David Peralta at the plate against the Reds. Image by Hayden Schiff. The day is June 1st, 2014, and the D-backs are in last place. The night before, Johnny Cueto’s fastball found A.J. Pollock’s hand and fractured it. With Mark Trumbo out since April with a fractured foot, the D-backs were running low on outfielders, … Continue reading A Farewell to David Peralta
Mike Hazen
The Ketel Marte Extension, v 2.0
Photo taken by Hayden Schiff. Offseasons for non-contenders tend to be long and dreary. Your favorite player gets traded away for prospects, the best signing is a middling reliever or washup starter, and the eager expectation for the upcoming season lacks its pristine shine. While some of these characteristics are found in the D-backs’ offseason, … Continue reading The Ketel Marte Extension, v 2.0
2019 Minor League Preview
Thanks in part to a front office that has held most of the farm together, the Diamondbacks' system has naturally begun working its way back towards to top of the league. Without international restrictions, the Dbacks have succeeded recently in the international markets, with the team particularly thriving in the Bahamas. In the states, the team's lower-level depth is beginning to graduate to the upper-minors, bringing long-awaited MLB graduations to the doorstep. While they have continued to struggle with the last two first-round draft picks, a heavy 2019 draft should bring this farm close to the top of the league, an incredible accomplishment for Mike Hazen.
Not Tanking When Everybody Else Is
Hazen has said over and over again that the Dbacks are looking to stay competitive, not going with the tanking route that has been so popular ever since the Astros lost their way to dominance. In a sense, it is hard to believe; they traded away their best player and casually let their next two best walk away without a fight. But Hazen isn't saying that the Dbacks are staying competitive just to sell tickets; he actually is gunning for a competitive season. Hazen chose not to trade away David Peralta, Nick Ahmed, and Robbie Ray, players that certainly could bring back large hauls but are losing their value as the clock ticks closer to free agency, instead waiting to see if the Dbacks will fake their way to playoff contention in the first half of the season.
Spending Small and Not Spending At All
The offseason is naturally a boring time for baseball fans, and we try to hold ourselves over until Pitchers and Catchers Report Day through projections, prospect rankings, and offseason signings. But in the past few years, offseason signings have dwindled, and the dreary winter months have been more boring than ever. For the Dbacks, this has been more true than most teams, quite remarkably, because Hazen, three offseasons in, has yet to make a major splash in free agency. Each offseason has been highlighted by one major trade (Segura, Souza, Goldy), followed by a series of minor pickups that you will have forgotten in five years time.
And The Beginning
In the last article, I wrote about the Goldschmidt Trade entirely from the viewpoint of what the Dbacks gave away, what that meant, and the end of the era. I intentionally ignored the return because the face of the franchise leaving is too large of a deal to not get its own spotlight. But the end of the Goldy Era has fostered the beginning of the next era, whatever that may look like, so now, I am going to look at the trade entirely from the opposite perspective: what we gained, what that means, and the birth of an era.
It's been wild ride for Weaver over the past couple of years. Before the 2017 season, he was ranked as the 7th best prospect in the Cardinals organization on account of "an easy plus change," but he lacked a third pitch that could keep him in a major-league rotation. He broke out to a 3.88/2.93/3.19 ERA/xFIP/DRA line in ten games started that season, but in 2018, in fifteen more starts, he was less valuable, as his DRA rose to 4.62, about three percent below-average. His strikeout rate fell 8.7%, his walk rate rose 2.1%, and he still is searching for that ever-so-important third pitch.
Roof and Panels Open 