Taking a look at the man who orchestrated the 2024 campaign.
Rating: 7.56
Date of birth: January 7, 1976
2024 Stats: 89-73, 5 win improvement over 2023
2024 Salary: Not publicly disclosed
2025 status: 9th season as General Manager of the Diamondbacks. Under contract through 2028, club option for 2029
Entering the 2024 season, Mike Hazen’s Diamondbacks were just coming off the high of a very unlikely playoff run that culminated in a World Series loss to the eventual champion Texas Rangers. To say that the Dbacks fell ass-backwards into the last Wild Card spot is almost too polite, considering they only made the playoffs thanks to the Cubs, Padres, and Reds incompetence down the stretch. One of the things that comes with the territory of being that final Wild Card seed is a lack of home field advantage, along with no byes like the division winners would receive. The fact that the Dbacks managed to beat the Brewers, Dodgers, and Phillies, without any home field advantage makes the whole thing even more impressive. I think most people would call the 2023 season a success, even if it ended in relative disappointment. Now armed with the obvious goal of returning to the World Series, Diamondbacks majority owner Ken Kendrick expanded payroll to the highest level they’ve ever had in franchise history, allowing General Manager Mike Hazen to make a flurry of moves before the Winter Meetings.
One of the first priorities was re-signing free agent left fielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr, whom he was able to bring back on a 3yr/$42MM deal (with an opt-out after 2025 and a club option for 2027). Next Hazen addressed the hole at third base by acquiring 3B Eugenio Suárez from the Mariners for RHP Carlos Vargas and C Seby Zavala. He then turned his attention to starting pitching, attempting to address the holes in the rotation by signing LHP Eduardo Rodriguez to a 4yr/$80M deal, with a mutual/vesting option for 2028. Hazen also added to the starting pitching depth at the AAA level by trading CF Dominic Fletcher to the White Sox for minor league RHP Cristian Mena.
Arguably the two best signings Hazen made over the offseason were the two players he signed to platoon the designated hitter role: Joc Pederson and LF/DH Randal Grichuk, both of whom signed a one year deal. ($12.5M for the former, and $2MM for the latter, both including the buyouts for their 2025 options.)
Hazen also made several minor league signings, most notably C Tucker Barnhart, who made the opening day roster, and IF Kevin Newman, who was called up to fill in for SS Geraldo Perdomo when he hit the injured list in early April, after Jordan Lawlar was already on the IL at the end of spring training. Logan Allen, Humberto Castellanos, and Brandon Hughes were the three other players signed on minor league deals who eventually saw action in the big leagues in 2024.
Finally, there are the couple of deals made at the trade deadline meant to bolster the bullpen. Hazen sent Deyvison De Los Santos and Andrew Pintar to the Marlins for AJ Puk, while separately acquiring Dylan Floro in exchange for INF Andres Chaparro. Hazen also picked 1B/DH Josh Bell off waivers from the Washington Nationals to fill in for Christian Walker, who had recently hit the injury list.
I’m sure you’re wondering about Hazen’s other offseason free agent signing that I haven’t mentioned yet, but that actually occurred three games into the regular season, and that’s signing Jordan Montgomery to a one year, $25M deal with a vesting option for 2025. I would call this the biggest failure of the moves made in ‘24, but I wouldn’t call it Hazen’s biggest failure, and that’s because Ken Kendrick already took the full blame for this one. I do think that the way Eduardo Rodriguez, Merrill Kelly, and Paul Sewald’s health and IL stints were handled can all somewhat be put on Hazen. E-Rod’s health and the many, many things that went wrong for him to make his first start in August seems to be more of a top to bottom organizational failure, than it is Hazen’s personal failings
If we’re grading Hazen’s year, I believe he deserves tons of credit for turning a platoon of Joc Pederson and Randall Grichuk into one of the most productive DH spots in the National League. He should also get some serious credit for the masterclass in trading he pulled off before and during the season, the Eugenio Suarez trade in particular, which essentially cost nothing. Even though Dylan Floro ended up getting released, he was acquired for someone who was claimed off waivers. Even the AJ Puk trade is looking like it may work out better for the Dbacks. Deyvison de Los Santos and Andrew Pintar have collapsed offensively since they entered the Marlins farm system, so it looks like Hazen sold at the right time. Another example would be Dominic Fletcher, who went on to have one of the worst seasons of his career at both the MLB and AAA level for the White Sox.
Overall, I’d give Hazen a solid B grade for 2024