2021 was a Murphy’s law season for the Diamondbacks, who entered the year expecting to at least hang around in the Wild Card race. Instead, they dealt with myriad injuries, saw some typically reliable veterans take steps back, and had perhaps the game’s worst bullpen. The result: a 52-110 record that calls the franchise’s entire direction into question.
Guaranteed Contracts
- Madison Bumgarner, LHP: $60MM through 2024 ($10MM between 2022-23 deferred until after the contract’s expiration)
- Nick Ahmed, SS: $18.25MM through 2023
- Mark Melancon, RHP: $14MM through 2023 (including $2MM buyout on $5MM mutual option for 2024)
- Ketel Marte, 2B: $9.4MM through 2022 (including $1MM buyout on $10MM club option for 2023; contract also contains $12MM club option for 2024)
- David Peralta, LF: $7.5MM through 2022
- Merrill Kelly, RHP: $5.25MM through 2022
Total 2022 commitments: $58.025MM
Projected Salaries for Arbitration-Eligible Players (projections via MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz)
- Carson Kelly — $3MM
- Luke Weaver — $2.7MM
- Christian Walker — $2.7MM
- Caleb Smith — $2.1MM
- Noé Ramirez — $1.8MM
- Jordan Luplow – $1.5MM
- J.B. Wendelken — $900K
Option Decisions
- Exercised $5.25MM club option on RHP Merrill Kelly
- Declined $9MM club option on RF Kole Calhoun (paid $2MM buyout)
- Team declined its end of $3.5MM mutual option on RHP Tyler Clippard (paid $500K buyout)
Free Agents
- Kole Calhoun, Tyler Clippard, Taylor Clarke, Jon Duplantier, Chris Devenski, Henry Ramos, Brandyn Sittinger, Ildemaro Vargas, Jordan Weems
Unlike a few other teams near the bottom of the standings, the Diamondbacks have not been rebuilding. Arizona went 85-77 with a +70 run differential in 2019. That winter, they signed Kole Calhoun and brought back most of the position player core. They stumbled to a 25-35 finish in 2020, but it was fair to largely write that off as an anomalous down season in a shortened schedule.
That’s no longer the case, as they’re coming off an NL-worst showing over a full season. Some of that can be attributed to tough injury luck, particularly in a starting rotation that lost all four of its top members for a month or more at some point during the year. Yet even pristine health wouldn’t have had the D-Backs anywhere near the Giants and Dodgers at the top of the NL West, leaving the front office with plenty of questions about how to get back to where they were a couple years ago.
That won’t take the form of a leadership change, at least not at the top. The club signed manager Torey Lovullo to a one-year extension in September, locking him in for a sixth season at the helm. They did overhaul Lovullo’s coaching staff, including the hiring of highly respected pitching coach Brent Strom. But it’ll be Lovullo leading the clubhouse for the franchise’s hopeful turnaround.
Based on the comments of the team’s top executives and their early-offseason actions, it doesn’t seem that’ll take the form of a massive rebuild. General manager Mike Hazen pushed back against the notion of a teardown numerous times during the year, and he largely reiterated that stance after the season. “This isn’t a situation, for me, where we are relying on a series of top-five draft picks to get us back into a position where we should be,” he told reporters in October. “That’s my opinion.”
Hazen’s top lieutenant, assistant GM Amiel Sawdaye, largely echoed that sentiment at last month’s GM Meetings. “We go into every season with the idea that we want to put the best possible team out there that’s going to go out and compete,” Sawdaye said. “I don’t think we ever wave the white flag and say, ‘Well, we’re going to give up on ’22.”
Both Hazen and Sawdaye suggested the D-Backs would remain open to trade offers on long-term players, but neither exec sounded enamored with that possibility. Arizona held onto players like Ketel Marte, Carson Kelly and Josh Rojas at the trade deadline, a time when Hazen expressed a desire to anchor the club’s next competitive window around a few marquee contributors.
There’ll surely be robust interest in all those players, as well as in staff ace Zac Gallen. The Marlins, for instance, have already been tied to Marte this winter. Yet there’s also no urgency for the D-Backs to pull the trigger on a deal unless they’re completely overwhelmed with a prospect package or leaning into a full rebuild. The latter option doesn’t seem to be on the table, so teams will need to bowl Arizona over to land anyone from that group, each of whom is controllable for at least three more seasons (barring changes to the service time structure in the next CBA).
It seems likely the Diamondbacks will keep their young core intact heading into 2022, but trades of veteran role players remain a possibility. The Snakes may not want to punt next season entirely, but it’s also clear they’re facing an uphill battle competing in a division with two of baseball’s top teams and a third (the Padres) with one of the more star-studded rosters in the league. So a moderate sell-off with an eye towards 2023 and beyond figures to be the middle ground in which they settle.
Starter Merrill Kelly and left fielder David Peralta are both entering the final seasons of their contracts. Kelly, who’ll make an affordable $5.25MM, should be of particular interest to more immediate contenders. The right-hander owns a 4.27 ERA in 372 2/3 innings over the past three seasons. He has below-average swing-and-miss and strikeout numbers, but Kelly’s an adept strike-thrower who does a decent job keeping the ball on the ground. He’s a source of affordable, league average innings that could bolster a contending club’s starting staff. It’d be a surprise if Kelly weren’t traded at some point — either this offseason or at next summer’s deadline.
Interest in Peralta figures to be more muted. His $7.5MM salary isn’t onerous, but the 34-year-old is coming off a modest .259/.325/.402 showing. Peralta has mixed in a couple excellent seasons in his career, but he’s typically offered league average hitting and solid but unspectacular defense in left field. Teams like the White Sox and Phillies could consider him as a lefty-hitting corner outfield option, but it’s unlikely the D-Backs would recoup much more than a fringe prospect and/or salary relief in any deal. At that point, it may be better to hang onto the longtime member of the organization as a veteran presence for a fairly young locker room.
There aren’t a ton of other obvious trade candidates on the roster. The D-Backs would surely welcome the opportunity to get much of the $60MM remaining on the Madison Bumgarner contract off the books, but it’s hard to see another club having interest in such an arrangement. Bumgarner has struggled mightily with home runs as his velocity has dipped in the desert, making his five-year deal from the 2019-20 offseason look like a major misstep.
First baseman Christian Walker and shortstop Nick Ahmed are each coming off seasons valued at marginally above replacement level. Ahmed, who’s one of the game’s top defensive infielders, could draw some interest from shortstop-needy clubs looking for a stopgap veteran at the position. (The Yankees, Astros and Angels could all fit that bill). With a salary that guarantees him a bit more than $18MM over the next two seasons, though, it seems likely the D-Backs would have to pay some money to facilitate a trade for a marginal prospect return. As with Peralta, it probably makes more sense for Arizona to hold onto Ahmed into the season.
Perhaps aside from a Merrill Kelly trade, there may not be many traditional “seller” moves by the Diamondbacks this winter. In fact, they’ve already made one meaningful move in the opposite direction. Arizona inked veteran closer Mark Melancon to a two-year deal just before the lockout, and he’ll immediately step in as the veteran anchor of a young relief corps. Melancon doesn’t have big velocity or swing-and-miss numbers, but he’s a solid strike-thrower who continues to post impressive ground-ball and soft contact rates.
Further upgrades could be on the horizon, as Arizona is only bringing back one reliever (swingman Caleb Smith) who logged at least 20+ innings with above-average strikeout and walk numbers this past season. The Snakes have reportedly poked around the market for veteran middle relievers Hunter Strickland and Bryan Shaw and could circle back to them or others of that ilk. Those wouldn’t be world-beating signings, but they’d be affordable and perhaps raise the floor in the middle innings.
Arizona has also reportedly expressed some interest in Wily Peralta, and a swing option could indeed make some sense. The D-Backs’ rotation is one of the thinner groups around the league. Gallen’s a quality young arm, and he’s likely to return at the top of the rotation. Bumgarner will get another opportunity, and Kelly would have a spot if he’s not moved.
Luke Weaver looks likely to claim a spot in the back-end. A former highly-regarded prospect, Weaver has been up-and-down over the past couple seasons in Phoenix. He generally posts solid enough strikeout and walk numbers to compensate for home run issues, and the D-Backs don’t have enough in-house alternatives to bump Weaver out of the starting staff at the moment.
The fifth spot (or final two spots if Kelly is traded) looks completely up for grabs. Tyler Gilbert, who warmed plenty of hearts by tossing a no-hitter in his first career start, might be the favorite after posting a 3.47 ERA as a rookie. His peripherals didn’t support that run prevention number, though, and Gilbert’s not long removed from being a minor league Rule 5 draftee. Awesome as his no-hitter was, he’s probably better suited as a depth option than a rotation cog. Taylor Widener, Humberto Castellanos and Humberto Mejia are among the other arms who could be in the mix, but none of that trio was particularly impressive in 2021. Smith could factor in as well but is probably better suited for relief.
The free agent rotation market has been largely picked through already, but Arizona could offer some innings to potential reclamation candidates. Vince Velasquez, Chad Kuhl and Zach Davies are among the speculative possibilities available for that kind of dart throw. Each is coming off a poor enough season they won’t be costly, but they’ve all found some level of success in years past.
Pitching figures to be the priority, coming off a season in which Arizona had the league’s second-worst ERA and third-worst SIERA. There’s room for some upgrades on the position player side, with Hazen and Sawdaye each highlighting third base in recent weeks as a target area. Arizona’s not going to pursue Kris Bryant, and a run at 34-year-old Kyle Seager probably isn’t in the cards for a team in the D-Backs’ uncertain competitive position.
Aside from perhaps Jonathan Villar, free agency doesn’t offer much else in the way of regulars there. While the D-Backs could theoretically poke around the trade market in search of a controllable option at the hot corner, they’re not especially likely to surrender prospects from the top couple tiers of the farm system. Perhaps there’s a creative swap to be had for a young infielder in an organization with more high-level depth. Taylor Walls of the Rays, J.D. Davis of the Mets and Ha-Seong Kim of the Padres are among potential trade targets of varying cost and windows of remaining control.
It’s also possible the D-Backs are left to run things back with their in-house options. Ahmed, if not moved, will be back at shortstop, with prospect Geraldo Perdomo a potential midseason candidate if he plays well at Triple-A. Marte seems likely to move back to second base full-time after rating poorly in center field. Ideally, Rojas would probably bounce around the diamond regularly, but he’s the likeliest option to assume the lion’s share of time at third base if the team doesn’t upgrade externally.
The D-Backs could look into the possibility of replacing Walker at first base. That’s particularly true if the designated hitter comes to the National League, with youngster Seth Beer likely assuming that role and leaving Walker as the primary first baseman. Despite his down season, the D-Backs tendered Walker an arbitration contract at a projected $2.7MM salary. His presence probably won’t foreclose the possibility of an upgrade — arbitration contracts aren’t fully guaranteed until Opening Day, so they could still move on at little financial cost — but that suggests the front office isn’t completely determined to cut bait with Walker either.
Kelly is the obvious #1 option behind the plate. He wasn’t right after returning from a June wrist fracture, but the 27-year-old had been off to an All-Star caliber start to the season. The D-Backs can only hope an offseason of rest will allow him to regain his pre-injury form. If that happens, Kelly could be one of the best two-way backstops around the league. They’ll probably acquire a veteran complement via low-cost free agency or waivers, since Jose Herrera — who has never appeared in the majors — is the only other primary catcher on the club’s 40-man roster.
That tabulation doesn’t include Daulton Varsho, who offers one of the more unconventional defensive profiles around. The 25-year-old started 37 games behind the dish and 36 games in the outfield in 2021, with more than half of his outfield outings coming in center field. There’s little precedent for a catcher with Varsho’s level of athleticism, but it’s also unclear for how long he’ll stick behind the plate. Scouting reports have raised questions about both his glove and arm strength in the past, and Kelly’s presence could regulate Varsho to predominant outfield work.
That’s particularly true in light of Hazen’s late-season comments on the team’s defensive approach. The front office head suggested to reporters in September that the club may have had too many moving parts. “I think we’ve pushed that [moving players around the diamond] to the limit and I think you’ve seen the dam break a little bit this year,” Hazen said at the time. “I do think we have to start honing in on who is going to thrive in that setting and who would be better off locking down one spot. Those are going to be part of the conversations we’ll be having.”
That could mean regular outfield reps for Varsho, who hit at a league average level during his first extended MLB run in 2021. He might be stretched a bit in center field, but the 2017 draftee looks like an above-average corner defender at the very least. He’ll join Peralta, Pavin Smith and Jake McCarthy as lefty-hitting outfield options, while they’re bringing back Stuart Fairchild and already traded for Jordan Luplow to add some help from the right side.
There’s not a ton of certainty in that mix, but there’s enough youth and promise that the D-Backs will probably deal with some growing pains to evaluate their internal group. Perhaps they’ll look into low base or non-roster deals involving a strong defensive center fielder, with Billy Hamilton and old friend Ender Inciarte among the players in that mold. But there’s unlikely to be a huge move on the grass over the coming months.
Generally speaking, that seems true for much of the franchise. In spite of the highly disappointing past couple seasons, the Diamondbacks don’t seem destined for an organizational restructuring. That’s a defensible course of action. The D-Backs already have the kind of young core, particularly on the position player side, with which teams are hoping to come out of a rebuild. They already possess one of the game’s better farm systems, and they’ll add another blue chip prospect with the second pick in next year’s draft. There’s no guarantee the organization would come out of a rebuild more definitively stronger in 2024 or 2025 than they are right now.
Yet they’re also in danger of falling into an undesirable gray area, particularly within the NL West. They’re far worse than the three teams at the top of the division, leaving no clear path to contention in 2022. There’s certainly room to go up, and the D-Backs aren’t likely as bad next season as they were this year. Whether this roster’s capable of improving enough to avert the overhaul to which organizational leadership seems so opposed remains to be seen.
While I don’t expect them to be competitive in that division for some time, I absolutely respect the fact that they refuse to intentionally put an interior product on the field for the sake of the draft.
Not sure what the difference is between “intentionally putting an inferior product on the field” and last year’s Dbacks. I don’t know if you watched them at all, but my word were they awful. Aside from Marte, Kelly, and Gallen, I’m not sure there’s a guy who would even make the 26 man on a good team. You can argue that’s not intentional, but if not it’s delusional.
Honestly, that roster’s not better than the Pirates and Orioles. Not by much anyway, and if so only because of Marte and Kelly.
@seamahlic: I was going to say… If there is ever a time to go into a full rebuild shouldn’t it be when you just had the worst record in baseball? I would rather have a team intentionally be the worst team than unintentionally. At least if they plan it out they can stockpile prospects and high draft picks while saving a bunch of future money. If your team can’t win it now they should be doing everything they can to make sure they have the best chance of winning in the future. The idea that trying to be good while they are actually terrible really hurts Arizona’s chances of winning a world series anytime soon. Nothing is worse than a team who constantly fights to be .500 so they never win anything and never will because they don’t trade for prospects or plan on getting high draft picks. Bad teams that always try their hardest put themselves in sports purgatory and it’s almost impossible to get out unless they have a top 5 payroll.
Arizona really needs to get rid of that Bumgarner contract while teams think he still might have something left in the tank. Paying him $60 million for the next 3 years is going to be really bad for them. While teams are so in need of starting pitching Arizona should offer him to some team for a player that has one year left on a terrible contract. Upton would work. After one year of Upton Arizona would never have to pay him or Bumgarner again. They should even consider absorbing the last year of Chris Davis contract. He won’t play but they would save $40 million in 2023 and 2024. Anything to free up payroll during the years they have a better chance of competing would be good for them. Bumgarner had some flashes of brilliance last season but he might not next year. I could see Art Moreno willing to take in his contract if he gets to unload the last year of Upton at the same time. If they don’t do it now it only gets worse. It doesn’t even matter what player Arizona gets in return as long as they don’t have to pay him after next season.
@ Please, Hammer. Don’t hurt ’em.;
I upvoted after reading your first paragraph, than took it off halfway through the 2nd.
I don’t know if Bumgarner has a no-trade in his contract. but why in the world would the Angels take on $60m over 3 years to get rid of $28m in one? It would hurt the Angels less to have Upton make 300 plate appearances in 2022 than to give Bumgarner 80-100 starts in the next 3 years.
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With the new Padres majority owner getting Preller in line and having him get rid of his excesses due to dumb personnel moves, along with bringing in a qualified manager and pitching coach, the DBacks are looking up at 3 teams – one of whose players would literally have to be kidnapped for them to finish in the top 3 of the NLW in the next 3 years (Rockies are in the same boat). I don’t know how the expanded playoffs would work. For sure MLB needs to change the schedule which has teams playing 19 games a year with each team in their division. This penalizes so-so teams in strong divisions and rewards so-so teams in weak divisions.
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Phoenix sports fans have an NBA team that made The Finals last year and an NFL team that currently may be the best in that league. Point being that whether the DBacks go into a rebuild or continue to soldier on and bang their heads against the wall, it’s doubtful that most Phoenix sports fans will notice the difference. (Heck, the Arizona college team would be more fun following.)
Bumgarner has NTC. And if you think the Diamondbacks should be tanking intentionally then keeping Bumgarner would be part of that. The only way they are shedding that money is by attaching prospects which they should not be doing right now.
True. I think the Angels probably wouldn’t do it. They would have to be dumb to take on all that money. It’s funny though. I brought up that idea before and all the comments I got were from Arizona fans shutting it down because they said they didn’t want Upton. I think they missed the point. I just thought Art Moreno might think his team needs starting pitching so bad he might be able to get tricked into. When I talk about tanking I don’t mean losing at all costs. To me tanking is trying to get rid of as many long term contracts as possible and acquiring bad 1 year deals with prospects attached. Essentially just working on the future without regard for what next season’s roster will look like. I would never support teams wanting expensive multi-year deals just because it will help them lose longer. That would be terrible. To me tanking is trying to rebuild the farm system while being able to hit a complete reset on the major league roster as soon as possible while considering winning now only secondary to those 2 things.
Trade proposals with odd money pairings are a bit of my jam (although they rarely happen in MLB)
I’ve posted for Months Arz should dangle Madison for Juptons last year to the Angels –
I can’t Imagine Madison in Orange County but you never know;maybe he’d waive his NTC to find a more competitive atmosphere in his last years. Arz would probably still have to kick in 3 mill for 23 and 24 but they could pretty much rid themselves of this contract this way
Cap & Crunch: That’s what I was thinking. Bumgarner isn’t worth 3/60 but allowing Moreno to throw Upton in the deal means Arizona would only have to convince him that he is worth 3/32. It cuts the cost of Bumgarner in half. I still like the trade better for Arizona but convincing the Angels that Mad Bum is worth $10 million a year might not be as hard as some people think. I could see a starting pitching starved team signing Bumgarner for $10 million a year right now. I wouldn’t advise it but I don’t think it would be terrible. It would also lower the Angels cap hit by at least $8 million next season. I think that Bumgarner’s no trade clause might only cover some teams so I think it’s possible he couldn’t block a trade to the Angels. I would think he would rather pitch there anyway. They may not be a power house but they still look better than Arizona. Pitching with guys like Trout, Rendon and Ohtani in the lineup has to seem more appealing than pitching for one of the worst teams in the league. The Angels could turn the deal down but I think Arizona would be smart to offer it with so little pitching on the market.
You have to ask yourself how much Madbum would get if he were a FA right now. 1 year 6 million maybe? 3 years 32 million is still a big overpay based on his results the last several years
I think there’s still enough intrigue (he did pitch well at points last year) to net a 3/25 ish thats why I say Arz would still prolly have to kick in about 3 mill for each of 23 and 24 to get to about net neutral.
He’s still VERY young. That odometer on the arm is getting 90’s Toyota truck level high tho I must say
All in all tho they get to eat the majority of the damage this year w Upton as part of the deal – Angels actually get to save 5 mill this year as well
*So odd Arz didnt learn from Grienke and just jumped right back into MadBum . They’ve been pretty creative paying folks outside that Big Arm I cant Imagine they do it again soon
No team intentionally loses “for the draft”. Only fans think draft position makes that much of a difference; front offices know better, but other than that, I agree with your point.
I don’t think there’s any way the D-Backs can be as bad as they were from Mid-May through June again. They went 4-39 from May 16 though the end of June. I’m not saying they’re going to be pushing for the division or a WC, but outside of that month and a half stretch, they were only typical-bad, not 4-39 bad.
What a ghastly record. That’s a 15 win pace over a full season! Wow.
No Escobar and likely no Marte. They very well could be that bad.
I don’t think you realize how bad a 4-39 stretch is. That’s a .093 winning percentage, the equivilant of less than 10 wins in 100 games. They could probably call up their Double-A team and they’d put up at least a .150 WP. Even the 1899 Cleveland Spiders, which had literally been used like a minor league team, had a .130 WP.
Even after trading Escobar, they were 20-39, which is a .339 WP. Let’s be super generous and say that Marte was worth 5 wins in that stretch. Even going 15-44 in that stretch is a .254 WP. It’s actually quite impressive how bad they were in that stretch. It’d almost be impossible without trying to do it again.
Funny when SS get mentioned.. the Twins are seemingly never in the running for one…. and they most certainly are.. they need a SS.. 2 top of the rotation starters, 3 bullpen arms of note, and a left fielder who doesn’t remind you of a charlie brown episode when the try catch a ball… argggggggghhhh …
As a Mariners fan, it sucks to see Ketel Marte wasting his prime on this team. I’d love to see him on a contender. I don’t think my M’s want to trade their prospects tho. Looking at the D-backs farm, I feel like they would match well with the Rays who have infield & pitching prospects to spare. Maybe 1 or 2 of Brujan/Edwards/Jones, a rising pitching prospect like Seth Johnson or Taj Bradley, and a couple lower level arms. That would line up well with their future outfield of Corbin Carroll, Alek Thomas, and Daulton Varsho. But it sounds like they’re delusional and would rather aim for .500 these next few years, sadly wasting Marte’s prime. Oh well.
A lot of people were saying the same thing about Felix Hernandez when he wore a Mariners uniform. It happens. I’m not sure what being a Mariners fan has to do with it though because a lot of teams feel that way. It would be better if he were with the M’s but there are at least 10 teams who would give him a better shot to win than Seattle. Imagine how long some people have felt that about Mike Trout. I get your point, though. It sucks to see any great player waste away their prime on a team who can’t really take advantage of it. That’s part of the package when they choose immediate guaranteed money over waiting until free agency and trying to go to a contender. I think Marte would have been better off not signing that extension and testing his value on the open market. That’s not always the case though and he had no way of knowing if he would stay healthy.
I pointed out I was an M’s fan because I followed him as a prospect when he was with us and I wish he were on our team now. And I even admitted we probably wouldn’t trade for him, that’s why I suggested the Rays as a potential landing spot. Guess you didn’t read that part tho.
Oh, I get it. I didn’t realize Marte was ever in the M’s organization. Now bringing up the M’s makes much more sense. I would feel the same way, too.
@msm84
Watching Marte waste his prime in ARZ must be a lot like when Felix wasted his prime in SEA. No player that provides the fans with a link to their team ever “wastes” their prime.
It’s never the player that wastes their prime. It’s the organization that wastes the players prime by not giving them a supporting cast good enough to contend. The Diamondbacks are wasting Marte’s prime. Seattle wasted Felix Hernandez prime. The Angels wasted Trout’s prime for years. One of the worst examples in sports history is LeBron James first stint with the Cleveland Cavaliers. He asked them to get more players and they told him players don’t get to make decisions. So then he left for Miami so he could win a championship and they got upset. Finally they gave him a supporting cast and brought him back to win a championship. It’s kind of sad for Cav’s fans. Look how easy it was to win it once they listened to LeBron and got him some good players to help him out. They could have won several championships his first stint with the team and he may have never left. They wasted an opportunity to build a dynasty. If the Cav’s had really tried to add more great players to the roster the whole time LeBron was there it wouldn’t be surprising if they ended up winning 4 or 5 finals over that stretch. LeBron was that good for them.
Teams can’t magically thrust themselves into deep contention in any given four to five year period. Sometimes a players prime just coincides with a losing record, doesn’t mean anyone is wasting anything.
MadBum for Hoskins straight up
Huh? Rhys? Would would Phillie possibly consider that?
Bumgarner for Didi is more likely than this proposal.
Expectations to hang around the wildcard in 2021? Pretty sure they were ranked bottom 7 in many power rankings and had a fire sale during 2020. I don’t know what expectations you speak of!
Funny that they mentioned a player from San Diego as a trade possibility. This writer obviously isn’t paying attention to the West Division in the NL. Very very rarely do same division teams make deals with each other. They try to have each other overpay to lessen one from competition in the near future. They may swap minor leaguers here and there, but major league players being traded within the same division, rarity to never. Didn’t mean to rain on the parade and mojo of this writer, but he has to know it would be a very hard sell for the Padres and D-Backs trade of any major league player.
Trust me, if there could be trades within the division that are fair and reasonable, there would be plenty of them. It’s not the case this time because Padres are trying to catch up to the Dodgers and don’t want to better another divisional rival. Padres and Dodgers are going to beat the snot out of each other the next couple of seasons. D-Backs will take the “back seat” approach as the Giants are pushing their way into the division and making it a 3 way dance. D-Backs really could take a step back and rebuild to some degree. Ketel Marte could bring a nice haul if D-Backs want to go that route. I wouldn’t blame them if they did make some players like Marte and Kelly available. Teams would have to be prepared to sell a lot of talent off, but if I was the D-Backs, do it now.
Pirates was in a similar situation 4 years ago and sold off a little to late. If the GM of the D-Backs is smart, he’d learn from the Pirates and others mistakes by holding on too long. I wish them the best of luck in whatever direction they go.
Yawn. What are you talking about?
Hoping dbags give Matt Davidson some at bats, dude can rake!!!!!
Get 14 team playoffs and they will be “competitive”.
What the article author didn’t touch on was the CURRENT state of the Dbacks’ farm system. When comments about a top rated farm system are made, readers think of failure rate and highly regarded, but low level prospects that will flame out when they get into AA or AAA. Not the case with the Dback’s farm system. Over half (17 of 30) of the Top 30 prospects have an ETA of 2021 or 2022. Dback’s top brass aren’t signing a bunch of veterans because, as they have repeatedly stated, they plan to give these young guys a shot in 2022.
If Ahmed and/or Peralta have good first halves, look for them to be traded and replaced by Geraldo Perdomo and Alex Thomas. If any of the starters, except Zac Gallen have good first halves, look for them to be traded and replaced by the best of 8 starting pitchers that are knocking on the door to the bigs right now. The farm system isn’t just highly rated, it produced 5 position players and 2 pitchers last year, and double digit players are due this year.
that’s interesting. hard to count on hitting with so many prospects though. if ten make their debut in 22 then you hope 3 actually become productive big leaguers and maybe 1 hits the ground running and is a positive contributor right away. we’ll see what happens
We have about 3 weeks left in 2021
Highly rated AAA prospects still aren’t sure things.
We know this, what’s your point?
Crazy to think that MadBum might be completely washed at age 31. I won’t count him out because he’s very competitive and a gamer, but it’s not looking good. His former teammates Lincecum and Cain fell off a cliff and he might be heading in the same direction.
yeah, those 3 championship runs chewed up some really good arms, seemingly. shame, but you kinda have to consider it a worthy sacrifice if you’re a Giants fan
Zac Gallen is arbitration eligible ever since he, apparently, made the Super Two cutoff. Not sure how, I guess the tweet they quoted on here at MLBTR was wrong.
Maybe the arbitration estimates can be adapted and include Zac Gallen?
I’m seeing 16 days short for Gallen on multiple sites. 1st arb 2023
I could see them winning a title before the Mets, Phillies or Marlins.
The Diamondbacks should not have had the worst record in MLB. Although they didn’t have a great lineup or a great pitching staff, the position players were decent players and there was enough SPs to have an OK rotation. The overwhelming problem was there were NO quality pitchers in the pen.
I see why ARI is standing pat. There are some OFs and a couple SPs who may be near MLB ready in the system. It makes sense Management acquired Mark Melancon but they need many more quality arms in the pen. I’m not a scout and it’s especially hard to judge player’s talent in the desert by looking at numbers. Still, I cant see any promising RPs in their high minors.
Does anyone have promising relievers in their pipeline? Relievers are a crapshoot and the good ones are mostly converted starters.
Agree with GarryHarris, and Cosmo…that is exactly what Hazen stated was the plan. Dbacks have so many young starting pitchers on the cusp, they plan to use 1 or 2 starter prospects in the bullpen this year to transition them to the majors.
That’s just part of the plan for the bullpen in 2022. Only 2, maybe 3 will be back from last year’s disaster. The Melancon signing reveals another part of the plan. Sign veterans for setup duty and closer and let the young guys develop in lower pressure positions. So, look for veteran signings of a LHP and a RHP for 7th and 8th inning duty. Hunter Strickland and Brian Shaw were mentioned in the article as the type of signings to expect. I’d like to see the Dbacks sign a lefty like Brad Hand or Andrew Chafin.
Offer 2B Martel, C Kelly, OF Patino (pipeline 23) to Cleveland
Get SP Plesac, C Hedges, 3B/oF Jones (pipeline 3), 2B/OF Palacios (pipeline 12),
INF Bracho (pipeline 14), P Morris (pipeline 27), 2B Miller
7 players for 3. Must be close…4 ready in 2022 @ 2B, 3B, SP, C, plus Morris
Palacios and Bracho not yet.
Dback’s response H E !! NO
They might take those 7 players for just Kelly
Cleveland would hang up first
Toronto should offer up prospects (catching?) for Ketel Marte or David Peralta.
Doubt that they break the bank trying to outmaneuver the Rockies for 4th place. The question then remains, can they re-tool enough to compete for a perceived additional wild card? One guess is they give it a go until mid June and if lacking steam, begin the process of selling off pieces in order to gain controllable young talent. The brass can beat their chests and claim being all in for only so long. Playing the top three division teams nearly 60 times won’t make their task an easy one. Yet if they advertise a tanking, who the heck will want to go to the desert to play? Hopefully, health concerns will be in the past, and they can be picking up guys to help in the stretch drive. It will be interesting to see it all play out.
We won’t throw in the towel but ownership also won’t give us real resources to put a good team on the field…being a Diamondback fan is so painful
Trade Marte, Gallen, Pavin Smith, Josh Rojas for the best prospects they can. They need the #2 overall pick to be a franchise player. Hard tank for a few years, acquiring prospects for vets on expirings. Then 2 years later they’ll have 3 straight years of top picks, plus whatever they get for Marte, international prospects they sign. That’s a good start.
They need to hurry this along. They don’t want to get into a Mets-type drought.
They have some good but not flashy young players that need to play more. No tanking. They do need a lot of help and luck in that BP.
The D-backs are closer than many people currently believe. They won’t be winning the NL West anytime soon, but they may hover around .500 for much of ’22 and compete for a WC as soon as ’23.
The D-backs have a nice core to build around in Marte, Gallen, Carson Kelly, Rojas, Smith and Varsho. And several top prospects ready to emerge in ’22 and ’23.
I’m in the minority on this one, but I think Hazen, and the D-backs, may be back sooner than their ’21 record suggests.
There is a lot wrong with the Arizona Diamondbacks. I wouldn’t blame management all together but the players on the field are average-at-best. It really starts at the top with the Diamondbacks, their owner is quite possibly one of the worst owners in baseball. They claim poverty but a few years ago signed television deal that was pretty substantial.
Moving past the queuing on loving owner, the management is subpar at best. How a coach can have the worst record in baseball and then not get fired is beyond me. I saw a post about their farm system being better than advertised. That’s all well and good that the Diamondbacks have been able to cultivate a starting pitcher for a very long time. Remember the good old days when Max Scherzer used to be a diamondback? Trevor Bauer? Somebody in that management structure, larussa, Stewart, Kirk Gibson and others, thought that those pictures would not make good starters.
The Diamondbacks Bullpen is awful and they know it. But they do very little to address it claiming it cost too much. They spend all that money on Bumgarner which made no sense considering they just got out of an ugly contract from Zack Greinke.
You get the idea. This organization is a bad organization. They don’t get along with the city of Phoenix, they don’t like their stadium and they won’t spend any money that they do have. One day this team is going to end up moving, they’ve already met people in Vegas and in Portland. As a Dodger fan I’m okay with the Diamondbacks talking because when I go to the games there’s tons of Dodger fans in the seat and they atmosphere is Rockin.
Dodgerfan34 I think your comment in the 2nd paragraph “is beyond me” perfectly sums up your knowledge, or lack thereof of the Dback’s team and management. The only comment you made that I agree with is “The Diamondbacks Bullpen is awful and they know it.”
You want to get rid of MadBum’s contract and pay nothing? Try the Dodgers. At the moment, their rotation is weak and they have owners that may be willing to absorb the salary if the DBacks throw in the right prospect and expect a low grade prospect in return.
Who knows? Yordan Alvarez wasn’t even a ranked prospect in the LA farm system and look at him now.
Did Friedman get brain damage?
I don’t get this potential trade scenario