The Arizona Diamondbacks did not get enough production out of center field in 2025.
It is not attributed as the prime suspect for the club’s shortcomings but is an area in need of improvement.
As a team, Diamondbacks center fielders accounted for a bottom-five OPS (.628) in Major League Baseball and the third fewest wins above replacement (0.1) last year. Even defensively, D-backs center fielders finished middle of the pack with -3 defensive runs saved, not good enough to make up for a lack of offensive punch.
The Athletic reported this week that the D-backs were among teams exploring center field opportunities this winter, while incumbents Alek Thomas and Jake McCarthy find themselves back in trade rumors.
With the winter meetings next week, let’s review some of Arizona’s avenues to proceed in center field:
Diamondbacks center field options
Internal improvement
(Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images)
There are many ways internal improvement could materialize given the number of players who can or have been given opportunities to learn how to play center field.
Thomas started 121 games in center field in 2025, while McCarthy and Tim Tawa started 12 each and Jorge Barrosa eight.
The Diamondbacks opted to give versatile infielder Blaze Alexander looks in center field in September, while former top prospect Jordan Lawlar made his pro debut at the position in winter ball.
ESPN on Tuesday included Thomas on a list of 50 trade candidates, while MLB.com highlighted McCarthy in a similarly-themed story on Monday.
Thomas was better in the second half of last season defensively, and at his best, Thomas has been among the most electrifying center fielders in the league since his debut in 2022. At the plate, a breakout has not materialized.
There have been stretches when he’d heat up, but he has still yet to finish a season with an OPS of .660 or better. Thomas is a career .191 hitter against lefties.
Thomas is still a young player at 25 years old, but he is entering his fifth major league campaign and simply has not hit consistently enough to guarantee his future as the everyday center fielder in Arizona.
McCarthy was pretty good in 2024 with a .749 OPS, 25 steals and a Gold Glove finalist nod. Last year went wrong quickly, as he started 3-for-41 before getting demoted to the minors. He plays with his hair on fire, provides defensive versatility and speed, but even after he returned from Triple-A, he produced a lackluster .674 OPS in 53 games.
If both Thomas and McCarthy continue to profile as platoon/fourth outfielders moving forward, there remains redundancy on the roster.
Barrosa is a stellar defender and a switch-hitter who has yet to hit big league pitching, while Tawa is useful as a utility player who can step into infield and outfield roles.
Alexander, Lawlar and prospects Tommy Troy and Ryan Waldschmidt represent different directions internally.
Alexander played 28 innings of outfielder and managed to make a diving catch, rob a home run and throw out a runner going home. He is fast with a rocket arm, but the question would be how consistent he could become patrolling a large outfield at Chase Field. Also, would the Diamondbacks need him elsewhere, like third base?
Lawlar is also extremely fast and athletic, but he is brand new to playing outfield. His bat picked up in September, perhaps something to build on after he had struggled mightily against MLB arms in a couple cups of coffee.
Troy, like Alexander and Lawlar, is an infielder whom the club gave outfield reps to last season. There is a lot to like in his profile, particularly his hit tool, ability to get on base (.382 in 2025) and speed. He will be 24 years old by spring training and knocking on the major league door.
Waldschmidt was drafted as a corner outfielder, but the Diamondbacks ran him in center in Double-A last year, where reports were positive. He has not played in Triple-A yet, but his dominance in Double-A may lead to a promotion and hard look as a player who reached base at a .419 clip, hit 18 home runs and stole 29 bags last year.
Move Corbin Carroll over
Carroll has played over 1,000 MLB innings in center field, and he is coming off his best overall defensive season.
If the Diamondbacks find corner outfield help or that some of their utility options are better served in a corner, then moving Carroll back to center field would open that avenue. The Diamondbacks wanted to keep him locked into one spot last year and mostly did, as he went from playing all three spots nearly evenly in 2023 to spending 98% of his innings in right field last year.
The Diamondbacks have some figuring out to do in a corner, too, considering left fielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. is likely out for most of next season as he rehabs from a torn ACL.
Sign a free agent
(AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Carroll moving to center at least opens more doors in terms of which outfielders the Diamondbacks could target in free agency.
There are some big fish in the free agent outfield market, including Kyle Tucker and Valley native Cody Bellinger. Either one would obviously be a great baseball fit in Arizona, but their respective prices will likely be too high.
There is a sizable drop off from there, but here are a few names of note:
Harrison Bader (32): Bader was a golden midseason addition for Philadelphia last year as someone who plays excellent center field defense and provides pop. He hit .305 with the Phillies after a trade from Minnesota, quickly becoming a key cog in the lineup. There were some concerns under the hood, including high strikeout and chase rates. He was a .644 OPS player from 2022-24.
Mike Yastrzemski (35): A familiar name having spent seven years with the Giants — in addition to being the grandson of Red Sox legend Carl Yastrzemski — Yastrzemski has been a consistently productive major leaguer. Over the last three years, he has hit for a .748 OPS with an average of 17 home runs, doing so while playing in a pitcher’s park in San Francisco. He has center field experience but mostly stayed in the corners over the last two seasons. He is also a left-handed bat, which may or may not work with the roster depending on whether the D-backs trade another outfielder.
Cedric Mullins (31): The left-handed hitter racked up at least 2.5 WAR each year from 2021-24, combining sneaky power with quality defense in center field. Last year was a step back, particularly once he joined the Mets at the trade deadline, after which he hit .182. How much of his second-half slump is fixable will be the question he faces this winter.
Rob Refsnyder (35): The veteran simply crushes lefties. He hit .302 with a .959 OPS off lefties in 2025 after he hit .302 with a .941 OPS against them in 2024 with the Boston Red Sox. He split time between the two corner outfield spots and designated hitter, as he does not possess great range but possesses a good throwing arm. He profiles as a platoon bat, circa Randal Grichuk in 2024.
Austin Hays (30): Hays is another right-handed bat who has clubbed lefties over the past few years (.949 OPS versus lefties in 2025). He only played left field defensively last year and has limited range with a good arm, similar to Refsnyder.
Trades
(AP Photo/Matt Krohn)
With pitching as the priority, it may seem counterinitiative to trade an arm for an outfielder if that is what it takes to get one, especially with the in-house options present. At the same time, the Diamondbacks’ roster could look differently depending on how they address their issues on the mound.
What if star second baseman Ketel Marte gets traded, and the Diamondbacks bring back not only an arm but another bat? A Red Sox deal that adds young starting pitching and standout left fielder Jarren Duran, perhaps?
Or, if Marte stays put and the Diamondbacks trade from their crop of prospects for pitching, is there an opportunity to pull from Arizona’s minor league pitching depth for an outfielder?
Steven Kwan would be a fantastic addition as a stout defender worth an average of 4.1 WAR over his first four seasons and under team control for another two, although he would command a very high trade price.
Luis Robert Jr. has been subpar offensively on a bad White Sox team for a couple years, but he finished 12th in the 2023 MVP voting and is only 28. He’s a good defender with two years of club control left, albeit at $20 million per season.
The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal and Katie Woo brought up Houston’s Jake Meyers as a trade candidate. The 29-year-old, right-handed bat is a good defender in center field and put together a productive season last year (.727 OPS), although he does not hit for much power with a career slugging percentage of .371.
ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel and Jeff Passan listed Minnesota’s Byron Buxton, Philadelphia’s Nick Castellanos and Jeff McNeil of the New York Mets as fellow outfielders who could be traded.
