Submit Your Question For This Week’s Episode Of The MLB Trade Rumors Podcast!
On the MLB Trade Rumors podcast, we regularly answer questions from our readers and listeners. With the next episode set for Wednesday, we’re looking for MLBTR’s audience to submit their questions and we’ll pick a few to answer.
The 2024 season is now into June, which means we are less than two months away from the trade deadline. If you have a question about the ongoing 2024 season, a future transaction, a look ahead to the offseason, or anything else baseball related, we’d love to hear from you! You can email your questions to mlbtrpod@gmail.com.
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The Opener: Biggio, Bregman, Yankees, Royals
As the 2024 regular season continues, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:
1. Biggio in DFA limbo:
After several seasons of struggles as a potential “change of scenery” candidate, the Blue Jays made the somewhat surprising decision to designate infielder Cavan Biggio for assignment on Friday. While the 29-year-old has hit a paltry .200/.323/.291 with an 88 wRC+ in 44 games this season, Biggio entered the current campaign with a career .229/.345/.389 (105 wRC+) slash line, including an above-average figure in a multi-positional role last season with experience at first, second, and third base as well as right field. Biggio is now about halfway through his seven-day DFA window, during which the Blue Jays will either have to expose Biggio to waivers or work out a trade to move him elsewhere.
As a left-handed bat with the ability to play all around the infield and a walk rate that’s been north of 10% every season of his career, Biggio offers plenty of qualities that could make him an attractive bench piece for teams. On the other hand, Biggio’s lack of power production over the past four years could be a red flag, while the roughly $2.78MM left on his contract could make bringing him into the fold a slightly more expensive proposition.
2. Bregman day-to-day after HBP:
Astros fans suffered an injury scare last night when third baseman Alex Bregman was struck on the wrist by a pitch during the club’s game against the Angels. As noted by MLB.com’s Injury Tracker, it’s the second time in the past week that Bregman has been hit in that hand after a pitch got away from Cardinals right-hander Andre Pallante on Tuesday. Fortunately, it appears that the veteran infielder got away without a serious injury, as Bregman himself told reporters (including MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart) that x-rays on his wrist came back negative and that he’s currently day-to-day.
Houston is off today, giving Bregman at least one day to rest before any further decisions are made. Despite a difficult start to the season for the 30-year-old, the Astros would surely hate to lose Bregman for even a game or two in the midst of his first extended hot streak. The pending free agent is riding an 11-game hitting streak and has slashed a fantastic .381/.447/.833 with five homers, a triple, and two doubles in his past 47 plate appearances.
3. Series Preview: Yankees @ Royals
After struggling through a three-game series against the Dodgers in the Bronx, the Yankees head to Kansas City for a four-game set that could wind up being a postseason preview. The Yankees hold the AL’s best record but have a lead of just 2.5 games over the Orioles in the AL East, while the Royals sit four games back of Cleveland in the AL Central at 39-27. A win for the Royals in this series could help the club make up significant ground against Cleveland while also opening the door for the Orioles to sneak back into first place. A series win by the Yankees would preserve the status quo atop both divisions.
The series is set to begin at 7:10pm local time this evening, when Royals righty Seth Lugo (2.13 ERA) takes on Yankees lefty Carlos Rodon (3.08 ERA). Tomorrow’s game will see veteran Yankees righty Marcus Stroman (3.04 ERA) face off against Brady Singer (2.76 ERA). Journeyman Cody Poteet (1.72 ERA) is set to take the mound for the Yankees on Wednesday in a game where K.C. has yet to announce a starter. The series wraps Thursday with right-hander Alec Marsh (4.05 ERA) on the mound for Kansas City opposite Yankees southpaw Nestor Cortes (3.68 ERA). Looking beyond the pitching matchups, Yankees manager Aaron Boone told reporters (including those at MLB.com) that Juan Soto figures to return to the club’s lineup during this series after missing the past three games due to elbow inflammation.
Yankees Notes: Bullpen Trade Targets, McMahon, Cole
The Yankees’ 46-21 record is the best in the American League, and there aren’t many glaring holes on a team that has been outstanding on both the hitting and pitching fronts. As such, the Yankees’ deadline needs are fairly specific at the moment, as SNY’s Andy Martino writes that the Bronx Bombers are looking to reinforce their bullpen with another left-hander, and a right-handed strikeout specialist.
New York entered Sunday’s action with the third-best bullpen ERA in baseball, so the current relief corps is far from a weak link. However, Martino notes that “evaluators tend to slot [Caleb Ferguson and Victor Gonzalez] as the second lefty in an ideal bullpen,” so the Yankees could stand to acquire another southpaw as their top option.
Of the two in-house choices, Gonzalez has a 3.00 ERA over 18 innings but he has been drastically outperforming his peripherals. Gonzalez’s SIERA is a much less impressive 5.65, as his walk rate (13.5%) is higher than his 10.8% strikeout rate. Ferguson has something of the opposite issue, with a 5.03 ERA but a 3.62 SIERA in 19 2/3 innings, with a 25.8% strikeout rate and 11.2% walk rate.
On the right-handed side of the equation, a righty pitcher that can miss bats would be a nice complement to closer Clay Holmes, who himself throws from the right side. Holmes is having another excellent year with a 1.23 ERA and 19 saves over 29 1/3 innings, though Holmes is an extreme ground ball pitcher with a staggering 69.4% grounder rate. His strikeout rate is only a bit above the league average, however, so having more of a strikeout-focused power arm for certain high-leverage situation would allow the Yankees to save Holmes for the ninth inning.
As Martino observes, the Yankees’ knack for getting great results out of unheralded relievers means that the club might not need to pursue bigger names available at the deadline in order to fill these bullpen needs. They might not even necessarily need to go outside the organization to find the right-handed strikeout artist, as Luis Gil might eventually end up in the bullpen as part of New York’s desire to conserve his innings. Gil pitched only 29 2/3 total frames in the majors and minors over the last two seasons due to Tommy John surgery, and with 75 innings already on his ledger in 2024, it remains to be seen how much the Yankees will want him to pitch in the regular season if they’re taking the longer view of wanting Gil available throughout what they hope will be a deep postseason run.
Beyond the bullpen, both corner infield positions could be potential target areas, though Martino figures the Bombers will give the struggling Anthony Rizzo and DJ LeMahieu more time to turn things around. LeMahieu has only played 10 games since a season-opening stint on the 60-day injured list, so it is understandable that the veteran needs more time to knock off the rust.
This isn’t to say that New York wouldn’t be open to corner infield help already, as Bob Nightengale of USA Today writes that the Yankees are among the teams who “would love to get their hands on” Ryan McMahon. Adding McMahon would be more than just a short-term strike, as the third baseman is still owed roughly $51MM through the end of the 2027 season as per the terms of the six-year, $70MM extension he signed with the Rockies in March 2022.
While the Rox aren’t in contention and will sell at the deadline to some extent, moving McMahon is the type of bigger-picture move Colorado isn’t likely to make. Indeed, earlier reports indicated that the Rockies aren’t likely to move the third baseman, as he is still viewed as a building block on the roster.
In other Yankees news, Gerrit Cole completed his second rehab start with Double-A Somerset today. The AL Cy Young Award winner allowed one run on two hits over 4 2/3 innings, while recording four strikeouts. Cole’s 57 pitches represented a small bump up from the 45 pitches thrown in his first rehab outing, and his velocity reached as high as 96mph, according to Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post.
Cole described the appearance to Dunleavy and other reporters as a “pretty good day, still got things to work on…Wish I would’ve been able to crisp up the location quicker. Really, that was about it.” Naturally Cole wants to be as ready as possible for his 2024 debut, so while he is set for one more rehab start, Cole wasn’t yet sure if he’ll require another outing after that. The Yankees obviously aren’t going to rush Cole in any regard, and the rotation’s great work in Cole’s absence means there isn’t even any immediate need for Cole to return to the big leagues.
Rangers Notes: Scherzer, Gray, Jung
TODAY: Scherzer began his rehab assignment today, tossing 53 pitches over four scoreless innings for Triple-A Round Rock. As noted by Shawn McFarland of the Dallas Morning News, Scherzer’s sinker was averaging 93mph, and he threw the pitch 22 times among his 53 overall offerings while allowing only one hit and one walk in the five-strikeout outing. The Rangers plan to build Scherzer up to a 75-pitch count before evaluating whether or not he might be ready to return to the majors.
JUNE 8: The Rangers activated right-hander Jon Gray from the 10-day injured list this afternoon, just over two weeks after he was initially shelved due to a groin strain. That quick turnaround has left Gray not fully stretched out to start, and Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News wrote this afternoon that the right-hander would be eased back into his role with the club in a relief role before later rejoining the starting mix. According to Grant, the decision to first use Gray in relief before adding him back to the rotation mix his next time up allowed the Rangers to skip a minor league rehab stint for the 32-year-old hurler.
That plan came to pass this evening, as Gray pitched 2 1/3 scoreless frames in relief of Andrew Heaney during this evening’s loss to the Giants. Regardless of the role he’s pitching in, Gray’s return figures to provide a huge boost to the Rangers pitching staff. After all, the righty boasted a 2.21 ERA and 2.52 FIP in 57 frames at the time of his placement on the IL with a solid 23.7% strikeout rate and a 44.4% groundball rate that represents his best work since joining the Rangers prior to the 2021 season. With starters Jacob deGrom, Max Scherzer, Cody Bradford, and Tyler Mahle all currently in the midst of lengthy absences, Gray’s speedy return from the shelf figures to be key for the Rangers as they look to get themselves back into the hunt for the postseason. The club has scuffled in recent weeks and currently sports a 30-34 record that puts them five games back of the Mariners for the AL West crown and three games out of the final AL Wild Card spot.
Fortunately, Gray isn’t the only key player who could return from injury in the near future. Grant also relays that third baseman Josh Jung, who has been shelved for the majority of the season due to a broken wrist, has begun taken live batting practice and could be slated for a rehab assignment as soon as this coming Tuesday. Grant adds that Rangers brass are expected to set a schedule for Jung tomorrow that could firm up those plans.
Jung made it into just four games with the Rangers before he was sidelined this year, but he was hitting a scorching .412/.474/.941 in that microscopic sample size before the injury put him out of action. Since the start of Jung’s 2023 campaign, he’s been a well above average offensive contributor for Texas at third base with a .271/.320/.483 slash line, 26 doubles, and 25 home runs in 534 trips to the plate across just 126 games. Josh Smith has performed well at the hot corner in Jung’s absence, although the 26-year-old’s return from the injured list would still improve the club’s offense by allowing the team to push Ezequiel Duran and his 92 wRC+ into a bench role.
Turning back to the pitching staff, veteran ace Max Scherzer also made progress in his rehab earlier this week, as MLB.com’s Injury Tracker notes that he threw 40-50 pitches across two innings of live batting practice earlier this week, with Scherzer himself telling reporters that he hopes to start a minor league rehab assignment soon. It’s been a rocky road to recovery for Scherzer this season as he entered the 2024 campaign projected to return from offseason back surgery around the All Star break before seemingly progressing ahead of schedule. That left him and the Rangers eyeing sometime in May for his return, although a nerve issue in Scherzer’s thumb ultimately required a cortisone shot and caused the club to shut the veteran righty down.
Now that Scherzer is throwing to hitters once again, he appears to be on a similar track to the one he was projected for at the time of his surgery, with a return later this month or in early July now a seemingly realistic target so long as he avoids additional setbacks. After being swapped from the Mets to the Rangers in exchange for Luisangel Acuna last summer, the future Hall of Famer pitched to a 3.20 ERA and 3.41 FIP in eight starts for the club down the stretch with an excellent 29.9% strikeout rate but dealt with injuries that limited both his availability and his effectiveness during the club’s postseason run that culminated in the first World Series championship in franchise history. Looking ahead, his return to action should further bolster the pitching staff in Texas while allowing the Rangers to shift the likes of Heaney and Jose Urena into relief after early season rotation injuries forced them into starting roles.
MLBTR Chat Transcript
Click here to read the transcript of tonight’s live baseball chat
Marlins Release Avisail Garcia
TODAY: The Marlins have officially released Garcia after he cleared waivers, as per Isaac Azout of FishOnFirst and the Miami Herald (X link).
JUNE 4: The Marlins are designating veteran outfielder Avisail Garcia for assignment, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports. The 32-year-old Garcia (33 next week) is in the third season of a four-year, $53MM contract that has proven to be a substantial misstep for the organization. Craig Mish of the Miami Herald writes that former Marlins CEO Derek Jeter “had exclusive control” over negotiations with Garcia and his representation.
That four-year contract with the Fish came on the heels of a productive 29-homer showing in Milwaukee. Garcia had hit .262/.330/.490 in his final season with the Brewers, and while he’d been inconsistent on a year-over-year basis in the seasons leading up to his big Miami payday, he notched an overall .278/.335/.464 batting line in a half-decade’s worth of at-bats prior to putting pen to paper as a free agent in South Florida. He’d also shown a repeated knack for hard contact, logging an 89.9 mph average exit velocity, 10% barrel rate and 42% hard-hit rate in that five-year span (all via Statcast).
A downward spiral for Garcia began almost immediately with the Marlins. He struggled right out of the gate in 2022, and while he did get hot for a bit in June, his overall batting line in year one of that four-year contract checked in at a tepid .224/.266/.317. By measure of wRC+, he was 37% worse than league-average at the plate. Even a modest rebound in 2023 seemed likely, but Garcia’s numbers went further in the wrong direction. Injuries limited him to only 118 plate appearances, during which he hit just .185/.241/.315 while fanning in an uncharacteristic 33% of his plate appearances. This season, he’s been on the injured list since late April due to a hamstring strain.
All in all, Garcia’s time with the Marlins will all but certainly draw to a close with a disastrous .217/.260/.322 batting line (61 wRC+). He’s still owed the balance of a $12MM salary this season (about $7.612MM), plus another $12MM in 2025 and a $5MM buyout on a 2026 club option. The Marlins technically have a week to try to trade Garcia, but a release is a near inevitability. He can’t be placed on outright waivers because he’s on the injured list — and he’d clear and reject a minor league assignment in favor of free agency anyhow — and no other club is going to take on any portion of that contract.
Once Garcia clears release waivers, he’ll be a free agent who’s able to sign with any club. A new team would only owe the former Tigers, White Sox, Rays and Brewers slugger the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the big league roster/injured list. That sum would be subtracted from what the Marlins owe him, but by designating him for assignment now, Miami is effectively conceding that it will eat the overwhelming majority of the dead money on Garcia’s contract.
With Garcia no longer in the fold, the Marlins will continue to deploy an outfield/DH mix including Bryan De La Cruz, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Jesus Sanchez, Nick Gordon and Dane Myers. Triple-A outfielder Victor Mesa Jr. could eventually join that mix if he can keep up his solid .280/.347/.466 start in Jacksonville — particularly if the Marlins end up moving any of their more experienced outfield options in the run-up to next month’s trade deadline.
AL West Notes: Evans, Seager, Tucker, Athletics
A few players from the 2023 draft have already made their MLB debuts, and Mariners prospect Logan Evans could potentially be coming soon due to his recent move to relief pitching. As Adam Jude of the Seattle Times writes, Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto recently called Evans with the idea of shifting from the Double-A rotation to the bullpen, since the M’s are currently in the enviable position of having a loaded rotation. Working as a reliever could put Evans on the fast track to the Show, and give the Mariners an extra hard-throwing arm in an injury-depleted pen.
A 12th-round pick out of Pitt, Evans has a sparkling 1.16 ERA over 54 1/3 innings for Double-A Arkansas this season, with a 23% strikeout rate, 7.4% walk rate, and a 53.6% grounder rate. MLB Pipeline’s scouting report also notes that the Mariners received trade interest in Evans as early as last offseason, after he posted an 0.60 ERA in his first 15 pro innings.
More from around the AL West…
- Corey Seager has now missed three straight games since leaving Wednesday’s contest with tightness in his left hamstring, though Rangers manager Bruce Bochy told MLB.com’s Kennedi Landry (X link) and other reporters that Seager is “making progress” and that an IL trip isn’t yet being considered. Seager himself said he was feeling “fine” today but wasn’t sure if he would be back in the lineup Tuesday for Texas’ next game. Between the scheduled off-days both tomorrow and last Thursday, Seager might’ve caught a break in having some rest built into the schedule, giving some hope he’ll be ready for Tuesday.
- Astros star Kyle Tucker was placed on the 10-day IL earlier this week due to a shin contusion, and he expects to be fully off crutches within the next day or two, Tucker told The Athletic’s Chandler Rome (link to X) and other media. From there, Tucker expects to restart baseball activities soon after, so he could conceivably be a candidate to be activated next week. It seems as though Tucker and the Astros dodged a bullet in avoiding a more serious injury, which is a relief considering the MVP-caliber numbers Tucker has posted to date this season.
- The Athletics provided MLB.com’s Martin Gallegos (X link) and other reporters with updates on several injured players, including the news that Ross Stripling and Paul Blackburn are expected to begin throwing within the next week. Stripling has missed over two weeks due to a flexor strain his right elbow and Blackburn has missed over a month due to a stress reaction on his right foot, though Blackburn’s placement on the 60-day IL means he’ll be out until at least the All-Star break. Kyle Muller also already started throwing this past week as he continues his recovery from a bout of shoulder tendinitis. Among the injured position players, Esteury Ruiz (wrist sprain) and Darell Hernaiz (ankle sprain) will start strength programs this week.
A’s Select Michel Otañez
5:18PM: Wood had a setback during his throwing program, as the team told MLB.com and other media. Wood has subsequently been shut down and no timeline has been given about when he might get back to the rehab process.
11:25AM: The A’s announced a series of roster moves this afternoon led by the club selecting the contract of right-hander Michel Otañez. Making room for Otañez on the 40-man roster is Alex Wood, who the club transferred to the 60-day injured list in a corresponding move, while lefty Jack O’Loughlin was optioned to the minor leagues to create space on the active roster.
Otañez, 27 next month, made his professional debut in the Mets organization back in 2018. Initially a starting pitcher, the right-hander converted to relief following the cancelled minor league season in 2020 and reached the upper levels of the minors in 2022. While he dominated Double-A hitters to the tune of a 1.80 ERA in 15 innings of work, he quickly met his match in a promotion to Triple-A, where he struggled to a 6.37 ERA in 29 2/3 frames. Otañez then elected minor league free agency and landed with the Diamondbacks, though his struggles continued with a brutal 6.08 ERA in 37 innings of work split between the Double- and Triple-A levels that year. While Otañez struck out an excellent 35.3% of batters faced with Arizona, a ghastly 16.2% walk rate held him back from being a major league caliber relief arm.
Otañez returned to minor league free agency last offseason and latched on with the A’s on a minor league pact. The club assigned him to Triple-A Las Vegas and he finally found success at the level with his third organization. In 29 1/3 innings of work, Otañez has managed to cut his walk rate to a more manageable 11.8% while maintaining a strong 35.4% strikeout rate that’s nearly identical to last year. His work to cut down on free passes paid dividends in the results department as he’s posted a 3.99 ERA despite the inflated offensive environment of the Pacific Coast League.
That performance was enough to convince the A’s to offer Otañez a chance at the big league level. The 26-year-old will make his major league debut the first time he gets into a game and figures to act as a middle relief option for the club from the right-hand side alongside Vinny Nittoli, behind late-inning arms Mason Miller, Austin Adams, and Dany Jimenez. He’ll replace O’Loughlin in an Oakland bullpen stacked with left-handed pitching options after the Australia native threw 3 1/3 scoreless relief frames against Toronto last night.
As for Wood, the lefty’s placement on the 60-day IL is ominous news given that Wood was set to begin a throwing program in his rehab from rotator cuff tendinitis on June 1. That seemingly could have put the veteran lefty on track to return sometime later this month, but now he’ll be out until at least after the All Star break. The 2024 campaign had been a struggle for Wood prior to his placement on the IL, as he pitched to a lackluster 5.26 ERA with a matching 5.27 FIP through nine starts with Oakland.
Phillies Showing Trade Interest In Jake McCarthy
As the Phillies look to put some final touches on a talented roster, Philadelphia is “keeping an eye on” Jake McCarthy as possible outfield help, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale writes. Such a trade would naturally depend on whether or not the Diamondbacks are still in the playoff race by the deadline, and even if not, Arizona would still be hesitant about moving an outfielder who is controlled through the 2028 season.
McCarthy has been been frequently mentioned in trade rumors in the past, even if his stock has ebbed and flowed over his first two full MLB seasons. McCarthy finished fourth in NL Rookie of the Year voting in 2022 and was subsequently a much-discussed figure that offseason as the D’Backs looked to sell from their surplus of left-handed hitting outfielders. (Daulton Varsho ended up being the outfielder moved in the December 2022 trade that brought Gabriel Moreno and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. to the desert.)
However, McCarthy ran into a sophomore slump last year, hitting .243/.318/.326 over 312 plate appearances and he was demoted to Triple-A, before an oblique injury then sidelined him for the Diamondbacks’ playoff run. As per a report from Nightengale in February, Arizona offered the White Sox either McCarthy or Dominic Fletcher in a trade for pitching prospect Cristian Mena this past winter, with Chicago opting to take Fletcher.
If McCarthy’s Diamondbacks tenure really was that close to coming to an end, he has done well in his second act with the club. McCarthy hit his third homer of the season in today’s game against the Padres, and entered Sunday’s action hitting .268/.354/.370 over his first 160 PA. Today’s home run was a rarity for a player who hasn’t shown much power and whose barrel and hard-hit ball rates are both mediocre — McCarthy’s 22.5% hard-hit ball rate ranks only in the second percentile of all batters.
A .327 BABIP has accounted for a good chunk of McCarthy’s success, but his excellent speed has also been a benefit in turning some of those balls in play into extra hits. His strikeout and walk rates are both above average, and on the defensive side, McCarthy has been roughly average to slightly below average as a right fielder. The D’Backs have deployed McCarthy in left and center field on occasion, but he has mostly been used in a right field platoon with the right-handed hitting Randal Grichuk. Oddly, McCarthy has hit southpaws much better than he has right-handed pitchers this season, with a .917 OPS in 32 PA against lefties and a .674 OPS in 128 against righties.
Between his years of control, his age (27 next month), and his past draft pedigree as the 39th overall pick in 2018, McCarthy would be far from a rental piece for the Phillies for any team looking to pry the outfielder away from Arizona. The Phils’ acquisition of Brandon Marsh from the Angels at the 2022 trade deadline could be a comp here, as that deal also saw Philadelphia land a left-handed hitting outfielder with some past prospect appeal who hadn’t quite gotten it all together at the MLB level. That one-for-one deal saw the Phillies land Marsh for Logan O’Hoppe, another well-regarded young player who was blocked at catcher by J.T. Realmuto, so the Phils and Angels mutually addressed each other’s needs for outfield and catching help.
Marsh has gone on to become a solid regular in the Philadelphia outfield, this season acting as the strong side of a left-field platoon with Whit Merrifield. Marsh is currently on the 10-day injured list with a hamstring injury that isn’t considered too serious, so in the event that McCarthy was acquired, the Phillies would likely view him as a left-handed hitting complement to Johan Rojas in center field and even Nick Castellanos in right field.
Rojas hasn’t hit at all this season and his once-impressive center field glove has been much closer to average. Castellanos’ defensive limitations are well-known but the bigger issue has been his bat, as Castellanos is hitting .215/.275/.360 with nine homers over 269 PA. The veteran is on pace for the second negative-fWAR season in his three years with Philadelphia, which isn’t a great sign considering that Castellanos is still owed $40MM over the remaining two years of his five-year, $100MM contract.
The lack of production from Castellanos or Rojas hasn’t much slowed the Phillies down in their run to the NL’s best record, but the outfield does stand out as a natural area to address as one of the club’s relatively few weak links. Acquiring a rental player at the deadline might be a more logical idea for the Phils given how Castellanos will still be in the mix for the next two years, and trading for a shorter-term outfielder would come at a much lesser prospect cost than McCarthy’s price tag.
Since only four National League teams are above the .500 mark, the Diamondbacks are still just outside the wild card picture despite their unimpressive 30-35 record. There is still plenty of time for the reigning NL champions to turn things around, and the D’Backs would have to be pretty decidedly out of the running at the deadline for the front office to turn to selling, considering that the team has invested heavily in trying to remain a top contender.
Even if Arizona does sell, impending free agents and veteran players figure to be the team’s first options for trade candidates before getting around to considering moving controllable players like McCarthy. Even if it’s true that the D’Backs were willing to take Mena (not a highly-touted pitching prospect) for McCarthy last winter, Arizona might be in a position to demand more in return for McCarthy now, given his improved numbers and some extra leverage the Diamondbacks might hold in shopping him to needy contenders come July 30.