Currently viewing the category: "Economics of Baseball"

40-Man Roster Roulette is Underway for the D-backs

On November 9, 2016 By

The game of Diamondbacks musical chairs continues. I sometimes wonder what song they’re playing when the music is on. Is it light pop music? Maybe White Snake? Perhaps it’s some modern house music to confuse the middle-aged participants? Either way, the music stopped briefly yesterday and several people were left without a chair, notably coaches Mark Grace and Matt Williams…

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Major Challenges Ahead for Mike Hazen

On November 3, 2016 By

While a couple teams were busy trying to win a World Series crown, something the Cubs actually accomplished in what may be the greatest baseball game we’ll ever witness, the Diamondbacks have been working in the background to continue their overhaul under new GM Mike Hazen. There’s plenty of room for optimism with Hazen at the helm because, a) he’s …

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How Much Money Do the D-backs Have To Spend This Winter?

On October 11, 2016 By

This season, the Diamondbacks were on pace to spend nearly $100 million in payroll. That’s a pretty staggering number on its own, given that each win cost the team a pretty penny. For clarity, the $100 million figure is a little inflated. It was only $98.1 million, but the team shed some salary by trading Brad Ziegler and Tyler Clippard…

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Is Extending Welington Castillo a Good Idea?

On August 18, 2016 By

While most of the talk surrounding the Diamondbacks has to do with one of many fiascos, there’s still some reason to discuss the team’s roster. Sure, it’s had it’s share of injuries and trades take their toll, leaving the team with some sub-optimal situations; one’s that seem they were unprepared to deal with, generally. Not having a backup centerfielder …

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Things Might Be Going Worse For the D-backs Off The Field

On August 16, 2016 By

When it rains, it pours, they say. No group of people know this better than residents of The Valley of the Sun now that we’re in the throws of monsoon season. The sky has literally opened up. But that whole phrase is usually an analogy, not a strict interpretation, and Diamondbacks fans understand this, too, no matter their geographic …

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Moving Yasmany Tomas Should Be a Priority This Winter

On August 12, 2016 By

Yasmany Tomas‘ production this season leaves the Diamondbacks at a bit of a crossroads. On a back-loaded deal with an opt-out after year four, his contract is team-friendly in the near-term. That changes significantly, however, as his salary increases to $10M in 2018, $15.5M in 2019, and $17M in 2020. The timing of those increases is poor, as the …

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Trading Zack Greinke and Shelby Miller is Not In the Cards

On July 18, 2016 By

A little over week ago, we unleashed our 2016 Midseason Plan, looking to improve a team that has underwhelmed for a wide host of reasons. The moves, in case you didn’t notice, were mostly small. Trades of Yasmany Tomas and Welington Castillo were proposed, and I guess those aren’t the smallest of transactions, but the rest of the ideas …

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The D-backs Are Becoming Sellers Who Might Not Sell

On June 15, 2016 By

It’s Wednesday and so, yeah, today already feels like a downer. People that say, “just two days before the weekend” are wrong. It’s three. Today counts. Don’t be one of those people. Not helping matters is the fact that Archie Bradley pitched super awesome last night until he basically got destroyed. That happened in his previous start, too. The D-backs’ …

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Then and Now: a Diamondbacks Retrospective

On March 22, 2016 By

The #DbacksEvolution is here. We’ve seen it. I’m not talking about the uniforms – the team itself has undergone a pretty major renovation. While rosters change at a snail’s pace for the most part, when you stop and look back, you might ask your questions such as “why did Alfredo Marte get 44 games in 2014?” How easily we forget, …

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Double Plus: the Impending DH in the National League

On January 22, 2016 By

I don’t like it. I don’t like it at all. There’s no designated hitter in the NL and that’s a good thing as far as I’m concerned. I like the double-switch. I like how the manager really has to pick his spots. I like how utilizing the bench and the bullpen are more heavily-tied to strategy in the NL as …

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Will the Ends Justify the Means?

On January 12, 2016 By

It’s expensive to own a major league baseball team. If I win Powerball, I’ll probably buy a team and move them to Portland, Oregon and call ’em The Jeffs (but after taxes, shoot, I probably still can’t do it – I’ll start a GoFundMe page for the rest). To own a team, you really need to understand business because the …

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D-backs Go Big, Dodgers Go Smart?

On January 5, 2016 By

If you read The Inside the ‘Zona 2015-16 Offseason Plan, you probably noticed that we advocated for signing a couple of short-term, mid-level starting pitchers. No one in their right mind thought that Zack Greinke was an option but apparently he was after the appropriate amount of deliberation. Shelby Miller was always sort of on the radar but then …

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Patrick Corbin is the New A.J. Pollock, Maybe

On December 24, 2015 By

I like Patrick Corbin. I like A.J. Pollock. I like most things and most people, at least initially. My good feelings about the Diamondbacks’ lefty and center fielder have endured because they strike me as fine young gentlemen who do good thing routinely for the Arizona Baseball Diamondbacks.  They’re similar in certain ways and very different in others. …

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Are the Diamondbacks on the Right Path?

On December 15, 2015 By

The last week and a half has been as exciting as any D-backs fan can recall as far as ten day stretches go. Zack Greinke is a Diamondback? Holy moly! The trade of Ender Inciarte and Aaron Blair and Dansby Swanson for Shelby Miller? Wow! Those kinds of moves just haven’t happened in Arizona and now that they’re here, …

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With Needs Remaining, What are the D-backs’ Prospects Worth?

On December 8, 2015 By

Why would the Braves think that Shelby Miller and Arodys Vizcaino are worth A.J. Pollock and Aaron Blair? Even by just making a quick calculation, it’s pretty clear that Arizona would come up short in that deal from a value standpoint. Yet the Braves asked anyways and were fine with being turned down for now. They’ll leave their ringers …

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What’s Yasmany Tomas Worth These Days?

On November 18, 2015 By

It has been less than a year since the news broke that the Diamondbacks had secured Yasmany Tomas’ services. I was having a beer by myself in a bar downtown when the text came in. I confirmed the news, swallowed my beer and jumped on the train – rushing home so that I could write it up for Beyond the …

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