Here’s what Hazen has left on to-do list
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We are just more than two weeks away from the first pitcher-catcher workout at Salt River Fields, and it’s been a busy offseason for the Diamondbacks.
They found a way to replace first baseman Christian Walker by acquiring Josh Naylor from the Guardians, and they shocked the baseball world by signing the top-ranked free-agent pitcher on the market in Corbin Burnes.
The moves have drawn praise from pundits, who expect the Diamondbacks to again compete for a postseason berth.
But for Arizona general manager Mike Hazen, there is still plenty of work to be done as he tries to finish up his offseason to-do list.
“I think bullpen and right-handed hitter are probably the areas we’re still focused in on,” Hazen said. “Not sure where that’s going to take us, but those are the two areas we’re focused in on.”
The Diamondbacks went into the winter hoping to find another arm for the back end of the bullpen with an emphasis on someone who has closing experience.
The Burnes signing put Arizona’s expected Opening Day payroll at around $194 million. That’s $20 million more than last year’s club-record payroll, and Hazen was asked if he had the money he needed to make more additions.
“I still am in a position to add to the team, yes,” Hazen said.
It’s been no secret that the Diamondbacks have looked to move left-hander Jordan Montgomery and the $22.5 million he is owed for 2025, especially given the fact that they have seven starting pitchers on the roster.
Arizona hasn’t found a deal to its liking and given the fact that moving Zac Gallen has been ruled out, the only other big-money pitching contract is lefty Eduardo Rodriguez, who has three years and $60 million remaining on his deal.
“There’s obviously opportunities via free agency, and there’s still some players via trade that I think could be available,” Hazen said. “I still feel fairly confident we’re going to figure out how to do those things, I just don’t know exactly when that’s going to take place. As you get deeper into the offseason, the dynamics sometimes shift on you in terms of trades and things like that. As [Spring Training] gets closer, it seems like trades become a little less likely. We’ll see, that may not be true, there have been deals done deeper in the offseason than in past years, each offseason is different.”
If there are things that he could do, Hazen was asked, then how come he hasn’t yet?
“In the trade market, that’s pretty self-evident -- people are asking for things I’m not willing to give up in some of the trade conversations,” Hazen said. “In the other avenue, it’s hard to know, there’s a lot of competition out there, sometimes people aren’t moving, we don’t have unlimited resources at this point. I don’t have that ability to just go, you know, take care of it with one swipe of the pen. So those are probably the complicating factors relative to what we’re trying to get done, but there’s still opportunity.”
While there is still urgency to get a right-handed bat and a reliever, Hazen doesn’t feel pressure to alleviate the log jam of starting pitchers, because he’s learned that you can never have too many starting pitchers.
Very rare does a team get through camp without some hiccups on the pitching staff. It could be a serious injury or even just a missed couple of bullpen sessions early on that puts a pitcher behind to the point he won’t be ready for Opening Day.
“It’s a balancing act,” Hazen said.