The trade deadline arrives Monday, and the Diamondbacks find themselves in a position that usually demands action. They’re five games over .500, sitting in the final wild card spot, and they’ve already started collecting tie-breakers against the teams around them.
When a club is in that kind of spot, adding help is usually the move. The harder part is figuring out exactly where that help should come from.
For Arizona, the most obvious place to start is the bat at first base, in the DH mix, or in a left-handed platoon role. That corner of the roster has gone from a strength for years - first with Paul Goldschmidt and then with Christian Walker - to a glaring problem.
Tyler Locklear is back at first after being acquired at last year’s deadline, but there’s still plenty unknown there. He has only eight games and 28 plate appearances entering Friday, and while his glove at first is better than early reports suggested, the bat remains the bigger question.
He’s also a right-handed hitter, which doesn’t solve the team’s poor production from the left side.
Arizona tried to patch that issue with Max Kepler, bringing him in after his suspension ended, but that move has produced mixed results at best. And even if Kepler rediscovers his pre-suspension form, he can’t be on the playoff roster, so the Diamondbacks would still need another answer if they want October insurance.
The first-base route is the cleanest one, but it’s not the only path. Because of the injury situations with Jordan Lawlar, Tommy Troy, and Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Arizona could also look for a left-handed bat for left field, similar to what Joc Peterson once provided.
A pure DH addition is another possibility, though that’s not usually how Mike Hazen prefers to operate. He tends to value flexibility, and for a mid-market team like this one, that matters.
Starting pitching is another area that could draw real attention. Any contender wants more arms for October, but Arizona’s situation is more urgent than most.
The club is functioning with a three-man rotation and two more spots being handled by developing prospects. Zac Gallen and Ryne Nelson are unlikely to throw another pitch this year, Corbin Burnes may not return in time or sharp enough to help, and the team is hoping the Michael Soroka injury is minor.
Without some reinforcement, the pitching staff could be stretched thin over a long stretch. Even a modest addition might move the needle here, though starting pitching always comes at a premium.
Then there’s the bullpen. By and large, Arizona’s relievers have outperformed expectations, and that’s part of why the team is in a playoff position in August.
The recent demotion of Paul Sewald from the closer’s role says a lot about that overall performance. But it also exposed a weakness: the Diamondbacks don’t have enough true high-leverage arms.
They have plenty of pitchers who can cover the middle innings or soak up lower-pressure work. What they need are shutdown relievers.
The hope was that A.J. Puk and Justin Martinez would be back and making real late-inning contributions by now, but at this point it’s wishful thinking to expect much from either in 2026.
Brandyn Garcia and Jonathan Loáisiga have the kind of stuff teams want in those spots, but neither has spent much time in high-leverage situations this season, and asking them to step into those roles immediately is a leap. If Arizona is going to play deep into October, it probably needs more than two reliable late-inning arms.
Relief pitching is also the trickiest thing to buy at the deadline. It’s usually overpriced, and even when the indicators look good, the results can go sideways fast.
The Diamondbacks have seen that before. Mike Hazen’s 2018 trade for Jake Diekman is the cautionary tale.
Arizona needed left-handed bullpen help, Diekman’s numbers and salary pointed to a smart pickup, and then the performance cratered as soon as he arrived. He went from one of the better lefty relievers in the game to one of the worst overall.
Even more frustrating, he bounced back after leaving Arizona and didn’t start struggling again until years later, when his stuff began to decline.
That’s the reality of deadline bullpen shopping: even when the logic is sound, the outcome can still go wrong. So the Diamondbacks have real needs, but no simple answers. Whether Hazen tackles one of them, all of them, or none of them is the question hanging over the next few days.
In Other News...
Diamondbacks Trade Deadline Focus At First Base Is Getting Interesting
The trade market is starting to tilt toward a familiar summer bargain hunt, and first base has become one of the spots Arizona could try to shore up before the deadline. With St. Louis slipping in the NL Wild Card race, the Cardinals look more likely to listen than to add, and Alec Burleson has emerged as one of the more appealing names on their roster thanks to a strong season and a contract that runs for two more years at a reasonable price.
For a Diamondbacks club still trying to keep pace in a crowded race, the appeal is obvious. Burleson brings offense, team control and the kind of cost certainty that can matter when clubs are weighing how aggressive to be in late July, but a move like this usually comes down to how much competition builds and how far Arizona is willing to go to solve a position that has been anything but settled. [Read more 🡒]
Diamondbacks Deadline Push May Come Down To One Costly Rotation Call
The Diamondbacks are still working the phones as the trade deadline nears, and one of the more intriguing possibilities has them looking at the left side of the pitching market. Arizona wants to add another arm to the rotation mix, and the Angels, already deep into sell mode after a busy season of dealing players away, look like a logical partner for a club trying to sharpen its October path.
What makes this one especially interesting is the price. Arizona has been weighing a package built around two left-handed pitching prospects, Kyle Drake and Cooper Hjerpe, which speaks to how seriously it is considering the move and how much it values another controllable starter. The question now is whether the Diamondbacks are willing to pay that kind of prospect cost for a rotation upgrade before the deadline clock runs out. [Read more 🡒]
Padres Just Made A Rotation Move Arizona Fans Cant Ignore
The Padres have added another familiar name to a National League West rivalry by landing veteran left-hander Robbie Ray in a trade with the Giants. For Arizona, it is the kind of move that gets attention quickly, because any rotation change in San Diego can ripple through a division where the margins are already thin and every series tends to carry extra weight.
San Francisco will get minor-league prospects Miguel Mendez and Joniel Hernandez back in the deal, and the clubs will split the rest of Rays salary this season. Even without the full details of how San Diego plans to deploy him, the trade matters for the Diamondbacks simply because it strengthens a division opponent while reminding everyone how quickly the landscape can shift this time of year. [Read more 🡒]