Closer debates, #Goals, and more!
Diamondbacks News
(Arizona Sports) Making the case for Diamondbacks closer candidates as season nears
Conversations between Lovullo, general manager Mike Hazen and assistant GMs Amiel Sawdaye and Mike Fitzgerald are getting more serious. Soon, the group will bring pitching coaches into the discussion.
“We’ll have conversations about what we’re seeing and feeling and how the team fits together here very, very soon, but we haven’t got that far,” Lovullo said Tuesday.
(SI.com) D-backs Reliever Focused on Winning the World Series Above All Else
That choice has always seemed to come down to Puk or Martinez, with Kevin Ginkel perhaps as a dark horse. With two weeks left before opening day, we are no closer to knowing who is going to capture the role.
Puk refused to let himself get caught up in worrying about it however. “I know everything will get sorted out as the season starts. You’ve just got to show up and be ready to pitch,” he said.
(AZCentral) They traded Max Scherzer? Arizona Diamondbacks deals going much better under Mike Hazen
Miller arrived for his first stint with the team in a lopsided trade in December 2015, one of many deals the club made around that time that was panned throughout the baseball industry.
But Miller’s return also serves as a reminder: Those days, by and large, are long gone.
It is not that the Diamondbacks, under general manager Mike Hazen, do not make mistakes. It is that there have been far fewer instances of the club trading away young players only to watch them flourish elsewhere — and fewer instances in which deals are viewed skeptically around baseball.
(Venom Strikes) Diamondbacks have heated battle for final starting rotation job
MLB News
(Yahoo! Sports) Bobby Witt Jr. avoids serious injury after taking 96 mph fastball to forearm
Star shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. avoided a broken bone after taking a 96 mph fastball to the forearm in a spring training game against the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan. His timetable reportedly remains unclear, but he is expected to avoid a long absence.
The Royals announced the injury as a left forearm contusion and said Witt would be reevaluated in the morning, which Witt quote tweeted with an emoji indication that he’s OK.
Approval for the $1.3 billion ballpark was granted last July. The new stadium was going to be built essentially on the other side of the Tropicana Field parking lot and was scheduled to open in 2028. The design included a surrounding ballpark village with commercial and residential space, and an entertainment venue. The Rays are walking away from all of it.
Following Hurricane Milton, the Rays claimed they could not afford construction delays, which led to political infighting. The team faced a March 31 deadline to show they could come up with their $700 million obligation for the new ballpark. Now, for all intents and purposes, it is back to the drawing board. There is no new stadium in the works.