Two bold mock Arizona Diamondbacks trade proposals
By Noah Wright
Arizona Diamondbacks acquire: | Tampa Bay Rays acquire: |
|---|---|
-DH/OF/1B Harold Ramirez | -OF Dominic Fletcher and C J.J. D'Orazio |
One of the other potential DHs on the trade market is Harold Ramirez from the Tampa Bay Rays. Ramirez is in the opposite vein as Rooker. While he might not hit for much power, he can hit for a good average with an above-average strikeout rate. But he is similar to Rooker in terms of the bottom line, such as OPS, wOBA, and wRC+.
Ramirez has broken out the last two seasons for the Rays. Last year, he batted .313/.353/.460 with a .349 wOBA, and 128 wRC+. Ramirez only walked in 5.1% of his plate appearances but had a great 18.2% strikeout rate. While he hit for below-average pop, he did go yard a career-high a dozen times with a .148 isolated slugging percentage. Ramirez has mostly played DH the last two seasons, but he does have experience in the outfield and first base.
Ramirez is only controlled via arbitration for two more years. For Ramirez, I have the D-Backs sending Dominic Fletcher as the headliner in this deal. Fletch made his MLB debut last season and hit well, albeit in only a 102-plate appearance sample size. He slashed .301/.351/.441 with a 113 wRC+. But he looked even better defensively, racking up +4 DRS and +2 OAA in just 219.1 innings in the outfield.
Most of Fletcher's playing time came at Triple-A Reno, where he batted .296/.399/.500 with a .400 wOBA. His 12.6% walk rate was a career-high while his 18.6% K-rate matched a career low for him. Fletcher also had a respectable .209 isolated slugging percentage and ten home runs in 334 plate appearances. Keep in mind that this is the ultra-hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. But even once you adjust to the extreme environment, Fletcher was still a well above-average batter with a 120 wRC+.
Along with Fletcher, I am also including J.J. D'Orazio. D’Orazio batted for a quality .276/.333/.422 line through 441 plate appearances split between Hillsboro and Amarillo. D'Orazio only walked in 7.9% of his plate appearances with a mediocre .146 isolated slugging percentage. But he did have a quality 20.2% strikeout rate. Overall, he had a .341 wOBA and 102 wRC+.
D'Orazio projects to have an average hit tool that he keeps improving. He cut his K% down by nearly 3% from 2022 to 2023. Meanwhile, he started to lift the ball more often. His ground ball rate had gone from 49.5% in 2022 to only 45.3% in 2023. His power is below average, but he should still connect for double-digit home runs. But as a defender, he is above average with a quality arm.
Fletcher gives the Rays another outfield option. Meanwhile, they get a catching prospect in D'Orazio. Right now, there is only one catcher in the Rays' top 30 prospects on MLB Pipeline and only one among their top 50 in FanGraphs, both of which are Dominic Keegan. The D-Backs have an answer at catcher long term as well as outfield. Time to use some of that depth to get a quality DH option like Harold Ramirez.