Joc Pederson is a Diamondback!

More Power

2024 Diamondbacks offseason quick recap:

The Diamondbacks needed pop this offseason and boy did they get it. The 2023 Diamondbacks found a power surge in the playoffs bashing homers in Milwaukee and LA to cruise to 5-0 start Wild Card and NLDS. Things got dicier when the power shut off in the NLCS and World Series. Mike Hazen’s plan this offseason clearly has been keep the core we had last year, and add veteran power around it.

Now let’s address the elephant in the room… a lot of people are upset the Diamondbacks choose to sign Joc Pederson when Jorge Soler and Diamondback legend JD Martinez are sill free agents. The casuals will break out the “Ken Kendrick is cheap” lines, but that simply isn’t true for the 2023-24 offseason. In regards to passing on JD (and Soler) for Joc, here are my thoughts:

1. JD clogs the DH spot

   -The Mike Hazen Diamondbacks have always prioritized positional flexibility.

   -While Gurriel & Ketel were mostly good defensively last season, they need time at DH since they get banged up a lot, and to keep them as fresh as possible. Both should see starts at DH vs LHP.

   -Gabriel Moreno has earned DH AB’s. Moreno is such an important piece to this team as we saw the D-Backs slide begin when Moreno got hurt, and ended when he came off the IL. You can keep Moreno fresh by letting him DH vs LHP more often too. Walker and Suarez are also in their early 30’s, so theres plenty of committee members to start at DH vs LHP.

   -Jordan Lawlar should start in AAA (he’s still 21 and has just 16 AAA games played) as he needs everyday AB’s to continue his rapid development. The starting spot vs LHP the Diamondbacks currently have open is an avenue for AB’s if Lawlar rakes early in Reno. Would make a lot of sense to have Lawlar at SS, Perdomo at 2B, Ketel DH in this scenario.

2. JD Martinez wants multiple years, and is 37 in August

   -In an era where every RP throws 95+ and hitters can’t be on steroids, it’s been difficult for older players to hang on. Justin Turner was the only player 37 or older last season to have an OPS over .747 (JT .800).

   -JD Martinez did have his typical production with 33 HR and .271 AVG, but there were some red flags such as a career high 31.1 K rate, lowest walk rate since 2014 at 7.1%, and did play in just 113 games last year.

3. Joc Pederson will be significantly cheaper than JD or Soler

   -A lot of people love to complain about sports owners, it’s maybe their favorite thing about sports. Ken Kendrick has always said and done this, put what the team makes back into the team. Each season the Diamondbacks receive a competitive balance 1st or 2nd round pick due to the team being bottom 10 in revenue.

   -The Diamondbacks improved attendance in addition to 7 postseason games at Chase Field (and increased season ticket holders) has given the organization more revenue to reinvest into the roster at a rate we’ve never seen before under Kendrick:

   • Re-signed Lourdes Gurriel (3/42).

   • Traded for (essentially signed) Eugenio Suarez ($11M, $15M option w/ $2M buyout)

   • Signed Eduardo Rodriguez (4/80 with $19M 5th year option)

   • Signed Joc Pederson (1/9.5 with $13M option, $3M buyout)

   • Eating $14M from Madison Bumgarner, $2M from Mark Melancon

   • Havent made a single move to shed payroll, any player who’s been DFA, non-tendered, released has been a baseball decision

   • Still looking to make moves! $$$ flexibility will be there for in-season trades too.

   -JD Martinez wants 2 years, there’s a chance of course that his free agency continues into Spring Training and he goes down to 1 year, but he’s still likely to get the double the Joc contract if that even happens. I’d imagine JD is looking for 2/40.

   -Jorge Soler is going to get 3+ years at a much higher AAV than Joc’s. I think the Jorge Soler floor is 3/48, but he’s had steady interest all offseason I expect he gets 3/54 or 4/68.

   -Lastly, in 2022 Joc Pederson had a .874 OPS. Jorge Soler .695 OPS. Timing is everything in free agency, both are 32 next year, Soler (while being a full time player vs Joc being a starter vs RHP only) being 6x more expensive is gutsy.

I really hope Diamondbacks fans can take a step back and just enjoy the fact the Mike Hazen, Ken Kendrick and the Diamondbacks organization is spending money and not trading away top prospects to save money (cough cough Dansby Swanson and Carlos Gonzalez). SP, LF, 3B, DH has been filled by just paying for it! While Joc Pederson is the cheapest signing of the 4 major ones, there’s a lot of things that I’m excited about.

1. Joc Pederson (and Eugenio Suarez) are getting major park upgrades.

   -It’s extremely well known SF’s Oracle Park and SEA’s T-Mobile Park are pitchers park. By Statcast park factor, T-Mobile Park is dead last, Oracle Park is the 6th worse hitter’s park in baseball. (There’s 31 stadiums listed because the London Series Stadium is on this list)

2. Joc Pederson’s advanced metrics are still strong.

   -Red GREAT, blue/grey league average, blue bad. Lot of red there.

Joc’s Statcast page is pretty similar to Jorge Soler’s too.

• Joc Pederson fits the current roster construction perfectly

  -It’s been no secret that the Diamondbacks have been searching for RH bats, and they’ve mostly accomplished that with Suarez and bringing back Gurriel. With DH essentially wide open, they needed a DH who also could play the OF. Joc’s that fit. While his glove isnt great, he can play the corner OF spots still. While a lot of people are surprised Hazen got another LH bat, when you break down the lineups you can see it fits perfectly.

  1. vs RHP

     1 Carroll RF

     2 Marte 2B

     3 Walker 1B

     4 Pederson DH

     5 Suarez 3B

     6 Gurriel LF

     7 Moreno C

     8 Thomas CF

     9 Perdomo SS

  2. vs LHP¹

     1 Marte DH

     2 Carroll CF

     3 Walker 1B

     4 Suarez 3B

     5 Gurriel LF

     6 Moreno C

     7 Newman 2B (Lawlar stop gap)

     8 Perdomo SS

     9 Thomas

     (Slide Thomas down to 9, likely faces 2 AB’s vs LHP SP while being a Gold Glove caliber CF, Newman hits LHP well (wrote about it here), keep an eye on RHB Blaze Alexander (SS), switch hitter Jorge Barrosa (OF), and my favorite dark horse prospect RHB Tristin English (1B/3B/corner OF) this Spring too)

  4 Some more Joc Pederson love from our Twitter friends:

  

  5. Joc Pederson brings the vibes.

  -There was a lot of confusion on Twitter last night as a lot of fans said Joc Pederson is potentially a bad clubhouse guy due to the Tommy Pham incident… which makes zero sense but A LOT of people mentioned it. Remember, Pham slapped Joc for literally leaving a non-injured player in his IR spot in fantasy football. Also, did people forget we literally just had Tommy Pham and he literally was a clubhouse leader.

  - Joc has been beloved in every spot he’s been in. Postseason hero for the Braves, multiple Giants fans were tweeting about how they’ll miss Joc, obviously was a fan favorite in LA too. Joc’s gonna bring the vibes and fit in perfectly.

  I’ve loved what the Diamondbacks have done this offseason, and Joc Pederson just adds to it. Felt great talking baseball again as the Diamondbacks first Spring Training game is just 4 weeks away! Welcome to AZ Joc, let’s rake.

-@GoldyHappens

1. Forgot to add this into the original post, while Joc will sit vs LHP, keep in mind this means you now JOC PEDERSON to use off the bench. Very nice power bat off the bench to have if you ask me. In 41 plate appearances last season as a sub, Joc Pederson had a .848 OPS!