D-backs should stand pat at the trade deadline
Jul 29, 2015, 3:43 PM | Updated: Jul 30, 2015, 5:02 pm
With the MLB trade deadline coming up on Friday to me it’s not so much about what the Diamondbacks need to do, but it’s about what not to do. The Diamondbacks have rebuilt their farm system, put a fun contending team on the field, built from within with homegrown players and set themselves up for a bright future.
Sure some trades can be made to dump players like Oliver Perez, Jeremy Hellickson and Aaron Hill. But I would prefer the organization not trade young pitching like Archie Bradley, Braden Shipley, Zack Godley, Robbie Ray and Aaron Blair. The D-backs may have something special here and I would like to see it play itself out.
Another area I would like to see Arizona stand pat on is the outfield. The D-backs have a dynamic outfield with four versatile players that all hit for average without the high strikeout totals of past outfielders (Justin Upton, Jason Kubel). What they do have is a rotation of four players that has worked. David Peralta and Ender Inciarte both bat left-handed while A.J. Pollock and Yasmany Tomas both hit right-handed. All four are good defenders, with Pollock being great. All four have speed and give skipper Chip Hale options at leadoff, second, cleanup and fifth in the lineup.
The fearless foursome are all young. Inciarte is 24, Tomas is 24, Peralta is 27 and Pollock is 27. And what they lack in power (a combined 29 home runs for all four) they make up by putting the ball in play and hitting for average without the high strikeouts. Inciarte is hitting .298 with just 35 strikeouts, Pollock .304 with 64 strikeouts, Tomas .299 with 74 strikeouts and Peralta .278 with 66 strikeouts.
So while every team would love to have a power-hitting corner outfielder. the D-backs would be wise to be patient, hope that Tomas develops the long ball swing and keep running these four dynamic outfielders out there.
