Offseason In Review: Arizona Diamondbacks
Arizona brought a lot of familiar faces back to the pitching staff, and brought Nolan Arenado back to the NL West.
Major League Signings
- Merrill Kelly, RHP: Two years, $40MM (vesting option for 2028 based on 2027 innings totals)
- Zac Gallen, RHP: One year, $22.025MM ($14.025MM deferred)
- Michael Soroka, RHP: One year, $7.5MM (includes $1MM buyout of $10MM mutual option for 2027)
- James McCann, C: One year, $2.75MM
- Carlos Santana, 1B: One year, $2MM
- Taylor Clarke, RHP: One year, $1.55MM
- Paul Sewald, RHP: One year, $1.5MM
2026 spending: $56.325MM ($14.025MM deferred)
Total spending: $77.325MM
Trades And Claims
- Acquired 3B Nolan Arenado and $31MM from Cardinals for minor league RHP Jack Martinez
- Acquired RHP Kade Strowd, minor league RHP Wellington Aracena, and minor league IF José Mejia from Orioles for IF Blaze Alexander
- Acquired minor league RHP Josh Grosz from Rockies for OF Jake McCarthy
- Acquired minor league OF Avery Owusu-Asiedu from Phillies for LHP Kyle Backhus
- Claimed RHP Grant Holman off waivers from Athletics
Option Decisions
- Lourdes Gurriel Jr., OF: Exercised $13MM player option for 2026 season
Notable Minor League Signings
- Jonathan Loaisiga, Derek Law, Joe Ross, Ildemaro Vargas, Shawn Dubin, Luken Baker, Tommy Henry, Aramis Garcia, Thomas Hatch, Isaiah Campbell, Junior Fernandez, Oscar Mercado, John Curtiss, Jacob Amaya, Juan Centeno, Taylor Rashi
Extensions
- None to date
Notable Losses
- McCarthy, Alexander, Backhus, Jalen Beeks (still unsigned), Gus Varland
Last August’s reports about some clubhouse friction with Ketel Marte led to speculation that the Diamondbacks could potentially be looking to move on from the star second baseman. These trade rumors dominated the first half of Arizona’s offseason, with nine teams (the Tigers, Reds, Red Sox, Rays, Mariners, Pirates, Phillies, Giants, and Blue Jays) all publicly known to have some interest in Marte’s services.
Despite all of this interest, a swap never came together. In November, GM Mike Hazen said a Marte deal was “mostly unlikely” to happen, and the D’Backs took the step of placing a seemingly hard deadline on the Marte trade talks in early January. Hazen and his front office were seemingly willing to listen to offers just out of due diligence, but weren’t going to let the situation linger all winter.
All of this drama came less than a year after Marte signed a new extension that could keep him in Arizona through the 2031 season. Trading Marte would have gotten the $102.5MM remaining on the contract off of the Diamondbacks’ books, perhaps allowing the team to re-direct that money towards other roster needs. But, of course, another need would’ve then been created, since it wouldn’t have been easy for the Snakes to replace Marte’s All-Star level of production.
Another interesting wrinkle is that Marte will reach 10 full years of MLB service time about two weeks into the 2026 season, thus giving him full no-trade protection as a 10-and-5 player (10 years in the majors, at least five consecutive years with one team). There was some thought that the D’Backs might be inclined to move Marte while they still had leverage, but assuming that Hazen indeed sticks to his deadline, it would seem like the former NLCS MVP will indeed be wearing a Diamondbacks uniform on Opening Day.
Ironically, Arizona’s biggest infield-related move of the offseason involved acquiring another player with a full no-trade clause. The veto power written into the extension Nolan Arenado initially signed with the Rockies back in February 2019 allowed the third baseman to control his fate over two completed trades (his move to Arizona this winter and the February 2021 trade that sent him from the Rockies to the Cardinals), and at least one non-deal (Arenado rejected a proposed trade last offseason that would’ve sent him to the Astros). He reportedly also preferred a move to Arizona than a potential trade that would have sent him to the Athletics over the winter.
The scuttled deal with Houston left Arenado playing on a 78-84 St. Louis team that seemed to be aching to fully start a rebuild, and moving Arenado’s contract was a key element of the Cardinals’ plans. Heading into this winter, Arenado was more open about expanding his list of approved destinations, reflecting the reality of both the Cards’ situation and his own lowered trade stock. Arenado’s age-34 season was one of the worst of his career, as he hit .237/.289/.377 with 12 homers over 436 plate appearances, and missed about a month and half of action due to a shoulder strain.
St. Louis was willing to eat a big chunk of Arenado’s remaining salary to accommodate the trade, so the Diamondbacks are covering only $11MM of the $42MM owed to the third baseman over the last two seasons on his contract. Spending $11MM and giving up an unspectacular pitching prospect (Jack Martinez) to see if Arenado can benefit from a change of scenery seems like a reasonable gambit on Hazen’s part. Arenado is still a plus defender if nothing else, and while his hitting numbers have been in decline for the last three seasons, the move to Chase Field could perhaps help bump him back up to at least a league-average level of offense.
The Arenado trade was finalized after the Diamondbacks missed out on an even more prominent third base target in Alex Bregman. Arizona’s reported interest in Bregman surprised many, as such a signing was thought to be out of the spending range for a team that was likely to be reducing payroll, as per statements from team chairman Ken Kendrick back in September. Like last winter’s blockbuster signing of Scottsdale resident Corbin Burnes, the D’Backs may have been willing to stretch the budget for another star from the Southwest — Bregman is from New Mexico, and grew up cheering for the Diamondbacks.
Bregman ended up signing with the Cubs for five years and $175MM ($70MM of which is deferred), so the Snakes’ interest ended up going for naught. It isn’t known how fervent Arizona’s pursuit was, and the Marte trade market also certainly impacted the team’s free agent pursuits as well as the broader infield free agent market as a whole. A team swinging a deal for Marte would probably have less interest in signing Bregman, for instance. As well, if the D’Backs had to trade Marte to free up money for a Bregman signing, Bregman might have then been less interested in joining an Arizona team that didn’t have a proven star like Marte in the lineup.
Pete Fairbanks, Pierce Johnson, Munetaka Murakami, and old friend Paul Goldschmidt were some of the other free agents besides Bregman who were on Arizona’s radar. Players linked to the Diamondbacks in trade talks (mostly in Marte-related deals) included Cole Young, Ryan Pepiot, Shane Baz, Brandon Lowe, and Brendan Donovan, plus surely plenty of other names were bandied about in the Diamondbacks’ many negotiations.
If Marte was going to be traded, multiple reports stated that the Diamondbacks were prioritizing controllable pitching in any return. This ask related both to the natural value of both pitchers, and Arizona’s need for rotation help. With Merrill Kelly traded to the Rangers at last summer’s deadline and Zac Gallen entering free agency, the D’Backs were seemingly headed into a new era without those two stalwarts atop the rotation….
…except both pitchers are now returning to the desert. Kelly’s new two-year, $40MM contract wasn’t a huge surprise, as the right-hander expressed an openness about re-signing with the Diamondbacks in the aftermath of the Texas deal. Gallen’s return on a one-year, $22.025MM deal was a little more of an eye-opener, yet it isn’t a total shock that his market failed to catch fire in the wake of only a so-so 2025 season. Gallen posted a 4.83 ERA over 192 innings last year, with a 21.5% strikeout rate and 8.1% walk rate and were both a little below league average.
Between this down year and a 2024 season that was also pretty ordinary, it has now been two years since Gallen has looked like a true frontline ace. Rejecting Arizona’s qualifying offer also attached draft pick compensation to Gallen’s availability, creating another obstacle for teams wary about signing the right-hander in free agency. With the market failing to yield an acceptable long-term offer, Gallen re-signed for what is technically the exact price of the qualifying offer, except $14.025MM of his $22.025MM salary is deferred. This means some short-term savings for the D’Backs and less immediate money for Gallen than if he’d just accepted the QO.
Reuniting Gallen and Kelly filled two big holes in the rotation, even if it means the Diamondbacks are more or less standing pat with the same starting group that posted middling numbers in 2025. The D’Backs are counting on Gallen to rebound, Eduardo Rodriguez to finally get on track in his third season in Arizona, Brandon Pfaadt to take a step forward in his fourth MLB campaign, and Ryne Nelson to continue his solid work from last season.
Health is also a must, and there are already some injury concerns early in camp — Kelly is battling a bad back and Pfaadt has some side discomfort. Burnes underwent Tommy John surgery last June and won’t be available until at least late July or early August. Depth starter Blake Walston is out until May or June due to a TJ surgery of his own, and Cristian Mena is still dealing with the teres major strain that cost him a big chunk of the 2025 campaign.
Michael Soroka has his own checkered injury history, but he’ll provide depth as a swingman after joining the D’Backs on a one-year, $7.5MM contract. A biceps strain and two shoulder strains limited Soroka to 169 1/3 innings over the last two seasons, but when healthy he delivered fairly okay numbers as both a starter and reliever with the White Sox, Nationals, and Cubs. Soroka’s 4.06 SIERA outpaced his 4.62 ERA over the last two seasons, his strikeout rates were above average, and his walk rate was much improved in 2025 after he displayed very shaky control in 2024.
The rotation’s health status will be the biggest factor in Soroka’s role, and if he isn’t starting, some long relief innings would be a big help to the bullpen. Like how the rotation is in some ways waiting on Burnes, the pen is missing two top high-leverage arms in Justin Martinez and A.J. Puk, who both underwent major arm surgeries last June. Martinez had a Tommy John surgery and won’t be back until the second half, while Puk is projected to return this June after undergoing an internal brace procedure.
Reinforcing the relief corps was therefore a major goal of Arizona’s offseason, and if the team makes another prominent transaction before Opening Day, it would probably be a bullpen add. As to the moves they’ve already made, the D’Backs didn’t invest much in new relievers, certainly not at the level that the Marlins spent on Fairbanks ($13MM) or the Reds on Johnson ($6.5MM).
Though Soroka’s salary could certainly be counted as spending on the bullpen, Paul Sewald and Taylor Clarke’s combined deals barely topped $3MM in guaranteed money. Formerly the Diamondbacks’ closer in 2023 and early 2024, Sewald returns to Arizona looking to bounce back after a pair of injury-marred seasons. Clarke is another former Diamondback who has been pretty inconsistent for much of his career, but he was good last season in posting a 3.25 ERA over 55 1/3 innings out of the Royals’ bullpen.
These signings could turn into big bargains if Clarke repeats his 2025 performance and Sewald can regain some of his past form. The D’Backs are also hoping to strike on one of their flier-type acquisitions, like their waiver claim of Grant Holman (injured for most of 2025) or minor league deals with such pitchers as Jonathan Loaisiga or Derek Law. Every team heads into Spring Training hoping to hit paydirt on a non-roster invite, but having a reliever emerge would be of particular import for the D’Backs considering their needs in the pen.
Arizona also added a reliever via trade, as Kade Strowd was brought aboard in the deal that sent utilityman Blaze Alexander to the Orioles. Strowd is a 28-year-old righty who just made his MLB debut last season, and delivered a sparkling 1.71 ERA over 26 1/3 innings in his first taste of the majors. His 4.02 SIERA reflects Strowd’s less-than-stellar peripherals and his .227 BABIP, but he is a controllable grounder specialist with minor league options remaining, making him an intriguing new face for the Diamondbacks’ relief mix.
Trading Alexander and Jake McCarthy represented a minor shake-up to the Diamondbacks’ collection of position players. Tim Tawa is expected to take Alexander’s place as the top utility option, while McCarthy’s outfield role could be filled by Jorge Barrosa or (most interestingly) projected center fielder Jordan Lawlar. With Arenado now at third base, Marte staying put, and Geraldo Perdomo locked into the shortstop role, Lawlar is moving from the infield to the new position of center field.
The position switch adds another degree of difficulty to Lawlar’s attempts to stick in the majors, as he is now playing the outfield for the first time in pro ball as well as still figuring out big league pitching (Lawlar has hit only .165/.241/.237 in the small sample size of 108 PA in the Show). While some D’Backs fans may feel they’ve been waiting for Lawlar’s breakout forever, Lawlar is still only 23, and only now seems to be ticketed for regular playing time on Arizona’s active roster.
Depending on how the experiment pans out, Lawlar could end up playing more in left field than in center, with Alek Thomas moving into the middle outfield role. Or, Thomas and Lawlar could form a lefty-righty platoon in center if Lawlar isn’t quite ready for a starting job, though this would leave left field to Tawa, Barrosa, or rookie Ryan Waldschmidt until Lourdes Gurriel Jr. is back from a torn ACL. As optimistic as Gurriel is feeling about an early return, chances are he’ll still be out of action until at least June. Corbin Carroll remains the anchor of stability within the unsettled outfield picture, but even Carroll’s availability for Opening Day has now been clouded by hamate surgery during Spring Training.
Utilityman Ildemaro Vargas has mostly bounced around the infield during his career, but he could also provide some outfield help as he returns on a minors contract for yet another stint with the D’Backs. Also on the depth front, James McCann was re-signed as the backup catcher, and a spring calf injury to Adrian del Castillo clinched McCann’s spot as Gabriel Moreno‘s chief understudy.
Finally, one more prominent veteran was brought aboard in February when Carlos Santana inked a one-year, $2MM contract. Santana and Pavin Smith are expected to share time at first base, though given Santana’s strong glovework, he might get more time in the field while Smith is used as a DH against right-handed pitching. Santana is turning 40 in April and is entering his 17th MLB season, plus his offense took a sharp downturn to an 82 wRC+ over 474 PA with the Guardians and Cubs last year.
With Santana at first base and Arenado at third, the Diamondbacks should enjoy a defensive upgrade, which was one of Hazen’s offseason goals. What Santana (or Arenado, for that matter) can still provide at the plate is an open question, though Santana may be limited to just part-time at-bats depending on how Arizona approaches the first base/DH situation. Tyler Locklear is also expected to factor into the picture in May or June, when he returns from shoulder and elbow surgeries.
After all the offseason comings and goings, the Diamondbacks are projected (as per RosterResource) for an approximate $195.2MM payroll. This is a touch above their $191.3MM payroll from 2025, running counter to Kendrick’s pre-offseason statements about a spending cut. As Kendrick explained a few weeks ago, “I want our fans to feel that we are committed to investing every dollar possible and putting the best team we can put together on the field….We’re in a partnership with our fans. They generate revenue by buying tickets and coming to ball games and supporting us. And as a good partner, we need to take the money they spend and invest it wisely, and that’s what we’re trying to do.”
It feels like every team should operate under this basic premise, though that is hardly the case given how so many clubs operate under stricter payroll limits or refuse to spend at all. As commendable as it is that the D’Backs are continuing to try and compete, the effort hasn’t been rewarded by a playoff berth in either of the last two seasons. The Diamondbacks had enough belief in their core that they retained or re-signed a lot of it this winter, but the question is now whether or not they finally have the right roster composition to return to the postseason.
How would you grade the Diamondbacks' offseason?
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C 45% (546)
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B 37% (451)
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D 11% (130)
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A 4% (54)
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F 4% (45)
Total votes: 1,226
Latest On Merrill Kelly, Corbin Carroll
The Diamondbacks have already had to deal with an unwelcome number of injury scares to key players, though Sunday’s news brought some optimism that Merrill Kelly and Corbin Carroll could both still be a part of the Opening Day roster.
Right at the very start of Spring Training, Carroll underwent surgery to fix a broken hamate bone in his right hand, putting him out of action for roughly 4-to-8 weeks (the usual timeline following such procedures). Last weekend, Kelly was scratched from throwing a live batting practice session due to some back soreness, and the discomfort persisted even though both an MRI and CT scan came back clean. Officially, the diagnosis is intercostal nerve irritation, according to the D’Backs.
It was enough for Kelly to tell the media last Wednesday that he was likely going to be starting the season on the 15-day injured list, though his outlook was different today. Kelly told MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert and other reporters that he received an injection of cortisone and lidocaine earlier this week, and had a pain-free session of catch today. While Kelly won’t act as the Diamondbacks’ Opening Day starter on March 26, the aim is for Kelly to now pitch at the back of Arizona’s rotation, which would line the righty up for his season debut during the team’s second series of the year.
The D’Backs begin the 2026 campaign with three games in Los Angeles against the Dodgers, and then after an off-day, return home for a seven-game homestand against the Tigers and Braves. Given the March 29 off-day, the Snakes could technically delay Kelly’s first start beyond the first five games, though that would leave the club essentially playing a man short until Kelly is ready to take the mound.
With more than three weeks to go until Opening Day, there is still time for Kelly to restart his throwing progression and get fully ready to go, assuming his good health persists. Even if Kelly is only built up to throw something like 50-60 pitches, the D’Backs could use a piggyback starter or lean on the bullpen during the veteran’s first start. On the flip side, Arizona could also simply place Kelly on the IL to give him extra time to heal up, and make sure he is ready to hit the ground running once he takes the mound.
As for Carroll, it has been a little under three weeks since his February 11 surgery, but he described his progress as “definitely ahead of schedule.” The outfielder told Gilbert and other reporters that he started catching fly balls (Carroll’s right hand is his glove hand) today, and he has started to hit with both hands on the bat.
“It’s very low intensity, like flips and tee [work]….I think some other guys that have gone through a hamate injury were happy to see where I am [given] how far I am out of surgery,” Carroll said.
Manager Torey Lovullo described Carroll’s process as “right up to that line of doing too much. He’s pushing as hard as he can and as far as he can, and we love that. So we’ll continue to get updates from [hand surgeon] Don Sheridan and our medical team about what the next steps are, but yeah, he’s doing really, really well.”
Being able to hit and catch normally without any discomfort is only part of Carroll’s path to recovery, as he’ll then have to try and make up for time lost during Spring Training. Carroll has been taking part in other baseball activities, so he won’t be starting from square one once he is fully cleared. It then becomes a question of how many Cactus League games Carroll may be able to play in before March 26, and how many he’ll need before he feels properly ramped up for the regular season.
Diamondbacks Notes: Kelly, Pfaadt, Mena
The Diamondbacks rotation is an early focus in camp. Right-hander Merrill Kelly was slated to be the Opening Day starter but a back issue has scuttled those plans, even though an exact diagnosis has proved elusive. Manager Torey Lovullo tells Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic that Kelly still has enough time to be stretched out for Arizona’s second series of the season.
The Snakes begin their season on March 26th with three games in Los Angeles against the Dodgers. They then have an off-day before starting a seven-game homestand with Detroit coming to town for three and Atlanta for four. Though Kelly won’t take the ball for Opening Day, it would be nice to get him in there at some point fairly early in the schedule.
That will presumably be contingent on his body cooperating. He has been subject to a number of recent tests, including an MRI and a CT scan, without anything conclusive being discovered. While it’s encouraging that the tests keep coming back negative, Kelly has still been experiencing pain while throwing.
Time will tell how things play out with Kelly. If he does eventually require some time on the injured list, then the rotation jobs should go to Zac Gallen, Eduardo Rodríguez, Brandon Pfaadt, Ryne Nelson and Michael Soroka. Pfaadt is also under the microscope somewhat, as Piecoro relays that he had some kind of issue with his side during the offseason. He appears to be fine now but the club is slow-playing his progression a bit.
Beyond that group, the depth is lacking in experience. Cristian Mena, Yilber Díaz, Kohl Drake, Mitch Bratt and Dylan Ray are on the 40-man roster. The latter three haven’t yet cracked the majors. Díaz has just 31 1/3 innings while Mena has only 9 2/3.
Mena is also unlikely to be available anytime soon. He didn’t pitch after June last year due to a strain of the teres major in his throwing shoulder. Per Piecoro, Mena has re-aggravated that teres major injury recently. His timetable isn’t exactly clear but he has been shut down from throwing for the time being.
If everything goes well, Soroka could end up in a long relief/swingman role, ready to jump into the rotation as soon as someone gets hurt as Kelly, Gallen, Rodríguez, Pfaadt and Nelson make starts. But Kelly’s status is up in the air and Pfaadt is being monitored closely. The depth was already on the light side and now Mena has been subtracted from it, at least for now. Non-roster guys with big league experience include Joe Ross, Thomas Hatch and Bryce Jarvis.
If the Snakes want to add to the group, there are still starting pitching free agents available. Lucas Giolito and Zack Littell are the two most notable ones but Patrick Corbin, Tyler Anderson and a few others are also out there. The club may be reluctant to add more money to the ledger, however, as they already stretched beyond their plans when grabbing Gallen a couple of weeks ago.
Photo courtesy of Rob Schumacher, Imagn Images
Merrill Kelly Unlikely To Be Ready For Opening Day
D-backs righty Merrill Kelly has been slowed by back discomfort in recent days and has undergone multiple waves of testing to get to the root of the issue. It seems the Snakes still haven’t determined the exact problem, but Kelly tells the team’s beat that he’s not expecting to be ready to take the mound on Opening Day (link via Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic). Tests thus far have fortunately not revealed any major issues in his back, but doctors are still working to ascertain what’s hobbling him. Piecoro adds that Kelly played catch today but still felt pain in his back while doing so.
If the D-backs feel Kelly only needs to be pushed back a few days or skip one start, it’s possible he could avoid a trip to the 15-day IL, but obviously today’s comments firmly put an IL stint on the table as a possibility. If he heads to the injured list to begin the season, Arizona will open the year with Zac Gallen, Ryne Nelson, Eduardo Rodriguez, Brandon Pfaadt and Michael Soroka in the rotation. One would imagine Gallen’s standing with the team would make him the Opening Day favorite, even on the heels of a down season, though that much will be determined as camp plays out.
Kelly, 37, spent six and a half seasons in the Diamondbacks’ rotation from 2019-25 but was traded to the Rangers at last summer’s deadline. Asked about his time with the D-backs following that trade, Kelly said he’d be open to a return in free agency after calling Phoenix home for so long and setting down some roots there. Though he didn’t perform as well as hoped in his two months with Texas, he still finished out the season with a sharp 3.52 ERA in 184 innings, fanning a roughly average 22.3% of his opponents against a strong 6.4% walk rate.
The Diamondbacks entered the offseason looking to scale back payroll but still managed to find common ground with Kelly, making a two-year offer worth $40MM that sold the righty on heading back to the desert. The D-backs are effectively trotting out the same rotation that struggled last year — plus an affordable one-year flier on the talented but injury-prone Soroka — so they’ll be counting on Pfaadt, Rodriguez and especially Gallen (who als0 re-signed as a free agent) to bounce back after rough showings.
It’s clearly not ideal for the team’s steadiest starter to already be dealing with an injury in camp — even if it proves minor — though the Snakes should have better rotation depth this year. Part of that is due to the very trade that shipped Kelly out of town. The Rangers sent pitching prospects Kohl Drake, Mitch Bratt and David Hagaman to Arizona to rent Kelly for the remainder of the ’25 season. Drake and Bratt are now both on the team’s 40-man roster and could make their big league debuts this season as they look to stake their claim to a long-term rotation spot.
Other depth options in camp include prospects Yilber Diaz and Cristian Mena, both of whom have made brief MLB debuts but struggled through down showings in 2025. Righty Dylan Ray was also selected to the 40-man roster this past offseason, and veterans Joe Ross and Thomas Hatch are in camp as non-roster invitees as well.
Diamondbacks Notes: Kelly, Waldschmidt, Outfield
Diamondbacks right-hander Merrill Kelly has been battling some back tightness this week. A quick diagnosis was expected but the issue is dragging on a bit longer than initially anticipated, as detailed by Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic.
The issue first cropped up on Saturday, which led to Kelly being scratched from a live batting practice session. He was sent for an MRI and those results were expected to be announced on Monday. He has instead been sent for additional testing, including a CT scan, with the club still avoiding any kind of official announcement on his status.
“It’s a wide range,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “I’m not going to lie. We’re being very thorough with what we’re doing. We’re taking every test necessary to make sure that we get everything in the bag before we start to pass that information along. We’ve got to figure out exactly what’s happening in there.”
Time will tell if this is just the club being cautious or if it’s a sign the injury is more significant than anticipated. If Kelly has to miss any time, it would be less than ideal for a club with subpar rotation depth. Right now, they project to have Kelly alongside Zac Gallen and Ryne Nelson with Eduardo Rodríguez, Brandon Pfaadt and Michael Soroka battling for two spots. If Kelly is on the shelf, then everyone in that group would be in line for rotation gigs to open the season.
The Snakes also have Yilber Díaz, Cristian Mena, Kohl Drake, Mitch Bratt and Dylan Ray on the 40-man roster and the guys in that group could suddenly jump to next-man-up status. No one in that cluster has even 32 big league innings pitched. Non-roster invitees with some big league experience include Joe Ross, Thomas Hatch and Bryce Jarvis.
Elsewhere, Arizona has a fairly wide open outfield group. They traded away Jake McCarthy in the offseason and Corbin Carroll require hamate surgery, meaning he could start the season on the injured list. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. is recovering from last year’s surgery to repair the torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. He was expected to be out until the All-Star break. There are some signs he could beat that timeline but he is still projected to start the season on the IL.
That leaves Alek Thomas as the lone guy seemingly locked into a spot. Jordan Lawlar could be in there as well, though he is still getting accustomed to the outfield after coming up as an infielder. He also hasn’t hit at the big league level yet, though he has destroyed the minors and is out to a strong start this spring.
That leaves a path open for prospect Ryan Waldschmidt and Piecoro writes that the club hasn’t ruled out the possibility of him breaking camp with the club. It would be fairly bold if the Snakes ultimately went down that path. Waldschmidt topped out at Double-A last year and isn’t yet on the 40-man roster. But he can clearly hit, as shown by last year’s .289/.419/.473 slash line and 142 wRC+. He hit a home run off Pedro Avila of the Guardians in yesterday’s Cactus League game.
Waldschmidt is a consensus top 100 prospect in the league, so he would be eligible for the prospect promotion incentive if he cracked the Opening Day roster. If he went on to win Rookie of the Year or finish top three in MVP voting during his pre-arbitration years, the Snakes would net a future draft pick just after the first round.
It’s possible there’s a great amount of fluidity in the Arizona outfield this year. Between Carroll, Thomas, Gurriel, Waldschmidt, Lawlar, Jorge Barrosa, Pavin Smith and Tim Tawa, they have a number of options in the mix, with health and performance surely to shuffle the depth charts over the months to come.
Photo courtesy of Rob Schumacher, Imagn Images
Mariners Were Reluctant To Discuss Cole Young In Ketel Marte Talks
Among players who were not traded this offseason, few found themselves in more rumors than Ketel Marte. Arizona general manager Mike Hazen maintained throughout the winter that a trade was unlikely and said last month that talks never got close to a deal. Nevertheless, the D-Backs took calls from various teams who had interest in their star second baseman.
The Mariners were among the clubs that checked in as they pursued a high-impact infielder. Seattle surely had some interest in Marte, who began his career in the organization before being traded to Arizona over the 2016-17 offseason. Adam Jude of The Seattle Times reports that conversations about bringing Marte back to the Pacific Northwest didn’t progress far. According to Jude, that’s at least in part because the M’s balked at including second-year infielder Cole Young in a deal.
That aligns with a December report from Jude’s Seattle Times colleague, Ryan Divish, that the Mariners were reluctant to trade off their major league roster. The M’s wound up landing their preferred target, Brendan Donovan, in a three-team trade with the Cardinals and Rays. It required them to part with one big leaguer, third baseman Ben Williamson. Williamson was a secondary piece in that deal, which was headlined by Double-A pitching prospect Jurrangelo Cijntje. A deal built around Young would have subtracted a higher-upside player than Williamson from the MLB team.
Donovan is a more versatile defensive player than Marte. He’s expected to kick over to third base to begin the season. That’ll open the path for Young to win the second base job. The 22-year-old struggled as a rookie, batting .211/.302/.305 with four home runs across 257 plate appearances. He showed an advanced plate approach but didn’t hit the ball hard enough consistently to do damage.
Young lost playing time down the stretch and was left off the playoff rosters. Jorge Polanco was the starting second baseman in October, while the M’s felt Leo Rivas provided a better contact-oriented infielder off the bench.
Jude’s reporting suggests the Mariners haven’t lost any faith in Young’s upside. The former first-round pick was an excellent hitter at every minor league stop. He’d posted a .277/.392/.461 line with more walks than strikeouts over 54 Triple-A games. Young still didn’t put up huge home run tallies, but he hit the ball harder with more consistent gap power against minor league pitching. Although he has exhausted his prospect eligibility, he remains one of the organization’s most promising young players. He’s under club control for six full seasons and would be a borderline candidate for Super Two eligibility over the 2027-28 offseason if he sticks on the MLB roster.
MLBTR Podcast: The Tigers’ Rotation, A Brewers-Red Sox Trade, And Late Free-Agent Signings
The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.
This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…
- Tarik Skubal winning his arbitration hearing against the Tigers (1:30)
- The Tigers loading up the rotation by signing Framber Valdez and also Justin Verlander but losing Reese Olson for the year (13:25)
- The six-player trade between the Red Sox and Brewers headlined by Caleb Durbin and Kyle Harrison, with Milwaukee then signing Luis Rengifo (24:15)
- The Orioles signing Chris Bassitt and losing Jackson Holliday to injury (35:35)
- The Diamondbacks signing Zac Gallen and potentially losing Corbin Carroll to the injured list (44:30)
- The Braves losing Spencer Schwellenbach and maybe Hurston Waldrep while showing little urgency about bolstering the rotation (52:20)
- Tony Clark stepping down as MLBPA executive director, recorded as the news was still trickling out (59:15)
Check out our past episodes!
- Twins Front Office Shake-Up, The Brendan Donovan Trade, Eugenio Suarez, And More! – listen here
- Examining MLB’s Parity Situation – Also, Bellinger, Peralta, Robert, And Gore – listen here
- What The Tucker And Bichette Contracts Mean For Baseball – Also, Nolan Arenado And Ranger Suarez – listen here
The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff. Check out their Facebook page here!
Photo courtesy of Junfu Han, Imagn Images
D-Backs Notes: Del Castillo, Thomas, Rotation
The Diamondbacks are expected to begin the year without catcher/first baseman Adrian Del Castillo. Manager Torey Lovullo said Monday that the 26-year-old is dealing with a left calf injury that’ll keep him out of game action for the bulk of Spring Training (link via Alex Weiner of Arizona Sports). He’ll be reassessed closer to Opening Day but it seems unlikely he’ll get enough exhibition reps to avoid a season-opening injured list stay.
Del Castillo is third on the catching depth chart after Gabriel Moreno and James McCann. He nevertheless had a strong chance to win a bench job if healthy. Tyler Locklear will begin the season on the IL as he rehabs elbow and shoulder surgeries. The lefty-hitting Del Castillo has a fair bit of first base and designated hitter experience. Arizona doesn’t have a ton of position player depth on the 40-man roster, leaving a couple bench jobs up for grabs.
After an encouraging 25-game debut two years ago, Del Castillo struggled last season. He struck out 47 times in 131 plate appearances (a near-36% rate) while hitting .242/.290/.392 over 44 games. The Miami product has posted strong numbers throughout his minor league career, but they’ve always come with a concerning level of swing-and-miss. He’s a below-average defensive catcher, putting more pressure on the bat if most of his work comes in the first base/DH mix.
Pavin Smith and Carlos Santana are projected for a first base platoon. They’ll also get a decent number of DH reps, while Lovullo said Ketel Marte will log some time there in addition to his primary second base work. The D-Backs are reportedly poking around the trade market for a utility piece after they dealt Blaze Alexander to Baltimore for reliever Kade Strowd and a pair of minor leaguers. They’ll ideally find someone with more offensive punch than Tim Tawa and non-roster invitees Ildemaro Vargas and Jacob Amaya to play that role.
The bottom half of the lineup would be an even bigger concern if Corbin Carroll opens the season on the IL. Arizona’s star right fielder will miss most of Spring Training following last week’s hamate surgery. The hope is for Carroll to make it back by the beginning of the regular season. Fellow outfielder Alek Thomas tells Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic that he’s working mostly between left and center field with the expectation that Carroll will be in his typical position on Opening Day.
Thomas has played all three outfield positions in the minor leagues. He has played exclusively center field as a big leaguer, logging more than 3000 innings up the middle. Thomas is a quality defender who shouldn’t have any issue adjusting to a corner if the D-Backs need him to move around. Arizona is trying to get Jordan Lawlar acclimated to playing center field.
Lawlar has a higher offensive ceiling than Thomas has shown over 420 MLB contests, so the latter would be best suited for a fourth outfield role if everyone’s healthy. They’ll probably need both players in the starting lineup to begin the season, as Lourdes Gurriel Jr. will also open the year on the injured list after last summer’s ACL injury. Thomas could be a stopgap left fielder until Gurriel returns and/or prospect Ryan Waldschmidt plays his way to the big leagues.
There’s a fair bit of opportunity in one of the more top-heavy lineups in MLB. Carroll, Marte, Moreno and Geraldo Perdomo make for an excellent top half of a batting order. Nolan Arenado is on the downside of his career but should still be a solid everyday third baseman. The bottom third of the lineup and most of the bench is a lot less established.
It’s not quite as extreme on the pitching side, but there are some parallels. Free agent returnees Merrill Kelly and Zac Gallen are locked into the rotation; Lovullo has already named Kelly his Opening Day starter. Ryne Nelson figures to have a mid-rotation spot secure, but the Diamondbacks aren’t making any firm commitments beyond that.
“I can’t even really make comments about any projections or what the starting rotation is going to look like,” Lovullo told reporters (including Steve Gilbert of MLB.com). Right now, it looks as if Eduardo Rodriguez, Brandon Pfaadt and Michael Soroka are battling for two spots. Rodriguez and Soroka will be on the MLB roster, but Pfaadt has a pair of minor league options and could open the season in Triple-A. Soroka has the most experience of that group in a swing role and would be the most familiar with pitching in long relief if the D-Backs want all six pitchers on the active roster with a five-man rotation. One injury might take the decision out of Lovullo’s hands, but it’s another camp battle that Arizona fans will want to follow during exhibition play.
Diamondbacks Notes: Kendrick, Trades, Kelly, Locklear
As per RosterResource‘s estimates, the Diamondbacks spent around $191.3MM on payroll in 2025, which translated to a $214.8MM luxury tax number. The Snakes are currently projected for a $195.2MM payroll and a $223.7MM tax figure, as team managing general partner Ken Kendrick’s statement from last September that his club “will not be spending at the same level” has ended up being incorrect.
Kendrick addressed this topic when speaking with the Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro and other reporters at the Diamondbacks’ spring camp, saying simply that “well, sometimes you surprise yourself in life in what you do.” The D’Backs are set for their third consecutive payroll increase since the team won the NL pennant in 2023, and while they haven’t since returned to the postseason, Kendrick remains intent on keeping the team in position to contend.
“I want us to be successful. I want our fans to feel that we are committed to investing every dollar possible and putting the best team we can put together on the field….I don’t want to overplay it, but, to a degree, we’re in a partnership with the fans,” Kendrick said. “That’s the way I see what we do. We’re in a partnership with our fans. They generate revenue by buying tickets and coming to ball games and supporting us. And as a good partner, we need to take the money they spend and invest it wisely, and that’s what we’re trying to do.”
The spending may not be over, since Kendrick said “we have some room beyond where we are, but we don’t have a ton of room….Do we have the possibility of adding from the present moment? Yeah, possibly. Not highly likely of significance, but we have some room to add without getting into a tax problem.”
The D’backs are still well shy of the $244MM luxury tax threshold, though their current $223.7MM figure is as close as the organization has ever been to exceeding the tax line. While Kendrick has obviously okayed larger expenditures already, it is probably safe to assume that $244MM is Arizona’s budget ceiling, though the team has some room to maneuver in terms of trade deadline upgrades.
Expanding the payroll has reportedly put the D’Backs into the red, as Piecoro hears from sources that the club lost around $30MM in 2025. It is always a source of conjecture about how much or little any MLB team (apart from the Braves, who are publicly owned) is really making given all of the accounting that goes into a club’s many revenues streams, yet even if the Diamondbacks did operate at a loss, it hasn’t stopped Kendrick from continuing to spend on a roster he believes is capable of big things. Further spending to ensure a more competitive team may well be the most logical way of getting the team back into the black, as a winning product leads to higher attendance, higher TV ratings, and extra games in the form of playoff contests.
More moves could come before Opening Day, albeit on a lower spending scale. John Gambadoro of 98.7 Arizona Sports writes that the D’Backs are looking to trade a prospect for a utilityman type of player. This new addition would replace the recently-traded Blaze Alexander as a multi-position asset coming off the Diamondbacks’ bench. While an exact match for Alexander may not be a priority, Alexander is a right-handed hitter who saw time as second base, third base, shortstop, left field, and center field over his two seasons in the desert.
Most of Arizona’s offseason spending was invested in two familiar faces. Zac Gallen spent most of the winter on the free agent market after rejecting Arizona’s qualifying offer, but this past week returned to the fold on a one-year, $22.025MM deal that technically matches the value of the QO, though $14MM of the money is deferred. After the D’Backs traded Merrill Kelly to the Rangers at the trade deadline, Kelly was brought back in December on a two-year deal worth $40MM in guaranteed money, with a vesting option covering the 2028 season.
Soon after Kelly re-signed, reports emerged that a team on the West Coast made Kelly a three-year offer worth over $50MM, and that the Padres were one of Kelly’s prime suitors. Speaking with Piecoro and other media today, Kelly said the Padres had a three-year deal on the table, though he didn’t confirm the dollar figure. Beyond whatever numbers were involved, Kelly said his decision was based in large part on his family. It may well be that the Kelly clan simply preferred returning to the familiar routine of living and playing in Arizona, and Kelly himself said last summer amidst trade speculation that he would be open to re-signing with the Snakes in free agency.
Turning to an injury update, manager Torey Lovullo told reporters (including Alex Weiner of 98.7 Arizona Sports) that first baseman Tyler Locklear isn’t expected back until sometime around mid-May or possibly early June. Locklear underwent twin surgeries to fix both a labrum problem in his left shoulder and a ligament tear in his left elbow. There was some hope Locklear would be ready to return to the Diamondbacks’ lineup at some point in April, though today’s news puts more of a specific timeline in place.
Locklear will definitely start the season on at least the 10-day injured list, and a move to the 60-day IL would occur if the D’Backs are certain Locklear won’t be ready by the end of May. The team can continue to monitor his progress throughout Spring Training and in April with no penalty, as a shift to the 60-day IL would still keep Locklear’s placement date as Opening Day.
Over 47 games and 165 career plate appearances with the Mariners and Diamondbacks, Locklear has hit just .169/.255/.277 against Major League pitching. His impressive minor league numbers hint at more potential, though once he does get healthy, Locklear’s potential spot as a platoon partner with Pavin Smith at first base has now been filled by Carlos Santana. Since Arizona doesn’t have a set DH, there is room for Locklear to potentially earn some at-bats down the road, but for the next three months, his only priority is completing his rehab.
Diamondbacks Claim Grant Holman
The Diamondbacks have claimed right-hander Grant Holman off waivers from the Athletics, per a team announcement. Holman was designated for assignment by the A’s last week to make room for Aaron Civale on the club’s 40-man roster. Southpaw A.J. Puk was placed on the 60-day injured list to make room for Holman on the 40-man roster.
Holman, 26 in May, was a sixth-round pick by the A’s back in 2021 and made his MLB debut in 2024. That first taste of MLB action went fairly well, as he pitched to a 4.00 ERA (100 ERA+) with a solid 3.87 FIP across 18 appearances, striking out 22.0% of his opponents despite an elevated 12.3% walk rate. It was a good debut overall and seemed to portend a larger role with the A’s in 2025, but things unfortunately did not work out that way. While he did make more appearances in 2025, they weren’t especially effective as he wound up posting a lackluster 5.09 ERA in 23 innings of work. His peripherals weren’t much better, as he posted a 4.66 FIP and his strikeout rate fell to 16.5%.
Perhaps he would’ve gotten more of a look at the big league level had injuries not gotten in the way, but rotator cuff tendinitis sidelined him for the majority of the 2025 campaign. He threw just 32 1/3 innings between the majors and minors in total, though his 9 1/3 scoreless frames at Triple-A with a 31.0% strikeout rate did suggest there could be some upside in Holmes’s profile if he can just stay healthy long enough to reach it. Regardless, the A’s had seen enough and cut him loose earlier this week as they beefed up their pitching staff with more veteran additions.
Still, Holman’s upside was intriguing enough for the Diamondbacks to the roll the dice on him. That’s an understandable decision to make for the club given their need for help in the bullpen this year with both Puk and Justin Martinez set to start the year on the injured list as they rehab from elbow surgeries. Puk will be back sooner than Martinez, having undergone UCL revision surgery rather than full Tommy John, but even he is expected back at some point in June at the earliest. That gives the Diamondbacks a few months where they’ll need to patch together a bullpen using veterans like Michael Soroka and Paul Sewald as well as youngsters like Kade Strowd and Andrew Hoffmann. Holman figures to be part of that latter group, and will compete for a role in the Opening Day bullpen for the club during Spring Training. Should he miss out on a roster spot to open the season, he’ll head to Triple-A and join players like Philip Abner and Juan Morillo in the mix for a call-up when injuries or roster churn necessitate it.