Rancho Cucamonga's Darlin Pinales pitches Tuesday, April 11, 2023 against Visalia Rawhide. 0411 Bb Rc Rawhide 7641t Ron Holman / Visalia Times-Delta / USA TODAY NETWORK

Diamondbacks Lose MiLB Pitcher to Athletics

Originally posted on Arizona Diamondbacks on SI
By Alex D'Agostino | Last updated Dec 10, 2025 5:15 PM ET

The Arizona Diamondbacks made three selections in the Triple-A section of the 2025 Rule 5 Draft on Wednesday, and lost one player to another club — right-handed pitcher Darlin Pinales, from the Low-A Visalia Rawhide.

Arizona did not make a selection in the Major League portion thanks to a lack of open 40-man roster spots. They took Antonio Menendez and Sean Harney — right-handers from Tampa Bay and St. Louis, as well as infielder Danny Serretti from Detroit.

Pinales, meanwhile, was not necessarily a name on the radar of the Rule 5 Draft. Considering many organizations opt to poach players from the Double-A level in the Triple-A section of the Rule 5 Draft, seeing a member of the Rawhide depart is a bit of a surprise.

Diamondbacks Lose Darlin Pinales to Athletics

Pinales is 23 years old. He originally signed as a free agent with the Los Angeles Dodgers, all the way back in 2019 as a teenager.

From there, he spent several seasons in and out of rookie ball and Low-A with LA's organization. Ironically, the Diamondbacks plucked Pinales from the Dodgers in the minor league segment of the 2023 Rule 5 Draft. Now, it's the Athletics' turn to do so.

Pinales never made it out of Low-A with Arizona, despite spending half of 2024 and all of 2025 in Visalia.

He struggled to the tune of a 5.90 ERA with the Rawhide this season, although he did strike out an impressive 56 batters over the course of only 39.2 innings.

He did, however, severely struggle with walks. He allowed 32 in those 39.2 innings, a steady continuation of a trend from his days with the Dodgers.

The loss of Pinales won't carry much effect on the D-backs' organization. Arizona escaped the Rule 5 Draft without seeing the departure of catcher Cristian Cerda, who some expected to be a potential target for opposing clubs.

The D-backs chose not to protect Cerda, who hit 18 homers in 93 games at the Double-A level in 2025.

The Rule 5 Draft does not carry an inordinate amount of weight to most teams, although there is always a chance to find a hidden gem of a player in an opposing team's farm system somewhere.

The D-backs' three additions may not evolve into impact players, and it seems as if Pinales was struggling to see much improvement at the lower levels of the minors.