The Arizona Diamondbacks traded their longest-tenured player in outfielder David Peralta to the Tampa Bay Rays for catcher prospect Christian Cerda.

Peralta, 34, had been with the D-backs organization since 2013 and is amongst the franchise leaders in many categories, including third in games played and hits.

Speaking with the media following the deal, Arizona general manager Mike Hazen said he spoke to Peralta on the phone ahead of the trade with the team being in Atlanta.

“It was a tough conversation, it was an emotional conversation,” Hazen said. “He brought energy, enthusiasm and was a really good player for us.”

Hazen said he knew trading Peralta would be tough, with the outfielder being a fan favorite. Hazen also said he expected a Peralta trade to happen more than others, given the amount of calls they had fielded.

He felt making a deal made sense given the D-backs’ young crop of left-handed hitting outfielders.

Arizona’s top prospect happens to be one of the young lefties, Corbin Carroll, who is rising through the D-backs’ ranks and currently at Triple-A Reno.

When asked if the team would elevate a player to replace Peralta in the outfield, Hazen said he thinks that player is already on the big-league roster in Jake McCarthy.

McCarthy has impressed since the All-Star break and is posting a .314 batting average for the month of July.

“There’s a new generation of fan favorites that I hope are starting right now,” Hazen said.

In the return for Peralta, the general manager said the D-backs have had eyes on Cerda since he was an amateur in 2019.

Hazen wanted to get a player back in the trade, and felt that Cerda was at a position of need due to Arizona’s lack of catcher depth in the farm system.

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