Lovullo has Drury likely ticketed for second base
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. - The departure of Jean Segura in a trade last month opened up second base for the Diamondbacks, and they appear to have already decided how they’d most like to fill it.
Speaking with reporters on Tuesday at the winter meetings, Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said he told Brandon Drury to prepare to be an infielder next season, adding that he didn’t expect Drury to see much time at third base, where Jake Lamb is entrenched as an everyday player.
The message, which Lovullo said he delivered this week, must have been encouraging for Drury, who came through the minors as an infielder before the Diamondbacks shifted him to the outfield late in spring training.
“We asked a lot of him to shift over to the outfield,” Lovullo said. “He did a great job, but we want to simplify things as much as possible, and I think that we are going to head in that direction (the infield).
“He's a bred infielder. He's an athlete that we asked to move to the outfield. I think he’s going to have a little bit of a relief knowing he’s got to prepare in one area.”
Though Drury’s most natural position might be third base, many scouts believe he has the athleticism to handle second. Even the least optimistic among them see him cut from the Jeff Kent mold, a player whose offensive contributions will more than outweigh any defensive limitations.
“I think he’d be an average defender,” a scout with a National League club said. “He’d be steady, make the routine plays, and he might flash a few great plays every now and then.”
He’s already shown he can contribute at the plate in the big leagues. Getting semi-regular at-bats this year, Drury hit .282 with 31 doubles and 16 homers; he finished the year on a tear, hitting .365 in his final 30 games.
“We’re going to try and get as many at-bats for our best players, so he would be one of those,” General Manager Mike Hazen said of Drury.
Lamb, of course, fits that same description, and Lovullo intimated that the Diamondbacks don’t intend to limit his exposure to left-handed pitching next season as much as they did in the past. Lamb hit just .164 against lefties last year.
“We know some of the limitations he had over the past year against lefthanded pitching, but we’re going to address those needs,” Lovullo said. “And that's something we’re going to do as a coaching staff. We want to teach, we want to work through that and make Jake an everyday player. We are not looking to platoon anybody at this point.”
The Diamondbacks will have other options at second base, including Chris Owings and newcomer Ketel Marte, but those two could also compete with Nick Ahmed for time at shortstop.
“It’s going to be a competition,” Lovullo said, “and nothing is going to be given to anyone.”
Rodney deal close
The Diamondbacks appear to have found the veteran closer they wanted in the form of free-agent right-hander Fernando Rodney, who was nearing a deal with them as of late Tuesday night, a source confirmed.
Rodney, who turns 40 in March and has 261 saves in a 14-year bigleague career, split time last season between the San Diego Padres and the Miami Marlins. His results with the two clubs were drastically different. For the Padres, he gave up just one earned run in 28 1/3 innings, converting 17 of 17 save opportunities and compelling the Marlins to give up an intriguing pitching prospect, Chris Paddack, to pry him away in late June.
But Rodney was not nearly as effective in his second stop, giving up 24 earned runs in 36 2/3 innings for the Marlins. All told, he posted a 3.44 ERA in 65 1/3 innings. He has a 3.59 ERA in 261 innings over the past four seasons, which span ages 36-39.
Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports reported an agreement was worth $2.75 million plus incentives.