How did you spend your Wednesday? Josh Rojas spent his at a courthouse in Florida, listening to a legal battle over how much money he is worth. No matter how unpleasant, the salary arbitration process is — for now — a necessary part of Major League Baseball’s business operations. When players become arbitration-eligible (typically after three years of service), their…
For the first time in three years, pitchers and catchers reported to spring training in mid-February and things are, dare I say, normal. The Diamondbacks are back. https://twitter.com/PHNX_Dbacks/status/1625859994758545409?s=20 No masks, no restrictions, no Zoom interviews. Just baseball, unhindered. Is this heaven? No, it’s Arizona. https://twitter.com/PHNX_Dbacks/status/1625916666394857472?s=20 https://twitter.com/PHNX_Dbacks/status/1626290968659107840?s=20 https://twitter.com/PHNX_Dbacks/status/1625918043124805632?s=20 The D-backs did not make any big splashes in free agency this offseason,…
Less than three years after departing via trade, Andrew Chafin is returning to the Diamondbacks, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reported on Saturday. The deal, which is reportedly pending a physical, is said to be for one year with a club option for 2024. While Chafin’s curly hair and mustache are every bit as dazzling as the day he left the…...
When trades like the Kevin Durant deal occur, they ignite a city at its core. It is rare for superstars to change teams in any manner, but especially via in-season trade. A look at Valley pro sports history reveals no more than 20 trades that could really be labeled as big, and far fewer that had a major impact. Sometimes…
If they only had a decent bullpen, the Diamondbacks would have made the playoffs. If I had a dollar for every time I have seen or heard a Diamondbacks fan say those very words, I might have been able to beat Mat Ishbia’s offer to become the next owner of the Phoenix Suns. The claim is understandable. Diamondbacks relievers took…
February is here, pitchers and catchers report in less than two weeks and the Arizona Diamondbacks will start playing games later this month. Baseball is (almost) back. Shortly before the 2022 season, I undertook the disheartening task of asking Diamondbacks Twitter what it wanted to see from the team. I received over 100 replies and wrote a fun story consolidating…
I know I write about baseball for a living, but I am convinced that the Major League Baseball home run is the most awe-inspiring event that happens routinely in any sport. To hit a home run, a human being must (1) correctly identify the trajectory of a 2.9-inch-diameter spherical object traveling at nearly 100 MPH, (2) ensure that the bat…...
Anyone who saw more than a few Diamondbacks games in the mid-2010s knows that Nick Ahmed diving for baseballs has been a fixture of the franchise for nearly a decade. Typically, in a matter of milliseconds, he gets up and delivers a strike to first base. But in 2020, during the second iteration of spring camp prior to a 60-game…
Entering 2022, Jake McCarthy was a promising depth piece for the Diamondbacks. He was lightning fast. He held his own at all three outfield positions. He was still only 24 years old. But even then, prospect evaluators made little mention of the University of Virginia product. It wasn’t that he wouldn’t be a big leaguer — he broke into the…...
In many respects, the Los Angeles Dodgers are Major League Baseball’s powerhouse franchise. They have won nine of the last 10 NL West division titles, many of them by a mile. The only year they did not win it in that span was 2021. That season, the Dodgers finished second in the NL West behind the 107-win San Francisco Giants.…...
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