Opinion: The Diamondbacks Aggressive Buy Window Has Closed

Hazen said he does not have a specific win total in mind to determine whether or not he would be buying at the deadline. The team's position in the standings would be the deciding factor.

"It's more relative to where we stand in the standings, how many teams we have to climb and by how much is probably more of an indicator than anything else."

There are only 14 games left before to the Trade Deadline. Realistically the D-backs would need to leap at least two of the teams in front of them within the next 7-10 games, allowing Hazen to pivot to buying at least a week before the deadline. That is no longer a realistic proposition.

Torey Lovullo Feeling the Pressure

Manager Torey Lovullo is an eternally optimistic person, but also believes in putting one foot in front of the other and focusing on one game at a time, at least in his public-facing comments.

Thus it was especially notable to this reporter, who has covered him closely for the last seven years, to see him utter these words to MLB.com's Jacob Gurvis before Friday's loss.

“I want to win all 3 of these games," Lovullo said. "I normally ask them for one day at a time, but I want to be over .500. I think this group is ready to be over .500 and take that next step.”

It's difficult to state just how out of character this comment by Lovullo is. Keeping in mind that he is a mouthpiece and representative of the organization, it seems clear that this is an indication that internal conversations regarding whether to buy, sell, or hold have taken a turn.

Prior to this, Lovullo has expressed that he's been asking Hazen to keep the team together and give them a chance. Hazen has repeatedly said show me. They have not.

Of course injuries have had a major impact. They have 14 players on the injured list, many of them key members of the team that simply can't be replaced. Lovullo has kept the team fighting, and Hazen made sure to praise the manager on this point. But the injuries have become too much to overcome.

If Not Buyers, then Sellers?

The Diamondbacks have a fairly long and impactful list of players on expiring contracts. Zac Gallen, Merrill Kelly, Eugenio Suarez, and Josh Naylor are the most prominent.

In addition to this list, lefty killer Randal Grichuk and the team have a mutual option for 2026, and those are almost never picked up.

Shelby Miller and Jalen Beeks are also free agents, but both are on the 15-day injured list. Miller is getting a second opinion from Dr. Keith Meister, a well-known surgeon, and may be facing season-ending surgery.

Beeks is dealing with back inflammation, and probably would not have a market at the moment.

Trading both of Gallen and Kelly may seem obvious on one level, as they would probably get the team the biggest returns. But the Diamondbacks still have 65 games to play after the All-Star break.

So much of their second-line pitching has become injured, or just underperformed, that they don't have enough pitchers to get through the rest of the season.

It would be one thing if the team had a major league-ready starter or two knocking down the door to step in and see what they could do. But the team's options in that department simply are not enough field a credible rotation.

Hazen would probably hope to recreate a Zac Gallen-type deal, like he did in 2019, but that's difficult to find and impossible to predict.

Likewise, if the D-backs sell Eugenio Suarez, and/or Josh Naylor, who plays third and first base? Jordan Lawlar is on the injured list with a hamstring injury, and is likely out for at least several more weeks.

Sooner or later the team will need to decide if they are going to play Lawlar somewhere every day or trade him. This could be an opportunity to finally give him a couple of months everyday runway. But what if he still fails to hit over a two month period?

The team currently has Blaze Alexander and Tristin English on the roster. Pavin Smith is out with an oblique injury. The options for fielding a credible lineup alongside a credible rotation are thin.

As much as some might want to see Hazen sell all of these free agents, it doesn't seem likely he, or ownership, will be willing to field a non-competitive team the rest of the season. One cannot ignore the economics and the signal that would send to ticket buyers.

Not only would such a move tank the rest of season single ticket sales, but also put a huge dent into next year's season ticket renewals.

Considering the team just won a hard-fought battle to get funding for stadium renovations, they are probably not willing to go down a total selloff path.

Taking the Middle Road

Mike Hazen has shown in the past that he can find ways to thread the needle between remainng competitive while still building for the future. It's in his DNA to compete, and he infuses that attitude throughout the organization.

Based on his track record, and the team's current situation, the most likely outcome still appears to be some hybrid buy and sell moves. He will look to acquire controllable pitching, if at all possible.

Of the four main free agents, he probably moves one or two at most, depending on who will get him the return he seeks.

There should be some pretty strong offers, but in the case of Gallen, whatever offer he gets must be weighed against the likely compensation draft pick the team would receive if he signs with another team after rejecting a qualifying offer.

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