The Diamondbacks have signed first baseman Luken Baker to a minors deal, Just Baseball Media’s Aram Leighton reports. Baker qualified for minor league free agency at the end of the season, and he chose to test the open market rather than stick in the Dodgers’ organization.
A second-round pick for the Cardinals in the 2018 draft, Baker spent most of his career in the St. Louis organization before he was claimed off the waiver wire by the Dodgers in early August. Baker never saw any MLB playing time in Los Angeles, so his big league resume remains his 73 games played with the Cardinals over the 2023-25 seasons, with a .206/.317/.338 slash line and four home runs to show for 189 plate appearances.
This lack of production didn’t exactly merit more playing time, yet Baker was also blocked to some extent by the presence of Paul Goldschmidt, Willson Contreras, Alec Burleson, and others at first base. Baker is limited by his lack of defensive versatility, as he has played only first base and DH during his pro career. This made him an expendable piece even on a Cardinals team that is turning into a rebuild, as Baker is entering his age-29 season.
Baker got his first call-up to the majors on the strength of a huge season with Triple-A Memphis in 2023, when he hit .334/.439/.720 with 33 home runs over 380 PA. He followed that year up with a 32-homer campaign and a lesser (.231/.345/.535) slash line in Memphis in 2024, but his numbers continued to tail off, as Baker hit only .223/.335/.441 with 18 homers over 409 combined PA with the Cardinals’ and Dodgers’ top affiliates in 2025. While Baker’s numbers improved greatly after his move from Memphis to Oklahoma City, this may have had less to do with a change of scenery and more to do with the move to the pitcher-friendly Pacific Coast League.
The Diamondbacks’ Triple-A Reno club is also in the PCL, so it wouldn’t be a shock if Baker posts some numbers in 2026 that look pretty gaudy on paper. There’s no risk for the Snakes in seeing what Baker can do in at least a depth capacity, and if he can turn his raw power into any sort of consistent production at the big league level. In terms of the MLB roster, the right-handed hitting Baker could be a fit in a platoon situation with the lefty-swinging Pavin Smith at first base and DH, and the D’Backs may be hoping that Baker can follow Smith’s example as a late bloomer who didn’t start to break out in the majors until his late 20’s.
Signing Baker to a non-guaranteed deal shouldn’t prevent the D’Backs from exploring more prominent right-handed bats for this role, such as former Arizona star Paul Goldschmidt. The Diamondbacks’ infield situation in general remains in something of a state of flux, as rumors continue to swirl that Ketel Marte could be traded, and that the D’Backs could be a dark horse suitor for Alex Bregman. Such moves wouldn’t necessarily impact the first base role, unless another first base candidate or right-handed bat was potentially brought on board as part of a Marte trade package.
I thought Luken Baker was going to Texas with Willie, Waylon, and the boys.
Thought he was going to break out last year. Boy was i wrong.
Luken warm signing at best.
If he’s REALLY on his game, he will tear it up in Reno and maybe even get a call up to the big league team. I wouldn’t have high expectations of him there though.
@Mark Polishuk – I think you meant “hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.
Is this instead of the Goldschmidt reunion? He needs to finish his career back in the desert. 1 year $5 million ? If not in AZ, maybe in St. Louis to platoon with Burleson at 1st.