Diamondbacks trade Dominic Fletcher for right-hander Cristian Mena
The Diamondbacks on Saturday traded another of the many left-handed hitting outfielders they have developed in exchange for a pitching prospect whom they believe has a chance to stick in a big-league rotation.
Outfielder Dominic Fletcher was sent to the Chicago White Sox for right-hander Cristian Mena, marking the second time in as many offseasons the club has traded from its outfield surplus to shore up another area of the organization.
“We felt like it was an opportunity to get a young starting pitcher,” Diamondbacks General Manager Mike Hazen said. “Once they sort of break out and get to the major-league level and play and play well, you have no chance to get them.”
Mena, 21, logged a 4.85 ERA with 156 strikeouts in 133 2/3 innings split between Double-A and Triple-A last season. Hazen said the club likes his secondary pitches — namely his slider and curveball — and feel that, given his age, he could have more developmental gains ahead, including with his fastball velocity. Per Baseball America, Mena’s fastball sits at 92 mph and touches 95.
“He’s certainly not a finished product,” Hazen said, adding that he anticipated Mena opening the year with Triple-A Reno.
The Fletcher deal comes a little more than a year after the club traded outfielder Daulton Varsho to the Toronto Blue Jays in the deal that brought back catcher Gabriel Moreno and outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr.
Even with Fletcher gone, the Diamondbacks still have a sizable collection of outfield options. Corbin Carroll, Alek Thomas, Gurriel and the recently signed Joc Pederson are locks to make the club. Also on the 40-man roster are Jake McCarthy, Pavin Smith and Jorge Barrosa, and the club has prospects A.J. Vukovich and Caleb Roberts, among others, coming up behind them.
Fletcher performed well in brief stints in the majors last season, posting a .301/.350/.441 line in 102 plate appearances.
“He’s a really good baseball player,” Hazen said. “This is a tough one because he’s a really good player. He’s going to be a good player for them. We know that. Sometimes you’ve got to take some of these risks, these chances, to try to acquire something that maybe a year from now you may not be able to get.”
Hazen thinks the presence of former Diamondbacks farm director Josh Barfield in the White Sox front office likely played a part in the deal coming to fruition. Barfield left in September to become an assistant general manager in Chicago.
“He knows Dominic Fletcher is a really good player,” Hazen said. “I think part of Dominic Fletcher is that, physically maybe he doesn’t jump off the page from a speed standpoint and things like that, but if you go watch him play over and over again, you realize how good of a baseball player he is. That’s something a farm director would know better than anybody.”
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Diamondbacks add to rotation inventory in trade with White Sox
