*Note: this post was written prior to the twitter-shattering trade between Texas and Detroit last night. Keep in mind that the Tigers now most definitely have the resources to retain Max Scherzer for the foreseeable future if they want. Whether or not they want to, however, is still unclear.
As you’ve probably noticed in our Offseason Plan, Ryan and …
Continue Reading →The D-backs are in a tough spot this offseason. Payroll constraints will limit the club’s access to the free agent pool. Even if the team is willing to reach the $100M mark, we’ve projected the current roster to cost $99.8M next year. That limitation, as well as logjams at shortstop and center field, have led us to conclude that …
Continue Reading →The biggest news story in D-backs land in the last week was the outcome of the NL MVP award voting, in which Paul Goldschmidt finished second to winner Andrew McCutchen. To see the breakdown of voting, head to the BBWAA site.
Inside the ‘Zona doesn’t focus on award voting, because frankly I don’t find it that interesting. But …
Continue Reading →When Kevin Towers traded for Heath Bell, no one was under any illusions that he would be worth his $10M per year salary in 2013 and 2014, even if there was hope that his 2012 was just a down year. With Miami paying $4M per year, it’s probably fair to say that Towers hoped Bell would be worth $6M per …
Continue Reading →The Diamondbacks were an average club in 2013. Literally, they were average as their winning percentage was exactly .500. Figuratively, they were pretty average, too. They seemed to balance out fits of poor offense with great pitching and when the bats came around, the staff couldn’t make outs. Arizona had Paul Goldschmidt, an NL MVP finalist, but balanced …
Continue Reading →In last week’s 2014 payroll analysis, I used a $4.5M figure for Parra’s 2014 salary, a working number that might work either as an arbitration award or as year one of an extension. The truth is that this figure could be more than a million lower or quite a bit higher, given the number of unique issues his arbitration …
Continue Reading →In baseball, nothing speaks more than the almighty dollar. Don’t believe me? Run a correlation between dollars and wins. In the long term, the money almost always wins out. The Diamondbacks don’t have a lot of money, but they do have another form of currency: prospects.
While working on our offseason plan for the team, which will be released early …
Continue Reading →With the World Series behind us and the impending deadline for players to accept qualifying offers, the offseason is officially underway. Jeff and I have been hard at work on an offseason plan for the Diamondbacks, complete with recommendations for trades, signings and roster construction. Check back next week for the full plan.
Do you have an idea for a …
Continue Reading →There’s no debate about the fact that Patrick Corbin had a fantastic year in 2013. He was clearly the anchor of a Diamondbacks staff that was otherwise tough to figure out. And not tough to figure out in a good way, where hitters didn’t know what was coming. Rather, the rotation was tough to figure out because it lacked consistency. …
Continue Reading →We know from Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic that the 2014 payroll could top the $100 million mark for 2014, but as Piecoro also explained, a jump in payroll of $10-15 million would get largely eaten up by increased salaries for players already on the team. Consequently, GM Kevin Towers may need to subtract if he adds on …
Continue Reading →Strikeouts, again.
I feel like I’ve been harping on the K’s lately, or lack of them in the Diamondbacks’ case. But I keep coming back to the strikeouts like I keep coming back to the home runs when I try to mentally reconcile the 2013 season. In fact, last week, I linked the two of these phenomena and today I …
Continue Reading →With the World Series over (and former D-backs Stephen Drew and Craig Breslow picking up rings), the major news for D-backs Nation in the last week was the Gold Glove wins for Paul Goldschmidt and Gerardo Parra. Patrick Corbin was also among the finalists, but didn’t pick up an award.
The other bit of news is the departure (on …
Continue Reading →Well, the hot stove has officially been sparked in Arizona.
Kevin Towers wasted no time getting things going by claiming utility man Matt Tuiasosopo from the Detroit Tigers. The former top Mariner prospect made his major league debut back in 2008 but was usually jettisoned back to the minors in no time. 2013 was his first full major league season …
Continue Reading →Strikeouts.
We all heard a lot about them in 2013 and if you’ve been paying attention, you’ve probably noticed that they have been on the rise for a while now. Throughout the game, more batters are striking out and pitchers are accumulating K’s at a higher rate. The relationship between pitched strikeouts and strikeouts by batters is obvious, but let’s …
Continue Reading →With the announcements that RF Gerardo Parra and 1B Paul Goldschmidt have taken home Gold Gloves for their 2013 play, I thought I might put those achievements in context. The next post will be Parra, whose achievement is interesting because of how extremely good he was this year, in several components of what makes a good right fielder a good …
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 @MLBPipeline: Correction:
Oldest players on the #Top100Prospects list:
#Astros' Josh James, 25 (3/08/1993)
#Dbacks' Jon Duplanti… https://t.co/IpgOEtfUrh, - Diamondbacks MiLB affiliate the Missoula Osprey will transition away from the "Osprey" in 2020. Fans can vote for a… https://t.co/czwu2A1T3Q,
- Old Friend Alert https://t.co/vZFngGVaFF,
- Winning defensive MVP of the NFL Pro Bowl is something that should not actually be possible,
- Bill Swancutt (2005 draft, Lions) and Alex Brink (2008 draft, Texans). Swancutt was a DE and TE that I had to cover… https://t.co/7PvKgIVkD3,
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