Diamondbacks trade roundup: Who’s here, who’s gone and what’s next
The Diamondbacks traded six veterans ahead of the trade deadline on Thursday, July 31, acquiring nine young players in return, eight of whom were pitchers. Notably, they held onto one of their veterans rather than deal him.
Here is a look at who went where, who stayed put and what might come next.
The deals
July 24: First baseman Josh Naylor to the Seattle Mariners for left-hander Brandyn Garcia and right-hander Ashton Izzi.
July 26: Outfielder Randal Grichuk to the Kansas City Royals in exchange for right-hander Andrew Hoffman.
July 30: Third baseman Eugenio Suarez to the Seattle Mariners for first baseman Tyler Locklear, right-hander Juan Burgos and right-hander Hunter Cranton.
July 31: Right-hander Merrill Kelly to the Texas Rangers for left-handers Kohl Drake and Mitch Bratt and right-hander David Hagaman.
July 31: Right-hander Shelby Miller and left-hander Jordan Montgomery to the Milwaukee Brewers for a player to be named or cash considerations.
Why they didn’t trade right-hander Zac Gallen
More than likely, the volatility of Gallen’s performance this season — he owns a 5.60 ERA in 22 starts — made the cost of acquisition hard to stomach for rival clubs, despite how good he had been in his career prior to this year.
With their four key trade chips — Naylor, Suarez, Kelly and Gallen — the Diamondbacks set a bar of needing rival teams to at least match the value that comes back in the qualifying offer/draft pick compensation system.
A reminder of how that works: Teams extend a one-year qualifying offer, which is expected to be somewhere around $22-$23 million for the 2026 season, and the player can either accept it and return for another season or decline it and hit the open market. If the player signs elsewhere, the club receives a compensatory draft pick.
The fact the Diamondbacks kept Gallen suggests they were comfortable with either qualifying offer outcome. Either they take the draft pick should he decline or they keep him for another year and bet on a bounce-back. The latter could be risky, but given the state of their rotation for next year — only Ryne Nelson, Brandon Pfaadt and Eduardo Rodriguez are expected to occupy spots — perhaps there are worse outcomes.
What trades were well received?
That, as always, depends on whom you ask.
The Naylor deal received solid reviews throughout the industry. The return was in line with what most seemed to expect. Izzi has a chance to be a starting pitcher in the eyes of most evaluators and Garcia has a chance to develop into a back-end type reliever with big stuff from the left side.
“I think they did well, especially considering expiring contract, first-base only, all that,” a scout with a National League team said.
People seemed to like the Kelly trade, as well, with scouts seeing Drake and Bratt as potential back-end starters, both of whom could reach the majors relatively soon.
“Drake has a big arrow up,” a scout with another NL team said. “Keeps getting better.”
Hagaman is farther away but has perhaps the highest ceiling of anyone the club got in any of the deals. A third scout said his brief look at Hagaman portended a potential mid-rotation starter.
What about the Suarez deal?
The Suarez trade was expected to bring back a haul but did not quite deliver in the eyes of most onlookers.
Locklear was probably the key player coming back, but he has defensive issues at first base and has had trouble with high fastballs. Some evaluators who have seen him recently view him in a different light based on a mechanical adjustment he made, but others are still skeptical.
Burgos is viewed as a middle relief type – not a bad one, but probably not a late-inning weapon.
Cranton has thrown only 18⅓ innings in his pro career, but one scout described him as having traits similar to Tigers reliever Will Vest and Diamondbacks reliever Kevin Ginkel. That is, Cranton’s stuff compares favorably to Vest’s with a frame comparable to Ginkel’s.
Though they liked the players coming back, club officials privately expressed frustration the market for Suarez did not materialize the way most everyone envisioned.
Returns for rental bats are often lower than anticipated.
How much did the Diamondbacks save?
With Montgomery’s attachment to Miller in the Brewers trade, the Diamondbacks saved an additional $2 million that was hard to see coming.
All told, they saved about $17.2 million in salary from a payroll that was at about $200 million to open the year.
Perhaps this allows the Diamondbacks to spend a bit more next year than they had previously planned, though it is hard to say whether they will get anywhere near this year’s total. The club’s payroll figure is always a floating target based on the whims of owner Ken Kendrick.
So who takes over in the big leagues?
Locklear is joining the big-league team and presumably will get some runway at first base.
Third base likely will be Jordan Lawlar’s at some point, though he still is working his way back from a hamstring injury. General manager Mike Hazen said Lawlar could be wrapping up his rehab at Salt River Fields “in the next few days” before he heads to Triple-A Reno.
Presumably, the club will want to be sure Lawlar is fully healthy and swinging the bat well before bringing him up; having him hit the ground running would make sense given his previous struggles in the majors.
Hazen also mentioned Tim Tawa and Blaze Alexander as players who could get opportunities with Naylor and Suarez gone.
As for Kelly’s opening, that will be filled for now by veteran Anthony DeSclafani, though Hazen said there were “guys we got today” who could get a chance to pitch in the big leagues this season. That could be a reference to Drake, who is viewed as the closest to being big-league ready among the pitchers they acquired from the Rangers.