Every general manager in baseball has “the prospect that got away." Every executive that is in charge of baseball operations will end up looking back at their tenure with a prospect they traded away and lived to regret.
For Rick Hahn, it was the infamous James Shields trade that future superstar Fernando Tatis Jr. from the Chicago White Sox to the Padres while he was still in rookie ball.
It can be difficult to predict whether a 19-year-old kid in rookie ball is going to grow and develop into a franchise player. But a just-turned 21-year-old that has already had success at the upper levels of the minors? That's usually a different story.
Unfortunately, Chicago White Sox GM Chris Getz traded away one of those promising 21-year-old pitching prospects before the 2024 season, and he may live to regret it.
White Sox trade Cristian Mena to Arizona
When the White Sox traded RHP Cristian Mena to the Arizona Diamondbacks for outfielder Dominic Fletcher just a couple of weeks before 2024 spring training was set to get underway, the baseball world was a little surprised and confused by the move.
Mena had just turned 21 in December of 2023, and was showing the ability to get batters out at levels above his age. At age 20, he struck out 136 hitters in 114 innings with AA-Birmingham, then followed it up with 20 strikeouts in 19 innings with AAA-Charlotte. While he did get hit around a bit, even reaching Triple-A as a 20 year-old starting pitcher is a remarkable feat, and Mena's stuff seemed to be competitive.
There was plenty of time for him to grow into a long-term major league asset. That excited many White Sox fans, who were feeling like the Sox struck gold when they signed 17 year-old Mena out of the Dominican Republic for $250k in 2019.
Even though pitching depth seemed to be a strength in the organization, trading a young starter with quite a bit of promise for a 26 year-old defense-first outfielder was a bit of a head-scratcher for many, myself included.
The biggest question about Mena was whether or not his fastball would improve enough to compete at the big league level. He was never a hard thrower, and the spin rates on his fastball were nothing special. Throwing 93-94 in MLB without movement can be challenging for a pitcher, but Mena showed up to Diamondbacks camp throwing 96, and many of the questions were answered.
Mena began the 2024 season at AAA-Reno, with his eyes on a midseason MLB debut. That day came on July 3rd, when Mena got the call to make his debut against the mighty Dodgers. His debut was a bit rocky, as he allowed four runs, including two homers and three walks over just three innings. He was promptly optioned back to Reno and did not pitch in the majors again in 2024. Mena finished the year with a respectable 4.61 ERA in a very hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. He was limited to just 95 innings due to some injuries, and has mostly fallen under-the-radar as a prospect.
Mena is back in the big leagues
Mena entered 2025 as the 13th ranked prospect in the Diamondbacks system, and the 3rd ranked pitcher, per MLB Pipeline.
His start to 2025 wasn’t ideal, with a 5.76 ERA and 32 hits in 29.2 innings in Reno to begin the season, but with mounting injuries to the Diamondbacks pitching staff, Mena got the call-up to Arizona and made his season debut Friday night against the Dodgers. In 3.2 innings of relief, Mena didn’t allow a hit and struck out five Dodgers, including Freddie Freeman twice, and Shohei Ohtani once.
The questions about his fastball seem to have been put to rest, and his curveball is an elite secondary pitch.
While there are questions remaining about Mena’s control and consistency as a starting pitcher, the 22 year-old looking dominant against a juggernaut lineup is eye opening. I'm sure it got the attention of Chris Getz, too.
Obviously, injuries can’t be predicted, but with the influx of arm injuries to the White Sox young starters, having a guy with the upside of Mena healthy and pitching well is something the team could really use in 2025.
With Dominic Fletcher struggling in the majors, and now in Charlotte, the early success of Mena hurts even more. If Mena can put together more success at the Major League level and become a mainstay in the Diamondbacks rotation, this trade could go down as “the one that got away” for Getz.