{"id":547226,"date":"2026-01-31T06:15:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-31T06:15:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/547226\/"},"modified":"2026-01-31T06:15:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T06:15:14","slug":"d-backs-continuing-to-pursue-first-base-pitching-help","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/547226\/","title":{"rendered":"D-Backs Continuing To Pursue First Base, Pitching Help"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Diamondbacks have spent the offseason pursuing pitching while looking for a right-handed hitting first baseman to pair with Pavin Smith<\/a>. Those remain targets as Spring Training approaches, team president Derrick Hall reiterated this morning.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s enough opportunity out there that we can still see a move or two that can impact our team,\u201d Hall said at a charity golf event on Friday (links via Steve Gilbert of MLB.com<\/a> and Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic<\/a>). The team president added the front office is \u201cstill trying to find another complementary first baseman, and I think we can still look to improve our pitching, both starting and relievers, but we still have some moves to make. We\u2019re not done.\u201d<\/p>\n

None of that comes as a surprise since it aligns with reporting about the team\u2019s plans over the winter, yet it\u2019s notable that a high-ranking executive went on record to predict another acquisition. It seems they\u2019re looking more at supplementary pickups, at least via free agency. General manager Mike Hazen said last week<\/a> that the team didn\u2019t have the budget space to spend on established high-leverage relievers on the open market. \u201cWe still have some room,\u201d Hall said today of the club\u2019s financial picture. \u201cBut for a big splash, we\u2019re probably going to have to get creative, or look to move money if we\u2019re going to do something really big.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although there aren\u2019t many marquee players available as February nears, Zac Gallen<\/a> remains unsigned. He rejected a qualifying offer in November and is one of two unsigned qualified free agents, along with Framber Valdez<\/a>. There\u2019s been some chatter that the Diamondbacks could circle back with Gallen, but that hasn\u2019t seemed all that likely since the club brought Merrill Kelly<\/a> back on a two-year deal that pays $20MM annually. Even if he settles for a two-year contract with an opt-out, Gallen would probably take them beyond their comfort zone unless owner Ken Kendrick makes an exception for a pitcher with whom he\u2019s familiar.<\/p>\n

Hall loosely alluded to the possibility of shedding money on the trade market, but there aren\u2019t many clear ways to do that without subtracting key players from the roster. They cut off Ketel Marte<\/a> talks and wouldn\u2019t consider trading\u00a0Corbin Carroll<\/a> or\u00a0Geraldo Perdomo<\/a>. They\u2019re one season into a five-year extension for Brandon Pfaadt<\/a>. He\u2019s only making $3MM this year, and the rotation is thin enough that they wouldn\u2019t be inclined to sell low on him either way.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re not shedding the Corbin Burnes<\/a> contract midway through rehab from Tommy John surgery. Teams aren\u2019t going to take on any significant portion of the Eduardo Rodriguez<\/a> or Lourdes Gurriel Jr.<\/a> deals. No one in their arbitration class is making even $4MM. Ryan Thompson<\/a>,\u00a0Kevin Ginkel<\/a> or\u00a0Alek Thomas<\/a> are all coming off down years but play positions of need and wouldn\u2019t move the needle much from a salary perspective.<\/p>\n

Hazen suggested last week that they could turn to the trade market for relief help, though the biggest factor will be the injury recoveries for\u00a0A.J. Puk<\/a> and Justin Martinez<\/a>. It\u2019d be easier to find the short side platoon first baseman for cheap via free agency. A reunion with\u00a0Paul Goldschmidt<\/a> has made sense all winter.\u00a0Rhys Hoskins<\/a>, Wilmer Flores<\/a>,\u00a0Ty France<\/a>,\u00a0Carlos Santana<\/a> and\u00a0Justin Turner<\/a> are also unsigned.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Diamondbacks have spent the offseason pursuing pitching while looking for a right-handed hitting first baseman to pair…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":249162,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3],"tags":[5,4,86],"class_list":{"0":"post-547226","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-mlb","10":"tag-zac-gallen"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/115988249168645612","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/547226","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=547226"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/547226\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/249162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=547226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=547226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=547226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}