Diamondbacks Still Involved In Free Agent Relief Market
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 Select Logan Allen, Transfer Eduardo Rodriguez To 60-Day IL
The D-backs announced Wednesday that they’ve selected the contract of left-hander Logan Allen from Triple-A Reno and transferred lefty Eduardo Rodriguez from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL to open a roster spot. The Snakes also recalled righty Justin Martinez from Triple-A. Right-hander Luis Frias and left-hander Tommy Henry were optioned to Reno to creative active roster space for Allen and Martinez.
It’ll be the first big league action since 2022 for the 26-year-old Allen (not to be confused by the other left-hander named Logan Allen, who solidified himself in the Guardians’ rotation with a strong rookie campaign in 2023).
The older Allen also pitched for Cleveland previously, to make matters more confusing. He’s a former eighth-round draft pick who’s appeared in parts of four big league seasons, working to a combined 5.89 ERA in 96 1/3 frames between Cleveland, San Diego and Baltimore. In a dozen innings with Reno, he’s pitched to a 3.00 ERA with nine strikeouts, three walks and a 50% ground-ball rate.
The “60-day” term on Rodriguez’s IL stint is retroactive to his original placement and does not reset to today. While Arizona had hoped he’d only miss a month originally, the veteran southpaw recently experienced renewed shoulder discomfort during a throwing session and had his rehab program paused. In light of that setback, it’s not especially surprising to see him pushed to the 60-day IL. His original placement was retroactive to March 25, meaning he’s now sidelined through at least Friday, May 24.
With Rodriguez now shelved for another five weeks at least, Arizona’s rotation will consist of Zac Gallen, Merrill Kelly, Jordan Montgomery and Brandon Pfaadt in the top four spots. Montgomery has also yet to make his season debut but it scheduled to do so on Friday. Twenty-six-year-old righty Ryne Nelson currently holds the fifth spot, but he’s yielded eight runs in 13 2/3 innings this season and carries a 5.31 ERA in 157 2/3 frames dating back to last year. His grip on that rotation spot is not exactly iron-clad.
Diamondbacks Designate Zach Davies For Assignment
The Diamondbacks have designated right-hander Zach Davies for assignment, the team announced. Fellow righty Justin Martinez has been recalled from Triple-A to take his place on the active roster.
Davies was a solid back-of-the-rotation starter for Arizona last year, making 27 starts with a 4.09 ERA. That hasn’t been the case this season, as he is pitching to a 7.00 ERA in 18 starts, interspersed between two separate stints on the injured list. Despite his poor performance, the D-backs have kept him around, since they have struggled to find reliable starters to pitch behind Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly all year. Now, however, with just five games remaining in the regular season and the playoffs right around the corner, Arizona no longer has much need for an innings eater on the roster.
This could be an indication the Diamondbacks are planning to make an addition to the 40-man roster ahead of the playoffs, or it could simply be a way of making room to add an extra relief arm for the final five games of the regular season.
Davies, who is making $4.7MM this season and has a $300K buyout for next year, is likely to go unclaimed on waivers, at which point the D-backs would be responsible for the guaranteed salary remaining on his contract. Still just 30 years old, he shouldn’t have trouble finding a new club in the offseason, although he might have to settle for a minor league deal.
Martinez, a right-handed reliever, is the team’s No. 24 prospect, per MLB Pipeline. He made his MLB debut earlier this season and has pitched to a ghastly 14.63 ERA in a few brief call-ups to the big league squad. His numbers at Triple-A are much more palatable; he has a 4.20 ERA in 47 games, although his 21.2% walk rate is still alarming. It’s unlikely he’ll play much of a role while the D-backs are fighting for a postseason berth, but he’ll provide manager Torey Lovullo with an extra arm out of the ‘pen.
Diamondbacks Place Merrill Kelly On IL, Option Joe Mantiply
The Diamondbacks announced a series of roster moves today, with right-hander Merrill Kelly being placed on the 15-day injured list due to right calf inflammation, retroactive to June 25. They also optioned left-hander Joe Mantiply to Triple-A Reno. In corresponding moves, righties Kevin Ginkel and Justin Martinez were recalled from Reno.
At this point, it’s unclear how serious Kelly’s injury is, but it’s a notable loss for the club nonetheless. The Diamondbacks have a fairly top-heavy rotation with Kelly and Zac Gallen being the two most effective members. Gallen has an excellent 2.84 ERA on the year and Kelly isn’t far behind with a 3.22 mark. Then there’s a notable drop to the 4.31 ERA of Tommy Henry, the 4.97 of Ryne Nelson and the 7.82 of Zach Davies.
The Diamondbacks are leading the National League West but have a couple of clubs on their heels as each of the Dodgers and Giants are within three games. With the All-Star break now effectively two weeks away, they will have to forge ahead without Kelly for at least that long. Drey Jameson has been with the big league club in a long relief role and could perhaps step into the rotation. Brandon Pfaadt got some big league starts earlier this year but posted an 8.37 ERA in those before getting optioned back down. Konnor Pilkington is also on the 40-man but has been struggling in the minors this year.
As for Mantiply, he posted a 2.85 ERA last year and even got selected to the All-Star game but has taken a step back this year. He’s gone on the injured list a couple of times already, once due to left shoulder inflammation and another time for a right hamstring strain. Around those ailments, he’s tossed 15 2/3 innings with a 5.74 ERA. His peripherals are still pretty similar to last year’s as a 50.8% strand rate seems to be pushing his ERA up. Nonetheless, he now finds himself headed to Reno to get into a groove.
Martinez, 21, will be making his major league debut as soon as he gets into a game. He served largely as a starting pitcher in the lower levels of the minors but required Tommy John surgery in 2021. After a long injury layoff and the minor leagues getting cancelled by the pandemic in 2020, he came back as a reliever last year. He tossed 38 innings across four different levels, finishing the year at Triple-A. He posted a 3.32 ERA in that time with an incredible 36.7% strikeout rate but 13% walk rate.
Despite the free passes, the club was intrigued enough to add him to the roster in November to prevent him from being selected in the Rule 5 draft. This year, he’s been in Triple-A, tossing 28 innings thus far. He has a 4.18 ERA, striking out 29.7% of opponents but with an astonishing 21.1% walk rate. Despite the control issues, he was recently ranked the club’s #21 prospect at Baseball America and #12 at FanGraphs.
Diamondbacks Announce Several Roster Moves
The Diamondbacks announced several roster moves in advance of tonight’s Rule 5 protection deadline. One of them was the previously reported acquisition of reliever Carlos Vargas from the Guardians. They also added infielder Blaze Alexander, outfielders Jorge Barrosa and Dominic Fletcher, as well as righty Justin Martinez to the 40-man roster. In corresponding moves, they designated four players for assignment: infielder Sergio Alcántara, left-hander Caleb Smith and outfielders Stone Garrett and Jordan Luplow.
Alcántara had two separate stints on the Arizona roster this past season, with a brief stay in San Diego intervening. He bounced around the waiver wire on the strength of his glove at shortstop. He didn’t provide much offensively, however, putting up a .220/.261/.356 line in 224 trips to the plate. That’s fairly similar to the .205/.303/.327 showing he had in 2021 as a member of the Cubs.
Garrett and Luplow each played similar roles in the desert, serving as right-handed complements to a primarily left-handed outfield. Garrett had more success, posting a .276/.309/.539 showing with four home runs and eight doubles in his first 27 MLB games. That came with a 3:27 walk-to-strikeout ratio, and Arizona’s front office clearly wasn’t bullish on his chances of replicating that kind of success. Garrett joined the organization on a minor league deal but had a decent season at Triple-A Reno and could find some interest on the waiver wire.
The Snakes acquired Luplow in a trade with the Rays last offseason. They’d hoped he could replicate his career track record of success against left-handed pitching, but the veteran outfielder didn’t meet those expectations. Through 234 plate appearances, he posted a .176/.274/.361 line, although he did connect on 11 round-trippers. That wasn’t enough to convince Arizona to keep him around on a projected $2MM arbitration salary, making today’s DFA something of an early non-tender.
That’s also true of Smith, who’d been projected for a $2.7MM salary for his final year of club control. The 31-year-old southpaw pitched 44 times and soaked up 70 innings out of the bullpen this year, posting a 4.11 ERA. He was diagnosed with a ligament tear in his throwing elbow after the season but is electing to rehab without surgery. A former starter with the Yankees and Marlins, Smith had spent the past two and a half years in Arizona.
Taking their places on the roster are Vargas, Alexander, Barrosa, Fletcher and Martinez. Alexander may be the most notable of the group. An 11th-round selection out of a Florida academy in 2018, he had an excellent season for Double-A Amarillo. In 363 plate appearances, the right-handed hitting infielder posted a .306/.388/.539 line with 17 home runs, earning a late-season bump to Reno. He’s played all throughout the infield and has an excellent arm. Baseball America considers him the #15 prospect in the Arizona system.
Fletcher went 75th overall out of the University of Arkansas in the 2019 draft. A lefty-hitting outfielder, he split the year between the D-Backs’ top two affiliates. Fletcher, the younger brother of Angels infielder David Fletcher, combined for a .312/.378/.486 showing with 35 doubles over 591 plate appearances. He can cover all three outfield spots and is the #14 prospect in the system according to BA.
Barrosa checks in 22nd on that list. He’s a switch-hitter who only struck out in 15.7% of his plate appearances with Amarillo this year. The 21-year-old from Venezuela stole 22 bases and hit .276/.374/.438 while playing primarily center field for the Sod Poodles. Martinez, a native of the Dominican Republic, returned from injury to work as a reliever this year. He traversed three minor league levels, topping out at Triple-A.