospects list. After debuting on May 8th, his first 40 games seemed to justify his ranking. He hit .275/.338/.451, .788 OPS with seven doubles and six homers in 144 at bats. But he struggled to make the counter adjustment to MLB pitching once they got the book on him. Over the next three months, 254 PA, he hit just .205/.236/.280, and spent the final two weeks of the season in Triple-A Reno. In 96 games with Arizona, Thomas' final line was .231/.275/.344 (71 wRC+) with 8 home runs and 4 stolen bases on the way to a 1.4/0.5 bWAR/fWAR season. 

Baty, who was the 39th and 27th ranked prospect by Baseball America and MLB Pipeline entering 2022, spent most the year with the Mets' Double-A affiliate in Binghamton, where he hit .312/.406/.544 with 19 home runs in 89 games. After a week with Triple-A Syracuse, Baty was promoted to the big leagues. After just 11 games, Baty tore the ulnar collateral ligament in his right thumb and required surgery.

The dormant trade market is finally waking up.
The Houston #Astros and Arizona #Dbacks have engaged in trade talks about Dbacks outfielder Daulton Varsho. The asking price remains steep.

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) December 12, 2022

The Astros inquired about trading for Daulton Varsho, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, but nothing of note happened in the discussions. The Yankees also reportedly prefer Varsho over Thomas in a potential trade with the D-backs. Varsho is coming off a pretty solid 2022 campaign in which he hit .235/.302/.443 with 27 home runs, 16 stolen bases, 106 wRC+, and a Gold Glove finalist in both right field and as a utility player. His total contributions on offense added up to a 4.9/4.6 bWAR/fWAR season. With four years of control left and the longest track record of solid production at the plate, Varsho is likely the most sought after outfielder on the D-backs. 

In addition to the Mets and Astros, the teams that called Arizona about their outfielders include the Yankees, Astros, Brewers, Blue Jays, Athletics, Marlins, White Sox, and Reds. The Blue Jays are another team that elected to find their center field solution in the free agent market as opposed to a trade when they signed the oft-injured Kevin Kiermaier.

Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic wrote in a column last week that Arizona is targeting a variety of positions that includes second base, third, shortstop, and catcher most likely and the team is searching for right-handed bats. That is consistent with the players they've been linked to as free agent targets, with Evan Longoria and Justin Turner coming up at different points this off-season.

While it still seems highly likely that the team will make a trade at some point, it's clear that matching up is not that easy. Mike Hazen even acknowledged recently that other teams don't necessarily rank the D-backs outfielders in the same order as they do. In any case, a trade could happen tomorrow, or we might not see one at all if they can't find the right match. Hazen emphasized at the end of the winter meetings that they don't NEED to make a trade, but are going to explore every possibility to make the team better.