D-backs interested in Rays starter Hellickson
Arizona may have to give up too much to acquire right-hander
PHOENIX -- Yes, the D-backs have spoken to the Rays about right-hander Jeremy Hellickson, but if Tampa Bay is close to dealing the right-hander, it doesn't sound like he's headed to Arizona.
"We've had some conversations about him, but whether we're in on him or not is a question you'd have to ask Tampa," Arizona general manager Dave Stewart said. "I really didn't know there had been any real discussions. We may be one of the teams that they're considering to talk in regards to him, but I haven't really had any meaningful discussion."
Hellickson does, however, fit what the D-backs are looking for this offseason -- a controllable, relatively young starting pitcher they could plug into their rotation.
"You have to be interested in that type of pitcher for sure," Stewart said.
The General Managers Meetings, which are being held at the Arizona Biltmore, run through Thursday morning.
"Right now for me, these are the first GM meetings that I've been a GM, so I'm just taking it in," Stewart said. "[Monday] morning, I took in a good part of the [salary] arbitration meeting. [Tuesday], we have a GM meeting that starts at 8:30 a.m. Right now, I'm concentrating on doing those things. If we have some discussions with teams in regards to players, then I'm open to that, too."
The D-backs have a surplus of shortstops that they could deal for starting pitching, and they've at least seemed willing to listen to offers for catcher Miguel Montero.
Montero is currently two years into a five-year deal that will pay him salaries of $12 million, $14 million and $14 million over the next three seasons. That would seemingly be a little too pricey for a team like the Rays.
"We can trade from any area of our ballclub if we got the right deal," Stewart said. "Where are we deepest? We're deep at shortstop. That's probably our deepest position, but frankly speaking, I don't plan to make any moves from that area unless it's the right deal. I'll say the same thing that I did with Montero behind the plate or with any of our outfielders. We've had conversations about all of our guys, people have called and asked about all our guys with the exception of [Paul] Goldschmidt. When you say, 'Where are we deepest, where can I expect to be able to make a trade from?' If it's the right deal and it helps our club to get better, then we can be creative and make a deal from any position.
"At this point, we're not close to doing anything. All I can say is there have been a lot of discussions about a lot of our players."
The general managers did not have any meetings scheduled Monday afternoon, so the D-backs contingent broke away to head over to Salt River Fields to watch some of their top prospects participating in the Arizona Fall League.
"The phone has rang, we've talked about variations of a lot of different things," Stewart said. "There's just not a lot going on for us right now."