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ARIZONA HAS BEEN trying to do what the
Brewers did: rebuild without tanking. It’s
an admirable approach in an era when a
$60 million payroll that yields just 60 wins
also nets a $60 million profit.
The Diamondbacks can afford to deal
high-salaried stars because they’re good
at extracting more value from players than
they were initially projected to provide.
From indy-ball find David Peralta to
trade pickup Ketel Marte to waiver claim
Christian Walker, GM Mike Hazen has
demonstrated a shrewd ability to discover
talent. That organizational skill informs a
decision to trade a homegrown star such as
first baseman Paul Goldschmidt before last
season, or an ace like Zack Greinke last July,because in adding catcher Carson Kelly or
righty starter Luke Weaver or leftfielder
Josh Rojas or first base prospect Seth Beer,
Arizona believes it’s getting not only value
in the future but in the present as well.
Even without Goldschmidt and Greinke,
the D-backs made a late wild-card run
under third-year manager Torey Lovullo.
In the offseason Hazen bolstered the
outfield by trading for Starling Marté and
signing Kole Calhoun. Marté will play
center—though that’s a stretch for the
31-year-old—allowing Marte to return to
second base. (Got that?) Calhoun is anupgrade over Adam Jones in rightfield.
The team’s big move was signing
lefthander Madison Bumgarner to a
five-year, $85 million contract. At 30,
Bumgarner is on the backside of his career
after 11 seasons with the Giants, but he
fills out a rotation with no glaring weak
spot, with Weaver, righty Zac Gallen and
lefty Robbie Ray potentially combining
for 600 strikeouts. All those arms won’t
be enough to topple the Dodgers in the
NL West, but they will keep Arizona in the
thick of a crowded wild-card race.OVER After adding starter Madison Bumgarner along with outfielders Starling Marté and
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three-true-outcome player. Hardly a paunchy slugger prone to
jn`e^`e^Xe[d`jj`e^c`b\8[Xd;leefiA`dK_fd\#IfY`ejfe
packs the punch of the earlier prototypes but does it in a
hyperathletic frame that allows him to swipe bases and run down
balls easily. The athletic Bahamian is a wall-clearing, walk-taking
machine, and we don’t expect him to slow down anytime soon.2030 PREDICTION
MOVING UP
KEVIN
GINKEL
1.48 ERA | 1.77 WPA
After fanning
65 in 35^1 / 3
innings in
the minors,
the 6' 4"
righthander
was pressing
for the closer
role with a
0.986 WHIP in
25 games.MOVING DOWN
JAKE
LAMB
76 OPS+ | -0.3 WAR
The third
baseman
was a star
for Arizona’s
2017 playoff
team. In two
injury-riddled
seasons since
then, he batted
.208 with just
12 homers.DIAMONDBACKS
DAVID KOHL/USA TODAY SPORTSThe Diamondbacks excel at
maximizing their talent,
staying competitive despite
dealing high-priced stars.