The Diamondbacks face a dilemma in addressing their starting rotation before the July 30 trade deadline. The current version of the rotation is short-handed, with three starting pitchers currently on the injured list. Jordan Montgomery is on track to return for the upcoming series against the Kansas City Royals, but Merrill Kelly and Eduardo RodrÃguez will not return before the deadline. So they either have to choose between gambling on an injured starter returning to form or giving up significant prospect capital to attempt to shore up the rotation.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Hazen was asked whether or not he’ll pursue a starting pitcher by Steve Gilbert of MLB.com. Here was his answer:
“I think if I feel very confident when Monty comes back and then [Kelly and Rodriguez] are right around the corner, I probably would not place as much emphasis on it. But I don’t know. It obviously depends on if Nelly and Yilber keep throwing the ball really well, that’s going to impact how this goes.”
As we saw last season, the price became too much for general manager Mike Hazen to pull the trigger on a deal. With the team falling short of a World Series title, Hazen lamented his inability to acquire a starter and having to resort to a bullpen game for the NLCS and World Series.
With those two things in mind, the question remaining is if the Diamondbacks GM will reconsider a deal to shore up the rotation. If they don’t make a deal, then they either have to gamble on an injured arm quickly reaching top form again in the final six weeks or ask a relatively untested arm in Yilber Diaz to provide key innings out of the rotation. Ryne Nelson has emerged as a reliable arm of late, and with 46 career starts has enough experience to be counted on to provide innings.
The first problem the Diamondbacks run into is too few teams are willing to sell just nine days before the deadline. The National League Wild Card race has five teams within a game of the final spot. The Nationals, Cubs, and Reds have fallen back lately and could be looking to sell expiring contracts to reload for next season. Jameson Taillon, Jack Flaherty, Frankie Montas, and Nick Martinez have been subjects of recent rumors.
In this seller’s market, the cost for a starting pitcher for Arizona will be steep. Last year, the market for a rental starting pitcher was multiple prospects of at least the Double-A level, one hitter and one pitcher. For the Diamondbacks, a similar prospect return would be Dylan Ray and Deyvison De Los Santos. If they seek to add a pitcher with more control, they’ll need to part with prospects in the Druw Jones, Tommy Troy, Cristian Mena tier or players on their current 40-man roster.
The Diamondbacks are stuck between a rock and a hard place with what they can do with their starting rotation, with either choice having the potential to backfire if they miss the playoffs. Either they didn’t do enough to shore up the rotation or they gave up a significant prospect haul to not improve their season situation. It will be interesting to see what Hazen does in the final week leading up to the deadline.
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Michael McDermott covers the Arizona Diamondbacks, Arizona Cardinals, and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @MichaelMcDMLB
