Arizona Diamondbacks: Mike Hazen, executive vice president and general manager.
Grade: D.
The D-Backs entered 2024 with high hopes for the defense of their NL championship. Those hopes were only bolstered when Hazen landed free agent starter Jordan Montgomery.
But halfway through the season, Montgomery has a 5.71 ERA and the team is playing .500 ball. Here’s the good news: in the broadly mediocre National League, that still amounts to playoff contention.
Since the end of the 2023 postseason, Hazen’s front office has taken a relatively conservative approach to roster enhancement. There have been just 25 personnel moves impacting the major league roster, of which only eight have generated positive value. Fourteen were negative, the other three neutral.
The signing of Montgomery, -1.3 WAA, is one of three of those moves impacting the team by more than 1.0 game in either direction. Hazen also signed Joc Pederson (+1.1), and promoted system product Justin Martinez, who has pitched 27 innings to a +1.1 WAA.
Overall score: -1.0. Grade: D.