Aaron Heilman Trade Reactions

Plenty of baseball writers are already offering their opinions on the Diamondbacks' acquisition of Aaron Heilman, and speculating about what the pitcher's role might be in Arizona….

• Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets that some Diamondbacks execs have viewed Heilman as a starter in the past.
• MLB.com's Steve Gilbert, however, suggests that the team plans to use Heilman out of the bullpen.
• In a separate article, Gilbert writes that he likes the deal for Arizona, as a low-risk move with upside. He notes that the two prospects the D'Backs gave up "were not exactly setting the world on fire."
• R.J. Anderson of Fangraphs leans the other way: He applauds the Cubs for getting anything for Heilman, and wonders if "giving up anything of value for a middle reliever" is smart for the Diamondbacks.
• Matthew Pouliot at NBC Sports thinks that both sides did well. He says that Heilman is a durable pitcher with upside, but that he wasn't in the Cubs' plans, and Chicago probably couldn't have gotten a better return elsewhere.