The secret’s out: the Diamondbacks are going to cash in on a new television contract in the next 12-18 months. This should net the team a nice increase in revenue to be used at their discretion. Ken Kendrick recently espoused some thoughts on that revenue increase and how it enabled the organization to make a strong, perhaps uncharacteristic, play for …
Continue Reading →Some baseball fans see prospects as “a bunch of guys who won’t make it to the majors.” While that’s largely true, the ones that do are the lifeblood of any baseball franchise, and no one covers those prospects like Jason Parks of Baseball Prospectus. Jason recently released his Diamondbacks Top 10 and followed it up with the Baseball Prospectus 101…
Continue Reading →This afternoon, the Diamondbacks organization announced that manager Kirk Gibson and GM Kevin Towers had been signed to contract extensions, although it did not disclose terms. Less than an hour later, Nick Piecoro tweeted that OF Gerardo Parra and the D-backs have avoided arbitration with a one-year, $4.85M pact.
The Gibson and Towers deals were somewhat unexpected; when 2015 …
Continue Reading →Thanks in large part to the two-game series in Sydney on March 22 and 23, the Diamondbacks have the earliest reporting dates for spring training of all 30 teams: the 6th for pitchers and catchers (this Thursday!) and the 11th for position players. Because the Dodgers are the team with the next-earliest reporting dates, it’s no surprise that the first …
Continue Reading →A.J. Burnett was an ace last season. In 2013, he was eighth among qualified starters in FIP (2.80), 21st in WAR (4.0), and 27th in ERA (3.30). But his 2013 performance is not the only thing that makes him a good bet for the D-backs — Burnett was outstanding in ways that happen to be highly predictive for 2014.
It’s …
Continue Reading →Maybe you missed it or maybe you didn’t, but Baseball Prospectus’ Jason Parks revealed the BP Top 101 Prospect List on Monday. Just two days later, Keith Law of ESPN released his own Top 100 Prospects. I bring this up not because individual rankings are important in a vacuum. On the contrary, arguing that player X should have been …
Continue Reading →Before arbitration figures were exchanged almost two weeks ago, I thought the arbitration case of Gerardo Parra was unique and uncommonly interesting — there isn’t a modern arbitration precedent for an outstanding defensive player in right field. It has been interesting thus far, with the Diamondbacks filing a number that was actually higher than the $4.2M projection of Matt Swartz …
Continue Reading →When the Arizona Diamondbacks pursued Masahiro Tanaka, they displayed their newfound financial flexibility. Now that Matt Garza has been signed, the best free agent starting pitcher left is either Ervin Santana or Ubaldo Jimenez. If the rumors that Towers offered Tanaka a $120 million are true, then the D-backs should be able to afford any of the remaining starting pitchers.…
Continue Reading →The biggest news in the last week is that Masahiro Tanaka accepted a contract offer from the New York Yankees, despite a significant offer from the Diamondbacks that would have been, far and away, the largest contract in Arizona history. Once that deal was final, Jeff Wiser took a look at where Arizona might go from here. Shortly after …
Continue Reading →Go Down Under, Young Man! When the Diamondbacks open the 2014 season in Australia against the Dodgers, they will be the home team — and it could be to the club’s great benefit if its claim to the emerging baseball market lasted a lot longer than that. As a source of talent, Australia might not be on par with Japan, …
Continue Reading →Masahiro Tanaka is now a Yankee and not a Diamondback; this much we know. The Yankees, an omnipresent force in all major free agent dealings, and Tanaka agreed to a 7-year, $155 million contract with an opt-out clause after the fourth year. Arizona had been rumored to have submitted a contract in the neighborhood of 6 years and $120 …
Continue Reading →In 2013 Trevor Cahill did not live up to expectations. He pitched only 146.2 innings, with an ERA of 3.99 and FIP of 4.26. He gave up a career-high 3.99 walks per nine innings. Cahill has struggled with walks throughout his career, but this is an alarmingly high rate. In 2012, Cahill gave 74 walks in 200 innings. Last year? …
Continue Reading →This offseason, the Diamondbacks had eight players who would have been eligible for arbitration (including Mark Trumbo). Very early in the offseason, Matt Reynolds signed a deal that was below projection for 2014 ($550,000) for what is expected to be primarily a rehabilitation year; in return, the team got the chance to essentially delay his climb up the salary scale …
Continue Reading →Here at Inside the ‘Zona, we don’t report news very often, instead opting to analyze things that either did, can, should or should not happen. But this is TANAKA MANIA and I (unilaterally) suppose we can make an exception, Here’s the news:
The Diamondbacks have reportedly offered Masahiro Tanaka a 6-year, $120 million contract.
(*Note: this bit of …
Continue Reading →Yesterday, Jeff took a look at the Diamondbacks’ logjam at shortstop, concluding that something’s got to give. I agree with Jeff completely, and so I thought I’d suggest some potential trades that Arizona could pursue. This is all speculation, of course.
Now, who the Diamondbacks could trade is very much up for discussion. Since I’m suggesting trade matches, I’m …
Continue Reading →@ryanpmorrison
Best part of Peralta’s 108 mph fliner over the fence, IMHO: that he got that much leverage despite scooping it out… https://t.co/ivBrl76adF, 
RT @OutfieldGrass24: If you're bored of watching Patrick Corbin get dudes out, you can check out my latest for @TheAthleticAZ. https://t.co/k1DymgY7zO, - Of course, they may have overtaken the league lead for outs on the bases just now, also...
But in 2017, Arizona ha… https://t.co/38MBrr2D4b,
- Prior to the games today, there had only been 5 steals of 3rd this season (and no CS) in the National League. The… https://t.co/gVVL84vPQ5,
- RT @OutfieldGrass24: Patrick Corbin has a WPA of .318 and it's only the fifth inning.,
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RT @GatesOnSports: Still on the hunt for something full-time in the sports media/communications industry. Here's my resume, and if you… https://t.co/kwNHGMss2j, 
RT @TheAthleticAZ: Talking points for Talking Stick: Taking a closer look at the @Suns arena situation, courtesy @BobYoungTHI
https://t.co/ArDvZsSM2t, - Four hours left to vote https://t.co/6IOquJ3LN6,
- It’s 👏 Not 👏 The 👏 Players 👏 https://t.co/JRGwwT6GKV,
RT @mikeaxisa: Spoiler: If they become free agents, teams will come up with reasons not to pay them too. https://t.co/sbQ20sf6Ln,
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