Arizona Cardinals:
Team hopes putting their five best linemen on the field will turn the tide.
General Manager Mike Hazen enters this week’s winter meetings with increased payroll flexibility and an apparent intention to use it, saying the Diamondbacks’ recent moves have created some financial wiggle room without sacrificing their big-picture outlook.
After trading infielder Jean Segura and cutting ties with catcher Welington Castillo and right-hander Rubby De La Rosa, the Diamondbacks saved around $16 million, some of which will go to newly acquired right-hander Taijuan Walker and catcher Jeff Mathis.
But Hazen intimated that the rest of the savings could help in shoring up a roster that’s clearly in need of bullpen help and, he believes, could stand to get more left-handed in the lineup.
“We want to be able to round the club out as best we can,” Hazen said. “The bigger picture is, looking at the flexibility, this should afford us to do some things.”
That said, a year after stunning the industry by signing Zack Greinke to a six-year, $206.5 million deal, the Diamondbacks aren’t expected to be major players in free agency, meaning that even though they need late-inning relief help, the Aroldis Chapman/Kenley Jansen/ Mark Melancon caliber relievers are likely not attainable.
The next tier includes some familiar names, among them Brad Ziegler, who spent parts of six seasons with the Diamondbacks before a July trade, and Daniel Hudson, who filed for free agency last month.
The Diamondbacks have reached out to both, sources say, and it could be worth noting that Hazen was with the Red Sox last summer when they acquired Ziegler for a pair of prospects.
Still, the free-agent relief market has seen prices rise exorbitantly in recent years, and it’s unlikely that an established reliever will come cheaply. Hazen said the club could find help via trade, as well.
As it stands, only Jake Barrett (3.49 ERA) and Randall Delgado (4.44 ERA) are coming off even semi-decent seasons in relief, and while the club has a host of young, hardthrowing relievers – any of whom could conceivably bounce back next year – it has almost no established options in the late innings.
“That’s an area we’d like to address,” Hazen said.
Hazen also talked about trying to add more left-handed hitters to a lineup that skewed to the right, though he didn’t specify at what position that help might come.
“I think being a little more left-handed could certainly help us,” he said. “Pigeonholing it into one specific focus, I think, would be too complicated to try to pull off. I think we can be opportunistic about that.”
As it stands, the only left-handed bats among the Diamondbacks’ established starters are third baseman Jake Lamb and outfielder David Peralta. Catcher Chris Herrmann, who could see more playing time with Castillo gone, is also left-handed, and infielder Ketel Marte, who could compete for time at second and short, is a switch hitter.
Parting ways with Castillo, coupled with the impending signing of catcher Jeff Mathis to a twoyear, $4 million deal, would seem to signal an intent to improve defensively.
Moving outfielder Yasmany Tomas would be another step in that direction, but club sources have said in recent weeks the market for him has been slow to develop. Not only are there a number of alternative bat-first players available on the freeagent market, but Tomas still has another $48.5 million remaining on his contract.
Asked about the possibility of dealing Greinke, Hazen continued to downplay the idea, just as he did last month at the GM meetings.
Last week, Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reported Greinke was drawing “minimal trade interest,” and that the Diamondbacks were reluctant to eat any of his remaining salary.
“There’s nothing happening on our end with that,” Hazen said.