10:13am: The teams have officially announced the trade, and Los Angeles has confirmed the Siani DFA.
9:43am: The Diamondbacks are trading center fielder Alek Thomas to the Dodgers, reports MLBTR’s Steve Adams. Arizona designated Thomas for assignment last week when they called up top outfield prospect Ryan Waldschmidt.
Minor league outfielder Jose Requena is going back to Arizona, as first reflected on the MiLB.com transaction tracker and confirmed by Francys Romero. The Dodgers will assume the approximate $1.4MM remaining on Thomas’ $1.9625MM arbitration salary, reports Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic.
Los Angeles has a full 40-man roster. Although they won’t announce the corresponding move until the trade is official, their MLB.com transaction log indicates they designated Michael Siani for assignment last night. That’d open the necessary roster spot while essentially swapping in Thomas as a left-handed hitting depth outfielder.
It’s a buy-low flier for the Dodgers. The 26-year-old Thomas is a former second-round pick who was one of the better prospects in MLB when he debuted in 2022. He’s a highly-regarded defensive center fielder who had hit at every stop in his minor league career. That hasn’t carried over against MLB pitching, as Thomas has been a well below-average hitter over his four-plus seasons in the big leagues.
Thomas is an extremely aggressive hitter, ranking in the top 15 this season in both overall swing rate and chases off the plate. He has particularly struggled against off speed stuff as a result, and the very low walk rates have consistently tamped down his on-base percentage. Thomas has a career .230/.273/.361 batting line in just shy of 1500 plate appearances. It’s the ninth-lowest OBP among hitters who have tallied at least 1000 trips since the start of the 2022 season.
The D-Backs have considered trades of both Thomas and Jake McCarthy for a few seasons. They’re now both gone to division rivals, as they shipped McCarthy to Colorado over the offseason. Waldschmidt and Jorge Barrosa are manning center field between Corbin Carroll and Lourdes Gurriel Jr.
Thomas still has a minor league option remaining, so he might begin his time in the L.A. organization in Triple-A. The Dodgers are operating without a true backup center fielder behind Andy Pages, but they can’t option Santiago Espinal or Miguel Rojas. Although fourth outfielder Alex Call is a better fit in a corner spot and does have a couple options remaining, he’s hitting well in a limited role as a right-handed platoon player. The Dodgers should also get Kiké Hernández back from the injured list two weeks from now.
More to come.
