The Diamondbacks have spent years cycling through first basemen, and the recent stretch has been especially unstable. In the last two seasons, nobody got to 120 games at the position.
This year, Ildemaro Vargas led the club there with 74 games, and the overall production at first base came up short again - the team WAA at the spot was negative 2.4, nearly matching last season’s negative 2.2. The bat didn’t do much to rescue it either.
That’s why next season’s first-base picture feels so open. Arizona has a few internal options, a couple of younger names knocking on the door, and at least one possible trade path if the front office wants to shop instead of sign.
Tim Tawa is the cleanest in-house case. In his second major league season, he’s no longer a long shot.
He’s 27 and still hasn’t hit his peak, but the trend line is encouraging. One note on him was blunt: “In 2026, his OPS improved every month [through August].
His OPS in August was better than league average. His defense was above average, especially at left field and first base.”
Another assessment went even further: “Tim Tawa was one of four batters [in MLB] who were better than average on all five fundamental measures per Ben Clemens’ pocket guide (albeit he is basically an average batter).” There’s also the mindset piece: “He knows the mental imperative of expecting success while knowing it won’t always happen.
He prepares for games with the mental skills staff and the hitting staff.” And then the bottom line from Makakilo: “Tim Tawa is close to achieving everyday player status, which would exceed preseason expectations.”
Pavin Smith is another current Diamondback who could be in the mix, though his path this year was anything but smooth. He shared first-base time in June, got designated for assignment in July, and then resurfaced on 15 September back at first base.
In that return stretch, he posted a 1.144 OPS in 24 plate appearances. Smith is 30, makes $2.25 million, and next season will be his final year of arbitration.
Vargas is also back on the market, since he becomes a free agent at the end of the season. He’s 35 and earns roughly $1.4 million.
Arizona had already moved him off the roster at the end of last season, then signed him to a minor league deal in December. By 23 March, he was told he’d be on the active roster.
This year he also put together a 27-game hit streak, the longest by a Diamondback in 27 years. And in that Athletics series, he delivered a memorable two-way oddity: “Ildemaro Vargas had a walk-off hit in Tuesday’s game during that series, and then ended up closing out (if not closing) Wednesday’s game from the mound, being called on to pitch with a 12-run lead.” - Jim McLennan
The deeper future names are more speculative, but they matter. Manuel Pena, currently in Triple-A, has drawn attention as a possible first-base option down the line.
He was named a Texas League All-Star at third base after a strong Double-A run that started on Opening Day with Amarillo and continued until his promotion to Triple-A Reno on 16 June. Makakilo called him “a promising player in AAA who could have a future at first base.”
He’s 22.6 years old and impressed two writers in May and July.
Jose Fernandez is another possible fit. He’s 23 and made his MLB debut this season, splitting his time evenly between third base and first base.
He also showed he can handle big-league fastballs. As Ben Seigel put it: “…There’s little reason for a pitcher to risk the relative unknown placement of an offspeed or breaking pitch if he can simply power a pitch by the batter.
Fernandez has definitively passed that test as he has walloped fastballs to the tune of a .364 BA and .500 SLG while still seeing them nearly 53% of the time….”
There’s also a possible positional shuffle involving Ketel Marte. He’s 32, and in 2026 his OPS+ dropped from 147 to 107.
One idea is to move him somewhere less demanding in hopes that the bat comes back around. Joel Reuter wrote on 10 September, 2026: “Top prospect Demetrio Crisantes is knocking on the door after reaching Triple-A in July.
With incumbent second baseman Ketel Marte signed through 2030, a defensive shift is likely coming at some point. The alternative to shifting Marte to first base would be to make him the full-time DH, but that creates a logjam in the outfield.”
If Arizona wants to go outside the organization without diving into free agency, the trade market offers two names worth tracking. Ryan O’Hearn is 33 and under team control through 2027.
His OPS+ dipped from 127 to 108 in 2026, but the profile still leaves room for a rebound because his BABIP was down. Andrew Vaughn is 28 and also controlled through 2027.
His OPS+ jumped from 99 to 130, his plate discipline took a real step with a career-best 10.6 BB% and 16.0 K%, and his squared-up percentage reached a career-high 33.9%. The tradeoff is that his hard-hit percentage fell to 43.5%.
On the board, the clearest everyday answer is Vaughn. For a spot call-up, Fernandez - or Pena - looks like the better fit. And if Arizona wants to platoon, there are options there too.
In Other News...
D-Backs May Have Found A Relief Arm Fans Need To Watch
Joe Ariolas rise back onto the radar has been one of the more encouraging minor league storylines in the Diamondbacks system this year. After an elbow injury wiped out three months of his season, he worked his way back across multiple levels and finished by helping Double-A Amarillo win a Texas League championship. Along the way, the right-hander showed the kind of bat-missing stuff that makes evaluators take notice, finishing with the best strikeout rate among minor league pitchers who threw at least 30 innings.
Now Ariola has taken the next step with his Arizona Fall League debut, another sign that the organization wants to keep giving him meaningful work as a reliever. The assignment matters because it offers a better read on how his stuff plays against advanced hitters, and it puts him in the same conversation as other arms trying to carve out a future role in Arizona. For a pitcher who has already shown he can return from injury and perform, the next few outings will say a lot about just how quickly he can keep climbing. [Read more 🡒]