The Diamondbacks officially announced today that Nationals special assistant Deric Ladnier has been hired as their new scouting director (Jon Heyman of CBS Sports previously reported that the move was likely). The 50-year-old Ladnier has worked in scouting and player development for 24 and was the Royals’ scouting director from 2000-08, during which time Kansas City drafted Zack Greinke, Alex Gordon, Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, Greg Holland, Billy Butler, Danny Duffy and Jarrod Dyson.
Some more D-Backs notes on a day that saw them complete a significant three-team trade…
- The Diamondbacks will not trade Mark Trumbo, GM Dave Stewart plainly told reporters, including FOX Sports Arizona’s Jack Magruder today (Twitter link). Though some have speculated that the Yasmany Tomas signing opens the door for such a move (myself included), it appears the D-Backs are in no rush to sell low on Trumbo after a down season in 2014. Stewart added that the D-Backs are still looking for a left-handed power bat to sandwich between Trumbo and Paul Goldschmidt in the team’s cleanup spot.
- One reason that the D-Backs feel they can keep Trumbo around without creating a logjam, manager Chip Hale told Magruder, is that their plan is to try Tomas out as a third baseman (Twitter link). While that may be alarming to many, Tomas has experience playing third base in Cuba and worked out for clubs at the position as well.
- The Reds, who are known to be seeking a left fielder, are interested in the Diamondbacks’ group of outfielders, tweets Jon Morosi of FOX Sports. Former D-Backs GM Kevin Towers is now in Cincinnati’s front office Morosi notes, and David Peralta’s name is one that has been mentioned internally. While it’s highly early for this type of speculation, a trade of Peralta to Cincinnati would allow the Snakes to play Tomas and Trumbo in the outfield corners, though that could have serious defensive downside, even with the excellent A.J. Pollock in center field. Peralta had a somewhat surprisingly strong rookie campaign despite the fact that he turned 27 years old in August. The D-Backs plucked him out of independent ball in 2013, and he batted .286/.320/.450 in 348 plate appearances in 2014.
