Even after Greinke signing, Arizona Diamondbacks have work to do
The signing of Zack Greinke by the Arizona Diamondbacks came as a bit of a shock to many in the baseball industry, especially to their division rivals the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers who seemed to be the front runners for the free agent starting pitcher. The Diamondbacks clearly had to overpay to grab the former Cy Young winner dishing out $206.5 million for his services over the next six years.
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The reason this signing was so surprising is because many people don’t believe the Diamondbacks are true contenders in the National League West, but adding Greinke definitely changes that thinking. This team finished just four games under .500 in 2015 at 79-83 so they weren’t far off from being contenders.
They finished second in the National League in runs scored in 2015, only behind the Colorado Rockies. The Diamondbacks finished with the third best batting average in the NL, and had the seventh most home runs.
However, if you look at this lineup on paper there are still a lot of holes that need to be filled. Outside of Paul Goldschmidt and A.J. Pollock there isn’t much firepower on offense. David Peralta had a good year, but he’s better used in a platoon role in the outfield as he’s much better against righties.
Their middle infielders, Chris Owings and Nick Ahmed, combined to hit just .226 with 13 home runs. Both are young and could still improve, but that’s risky for a team that is looking to contend right now. It’s likely the Diamondbacks look to move one or more of its young infielders in a trade to upgrade at either third, second or shortstop.
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The Diamondbacks invested a lot of money into Yasmany Tomas in hopes that he would become the next Yoenis Céspedes, but after one disappointing year that seems like a long shot at this point. They would like to move him and his money if someone is interested, but it’s more likely they move Ender Inciarte or Peralta and hope that Tomas makes some big adjustments in his second year.
Regardless, they need to find a right-handed bat to complement Peralta or Inciarte in either left or right field. They can’t play in the Céspedes, Justin Upton or Jason Heyward pool, but maybe they could afford Alex Gordon. He would be a perfect fit for this young, up-and-coming ball club.
It sounds like the Diamondbacks are at the threshold of their payroll limit after the Greinke signing so they’ll have to get creative through trades if they’re going to add to this team. To do that they’ll have to pick from a farm system that isn’t that deep. Any deal they make will likely have to include Dansby Swanson, Archie Bradley, Aaron Blair or Braden Shipley; but if they’re willing to part with those prospects they have the ability to pick up at least one more piece to the puzzle.
The starting pitching is what really plagued the Diamondbacks in 2015 as they finished with an ERA of 4.37, which ranked them 11th as a staff in the NL. Robbie Ray and Patrick Corbin were the only starters that finished with an ERA under four, but they only combined for 39 starts in 2015. Greinke is obviously a big jolt to that rotation to go along with Corbin at the top, but if they’re going to be contenders in 2016 it’s imperative to add another top of the rotation starter.
If the Diamondbacks aren’t willing to give up Pollock in a trade for Shelby Miller, which makes sense, then surely they can come up with a package that includes Blair and another prospect to get it done. If the Diamondbacks are serious about contending in 2016 they have to find a way to get this deal – or another deal for a starting pitcher – done.
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If they can add one more impact arm to the staff, make upgrades in the infield and add a right-handed hitting bat in the outfield, this team has a real shot of competing in the NL West in 2016.