The Arizona Diamondbacks have the building blocks to remain a competitive team in 2025, and general manager Mike Hazen said the front office has the resources to continue pushing forward.
Hazen said he expects the payroll to be similar to that of 2024, when Arizona broke its franchise record at $173 million. The D-backs won five more games than in 2023 and produced more runs than any other team in baseball this past season, but a late stumble and season-wide pitching woes put Hazen in a position he aims to “make sure we are not sitting in” again outside the postseason picture.
“I would expect we’re somewhere in the same area, plus or minus,” Hazen told Arizona Sports’ Wolf & Luke on Tuesday of the payroll. “I don’t know exactly where that’ll all end up. We work through a lot of these decisions with Ken (Kendrick) and Derrick (Hall) as players become available or situations get presented to us via trade or via free agency. That number fluctuates for us a little bit as we move through the offseason, but we’re going to have plenty resources to have a winning team next year.”
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The payroll is at $106 million before arbitration and pre-arbitration, which Spotrac projects will raise the total to $144 million. The D-backs increased attendance to its highest marks since 2008, and Kendrick said that the club should “financially compete” again.
Arizona has a surplus of starters with Jordan Montgomery opting into a $22.5 million player option and Merrill Kelly’s club option getting exercised. The D-backs will look into shedding Montgomery’s salary with a trade, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, although Hazen said there is a chance Montgomery will pitch for Arizona next year.
That leaves the bullpen and lineup as areas in need to addressing, especially the batting order with Christian Walker, Joc Pederson and Randal Grichuk free agents.
But Hazen is bullish on the core he has to build around. Corbin Carroll and Ketel Marte are expected to be superstars in 2025. Hazen expects Lourdes Gurriel Jr. to have a better season. Gabriel Moreno, Jake McCarthy and Geraldo Perdomo are young building blocks, and Eugenio Suarez is back after a stellar second half. But there is a lot of power in the middle of the order no longer secured.
“We had a really good offensive club last year,” Hazen said. “We know the pieces that really made that go and we had a great clubhouse culture and a hard working environment that I think that offensive group that really thrives in. We’re looking to have something like that again next year.
“The starting base point of our offensive group is still pretty strong,” Hazen added. “We need to make additions to it, for sure. We obviously have some potential holes that were created, but we’ll see if how we close those. … I need to do my job well and make sure that team has the best opportunity to win next year, because next year’s team should be a good team. I want to make sure that we are not sitting in the position that I’m sitting in right now, which is still thinking about what happened a month and a half ago.”
As for the direction of the team, Hazen relented in saying the team has moved forward despite the frustration that lingers from missing October baseball.
At the same time, windows can be tricky to depend on whether health plays a factor or certain players hit the market. Next season is an inflection point in the sense that Gallen and Kelly will enter free agency after the campaign.
“You only get so many opportunities in this game, right?” Hazen said. “That’s where some of the regrets still hit you that you can’t count on what your health is going to be over 162 games over the long haul. But by and large, I think there’s a youth still on this team that are really good players, and I think that’s going to show up over 162 next year.”
Hazen reiterated wanting to add to the back of the bullpen with Paul Sewald hitting free agency and the closer role being up for grabs.
How does Jordan Lawlar fit into D-backs’ 2025 plans?
The D-backs’ top prospect, shortstop Jordan Lawlar, debuted in 2023 but missed most of the 2024 season with multiple injuries. He is now healthy and making up reps in the Dominican Winter League.
The question with Lawlar is similar to last offseason, which is how he fits into the plans without a clear path to everyday reps. Suarez, Perdomo and Marte are slotted into their infield spots next season.
Hazen said he expects Lawlar to be on the MLB team at some point next year, but that may not be Opening Day depending on how the D-backs continue to build this winter.
“I’m really happy he went down to the D.R. and is playing a winter ball and is starting to pick up some of those reps, because I definitely think that will start to close the gap,” Hazen said.
“From an offensive standpoint, consistency standpoint, there’s obviously still room to grow here. He’s still so young. We want to make sure that he’s ready to go when we have him up here. I still don’t think we’re at that stage of his career where putting him on the bench at the major league level does anybody any good. So wherever that opportunity may come, it’s going to come at some point next year.”