With much of their talent locked up for the foreseeable future, ESPN placed the Arizona Diamondbacks at No. 6 in their MLB core rankings.
ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel ranked the core talent of all 30 teams, taking into consideration who is under contract for the next two years.
Salaries and age weren’t accounted for in McDaniel’s rankings, and players were split into three tiers: elite, plus and solid.
The Diamondbacks coming in sixth is a sharp increase from where the team has placed over the past several seasons. Arizona was slotted at No. 20 in 2022, No. 13 in 2023 and No. 14 in 2024, respectively.
Elite tier (5ish WAR or “perennial All-Stars with MVP chances”)
Corbin Carroll
Ketel Marte
Plus tier (3-5ish WAR)
Geraldo Perdomo
Gabriel Moreno
Corbin Burnes
Solid tier (1.5-3ish WAR or “lower-end starters and valuable role players”)
Lourdes Gurriel Jr.
Brandon Pfaadt
Jordan Lawlar
Ryne Nelson
Slade Caldwell
Adrian Del Castillo
Tyler Locklear
Ryan Waldschmidt
Kohl Drake
Blaze Alexander
Tommy Troy
Eduardo Rodriguez
Justin Martinez
Alek Thomas
Jake McCarthy
Cristian Mena
Brandyn Garcia
Carroll, Marte and Perdomo have grown into an elite group of position players and Moreno isn’t that far behind. Burnes is an ace but might not pitch again until 2027, so the D-backs need to see this next group of young players continue to progress and supplement that core. Locklear, Drake and Garcia were acquired at the deadline, and Caldwell and Waldschmidt were their first two picks in the 2024 draft.
Carroll and Marte are both inked through the 2031 season after Marte signed a six-year extension in April. Perdomo put his name on the dotted line in February, agreeing to another four years with a $15 million club option for a fifth year.
Moreno is one piece who is yet to sign a long-term extension. He is arbitration eligible in 2026.
The Diamondbacks’ NL West foes the Los Angeles Dodgers were put No. 1 on the list, while the Colorado Rockies were slotted at the bottom.
