Diamondbacks Rumors

D-Backs Notes: Marte, Ahmed, Luplow

By Steve Adams | March 30, 2022 at 5:23pm CDT

Ketel Marte will remain in Arizona for quite some time after agreeing to this week’s contract extension. The deal, which exercised his preexisting 2023 and 2024 options, tacked on three more years and gave the Diamondbacks a 2028 club option as well. Zach Buchanan of The Athletic notes that, in total, the new contract gives the D-backs the opportunity to control Marte for another four years at a total of $63MM (although the deal contains various incentives and escalators that can further bolster that price). Marte tells Buchanan and others that he hopes to spend the remainder of his career with the Diamondbacks, citing, a strong relationship with Torey Lovullo among his reasons for wanting to stay put.

The D-backs could’ve traded Marte for a king’s ransom, but Hazen tells Buchanan and others that the front office also feels it necessary to “make some commitments,” both to current stars and perhaps to future core pieces they hope will be rising up to the Majors sooner than later.

Diamondbacks Extend Ketel Marte

By Darragh McDonald | March 28, 2022 at 5:44pm CDT

MARCH 28: Jon Heyman of the MLB Network reports the full breakdown (on Twitter): Marte receives a $3MM signing bonus, followed by successive salaries of $11MM, $13MM, $16MM, $16MM and $14MM through 2027. The 2028 option is valued at $13MM and contains a $3MM buyout. If Marte finishes in the top three in MVP voting in any season, the following year’s salary would escalate by $3MM. A fourth through seventh place finish in MVP voting would increase the following season’s base by $2MM. The deal also contains other incentives based on plate appearances.

MARCH 27: The Diamondbacks and Ketel Marte are in agreement on a five-year, $76MM extension, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. (Twitter links) Reports emerged yesterday that Marte and the club were discussing an extension, and it appears there is now a deal in place, pending a physical. Marte was already under club control through 2024, via a $8.4MM salary this year, followed by club options valued at $11MM in 2023 and $13MM in 2024. Per Rosenthal, those options are now guaranteed, but with different salary figures. The extension will run through the 2027 campaign, with Marte earning an additional $51MM. There is also a club option for 2028, per Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic, with escalators based on performance and health that could increase the value of the contract. Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports that the extension guarantees Marte another $52MM, with his signing bonus and buyout bumping that to $56MM.

After a dismal 2021 season that saw just about everything go wrong and the club finish with a record of 52-110, speculation turned to Marte and whether the D-Backs would cash him in for a huge prospect haul. However, the club insisted they had no interest in tearing down their roster for rebuilding purposes, intending instead to continue trying to build a winning team around their current core. This extension solidifies that course of action, keeping Marte around through his age-33 season, with the option of potentially adding yet another yet after that.

After making his MLB debut in 2015 at the age of 21 and spending a couple of seasons in Seattle, Marte was acquired by Arizona alongside Taijuan Walker, in exchange for Mitch Haniger, Jean Segura and Zac Curtis. This was one of the first moves in the tenure of Mike Hazen, who had just been named the club’s general manager the month prior. Marte’s first season in the desert was a lackluster one, as he hit just .260/.345/.395, wRC+ of 89. Still, Hazen doubled down on his faith in Marte by signing him to a five-year, $24MM extension four years ago. That faith was quickly rewarded, as Marte had a much better campaign in 2018, hitting 14 home runs and slashing .260/.332/.437, wRC+ of 104. The next year, he was able to take his game to incredible new heights, launching 32 homers, stealing 10 bases and hitting .329/.389/.592. That amounted to a wRC+ of 149 and 7.0 fWAR, with Marte coming fourth in NL MVP voting.

Although his performance dipped in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, he proved that to be a fluke with a 2021 that was much more like his previous season. He missed time with hamstring issues and only got into 90 games, but hit 14 home runs and slashed .318/.377/.532 for a wRC+ of 139 and 2.9 fWAR.

With Marte now firmly entrenched at the keystone for the foreseeable future, the club can focus on building a competitive roster around him. That won’t be an easy task, considering the situation in the division. Last year, the Dodgers and Giants each won over 100 games and should continue being strong teams going forward. The Padres underperformed last year but are still loaded with talent and could perform better this time around. The Rockies have had a rough go recently but have shown a willingness to spend in order to try and keep pace, as evidenced by the recent signing of Kris Bryant.

The Diamondbacks have many talented players under their control for multiple seasons, such as Daulton Varsho, Carson Kelly, Josh Rojas and Zac Gallen. They also have a well-regarded farm system, with prospects Geraldo Perdomo and Alek Thomas likely working their way into the mix soon, followed by Corbin Carroll and Jordan Lawlar down the road.

Payroll wise, there’s no reason the D-backs can’t be aggressive in the remaining years of this extension, as it is now the only money on the books beyond 2024. Even for the current campaign, their Opening Day payroll is only slated to come in around $93MM, per Jason Martinez of Roster Resource, with only $51MM committed for next year. Considering that they’ve gotten their payroll as high as $132MM in recent years, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts, there should be plenty of room for aggressive moves in the years to come.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Nick Ahmed Headed For MRI On Shoulder

By Steve Adams | March 28, 2022 at 1:55pm CDT

D-backs shortstop Nick Ahmed is headed for an MRI on his ailing right shoulder, writes Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. Ahmed’s shoulder issue dates back to the 2020 season, when he initially jammed it on the landing after diving for a ball at shortstop. Piecoro notes that Ahmed has previously sidestepped questions about the potential for surgery, but the results of the MRI will be telling. The 32-year-old Ahmed has always been a glove-first player, but last year’s offensive output cratered as he played through ongoing shoulder discomfort. In 473 trips to the plate, Ahmed slashed just .221/.280/.339 — a far cry from the .254/.316/.437 line he posted in 2019. Defensive metrics remain bullish on Ahmed’s range, although last year’s five throwing errors were the second-most of his career (perhaps not a surprise, given that it’s his throwing shoulder in question). The D-backs owe Ahmed $7.5MM this season and $10MM in 2023.

Diamondbacks Acquire Sergio Alcantara From Cubs, Designate Josh VanMeter

By Darragh McDonald | March 27, 2022 at 8:18pm CDT

The Cubs have traded Sergio Alcantara to the Diamondbacks for cash considerations, per a team announcement from the D-backs. Josh VanMeter was designated for assignment as the corresponding move.

Alcantara was designated for assignment by the Cubs last week to open up a roster spot for reliever Mychal Givens. His reputation is that of a glove-first infielder who can provide value with defense and speed, even if his bat doesn’t produce much. Last year, in 89 games for the Cubs, he hit .205/.303/.327 for a wRC+ of 71. But on the defensive side of things, he generally rated well, with Statcast ranking his work as being worth 9 Outs Above Average in that sample of just over half a season, spending time at shortstop, second base and third base.

It was recently reported that Nick Ahmed is still dealing with some shoulder soreness that has been bothering him for almost two years now. The acquisition of Alcantara boosts the team’s shortstop depth, with the new team member acting as a safety net in the event Ahmed requires some time on the IL or even just occasional rest days.

As for VanMeter, he originally came over to Arizona as part of the Archie Bradley deal before the 2020 trade deadline. Over the past three seasons, he’s gotten into 233 games between the Reds and the Diamondbacks. In that time, he’s hit just .212/.300/.364, for a wRC+ of 75. Despite that tepid batting line, he may still draw interest from other clubs for a couple of reasons. First of all, his Triple-A numbers are much better, as he’s hit .298/.379/.576 at that level. He’s also only 27 years old and has the positional versatility that teams love these days, having seen big league action at first, second and third base, as well as the outfield corners. He’s likely to hit the waiver wire in the coming days, with any team looking for a versatile bench piece potentially putting a claim in. But VanMeter is out of options, meaning he would have to stick on the roster of the acquiring team or else be put on waivers yet again.

NL Injury Notes: Giants, Floro, Ahmed, Simmons

By Mark Polishuk | March 27, 2022 at 9:37am CDT

The Giants provided updates on some veteran names who have yet to appear in Spring Training games, though Brandon Belt and Evan Longoria are both expected to be ready for Opening Day, manager Gabe Kapler told MLB.com’s Maria Guardado and other reporters. Longoria has been dealing with right index finger tendinitis, while Belt has inflammation in his right knee. The latter issue might be the bigger problem on paper, given Belt’s history of knee injuries, but Kapler said “We don’t really have concerns. It’s just going to be a later start for Brandon.”

Tommy La Stella has also yet to take the field this spring, but is running the bases and taking part in other baseball activities. After undergoing Achilles surgery in October, La Stella is now “getting very close to being ready,” Kapler said, and “Tommy has shared strongly that he wants the opportunity to be ahead of schedule and be ready for Opening Day.” The final call will be up to La Stella and the team’s training staff, but even if La Stella isn’t quite ready to go when San Francisco begins play, Kapler intimated that the infielder wouldn’t miss too much time.

Some other injury notes from around the National League…

Dylan Floro has yet to pitch during Spring Training, as the right-hander is dealing with some arm soreness. Marlins manager Don Mattingly was non-committal about Floro’s readiness for the Opening Day roster, telling MLB.com’s Christina De Nicola and other reporters that “We’ll just have to see how that goes,” though Mattingly did note that Floro worked through some similar issues last year with no ill effects during the season. One of baseball’s more underrated relievers of the last four seasons, Floro posted a 2.81 ERA over 64 innings in 2021, his first year in Miami. This performance had put Floro in line for perhaps the majority of ninth-inning work for the Marlins this season, though Mattingly said “I think we’re going to be more of a mix-and-match club” for save situations. Some new faces could also be joining the bullpen, as GM Kim Ng has stated the Marlins are exploring the relief market.
Nick Ahmed’s bothersome right shoulder is “good enough” for the Diamondbacks shortstop “to be out there right now,” but Ahmed told The Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro that his shoulder still isn’t 100 percent after almost two years of intermittent soreness. Even after receiving two injections in his shoulder this past offseason, Ahmed said the treatment “didn’t go great, how I wanted them to go. I just ended up rehabbing it most of the offseason.” Surgery doesn’t appear to be an option at this point, as Ahmed said he has been working out a training regiment to help keep his shoulder strong and capable of holding up over 162 games. Between his nagging shoulder injury and a knee problem, Ahmed admitted that injuries played a big part in his steep dropoff at the plate, as the shortstop batted only .221/.280/.339 in 473 plate appearances in 2021. On the plus side, Ahmed’s health didn’t hamper his fielding, as he was still one of the game’s better defensive shortstops.
Speaking of Gold Glove shortstops, Andrelton Simmons is also dealing with some right shoulder soreness, Cubs manager told reporters (including The Chicago Tribune’s Meghan Montemurro). Simmons hasn’t played the last two days and was in Thursday’s lineup only as the DH. Simmons joined the Cubs on a one-year, $4MM deal soon after the lockout ended.

Diamondbacks, Ketel Marte Working On Extension

By TC Zencka | March 26, 2022 at 3:47pm CDT

The Diamondbacks and Ketel Marte are discussing the possibility of a contract extension, per Robert Murray of FanSided (via Twitter). No deal is imminent, though Jon Heyman of the MLB Network reports that the two sides are discussing adding three years of team control to his current contract at a total value of roughly $75MM.

Marte is already under contract for the below-market sum of $8.4MM for 2022, with the Dbacks holding team options for 2023 and 2024 at $11MM and $13MM, respectively. Obviously, those numbers come in far shy the $25MMper annum he would theoretically earn in his age 31-33 seasons under the terms reported by Heyman. And yet, it’s still a number that could be considered a discount, given Marte’s proven ceiling.

Marte has been floated as a potential trade candidate for much of the offseason, but his value has been somewhat difficult to peg because he’s so eminently affordable for the next three campaigns thanks to the extension he signed in March 2018. At the time that he signed the deal, Marte had not yet entered his arbitration seasons, and he’d already been dealt once in what turned out to be one of the more interesting swaps of the past decade. In the deal, Arizona acquired righty Taijuan Walker with the 23-year-old Marte in exchange for an unproven Mitch Haniger, a post-breakout Jean Segura, and southpaw Zac Curtis. Notably, it was one of the very first moves of GM Mike Hazen’s tenure in Arizona.

Though Marte was a high-end prospect, Walker was viewed as the real get at the time. Marte had yet to fully establish himself over parts of two seasons with the Mariners. His extension, then, came after just one additional year with the Diamondbacks, one in which the switch-hitter managed only 255 plate appearances. Marte’s career triple-slash line was just .265/.319/.361 (84 wRC+) with eight homers and 22 steals over his first 968 major league PAs. And yet, Hazen didn’t blink in locking him up for the next seven years.

Hazen’s prescience paid off as Marte broke out in a big way during the 2019 season, finishing fourth in MVP voting. Marte absolutely leveled up to a .329/.389/.592 line over 628 plate appearances, chipping in 36 doubles, nine triples, and 32 home runs, good for 6.9 rWAR/7.0 fWAR. After taking a step back in 2020, Marte posted a reasonable facsimile of his breakout campaign last year with a 139 wRC+, but he was only able to stay on the field for 90 games.

An extension now would be an interesting gambit for the Diamondbacks, considering the injuries that have followed Marte throughout his career. And while he’s a multi-positional standout – and somewhat of an oddity in that he has more-or-less split his career playing time between second base, shortstop, and centerfield – his glovework has largely earned subpar marks everywhere on the diamond except the keystone.

Add to the total picture Marte’s tremendous, if surprising offensive ceiling, and he’s not a player that takes easily to projections. One could argue that the Diamondbacks would be better off waiting on extending Marte to see if he can produce another full season like 2019, given that he’s already under team control for three more seasons. By the time a new extension would kick in, Marte would be on the other side of his prime.

Perhaps they want to put an end to any trade rumblings and commit to Marte as a centerpiece of their offense for the next half decade. Hazen’s been right about Marte twice before, so the pair are probably due the benefit of the doubt.

Besides, Arizona’s future payroll is totally clear. They have nobody currently on the books for after the 2024 season, when Marte’s current contract runs out.

When he’s right, Marte brings a plus ability to put the ball in play, above-average power, above-average speed, and enough positional versatility to be an asset, at least in a game-to-game basis. It’s easy to understand why the Diamondbacks would want him at the forefront of their future endeavors.

Diamondbacks Sign Zach Davies

By Steve Adams | March 24, 2022 at 11:20am CDT

March 24: The D-backs have announced the signing. In order to open a spot on the 40-man roster, Arizona placed right-hander J.B. Bukauskas on the 60-day injured list. Bukauskas suffered a Grade 2 teres major strain earlier this week and is expected to be sidelined for “months” with the injury.

March 22, 10:54am: Davies is guaranteed $1.75MM on the deal, tweets Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. He’ll earn a $1.5MM base salary and is also guaranteed at least a $250K buyout on next year’s option. The contract allows him to earn an additional $2.5MM based on his number of games started. The 2023 option is a mutual option, Heyman reports.

8:58am: The D-backs have reached a one-year agreement with free-agent righty Zach Davies, reports MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link). There’s also a 2023 option on the contract. Davies, a client of the Boras Corporation, can earn up to $4.5MM this year, per Heyman. Robert Murray of FanSided first tweeted that the two sides were close to a deal.

Davies, who turned 29 last month, was one of the younger free-agent starters on the market but also hit free agency in need of a rebound campaign after a lackluster 2021 showing with the Cubs. Acquired from San Diego in Chicago’s salary dump of Yu Darvish, Davies made 32 starts and covered 148 innings but did so while limping to a career-worst 5.78 ERA. Among the 129 pitchers with at least 100 innings last year, Davies’ 17.1% strikeout rate ranked 116th, while his 11.2% walk rate was the sixth-highest mark in that same set.

Just a year prior, during the shortened 2020 campaign, Davies had the finest season of his career. Obviously it wasn’t a full slate of 30-plus starts, but Davies nevertheless pitched 69 1/3 innings over a dozen appearances and turned in an outstanding 2.73 ERA with vastly superior strikeout (22.8%) and walk (6.9%) rates to those that he displayed in his lone year with the Cubs.

Davies has never missed bats at that 2020 level in any other season, which perhaps makes it something of a small-sample anomaly, but it should also be noted that he’s never struggled with his command like he did in 2021. To the contrary, prior to this past season’s surprising uptick in free passes, Davies offset his pedestrian strikeout rates and lack of velocity with strong command of the zone. From 2016-20, he walked just 6.7% of his opponents — a mark that tied him for 48th among 181 qualified pitchers.

In all likelihood, Davies’ true performance level lies somewhere between the extremes he posted in 2020 and 2021. He’s worked to a career 4.14 ERA with a 17.3% strikeout rate, a 7.8% walk rate and a 45.3% grounder rate in 831 2/3 innings between Milwaukee, San Diego and Chicago. Davies doesn’t miss many bats, given that his arsenal is headlined by a sinker that averages 88.2 mph, but he’s better than average when it comes to inducing weak contact. Outside of 2021, he hasn’t been particularly homer-prone in his career, either.

Arizona’s rotation is currently projected to include Madison Bumgarner, Zac Gallen, Luke Weaver, Merrill Kelly and perhaps non-roster invitee Dan Straily, who signed a minor league deal during the lockout after a solid two-year run in the Korea Baseball Organization. Gallen, however, is nursing some shoulder troubles at the moment, and Weaver has battled his own share of injury problems in recent years. Both Weaver and Kelly have also garnered trade interest at various points, though there’s no current indication the Snakes are weighing a move involving any member of their staff.

The signing of Davies could push Straily to a long-relief role or perhaps even to Triple-A Reno to begin the season, but teams are going to be cautious with their starters early in the season following a truncated Spring Training that did not give pitchers a full ramp-up period. It’s likely that there will be innings to go around for all six of those rotation candidates — to say nothing of upper-minors options like Tyler Gilbert, Corbin Martin, Humberto Mejia and Humberto Castellanos.

Diamondbacks Claim Caleb Baragar

By Steve Adams and Anthony Franco | March 21, 2022 at 2:37pm CDT

The D-backs have claimed left-hander Caleb Baragar off waivers from the Giants, per a club announcement. Arizona also confirmed its previously reported signing of Oliver Perez to a minor league contract.

Baragar remains in the NL West, as he’d spent his entire career to date with San Francisco. That includes stints in the big leagues in each of the past two seasons, over which time he’s combined for 45 1/3 innings in 49 games. The former ninth-round pick has an impressive 2.78 ERA in that time, but his underlying numbers haven’t supported that kind of run prevention. Baragar’s 18.8% strikeout rate is about five points below that of the league average reliever. He excelled at avoiding walks during his rookie campaign (5.7%), but last year’s 12.2% walk rate was much more problematic.

Walks and home runs proved a major problem for Baragar in Triple-A as well. He handed out free passes at an untenable 17.6% clip with the Giants’ top affiliate in Sacramento, allowing seven homers in 22 1/3 innings. That led to an 8.46 ERA at the minors’ top level, and San Francisco designated him for assignment last week.

The D-Backs will take a shot on the 27-year-old (28 next month) returning to form. Until last season, Baragar generally had a decent track record in the minors. He still has a pair of option years remaining, so Arizona can keep him with their top affiliate in Reno as needed. He joins Joe Mantiply, Kyle Nelson and swingman Caleb Smith as lefty relief options on the Arizona 40-man roster.

Diamondbacks Sign Oliver Perez To Minor League Deal

By Steve Adams | March 21, 2022 at 1:25pm CDT

The D-backs have signed lefty Oliver Perez to a minor league contract, Perez himself tells Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic (Twitter thread). Perez is a client of the Boras Corporation.

The deal with Arizona represents a change of plans for the veteran Perez, who’d previously been slated to play with los Toros de Tijuana in the Mexican League for the upcoming season. Perez announced that he planned to retire after spending the season with the Toros, although that signing and the announcement by Perez came while the MLB lockout was still in place. For now, Perez will shift his focus and instead take aim at an incredible twentieth MLB season.

Perez, 40, has spent the past four seasons in Cleveland, where he’s pitched to a combined 2.57 ERA in 94 2/3 frames of relief work. Perez, however, only tossed 3 2/3 innings in the Majors last year. He spent the rest of the season pitching with that same Toros club for which he’d been planning to play while the lockout was still ongoing.

At this point, the veteran Perez’s track record largely speaks for itself. After a roller-coaster run as a starting pitcher from 2002-10, Perez moved to the bullpen with the 2012 Mariners and embarked on what has essentially amounted to a second career as a reliever. Working for a long time as the quintessential lefty specialist, Perez has made 489 relief appearances and totaled 350 innings of 3.42 ERA ball since that 2012 campaign began.

The implementation of the three-batter minimum wasn’t a great development for pitchers with specialized skill sets of this nature, but Perez had no trouble getting right-handed opponents out in 2020. It was an admittedly short sample, and his career numbers tell another story, but Perez held righties to a .229/.342/.286 slash in 41 plate appearances that year and was similarly effective in another dozen tries last year.

Diamondbacks Sign Wilmer Difo To Minors Contract

By Mark Polishuk | March 19, 2022 at 10:15pm CDT

The Diamondbacks have inked utilityman Wilmer Difo to a minor league deal, FanSided’s Robert Murray reports (via Twitter). Difo receives an invitation to Arizona’s big league spring camp as part of the contract.

Difo hit .269/.329/.384 over 240 plate appearances with the Pirates last season, appearing in 116 games after signing another minors contract last winter. It marked the first time Difo had ever played outside the Nationals organization, as Difo had spent his entire 11-year pro career with Washington since D.C. signed him to an amateur contract out of the Dominican Republic in 2010.

That stint in the District resulted in 373 big league games spread over the 2015-20 seasons, with Difo seeing a lot of time as a starting shortstop when Trea Turner was injured in 2017 and 2019, and as part of a second base platoon in 2018. Known more for his versatility than his switch-hitting production at the plate, Difo hit .247/.309/.348 over 1060 PA in a Nationals uniform. While he didn’t appear on the postseason roster in 2019, Difo’s 43 games played for the Nats that season earned him a World Series ring for his contribution to the championship year.

Difo has spent much of his career at the two middle infield positions, but has also played a good deal of third base and at least a couple of games at all three outfield positions. The D’Backs don’t have much in the way of veteran utility players competing for jobs on the MLB roster, so Difo’s experience could give him an edge in competing for a roster spot.

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