Diamondbacks News
Diamondbacks Outright Reliever to Triple-A by Alex D’Agostino [SI]
The Arizona Diamondbacks have made a roster move. According to their transaction log, right-handed reliever Christian Montes De Oca has been outrighted to Triple-A Reno, freeing up a spot on the 40-man roster.
Montes De Oca, 26, spent limited time on the D-backs’ roster in 2025 before going down with an injury that claimed the remainder of his season.
With the Rule 5 Draft protection deadline arriving on Tuesday, Arizona now has three
free spots on the 40-man roster if they want to protect any of their Rule 5-eligbile prospects.
Looming Rule 5 Deadline Presents Roster Decisions for D-backs by Jack Sommers [SI]
{Ed. Note: Jack broke the buckets of players who are Rule 5 eligible into 3 buckets. He had 2 players in the most likely to be picked bucket, but then the Diamondbacks opened up a third roster spot by outrighting Montes De Oca. The 3 players listed below were who Jack listed as moderate chance to be drafted. Which of these did the Snakes open up room for? Or did they go with someone else not on the board?}
Dylan Ray is a 25-year-old right-hander who earned a mid- season promotion from Double-A to Triple-A. His Reno numbers are inflated (6.30 ERA), but he pitched well at times and is another guy who could be converted to reliever and stick in bullpen.
Spencer Giesting is a 24-year-old lefty who had a similar arc to his season as Ray. Success at Double-A, struggles in Reno, but some flashes and good signs there too.
Alfred Morillo may not have had good numbers in Reno last year year, but the 24-year-old reliever has solid stuff, with a mid 90’s fastball and good slider. The righty is another arm teams might take a chance on if left unprotected.
AFL Notebook: Final Thoughts on D-backs’ 2025 Fall League Class and More by Michael McDermott [D-backs Under Review]
The best prospect from the D-backs’ contingent is RHP David Hagaman. He features a four-pitch mix (4-seamer, curveball, slider, and changeup). His slider is his best pitch of the arsenal. Due to the gyro shape (0” iVB, 2” glove-side), it has more utility against left-handed hitters than a typical right-handed slider would.
Hagaman has the upside of a No. 3 starter due to a deep mix and the potential for an above-average fastball and a plus slider. In terms of raw upside in the system, I’d only put 2025 first-rounder Patrick Forbes ahead of him.
D-backs’ GM Downplays Payroll Concerns by Steve Adams [MLB Trade Rumors]
RosterResource currently projects the Snakes for about $143MM in 2026 payroll, and that’s before potential non-tenders among the arbitration class. Injured lefty A.J. Puk, who underwent UCL surgery this summer, is projected for a $3.3MM salary (via MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz) but might not even pitch next season in his final year before free agency. Righty Kevin Ginkel ($3MM projection) posted a 7.36 ERA in 25 2/3 MLB innings. Outfielders Alek Thomas ($2.2MM projection) and Jake McCarthy ($1.9MM projection) both had well below-average seasons at the plate; McCarthy, in particular, was one of the 20 worst hitters in MLB, sitting with the 18th-worst wRC+ mark among the 348 hitters who tallied at least 200 turns at the plate.
Assuming some of that group departs, the Diamondbacks will find themselves with a $135-140MM projection for next year’s Opening Day payroll. Even if ownership plans to scale back payroll by as much as $25MM — and that’s just an arbitrary number for illustrative purposes — Hazen could reasonably have as much as $40MM to spend on next year’s payroll alone.
Around the League
10 candidates to knock Ohtani and Judge from their MVP thrones by Will Leitch [MLB]
Corbin Carroll, RF, Diamondbacks
Carroll was a revelation in his Rookie of the Year season two years ago, but while he was still good as a sophomore, he didn’t quite match those initial numbers in 2024. He rebounded in ’25, leading the NL in triples again with 17 while adding even more power, launching a career-high 31 homers. He still steals bases with impunity, and all he really needs now is just a little more plate discipline: His strikeouts went up last season, and his walks went down. But he’s just about six months older than Rodríguez, having turned 25 in August. Carroll, too, is just getting started.
Hamels, Braun, Kemp among 12 newcomers to Hall of Fame ballot [ESPN]
Cole Hamels, Ryan Braun and Matt Kemp are among 12 newcomers on the Baseball Hall of Fame ballot released Monday, and Carlos Beltrán heads 15 holdovers after falling 19 votes shy in 2025 balloting.
Howie Kendrick, Daniel Murphy and Rick Porcello also are among the first-time eligibles, joined by Shin-Soo Choo, Edwin Encarnación, Gio González, Alex Gordon, Nick Markakis and Hunter Pence.
On Review, the Tie Should Go to the Runner by Davy Andrews [FanGraphs]
Deciding these ties in favor of the runner would also push the game in the direction the league wants anyway. Each year, it would turn a few hundred out calls into safe calls, boosting offense slightly without furthering the boom-and-bust cycle of home runs and strikeouts. It would also provide a slight reprieve from the low-BABIP doldrums, instantly adding roughly two points to the league rate. The downstream effects would encourage the exciting parts of the game that everyone wants to see more of: putting the ball in play, stealing, and taking the extra base. Maybe those effects would be too small for us to notice on a daily basis – these ties would only crop up once every eight games – but they would be real and measurable.
Defaulting to the judgment of the umpire on the field on even tougher plays makes plenty of sense from a human perspective. It helped ease the game into the era of expanded replay without upsetting the existing norms too much. But purely in terms of getting the correct call, it’s probably the worst option available, and it involves the denial of a reality that we can all see: ties happen a lot.
Mariners Re-Sign Josh Naylor by Mark Polishuk [MLB Trade Rumors]
The Mariners have made it official, announcing they have signed Naylor to a five-year deal. The total guarantee is $92.5MM, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. There’s a full no-trade clause and a $6.5MM signing bonus, per Robert Murray of FanSided. There are no deferrals, per Jeff Passan of ESPN.
