Ray’s Land Outfielder by D’Backs

The Tampa Bay Rays traded left fielder David Peralta from the Arizona Diamondbacks.

In a pre-MLB trade deadline deal, the Tampa Bay Rays secured a strong hitter for her outfield after so many injuries weakened her offense. The Diamondbacks wanted to sell David Peralta after he spent nine years with the team for various reasons.

He’s close to becoming a free agent, it helps make room for their younger players and it gives Peralta a chance to get back into the playoffs. The soon-to-be-35-year-old fielder has only made the playoffs once since his debut in 2014, in 2017, with the D’Backs.

Own by FanSided Robert Murray broke the deal with ESPN’s Jeff Passan and added the return for Arizona.

David Peralta trading details for Rays, D’Backs

received rays

BY David Peralta

receive diamondbacks

Christian Cerda

Peralta is a Diamondbacks fan favorite known as Freight Train. That’s partly because he’s hit 46 triples since 2014, the second-most in Dbacks history. This year, Peralta strikes over 23% of the time, which is a career high. However, he walks more than ever before in his career.

Peralta has hit .248/.316/.460 this season with a 110 wRC+ and 12 home runs, 19 doubles and 41 RBI. He will secure an outfield spot for the Rays after losing Kevin Kiermaier and Manuel Margot and watching Josh Lowe fight. Peralta cannot hit left-handed pitching at all, but can dominate against right-handed pitching. Against RHP, Peralta hit .267/.325/.498. That’s above average and will help Tampa improve its offense in crucial games later.

He’s not viable against left-handers but can play in either corner outfield. He has previously won a Gold Glove and a Silver Slugger. Overall, this is an A+ deal for the Rays as they needed a racquet that could crush right-handed pitching and play the outfield. Now they’ll be on the hunt for a catcher and maybe some more pitching as they try to hole up in a wildcard spot against the Blue Jays, Orioles, White Sox, Guardians and Mariners.

The Diamondbacks achieved their goals of getting younger, opening up more playing time, putting Peralta somewhere that can push for the playoffs, and getting a player they have wanted for a while.

The Diamondbacks acquired catcher prospect Christian Cerda. Cerda wasn’t listed among the Rays’ top prospects, but that’s mainly because he’s 19 and at the Florida rookie level. He’s done really well this year. In 69 at-bats, he hit .315/.464/.519 with two home runs, 12 RBI and five stolen bases. He ran 15 times compared to 12 strikeouts.

Cerda’s defense is also exciting as he kicked out 38 out of 70 attempted stolen baserunners. Given his age and level, he’s not a name you’ll be hearing more of for years to come. However, he certainly has MLB-caliber projections if he can keep hitting. An offensive catcher is always valuable.

The loss of Peralta stings, but the Dbacks can now allow their prospects to get more playing time like Jake McCarthy or Cooper Hummel. Maybe call No. 1 prospects Corbin Carroll or Dominic Fletcher. The D’Backs youth movement is doing very well. This could take the rays out of the Juan Soto Sweepstakes – may be.