AZ Snake Pit 1 hour ago
Farewell, Jeff Mathis
A look back on Jeff Mathis’s most memorable moments during his time with the D-Backs Thursday afternoon, Jeff Mathis signed a two-year deal with the Texas Rangers, ending his two-year stint with the Diamondbacks. I am sad to see him go; I suppose I have a soft spot for light-hitting, defense-first catchers (hello, Tuffy Gosewisch!). Since his departure will not get nearly the attention of A.J. Pollock’s or Patrick Corbin’s, let’s take a look back on Jeff’s top moments as a Diamondback. First Impressions Are Key Mathis’s best game as a D-Back was perhaps his first. On Opening Day...
AZ Snake Pit 20 hours ago
2018 Arizona Diamondbacks Reviews: #30, John Ryan Murphy
He was the best hitting head of our catching Cerberus. Not that this is saying very much... 2018 rating: 3.89 2017 rating: 3.11 2018 salary: league minimum 2018 performance: 87 games, 1 PA, .202/.244/.375 = .619 OPS 2019 status: 1st-year arbitration The 2018 Diamondbacks had a roller-coaster season. But of all the players, few had a more roller-coaster season than John Ryan Murphy. On June 1, he had a .950 OPS, having hit eight home-run in just 83 plate-appearances. With Alex Avila’s OPS on the same date being less than half that (.453), the fanbase were increasingly vociferous for...
Kent Somers / rssfeeds.azcentral.com 23 hours ago 
Diamondbacks making right move by exploring trading Paul Goldschmidt, Zack Greinke
Columnist Kent Somers: Trading Paul Goldschmidt would be painful for the Diamondbacks but its a necessary move.
AZ Snake Pit Nov 17, 2018
The 2018 Arizona Diamondbacks: Name recognition
Who were the most and least well-known Diamondbacks this year? A couple of weeks ago, we posted a Sporcle which invited you to test your powers of recall and name as many of the 49 players to have pulled on the Sedona Red in the season just gone. 135 of you stepped up to the plate: only three of you managed to recall every single man (and I’m not convinced that result could be reproduced under laboratory conditions, shall we say1). At the other end of the spectrum, eight of you named seven or fewer. I would like to think that the doorbell rang, or a fight broke out between your pets,...
AZ Snake Pit Nov 17, 2018
Arizona Fall League Championship Gameday Thread
Our Salt River Rafters will facing the Peoria Javelinas at Scottsdale Stadium, and it’s on the MLB Network. Here are the provisional line-ups for the AFL Championship Game, which starts a few minutes after 1pm (Arizona time). There will be two Diamondbacks’ prospects in the Rafters’ starting line-up; we were hoping Jon Duplantier might be the starting pitcher, but that sadly will not be happening. Still, we will get to see shortstop Jazz Chisholm and catcher Daulton Varsho (top) in action, and you never know who might come out of the bullpen... Salt River just edged out the Mesa Solar...
AZ Snake Pit Nov 16, 2018
2018 Arizona Diamondbacks Reviews: #31, Patrick Kivlehan
A late season acquisition, Patrick Kivlehan showed he could hit a little bit, so is he worth bringing back in 2019? 2018 RATING: 3.78 2017 RATING: - DIFFERENCE: - 2018 SALARY: $535,000 2018 PERFORMANCE: 14 PA, 3 R, 3 H, 0 2B, 2 3B, 0 HR, 0RBI, 11SB, .231/.286/.538= .824 OPS 2019 STATUS: 1st Yr Arbitration Eligible / Signed minor league deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates Drafted in the 4th round out of Rutgers, Patrick Kivlehan was more regarded in his ability on the football field than the diamond, but that didn’t stop the Mariners from drafting him anyway. While raw, he still...
AZ Snake Pit Nov 16, 2018
Diamondbacks Top Prospect #23: OF Eduardo Diaz
Name: Eduardo Diaz DOB: 7/19/1997 (Age 21) Height: 6’2” Weight: 175 Acquired: 2015 International Free Agent Signing Position: Center Fielder Most Notable Tool: Speed Season Stats: 33 games, 128 PA, .225/.262/.350, 5 2B, 2 2B, 2 HR, 11 RBI, 12 R, 3/40 BB/K, 3/3 SB 2018 Season Summary: Diaz had a solid 2017 season in which he lit up the Pioneer League enough to get the organization confident enough he could handle the jump to full season ball. That did not pan out as Diaz struggled for most of the year. He did pick up a solid string of games in late May through early June, including...
AZ Snake Pit Nov 15, 2018
Arizona Diamondbacks Reviews: #32 Steven Souza Jr
A frustrating injury marred season leaves team and fans wanting 2018 rating: 3.72 2017 rating: N/A 2018 salary: $3,550,000 2018 performance: 272 PA, .220/.309/.369, 77 OPS+, 84 wRC+, -0.3 bWAR, -0.4 fWAR 2019 status: Arbitration Eligible, Est. 4.5M Shortly after it became apparent that JD Martinez was not going to accept the Diamondbacks offer to stay with the club, they moved on to secure their right fielder of for the next several years. On February 20, 2018, Steven Souza Jr. was acquired as part of a three-way trade with the Rays and the Yankees. In addition to Souza the Diamondbacks...
AZ Snake Pit Nov 15, 2018
Paul Goldschmidt sixth in NL Most Valuable Player voting
It’s his fourth consecutive year of mentions, and fifth overall. Despite having a first month that had many wondering if we had broken Paul Goldschmidt, our first-baseman recovered amazingly well the rest of the season. He was rewarded with a sixth-place finish in the National League voting for Most Valuable Player. Goldy was named on 25 of the 30 ballots - Jon Heyman, you are dead to me - at positions ranging from third (Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) down to tenth. The two Arizona “representatives” [ a term which means increasingly little in this day and age], of Nick...
AZ Snake Pit Nov 15, 2018
Diamondbacks Top Propsect #24: RHP Jose Almonte
Name: Jose Almonte DOB: 9/8/1995 (Age 23) Height: 6’2” Weight: 185 Acquired: Brad Ziegler Trade, July 2016 Position: Starter Most Notable Tool: Mid 90s Fastball Season Stats: DNP, Oblique Injury 2018 Season Summary: Almonte had a successful 2017 season, but was unable to build upon it in 2018 when he missed the entire season with an oblique injury. Considering how important that muscle group is for a pitcher, as for example Robbie Ray missed 8 weeks with a Grade 2 strain, it must have been a Grade 3 strain (muscle tear essentially) to keep him out for the entire minor league season. At...
AZ Snake Pit Nov 15, 2018
Snake Bytes 11/15: More Awards, More Stove.
and now the news. D-backs News: Diamondbacks sign Abraham Almonte to Minor League deal. Almonte, 29, tallied 151 plate appearances with the Royals this past season but mustered just a .179/.260/.284 slash in that time. Almonte enjoyed a solid 2015 run with the Indians but has turned in a trio of underwhelming performances since that half season, hitting a combined .230/.292/.357 in 540 plate appearances between Cleveland and Kansas City. In all, the switch-hitter has a career .662 OPS but has drawn positive defensive marks at all three outfield spots — including +9 Defensive Runs Saved...
AZ Snake Pit Nov 14, 2018
2018 Arizona Diamondbacks Reviews: #33, Chris Owings
Fading away....... 2018 RATING: 3.7 2017 RATING: 6.01 DIFFERENCE: -2.31 2018 SALARY: $3.4million 2018 PERFORMANCE: 309 PA, 34 R, 58 H, 15 2B, 0 3B, 4 HR, 22RBI, 11SB, .206/.272/.302= .574 OPS 2019 STATUS: 3rd Yr Arbitration Eligible Oh Owings, how so many of us hoped your 2014 season would herald a new age of middle infield glory. Alas, it was not to be and after 4years as a starter one has to wonder just where do we go from here? 2018 started out with Owings seemingly set to duke it out with Ahmed and Marte for some combination of short and second starter time. Yet Marte’s...
AZ Snake Pit Nov 14, 2018
Patrick Corbin 5th in National League Cy Young race
A more than credible showing, behind winner Jacob deGrom The Diamondbacks’ Patrick Corbin may not have appeared in the top three of anyone’s ballot this season, but was still mentioned on the majority of submissions. He tallied seven fourth-place votes and nine fifth-place votes, giving him a total of 23 points, good enough for fifth place overall in the 2018 National League Cy Young voting. Ahead of Corbin were Jacob deGrom of the Mets (207 points), Max Scherzer of the Nationals (123), Kyle Nola of the Phillies (86) and Kyle Freeland of the Rockies (49). deGrom was one vote from being...
AZ Snake Pit Nov 14, 2018
To tender or not, that is the D-backs question?
The next scheduled step in roster manipulation will be at the end of the month. With A.J. Pollock and Patrick Corbin having rejected the Diamondbacks’ qualifying offers, the team knows they are no longer committed to paying either man $17.9 million next year [They could still, technically, re-sign with the Diamondbacks as free agents, but that chance seems like “jack” for Pollock and... well, let’s just say, “less than jack” for Corbin] With that out of the way, the next stage is deciding whether or not to tender contracts to the players who are not under automatic team control...
AZ Snake Pit Nov 14, 2018
Snake Bytes 11/14: Simmering Stove
A whole lot of nothing happening before the upcoming winter meetings. Paul Goldschmidt Could Garner Four Prospects Examining the best trade pieces for each team, ESPN’s Keith Law feels the Diamondbacks could get as much as four prospects for the slugging first baseman. Of course, he doesn’t actually list what kind of prospects they could possibly be getting back, so take it all with a grain of salt. Three Fits for Zack Greinke Despite the star power of the current free agent class, it is remarkably low on starting pitching depth. After Patrick Corbin (and possibly Dallas Keuchel) Zack...
