Diamondbacks News
Former MLB GM Gives Harsh Critique of Diamondbacks’ Offseason
by Michael McDermott [Heavy]Former MLB general manager Jim Bowden released his offseason grades for all 30 MLB teams for The Athletic. Bowden gave the Arizona Diamondbacks a scathing critique of their offseason, assigning them a D+ grade. He also predicts a fourth-place finish for Arizona.
The former Washington Nationals‘ GM said this about Arizona’s offseason.
“The Diamondbacks have had a rough offseason. So far, their only significant
move was to bring back right-hander Merrill Kelly. They traded for Nolan Arenado, whose production has been declining, took a chance on the oft-injured Michael Soroka and added a backup catcher in James McCann. They also traded for a good bullpen arm, righty Josh Grosz, but had to part with speedy outfielder Jake McCarthy in the deal.”
Diamondbacks interested in free agent 1B Carlos Santana by Douglas Santo [Arizona Sports]
The move marks a major shift from the 2023 tournament, when Arenado played for Team USA, as he now looks to represent his heritage after previously competing for his home country. The Diamondbacks’ third baseman has Puerto Rican heritage through his mom’s side and now has the opportunity to represent his roots on baseball’s biggest international stage.
Diamondbacks Prospects Who Could Break Camp Part 1: Hitters and Starting Pitchers by Michael McDermott [D-backs Under Review]
It’s usually a good sign when a top prospect gets a camp invite. That typically means the organization wants to evaluate them as potential additions to the big league roster. Some prospects will have a chance to break camp on the Opening Day roster.
The most recent example is infielder Blaze Alexander, who hit .400 in Spring Training to win the backup shortstop job in 2024. I had him as the D-backs’ No. 25 prospectgoing into that season.
We’ll take a look at some candidates who could accomplish that feat in 2026. Since there are a lot of potential relievers on my prospect list, I’ve elected to break this into two pieces.
D-backs’ Moreno Earns Surprise Spot Among MLB’s Top 10 Catchers by Alex D’Agostino [SI]
Around the League
Six teams leave regional sports network Main Street to join MLB by Alden Gonzalez [ESPN]
Six teams officially left their regional sports network, Main Street Sports, and joined Major League Baseball on Monday, essentially shedding their local-media contracts.
The Milwaukee Brewers, Miami Marlins, Kansas City Royals, St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds and Tampa Bay Rays have decided they will partner with MLB, which will produce their games for the 2026 season and beyond, as first reported by Puck’s John Ourand.
It’s all on the line for these 6 teams in 2026, 1 for each division by Will Leitch [MLB]
NL West: Padres
The Padres have been close. So, so close. They have been chasing the Dodgers for many years, and don’t forget that in 2022, they did in fact catch them, beating them in the NLDS. The problem is that the Padres lost to the Phillies in the NLCS and haven’t gotten that close since … while the Dodgers, well you know what the Dodgers have been doing.
The Padres should be commended for their ambition (and financial commitment) in pursuing their rivals to the north, but now their once-strong farm system has been mostly decimated by trades to fortify the big league roster, which, alas, still doesn’t look nearly as good as that of the Dodgers. (Who have a much better farm system now, too.) Bringing back Michael King is a sign that the Padres aren’t giving up yet, nor should they. But if they don’t catch the Dodgers soon, San Diego might be out of the race for a while.
Six Takeaways From Our Playoffs Odds Release by Ben Clemens [FanGraphs]
Fine, the Dodgers aren’t actually projected for a clean 100 wins, but 99.6 is close enough for me. Believe it or not, this is the most wins we’ve ever projected them for. Projection systems are inherently conservative; 100-win projections are rare. This team simply looks that good. When you take the two-time defending World Series champions, lose almost no one, and add the top hitter and top reliever available in free agency, an already-rosy projection simply spikes to the moon. We think the Dodgers have a comically high 94.1% chance of winning the NL West. That’s silly.
The other teams in the West are actually locked in an interesting race for second. The Padres and Diamondbacks have made playoff noise in recent years, but we have the Giants narrowly ahead of those two this year despite a relatively quiet offseason. Their big addition will be a full season of Rafael Devers, and adding solid veterans like Harrison Bader and Luis Arraez won’t hurt. The Padres, on the other hand, lost three important contributors and added no one of note to replace them. The core group of Machado, Tatis, Merrill and Co. is still excellent, but the long-term impact of the trades the Padres made to surround that core with a good supporting cast means that there’s very little depth to go around here at the moment.
The Diamondbacks are more of a wild card than the Padres, who we know will be good, but expect to be less so than in recent years. The D-backs, on the other hand, has been pivoting all over the place. They sold at the deadline last year, then added this offseason by trading for Nolan Arenado and bringing Merrill Kelly back to replace Zac Gallen. There’s a ton of upside here – three different Snakes project for 4 WAR or more, with Gabriel Moreno not far behind at 3.9. But between some lineup holes – presumptive DH Adrian Del Castillo feels particularly risky to me, but first base isn’t great either – and a thin pitching staff, it’s easy to see how this team could fall out of the race early.
Mariners Acquire Brendan Donovan by Darragh McDonald [MLB Trade Rumors]
A Donovan trade has felt inevitable for quite a while. The Cardinals have been leaning harder into a rebuild this winter. They tried to kick off a reset last offseason but struggled to move their veteran players with no-trade clauses and ended up mostly standing pat. With president of baseball operations John Mozeliak ceding the reins to new president Chaim Bloom after the 2025 campaign, it became clear that the club would push harder to focus on the future.
Nolan Arenado, Sonny Gray and Willson Contreras all had no-trade clauses in their contracts and seemed reluctant to approve deals in the 2024-25 offseason. As last year was winding down, they all publicly expressed a greater openness to playing for new teams in 2026. That has now come to fruition for all three. Gray and Contreras were both traded to the Red Sox, while Arenado landed with the Diamondbacks.
Donovan’s situation was slightly different. Those other three guys were all veterans making eight-figure salaries. Moving them out of St. Louis was partially about slashing the payroll and also about opening up opportunities for younger players as part of the rebuild. Donovan, on the other hand, is still in his arbitration seasons. He will make a relatively modest $5.8MM in 2026 and would be due a raise in 2027.
