Dodgers Ohtani and Yankees Judge recipients of MLB MVP awards
Baseball’s MVPs have been decided. Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani wins the National League award, while Yankees’ Aaron Judge takes home the title again for the American League.
The Diamondbacks have holes on their pitching staff and a modest amount of money available — or so we think — to try to fill them.
So, no, this list does not presume the Diamondbacks will be swimming in the deep end of baseball free agency this winter. Instead, it is a look at a handful of names that might make sense given the players’ anticipated price points and the Diamondbacks’ needs.
Perhaps Diamondbacks owner Ken Kendrick authorizes the front office to spend more, allowing the team to, say, bring back Merrill Kelly or Zac Gallen. But assuming those two are too expensive, perhaps these are some pitchers who could fall within the Diamondbacks’ budgetary parameters.
1. Zack Littell, RHP
Littell is a strike-throwing starting pitcher with innings-eating ability. His modest stuff likely will limit how much he commands, but he seems like a reasonable target for a club that could use some certainty in its rotation.
2. Phil Maton, RHP
Maton is another pitcher whose stuff is not particularly loud, but he has a good array of pitches that allows him to get outs. He has been a reliable setup man for most of the past four years.
3. Emilio Pagan, RHP
Perhaps Pagan’s success in the ninth inning this season with the Cincinnati Reds will price him out of the Diamondbacks’ range, but if he ends up getting something in the neighborhood of the two-year, $16 million contract he just finished out, maybe that would make him a fit.
4. Pete Fairbanks, RHP
Two weeks ago, the Tampa Bay Rays paid a $1 million buyout on Fairbanks’ $11 million option after they were unable to find a taker for him in a trade. That suggests where the league values him financially, meaning he shouldn’t be too expensive for the Diamondbacks.
5. Cody Ponce, RHP
Seven years ago, the Diamondbacks took a gamble on Kelly after he had spent four years in Korea. The move paid off handsomely. Ponce, a starting pitcher with swing-and-miss stuff, has spent the past four years overseas — three in Japan, one in Korea — and likely will be a reasonably priced gamble after he turned in a dominant season in the KBO.
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