Like many of you, I am fascinated by the alternative path, the one not taken that could have led you somewhere very different. I suspect it’s a very human instinct to wonder what could have happened if we made different decisions. If nothing else, the mental exercise can be an excellent distraction from a world that offers little to no direct control over its events. And since sports is one of the ultimate unknowable and uncontrollable phenomena we “participate” in within contemporary society, it’s rife
for exactly this kind of mentality. How often have baseball fans wondered, “How would Ted Williams’ career numbers compare if he didn’t lose those years to military service?” among many other what ifs. Unfortunately, unless one of you is secretly hiding an ability to turn back time or explore other dimensions, we’ll never be able to fully analyze the counterfactuals. But that won’t stop me from mining the perfect opportunity with a whirlwind Trade Deadline having just wrapped up this evening and asking how are the players the D-Backs traded away doing since their departure?
Last year, the D-Backs were actually relatively quiet for a team that was six games over .500 and the holder of the final Wild Card spot in the National League. They added a pair of relievers in AJ Puk and Dylan Floro alongside Josh Bell as a stopgap while Christian Walker was sidelined with an oblique strain. In all, those three trades cost them two Top-30 prospects in Deyvison De Los Santos (14) and Andrew Pintar (30) as well as unranked prospect Andres Chaparro. On balance, it seems like a fair trade given how close the team got to reaching the postseason.
Deyvison De Los Santos
Originally signed by the D-Backs out of the Dominican Republic back in 2019 for $200,000, De Los Santos broke out in 2022 when he rocketed through three levels and nearly reached .500 SLG on the year. However, he demonstrated the kind of swing-and-miss alongside that power which has limited his ceiling with 147 strikeouts on the year. Evidently, that profile gave Hazen enough pause to leave De Los Santos unprotected in the Rule 5 and the Guardians took a flier on him, but returned him at the end of the season. Upon returning to Amarillo, De Los Santos took the league by storm with an OPS north of 1.000 and earned a promotion to Reno where he continued to mash to a .289/.338/.588 slash line. Unfortunately, De Los Santos hasn’t been able to replicate his Pacific Coast League success in the Miami organization so far with just a .712 OPS and striking out well over once a game. That kind of profile has been plenty successful at the major-league level, but his ceiling is limited without some significant changes in his swing decision.
Andrew Pintar
A 2022 draftee from the fifth round out of Brigham Young, Pintar hasn’t quite been able to translate his success in college to the pros. To be fair, he’s been limited by multiple shoulder surgeries in college and a foot/ankle injury last year, but that hasn’t stopped him from reaching the upper minors with some light-hitting success. Unfortunately, that last note may limit how successful Pintar will be in the Show. He’s traded power for contact this year as he’s collected just 17 extra base hits in 280 PAs and seen his patient plate discipline slip with his K% and BB% go in opposite directions. However, when he gets on base, he’s able to use his speed to steal bases at a solid clip including 21 bags this season with Jacksonville. He’s also utilized that raw speed to successfully make the move to the outfield where he’s been excellent. If he can return to a more patient approach at the plate and tap a little more into his potential power, he could quickly find himself in the outfield mix for the Marlins.
Andres Chaparro
Another international signee - this time out of Venezuela and originally with the Yankees, Chaparro made it to AAA with New York before electing free agency at the close of the 2023 season and being picked up by the D-Backs on a minor league contract. He took his offensive game to another level in the friendly confines of Reno with a .332/.403/.564 slash line. Those kinds of numbers were enough for the Nats to grab him in exchange for Floro and quickly call him up for his big-league debut for a cup of coffee at the end of last season with middling results. The Nats have mostly kept him with their AAA affiliate as he’s been leapfrogged by other prospects including Brady House. There’s clearly some potential with Chaparro, but he will need to make another jump to do so.
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