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Diamondbacks Select Chris Devenski

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The Diamondbacks selected reliever Chris Devenski onto the major league roster shortly before tonight’s game against the Giants. Keynan Middleton was placed on the 15-day injured list with a right ankle strain. Arizona already had a vacancy on the 40-man roster.

If he gets into a game, it’ll be the first big league action of the year for the right-hander. Devesnki has spent much of the season on the minor league injured list recovering from a Tommy John procedure he underwent last June, but he’s returned lately to make six appearances for Triple-A Reno. He’s allowed six runs in 7 1/3 frames, largely thanks to a trio of longballs surrendered, but he’s punched out nine against just two walks.

Devenski made eight appearances with the Snakes before suffering the elbow injury. Before last season, the Cal State Fullerton product had spent his entire MLB career with the Astros. He debuted as an excellent multi-inning weapon, working 189 innings of 2.38 ERA ball through his first two seasons. The past few years have been a struggle, however, as he has a 5.09 mark across 127 1/3 frames going back to the start of the 2018 campaign.

Diamondbacks Designate Dallas Keuchel, Reinstate Ian Kennedy

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July 21: The Diamondbacks have announced their slate of roster moves, with Keuchel being designated for assignment. His active roster spot will go to right-hander Ian Kennedy, who has been reinstated from the 15-day injured list. With the open spot on the 40-man roster, righty J.B. Bukauskas has been reinstated from the 60-day IL and optioned to Triple-A.

July 20: The Diamondbacks have designated veteran left-hander Dallas Keuchel for assignment, reports ESPN’s Jeff Passan (via Twitter). The team has not yet formally announced the move.

It’s the second DFA of the season for Keuchel, who was cut loose by the White Sox earlier this year while playing out the third and final season of a three-year, $55.5MM contract. The former AL Cy Young winner posted a pristine 1.99 ERA in 11 starts with the ChiSox during the shortened 2020 season but logged a lackluster 5.28 ERA in 30 starts a year ago before taking another step back in 2022.

Keuchel was rocked for a 7.88 ERA with the Sox, tallying just 32 innings despite making eight starts. The D-backs brought him in on a minor league deal after he cleared waivers and became a free agent, hoping that a reunion with former Astros pitching coach Brent Strom — now the pitching coach in Arizona — might help Keuchel tap into some of his prior success. That, however, hasn’t proven to be the case. Keuchel somewhat remarkably struggled even more with the Snakes, yielding 22 runs (20 earned) in just 18 2/3 frames before today’s DFA.

To Keuchel’s credit, he did post markedly improved strikeout and walk rates in Arizona. After posting identical 12.2% strikeout and walk rates in Chicago — both among the worst marks in the league for starters — he turned in a 20.2% strikeout rate against a 7.9% walk rate with the D-backs. The strikeout rate is still below average, but that walk rate is solid, and Keuchel can still induce grounders at an above-average rate (albeit nowhere near his peak rate when he was perennially among the league leaders).

Whether that’s enough for another club to take a look remains to be seen. Keuchel will be placed on waivers within the week and will surely clear a second time and again become a free agent. He’ll likely settle for a minor league deal wherever he lands next.

Steven Souza Jr. Announces Retirement

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Outfielder Steven Souza Jr. took to Twitter today to announce his retirement from baseball after almost a decade in the big leagues.

“It’s been an incredible journey that I dreamed as a kid I would be able to go on,” wrote Souza, before going on to give a heartfelt thanks to the many people whose lives touched his along the way.

Steven Souza | Kirby Lee-USA TODAY SportsSouza, 33, was a third-round pick of the Nationals out of Cascade High School in 2007 and made his big league debut with the Nats in 2014. After getting into 21 games for Washington down the stretch, Souza went to the Rays in December 2014 as part of a convoluted three-team trade that saw Wil Myers go from Tampa to San Diego and Trea Turner go from the Padres to the Nats.

Souza would spent the next three seasons with the Rays, which will no doubt go down as the best stretch of his career. From 2015 to 2017, he played 378 games, hitting 63 home runs, 53 doubles, four triples, stealing 35 bases and hitting .238/.327/.426.

Incredibly, Souza was part of yet another three-team trade prior to the 2018 season. In this deal, Souza went to the Diamondbacks while Brandon Drury went to the Yankees, among other pieces changing hands. Unfortunately, Souza’s trip to the desert would be a disappointing one, with injuries preventing him from sustaining the production he showed in Tampa. He was limited to 72 games in 2018 due to pectoral issues and hit just .220/.309/.369 when on the field. In March of 2019, Souza sustained a far worse injury, slipping on home plate during a Spring Training game. The club would later announce that Souza tore or damaged multiple ligaments in his knee, which would require season-ending surgery.

After missing the entirety of the 2019 campaign, Arizona non-tendered him, allowing Souza to reach free agency for the first time in his career. He’d go on to see MLB action over the next three seasons with the Cubs, Dodgers and Mariners, respectively, but unable to recapture his previous form. Over those three seasons, he hit .152/.221/.291.

In the end, Souza was able to appear in 505 MLB games and make 1,895 plate appearances. He’ll head into retirement with a lifetime batting line of .229/.318/.411, 72 home runs, 71 doubles, eight triples, 383 total hits, 223 runs scored, 207 runs driven in and 42 stolen bases. He was able to earn more than $10MM over his big league tenure. MLBTR congratulates Souza on a fine career and wishes him the best of luck in his next chapter.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Diamondbacks, Druw Jones Agree To Terms

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The Diamondbacks have agreed to terms with their first-round pick from this year’s draft, Druw Jones, per New York Post’s Jon Heyman. Heyman reports that Jones will take home a bonus of $8.1851MM, which is the exact listed slot value for the second overall pick. However, Jim Callis of MLB.com relays that the slot values were changed just a few days before the draft and that Jones will actually get a bonus of $8.1894MM, which is the new slot value.

Jones, 18, was selected out of Wesleyan High School in Norcross, Georgia. He is a center fielder just like his father, long-time Braves outfielder Andruw Jones. Despite his young age, Jones has been long mentioned as one of the best players available in this draft class, both because of his name-brand pedigree and his incredible talents on the field.

Baseball America ranked him the best player in the draft, giving him grades of 55 or higher on the 20-80 scouting scale in each of the five categories for position players (60 hit, 55 power, 70 run, 70 field and 65 arm). Jones also took the top spot in the rankings at FanGraphs, The Athletic, ESPN and MLB Pipeline. Despite that unanimous praise as the top player available, the Orioles decided to use the first pick of the draft on Jackson Holliday, another second-generation player, the son of Matt Holliday. That allowed the Diamondbacks to select Jones with the second pick of the draft.

Jones had committed to join Vanderbilt but it seems he will forgo that commitment to jump into the Diamondbacks system, giving them an enviable bumper crop of exciting young outfielders. Though he is still quite young and it would be unfair to expect him, or any prospect, to shoot up the minor league ladder with speed, the D-Backs and their fans will surely be dreaming of seeing Jones in their future outfield mix next to the recently-promoted Alek Thomas and Corbin Carroll, who recently made the jump to Triple-A and is widely considered to be one of the best prospects in the sport.

Diamondbacks Open To Discussing Christian Walker In Trade Talks

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The Diamondbacks are open to talking about trades involving first baseman Christian Walker, The Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro reports.  While this doesn’t necessarily mean that Walker is being shopped, it does provide another view into how the D’Backs could be approaching the trade deadline.

Arizona is in last place in the NL West, with a 39-51 record and sizeable deficits to make up in the division race (20.5 games behind the Dodgers) and the wild card race (nine games).  As such, it looks like the D’Backs will be deadline sellers for the third consecutive year, yet their willingness to discuss Walker represents something of a change from the team’s strategy.  In both 2020 and 2021, the Diamondbacks were only looking to move shorter-term veterans, rather than deal any core players and trigger a wider-scale rebuilding effort.  As such, players like Zac Gallen and Ketel Marte were kept, and Marte even signed a new contract extension prior to the season.

Walker represents perhaps a middle ground between veterans under short-term control and what Arizona considers its core players.  Walker is a veteran in own right, playing in his age-31 season, and yet he is still only in his first year of arbitration eligibility.  After agreeing to a $2.6MM salary for 2022, Walker is arb-controlled through the 2024 campaign.

This makes Walker a relatively inexpensive option for a D’Backs team that traditionally works within a limited budget.  However, the team could be considering Walker’s age, the fact that prospect Seth Beer could be ready to step into a more regular first-base role, and perhaps simply a desire to sell high on Walker during a strong season.

Emerging as the Diamondbacks’ top first base option in 2019, Walker hit .262/.344/.471 with 36 homers over 846 plate appearances in 2019-20 before struggling through some injuries last year.  He has bounced back nicely, hitting .206/.319/.467 with 22 home runs in 361 PA, translating to a 116 wRC+/121 OPS+.

As Piecoro noted, Walker’s Statcast numbers are even more impressive, with plenty of hard-contact and an elite 13.3% walk rate.  If anything, Walker’s real-world numbers don’t reflect his overall offensive quality, as his .339 wOBA is well under a whopping .400 xwOBA.  Defensively, Walker has been one of baseball’s best first-base gloves, with +8 Outs Above Average, +12 Defensive Runs Saved, and +4.5 UZR/150.

There’s plenty here to attract rival teams, and Walker’s trade value is enhanced by his extra years of control.  Josh Bell and Trey Mancini are considered the top first basemen available as the deadline approaches, but both players can test free agency after the season (Mancini is widely expected to turn down his end of a mutual option for 2023).  The D’Backs could potentially shop Walker to not just current contenders, but to teams who might not be full-fledged contenders now but would be looking to vie for the playoffs by 2023.

For his own part, Walker isn’t worrying about any possible trade rumors, saying “just because somebody is an option to be traded, another team still has to want them.  There’s a lot of moving pieces in it, like getting something that’s worth it in return.  There are a lot of things that are above my pay grade, to some extent.  For me, it’s a better mental spot to ignore it and if you get a phone call, you get a phone call.  If not, this is my team and these are my teammates.”

Yankees Scouting David Peralta

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5:18PM: The Yankees have also been scouting Diamondbacks outfielder David Peralta, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale writes, with Nightengale describing Peralta as a “fallback option” if Benintendi isn’t acquired.  Peralta is also a free agent after the season, and is hitting .245/.312/.460 with 11 home runs through 263 PA.

Diamondbacks Open To Trading From Outfield Depth

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The Diamondbacks enter play Thursday with a 37-45 record, six games back of the Cardinals and Phillies for the National League’s final playoff spot. Barring an unexpected strong run over the next three and a half weeks, they seem likely to move shorter-term players for future value for a third consecutive season.

That’ll lead to a fair bit of speculation about veteran trade candidates like Zach Davies and Ian Kennedy, but Arizona could find themselves in position to move a player with a bit more club control in recognition of a mounting outfield surplus. The D-Backs have gotten encouraging early-career showings from Daulton Varsho and Alek Thomas, who look to be blossoming into members of the club’s next long-term core. They’ll be joined by Corbin Carroll, one of the sport’s top overall prospects, in the not too distant future. With that trio reaching or nearing the majors and warranting regular playing time, some of Arizona’s other outfielders could get squeezed out of the mix.

General manager Mike Hazen acknowledged as much, telling Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic the club is “open to discussing” trades involving some of the outfielders on the roster. Arizona has a few generally unproven but affordable depth options. Jake McCarthy and Pavin Smith are former solidly-regarded prospects who have reached the majors over the past couple years. Both had seen their stocks drop in the eyes of most evaluators by the time they reached the big leagues, and neither has hit especially well in limited MLB time to date. Cooper Hummel, whom Arizona acquired from the Brewers in last summer’s Eduardo Escobar trade, doesn’t have much of a prospect pedigree but owns a .316/.439/.539 line in a bit more than 400 career Triple-A plate appearances.

With each still in their mid-20’s and more than a season away from arbitration-eligibility, it’s easy to envision teams having some amount of interest in any or all of that group. (The chances of a Smith trade were dealt a blow when he fractured his right wrist in a minor league game over the weekend). Certainly, none of that trio would bring back a massive return. As Piecoro notes, all three are generally viewed by evaluators as fourth or fifth outfield types at this stage of their careers. Each could hold a bit more value and find an easier path to long-term playing time with another team that doesn’t have as much of a glut of upper minors options as the D-Backs do, however. Piecoro suggests Arizona could look to balance the organization by dealing one or more for an infield or pitching prospect of interest.

There’d of course be plenty more calls if the D-Backs were willing to make any of Varsho, Thomas or Carroll available. That’s less likely, as Hazen expressed a desire to build a core for the fanbase to “latch onto.” He’s spoken in past deadlines about “anchoring” around certain players, culminating in a Spring Training extension for Ketel Marte and a reluctance to part with staff ace Zac Gallen. While he didn’t explicitly rule out dealing anyone on the roster, Hazen downplayed the possibility of parting with a potential core piece. “Constantly rolling out young players for the next young player, I don’t really foresee that being the strategy we’re going to take,” Hazen told Piecoro. “You never want to be close-minded to the things that could happen, but that wouldn’t be a scenario I would chase.”

In addition to the unproven but controllable collection of outfielders, the D-Backs have a pair of veteran role players who could draw some interest from 2022 contenders. Jordan Luplow, acquired from the Rays over the offseason, isn’t having a great season overall but he’s popped seven home runs in 68 plate appearances against left-handed pitching. He’s a career .237/.352/.545 hitter against southpaws and could hold some appeal as a right-handed platoon corner outfield option. Luplow is playing this season on a $1.4MM salary and remains controllable via arbitration through 2024.

David Peralta, meanwhile, has spent all nine of his MLB seasons with the D-Backs. After a few down years offensively, he’s rebounded to post a solid .250/.318/.470 line with 11 longballs in 258 plate appearances. Peralta has seen a dramatic uptick in both his fly-ball rate and hard contact percentage. The new approach has come with a career-high 12.7% swinging strike rate, but the veteran is hitting for more power than he has since a 30-homer 2018 campaign.

Peralta turns 35 years old in August, and he’s playing this season on a $7.5MM salary (a bit less than half of which is still to be paid out). Between his well-regarded clubhouse presence and solid offensive showing, contenders looking for left-handed outfield help but unwilling to meet the Royals’ asking price on Andrew Benintendi could view Peralta as a decent fallback option. At his age and with the aforementioned stockpile of younger options in Arizona, a trade seems likelier than another contract extension.

In a chat with Piecoro earlier this week, Peralta acknowledged that his run with the franchise could be nearing its end. “Like I always say — and I’m not going to get tired of saying it — I want to stay in this organization,” he said. “But I know that on the other side it’s a business, right? You have to think of it that way. If something happens, it’ll hurt, because this is the only organization I know. But if it happens, I’ll just have to take it and move forward.”

Peralta noted that a trade would afford him the opportunity to compete for a playoff spot this season, but he indicated his preference would be to stick with Arizona for the long haul. After joking he could start to play worse to reduce his own trade value and ensure he finishes out the season with the D-Backs, Peralta more seriously indicated he’s willing to stay with the club beyond this year. “It depends on what the Diamondbacks are going to do, what their goals are,” Peralta said about the possibility of re-signing. “I’m always going to be open to playing here. I would love to stay here for the rest of my career. It would mean a lot to me. But we’ll see what’s going to happen.“

Diamondbacks Outright Cole Tucker

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The Diamondbacks announced that infielder Cole Tucker has been outrighted to Triple-A Reno. There was no public announcement of Tucker having been designated for assignment, but the club evidently passed him through waivers in recent days. Arizona’s 40-man roster now sits at 39.

The fact that the 29 other teams in the league passed on a chance to grab Tucker for nothing shows how far his stock has fallen in recent years. Selected by the Pirates with the 24th overall pick in the 2014 draft, he was considered one of the better prospects in Pittsburgh’s system during his time in the minors. Baseball America ranked him one of the ten best Pirate farmhands for five straight years beginning in 2015.

Tucker was always considered a glove-first prospect, but the Pirates surely hoped for more offense than what Tucker was able to provide during his time in the organization. In 154 MLB games over 2019-2022, he hit just .211/.259/.314 for a wRC+ of 53. They eventually ran out of patience and designated him for assignment at the end of May.

The Diamondbacks snagged Tucker off waivers, perhaps hoping that a return to a familiar environment could reinvigorate his career. Tucker was born in Phoenix, played high school ball at Mountain Pointe High there and was committed to the University of Arizona before being drafted. It wasn’t a perfect homecoming, however, as the D-Backs weren’t willing to commit to having Tucker on the big league roster. He was instead optioned to the Triple-A team in Reno. In 22 games for the Aces, he’s hit .235/.297/.296 so far, producing a wRC+ of 50. He’ll now stay with the Aces but without occupying a spot on Arizona’s 40-man roster.

Pavin Smith Suffers Wrist Fracture

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Diamondbacks outfielder Pavin Smith suffered a nondisplaced fracture in his right wrist over the weekend, farm director Josh Barfield tells Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. Smith, who also incurred some ligament damage in the area, suffered the injury diving for a fly ball with a game for Triple-A Reno. Barfield tells Piecoro the wrist will be immobilized for the next six weeks. The club is hoping he’ll be able to avoid surgery and return at some point this season, but the full extent of the damage and a treatment program will be known after he undergoes a CT scan.

It’s a brutal blow for Smith, who was just optioned on Saturday. He suffered the injury two days into the minor league stint, dealing a hit to his chances of earning another big league call in the near future. Because he suffered the injury in Triple-A, Smith lands on the minor league injured list and won’t receive big league pay or service time, at least for now. It’s possible the D-Backs eventually recall him and put him on the 60-day IL to clear a 40-man roster spot, but the club could elect to leave him in the minors for the duration of his recovery to avoid paying him at an MLB rate.

The seventh overall pick in the 2017 draft, Smith has suited up for the D-Backs in each of the past three seasons. He tallied 545 plate appearances last year, hitting .267/.328/.404 with 11 home runs and 27 doubles. It wasn’t an impact performance, but the left-hander showed solid contact skills and plate discipline and looked as if he could serve as a contributor in the long-term corner outfield mix.

His follow-up in 2022 has proven a disappointment, however. Smith has fanned in 26.1% of his 241 big league plate appearances, a clip nearly seven points higher than last season’s rate. He showed some more over-the-fence power, popping nine homers in 65 games, but the uptick in whiffs and a spike in his rate of infield fly balls led his batting average to crater. The 26-year-old hit .207 with a .290 on-base percentage before the Snakes optioned him.

Diamondbacks Claim Sergio Alcantara, Designate J.B. Wendelken

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The Diamondbacks announced they’ve brought back infielder Sergio Alcántara via waivers from the Padres. Reliever J.B. Wendelken has been designated for assignment in a corresponding move.

It’s familiar territory for Alcántara, who is clearly well-regarded by the Arizona front office and coaching staff. The Snakes initially signed him as an amateur free agent from the Dominican Republic a decade ago. After a few seasons in the farm system, he was dealt to the Tigers at the 2017 deadline as part of the J.D. Martinez trade. Alcántara landed with the Cubs via waivers last season, and the D-Backs reacquired him from Chicago in a trade this March. A month into the season, Arizona designated Alcántara for assignment. The Padres grabbed him on waivers but DFA him themselves last week, and the D-Backs jumped on the chance to acquire him for a third time.

Alcántara, who turns 26 next weekend, continues to earn opportunities based on the strength of his glove. Long regarded by many prospect evaluators as a potential plus shortstop, he’s rated very highly in the eyes of public defensive metrics over his 450 MLB innings at shortstop. He’s capable of suiting up all around the infield.

While his defensive prowess has drawn a fair bit of interest as a depth infielder, Alcántara’s struggles at the plate have prevented him from securing a long-term home. He’s tallied 373 plate appearances over the past three seasons, with the majority of that work coming for last year’s Cubs. The switch-hitter owns a meager .188/.268/.307 line, hitting just seven home runs while striking out at an elevated 27.6% clip.

Alcántara is out of minor league option years, meaning the D-Backs will have to keep him on the active roster or again designate him for assignment. He’ll add some immediate infield cover while the team navigates a left hamstring injury for Ketel Marte. Marte has been able to serve as a designated hitter for the past week, but the team hasn’t run him out on defense for fear of aggravating that issue. Arizona has relied on a rookie middle-infield tandem of Geraldo Perdomo and Buddy Kennedy of late, and neither player has offered much at the dish. Perdomo has long been viewed as a highly-regarded prospect and figures to get continued run at shortstop, but Alcántara could vie for playing time with Kennedy and/or fellow utility option Jake Hager.

Wendelken, meanwhile, loses his roster spot amidst a second straight down year. The right-hander was quietly one of the more reliable bullpen arms for the A’s early in his career. Between 2018-20, Wendelken fired 74 1/3 innings of 2.30 ERA ball. He punched out a solid 26.4% of opponents over that stretch while holding batters to a measly .172/.246/.276 slash line. Oakland looked as if they’d unearthed a long-term key piece of the bullpen, but Wendelken has run into unexpected struggles over the past couple seasons.

Through 26 games in green and gold last year, he posted a 4.32 ERA. The A’s made the surprising decision to designate him for assignment, and the D-Backs (owner of the league’s top waiver priority at the time) promptly placed a claim. Wendelken stuck on the active roster for the remainder of the season but posted a 4.34 ERA while watching his strikeout percentage plummet to 16.9%.

Arizona tendered the 29-year-old a contract over the winter, hoping he’d rediscover something approaching his 2018-20 form. Instead, Wendelken has allowed a personal-worst 5.28 ERA through 29 innings. He’s continued to show diminished strikeout and swing-and-miss numbers, and manager Torey Lovullo has more frequently deployed him in lower-leverage situations. Like Alcántara, Wendelken is out of options, and the D-Backs have decided to move on entirely.

They’ll now have a week to trade him or try to run him through waivers. In spite of his down swing-and-miss rate, Wendelken hasn’t lost any velocity or spin on his fastball or slider relative to his peak. That could attract some interest from other clubs hoping to see if they can coax something more closely resembling his early-career success.

Wendelken is playing this season on an $835K salary, a touch above the league minimum but a modest figure nonetheless. He’s still due around half that amount, which would be the responsibility of any team that claims him off waivers. Should he clear waivers, Wendelken would have the right to refuse an outright assignment in favor of free agency. As a player with between three and five years of MLB service time, however, electing free agency would require forfeiting the remainder of this year’s guaranteed salary.

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