Diamondbacks’ GM Mike Hazen takes a look back on the 2025 season
After just missing the playoffs, Arizona Diamondbacks general manager Mike Hazen put his assessment of the season into words.
The Diamondbacks may trade young position players to acquire pitching help for their rotation and bullpen.Right-hander Zac Gallen has filed for free agency and is expected to decline a qualifying offer from the team.
Diamondbacks general manager Mike Hazen expects to be active in the trade market this offseason as he looks to rebuild his pitching staff. And if that means trading from his collection of young position-player prospects, well, then so be it.
“I might,” Hazen said. “I don’t want to do that, but I think at some point if I’m going to get somebody of value I’m going to have to give up (somebody of value). It just is what it is.”
The Diamondbacks enter the offseason with two holes in their starting rotation and several more in the bullpen. They also are expected to be operating with a lower payroll than the $200 million-plus mark they had entering 2025.
That could leave Hazen with little choice but to move one of his young, rising position players. Among the players who could be attractive to other teams: infielder Jordan Lawlar, outfielder Ryan Waldschmidt and infielder Tommy Troy, among others.
Lawlar would be the hardest to deal. He also likely would command the strongest return.
Lawlar has been viewed among the leading prospects in baseball since he was drafted sixth overall in 2021. He has yet to perform well at the major league level, albeit in limited opportunities. He owns just a .165 average in 97 career at-bats.
He swung the bat much better over the final month of the season, hitting .255/.308/.404 in 47 at-bats.
With Lawlar no longer considered a “prospect” — he exceeded rookie status this year based on major league service time — Waldschmidt is now viewed by some as the Diamondbacks’ top prospect. The 31st overall pick out of Kentucky in 2024, he put together a strong debut season in which he hit .289/.413/.473 in 601 plate appearances split between High-A and Double-A.
Troy, the club’s top pick in 2023, turned in a solid second professional season, hitting .289 with 15 homers, 24 steals and an .833 OPS while reaching Triple-A.
The club has several other young players who also could draw interest from rival clubs, including infielder/outfielders Blaze Alexander and Tim Tawa, second baseman Demetrio Crisantes and outfielder Slade Caldwell.
Zac Gallen, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. free-agent decisions
The opening days of free agency are underway for the Diamondbacks, with none of the early moves coming as a surprise.
Right-hander Zac Gallen, lefty Jalen Beeks and catcher James McCann filed for free agency, as expected.
Gallen is certain to receive a qualifying offer ahead of the Thursday, Nov. 6, deadline to offer one. Gallen is just as certain to decline the offer and enter the market.
The Diamondbacks also declined a contract option on right-hander Elvin Rodriguez, a reliever whom they claimed off waivers in September but who never appeared with them in a major-league game.
There also was little surprise with the decision made by outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr., who opted to remain on his current contract rather than become a free agent.
It was an especially obvious call for Gurriel after he suffered a torn ACL in his right knee in early September, an injury that likely will cost him at least a couple of months of the 2026 season.
He will earn $13 million in 2026 on a deal that also includes a 2027 club option worth $14 million. The option comes with a $5 million buyout.
J.R. House introduced as third-base coach
The Diamondbacks formally announced J.R. House as their new third-base coach and introduced him on a video call with reporters this week.
In addition to his in-game duties, House also will be the club’s catching coach, taking those responsibilities from bench coach Jeff Banister.
Manager Torey Lovullo said the change will allow Banister to be more of a true “assistant manager” without other additional responsibilities.
“This is going to allow Banny to pull back and be more by my side,” Lovullo said. “He already does that, so if you were to ask him what would change, I know the answer would be, ‘Nothing.’
“But he’s not going to have to worry about a conversation that he’s going to have with a catcher in the bullpen at 2:30 (p.m.) and going over some pluses and minuses from the night before and teaching. He can be more engaged with me in my office.”
For the Diamondbacks in previous years, the third-base coach had also doubled as the infield coach. That won’t be the case next year as Shaun Larkin will work solely as infield coach. Larkin had been the third-base coach until he was removed from the role this past August.
Reach the reporter at nick.piecoro@arizonarepublic.com. Sign up for our free “Diamondbacks Now” newsletter. Visit https://profile.azcentral.com/newsletters/manage/ for details.