Pitchers and catchers report in just over two weeks.
Diamondbacks News
D-backs to Open for TBS Tuesday Night Baseball by Jake Oliver [SI]
TBS airs Tuesday Night Baseball games through the regular season, featuring highlight match-ups between top teams across the league. Their first game features the Arizona Diamondbacks against the New York Yankees in the Bronx.
This game is on Tuesday, April 1. As the press release says, it features the “two most recent World Series Runner-ups.” The D-backs were runner-ups in 2023 while New York lost last October to the Dodgers.
Here’s what Hazen has left on to-do list by Steve Gilbert [Dbacks.com]
“There’s obviously opportunities via free agency, and there’s still some players via trade that I think could be available,” Hazen said. “I still feel fairly confident we’re going to figure out how to do those things, I just don’t know exactly when that’s going to take place. As you get deeper into the offseason, the dynamics sometimes shift on you in terms of trades and things like that. As [Spring Training] gets closer, it seems like trades become a little less likely. We’ll see, that may not be true, there have been deals done deeper in the offseason than in past years, each offseason is different.”
Report: Diamondbacks Showing Interest in Tim Hill by Aaron Hughes [SI]
The left-hander is coming off an incredible second half with the American League Champion New York Yankees. After being released by the White Sox on June 18, Hill went on to pitch to a 2.05 ERA over 44 innings in the Bronx.
Around the League
Rangers Announce Creation of Rangers Sports Network by Anthony Franco [FanGraphs]
By creating their own network, the Rangers can negotiate contracts with different cable and streaming providers to handle in-market broadcasting. They’ve already negotiated one such streaming partnership with Victory+, the platform that also has a streaming deal with the National Hockey League’s Dallas Stars. The Rangers plan to announce additional deals with cable and broadcast television providers in the coming days.
MLB’s most extreme park effect isn’t in Colorado by Mike Petriello [MLB]
Coors Field, according to Statcast’s park factors, boosted offense by 10%. Seattle’s T-Mobile Park, on the other end, suppressed it by 11%. While Seattle doesn’t outdo Denver in most years, it’s often close, and for at least one year, the Pacific Northwest was king.
Giants, Jake Lamb Agree to Minor League Contract by Anthony Franco [MLB Trade Rumors]
The Giants are signing Jake Lamb to a minor league deal, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post. The CAA client gets an invitation to big league camp. He’d earn a $1MM base salary if he makes the MLB roster.
Are the Dodgers two playoff teams in one? We split them in half by Bradford Doolittle [ESPN]
[B]oth squads project as 78-84 teams. . . Both teams would be forecast to finish behind, in order, the Diamondbacks, Padres and Giants in the NL West, but both are also close to the 80-win Giants. All of those teams would certainly be very happy about the Dodgers being broken up.
Question of the Day
Going with the television coverage angle for our question today. The DBacks will get an early national broadcast via TBS but the local home for Snakes’ games will likely again be on the DBacks.tv streaming package from MLB. The Rangers have created their own network to televise games now that their deal with the old Bally Sports group expired. Hopefully the DBacks can find a way to eventually break free from the MLB streaming service, but until then, how will you watch the DBacks? Or have the Dodgers pushed you away from the viewing experience entirely?