Offseason Outlook: Arizona Diamondbacks

The Diamondbacks fell just short of the playoffs, as arguably the league’s best-hitting team was let down by subpar pitching.  Fixing the pitching will be a priority, but Arizona will also have to fill what could be several prominent holes in the lineup.

Guaranteed Contracts

• Corbin Carroll, OF: $102MM through 2030 (includes $5MM buyout of $28MM club option for 2031)
• Eduardo Rodriguez, SP: $66MM through 2027 (includes $6MM buyout of $17MM vesting option for 2028)
• Ketel Marte, 2B: $49MM through 2027 (includes $3MM buyout of $13MM club option for 2028)
• Lourdes Gurriel Jr., OF: $32MM through 2026 (includes $5MM buyout of $14MM club option for 2027; Gurriel can opt out of contract after 2025 season)

Option Decisions

• Jordan Montgomery, SP: $22.5MM player option
• Eugenio Suarez, 3B: $15MM club option ($2MM buyout)
• Joc Pederson, DH: $14MM mutual option ($3MM buyout)
• Merrill Kelly, SP: $7MM club option ($1MM buyout)
• Scott McGough, RP: $4MM mutual option ($750K buyout)
• Randal Grichuk, OF: $6MM mutual option ($600K buyout)

2025 financial commitments: $55MM ($123.5MM if all players with options remain on the team)
Total future commitments: $249MM ($317.5MM if all players with options remain with the team)

Arbitration-Eligible Players (projections from MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz)

• Zac Gallen (5.100): $14.1MM
• A.J. Puk (4.124): $2.6MM
• Ryan Thompson (4.095): $2.9MM
• Kevin Ginkel (4.033): $2.3MM
• Joe Mantiply (4.029): $1.6MM
• Kyle Nelson (3.076): $800K
• Geraldo Perdomo (3.015): $2.1MM
• Pavin Smith (3.015): $1.6MM
• Non-tender candidates: Nelson

Free Agents

• Christian Walker, Paul Sewald, Josh Bell, Kevin Newman

The 2023 Diamondbacks won 84 games to sneak into the last NL wild card spot, then went on a magical postseason run that took them to a World Series appearance.  This breakout performance emboldened the D’Backs to spend to new heights, as the club’s Opening Day payroll of just under $163.4MM was by far the largest in franchise history.  Topping their 2023 payroll by over $47.1MM bought the Snakes five more regular-season wins, but this time it wasn’t enough to even reach October — a 2-5 record in their last seven games left the D’Backs tied with the Braves and Mets on 89 wins, but Arizona fell behind both teams on tiebreakers.

It was a crushing ending for a team that saw several of its investments from last season pay off handsomely, except almost all of the success came on the offensive side.  The re-signed Lourdes Gurriel Jr., newcomer free agents Joc Pederson and Randal Grichuk, and trade acquisition Eugenio Suarez joined with the rest of the mighty lineup to lead all of baseball with 886 runs scored.

Unfortunately, the Diamondbacks also had the fifth-most runs allowed (788) of any team in the league.  Arizona ranked 25th in bullpen ERA (4.41) and 27th in rotation ERA (4.79), as the team’s approach to building both pitching units backfired.