Diamondbacks Owner Ken Kendrick: "Why Not Us?"

Arizona Diamondbacks Managing General Partner Ken Kendrick spoke at length on a wide range of topics during and following the Corbin Burnes introductory press conference.

Chase Field Renovations and Tax Recapture

The Arizona Diamondbacks and lobbyists have been working with members of the Arizona state legislature to enact a law allowing for sales tax on tickets to games at Chase Field to be used for renovations and stadium upkeep. It's known as Tax Recapture.

This is the same kind of arrangement that the Arizona Cardinals have at State Farm Stadium. "There is legislation beginning to come together at the state legislature to build a plan that would be supportive of investing in the upgrading of the ballpark," Kendrick said.

Kendrick explained that all the sales taxes from football games go into a fund that is used to keep the stadium current at State Farm. "That model is a good one," he said, "I'm not a fan of taking people's tax money that don't support the team. I mean, I just don't think that's fair."

The Diamondbacks are hopeful that the State Legislature will approve a similar mechanism for them as well. "If you're a fan and you come in and you buy a ticket and you pay a sales tax, that money was because the Diamondbacks were here. Well, if that money were to be repatriated into keeping the ballpark vibrant, would that be something the public at large would say that's a fair use of tax money? Well, they voted for that for the Cardinals."

"I feel personally very strongly the public doesn't owe us. However, if the public is coming here and spending their money, does the sales tax money go to things unrelated to the ballpark? Could it go to the ballpark? Well, I think it could. It does for the Cardinals. So why not us?"

Too Many Starting Pitchers

With the Burnes acquisition, the Diamondbacks now are seven deep in the rotation. In addition to Burnes they have Zac Gallen, Merrill Kelly, Eduardo Rodriguez, Brandon Pfaadt, Ryne Nelson, and Jordan Montgomery. Beyond them there is depth in Triple-A Reno with young pitchers such as Yilber Diaz, Cristian Mena, Tommy Henry, and Yu-Min Lin.

Kendrick hinted that a move could be coming soon. "We probably have too many starting pitchers. We may do something about that. We'll see."

There are practical reasons why keeping all of these starters is not realistic. "Nobody can really effectively manage eight starting pitchers," Kendrick said. "Maybe the Dodgers, because they have about half their guys hurt all the time. And I don't mean that as a criticism. It's just the way it's been.

"And we can't afford to do that over time. You can't get the guys enough work when you have too many. It's not a healthy situation for the team, for the pitchers. So we have some moves to make, but we have a little time."

Payroll and Team Finances

For almost all of the offseason the team has telegraphed their desire to trade Jordan Montgomery, not only to thin the herd, but also to save payroll. Montgomery is scheduled to make $22.5 million in 2025 but is coming off a season in which he posted a 6.23 ERA in over 100 innings of work.

The team believes that come spring training there will likely be a suitor willing to absorb a major portion of his salary. That may be necessary from a financial standpoint. Asked if the Burnes signing is an indication he could still grow the payroll further, Kendrick was clear that he could not.

"I wouldn't say that I would bet on that one. It's pretty handsome, as we speak." Indeed, at the moment the Diamondbacks have already exceeded their 2024 franchise record payroll by at least $10 million, even while deferring some of the Burnes contract. Payroll has grown from about $175 million to $185 million as of this writing.

Clearly then, with more roster holes yet to fill in the bullpen and right hand bat, trading a pitcher is essential. That said, maintaining or exceeding slightly last year's payroll is an accomplishment. The Diamondbacks not only have the stadium renovation hanging over their head, but lost their television contract with Bally Sports in mid 2023.

Speaking on the impact of losing the TV contract, Kendrick was upbeat. "We haven't been dramatically [impacted]. I mean, look, we have less regional TV money than we did. But that isn't stopping the train."

While acknowledging that the loss of the television revenue created challenges, he listed off some of the new revenue streams that have made up for it and then some. Jersey patches, sports book, concerts, and most importantly attendance and fan engagement are all making up for those lost revenue streams.

Ultimately, Kendrick is stretching the budget as much as he can and is committed to winning. Asked what kind of message the Burnes signing sends, he responded "I hope it sends a message that we're in it to win it." At the same time, he is not unaware of his own situation.

"I'm hoping for our fans and for me personally, I'm kind of aging out on this. I'd kind of like to have some additional success before I go off into the sunset," Kendrick said.

His Role in Making the Burnes Deal Come to Pass

When Scott Boras reached out on behalf of Burnes to see if the Diamondbacks were interested, everyone else in the decision making process was traveling and out of town. Mike Hazen was in New Zealand with his sons. His top lieutenant Amiel Sawdaye was in France. Derek Hall was out of state.

"And I'm the lone guy standing. What the hell am I going to do now?" Kendrick quipped. After four or five days of reaching out and finding everyone to have the conversations that needed to be had, they were able to reach consensus. But Kendrick went out of his way to make sure this is not interpreted as him being a meddling owner.

"We have professionals. And they're the guys that kind of drive this, as I think you all understand I had to be involved more than I would normally be [due to the situation]."

The conversation ended with much laughter as Kendrick jovially said "I would prefer to let somebody else do it. And if it doesn't work out, I can blame them. That's my job. You understand my job, right? My job is to evaluate."

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