Inside The Pinstripes

Yankees Showing Trade Interest in These Diamondbacks Outfielders

The Yankees have reportedly checked in with the Diamondbacks about their surplus of young outfielders this offseason.

Max Goodman

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With a vacancy in left field, the Yankees are considering all options as the dust settles from an eventful Winter Meetings. 

One way for New York to find a starting left fielder for the 2023 season involves a trade.

Nope, we're not talking about a deal with the Pirates to acquire All-Star Bryan Reynolds. That's certainly on the table, but Pittsburgh isn't obligated to trade their switch-hitting outfielder after he requested to be moved (even with the Yankees "very much" interested in Reynolds).

In this case, New York is showing interest in an outfielder from another National League club. 

The Yankees are one of several teams to check in with the Arizona Diamondbacks on outfielders Daulton Varsho, Alek Thomas and Jake McCarthy, per Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic also reported that New York is "chasing" those three outfielders, adding that Arizona is "likely to trade" one of those aforementioned assets this offseason.

Here's more from Piecoro's report last week:

According to sources, perhaps a third of baseball’s 30 teams have checked in on at least one of the Diamondbacks' outfielders, with two new clubs reaching out for the first time on Tuesday. Sources say the interested teams include the Astros, Athletics, Blue Jays, Brewers, Marlins, Reds, White Sox and Yankees, among others.

As for what the Diamondbacks could get in return, a number of possibilities remain in play. Talks are said to involve players at a variety of positions, with second base, third base, shortstop and catcher looking most likely. The club is focused primarily on right-handed hitters.

It's unclear which of those three outfielders the Yankees inquired about specifically, so here's more information about all three.

Varsho played the most in 2022 of that trio, appearing in 151 games for Arizona. The 26-year-old, who can play both outfield and catcher, hit .235/.302/.443 with 27 home runs, 74 RBI and 16 steals. The former prospect is an intriguing option for New York as a left-handed hitter with power to his pull side (virtually all of Varsho's homers in 2022 were to right field). 

Defensively, Varsho is elite in the outfield. Statcast credited Varsho plus-18 Outs Above Average in 2022, the highest OAA among all qualifying outfielders in baseball. He had plus-19 Defensive Runs Saved in the outfield as well, tied for the second-best mark of any outfielder this season, per FanGraphs. 

With those numbers in mind, New York would have one of the best defensive outfields in the game with Harrison Bader in center and Aaron Judge in right. 

McCarthy had the best offensive numbers of the bunch this year. The 24-year-old slashed .283/.342/.427 over 99 games with the big-league club, stealing 23 bases while scoring 53 runs. Other than his sprint speed—98th percentile—Stastcast says McCarthy was below average across the board, both offensively and defensively. He had a 87.4 average exit velocity, 27.4 whiff rate and barreled the baseball only 4.8 percent of the time.

This was only McCarthy's second taste of big-league action, though, so there's room for improvement. 

Lastly, Thomas was a rookie in 2022, hitting .231/.275/.344 in 113 contests. The lefty doesn't have much thump offensively—he had only 12 barrels in 2022 with a 33.4 percent chase rate—but he's fast on the bases and a strong defender, producing plus-7 OAA and plus-6 DRS in center field. Thomas, 22, was Arizona's No. 2 prospect last year, per MLB Pipeline. Varsho was ranked third, one slot behind Thomas, in 2020. 

In other words, all three of these outfielders fit the mold of what New York is looking for at the position going forward, to a certain extent. They're all athletic, swing from the left side of the plate (bringing balance to a righty-heavy lineup) and have some upside with plenty of team control.

As for what it would take to acquire one of those left-handed hitting outfielders, Piecoro reports that Arizona wants an established big leaguer or MLB-ready asset to serve as an upgrade or plug a hole.

The Yankees are eager to get rid of certain contracts—namely Josh Donaldson and Aaron Hicks—aiming to open up playing time for youngsters on the infield. It's hard to believe the Diamondbacks would be willing to take on either of those two deals, but a young team might benefit from some experienced players in their clubhouse—specifically with Hicks in the outfield as Arizona moves forward with prospects if they do trade away one of these previously mentioned outfielders.

What makes more sense, however, would be a deal involving Gleyber Torres or Isiah Kiner-Falefa. New York nearly traded their second baseman away at this summer's trade deadline and Kiner-Falefa found himself on the bench in the postseason after struggling on defense. The organization is currently planning to hold a competition up the middle during spring training, a shot for prospects Oswald Peraza and Anthony Volpe to secure a full-time role in pinstripes. Moving Torres or Kiner-Falefa would simplify that process.

Arizona could certainly use an upgrade at shortstop. Diamondbacks shortstops hit .211 with a .598 OPS in 2022, the second-worst mark in both categories in baseball. Arizona's shortstops produced minus-9 DRS as well. 

Either way, expect the Yankees to be active in addressing certain aspects of their roster going forward. Re-signing Judge was key, but there's more work to be done.

"There's certainly an intent and interest from our part to find ways to continue to improve this team," Cashman said in an interview with YES Network last week. "We've hit the ground running here at the Winter Meetings. Players are making decisions. Seems like the free agent market is moving, the trade market has been a little quiet. So, I'm sure that will change sooner than later too. No doubt that we have to explore all options that are available to us."

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Max Goodman
MAX GOODMAN

Max Goodman covers the New York Yankees for Sports Illustrated and FanNation. Goodman has been on the Yankees beat for three seasons. He is also the publisher of Sports Illustrated and FanNation's Jets site, Jets Country. Before starting Inside The Pinstripes, Goodman attended Northwestern University and the Medill School of Journalism. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Broadcast Journalism and Master’s Degree in Sports Media, graduating in 2019. At school, Goodman was an anchor and reporter with NNN SportsNight and played on the club baseball team. While at Northwestern, Goodman interned with MLB.com as an associate reporter covering the Miami Marlins. He also interned with ESPN, working as an associate reporter on Mike Greenberg's Get Up. Goodman is from New York City. He grew up in Hell's Kitchen. Follow Goodman on Twitter @MaxTGoodman. You can connect with him via email by reaching out at maxgoodmansports@gmail.com.

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