What's Next For Diamondbacks After All-Star Break?

The All-Star Break offered a needed respite from the everyday grind that is a 162-game MLB season. Arizona Diamondbacks fans got to see their stars in action, without any of the stakes of a real game.

In somewhat of a vacation from the harsh regular-season reality of this struggling club, Arizona's stars got to enjoy the festivities and contribute to a historic National League victory in the midsummer classic.

But as all vacations do, it will come to an end Friday, as Arizona will begin the grind anew. But what's next for this adversity-stricken club?

What's next for Arizona Diamondbacks after All-Star Break?

The season will resume on Friday, as the St. Louis Cardinals come to Phoenix for a three-game set at Chase Field. The Cardinals have been up-and-down of late, going 4-6 in their last 10 games to sit five games over .500 at 51-46.

They swept the D-backs out of St. Louis back in May in three disappointing one-run games.

After that, Arizona will take on the AL West-leading Astros, who sit 16 games over .500 at 56-40.

The D-backs will then hit the road for three against the Pirates and Tigers to close out the month, culminating with the July 31 Trade Deadline.

Trade Deadline Looms Large for Diamondbacks

The Deadline carries more weight than usual.

Arizona's bout of bad injury luck, underperformance and overall poor play has sent them three games below .500 at 47-50, and has effectively ended their chances to buy.

There remains some amount of hope that they can go on a run and at least keep general manager Mike Hazen from selling off critical pieces, but that may not be a realistic dream at this point.

With 12 games left to go before July 31, the D-backs would have to go 8-4 out of the break to be above .500. And being 55-54 isn't necessarily enough to warrant attempting to buy, either.

Arizona could emerge as a late buyer in a perfect scenario, but that feels very unlikely. It seems more realistic that they'll hover around .500 all the way.

But would continuing to middle necessitate a full fire sale? No, not necessarily.

It's clear who the trade pieces are. Eugenio Suárez and Josh Naylor have been made available, along with Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly. Arizona has even reportedly been hearing offers on outfielders not named Corbin Carroll.

According to MLB.com's Steve Gilbert, the most "likely" scenario is for the D-backs to be "light" sellers.

"They could move starters Zac Gallen or Merrill Kelly, but probably not both, because they simply don’t have enough pitching to finish out the season without one of them," Gilbert wrote in his newsletter

"First baseman Josh Naylor could be dealt, but third baseman Eugenio Suárez will only be traded if what they get back would be of more value than the Draft pick compensation they would get for him leaving via free agency."

If fans are expecting some sort of blockbuster trade to bring in the necessary competitive pieces for 2025, that expectation is likely misguided. But it's also unrealistic to assume they'll simply dump every pending free agent on their roster, giving up entirely on being competitive in 2025.

The next 12 games will carry some weight in that regard, but the strange part is they're still not out of a potential playoff push if they can replicate some late-season momentum similar to 2024.

They entered the 2024 All-Star Break 49-48, just two games better than their current record. They went on to go 40-25 after the break, winning nearly 90 games and just barely missing a postseason berth.

With all the pitching injuries, that may not be realistic either, but it's not impossible, yet.

It's tough to keep the trade rumors out of the clubhouse, but ultimately, winning is still the most important thing to manager Torey Lovullo and his club.

Winning solves most woes. If the Diamondbacks show they are capable of winning in volume after a much-needed break, the conversations may begin to shift.

But that is a big if.

Arizona Diamondbacks Latest News