The Arizona Diamondbacks want to protect slugger Paul Goldschmidt, but trading for Mark Trumbo is not the answer. Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal was the first to report the rumor that Trumbo might be in play between the D’Backs and the Los Angeles Angels.
This is the same Trumbo who currently sports a sub .300 OBP for his career. The 27-year-old Trumbo would provide power but little else to the Arizona lineup. This isn’t a young prospect, this is a player who will be turning 28 before Opening Day next season.
Rosenthal later followed it up with a tweet that said that the D’Backs were “pushing” for Trumbo along with other teams. Teams will be looking at the fact that Trumbo has hit 95 home runs combined over the past three seasons and will be under team control until the 2017 season.
Trumbo has also played the majority of his four major league seasons at first base, meaning the D’Backs would likely be plugging him into left field. Trumbo is a below-average fielder who would immediately impact the D’Backs outfield defense in a negative manner.
It’s expected that the D’Backs would be sending pitching back to the Angels with Yahoo Sports’ Tim Brown reporting that talks for Trumbo might be centered around Trevor Cahill and Tyler Skaggs. Trading Cahill would make some sense from the D’Backs point of view, moving close to $20 million off of the books owed to Cahill over the next two seasons.
Angels general manager Jerry Dipoto is likely to have interest in Skaggs because ironically enough, Dipoto was the D’Backs interim general manager who acquired Skaggs and Patrick Corbin as part of a deal for Dan Haren back in July of 2010. Skaggs was supposed to be the centerpiece, but Corbin has become the pitcher that everyone thought Skaggs would be at this point.
For the D’Backs, it’s hard to see if there is a plan in place at this moment. Trading Justin Upton last year only to turn around and trade for Trumbo a year later doesn’t make much sense. Trumbo is an imperfect fit in the desert, a limited hitter and fielder who will be asked to protect the D’Backs best hitter. Unless the D’Backs believe they can improve Trumbo‘s at-bats, Goldschmidt will likely be pitched around all season with Trumbo batting behind him.
Upton may never have fulfilled the potential that was projected for him, but he is still a better overall player than Trumbo, one who filled many of the needs the D’Backs are currently looking for this winter. Upton’s combined WAR over the past three seasons is 11.0 compared to Trumbo‘s 7.7 WAR.
Trading Cahill would also be another acknowledgement by D’Backs general manager Kevin Towers that he missed on another player evaluation, this time by trading top prospect Jarrod Parker to the Oakland A’s for Cahill back in December of 2011.
If the D’Backs are really looking to add a power-hitting outfielder, they should be looking at a player like Corey Hart. Hart’s career slash line is .276/.334/.491 with 154 career home runs. Hart missed all of 2013 due to knee surgery, but if healthy, would provide a much better player to add to the roster and will likely have to take a one-year deal to prove his health.
It sounds like something might happen with Trumbo as MLB‘s Alden Gonzalez tweets that there is a “good chance” Trumbo is traded during the Winter Meetings.
If Trumbo lands with the D’Backs, it will create only more questions.
Information used from Ken Rosenthal/Fox Sports, Baseball Reference, Rosenthal/Fox Sports, Tim Brown/Yahoo Sports, Alden Gonzalez/MLB
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