Diamondbacks GM: Trades are on the table, but won’t make move unless it makes team better

As the July 31 deadline gets closer and closer, speculation is bound to heat up around the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Such is life for a struggling team loaded with veterans who may be of use to a contender.

A guest of Doug and Wolf on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM Wednesday, D-backs GM Kevin Towers said his team is more “seller” than buyer, and at this point in the process he has “targeted a handful of clubs” the team believes could be viable trade partners.

“Now we’re in the stages where we’ve got several of our scouts out there looking at some of the lower minor league levels with some of the clubs we think we match up with,” he said. “Does that mean we make a trade? I don’t know. Some we might be closer than with others.”

D-backs rumored to be potential trade pieces include Martin Prado, Aaron Hill and Brad Ziegler, with Gerardo Parra also coming up.

That does not mean another player could not be moved, but if the team makes any deal, Towers said, it will because of baseball reasons only.

“The great thing with Derrick (Hall) and with Ken (Kendrick), it’s one of those things that’s going to have to be something we feel comfortable (with) as a baseball department,” he said. “It’s not just moving dollars. Do we like the players we are getting back? All of the focus on 2015, 2016. Any deals that we do, how do we set ourselves up to get better — a lot better than we are right now?”

If that goal cannot be achieved with a deal, Towers said has no problem standing pat.

“If the right deal doesn’t present itself and somebody’s looking to just steal a player that we value, we’re not going to do it.”

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