Diamondbacks Notes: Trades, La Russa, Hudson

The Diamondbacks didn’t just beat the league’s best club with today’s 3-2 victory over the Cubs, they also hung a rare loss on Jake Arrieta.  Arrieta had won his last 20 decisions prior to today’s loss, a streak dating back to July 25, 2015.  While the D’Back struck out 12 times against Arrieta, they also tagged the Chicago ace for three runs on nine hits and a walk over five innings.  Here’s some more from the desert…

• Today’s win improved Arizona’s record to just 25-34 on the season, yet despite the slow start, chief baseball officer Tony La Russa told reporters (including Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic and MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert) that the D’Backs aren’t ready to start shopping pieces for the trade deadline.  “Now is not that time,” La Russa said. “If this was a veteran-laden team and you were trying to win in ’16 only, at some point you would say we’re going to be sellers not buyers.  But this is a club that’s put together — and we went to lengths during the off-season — it’s about the next four or five years.”
• It also doesn’t appear, however, that the D’Backs will necessarily make any big upgrades to make a postseason push.  “The problem with a major trade is that it means they take your best kids, and we like our young players,” La Russa said. “I think the healthiest attitude for the guys in uniform is win with what you got. You compete and win with what you got or [what you have] in the organization.”
• Impending free agent Daniel Hudson stands out as a possible trade chip if the D’Backs do sell at the deadline, though the reliever tells Nick Piecoro that his first choice would be to remain in Arizona both through July and in the offseason.  “I’d love to stay here and be here when we’re good,” Hudson said.  “I don’t want to come here and face our lineup when they put it all together and I’m not here…But I’ve got to do what’s best for me and my family.  If that means exploring more options at the end of the year, then that’s what it’s going to come down to.  I want to be here for the long run, for sure.”  Hudson has been with the organization since 2010 but has only appeared in 144 games due to a pair of Tommy John surgeries.  The former highly-touted pitching prospect has reinvented himself as a reliever and delivered strong results over the last two seasons out of the Diamondbacks bullpen.  Hudson tells Piecoro that to his knowledge, there haven’t been any extension talks between his representatives and the D’Backs.