The Diamondbacks remain on the fringes of the NL postseason picture, sitting five and a half games out in the Wild Card chase. General manager Mike Hazen has said he hopes the team performs well enough to position itself as a late buyer, but the GM has also at least been listening to offers on some of his outfielders, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports. That does not include star Corbin Carroll, unsurprisingly, but Heyman suggests names like Alek Thomas, Jake McCarthy, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Randal Grichuk have likely been discussed.
Of the four outfielders, Grichuk is the most obvious trade candidate. He’s playing the 2025 season on a one-year, $5MM contract. He’ll unlock a $250K bonus when he reaches his 200th plate appearance — he’s currently at 174 — and another $250K if he reaches 275 plate appearances.
Grichuk’s contract is structured such that Grichuk is owed a $2MM salary and a $3MM buyout on a $5MM mutual option for next year. That makes him a bit more expensive for the rest of the season than a standard one-year, $5MM contract would imply; he’d have about $634K in salary remaining at the time of the trade deadline but also that $3MM buyout and some potential incentive pay. Of course, the D-backs could make a trade more appealing by including cash to offset some of that backloaded 2025 salary.
The 2025 season hasn’t been Grichuk’s best, but he’s still hitting for power. The 33-year-old is batting .242/.282/.466 with seven homers, 13 doubles and a triple in his 174 trips to the plate. His 5.7% walk rate is right in line with his career mark. His 21.6% strikeout rate is down from his career level of about 25% but noticeably higher than the personal-best 16.5% clip he turned in last year in a more productive season with the Snakes.
Gurriel, 31, is a tougher sell from a trade standpoint. He’s being paid $14MM this season and is guaranteed $13MM in 2026 plus at least a $5MM buyout on a $14MM club option for the 2027 season. His .251/.299/.421 batting line (98 wRC+) already represents a down year, and any team to acquire him would know Gurriel will either opt into the remaining $18MM he’s guaranteed beyond the current season or go on a second-half tear and opt out. It’s not an appealing structure, and the Diamondbacks would probably need to eat a significant portion of the remaining money he’s owed to facilitate a trade.
Thomas and McCarthy are both controllable lefty-swinging outfielders, but neither is having a good season at the plate. Thomas, once touted as one of the top outfield prospects in baseball, has yet to hit in parts of four major league seasons. He’s an above-average runner and strong defensive center fielder, but this year’s .245/.295/.366 batting line (84 wRC+) is actually the best of the 25-year-old’s young career. He’s a lifetime .230/.276/.360 hitter in just under 1200 big league plate appearances.
McCarthy, on the other hand, has had plenty of big league success at the plate — just not in 2025. He hit .283/.342/.427 in 99 games back in 2022 (116 wRC+) and slashed .285/.349/.400 (110 wRC+) as recently as last season. He had a down year in 2023, however, and the 27-year-old has struggled to a career-worst .144/.228/.244 line (33 wRC+) in 102 trips to the plate this season.
That’s a relatively small sample, of course, and McCarthy has had some demonstrably poor luck. He’s hitting just .151 on balls in play — less than half the .328 career mark he carried into the season and some 130 points lower than the league average. McCarthy isn’t hitting the ball hard at all (83.9 mph average exit velocity, 23.7% hard-hit rate), but he also had poor batted-ball metrics even in his more productive 2022 and 2024 seasons. His 15.7% strikeout rate remains excellent, and McCarthy has walked at a solid 8.8% rate.
The D-backs optioned McCarthy to Triple-A after a rough three-week start and only recalled him back in late June. He batted .314/.401/.440 in 237 plate appearances with the Diamondbacks’ top affiliate in Reno and has put together an improved (albeit still diminished) .222/.300/.400 slash in his past 51 major league plate appearances.
Both Thomas and McCarthy are controllable for an additional three seasons. Both are eligible for arbitration for the first time this offseason. The Diamondbacks burned McCarthy’s final option year when they sent him down to Triple-A back in April. He’ll be out of minor league options next year. Thomas also entered 2025 with one option year remaining, but his is still intact, as he hasn’t been sent down at any point this season.
What depth? Corbin Carroll is the only one with a wRC+ above 100. Their depth is below league average. And aside from Carroll, none of them are decent defenders either. Maybe throw a few of them in for a single-A level prospect.
Old Yeller,
Your usual misinformed non-analysis.
Since other GMs are inquiring about them, they obviously don’t share your drivel.
I see the Dbacks putting together a package of prospects, plus Thomas or McCarthy for a high leverage bullpen arm from a non-contender.
@scottaz
What misinformation and non-analysis? Tell me, where do you see such a package? On the side of a crackerjack box?
How do you look at Alek Thomas and say “not a decent defender”??? Grichuk also has a pretty good bat, at a 101 WRC+.
Carroll, Thomas and McCarthy have all had seasons with six or higher OAA – Thomas and McCarthy in limited playing time. Guriel had three OAA last year and two the year before.
If Luis Robert Jr has 8 suitors, then surely the Diamondbacks outfielders can each have one.
Jake McCarthy. More like Jenny. Amirite?
Joe.
Ironic that McCarthy’s career split against the Reds is a meagre .179/.303/.286.
Just goes to show that sometimes the stats of minor leaguers at A and AA are not all they seem to be. You go back to when Thomas and McCarthy was coming up their minor league stats jumped out as a true major leaguer. Then once they get at that level they really flatten out. D’Backs have given Thomas and McCarthy enough time at the ML level they have not failed but yet they have not lived up to the level with being a solid major league player. They will be a player that will play for about 5 to 6 teams will be the 4th and 5th outfielder on a roster. Neither is consistent with the bat, both have a good glove, not a good outfield arm though, they have good speed on the bases. But on a scale of 10 being an everyday starter, don’t see it they are both in the 4 to 5 rating out of 10. The D’Backs will be able to trade them but on in a package or throw in on a deal to get a top player.
White Sox will give Mike Tauchman for Adriel Radney.
Blue Jays should consider Grichuk as a platoon OF bat with the lefties they have. Uncertainty of Varsho coming back to full strength, or Santander for that matter. If all 3 are on the team they would promptly replace Jimenez, Loperfido and Wagner who are all currently on the big league roster, giving the Jays a full RH lineup against lefties with enough defensive depth on the roster.
Wonder what it would take for a contender to take a flier on McCarthy as a 5th OF’er, in hopes he rebounds next year and can at least platoon. He’s a fun player to watch, the statistics falling off a cliff this year is remarkable. I’d imagine they would want an MLB ready/close arm, maybe a team’s 4th or 5th best pitching prospect. Could be way off on that, but that’s my guess.
I would rather the Reds have two full time corner options in the outfield, but can see the platoon happy organization they are going after the right handed hitters.
Is Pavin Smith not considered playable in OF?
Not when all your other options are better defensively
Hogwash. The Dbacks are about to win 2o of their 25 games and be back in the hunt