Arizona Diamondbacks: Hall: The pursuit of Martinez will be ‘aggressive’

Free agents galore

At the same time, Hall does not foresee any issues is signing 14 restricted free agents, and among these are Jake Lamb, A. J. Pollock, David Peralta, and pitchers Robbie Ray, Taijuan Walker, Archie Bradley and Patrick Corbin.

From the start of the off-season period, the Diamondbacks knew re-signing Martinez would be an enormous factor. Now that Boros represents Martinez, and his reputation in asking inflated figures and harsh negotiated tactics, the task to sign Martinez seems overwhelming.

"“Now that J. D. has new representation, that will be a factor,” Hall admitted to Call to the Pen. “But yes, we plan to be aggressive here.”"

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So far in the off-season, the Diamondbacks finalized only one transaction, and that was picking up the 2018 option on utility player Daniel Descalso. Most pundits believe activity will increase in the coming weeks. That’s because the general managers are meeting next week in Orlando, and the baseball winter meetings are slated for early December also in Orlando.

During the last-offense, the Diamondbacks, lone-major deal, acquiring Walker and infielder Ketel Marte, occurred just before the Thanksgiving holiday.

Another fitting award

First baseball Paul Goldschmidt won the 2017 Silver Slugger award as the leading hitter in his position.

Next: Silver Slugger Award: Winners and Snubs

Among National League first baseman, Goldschmidt was first in RBIs, with 115, first in runs scored (114), tied for first in doubles with 34 and fifth in On-Base-Percentage with a .967.

The Silver Slugger award was the third in his career. Previously, Goldschmidt won the award in 2013 and 2015 with the Arizona Diamondbacks, well on his way to number four in 2018.

If they can somehow keep the hot bat of Martinez to with the steady Goldschmidt, they will be able to soften the blow of the many free agents heading out of sunny Arizona.