The Diamondbacks lost yet another arm to Tommy John surgery yesterday, as Jack Magruder of FOX Sports Arizona reported (via Twitter) that right-hander David Hernandez will miss the 2014 season and undergo the operation. The 28-year-old Hernandez, acquired from the Orioles in the Mark Reynolds trade, emerged as one of the NL's best setup men from 2011-12 before stumbling in 2013. However, though he finished with a pedestrian 4.48 ERA last season, Hernandez had seemingly righted the ship in September, as he allowed just one run with 16 strikeouts against four walks in 14 innings in the season's final month. Arizona has also seen starters Patrick Corbin and Daniel Hudson fall to Tommy John surgery recently (twice, in Hudson's case).
Here's more out of the NL West…
- Chase Headley admits to MLB.com's Corey Brock that this could be his final season with the Padres, but says he's trying not to think about that at this point. Headley tells Brock that later on in the season, it will probably begin to set in, but he's learned not to worry about trade rumors either, should those arise. Headley recalls the 2012 trade deadline: "It wasn't if you're getting traded, it's when and where. I did my best to try and block that. I think I've learned from it and am better for it now."
- From that same piece, Brock spoke with Padres GM Josh Byrnes and former Padres GM Kevin Towers (now the GM of the division-rival Diamondbacks) about the 2005 draft. in which San Diego selected Headley 66th overall. Headley thought he might end up with the Red Sox, where Byrnes was an assistant GM, as the two sides had a good deal of contact prior to the draft. Byrnes said there was "a lot of debate" about Headley, and he met with him several times, coming away impressed. However, Towers and the Padres liked what they saw. "Before then, we were having a hard time developing position players, and Chase was sort of the poster child for what we wanted," Towers tells Brock. "Chase had the great pitch recognition, a sweet spot for contact on his bat and he was a switch-hitter."
- Byrnes also spoke with the San Diego Union-Tribune's Kevin Acee about his time as the Padres' GM and stated that he actually prefers the challenge of building a team creatively than having seemingly unlimited funds as the Dodgers do: "Honestly, I prefer to do it this way. There are a lot of things that go into how we put it together and how we need to succeed." Byrnes went on to discuss scouting, player development and trades for players like Andrew Cashner and Tyson Ross. Asked if he thought it would be more satisfying to reach the playoffs with a team built through those means than through a large payroll, Byrnes did not hesitate to say yes.
