{"id":386250,"date":"2025-11-17T23:12:12","date_gmt":"2025-11-17T23:12:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/386250\/"},"modified":"2025-11-17T23:12:12","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T23:12:12","slug":"d-backs-gm-downplays-payroll-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/386250\/","title":{"rendered":"D-backs’ GM Downplays Payroll Concerns"},"content":{"rendered":"

Diamondbacks owner Ken Kendrick has already publicly indicated<\/a> that his team\u2019s payroll will decline from the franchise-record $200MM set in 2025, but that doesn\u2019t necessarily mean the front office is handcuffed in terms of its ability to pursue additions this winter. General manager Mike Hazen recently pushed back on the idea that he might have to subtract some salary via trade, telling Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t really feel that way, honestly. That\u2019s not the impression I have. Are we going to be doing what we did last offseason<\/a>? Probably not. But I don\u2019t think I have zero wiggle room or avenues to pursue players.\u201d<\/p>\n

RosterResource currently projects<\/a> the Snakes for about $143MM in 2026 payroll, and that\u2019s before potential non-tenders among the arbitration class. Injured lefty A.J. Puk<\/a><\/strong>, who underwent UCL surgery this summer, is projected for a $3.3MM salary (via MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz<\/a>) but might not even pitch next season in his final year before free agency. Righty Kevin Ginkel<\/a><\/strong> ($3MM projection) posted a 7.36 ERA in 25 2\/3 MLB innings. Outfielders Alek Thomas<\/a><\/strong> ($2.2MM projection) and Jake McCarthy<\/a><\/strong> ($1.9MM projection) both had well below-average seasons at the plate; McCarthy, in particular, was one of the 20 worst hitters in MLB, sitting with the 18th-worst wRC+ mark among the 348 hitters who tallied at least 200 turns at the plate.<\/p>\n

Assuming some of that group departs, the Diamondbacks will find themselves with a $135-140MM projection for next year\u2019s Opening Day payroll. Even if ownership plans to scale back payroll by as much as $25MM \u2014 and that\u2019s just an arbitrary number for illustrative purposes \u2014 Hazen could reasonably have as much as $40MM to spend on next year\u2019s payroll alone.<\/p>\n

All of this pushes back somewhat against the notion of a potential trade of star second baseman Ketel Marte<\/a><\/strong>. Hazen has already called trading Marte or any of his star hitters \u201cunlikely,\u201d<\/a> although because he\u2019s acknowledged that he\u2019ll hear offers as a matter of due diligence, some optimists have clung to the idea that Marte might be available.\u00a0 Trading him would bring a haul of talent, but it\u2019d also just create another hole which needs to be filled.<\/p>\n

Arizona\u2019s shopping list this winter is lengthy, to say the least. Hazen & Co. will need to add at least two starters to a rotation that currently consists of Ryne Nelson<\/a><\/strong> and a pair of pitchers who struggled badly in 2025: righty Brandon Pfaadt<\/a><\/strong> and lefty Eduardo Rodriguez<\/a><\/strong>. Corbin Burnes<\/a><\/strong> underwent Tommy John surgery in June and will miss most or all of next year. Zac Gallen<\/a><\/strong> is a free agent. Most of the organization\u2019s top pitching products heading into 2025 pitched poorly and\/or suffered an injury this past season. The bullpen needs a nearly complete overhaul.<\/p>\n

In a separate piece, Piecoro suggests<\/a> that reunions with Gallen and fellow righty Merrill Kelly<\/a><\/strong> (whom the D-backs traded to the Rangers back in July) seem unlikely if the two indeed command the type of $17MM+ annual values many (MLBTR included<\/a>) have predicted for both pitchers. There\u2019s no firm indication that either is squarely off the table, to be clear, but the D-backs need to add at least two starters and relievers apiece, and that\u2019s to say nothing of the infield corners or the bench. Young sluggers Tyler Locklear<\/a><\/strong> and Jordan Lawlar<\/a><\/strong> could get looks at first base and third base, respectively, but neither has proven himself in the majors. Lawlar has also been getting a look in center field<\/a>, which stands as another potential area of need after Thomas struggled so much with the bat in 2025 (and really, in his overall parts of four MLB seasons to date).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Diamondbacks owner Ken Kendrick has already publicly indicated that his team\u2019s payroll will decline from the franchise-record $200MM…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":386251,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[60048,1266,62,67,132,68,20409],"class_list":{"0":"post-386250","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-merrill-kelly","9":"tag-mlb","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-united-states","12":"tag-unitedstates","13":"tag-us","14":"tag-zac-gallen"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115567574615954435","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386250","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=386250"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386250\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/386251"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=386250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=386250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=386250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}