A lot has been published already about the Dbacks and what their offseason plans should entail. For me, I wanted to take some time and allow the season to resonate a bit, and to also allow for information
to percolate in from the team. Here’s what we know so far from the Arizona Diamondbacks leadership headed into this offseason:
1. The team is looking to lower their payroll. According to multiple reports, the team is expected to reduce their record payroll going into 2026. Exactly what that number is, we cant really have any idea at this point. The only real number we have heard from the team was from the owner Ken Kendrick who on a radio interview said the number would be less than 220 million dollars. Kendrick cited the number from Cotts which takes into consideration their entire 40 man roster and how it relates to the luxury tax threshold.
When it comes to how much money is available, I really don’t think we as the fans have any real way of accurately determining that. If there is anything that should have been learned in the previous 2 off seasons, it is trying to predict Ken Kendrick is futile. Having said that, I also wouldn’t expect Hazen to play in the top of the free agency class given how many areas of need there are. But trying to determine whether the team has 30, 40, or 50 million to spend seems kind of silly. For the purposes of offseason planning, lets take Hazen at his word when he says he feels like he has the resources he needs to do what he needs to do.
2. The team is going to upgrade the defense. Hazen has spoken about pitching and run prevention almost synonymously. I don’t think this is by accident. 1 way to make the pitching staff better is to improve the defense and I expect the lineup to look a little different going into opening day 2026. However, this team has an above average amount of versatility thanks to the likes of players like Blaze Alexander who has looked above average in the infield and the outfield. Because of the versatility, I think there are a number of different ways Hazen could go this offseason. He could add an infielder and move Blaze to the OF. Or he could add an outfielder and keep Blaze in the infield. Because of all of the options here, I am going to spend the rest of this article looking at the primary focus of the team, the pitching.
3. Pitching is going to be the priority. Dbacks general manager Mike Hazen has made it clear heading into the offseason that his primary goal this offseason is pitching. “The starting rotation is going to be something we’re going to need to focus in on going into the offseason for sure,” Hazen said during the end of the season press conference the other week. “That’s probably the number one area outside of building the bullpen again that we are going to have to focus in on.” I don’t think Hazen is insinuating here that starting pitching is ahead of the bullpen even though that’s kind of how it reads. Rather I am taking this as those 2 things being the top priority.
The Rotation or the Bullpen?
With the team presumably losing Zac Gallen to free agency, and trading away Merrill Kelly at the trade deadline, likely the most obvious gap as Hazen has already alluded to is in the starting rotation. Especially considering this team came into this season with a glutton of starting pitching only to just be having the likes of Anthony DeSclafani and Nabil Crismatt starting meaning full games at the end of the season. Point being, you can never have too much starting pitching.
Even so, I believe it is actually the bullpen that needs to be addressed first. According to Jack Sommers over on the Snakes Territory Podcast and Diamondbacks on Si, the Dbacks had 45 blown leads in 2025. An astonishing number if you really think about it. Only 1 other team in MLB had more blown leads than the Dbacks. 8 of which occurred in the 9th inning. Those 8 9th inning blown leads was the most in MLB in 2025. If this team could cut that number in half, they would’ve been in the postseason.
To address this, Mike Hazen needs to do what he has been reluctant to do throughout his tenure and acquire a proven closer. Hazen said as much during his end of the year conference, “I think setting up the bullpen from the 9th inning moving forward makes a lot of sense. I think it’s been where we’ve had success.”
Bullpen Supply is Low Relatively
Unfortunately, there are less than 29 options possible assuming they are looking to add someone that actually had meaningful closing experience in 2025, which I think is a necessity. 9 teams in 2025 including the Dbacks utilized a committee approach to the closer role either strategically or due to injury or underperformance. I thought this was a good place to start when evaluating supply as it is pretty hard to sell the idea that a reliever is a proven closer if they weren’t even a primary closing option in 2025. This would mean that there are only 20 or so pitchers the Dbacks could target either through free agency or through trade to address arguably their biggest need.
Of that group, lets eliminate the guys that are unlikely to be options for the Dbacks either via free agency or trade due to cost. Edwin Diaz is going to sign for a boat load of money. Likely more than a reliever is worth. Aroldis Chapman was just signed to an extension with the Red Sox and is likely to receive Cy Young votes so we can exclude him as well. Andres Munoz is an essential part to a very competitive (potentially world champion) Seattle Mariners team so it doesn’t make much sense they would trade him. Tanner Scott had a down year, but is also signed to a massive contract that would be all but unaffordable even if you wanted him. Johan Duran also seems all but unavailable considering the Phillies just acquired him at the deadline, they are obviously looking to compete yet again in 2026, and he is under control through the 2027 season.
That reduces the available proven closer market by 5 more putting the number of pitchers that realistically fit what the Dbacks need at 10-15. Especially if you exclude some of the other closers who struggled or don’t have much track record.
The Verdict: Bullpen
In conclusion, due to the amount of blown leads and the scarcity of resources that exist, I believe Mike Hazen and Co should focus most of their time and resources this winter on the bullpen. I agree with Hazen 100% when he said that bullpens should be built from the 9th inning forward. Especially considering some of the interesting pieces that emerged this season due to the opportunities that arose. Names like Brandyn Garcia, Andrew Saalfrank, Andrew Hoffmann, and Juan Morillo showed some serious potential in spurts. However, in my opinion you should be going into 2026 expecting to realistically contend with those guys to anchor your bullpen. However, if you slide those guys into lower leverage situations because you beefed up the back end, now you may have something.
My plan for this article was to simply take what information we had and look at where I would spend the bulk my time if I was Mike Hazen and where he should likely prioritize resources and work backwards from that. In my mind, only having 10-15 realistic options at such a critical area of need should relegate much attention and urgency to the bullpen. Then followed by the rotation and finally the lineup. Especially given all the different directions this team could go given all the position player versatility.
Now that we have a better idea as to the focus dictated by the supply, I think it will be easier in subsequent articles to look at specific players and assign the value. Stay tuned for more. Do you guys agree on a bullpen focused offseason? Let me know what you all think.
