Yahoo’s Jeff Passan: D-backs among best-run organizations in MLB

While it is unclear whether the Arizona Diamondbacks are going to begin some form of rebuild or are looking to gear up for a postseason run, Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan said fans should trust management.

“I believe the Diamondbacks are among the best-run organizations in baseball right now,” he said Friday on 98.7 Arizona’s Sports Station’s Bickley and Marotta. “That’s not an exaggeration either.”

Despite failing to make the playoffs this season, the D-backs have contended for a spot in both years behind general manager Mike Hazen and manager Torey Lovullo.

The two took over following the 2016 season in which Arizona went 69-93.

Since, the D-backs have gone 175-149.

“The front office they have in place is smart, it’s willing to look at many different aspects of the future of this team, and some of those involve trading Paul Goldschmidt,” Passan said.

Goldschmidt only has one year on his contract. Arizona could secure a hefty package for trading him to a serious contender.

Additionally, the team could cut $34.5 million in cap space by trading pitcher Zack Greinke.

They might not trade either, though. Passan said the team is keeping its options open.

“They’re not going to be that team that hems themselves into a corner by saying we’re going to do something,” he said. “That flexibility, that malleability, is the key to solid management of a baseball team, particularly one with the revenues that the Diamondbacks have in 2018 and beyond.”

Arizona has already re-signed third baseman Eduardo Escobar to a three-year deal worth $21 million, according to MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert.

In doing so, it appears a complete tear-down is not in the D-backs’ plans.

If the team retains Goldschmidt and Greinke, it could be a very similar squad to the 2018 team that was in first place on the first day of every month. The outcomes of the free agency of center fielder A.J. Pollock and pitcher Patrick Corbin could signal a direction for the team to go.

Either way, Passan said, management has earned faith from the fan base.

“The scary part of this is, yeah, you want to know where your team is going to be next season,” Passan said. “But I don’t think it’s fair, at the same time, (for fans) to have that expectation that yeah, they’re going to win, or no, they might not try to and they may try to start a rebuild on the fly right now.

They’re going to read the market and I think the way they’ve read the market in the past should buy them that trust from their fan base.”

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