The Diamondbacks have a full rotation, but they could add depth, according to Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. Piecoro suggests that any newcomers would likely arrive on minor league deals.
Joe Saunders, Ian Kennedy, Daniel Hudson, Zach Duke and Barry Enright give the D’Backs a solid starting five, but Kennedy, Hudson and Enright had not seen much big league playing time before 2010. GM Kevin Towers could look to add depth to a rotation that has lost Dan Haren, Edwin Jackson and Rodrigo Lopez in the past 12 months.
As MLBTR's Free Agent Tracker shows, Towers has plenty of options. Lopez, a free agent, logged 200 innings for the D'Backs last year, so he figures to look for a guaranteed starting job elsewhere.
The D'Backs' offseason is nearly complete, but the team has interest in utility player Willie Bloomquist.
“Lost” Rodrigo Lopez…you say it like it’s a bad thing.
Yeah, you wouldn’t hear some chick say, “Hey, I just lost my crabs”.
A solid rotation? Aside from Kennedy I wouldn’t trust anyone after him.
On a off topic, MLBTR fix your ads, the sound still plays even if you have it muted and I could care less about some POS toyota
Not even Hudson?
I was thinking that myself. He did very well for the D’Backs when he arrived.
as a whitesox fan im upset with how the whole hudson for jackson then supposedly jackson for dunn(but the nats gm got cold feet while kenny was walking down the isle) thing went down…and i was even more upset when i saw how hudson did last season…felt better when jackson started to be a beast for the sox after working with cooper… But my though it the same with hudson…he is a very good pitcher but he was never ever projected by anyone to be more than a #3…in terms of raw stuff jackson has it by leaps and bounds over hudson…i would say their potential is the same. but hudson need one more pitch…if i remember correctly from watching him as a sox player he was a 2 pitch pitcher….I would not have a ton of faith in hudson either but only because its only his second season…not because i dont think he can do it…this season there are more advanced scouting reports out there and he has to deal with a full season and batters knowing him better
He uses three pitches: fastball, changeup, slider. His changeup is a great pitch, and although he only uses his slider once every 10 pitches, it’s a solid pitch too. He seems a bit like Jered Weaver, (and on BBRef, Weaver is #1 on Hudson’s most similar pitchers list) and even his arm slot is like Weaver’s.
Hudson’s peripherals says that he should be able to keep up his success (well, not completely, of course, a 1.69 ERA won’t be sustained) and a 3.6-3.9 ERA isn’t out of reach… and even if he doesn’t live up to those expectations, he’s still a solid pitcher. There’s no way, even with advanced scouting reports, he goes out and completely bombs.
as a whitesox fan im upset with how the whole hudson for jackson then supposedly jackson for dunn(but the nats gm got cold feet while kenny was walking down the isle) thing went down…and i was even more upset when i saw how hudson did last season…felt better when jackson started to be a beast for the sox after working with cooper… But my though it the same with hudson…he is a very good pitcher but he was never ever projected by anyone to be more than a #3…in terms of raw stuff jackson has it by leaps and bounds over hudson…i would say their potential is the same. but hudson need one more pitch…if i remember correctly from watching him as a sox player he was a 2 pitch pitcher….I would not have a ton of faith in hudson either but only because its only his second season…not because i dont think he can do it…this season there are more advanced scouting reports out there and he has to deal with a full season and batters knowing him better
Wait… they’re solid w/ that rotation, yet they need to look for depth b/c they lost Haren, Jackson and Lopez?
Do you realize that Haren was “lost” in a trade for Saunders? And Jackson was “lost” in a trade for Hudson? And the loss of Lopez was addressed by the acquisition of Duke?
In other words, if that starting 5 is solid, then the loss of those 3 should have no impact on the club’s need to “look to add depth”.
I think “look to add depth” really means “look to add hopefully some better starters into the mix.” At least I hope that’s what they mean.
Yea I would focus less on “adding depth”, and focus more on “adding talent”.
Uh, why? All the D’Backs need is someone to eat innings until Parker and Miley get to the majors. A rotation of Hudson, Kennedy, Parker, Miley, and Saunders/Enright/living, breathing human being with at least one arm is at the very least, solid.
you’re 100% right. every single prospect works out exactly they way you want every single time…oh wait…you mean even the best prospects are crapshoots? oh ok.
Well, it’s not like they will be terrible if they don’t work out. And that’s why depth is important right now, in a time where the D’Backs aren’t competitive. Also, is it really necessary to be a jerk about it? You could, I don’t know, make your point in a non-condescending way or something like that.
I’m actually pretty intrigued by that rotation. Kennedy and Hudson have a chance to be pretty damn good, and assume Saunders and Duke bounce back some and that rotation isn’t really all that bad. I mean, it could go two ways, that rotation COULD be solid, or it COULD be really bad. It just really depends on the maturation of Kennedy and Hudson, and the extent to which Saunders and Duke bounce back. As for the fifth spot, weren’t they considering Jarrod Parker at all? Or is he still hurt/not MLB ready?
Parker is still hurt but is MLB ready
they have Enright who showed some flashes of brilliance when he was first called up
BTW, saying that a team could add a player on a minor league contract between January and March is like saying that someone might get sick during flu season.
In other words, it’s not really terribly news-worthy, is it? Or am I wrong?
I mean, there are no specific names mentioned, not even a favored pitching side (LH or RH). I just don’t understand why items like these are posted at MLBTR… there’s no real information.
You’re right, but there isn’t much to post in the middle of January.
It might not be news worthy, but it encourages discussion. There isn’t much to report on this time of year, so I’d rather read this than read nothing at all. At least they don’t invent rumors when there’s nothing to report on (ahem…Buster Olney).
What about the possibility of bringing back Doug Davis? He’d probably accept a minor league deal after his lost 2010 season.