Diamondbacks rookie Jordan Lawlar is playing winter ball in the Dominican Republic this offseason. He made his first appearance with the Tigres del Licey at an unfamiliar position: center field. It’s the first professional outfield experience for Lawlar, whose minor league and MLB work has been divided between second, third and shortstop.
Steve Gilbert of MLB.com wrote earlier this month that the D-Backs wanted Lawlar to get center field work alongside his usual infield responsibilities. The Diamondbacks haven’t made any decisions about a position change, but it behooves them to get a look at him in the outfield for a few reasons.
Lawlar’s defense was a significant issue late this year. The Diamondbacks finally opened everyday playing time for him at third base with the Eugenio Suárez deadline deal. Lawlar was on the minor league injured list for a couple weeks but was recalled at the end of August. His third base audition didn’t last long. Lawlar committed four errors in 76 innings, two apiece on September 7 and 14. Three of those were of the throwing variety. One of Lawlar’s errant throws led to a collision at first base that injured Tyler Locklear, who required surgeries on both his shoulder and elbow.
Scouting reports on Lawlar have generally praised his defensive ability. He was drafted as a shortstop and only moved to third base in deference to Geraldo Perdomo. It’s possible this year’s issues were a blip that’ll be corrected with a mechanical tweak or simply an offseason mental reset. The D-Backs didn’t want him in the field while they were chasing down a Wild Card berth, though. Manager Torey Lovullo kept Lawlar at DH or as a pinch-hitter after his game on September 14. Blaze Alexander played third base until the last game of the season — once the Snakes had been eliminated from contention.
The third base job should be open going into 2026. Alexander is a steady defender but doesn’t have huge upside at the plate. He’s better suited for a utility role. Lawlar, a career .298/.395/.515 hitter in the minors, has a higher ceiling. That wouldn’t matter much if the Diamondbacks don’t trust him defensively. They’re not going to lock him into full-time DH work at 23, but they probably wouldn’t feel great about handing him the starting third base job out of camp. He does still have an option remaining, yet they’re not going to learn much by sending him back to Triple-A Reno and letting him feast on Pacific Coast League pitching for another season.
John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 FM writes that the D-Backs aren’t inclined to play Lawlar at second base. Ketel Marte might benefit from a few more DH at-bats but remains the primary second baseman. The two outfield spots to the left of Corbin Carroll could be up for grabs.
Center fielder Alek Thomas is a .234/.277/.362 hitter in almost 1400 career plate appearances. The Diamondbacks will eventually need some kind of offense from that spot. Left field is in worse shape. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. tore his ACL in September. Jake McCarthy is coming off a .204/.247/.345 season. Prospect Ryan Waldschmidt may already be their best internal option, and he hasn’t played a game above Double-A.
McCarthy could be non-tendered, while Thomas is a potential change-of-scenery candidate. If Lawlar takes to center field in winter ball, that could allow the Diamondbacks to feel a little more comfortable entertaining Thomas trade talks. Lawlar himself could also be a trade chip, as he’d be their best bet at getting a controllable starting pitcher in return. The Diamondbacks are going to need at least one outfielder via free agency or trade either way, making this an interesting offseason storyline in the desert.
D-backs shouldn’t confuse him by making him go all over the place on the field, he has enough talent to get better at 3rd
I think of Royce Lewis and how bad his outfield experiment went
Or jordan walker, man the cards killed his career. Hopefully he can get back on track.
At what point is it that the player just couldn’t hack major league pitching? MANY players have been can’t miss studs in the minors only to flame out in the big show.
Or he could turn out like Jackson Merrill. That move to CF worked out fine.
Bobby Murcer, Carl Yaz, and probably 100 other name players started off as a SS. It’s where your best athletes usually started off.
But I would agree that the experiments should not be long-lasting and decisions have to be made. Bringing up Lawler, when he had no chance of making legitimate starts for the Snakes, made no sense to me.
With Merrill once they put him in CF they kept him there. Even when they have injuries where he could fill in at SS/2B they don’t ever try to put him back in the infield. If you’re going to change their position, you have to go all in on it.
How do you list shortsops turned outfielders without listing Micky Mantle first? BTR needs to start running articles about baseball history. It would be a great service.There was baseball before Jeter and A-Rod!
Robin Yount is the first I think of.
In my opinion, if they trade Alek they will get valuable pitcher(s). But should NOT TRADE LAWYLAR!!! He has high potential and could be like a smaller version of Alec Bregman during his prime. With Lawlar taking center preps, you know that the Diamondbacks are disappointed with something, most likely his defense in the past days. Taking center is a big jump, but he’s got the speed and ability to do so. Alek I believe will get traded with around 5 outfielder prospects coming up in the next years, for example, Slade Caldwell. With Alek being traded that could change the diamondbacks depth in their bullpen. This could change the history of bad bullpen. I think Alek will be sad to leave, but if he gets hot, he can potentially come back. Like how Kelly is coming back for sure(98%). We will miss you Alek, hope you don’t get traded! And go Lawlar in growing up to his prime!!
I don’t think you’re getting a lot back for Thomas. He’s shown to be a below average bat in the majors after a few seasons. Maybe a fringe roster guy/AAA lifer in return??
Yea, for Thomas, you’re looking at a return on the order of “good non-tender candidate.” Joey Wentz comes to mind as a talent match (I’m not saying the Braves would have any interest in Thomas).
Better off sticking with Thomas and finding a platoon partner.
I do agree with you, but Alek is worth someone who is good, he’s been pretty valuable in the past so maybe if 1 team still sees him value the diamondbacks can win the trade.
True, very true. But I meant that like he has a lot of potential [the pitcher we get if we trade Alek]. Like look at it this way, Eugenio Suarez, he was terrible and was about to get dropped, then the next year buddy hit what like 50 home runs.
I don’t see a big return for Alek in a straight up trade, just don’t have the bat. If he was such a big get the Phillies would have made a big push for him at the trade deadline, instead they went for Bader (who is the same type of player good glove, not a great bat). I see Alek being in a package deal involving prospect going to a certain team for a couple of pitchers, but not straight up one for one’s.
Agree kinda, but the only players we traded at the deadline were expiring contracts.
By value pitchers, I don’t mean like Aj Puk, or those guys, I meant people who will increase the diamondbacks bullpen, for example like an up and down guy, maybe like Kyle Backus.
Maybe Thomas could be Suarez but will they bet on that over what he has done for the last 4 seasons? After nearly 1,400 trips to the plate you might start thinking you know what a players bat is going to do.
To me, I see Thomas value as a defensive substitute. My expectation in a trade for him wouldnt be much more than a prospect that hasn’t broken through his own teams top 15 farm players. If you want a major league player in return I’d guess it’s going to be a journeyman.
I almost get the sense mikey and I are talking about different players. Yea, Thomas is young, there’s still some upside in there, but he has negative defensive ratings, has never reached 500 PA in a season, has topped out at 81 wRC+, and has 1.5 career WAR over four seasons. Two-thirds of his WAR is from baserunning which is not how teams decide who should be on the field.
This is a second division starter at best, someone the Pirates give a go because why not try it out. He has no place starting for a playoff contender—at least not in the offseason planning phase—and no serious team is going to trade an actualized pitcher for him.
They like Blaze over there. Blaze played outstanding defense and his bat will come along. He was injured this year.
It is amazing how elite Perdomo has become and how questionable Lawlar’s future appears in contrast.
Perdomo had to have one of the most underrated seasons in recent baseball history. Could totally see him being a MVP finalist this year. He was only the 13th shortstop to have a 20/20 season and at least 7 WAR.
He should be the runner-up to Ohtani. Only Trea Turner’s in the same neighborhood, but he missed too much time.
Carroll, Schwarber, and Soto will draw more votes than they deserve (relative to Perdomo, at least).
Carroll and Turner had similar seasons overall.
Yea, similar.
Trade Lawler to the Braves already
They need a young SS & have young pitching
No they will hold onto him and move him all around messing his head up until he flakes out
Happens to often
I get it guys succeed but I feel they are the exception and not the rule
The D’Backs said in September that Lawler was going to get some reps in CF this off season, so that is no surprise he is doing this, now if it looks like he has a talent for CF, then comes the question do they continue this in Spring Training. I do not see Lawler at Triple A at the start of 2026 to learn CF. As far as the OF set-up for 2026, they do have a prospect right now that could make the 26 man roster in Ryan Waldschmidt which could see him in LF, Carroll in RF, now as far as CF this can go a lot of ways, maybe Lawler if he just lights it up in the winter league, goes into ST and plays like he has been there for a long time ala Merrill Jackson in SD or make a decision on McCarthy and Thomas, Instead of non-tendering McCarthy he’s stays and they trade or non-tender Thomas, but they cannot afford to keep both of these players, they are too much alike. Or the last they sign Bader as a FA put him in CF for a couple of years until Slade Caldwell is ready for the ML’s. Alexander is the starting 3rd baseman for 2026 and a backup to CF.
If a player has the skill set to play middle infield and the foot speed, he has a decent chance to become a legit centerfielder.
Baseball history is full of MIFs that successfully transitioned to the grass.
Mantle
Aaron
Gorman Thomas
Rick Manning
Larry Doby
Javier Baez
O’Neil Cruz
Michael A Taylor
Did Tatis Jr win a platinum glove in RF? Regardless, he has transitioned well to the OF as has Jackson Merrill.
Another hot star shortstop of the future. Another Personality Crisis..
youtube.com/watch?v=2aQTGqqXHw4
The Dbacks really need Jordan to play a full healthy season in the bigs and contribute to wins, so I am glad to hear that he’s trying to make himself more versatile to get ABs in platoon roles.
Thomas is too stubborn to change his batting approach. Constant pull hitter and with his speed, he should be going opposite field. McCarthy is a product of poor batting coaching, something that has affected many of the D-Backs. As to pitching, Hazen and company have not impressed me with their talent scouting and the organizations lack of pitching development.
Too early to give up on him as a third baseman.
Nothing wrong with a little experiment in the winter. Kid has athleticism.
They did the same with Marte. I am glad they are at least trying to find a spot for him to be successful.
When will Druw Jones get a call up?