*Photo from Arizona Sports*
In part two of the offseason report series, the Arizona Diamondbacks offseason gets looked at.
2019 recap: After trading away assets for the majority of the last year, the D-Backs seemingly came out of nowhere in 2019 and had an incredible season, surging to the point where they almost made the playoffs. It was because of this that team management decided to spend this winter.
What you need to know
The start of the winter was quiet for Arizona, as the only notable signing for them was veteran C Stephen Vogt. In December, they started to emerge with some names. After a buy low add of Junior Guerra, the D-Backs went out and snagged a workhorse for the starting rotation in Madison Bumgarner on a hefty $85 million salary. Almost two weeks later, they picked up a sneakily good outfielder in Kole Calhoun, who is skilled with both the glove and the bat. After a wave of minor league deals, they picked up some more bullpen help by bringing Hector Rondon to town. At the end of January, they struck for a blockbuster, trading for Pittsburgh Pirates OF Starling Marte to solidify the outfield. That was it for Arizona.
Moves I like
Once again, nothing to complain about here. If Guerra doesn't pan out, they can simply cut him if they have to. Bumgarner is the new ace to pair with Robby Ray at the top of the rotation, and Rondon is a solid, underrated reliever. Calhoun is a good starting right fielder with plenty of upside, and Marte is the bat they need to pair with MVP candidate Ketel Marte. In fact, bringing in Starling will allow Ketel to play second base full time, his natural position. Arizona had a good offseason, and they will be an interesting team to watch in 2020.
2020 outlook
The D-Backs are back in the playoff race. The good mix of newcomers and returnees from last season figure to have the D-Backs in the thick of the playoff race all year, and I expect them to be in the wild card game in early October. They probably won't catch the absolutely loaded Los Angeles Dodgers for the NL west division title, but they are a very well rounded team ready to make noise this season.
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