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Looking to revive his career, Oscar Mercado has signed with the Diamondbacks.
The Arizona Diamondbacks outfield has been stretched to the breaking point. Corbin Carroll’s latest injury exposed their lack of depth at the position. It’s unclear who will be in the lineup come Opening Day.
While Arizona scrambles to replace their starting right fielder, they’ve made one depth signing. MLB Trade Rumors’ Steve Adams reports that the Diamondbacks have signed Oscar Mercado to a minor league deal with an invite to Spring Training.
#Dbacks are signing OF Oscar Mercado to a minor league deal with an invite to big league camp, I’m told.
He hit .249/.369/.373 with 40 steals in AAA last year. Can play all three OF spots. Had a low 14.3 K%. He’s played parts of 5 MLB seasons, mostly in Cleveland.
Mercado, 31, serves as additional outfield depth for the Diamondbacks this spring. He owns a career slash line of .237/.289/.388 slash line in 973 plate appearances. Once considered a future core piece of the Cleveland Guardians, he never built on a strong rookie season. His last MLB game was in 2023 with the St. Louis Cardinals, his original organization.
A fresh start in Arizona could be what Mercado needs to get back to the big leagues. With the Diamondbacks’ outfield depth considerably thinned by injuries, it’s no surprise he took this opportunity.
Diamondbacks Outfield Situation After Signing Oscar Mercado
The Diamondbacks are in an emergency with their outfield. Arizona will be without its starting left fielder, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., for the first half of the season. Gurriel is rehabbing a torn ACL suffered in late August.
They also dealt Jake McCarthy within the division for pitching prospect Josh Grosz. McCarthy was out of options, so general manager Mike Hazen elected to get value while he still could for an inconsistent player. However, it also put them one injury away from a disaster.
They’ve already figured out their center field solution. They’re committed to giving Jordan Lawlar to an everyday center field opportunity. Lawlar is blocked at his natural position at shortstop by Geraldo Perdomo, so Arizona is looking for a place to play their former top prospect.
While that solves one spot, the other two are wide open. Ryan Waldschmidt, a consensus Top 100 prospect, has an opportunity to break camp. He should get serious consideration for the starting left field job.
Right field is going to have to be the position where the Diamondbacks have to be creative until Carroll comes back. Alek Thomas, their former starting center fielder, is likely to take on a fourth outfielder role. Thomas has mostly sat against left-handed pitching since the second half of 2023.
Regardless of whether Waldschmidt breaks camp with the Diamondbacks, they still need a right-handed bat. Lawlar is the only right-handed hitter guaranteed a spot. Jorge Barrosa is a switch-hitter, and Alek Thomas is a left-handed hitter.
This is where Mercado comes in. He will compete with Kristian Robinson and A.J. Vukovich for the fifth outfielder role in Arizona. Given the uncertainty at the position, it wouldn’t be a shock if the Diamondbacks opened the season with five outfielders on their roster.
All three outfielders share a similar story: once highly valued prospects who haven’t established themselves in the major leagues. Mercado, Robinson, and Vukovich all signed seven-figure bonuses, but haven’t made good on that promise. Mercado’s issues are more at the major league level, whereas Arizona’s two prospects.
Michael McDermott Michael McDermott is a writer at Heavy Sports covering the Arizona Diamondbacks and Major League Baseball. Michael has 10 years experience writing about the D-backs and their farm system for AZ Snake Pit, Burn City Sports, and Diamondbacks On SI. More about Michael McDermott
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