This is going to be hard for some of you to read but David Peralta needs to move on and let some of the younger players take his spot. Baseball is not like some other sports where age and physical limitations are the only things that force you to move on. In baseball, only the conclusion of a contract makes you move on. This is the final year of Peralta's 3-year $22MM contract that will pay him $7.5MM at age 34 turning 35 before the regular season ends. He has had a great 9-year run with a 15.0 career WAR, a .283 career batting average, and 106 career home runs. But, to give this situation some context, this season he has a .07 WAR, a .232 batting average, and 8 home runs.
David Peralta is a long-time fan fave of the Dbacks, but could be traded come August 2nd.
It would be different if the Diamondbacks did not have a slew of young, hungry, cheaper outfield talent waiting in the wings. Counting David, on the 40-man roster 10 of the players are outfielders.
St. Louis Cardinals
Let's take a look at their outfield. First, in center, they have Harrison Bader. He has no power whatsoever, he has 55 hits for the season, and 12 of them have been for extra bases with only 19 RBIs. His game is speed, he is 2nd on the team with 14 stolen bases. But he has only walked 11 times in 228 plate appearances. Left fielder Tyler O'Neill has 20 fewer games than Bader and they are basically the same player. O'Neill has 34 hits with 9 of them being extra bases. He only has 5 stolen bases and has walked 13 times. Bader has a batting average of .258 and an OBP of .303 while both of Tyler's are lower at a .221 batting and .273 OBP. Dylan Carlson is a young player trying to find his way in the majors so we will give him a pass, and Peralta won't play right anyway. Dickerson is currently on the IL, and Nootbaar was just recalled.
Who Should the Diamondbacks Target?
The guy in the St. Louis farm system I would go after is right-handed pitcher and #27th ranked prospect in the Cardinals system, Jake Walsh. He is not a top-level prospect, but he has a fastball he can reach triple digits with when he has to. Plus, he also has a 12-6 breaking 83-84 MPH curveball and his third pitch, which he rarely uses is a change-up. He has had some control issues in the past and had Tommy John surgery in late 2019. But I like his upside as a flame throwing,