PHOENIX -- Following the trade of first baseman Paul Goldschmidt to the Cardinals on Wednesday, one question remains: What's next for the D-backs?
One thing that doesn't appear to be on GM Mike Hazen's radar is a complete teardown and rebuild.
"I don't see that as a very likely scenario -- that there's a rash of trades coming -- in my mind," Hazen said. "As I said before, we have a lot of talent on this roster. Can we complement that and put it back together a certain way?"
So it doesn't seem like a trade of veteran ace Zack Greinke is in the offing at the moment. Sure, getting out from under the more than $100 million left on the right-hander's contract over the next three years would give the team a lot of financial flexibility, but the D-backs have no plans to dump Greinke's salary, nor do they seem to have much of an appetite for eating a good portion of his salary to do it.
Having finished 82-80 last season and with center fielder A.J. Pollock and left-hander Patrick Corbin hitting free agency, the D-backs knew they were going to face a dilemma this offseason.
"It's hard to lose that much talent and be able to reimagine the team the exact same way without making other types of changes where you're adding talent back in other ways," Hazen said.
So far this offseason, the team re-signed Eduardo Escobar, whose positional flexibility gives the D-backs an opportunity to move pieces around.
For example, should third baseman Jake Lamb slide over to first base to replace Goldschmidt, then Escobar could play third. If the team decides to move second baseman Ketel Marte to center to replace Pollock, then Escobar could play second.
"I don't think there's anything predetermined with where we're at," Hazen said. "We're still working toward putting as much talent on this roster as we can."
The D-backs' first priority will be to find a center fielder to replace Pollock -- unless they decide Marte fits that bill. After that, they will look to shore up the bullpen, because, in Hazen's mind, you can never have enough bullpen help.
While they realize that their team looks weaker on paper than it did at the end of the season, the D-backs' hope is that they can be competitive in 2019, while building for the future.
Some of those pieces came in the Goldschmidt trade with pitcher Luke Weaver fortifying the rotation and Carson Kelly giving them a catcher under control for the next six years.
Add in an expected seven selections in the first 80 picks of the 2019 Draft along with talented Minor Leaguers a year or two away and you can see a wave building for the future.
The goal is to stay afloat in the meantime.