Photo: Eugenio Suarez reacts to the Dback fans after hitting a homerun as Josh Naylor head to the plate. Both players are now playing for the Seattle Mariners.
The Arizona Diamondbacks spent a busy week making trades before the MLB trade deadline on Thursday.
After sweeping the St. Louis Cardinals at home to reach .500 with a 50-50 record, Arizona quickly began a freefall when they were swept by the Houston Astros, and that has seemed to motivate the front office into making moves to end their hopes of making the playoffs in 2025.
It began with first baseman Josh Naylor, who was not only able to hit for power, but was producing a good batting average as well. That trade turned some heads and made people take notice that oh, oh, this could become a fire sale as the trade deadline was getting close.
The new talent Arizona picked up for Naylor is pitching prospects Brandyn Garcia and Ashton Izzi.
Two days later utility player Randall Grickuk packed up for Kansas City in return for pitching prospect Andrew Hoffmann.
Then third baseman Eugenio Suarez was sent to Seattle with his 36 homeruns in tow and we all knew. In return the Dbacks received three players in first base prospect Tyler Locklear, pitching prospects Juan Burgos and Hunter Cranton. Lockyear is now playing first base. It was just a matter of who else the Dbacks wanted to say goodbye to and what kind of prospects they might get in return.
Then came a surprise as Merrill Kelly was sent to the Texas Rangers. Kelly, who played his college ball at Yavapai College and Arizona State had impressed the Rangers in the World Series just two years ago, so they know exactly what kind of a player they got.
In return Arizona picked up three pitching prospects in Kohl Drake, David Hagaman, and Mitch Bratt.
I spoke to Kelly just a few weeks ago and he thought the team was moving in the right direction and thought they had a good chance to make another run like they did in 2023. “I like our team. We have some new players with us this season, but we are making progress. If we can limit the down time to injuries, I think we have as good as chance as anyone to make it to the post season.”
Well, that was then and this is now. The best part for Kelly is he has moved on to a team that is contending for a playoff spot with the Rangers.
Photo: Torey Lovullo is in his 9th season as manager of the Diamondbacks.
The Seattle Mariners are also in the playoff hunt and getting to very solid corner players in the infield with Naylor and Suarez will certainly bolster their chances.
Finally, the Dbacks made one final move at the very last minute when they sent pitchers Shelby Miller and Jordan Montgomery to the Milwaukee Brewers for a player to be named later and the Brewers will take on a potion of Montgomery’s contract freeing up some money for Arizona.
Pitcher Zac Gallen is now the journeyman on the staff going 43-19 the past three seasons, but has struggled this season.
There is still plenty of batting talent on the roster led by National League All-Stars Corbin Carroll and Ketel Marte, but certainly there is still some shock in the clubhouse since the team has now loss nine of ten since Naylor left.
Just think two years ago the Dbacks were in the World Series and had even a better regular season record last year but missed the playoffs because they lost the tiebreaker with the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets.
What’s left for the Dbacks this season? Keep playing and get a look at their new talent. Work on developing those young players and see who shines, who needs more work, and be ready to build on that for next season.
