A recent trade between the Chicago White Sox and Arizona Diamondbacks nearly looked very different, USA Today's Bob Nightengale reported Sunday.
In his weekly column, Nightengale shared that the White Sox were offered either outfielder Dominic Fletcher or outfielder Jake McCarthy in exchange for top pitching prospect Cristian Mena. Chicago ultimately acquired Fletcher in the deal, rather than McCarthy.
Nightengale noted that the White Sox's assistant general manager, Josh Barfield, was formerly the Diamondbacks' director of player development.
Fletcher appeared in 28 games for the Diamondbacks last year, batting .301 with two home runs, 14 RBI, a .791 OPS and a 0.7 WAR in his first taste of the big leagues. He racked up 18 hits in his first 12 games of MLB action, at which point his OPS stood at 1.231.
A slump in the second half of May cost Fletcher his roster spot, however, and he only got another brief chance when eventual NL Rookie of the Year winner Corbin Carroll was banged up. Fletcher was sent back down to Triple-A Reno for good in July, and a finger injury in August knocked him out for the remainder of the season.
McCarthy, on the other hand, made his MLB debut in 2021. The former first round pick finished fourth in NL Rookie of the Year voting in 2022 after hitting .283 with eight home runs, 43 RBI, 23 stolen bases, a .769 OPS and a 2.4 WAR in 99 games.
Last season, though, McCarthy hit .243 with two home runs, 16 RBI, 26 stolen bases, a .644 OPS and a 0.5 WAR in 99 games. An oblique injury cost McCarthy his spot on the Diamondbacks' NL Wild Card Series roster, and he never returned throughout the rest of their playoff run.
Both Fletcher and McCarthy are 26 years old.
MLB Pipeline had Mena ranked as the No. 10 prospect in the White Sox's farm system before the trade.
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