Three top trade candidates for the Arizona Diamondbacks to consider
By Noah Wright
Jesus Luzardo
The Diamondbacks should counter the LA Dodgers’ trade and subsequent extension of Tyler Glasnow. I also think the Diamondbacks should double-down, and keep adding to their pitching staff. One team who may be willing to trade one of their young starters is the Miami Marlins, and their ace lefty, Jesus Luzardo, has had some rumors swirling around him and could be a great pick-up for the Snakes.
Luzardo broke out in 2023, pitching to a 3.58 ERA, 3.55 FIP, and 1.21 WHIP through 178.1 innings. The lefty also had a quality 28.1% strikeout rate and only walked 7.4% of the batters he faced. His 1.11 HR/9 wasn’t overly impressive, but was still better than the league average. Luzardo was below average in exit velocity (89.5 MPH), hard-hit rate (39.8%), and barrel rate (9.3%).
Luzardo should benefit from better defense. The Marlins had below-average defense, with only -11 defensive runs saved and -28 outs above average. The Diamondbacks, in comparison, had +46 DRS and +31 OAA. The difference is massive, as the Diamondbacks saved 57 more runs and were worth 59 more outs above average compared to the Fish.
The Marlins went into the off-season looking for some help up the middle. Maybe a package headlined by Geraldo Perdomo could get the job done to acquire Luzardo. But it won’t be cheap to get Luzardo overall. He has three more years of control left via arbitration. Either way, imagine if the Diamondbacks were able to get Luzardo in a trade. If that were to happen, Brandon Pfaadt would get pushed to the fifth starter spot, and the D-Backs’ 4th best starter may be Eduardo Rodriguez.