Arizona Diamondbacks Top Five Offseason Priorities

Fill the Front Office and Managerial Vacancies

First things first. Before building their new house, the Diamondbacks need to choose an architect. It wasn’t all that shocking when they let previous general manager Dave Stewart go last week once the regular season drew to a close. Before the important player-personnel decisions are tackled during the offseason, the franchise has to determine who it wants making those decisions. And the sooner, the better.

Several names have already surfaced in the past few days as potential candidates. Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe identifies the following as possibilities:

Minniti and Bell are internal candidates, as the D-Backs’ assistant GM and director of player development, respectively. Ng and Woodfork are both senior VPs of baseball operations for MLB, while Montgomery is the Brewers’ VP of amateur scouting. The biggest name that has come up, however, is Dodgers executive Ned Colletti. Unless you count former Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos, who reportedly turned down a chance to interview.

Colletti was L.A.’s general manager from 2005 to 2014 and currently serves as a special adviser to team president Andrew Friedman. The club made the postseason five times during his tenure, including three consecutive NLCS appearances. If Arizona wants someone with a hefty resume, Colletti is definitely the guy out of those already mentioned. However, electing to go with a first-time GM over a retread comes with some appeal, too.

The D-Backs will also need to replace Chip Hale as manager, who was given his walking papers as well last Monday. Bud Black is a recognizable name that’s out there, although fan favorites Mark Grace and Matt Williams are in-house options that seem plausible. But once again, based on how poorly the past season went, you wonder if they would prefer to reach outside the organization for new blood.

They will also have to figure out what exactly happens with Tony La Russa. The franchise is apparently willing to retain him in an adviser capacity, but not as Chief Baseball Officer with all the authority that position entails. Given the occasionally tumultuous nature of his tenure with the club, it would probably be best for the D-Backs if he hit the bricks.

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