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D-Backs, Geraldo Perdomo Agree To Four-Year Extension

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February 18: The Diamondbacks have officially announced Perdomo’s extension. The shortstop will address the media today, along with general manager Mike Hazen.

February 17: The Diamondbacks have reportedly reached agreement with shortstop Geraldo Perdomo on a four-year extension that’ll cover the 2026-29 seasons. There’s also a fifth-year club option. Perdomo, a client of Republik Sports, is guaranteed $45MM. The deal buys out his final two arbitration seasons and at least two would-be free agent years, with the option covering a third free agent season.

Perdomo has a little over three years of major league service. He’d already agreed to a $2.55MM salary to cover his first season of arbitration. That is unchanged. He’ll collect a $5MM signing bonus and will earn $5MM in 2026, $8MM in ’27, $11MM in ’28, and $13MM in ’29. The option is valued at $15MM and comes with a $3MM buyout. His 2028-30 salaries could escalate if he finishes in the top 10 in MVP balloting. Perdomo had been on track to hit free agency in advance of his age-28 season. If the D-Backs exercise their option, he’d get to the market at age 31.

The switch-hitting Perdomo has established himself as Arizona’s shortstop behind a solid glove and strong plate approach. He debuted in 2021 but didn’t get a real opportunity until the following season. He provided very little offensively as a rookie, but he has been a league average hitter over the last two years.

Perdomo had an excellent first half in 2023. He earned an All-Star nod behind a .271/.378/.408 showing. The offense cratered coming out of the All-Star Break, as he managed only a .214/.322/.297 line in the second half. Nevertheless, manager Torey Lovullo declared early in last year’s Spring Training that he remained committed to Perdomo as the everyday shortstop.

Last season got off to a rough start. The middle infielder suffered a meniscus tear in his right knee within the first two weeks of the season. He underwent surgery that shelved him until early June. Perdomo played well upon returning, hitting .274/.345/.380 with 20 doubles and a pair of homers across 361 plate appearances. He carries a .258/.349/.366 slash in nearly 900 trips to the plate over the last two seasons.

Perdomo has a throwback offensive approach. He has drawn walks at a strong 11.3% clip while keeping his strikeout rate to a modest 16.3% since the start of 2023. He has 41 doubles and six triples with only nine home runs over that stretch. He ranks near the bottom of the league in hard contact rate and average exit velocity, but he rarely chases stuff off the plate or gets beat within the strike zone. Only Luis Arraez and Steven Kwan have a lower swinging strike rate among hitters with at least 500 plate appearances over the last two seasons.

The small-ball game even extends to bunting. Perdomo led the majors in sacrifices in both 2022 and ’23. He finished tied for sixth in that category last year despite the injury absence. While he doesn’t have great top-line speed, Perdomo has been an efficient basestealer and rates as a solid overall baserunner.

Public metrics have painted a varying picture of the defense. Statcast has graded him as a league average shortstop in each of his three full seasons. Reviews from Defensive Runs Saved have bounced around. DRS had Perdomo a few runs below average in both 2022 and ’23 but credited him at +10 runs last year, which tied for fifth-best at the position.

Arizona likes Perdomo’s game enough to commit to him at shortstop despite the presence of top infield prospect Jordan Lawlar. The 22-year-old ranks as Arizona’s best prospect and in the top 15 overall on Baseball America’s Top 100 list. Lawlar had a cup of coffee late in the ’23 season and would likely have gotten his first significant MLB opportunity last year had he not gotten injured. He’s likely to open this year in Triple-A but should be a factor at some point midseason. His long-term future is probably at third base with Eugenio Suárez hitting free agency next offseason. The Diamondbacks have Perdomo and Ketel Marte signed for multiple years beyond this one.

The D-Backs have pushed payroll to franchise-record heights this offseason. They’re going into the season with a player payroll north of $195MM, according to RosterResource. That’s well ahead of last year’s $163MM Opening Day mark, which was itself an organizational high. They have nearly $90MM coming off the books next winter. Suárez, Jordan Montgomery, Zac Gallen, Merrill Kelly and Josh Naylor are all hitting free agency. They’ll have a lot of work to do, especially on the pitching staff, but there’s enough future flexibility to make an extended commitment to Perdomo.

Mike Rodriguez first reported that the D-Backs were signing Perdomo to an extension. ESPN’s Jeff Passan had the four-year, $45MM guarantee beginning in 2026 with the fifth-year option. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com was first to report that the option could push the contract to $57MM, while escalators could add another $15MM. Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic had the full salary breakdown, while Jon Heyman of The New York Post reported the MVP bonuses.

Image courtesy of Imagn.

Diamondbacks Designate Seth Martinez For Assignment

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The Diamondbacks announced that right-hander Seth Martinez has been designated for assignment. That’s the corresponding move for their signing of fellow righty Kendall Graveman, which is now official.

Martinez, 30, has never suited up for the Snakes. He was just claimed off waivers from the Astros in November, shortly after the World Series. He lasted on the roster through most of the winter but has been nudged off today.

All of his major league experience has been with Houston thus far. He was added to that club’s roster late in 2021 and spent several years as a fringe member of the bullpen, getting optioned to the minors 12 times since getting that roster spot.

Around those trips on the shuttle, he tossed 137 1/3 major league innings for the Astros, allowing 3.93 earned runs per nine. His 20.7% strikeout rate, 9.2% walk rate and 39.6% ground ball rate to this point are all close to average but a bit worse than the mean. He also tossed 105 minor league innings over the past four years with more intriguing numbers. He had a 2.66 ERA in that work, along with a 31.5% strikeout rate and 10% walk rate.

He exhausted his final option year in 2024, which means he’ll be less valuable from a roster flexibility standpoint going forward. That likely played a role in the Astros bumping him off their roster. The Diamondbacks were presumably intrigued enough by his minor league strikeouts to claim him and hang onto him for a while but he’s been squeezed off a roster yet again.

Martinez will now be in DFA limbo for a maximum of seven days. He will likely be put back on waivers, which is a 48-hour process, so the Diamondbacks could explore trade interest for the next five days. If any club acquired Martinez, he has a bit more than two years of service time, meaning he still hasn’t qualified for arbitration and can be theoretically controlled for four seasons. However, his aforementioned out-of-options status will give him a bit of a challenge in sticking somewhere.

Diamondbacks Sign Kendall Graveman

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February 17: The Graveman signing is now official, with righty Seth Martinez designated for assignment as the corresponding move.

February 14: The Diamondbacks are reportedly in agreement with veteran reliever Kendall Graveman on a one-year, $1.35MM deal. The signing is still pending a physical. Graveman, a client of Sports One Athlete Management, will earn $1.25MM this season and has a $100K buyout on a $5MM mutual option for the 2026 season. The deal includes another $1.95MM in performance bonuses. Arizona will need to create a 40-man roster spot when the deal is finalized.

Graveman, 34, missed the 2024 season while recovering from shoulder surgery but had a strong run between the Mariners, Astros and White Sox across the three prior seasons. The former starter moved to a relief role late in the 2020 season after returning from Tommy John surgery and found fast success in a high-leverage role. From 2021-23, Graveman pitched 187 1/3 innings with a 2.74 ERA, 51 holds, 24 saves, a 24.5% strikeout rate and a 10.4% walk rate.

Though last season was lost to shoulder troubles, Graveman was cleared to begin throwing late last summer. He progressed through a normal offseason throwing and conditioning program and is ready for spring training.

When he’s been healthy, Graveman has relied upon a power sinker sitting north of 96 mph, pairing that offering with an upper-80s slider and a lesser-used changeup that sits 89-90 mph. That heavy sinker has allowed him to consistently post ground-ball rates comfortably north of 50%. The right-hander lost a bit of life on all those pitches in 2023 and saw his command erode considerably in the season’s second half, following a trade from the White Sox back to the Astros.

It’s possible shoulder issues contributed to both those red flags, of course. It’ll be telling how he looks early in camp and early in the season. If Graveman is back to 96-98 mph with his sinker and can get his walk rate back down to the 9% range — it was at 12.4% in 2023 — he’ll be a formidable piece in what should be a strong Diamondbacks bullpen.

D-backs general manager Mike Hazen has been open about his desire to add a closer this offseason. While Graveman may not be handed the role out of the gate, he adds a talented and experienced option for manager Torey Lovullo to consider. If he can get back to 2021-23 form, it’s easy to see Graveman factoring into the ninth inning. Prior to this agreement, the Snakes appeared likely to lean on some combination of A.J. Puk, Justin Martinez and Kevin Ginkel in save opportunities.

The addition of Graveman pushes the Diamondbacks’ payroll a bit north of $195MM, per RosterResource. That’s a franchise-record mark by a wide margin, shattering the previous highwater mark of $163MM, set just last year. Prior to the 2024 season, the D-backs had never opened the season higher than $132MM. They’ve been heavily involved in both the trade and free agent markets in each of the past two offseasons, however, with no bigger strike coming than the club-record $210MM investment in newly signed ace Corbin Burnes.

Since Graveman only bumps the payroll by $600K over a league-minimum player, it’s at least feasible that the D-backs could remain engaged in the market for additional bullpen help. David Robertson and Kyle Finnegan both remain unsigned and have ample closing experience. Craig Kimbrel and Hector Neris are both still out there as well and looking to rebound from shaky 2024 campaigns, while Daniel Bard is an even more extreme rebound candidate as he looks to rebound from flexor tendon surgery that cost him all of the 2024 campaign with his 40th birthday looming in June. The trade market presents additional possibilities, of course, but Hazen said just yesterday that any forthcoming bullpen acquisitions would likely be made via free agency.

ESPN’s Jesse Rogers first reported the D-Backs and Graveman had a one-year deal. MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert was first with the $1.35MM guarantee. Rogers reported the maximum $3.3MM value after incentives, while Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reported the mutual option/buyout.

Diamondbacks Sign Shelby Miller To Minors Deal

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The Diamondbacks have signed right-hander Shelby Miller to a minor league contract, FanSided’s Robert Murray reports.  Miller will receive an invitation to Arizona’s big league spring camp.

This will be Miller’s second stint in a D’Backs uniform, as he previously pitched for the team from 2016-18.  Miller’s first arrival in Arizona came with much more fanfare in December 2015, as the rebuilding Braves sent Miller and Gabe Speier for Dansby Swanson, Ender Inciarte, and pitching prospect Aaron Blair.  The Diamondbacks viewed Miller as a rotation cornerstone, but fate intervened, as he struggled to a 6.35 ERA over three seasons and 139 innings with the team.  Injuries played a large role, particularly a Tommy John surgery that cost him most of the 2017-18 seasons.

Arizona non-tendered Miller after the 2018 season, more or less closing the book on one of the more infamous trades in franchise history.  He has since pitched for six more teams at the MLB level, posting a 5.35 ERA in 161 1/3 innings while showing some glimpses of a higher ceiling as a relief pitcher.  Miller posted a 1.71 ERA over 42 innings with the Dodgers in 2023 but he couldn’t follow up, as he had a 4.53 ERA in 55 2/3 frames last season after signing a one-year, $3MM deal with the Tigers.  Miller didn’t quite make it to the end of the full season, as Detroit designated him for assignment and released him in the final week of regular-season play.

Miller’s big season in Los Angeles involved some good fortune in the form of a .165 BABIP and an 89.3% strand rate.  He still had a .215 BABIP with the Tigers last year, but the strand rate plummeted to 60.3%, while his strikeout and homer rates both went in the wrong direction.  Miller’s 93.5mph fastball was still a plus pitch, but after a newly-developed splitter led to a lot of success for Miller in 2023, batters figured the pitch out last year and made a lot more loud contact.

The 34-year-old Miller brings some veteran experience to the Diamondbacks’ depth chart, and it would make for a great story if he could make the roster and find some redemption after his previous stint with the team went so poorly.  The D’Backs have been looking for relief help for much of the offseason, with Kendall Graveman and Seth Martinez the most prominent additions.  Miller is one of several non-roster invites in Arizona’s camp that will be vying for jobs at the back end of the Snakes’ bullpen.

Diamondbacks Still Involved In Free Agent Relief Market

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The Diamondbacks have pursued late-inning help all offseason. Arizona’s lone major league bullpen pickup was their waiver claim of Seth Martinez from Houston. The Snakes let Paul Sewald walk in free agency, leaving them without much in the way of experienced closers.

General manager Mike Hazen told reporters this afternoon that any late-offseason bullpen pickup is likelier to come by way of free agency than trade (relayed by Alex Weiner of Arizona Sports). The bullpen market has moved rapidly over the past four or five weeks. David Robertson stands as the top unsigned reliever. He has ample experience as both a closer and setup man. Robertson will be limited to a one-year deal at age 40, though he could command an eight-figure guarantee after posting an even 3.00 earned run average while striking out a third of opponents across 72 innings for the Rangers.

There are a handful of other free agent relievers who still seem likely to land big league deals. Kyle Finnegan, Andrew Chafin, and Phil Maton should all get major league contracts. Buck Farmer, Lucas Sims, Héctor Neris and injury returnees Kendall Graveman and Keynan Middleton are all unsigned. Craig Kimbrel has the most closing experience of any free agent, though he’s coming off a dismal season with the Orioles.

If the Diamondbacks don’t add anyone from that group, the ninth inning could be up for grabs in camp. Manager Torey Lovullo said yesterday that he’d prefer having an established closer but is “not going to force it” if a committee approach works better (link via Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic). Lovullo listed A.J. Puk, Justin Martinez and Kevin Ginkel as in-house candidates to close.

Puk was utterly dominant after the D-Backs acquired him from the Marlins at last summer’s deadline. The southpaw fired 27 1/3 innings of 1.32 ERA ball while striking out nearly 42% of batters faced. Puk has had three straight seasons as an excellent late-game weapon. He didn’t close much last year but recorded 15 saves two seasons ago.

Martinez turned in a 2.48 ERA over 72 2/3 innings in his first full big league campaign. The righty punched out nearly 30% of batters faced with a massive 58.9% grounder percentage. His sinker landed north of 100 MPH on average, while opposing hitters had no success against his splitter. Martinez doesn’t have Puk’s multi-year track record but clearly has closing stuff. Ginkel turned in a 3.21 ERA with a strong 26.5% strikeout rate across 70 innings. While he seems likelier to stick in a setup capacity, the righty has been a reliable bullpen piece for the past three years.

D-backs Sticking To Five-Man Rotation

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The Diamondbacks’ surprise signing of Corbin Burnes further crowded a rotation that had at least six starters in the mix. While there’s been talk of a possible six-man rotation in Arizona since that Burnes deal, manager Torey Lovullo said at D-backs camp this week that team is not considering that at this point (link via Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic).

That leaves the Diamondbacks with seven starters for five spots: Burnes, Zac Gallen, Merrill Kelly, Eduardo Rodriguez, Brandon Pfaadt, Jordan Montgomery and Ryne Nelson. The first four are largely locked into place. Burnes and Gallen are Cy Young-caliber arms when healthy. Kelly has been a steady midrotation arm for the Snakes since signing out of the KBO in the 2018-19 offseason. Rodriguez’s first year in Arizona was marred by injury, but he’s signed three more years and has a lengthy track record.

Montgomery’s status in Arizona has been a talking point throughout the winter. The Diamondbacks signed him to a one-year, $25MM contract with a vesting $20MM player option for the 2025 season. The left-hander pitched enough to trigger that option but nowhere near well enough to decline it in favor of a return to the open market. Signing just days before Opening Day last season, Montgomery missed spring training, rushed through an accelerated ramp-up in Triple-A and never appeared to be himself. He pitched 117 innings but was rocked for a 6.23 earned run average with career-worst walk and strikeout rates.

D-backs owner Ken Kendrick called Montgomery’s performance out late in the season, publicly lamenting the role that he’d played in bringing the left-hander to his organization. “I brought it to (the front office’s) attention. I pushed for it,” Kendrick said in September. “They agreed to it. It wasn’t in our game plan. … And looking back, in hindsight, a horrible decision to have invested that money in a guy that performed as poorly as he did.”

Pfaadt, 26, would give the D-backs an upside arm at the back of the staff. The former top prospect hasn’t yet found his stride over a full big league season but has shown glimpses of the potential that made him so well regarded. He looked to have found his stride last year, logging a 3.98 ERA, 23% strikeout rate and 4.9% walk rate through his first 24 starts, but Pfaadt was hit hard in late August and for much of September. He mixed in one late-season gem — seven innings, one run, 12 strikeouts in Milwaukee — but even with that showing still posted an ERA north of 7.00 over his final eight starts. He finished the year at a 4.71 mark but did pile up 181 2/3 innings.

Nelson, who turned 27 in December, made 27 appearances this past season — 25 of them starts — and recorded 150 2/3 innings of 4.24 ERA ball. His 20% strikeout rate and 8.4% swinging-strike rate were below average (well below, with regard to the latter), but Nelson’s 5.4% walk rate was outstanding.

There are other options on the 40-man roster, but they’re likely to be viewed as depth candidates, barring a spring breakout. Yilber Diaz, Cristian Mena, Tommy Henry and Blake Walston are all on the 40-man roster and have all made their big league debuts, but they’d likely only be called upon in the event of multiple injuries — at least with the current roster construction.

Kendrick’s comments on Montgomery led to plenty of speculation about a potential trade of this winter, but no such deal has come to fruition. It’s still possible the D-backs could find a taker for a portion of the contract or swap him out for a comparably priced veteran on an underwater deal (e.g. Rhys Hoskins, Starling Marte), but for now, Montgomery will get a full spring buildup and look to bounce back from a dismal 2024 season.

If the D-backs can find some kind of trade that sheds a portion of the Montgomery money, any savings could be reallocated to other needs. Most notably, they’ve been in the market for a closer throughout the winter but have yet to add an established ninth-inning arm. Arizona’s payroll is projected for a franchise-record $195MM, per RosterResource. It’s not clear whether Kendrick is willing to push things further after already ponying up to sign Burnes (six years, $210MM), acquire Josh Naylor in a trade (one year, $10.9MM) and re-sign Randal Grichuk (one year, $5MM). Barring the signing of a veteran like David Robertson or Kyle Finnegan, the D-backs will look inward and lean on A.J. Puk, Justin Martinez and Kevin Ginkel as their top late-inning arms.

Diamondbacks Sign Scott McGough, John Curtiss To Minor League Deals

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The Diamondbacks signed relievers Scott McGough and John Curtiss to minor league contracts with invitations to big league camp. The deals were announced by the club’s Triple-A affiliate in Reno.

McGough is a familiar face for Arizona fans. The 35-year-old righty has spent the last two seasons with the Diamondbacks. He signed a two-year, $6.25MM contract over the 2022-23 offseason. McGough had come off a solid four-year run with the Yakult Swallows in Japan. That didn’t translate as hoped against major league competition.

While McGough picked up nine saves in 2023, he also surrendered a 4.73 earned run average through 70 1/3 relief innings. His production went backwards last year, as he allowed 7.44 earned runs per nine over 32 2/3 MLB frames. McGough walked 14% of batters faced with a mediocre 16.7% strikeout rate. He had a better showing with Reno, where he posted a 3.22 ERA across 36 1/3 innings. McGough fanned a solid 23.7% of Triple-A opponents but still issued free passes at an alarming 11.5% clip.

Arizona had an easy decision to buy McGough out of a $4MM mutual option. The front office remains intrigued enough by his arsenal and minor league numbers to give him another look in Spring Training. Opponents have teed off on his 93 MPH fastball, but McGough has gotten strong results on his mid-80s splitter over the past couple seasons.

Curtiss is a new addition to the organization. He made three big league appearances as a member of the Rockies last season. Curtiss pitched well for Colorado’s top farm team, turning in a 3.96 ERA through 50 innings in an extremely hitter-friendly setting in Albuquerque. That came with a pedestrian 19.1% strikeout percentage but he limited walks to a 7% clip.

A veteran of parts of seven MLB seasons, Curtiss had his best run with the Rays and Marlins between 2020-21. Miami traded him to the Brewers at the ’21 deadline. Curtiss blew out his elbow shortly thereafter and underwent Tommy John surgery that wiped out his ’22 season. He returned to the majors with the Mets two seasons ago, tossing 19 2/3 innings of 4.58 ERA ball.

Trey Mancini, Diamondbacks Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Diamondbacks and first baseman/outfielder Trey Mancini have agreed to a minor league deal, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN. The Frontline client will be in big league camp as a non-roster invitee.

Mancini, 33 in March, didn’t play last year. He signed a minor league deal with the Marlins in January of 2024 but he opted out of that deal at the end of camp, presumably after being told he wouldn’t make the team. He didn’t sign anywhere else. At the start of November, it was reported that Mancini was planning to make a comeback in 2025. It seems the Snakes will give him a shot, at least by giving him some looks in spring.

It wouldn’t be the first comeback for Mancini, who famously returned to baseball after missing the 2020 season battling Stage 3 colon cancer. Over the 2021 and 2022 seasons, he hit .247/.323/.412 for a 105 wRC+. Most of that came with the Orioles, though that club traded him to the Astros at the 2022 deadline, which allowed Mancini to win a World Series ring with Houston a few months later. That was a bit below his 2016 to 2019 form, when he slashed .276/.335/.485 for a 116 wRC+, but it was a strong performance and an inspiring comeback nonetheless.

He parlayed that performance into a two-year deal with the Cubs, though that deal didn’t go as hoped. Mancini put up a line of .234/.299/.336 in 263 plate appearances with Chicago and was off the roster by the start of August. He then landed a minors deal with the Reds but got released from that pact. As mentioned, a minor league deal with the Marlins last offseason didn’t get him back to the majors.

Though he missed all of last year and struggled badly in 2023, he’ll be looking to get back on track with the Diamondbacks. Mancini has played some outfield in his career but he never got great marks out there and his last significant stint on the grass was in 2019. Given that he has more experience at first base and is now pushing into his mid-30s, he’s probably more likely to wind up at first or slot in as the designated hitter.

Last year, the Diamondbacks had Christian Walker as their primary first baseman, though he hit free agency and signed with the Astros. The Snakes acquired Josh Naylor from the Guardians to take over as the regular there. Joc Pederson was the primary DH, at least against right-handed pitching. He also became a free agent and signed in the AL West, in his case with the Rangers.

As of now, Pavin Smith might project as the top option for the DH spot after a solid showing in 2024. Though he was often sent to Triple-A and back, he got into 60 big league games and slashed .270/.348/.547 for a 140 wRC+. Like Pederson, Smith is a lefty hitter who struggles against southpaws, so a platoon partner would make sense.

The Diamondbacks signed righty-swinging Randal Grichuk this week. He seems likely to serve a fourth-outfielder, short-side platoon role. The Snakes have lefties Corbin Carroll, Jake McCarthy and Alek Thomas in their outfield, as well as Naylor and Smith in the first base/designated hitter mix. Perhaps Mancini can work his way into that calculus as well, depending on how he looks in spring after a year away from official action.

Poll: Who’s Winning The Offseason In The NL West?

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The calendar has flipped to February and the start of Spring Training is just a matter of days away. While some notable free agents (including nine of MLBTR’s Top 50 MLB Free Agents for the 2024-25 offseason) remain unsigned, most clubs have already done the heavy lifting in terms of preparing their roster for the 2025 season. In the coming days, we’ll be taking a look around the league at which clubs have had the strongest offseason to this point. So far, the Mets and Cubs have decisively won the polls covering the NL East and Central respectively. Today, the focus shifts to the NL West.

The west coast represents the class of the National League given that they’ve represented the senior circuit in the World Series in each of the past two seasons. The division has sent at least two teams to the postseason in each of the past five seasons, and this offseason finds three of the club’s five teams firmly in win-now contention windows while a fourth has also begun acting aggressively. Which team has done the most to set themselves up for success this winter? Teams are listed in order of their 2024 record.

Los Angeles Dodgers

The reigning World Series champions may have stayed mostly on the sidelines during the bidding for top free agent and $765MM man Juan Soto, but that in no way means they’ve had a quiet offseason. The Dodgers have been one of the league’s most active teams this winter, re-signing Teoscar Hernandez and Blake Treinen, extending Tommy Edman, and also making a number of additions in free agency. The club kicked off the winter by poaching lefty Blake Snell from their division rivals in San Francisco and haven’t let up since, adding Michael Conforto to the outfield and Hyeseong Kim to the infield while bolstering the bullpen with both Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates, arguably the two best closers available in this winter’s market.

The most notable addition of the winter for Los Angeles, however, was surely longtime NPB phenom Roki Sasaki, who was posted despite not yet being eligible for anything more than a minor league contract and international bonus pool money. Getting Sasaki under such favorable terms would be a coup for any team, and it only serves to strengthen the Dodgers further. That’s not to say their offseason has been flawless, however. Their roster crunch reached a point where they had to sell off some of their less-necessary 40-man prospects and depth pieces like Diego Cartaya, Gavin Lux, and Ryan Brasier. Aside from that, the club’s biggest question mark in 2025 was the shortstop position, and that remains largely unaddressed as the club plans to give veteran star Mookie Betts another run at the position despite his lack of experience there. Even with a potential hole at short if Betts is unable to handle the position, however, the Dodgers have set themselves up well as they look to defend their World Series title in 2025.

San Diego Padres

It’s been a quiet and disappointing offseason in San Diego amid discord within the club’s ownership group and a clear budget crunch that has hampered president of baseball operations A.J. Preller all throughout the winter. The departures of Scott, Jurickson Profar, Donovan Solano, and Ha-Seong Kim in free agency have left the club’s strong core without much of its supporting cast, and San Diego’s hopes of landing Sasaki were dashed by their rivals in L.A. despite a strong push that made them a finalist. The club’s only big league signing to this point in the winter has been re-signing Elias Diaz to help shore things up behind the plate. It’s a welcome addition but hardly a needle mover, and it seems as though the Padres may not be able to make more impactful additions without trading a player like Dylan Cease or Luis Arraez to clear salary.

Arizona Diamondbacks

After missing the playoffs by just a hair in 2024, the 2023 NL champions have not been resting on their laurels this winter. The club re-upped with Randal Grichuk yesterday to keep a key right-handed bat in the outfield mix, and while the losses of Joc Pederson, Christian Walker, and Josh Bell to free agency are all sure to sting the lineup the addition of Josh Naylor in a trade with the Guardians should help to ease that blow considerably. By far the club’s most notable addition, however, is that of Corbin Burnes. Arizona managed to reel in the offseason’s top pitching free agent on a surprisingly favorable six-year guarantee, and the 2021 NL Cy Young award winner will now join Zac Gallen at the top of an already-strong rotation that also features Merrill Kelly, Eduardo Rodriguez, Brandon Pfaadt, and Jordan Montgomery. With that being said, the club still has one major question mark in the lineup after letting Pederson’s role as the regular DH go as-of-yet unfilled, and the club’s efforts to add a closer to their relief corps have not yet come to fruition either.

San Francisco Giants

Much like the Diamondbacks, the Giants’ offseason is highlighted by one major, splashy signing: they added shortstop Willy Adames to their infield on the largest free agent contract in club history, pairing him with recently-extended third baseman Matt Chapman to form a dynamic duo on the left side of the infield for years to come. Aside from that signing, perhaps the biggest addition to the Giants organization of the offseason was longtime franchise face Buster Posey taking over for the exiting Farhan Zaidi as president of baseball operations.

Since adding Adames just before the Winter Meetings, however, things have been fairly quiet in San Francisco. Future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander was brought in to help Logan Webb anchor the rotation after Snell departed for Los Angeles, but Verlander turns 42 later this month and it’s fair to wonder how much he has left in the tank after a difficult 2024 season. That appears to be all the club plans to do this winter, as Posey recently suggested that the organization feels “pretty set” with their offseason moves despite departures like Michael Conforto and Taylor Rogers having gone as-of-yet unanswered.

Colorado Rockies

Coming off back-to-back 100-loss seasons, the Rockies have continued to eschew the full rebuild strategy other bottom-feeders like the White Sox and Marlins have taken up in favor of retaining their veteran players to serve as a bridge to their younger pieces. That’s led to extremely quiet offseasons in recent years, and this one has been no exception to that. The club added some infield depth by signing Thairo Estrada and Kyle Farmer to one-year deals as they look to replace Brendan Rodgers, but those are the club’s only big league free agent additions of the winter.

Arguably their most impactful move was re-signing catcher Jacob Stallings on the heels of an excellent rebound season with the club last year, and he should help to solidify the catcher position until well-regarded prospect Drew Romo is ready to take over regular catching duties. The pitching staff has been almost entirely unaltered aside from the departures of Daniel Bard and Cal Quantrill, however, and there hasn’t been a bat brought in to replace the production of retiring franchise stalwart Charlie Blackmon.

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This offseason has been a bit of a mixed bag around the NL West, with three of its five clubs making multiple major additions to the roster but the other two having done very little to this point in terms of either buy-side or sell-side moves, instead largely remaining stagnant. The Dodgers have been, unsurprisingly, the most active club of the winter both within the division and arguably in baseball as a whole. With that said, however, Arizona’s coup in bringing Burnes into the fold and San Francisco’s record-setting deal for Adames are strong moves that could catapult either club back into the postseason after missing out last year. Colorado’s trend of modest offseasons has continued, however, and with the caveat that Preller can never be counted out when it comes to making bold moves, it seems that the Padres have elected to join them in that quiet approach to this point in the offseason.

Of the five NL West clubs, which one has had the strongest offseason so far? Have your say in the poll below:

Diamondbacks Re-Sign Randal Grichuk

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The Diamondbacks announced that they have signed outfielder Randal Grichuk to a one-year deal with a mutual option for 2026. It’s reportedly a $5MM guarantee for the Excel Sports Management client, broken up into a $2MM salary, followed by a $3MM buyout on a $5MM mutual option. He can also earn another $500K via incentives: $250K for getting to 200 plate appearances and another $250K for getting to 275. There’s also a one-time $250K assignment bonus if Grichuk is traded. The club had a 40-man roster vacancy and doesn’t need to make a corresponding move.

Grichuk, 33, signed a similar deal with the Snakes around this time last year. He and the club agreed to a deal with a $2MM guarantee in the middle of February, which turned out to be a big win for the D’Backs. Grichuk played a part-time role, getting into 106 games and stepping to the plate 279 times. He hit .291/.348/.528 in those, production that translated to a 139 wRC+.

Most of that production came in a platoon capacity, which has been a trademark of the righty swinger. He has a .273/.324/.509 line and 121 wRC+ against lefties in his career, compared to a .242/.288/.449 line and 93 wRC+ without the platoon advantage. Arizona sent him to the plate 184 times against southpaws last year and he responded with a huge .319/.386/.528 line and 151 wRC+. They limited him to just 95 trips to the plate against righties, but he actually fared well in those, hitting .242/.274/.527 for a 116 wRC+.

Strikeouts have often been a problem for Grichuk in his career, as he was in the 26 to 32% range in each season from 2014 to 2019. But he then got that down into the low 20s for a few years before dropping all the way to 16.5% in 2024.

That production fit very well on a Diamondbacks club that had a lot of prominent lefties bats and will again in 2025. The outfield mix features Corbin Carroll, Jake McCarthy and Alek Thomas. This offseason, the Snakes acquired lefty Josh Naylor to replace righty-swinging Christian Walker at first base. Last year, lefty Joc Pederson was the primary designated hitter, though he became a free agent and signed with the Rangers. It’s possible that the club will redirect some of Pederson’s plate appearances to Pavin Smith, another lefty.

Grichuk gives manager Torey Lovullo plenty of ability to shuffle those lefties out of the lineup whenever he sees fit, either by sending Grichuk out into the field or by putting him in the designated hitter slot. Defensively, Grichuk is capable of playing any of three outfield slots, though he’s a bit better in a corner than in center.

From a financial perspective, it’s not a huge deal in MLB terms, but it still pushes the Diamondbacks farther into uncharted waters. Per Cot’s Baseball Contracts, the club ran an Opening Day payroll of $163MM, which was a franchise record by a significant margin. Thanks in large part to their shocking Corbin Burnes deal, RosterResource projects them to get to $198MM this year. That’s in spite of the club’s broadcast deal falling apart in 2023, leaving them to pivot to an MLB-run model which likely brings in less revenue.

Trading Jordan Montgomery and the $22.5MM he’s owed this year would bring those numbers down, but it’s possible the budget is getting a bit tight at the moment. That might explain why Grichuk’s option buyout is actually higher than his salary, as it allows the club to kick that payment down the road to the end of the season.

On the heels of his solid season, Grichuk got plenty of interest around the league. He was connected to the Orioles, Pirates and Giants throughout the winter. Anne Rogers of MLB.com relays today that the Royals were interested as well. When Jurickson Profar signed with Atlanta a couple of weeks ago, all the surefire everyday outfielders were off the board. That seems to have pushed clubs to pivot to the part-time role players. Austin Hays was signed last week, while Ramón Laureano and Grichuk put pen to paper today. For clubs still looking for outfield help, guys like Harrison Bader, Mark Canha, Jason Heyward and Alex Verdugo are still available.

Mark Feinsand of MLB.com first reported that the Diamondbacks were bringing back Grichuk with a $5MM guarantee and incentives that could take it to $5.5MM. Jon Heyman of The New York Post first provided the full breakdown.

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