Arizona Diamondbacks: On final day, Hazen lands a pitcher

With Rule 5 acquisition Albert Suarez, the Arizona Diamondbacks hope they improve their bullpen.

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – Coming into the winter meetings, general manager Mike Hazen of the Arizona Diamondbacks established an explicit criterion.

Not to dramatically alter a team which qualified for post-season play, Hazen’s aim was merely to tweak and improve the pitching help as well as add dimension to the outfield.

The path to acquiring the desired player takes several paths, including trades and free agent agents. On Thursday morning, Hazen found another way to bolster his pitching staff and went traveled down the Rule 5 highway.

Selecting Albert Suarez, a 6-3, 235 pounder out of San Felix, Venezuela, from the Giants’ unprotected roster, Hazen told Call to the Pen that Suarez, at 28-years-old, comes with versatility.

Over the past two seasons with the Giants, Suarez appeared in 40 games with 12 starts, went 3-8 and posted a combined 4.51 ERA. In 2017 alone, he appeared in 18 games at the major-league level and averaged 9.66 strikeouts per nine innings.

From afar, Hazen liked what he saw, and pulled the trigger.

"“We saw him quite a bit over the second half of last season, and he faced us quite number of times,” Hazen said upon conclusion of the Rule 5 draft. “Looking at the construction of our bullpen and watching how the market is developing, we felt this was a good opportunity for us.”"

In the case of Suarez, Hazen pointed out this is not a development situation. The Diamondbacks will not attempt to send the right-hander to the minors for instruction and refinement of skills. Suarez is here to help the Diamondbacks immediately as a middle reliever and not necessarily as a starter.

"“We feel we can him plug in right in and compete,” Hazen told Call to the Pen. “He can realistically compete. Sometimes, we bring in guys from AA or AAA but with Suarez, he’s pitched in the big leagues and we like his stuff. We think we can slot right into the competition from spring training. We thought he was worth it.”"

Should Suarez not make the 25-man roster out of the spring training, he must be returned to the Giants organization.

As well, he must remain on the major-league roster for the entire season or return to the Giants.

Aside from the Suarez pick-up, nothing of note occurred here, and that was essentially by design.

Cautious and prudent by nature, Hazen will pick his spots, and while talks were engaging, he pointed out, little transpired,

"“It’s not a trade deadline, but we try and jam a bunch of stuff in these four days,” Hazen told Call to the Pen. “There was a great deal of information which was shared, and that can be helpful moving forward. One of things we’ve tried to do is stay disciplined to what we’re trying to get done. If this don’t happen, there’s no reason for force it. I think there is a chance that things will happen.”"

More from Call to the Pen

In addition to Suarez, the Arizona Diamondbacks selected two other players in the Triple-A phase of the Rule 5 draft.

Selected was outfielder Jay Gonzales from the from the Orioles organization, and left-hander Lane Ratliff from the Mariners chain.

In the major-league phase, the Diamondbacks lost outfielder Victor Reyes to the Detroit Tigers, who went number one.

Also in the major-league phase, the Cincinnati Reds selected right-handed pitcher Brad Keller, who was an eighth-round pick of the Diamondbacks in the 2013 draft.

As in the case of Suarez, both Reyes and Keller must make their respective clubs and be kept on the 25-man roster for the entire season.

Next: Diamondbacks: At least for now, no movement

If there is any deviation from their placement on the major-league roster, players are returned to the Arizona Diamondbacks organization.

As well, all Rule 5 players have no options to be sent to the minors.