PHOENIX -- It will still be a couple of weeks before the Hot Stove begins, as the baseball world remains focused on the postseason.
"We're just starting to have some conversations with teams that didn't make the playoffs or got eliminated in the first round," Arizona GM Mike Hazen said. "Teams that are still in it aren't talking to anybody. So, it's probably going to be a few weeks before we have any sort of understanding of what the trade market's going to look like."
The GM Meetings will take place Nov. 9-12 in Las Vegas, and there could be a bevy of activity over those days.
"We'll have a lot more information by then," Hazen said.
One of the team's offseason priorities will be improving against right-handed pitching, and a place to start could be at first base.
Ildemaro Vargas had an incredible April, winning the NL Player of the Month for his performance, and Tim Tawa did a nice job later in the season, but it sounds like a position the team would definitely like to upgrade.
"The offseason priorities, from an addition standpoint, are certainly going to be being a little more left-handed," Hazen said. "We struggled versus right-handed pitching this year. So that's a clear and obvious one. I think DH/first base is a clear area [of need]. Timmy did an unbelievable job down the stretch after going down to Triple-A, making some adjustments. Pavin [Smith] was good when he came back for the last week to two weeks. Vargy did a lot of really good things for us this year. I think that's a clear area, no matter what, that we need to improve upon."
Other news and notes:
Coaching staff still being finalized
The Diamondbacks did not retain pitching coach Brian Kaplan, whose contract expired following the season.
While not everything has been finalized, Hazen said he expects the rest of the coaches to return.
Burnes ready for normal offseason
The 2026 season ended up being a lost one for right-hander Corbin Burnes, who had originally hoped to return to the big leagues around the All-Star break after last year's Tommy John surgery.
A right teres major strain suffered during his rehab pushed that timetable back to September.
Still, Burnes hoped to be a force down the stretch as the D-backs chased a postseason berth. But after three starts with diminished velocity, they sent him for an MRI that showed inflammation in his shoulder.
The good news, Burnes said, is that there are no structural issues and the teres injury had healed, so he should be able to resume a normal offseason throwing program once the inflammation subsides.
“No new injury, no new tear, just kind of some overuse, inflammation-type stuff that just needs time to calm down,” said Burnes. “It's been essentially almost two years of kind of nonstop arm care, throwing, whatever it may be, coming out of the surgery, so my shoulder was just basically telling me, ‘Hey, we're running on empty here.’"
Burnes said he typically begins his offseason throwing program in November.