But should it be buy or sell?
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We are into July, and the trade deadline begins to loom, ever more prominently, at the end of the month. But the D-backs’ position in regard to their strategy for it remains up in the air. They are neither in a wild-card position that would encourage addition to the roster, nor are they so far out of it that selling is the obvious answer. The team’s position seems to change on a series by series basis, or as we saw in the Giants’ set just completed, even within them [We’re so back! Oh, wait: we suck again. Never mind…] So, earlier in the week we asked you to tell us what general strategy the Diamondbacks should adopt, with regard to this season’s trade deadline… Here are the results:
What stands out is an overwhelming desire for the team to do something. There may not be agreement as to what that should be. But with just three percent advocating going forward with the current roster, standing pat is not an option. On the hitting side, the team should get Corbin Carroll back off the injured list soon, and hopefully Gabriel Moreno will follow. But on the pitching side, the health issues are more of the “season ending” and/or “say hello to Dr. Neal ElAttrache” variety. You would also not believe how badly I butchered the good doctor’s name. Glad I decided to look it up. With the pitching the obvious issue, I can see the login behind the overwhelming rejection of “Hold.”
The overall inclination was to sell, by a margin of 59-38% – which is a clear majority, but not overwhelmingly one-sided. I can see both sides here: it feels as if adding to and stabilizing the bullpen could end up having a knock-on impact elsewhere. But on the other hand, there’s perhaps no team with a better collection of fungible assets who will be out of contract at the end of the season. Converting them into pieces that could help us in 2026 and beyond might be the best long-term answer. Though as Steak85 noted, 2027 – hopefully with a healthy Corbin Burnes on Opening Day – might be a better target for the team’s next window of contention. Here are a few other comments:
- Steak85 – “Definitely move any bullpen piece teams want, including Ryan Thompson, even though he’s under contract another year. Bullpens are so volatile, and people overpay for bullpen help every deadline.”
- DBacksEurope – “Weak sell, assuming the team will continue to dwindle like they have done until now.”
- AZNailgal520 – “Clean up with our known sluggers, relief pitchers and starting pitchers. Other teams will pay us well for these assets. I trust Hazen not to acquire a bunch of AA players for these guys.”
- SnakesAlive2023 – “You gotta cash in on all the valuable rentals we have this year for players who are major leaguers or close to it. This way I believe that we can still make a decent run by getting back to what made us so special in 2023.”
- BeTeaBaseball – “Weak sell – only move guys you can get something decent for in return. Moving players for salary relief will just turn fans away, I think, and cost you gate receipts.”
- piratedan7 – “We ought to be listening. In this day and age, with as competitive as it is, gotta restock and retool and heal up and this year should be a seller’s market.”