MLB Trade Rumors: 5 players Diamondbacks should acquire

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May 9, 2017; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Cincinnati Reds catcher Devin Mesoraco (39) against the New York Yankees at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports /

4. Devin Mesoraco, C, Cincinnati Reds

In 2014, Reds catcher Devin Mesoraco was an All-Star and even received MVP votes after hitting .273/.359/.534 with 25 home runs and 80 RBI in 114 games. Unfortunately, severe hip and shoulder injuries limited Mesoraco to just 106 plate appearances combined in 2015 and 2016, largely because the injuries wrecked his ability to catch. He hit .158/.245/.200 without a home run in 39 games combined over the past two seasons.

Mesoraco sat out nearly the first full month of the season, but has played in 23 games since April 28. Finally healthy enough to play regularly, the 29-year-old has hit .246/.370/.443 with three home runs in 73 plate appearances. He’s not back to 2014 levels as a hitter, but Mesoraco has shown some signs of improvement. In seven big league seasons, Mesoraco has a 19.7 percent strikeout rate and 8.8 percent walk rate. In 2017, he has struck out 17.1 percent of the time and increased his walk rate to 14.5 percent.

Mesoraco doesn’t have a good reputation as a defensive catcher. He is a bad pitch framer, and ranks No. 68 out of 78 catchers this season in Baseball Prospectus’ FRAA metric (-1.7). However, Mesoraco has a 2.2 Def rating, and has posted a positive number in five of his past six major league seasons in FanGraphs’ overall defensive metric.

He would admittedly be a downgrade defensively compared to Mathis and Iannetta, and is due a hefty $13.125 million in 2018 (some of which the Reds may be willing to cover to move him), but a healthy Mesoraco would be a major upgrade at the plate – especially if his plate discipline continues to improve as he regains his full strength.

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