The Arizona Diamondbacks continued their offseason remake Saturday afternoon. As a follow-up move to the signing of Zack Greinke and the acquisition of Shelby Miller, the D-Backs completed a five-player deal with the Milwaukee Brewers, sending second baseman Aaron Hill, righty Chase Anderson, shortstop Isan Diaz, and cash to the Brew Crew in exchange for shortstop Jean Segura and righty Tyler Wagner.
The main pieces of this deal are clearly Hill and Segura. Anderson showed flashes of major league talent last season, but ended the year with a decidedly mediocre 6-6 record to compliment his 4.30 ERA and 1.29 WHIP. On the upside, he is controllable through 2020. Hill made the All Star team in 2009, and produced a .273/.331/.439 with fifty-five home runs in five seasons with Arizona. In 2015, however, Hill was limited to just 116 games, and did not offer much in the way of production while healthy. He ended the season with a lowly .230 batting average, and clubbed just six home runs while driving in thirty-nine runners.
Segura’s calling-card is his speed. He has stolen twenty or more bases in each of the past three seasons. He was an All Star in 2013. Just 25 years old, Segura is under team control through 2019, which certainly played into Arizona’s interest in acquiring him. Milwaukee needed to unload him to clear a path to the majors for top prospect Orlando Arcia, and the Diamondbacks gave them a way to do just that.
Perhaps more intriguing than the major leaguers, however, are the prospects exchanged in the trade. Diaz, 19, played in sixty-eight games for rookie-level Missoula last season. His .360 batting average, thirteen home runs, and fifty-one RBI earned him the honor of being named Pioneer League MVP.
Wagner is older at 25, but still has potential. While his three starts at the MLB level last season (0-2, 7.24 ERA) did little to inspire confidence, his minor league stats tell a different story. Pitching at the Double-A level last year, Wagner went 11-5 with a 2.24 ERA and twenty-five strikeouts. If he can harness that talent, he could be a factor at the back end of Arizona’s rotation or in the bullpen.
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