Camaraderie influenced Saunders’ decision to return

Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Joe Saunders had an eventful
offseason, to say the least.

He thought he had no future with the team when GM Kevin
Towers had other interests for a pitcher to take Saunders’
place. But in January, the organization wanted him back.

It was a relief for the left-handed pitcher because he
didn’t want to part ways with his teammates so soon.

“The camaraderie that we built last year on the starting
staff was tremendous,” Saunders told Arizona Sports 620’s
Doug and Wolf. “We’d always pull for each other, and we’d
have competitions on the offensive side.”

Saunders was so intent on staying that he accepted a one-
year, $6 million deal, and what really influenced his
decision to keep Arizona his home was that the pitching
rotation meshed well last season.

“It’s nice to have similar likes and dislikes, and we all
love to golf. So if we had the chance to golf on the road,
we’d go out and golf great courses,” Saunders said. “And I
think that’s what makes good teammates, good teammates and
also makes good teams, good teams. We do a lot of stuff as
team, and I think that builds good team chemistry, too.”

Saunders was 12-13 with a 3.69 ERA in his first full
season with the D-backs, and pitched in a career-high 212
innings. He had opportunities with other teams, but just
wanted to stay in the Valley.

“There were other offers on the table and a lot of other
interests, but I weighed all the options and wanted to
obviously come back here, sleep in my own bed, live here
and spend as much time with my family as I can for at
least another year,” Saunders said.

And while Saunders could feel resentment for initially
being overlooked by the front office, he views the
experience in the offseason as “no big deal.”

“It was definitely a rollercoaster kind of offseason, but
all heads came together and thought about what moves that
the ownership and what [Towers] made and wanted to try and
come back to a great organization and to a club that’s
built to win,” Saunders said.

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