Mike Hazen’s impact on the Arizona Diamondbacks: An interim grade

The general manager of a first place team — especially a surprising one — must rate highly, especially if his system produces an asset of the scope of Carroll. Indeed, the presence of Carroll almost singlehandedly accounts for Hazen’s solid first-half score.

Here’s the first half report card on the Arizona front office. Note that grades for players departing the organization are based on the reverse of those players’ WAAs with their new teams.

Mode                    WAA                      Grade

Acquired              -0.4                        C

Traded                  +0.7                       C

Signed                  +3.1                       A

FA Lost                   0.0                        C

Rookies                +2.6                       B

Overall                 +3.1                       A

Overall, Hazen has made 28 personnel moves since the end of the 2022 season impacting the fortunes of the 2023 D-Backs. Any time a GM gets more hits than misses, that’s a very good thing, and Hazen qualifies with 15 positive marks against just 11 negative ones (two have been neutral).

Having maneuvered the Arizona Diamondbacks into contention, Hazen will be faced with more delicate questions through the second half. Can he keep them there? How, if at all, does he respond to the trade deadline? Is it good enough that Arizona merely reach postseason play (they’re in good shape for that right now)? Or have expectations been driven so high that they have to outlast the Giants and Dodgers for the division title. That’s a higher bar indeed.