D-backs look to stay in trade mix as deadline approaches
Jul 6, 2016, 11:45 AM | Updated: 12:46 pm
As the Aug. 1 MLB trade deadline closes in, the Arizona Diamondbacks remain active in their search for a solution to their season.
Even if the team was in first place, the process would be similar to what it is now, according to D-backs’ chief baseball officer Tony La Russa.
“There’s a lot of intense preparation in terms of we have an outstanding professional scouting situation,” La Russa said on the Doug and Wolf show Wednesday on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM. “These guys are going to be hard at conversing daily with Mike Russell, who is our supervisor of professional scouting, and are really going to make 29 contacts with other teams.”
If and when it comes time to trade someone, reports have named pitchers Daniel Hudson and Brad Ziegler as the most likely candidates to be moved before the deadline.
In 32 innings, Hudson has a 4.50 ERA with 25 strikeouts and one save. Ziegler has pitched 38.1 innings with a 2.82 ERA this season. He has 27 strikeouts and 18 saves.
With contenders looking to add another piece that could help them make a playoff push and expiring contracts for both pitchers, the D-backs could look at getting something in return for Hudson and Ziegler instead of letting them walk for nothing.
The D-backs are 8.5 games out of the NL Wild Card and the season is slipping out of their grasp, but La Russa is looking forward to what the future and any mid-season trades might bring.
“We are very disappointed in our record, but very optimistic that better times are not far away,” La Russa said.
