NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. -- While the D-backs waited for reliever Fernando Rodney to take a physical before finalizing a $2.75 million contract that could reach as high as $5 million through incentives, the club continues to scour the market for additional relief help.
While the D-backs have not pulled off any trades at the Winter Meetings, which wrap up Thursday morning, they have laid groundwork on some deals that could lead to deals in the future. Plus they are getting a good read on how their players are viewed by other organizations.
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MLB.com and MLB Network have wall-to-wall coverage of the gathering from the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center outside Washington, D.C. Fans can watch live streaming of all news conferences and manager availability on MLB.com, including the Rule 5 Draft on Thursday at 7 a.m. MT.
• Rodney agrees to deal with D-backs

"We're still having daily dialogue with clubs," general manager Mike Hazen said. "We're getting asked about a lot of our players. We're still doing more due diligence on a lot of different things than going through specific deals right now. One of the goals coming into the Meetings is to continue to get a better assessment on where guys are relative to how other teams see them. It's not that it's just curiosity. I think it's important for us to have a firm understanding of the value of these guys externally. We know how we value them internally."
The D-backs have gotten plenty of interest in some of their starting pitchers, but one team said that Arizona's asking price was high.
The addition of Rodney, who gives the D-backs a proven closer, does not shut the door to acquiring further relief help.
With their 40-man roster sitting at 38 after the decision late last week to not tender contracts to Welington Castillo and Rubby De La Rosa, the D-backs are eligible to make a pair of selections in the Rule 5 Draft. They have the seventh-overall selection.
If the D-backs select a player in the Major League portion, they have to pay $50,000 to the team from which he was selected. The D-backs then must keep the player on the Major League roster for the entire season or offer him back to his original team for $25,000. It is also possible for the two teams to work out a trade for the player.
Typically, it is easier to keep a player on the roster the entire season if it he is a reliever.
"We're going to review that," Hazen said of whether the D-backs would make a selection. "I think that could definitely be a match if the right guy is there. We'll see how it goes. I think the position we're in, we certainly should be open-minded to taking a guy if he's there."