The defending National League champions were among the most aggressive teams early in the offseason. They acquired Eugenio Suárez to address third base and fortified the rotation via a four-year, $80MM contract with Eduardo Rodríguez. Just before Christmas, they reunited with left fielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. on a three-year, $42MM guarantee.
Arizona hasn’t made a major league addition since finalizing their new contract with Gurriel a month ago. They’re not done, however. GM Mike Hazen has said a few times the Snakes are looking for a hitter they can plug in at the DH spot. He reiterated that in a chat with Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic not long after the new year, suggesting at the time they felt they were likelier to add another bat in free agency than through trade. While Arizona was focused primarily on right-handed hitters early in the winter, their deals with Suárez and Gurriel have balanced the lineup. Hazen indicated they’re considering DH options of either handedness at this point.
A few of their reported targets remain on the market. Some potential fits:
Right-Handed Free Agents
- J.D. Martinez: Martinez, who mashed in a two-month stint for Arizona at the end of the 2017 season, remains one of the more productive hitters in the majors. He’s coming off perhaps his best year since 2019. He blasted 33 home runs in only 479 plate appearances for the Dodgers a season ago. His .271/.321/.572 batting line was stellar and he turned in his highest hard contact rate (54.8%) of the Statcast era. The huge power production partially masks an uptick in whiffs, as he struck out at a career-high 31.1% clip. That’s a bit alarming, but teams would happily live with the strikeouts if they anticipate Martinez hitting for that kind of power again. Arizona was tied to Martinez, who did not receive a qualifying offer from L.A., in early December. The Blue Jays, Angels and Mets have also been tied to his market.
- Jorge Soler: Soler, 32 next month, drilled 36 homers for the Marlins a season ago. His .250/.341/.512 showing was a huge improvement on the .207/.295/.400 mark he turned in during his first year in Miami. Soler made the easy call to decline a $13MM player option in search of a multi-year pact. The Marlins decided not to issue a QO and, according to the slugger, haven’t shown any interest in a reunion. While Soler is one of the sport’s streakiest hitters, he’s near the top of the league in raw power. He draws plenty of walks and trimmed his strikeouts to a managable 24.3% clip last season. Soler should find at least two guaranteed years and has an argument for a three-year pact. Arizona checked in on his market in early December. They’ve been joined by the Blue Jays, Red Sox and Mariners in that regard (although Seattle is probably out of the mix after signing Mitch Garver and reacquiring Mitch Haniger).
- Justin Turner: Arizona has been linked to Turner in consecutive offseasons. Even at 39, he continues to produce at the plate. He’s coming off a .276/.345/.455 showing with 23 longballs in 626 trips to the dish for the Red Sox. His is a balanced offensive profile. He walks at an average rate, makes a decent amount of hard contact and remains very difficult to strike out (17.6% strikeout percentage last year). Turner is no longer capable of playing every day at third base, but he can factor in at either corner infield spot while logging the bulk of his at-bats at DH. Toronto, the incumbent Red Sox, and Mets have also been linked to him this winter.
- Rhys Hoskins: Hoskins is the only player in this group to whom the D-Backs haven’t been connected. Perhaps he’s simply not interested in signing as a full-time designated hitter. With Christian Walker at first base, the Snakes would have to push Hoskins into a bat-only role on most days. If he’s open to that possibility, Hoskins makes sense as one of the more consistent offensive players still on the market. The longtime Phillie missed last year after tearing his ACL in Spring Training. Between 2019-22, he hit .240/.349/.479 in more than 2000 trips to the plate. Philadelphia did not issue him a qualifying offer.
Left-Handed Platoon Bats
- Brandon Belt: While Arizona hasn’t been tied to Belt this offseason, that’s true of essentially everyone. There haven’t been any public revelations on his market despite his strong 2023 season in a platoon capacity for the Blue Jays. The longtime Giant hit .254/.369/.490 with 19 homers through 404 plate appearances. That came almost entirely against right-handed pitching, but he’s still a productive three-true-outcomes hitter when he holds the platoon advantage.
- Joc Pederson: Last year wasn’t a great showing for Pederson, who hit .235/.348/.416 with 15 homers across 425 trips for the Giants. That’s not what San Francisco envisioned when extending him a near-$20MM qualifying offer last winter. Pederson won’t come close to that kind of salary this time around. Still, he’s only a year removed from a .274/.353/.521 line. Pederson continues to post hard contact rates near the top of the league and has five 20-homer seasons on his résumé.
Trade Possibilities
While Hazen indicated a free agent pursuit was likelier than a trade, they’re not going to close off the latter market entirely. If they don’t find an agreeable price point with any of their targets on the open market, there are a few speculative possibilities on the trade front.
- Eloy Jiménez: Jiménez is a right-handed hitter who has flashed 30-homer power upside. His career has been interrupted by frequent injuries, including extended absences in 2021 and ’22 (for a ruptured pectoral tendon and a hamstring tendon tear, respectively). Last year was only the second time in his career that he surpassed 100 games. It was also among his least productive seasons, as he hit .272/.317/.441 with 18 homers through 489 plate appearances. Jiménez will make $13MM next year and is guaranteed a $3MM buyout on the first of two club options for 2025-26. The Sox reportedly haven’t found much interest on the trade market as a result.
- Harold Ramírez: The Rays have floated Ramírez in trade discussions as a potential sell-high candidate. The 29-year-old had an impressive .313/.353/.460 showing last year. He’s up to a .306/.348/.432 slash in nearly 900 plate appearances since Tampa Bay acquired him on the eve of the 2022 season. That production is built around a batting average on balls in play above .350 as opposed to prototypical DH power. While that and an aggressive offensive approach could give some teams pause, he’s a high-contact righty hitter with gap power and the ability to take the ball to all fields. Ramírez is on track to go to an arbitration hearing with Tampa Bay to determine his 2024 salary. He filed at $4.3MM, while the team countered at $3.8MM. He’ll be eligible for arbitration once more after that.
- Brent Rooker: Rooker, 29, turned in a career year for the A’s. Claimed off waivers from Kansas City last offseason, he popped 30 homers with a .246/.329/.488 showing in 526 plate appearances. The right-handed hitter posted excellent numbers against southpaws (.279/.354/.519) and acceptable production versus same-handed arms (.230/.316/.472). He struck out in nearly a third of his trips but tapped into the huge raw power that made him the 35th overall pick in the 2017 draft. Rooker is still a year from arbitration and under club control for four seasons. The A’s don’t have any urgency to trade him, but they probably wouldn’t consider him a core piece of their long-term rebuild given his age and defensive limitations.
J.D. Martinez in the Desert again would be awesome, but I see a trade for Brent Rooker or Harold Ramirez as more likely.
Of course the Padres aren’t in the conversation for any of these players. #Padrespunting2024
Players won’t accept those old S&H greenstamps or foodstamps for payment. Padres are broke.
“Padres are broke”…I’ve criticized the recent Padres team spending methodology as much as anyone, but they most certainly are not “broke”. How can a team that PACKS the stadium daily and is owned by SEVERAL billionaires be “broke”?…The Pads cash flow is affected greatly by the RSN mess, but again, they are hardly “broke”.
Proof will be in the pudding so to speak.
Don’t think they are broke but they are certainly passing on reasonable deals that won’t break the bank.
Why pass on an affordable Hunter Renfroe?
Weren’t they targeting Turner a few months ago? Where did that go?
Is every rumor posted on this site concretely true? If not, then your assumption that the Dbacks backed away from a serious pursuit of Turner is dead wrong.
That was before the Snakes traded for Suarez. I don’t think they thought Turner could man third but they probably had a higher value on him as a guy who could on a pinch.
If Arizona signs Martinez, that team will be scary good. I already think they have improved the most out of any team this offseason and Martinez would just push them that much further.
The Snakes have put themselves in a good position to win again
They are looking good. Had a good team last year and they clearly have improved. The last piece they need is the easiest thing to find in this year’s market a right handed hitting DH type player. Hard not to like what they have done between last years trade deadline and now.
How About Carlos Santana Plus He Could Help Walker At 1st, Switch Hitter With Pop
Santana is a good 1B option but not a DH. A decent amount of his value comes from his great defense. He was only a slightly above league average batter last season.
Carlos Santana would be “so smooth”
Whichever fits Hazen’s low budget. I bet they’ll go in-house. They blew their wad on Rodriquez. Can Bumgarner hit? He’s still on the payroll.
Dbacks will have their highest total payroll ever in 2024. Your comment is ludicrously antiquated.
“Ludicrously antiquated”…When the Saber nerds don’t have a strong point or really much to say at all, they just suggest that the ownership of teams is cheap.
mlb fan, what about scottaz’s comment makes you think he’s a “Saber nerd?”
Also, what’s a “Saber nerd?” Is that what you say when you don’t have a strong point or really much to say at all?
Shouldn’t Adam Duvall be in the conversation? Is he not a viable major league hitter anymore?
Duvall is very very streaky, and while dh-only would help with his health/durability problems, he’s a dead spot in the lineup for the majority of the season until he gets hot.
Best look elsewhere for more dependable/consistent production
Why do they need a professional DH? Why not get the fans involved and let one lucky fan suit up for the game as the DH? Give them a half-hour in the cage against 100MPH pitches and should be good to go.
You’ve been auditioning for a MLB roster spot since 1976. Give it up. You’re too Old York!
@scottaz
I’m still mashin’ HRs in the beer league. 80 HRs last year, broke my friend, Rabe Buth’s record. I could at least mash
@davey gee
Relax, Davey. What’s wrong with my idea? How is it trolling? I am a brainstomer not a follower.
Since Hazen re-signed Gurriel as the regular in LF, and recognizing that Gurriel needs some 1/2 days off as DH like he did last year, I think Hazen would now prefer a lefthanded hitting corner OF/DH. The only one of these on this list is Joc Peterson, so I’m leaning in that direction.
Way beyond the D’back budget.
Many Dbacks fans are enamored with J.D. Martinez ever since he had a fantastic 2 month run with us 7 seasons ago. Unfortunately, age has caught up with him and J.D. is now the highest risk for being a bust of any of the listed FA. Couple that with J.D. being potentially the most expensive FA on this list, and the Dbacks will avoid a potentially bad contract with him and look elsewhere.
What makes you think age has caught up with him? Certainly not his production last year!
Agreed, Martinez is still raking at a high level. Even in 2022, his down year, the dude hit 40 plus doubles.
The only 4 realistic targets on this list for the Dbacks are Joc Peterson or Jorge Soler as FA, and Ramirez or Rooker in trades.
The others are basically best suited for non-contending teams like the Red Sox and Giants.
Pretty sure the Giants plan on contending in 2024.
Being on the older side, the strike out percentages (what’s too much, what’s great bat control) fascinate me. In 1982 Dave Righetti led the American League in in k’s per 9 innings–with 8.016. He faced 804 batters, struck out 163–or 20,3%.
“Kyler Murray would be a perfect fit”…Murray can’t even run a passing offense and you want the Dbacks to sign him for baseball?
If a guy wants to be a dual sport guy, and baseball is one of those sports, he can’t stay away from baseball for several years. Michael Jordan tried jumping back into playing baseball, and even he couldn’t do it. Maybe Jordan is just one guy, but Tim Tebow failed at it as well. I can’t think of a single example of anyone succeeding doing that.
He plays baseball for whom? If he is it isn’t at a very advanced level. According to BB Ref, he never played any MiL ball, and he last played in college in 2018.
Actually I did find one successful example, Deion Sanders. But I doubt Murray’s tools are as good as Deion’s. Plus Deion’s first professional season would have been 1986, had he played. He played almost 2 MiL seasons in 1988 and ’89, sitting out almost 2 years. Murray has been away from baseball for 5 years. His prospects for success are extremely low.
Brian Jordan.
Brian Jordan isn’t comparable. He went directly from college to the MiLs with no years off, and spent over 4 seasons there.. Murray hasn’t played baseball at any kind of professional level for 5 years, and has never played a single game in the MiLs.
davey gee, What Murray did 5 years ago at Oklahoma is irrelevant. No one can, or would, expect him to simply pick up where he left off years ago. Josh Rojas also hit .300, with a .400 OBP in college, and he didn’t take 5 years off.
Played 6 years and a total of 197 games until he was a full time MLB player. 1988-1993. That’s just under 33 games per season on-average.
Deion played 182 games between 1988-1991, average of just above 45 games in MILB and wound up playing 114 MLB games from 1989-1991. Combined 296 games in 4 seasons for Deion.
My Brian Jordan reference easily better than Deion.
It took Jordan longer than expected because of his commitment to the Falcons. Really could have had an even better career had he stuck with baseball.
its_happening, I wasn’t comparing Jordan to Deion. Doing that makes no sense. I was comparing Deion to Murray, for a simple reason. Deion is the only guy to not play for a couple years and have a successful career.
How Jordan compares to Deion is irrelevant. Jordan is not comparable to either one, because there was no break in his professional development like with Murray and Deion.
While Jordan was playing MiL ball while with the Falcons, Murray hasn’t been playing any professional ball at all, and for 5 years at that.
davey gee, Neither Brian Jordan, nor Bo Jackson are comparable, because both played MiL ball straight out of college while they were playing football. They played every season until they were promoted to the MLs.
Deion is the only guy to not play any professional ball for a couple seasons before going back to the game. So far Deion is the only guy to do that and have a successful career. It is absolutely not like riding a bike. And Kyler Murray is no Deion Sanders.
davey gee, So your just jerking my chain right? That’s the only explanation for the nonsense.
We already know you weren’t. It was a comparison to Murray. Nobody is arguing Jordan vs Deion except you. All I did was point out a better comparison to Kyler.
Jordan and Deion had the same thing going from college to pro ball. But thank you for playing.
You’re an idiot.
They could trade for Patrick Wisdom from the Cubs for a Bullpen guy. Wisdom isn’t an everyday player, but could also fill in at 3rd and 1st.
Although not likely, I’m rooting for the “Hispanic Titanic” to win the spot out of spring.
D’backs are still looking for a backup first baseman for Walker, the only ones that fit that bill are Turner, Hoskins, or Belt. I still think it will be Martinez as first choice though, he did not sign with LA until about a week before having to report for ST last year.
desertdawg. Why do the Dbacks need a backup first baseman for Walker?
Last year Walker played in 157 out of 162 Regular Season games! The year before he played in 160 out of 162 games! How much money would you propose the Dbacks pay to find a backup 1b to start 7 games in two years?
Has anyone mentioned Austin Meadows? If he can play, he’d be a decent pickup. I doubt he can get a major league deal, but someone should offer him a minor league deal and invite to ST.
I actually think they should trade for Paul Goldschmidt. I know this is out of left field but what a home coming it would be. Only one year left on his deal and I bet he would happily go to AZ for a chance to win now. He and walker can split time at first / DH and the Cards could help out their farm system.
Hoskins is an interesting free agent. Career OPS+ of 125. Only 29.
Technically capable of playing first or left but you really don’t want him out there.
He’s a really good option to Soler.
Another option is Yuli Gurriel. Can back up Walker and he’d be reuniting with his brother…