Diamondbacks President and CEO Derrick Hall recently held an online town hall meeting with fans (transcript courtesy of MLB.com). Here are the highlights:
- Hall says there will not be a major overhaul of the Diamondbacks this offseason, but more of a tweaking. The focus of that tweaking will be the left side of the infield and "it is safe to say" a left-handed bullpen specialist. The club will look to do so through trades. Hall, however, would like to keep their pitching (both starting rotation and bullpen) and any of their young talent, so look for the Snakes to use their outfield logjam as trade bait.
- One outfielder mentioned as a trade candidate is Chris Young. "If we decide to move anyone, we always take chemistry into account and how such a move will impact our club," Hall explained. Neither the fans nor Hall brought up the Justin Upton trade rumors.
- On picking up the $6.5 MM option on closer J.J. Putz for next season, "It is likely a priority of ours," said Hall. "He has been outstanding. He is a great leader in that bullpen and mentor to our relievers. We have had so much confidence turning the ball over to him to close out games, it is hard to imagine us not doing so."
- Admitting his bias, Hall said left-hander Wade Miley should win the NL Rookie of the Year award, "He was fantastic and clearly our most consistent starter. He was dominant most of the season, which is difficult to accomplish as a rookie."
- Though the team finished third after winning the NL West a year ago, Hall saw some positives in 2012, "I think we all expected more. But we had some great individual years when you look at Aaron Hill, Paul Goldschmidt, Miguel Montero, Jason Kubel, J.J. Putz, Brad Ziegler, David Hernandez and Wade Miley, to name a few. And our Minor League system is very strong. We had five teams make the playoffs and they brought home four different championships."
