Arizona Diamondbacks sign OF/DH Joc Pederson to a one year contract

The Arizona Diamondbacks have signed veteran outfielder/DH Joc Pederson to a one-year deal with a second year mutual option. The salary details are unknown at this point. Pederson has spent nine of his ten MLB seasons with National League West teams. Over the last two seasons, Pederson has been with the division rival San Francisco Giants. The news of Pederson’s signing was reported by Steve Gilbert of MLB.com.

Pederson posted a solid .235/.348/.416 line with a .331 wOBA, and 111 wRC+. Known for his power, Pederson hit 15 home runs in 425 plate appearances with an above league average .182 isolated slugging percentage. Both his 20.9% strikeout rate and 13.4% walk rate are the second bests of his career with 2018 being the only year he had a lower K% and 2015 the only year he walked more frequently.

Pederson has seen his time in the outfield steadily decrease throughout the years. Last season, he only saw 204 innings in the outfield, even less time than in the 2020 shortened season. But when Pederson did play the field, he struggled to -5 defensive runs saved and -4 outs above average. He has 154 innings logged at first base throughout his career, though 149 of those frames came in 2019 when the Dodgers experimented with him at 1B. Anything beyond emergency 1B duty might be asking too much from him.

The Diamondbacks will have to find a platoon-mate for Pederson. He batted .241/.351/.436 with a 115 wRC+ against opposite-handed pitching. But when he faced a lefty, he had a meager .186/.327/.279 line and 80 wRC+. The Giants shielded Pederson from lefties as much as possible last season as he only had 52 plate appearances against same-handed pitching.

Overall, his season was slightly disappointing given he had a 147 wRC+ in 2022, but he could see his overall production rebound in 2024. Despite a 36% decrease in wRC+, his xwOBA .367 to .366. Pederson had a .481 xSLG%, 65 points higher than his 2023 mark. He was above the 90th percentile of both hard hit rate (52.2%) and exit velocity (92.1 MPH).

Pederson is a solid addition, even if he isn’t the flashiest. The question now becomes if the Diamondbacks will find a platoon mate for Pederson. Pederson is only effective against right-handed pitching and has mostly been hidden against lefties the last two seasons. Still, Pederson adds a solid left-handed bat who can bring some pop to the D-Backs' line-up.