Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
The market for free agents is nowhere near what it was a year ago. Several teams in need of talented players at critical positions will be disappointed with the crop they have to choose from. For that reason, a majority of organizations will need to work out trades in order to improve for the 2014 MLB season. One of those teams in particular will be the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Diamondbacks have finished the past two seasons with an 81-81 record. At this point, the organization has to figure out how to get above .500. Obviously, a complete overhaul or rebuild is not in the cards. Arizona just needs a few pieces here and there to adjust the 25-man roster. It is easier said than done. Not to mention, the word trade is never really a word a general managers likes to use often.
“We’re going to look at free agents, but I think this is one of the weaker free-agent markets I’ve seen in some time, so that might lead us towards looking at trade partners more,” Diamondbacks general manager Kevin Towers said, according dbacks.com. “I think there’s some clubs we might match up pretty well with, considering they’ve got depth in areas we have needs and we have depth in areas where they have needs.”
The two biggest needs on the team are a power bat and an ace in the rotation, neither of which are going to come in free agency unless Arizona finds a diamond in the rough. Obviously, signing free agent Mike Napoli to play catcher is one way to go but I doubt that the Boston Red Sox are going to let him walk.
As far as a trade goes for an ace, one player the Diamondbacks should at least show interest in is David Price. He would definitely be a game changer for the ball club. The obvious problem might be that Arizona will not have the necessary pieces to make the Tampa Bay Rays agree to a deal, but it is certainly worth a shot.
