Diamondbacks' new slugger Joc Pederson says team is 'very capable' of winning it all

Drawn to the Arizona Diamondbacks by their talented core of players and well-respected coaches, slugger Joc Pederson, whose one-year, $12.5 million deal was made official on Tuesday, wants to do what he can to help get them over the hump.

“Sometimes I think if you win they call it a ‘World Series slump’ the next year,” Pederson said during an introductory call with Arizona media on Tuesday afternoon. “When you lose, I think it adds to the hunger of wanting it even more. It kind of reminds me of the Royals a few years back when they lost and then they came back and won the next year. This is a group that’s very capable of doing that.”

General Manager Mike Hazen said Pederson was appealing primarily for his ability to hit right-handed pitching, particularly at a time when the National League West is loaded with right-handed starters.

But Hazen also noted a willingness to allow Pederson a chance to show he can do two things that have seemingly limited his market in his two go-rounds at free agency: hitting lefties and playing the outfield.

“We’re going to see how he does,” Hazen said. “This is a competition in every way, shape and form in terms of us seeing where we’re best suited. I’m interested to see what those competitive thoughts will turn themselves into coming into camp.”

Hazen said that while the club could give Pederson those chances, it is also constructed in such a way that it can pivot if things don’t work out. The Diamondbacks already have a 40-man roster filled with strong defensive outfielders, and Hazen said, depending on who ends up as the backup catcher, Gabriel Moreno could get some at-bats at DH against lefties, as could Emmanuel Rivera. He also did not rule out yet another external addition.

That said, he seemed to acknowledge the bulk of his offseason work is complete. The big moves prior to Pederson included signing free-agent starter Eduardo Rodriguez, re-signing outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and trading for third baseman Eugenio Suarez. The bench and bullpen remain areas he might still look to strengthen, the latter more from a depth perspective.

“It’s hard to say we’re not done in the sense that we’ve done a lot of the big stuff,” Hazen said, “but I still remain hopeful there are more ways to improve this team.”

Pederson mentioned the Diamondbacks’ coaching staff multiple times, specifically bringing up first-base/outfield coach Dave McKay and his ability to help outfielders improve defensively.

“I’ve heard so many good things,” Pederson said. “I’ve seen it in action. I’ve seen him help a lot of guys steal a good amount of bases that aren’t necessarily speedsters. I’ve seen him make huge improvements in the outfield with some guys who weren’t as good and I’ve seen him really lock in some of the guys who are more skilled out there.”

The Diamondbacks are hoping to get a better version of Pederson at the plate than what he gave the Giants last season, when he hit just .235/.348/.416 with 15 homers. A year earlier, he hit .274/.353/.521 with 23 homers.

Hazen noted how much better Pederson’s expected stats were last season based on his batted-ball data and suggested a move out of San Francisco could benefit his production.

“Other than that, we’ve just always really appreciated the approach,” Hazen said. “Other than his ability to know that he can hit, he grinds at-bats. He gets on base. That’s a big feature to what we’ve been trying to employ for years and he fits right in that mold.”

Pederson said he had a couple of teams interested in giving him a multi-year deal but preferred the flexibility of a one-year deal, one that includes a mutual option for 2025.

“You only get to play this game for so long,” Pederson said. “It would suck to sign a long-term deal in a place you don’t want to be and you’re giving away years of a small window of that and you’re either frustrated or in a spot that is unhappy. I like to choose my spots off where I think it’s the best fit physically, emotionally, mentally, family, to make the best decision possible.”

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Joc Pederson hopes to help get Arizona Diamondbacks over the hump