According to Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic, the D’Backs plan on going after many free agent starters in hopes that one of them will sign at an affordable rate. Arizona appears to have $4-5MM to spend on an arm.
The club has traditionally avoided incentive-based deals because they bring financial uncertainty, but Piecoro sees "indications the team might be willing to relax its policy." Piecoro names Ben Sheets, Pedro Martinez and Jason Jennings as possible fits for the club, but those pitchers are considered health risks, so incentive-based deals could work for them.
To Sheets’s credit, he did make 31 starts last year, so he’s likely to get much stronger offers than the other two.
