GM Hazen listening to trade offers
MIAMI – Diamondbacks General Manager Mike Hazen still wasn’t ready to define his club as tradedeadline sellers, but he did continue to sound like he was leaning in that direction on Monday.
“We are receiving a lot of phone calls on our players, so you can characterize that however you want to,” Hazen said during a conversation with reporters that took place roughly 48 hours before Wednesday’s 1 p.m. (Arizona time) deadline.
“I guess what I would say to that is, until I do
something, I wouldn’t necessarily go crazy with that.”
Hazen left open any number of possibilities in terms of what direction the Diamondbacks might go. He seemed to intimate the club could trade away enough pieces that it would take a step back next year; that it could sell off parts for 2019 while hoping to contend again next year; or that it could hold onto many potential trade chips and either reassess in the winter or take them into next season with the hopes of fielding a winning team.
But Hazen – whether because all of those outcomes were actual possibilities or because there was element of posturing in his comments – did not sound willing to tie himself down in a certain direction, even saying the club still was having conversations centered on adding to the roster.
On the idea of holding firm because the right offers didn’t present themselves, Hazen said, “It’s a real possibility in our mind, which is fine,” adding that he still likes the team he has assembled despite its flaws.
But moments later, after acknowledging his club hasn’t been the contender he’d have liked, Hazen said, “That doesn’t mean that we’re going to veer hard in the other direction.”
So does that mean if he sells he won’t be punting on 2020?
That question elicited an answer that might have been the closest Hazen came to suggesting an outcome he most prefers – or, perhaps, one toward which he is leaning.
“That is an outcome,” he said. “That could happen. I’m not saying that’s the only outcome that could happen. But that is certainly an outcome that could happen. I think there is going to be a core of players here, regardless of what decisions we make, that we will have the opportunity in the offseason to piece back together again.
“That’s sort of how I see things right now. Now, in the end, if you make more trades than you anticipate, that may not become the reality. But that is certainly the outcome that could happen.”
The Diamondbacks have a variety of players whose names have surfaced regularly in trade rumors in recent days, most prominently left-hander Robbie Ray, outfielder Jarrod Dyson and lefty reliever Andrew Chafin. Ray and Chafin have one season of club control remaining beyond this; Dyson will be a free agent at the end of the year.
As of late Monday afternoon, the trade deadline had been relatively quiet across baseball. Hazen said there was more going on behind the scenes, at least with his club, than the inactivity would suggest. He said he anticipates a lot moves coming down to the wire.
“I think there’s probably going to be a lot of concentrated activity around that day,” he said. “… If you have trades that you can do now, we’re not going to be afraid to make trades. We’ll do them now. But that hasn’t happened yet. …
“It’s a very fluid situation, as you (might) well imagine. Especially a few days to go before the deadline, don’t usually have final answers in a lot of cases. We’re still gathering a lot of information.”