Arizona Diamondbacks 2017 Team Preview
By Tim Haberin
Key Offseason Additions
To be honest, the Diamondbacks’ most important offseason additions were to their front office and on-field leadership. The organization hired former Red Sox GM Mike Hazen to be its new general manager. Hazen proceeded to take with him another familiar face from Boston, bringing aboard former Sox bench coach Torey Lovullo as manager.
Though Dave Dombrowski pretty much ran the show after joining the franchise in August of 2015, Hazen drew praise for his work in Boston. Likewise, Lovullo was viewed as a hot-ticket managerial candidate after guiding the Red Sox to a 28-21 record in late 2015 while John Farrell received cancer treatment. Both should work well together and make the team their own.
In their most prominent offseason personnel move, the D-Backs traded Jean Segura, Mitch Haniger and Zac Curtis to the Mariners in exchange for Taijuan Walker and Ketel Marte. Walker hasn’t always lived up to the hype in his four-year major league career, but the right-hander is still just 24 and under team control through 2020. He posted a 4.22 ERA, 1.24 WHIP and 3.22 K/BB ratio in 134.1 innings for Seattle last year. The D-Backs will hope he can blossom for them, but Arizona is traditionally not the kindest location to pitchers.
The 23-year-old Marte brings another young, controllable player into the D-Backs’ fold. He slashed .259/.287/.323 with a homer, 33 RBI and 11 stolen bases in 119 games last season, his second in the big leagues. A change of scenery to the desert could help Marte’s bat bounce back, and he’ll be in the mix at shortstop with Nick Ahmed and Chris Owings.
The D-Backs will hope [Walker] can blossom for them, but Arizona is traditionally not the kindest location to pitchers.
The Diamondbacks also signed Fernando Rodney to a one-year deal to be their closer. He’ll be 40 years old later this month and has typically been unpredictable even at the best of times. In 2016, Rodney got off to a dominant start with the Padres, going a perfect 17-for-17 in save chances with a 0.31 ERA in 28.2 frames. He imploded after a midseason trade to the Marlins, though, sputtering to a 5.89 ERA over 36.2 innings. Which Rodney will Arizona get? It’s hard to say, but with 261 career saves, he’s certainly no stranger to the ninth inning.
Veteran catchers Chris Iannetta and Jeff Mathis were added on one- and two-year deals, respectively. The D-Backs will be interested to see whether Chris Herrmann continues swinging the bat well (.845 OPS with six homers in 166 PA in 2016), but Mathis and Iannetta – while not exactly remarkable – bring plenty of experience to the mix.
The D-Backs signed seven-year veteran Daniel Descalso to a one-year deal with a club option, providing some additional infield depth. Descalso has experience at all four infield positions and has even made a few appearances in the corner outfield spots.
It’s also perhaps worth mentioning A.J. Pollock as an “addition” considering he appeared in only 12 games for the D-Backs toward the end of last season. In an All-Star 2015 campaign, the outfielder hit for a .315/.367/.498 line with 20 home runs, 76 RBI and 39 steals. If he’s healthy, getting that kind of production back into an already robust lineup would be huge.
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