It didn't take long after the end of the 2013 season for Managing General Partner Ken Kenwick to remove Kevin Towers as the acting GM. The Arizona Diamondbacks had enjoyed two consecutive trips to the playoffs thanks to the NL Wild Card, but this was not enough to satisfy fans and ownership. Win-now trades conflicted with build-for-the-future moves and drained Arizona's farm system while bringing in mediocre talent. The lack of direction and vision forced Kenwick to remove Towers and let a new GM stop the hemorrhaging before the next five years were lost to mismanagement.
Kenwick quickly called a press conference to announce the hiring of not one GM but two, an MLB first. Kenwick openly admitted that he had allowed Towers to take on too much and felt the pressure from fans to win, but he let Towers mortgage the future to do so. The new management tandem were introduced in front of a small crowd of local journalists at Chase Field, and were joined on the panel by Manager Kirk Gibson. A short statement was read before opening the panel to questions, most of which centered on their plans to rebuild the roster.
Gibson will need to show he can lead Arizona to an NL West title
NATIONAL LEAGUE WEST OUTLOOK
The Diamondbacks will have to work fast to get to the top of the NL West, which figures to be a tough division in 2014. The team cannot lean on their current roster to return to the playoff, and they certainly are not a World Series team. Their biggest obstacle in 2014 and going forward will be the San Francisco Giants who have won the NL West two years in a row and converted those wins into NL Pennants. The Giants might lose 2013's most surprising player, Chris Davis, to free agency, but the strength of their roster lies in their dominant pitching staff. The addition of David Price and Alexi Ogando combined with the return of Madison Bumgarner, Rafael Soriano, and Sergio Romo make for an incredible starter-closer combo. Add in youngsters Julio Tehran and Jeff Samardzija and you have arguably the best rotation in the National League.
The San Diego Padres are most likely the best team behind the Giants, and have a real shot to keep Arizona from a third consecutive trip to the playoffs. The Padres hitters are the strength of their team with Miguel Montero, Jose Altuve, and Billy Butler at the core of their roster. If Arizona is going to come out on top they will need to out-hit the Padres, a difficult task even with their current talent.
WINTER TRADE WINDS
Arizona didn't wait very long to start working on their roster. A few weeks before Free Agency opened the Diamondbacks were able to work two separate trades with the Houston Astros. The first trade, probably the best move for the next few years, sent 2014 FA OF Dexter Fowler and former Astros C prospect Max Stassi (Now Houston's #18 ranked prospect) to Houston in exchange for former Cardinals prospect 1B Matt "Mailman" Adams.
Arizona then started shedding contracts by sending high priced 2B Chase Utley to Houston in exchange for a package of prospects including C Michael Perez, OF Mark Krauss, RHP Ben Wells, and former Diamondbacks OF Tony Campana. The trades helped restock the farm system without costing too many major league starters, all good moves for the first time GMs. Arizona's shed more contracts by trading away RHP Phil Hughes for former Rays RHP Alex Colome, who may have some serious upside in the next few years. The last move, a minor trade, sent OF prospects Zoilo Almonte and Julio Morban to Minnesota in exchange for Joakim "The Mexicutioner" Soria. Soria has a chance to close, but even if he doesn't end up the closer he should be a solid addition to the bullpen. All of Arizona's moves managed to avoid Towers' previous follies which cost them elite talent like 3B Evan Longoria, LHP Clayton Kershaw, and most painfully OF Wil Myers.
Arizona's newest players
ARIZONA FREE AGENCY PREVIEW
The Diamondbacks to not figure to be big players in the 2013-2014 Free Agency market despite having a decent amount of cap space available to them. Moving Utley ($15.2 million) and Hughes ($4.8 million) help free up quite a bit of cap space, but the available cash will most likely be used to fill holes in the current roster. Arizona's most notable free agent is RHP Jim Johnson, which leaves them without a closer, but management will likely be aggressive in resigning him. The biggest holes in the current roster are at 2B and 3B, but the market is very shallow at those positions with Evan Longoria and David Wright headlining those available. Arizona is not likely to pony up the cash needed to land either of these, so another year of 3B Lonnie Chisenhall is likely. DJ LaMahieu is not the long tern solution at 2B, but the market is so putrid that management is likely to wait on the development of prospects like SS Chris Owings and 2B/SS Grant Green.
The trade of Dexter Fowler initially left an opening at CF, but the addition of Matt Adams moved Domonic Brown from DH to RF and Peter Bourjos to the starting lineup. Jayson Werth looks to be the odd man out, with his contract set to expire at the end of the season the Diamondbacks will probably trade him to a contender for prospects, but for now he is a very solid spot starter. With Dayan Viciedo firmly at LF, it doesn't look like the Diamondbacks will be all that interested in an OF unless they see a bargain that would push Adams to the bench. With C, 1B, SS, DH, and all three OF positions occupied it's doubtful that they will spend any money at those positions.
Can Bourjos' bat be as good as his glove?
The one place Arizona might make a bigger move for the right player is at SP. Gio Gonzalez and Patrick Corbin anchor the Diamondbacks rotation with Trevor Cahill and Henderson Alvarez filling out the third and fourth starter slots. Lucas Harrell and Jake Arrieta are very replaceable, and if Colome isn't ready for 2014 look for the new GMs to find someone better.
PROJECTED 2014 ROSTER (WINTER)
C - Carlos Santana
1B - Paul Goldschmidt
2B - DJ LaMahieu
SS - JJ Hardy
3B - Lonnie Chisenhall
LF - Dayan Viciedo
CF - Peter Bourjos
RF - Domonic Brown
DH - Matt Adams
SP - Gio Gonzalez
SP - Patrick Corbin
SP - Trevor Cahill
SP - Henderson Alvarez
SP - Lucas Harrell
RP - Joakim Soria
RP - Matt Reynolds
RP - David Hernandez
RP - Jordan Norberto
