Diamondbacks interested in re-signing veteran DH

Free agent Joc Pederson is one of the better left-handed bats available, and the Diamondbacks are interested in bringing him back, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Rosenthal also mentions the Rays and Rangers as possible landing spots, though those seem more speculative, so it’s unclear to what degree those clubs are interested.

Pederson, 33 in April, is a limited player but does one thing very well. He doesn’t run well nor provide much of anything defensively. He’s also been a liability when a left-hander is on the mound, but he does crush righties.

Last winter, the Diamondbacks signed Pederson to a one-year deal with a $12.5M guarantee. He got into 132 games for the Snakes this year but didn’t take the field at all. On account of his poor defensive track record, he was used exclusively as a designated hitter or pinch hitter. 

Of his 449 plate appearances on the year, only 42 of them were against southpaws. He produced a strong .219/.405/.344 line and 124 wRC+ in that split, thanks to a 16.7 percent walk rate and despite a 42.9 percent strikeout rate. But for his career, he has a .210/.300/.330 line and a 76 wRC+ without the platoon advantage.

In his 407 plate appearances against righties this year, his strikeout rate was a far more palatable 21.4 percent. His 11.8 percent walk rate was quite strong, a few ticks above league average. He also hit 22 home runs, which helped him produce a slash of .281/.392/.531 and a 154 wRC+.

Overall, Pederson hit .275/.393/.515 on the year for a 151 wRC+, the second of the past three years with very strong offensive production. He hit .274/.353/.521 with the Giants in 2022 for a 144 wRC+. San Francisco gave him a $19.65M qualifying offer on the heels of that showing, which he accepted. 

His batting line dropped to .235/.348/.416 in 2023 for a 109 wRC+, but the Snakes may have had a hunch that was bad luck. His batting average on balls in play went from .310 in 2022 to .268 in 2023 despite his batted ball metrics staying strong. His BABIP corrected to .322 in 2024, and his overall offense climbed back up along with it.

Even with that unlucky dip last year, Pederson has still managed to produce a 135 wRC+ over the past three years combined. Among players with at least 1,200 plate appearances in that time frame, that figure is one of the top 15 in the majors, just ahead of guys like Jose Ramirez, Matt Olson and Rafael Devers. 

Pederson’s deficiencies put limits on his ability to contribute, but he’s a huge difference-maker at the plate. MLBTR predicted him for a two-year, $24M contract as part of the annual Top 50 Free Agents post.

Understandably, the Diamondbacks would want Pederson back, as they saw firsthand what a huge impact he can make at the plate. General manager Mike Hazen has said that he expects the 2025 payroll to be in the same range as 2024. 

RosterResource currently projects the club for $149M in spending next year, which is about $14M shy of last year’s Opening Day figure. Re-signing Pederson would eat up most of that, but trading some of Jordan Montgomery’s salary could perhaps create some extra wiggle room for further offseason moves.

For the Rays, they usually aren’t big players in free agency, but it wouldn’t be unprecedented to do something like this. Just two years ago, they gave Zach Eflin a $40M guarantee. RosterResource pegs them at $79M for next year’s payroll, about $20M shy of where they started in 2024. That could give them some room to work with this offseason, depending on how their ongoing stadium uncertainty is going to impact their spending plans.

In terms of the roster construction, it would be a bit of a pivot for the Rays, as they usually place a high value on defensive versatility. The last time they had one player take more than 400 plate appearances as a designated hitter was Johnny Damon in 2011. But if they view Pederson as the best bat available in their price range, perhaps they would be willing to have him lock up the DH spot, at least against righties.

For the Rangers, as mentioned by Rosenthal, squaring up right-handed pitching was a struggle this year. They put up a collective line of .238/.304/.379 for a wRC+ of 95, putting them in the bottom third of the league. Installing Pederson in their lineup would be the most straightforward way of improving that line in 2025. 

The club didn’t have a set designated hitter in 2024, so fitting Pederson in shouldn’t be too hard. 11 different players took at least 22 trips to the plate in that spot in 2024, with Wyatt Langford leading the pack with 105 plate appearances. Pederson’s presence would make it more difficult to spread around the DH time to so many guys, but it could be viewed as worth it, given how good he’s been at the plate recently.