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Another day means another player has been signed by the Arizona Diamondbacks. The latest move by Arizona was signing 29-year-old right-handed starter Brandon McCarthy to a two-year, $15.5 million contract, according to Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com.

The former White Sox and Rangers pitcher found a home and a fresh start to his career in 2011 with the Oakland Athletics. He was the Opening Day starter for the A’s in 2012 and finished with an 8-6 record with a 3.24 ERA.

Of course he also had one of the scariest injuries of the 2012 season. As reported by Bill Shaikin for the Los Angeles Times, McCarthy had his skull fractured after a line drive by Los Angeles Angels infielder Erick Aybar struck him on the head.

Along with the fracture, he had an epidural hemmorhage and a brain contusion, according to the Associated Press (via ESPN.com)

Now he has recovered and will join his former Oakland teammate Trevor Cahill in Arizona. McCarthy will be the the fourth starter behind Cahill, Wade Miley and Ian Kennedy.

McCarthy helps give the Diamondbacks terrific depth in the starting rotation. And perhaps the signing will set up a blockbuster deal.

Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports believes that the signing of McCarthy and the recovery of pitcher Daniel Hudson from Tommy John surgery could put the Diamondbacks in a position where they can trade starting pitching.

Top prospects Trevor Bauer, Tyler Skaggs or Patrick Corbin could be included in a deal with Justin Upton in a potential blockbuster move.

Yet there could be holes in a blockbuster deal; perhaps the signing of McCarthy to the deep pitching staff could be the final push to trigger a big trade.

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The Arizona Diamondbacks signed veteran utility man Mark Teahen on Monday to a minor league contract. The deal contains an invitation to spring training.

Nick Piecoro, Diamondbacks Insider, broke the news on Twitter:

Dbacks have signed veteran 1B/3B/OF Mark Teahen to a minor league contract with a spring training invite.

— Nick Piecoro (@nickpiecoro) November 27, 2012

Teahen did not play a game in the majors in 2012. He spent the entire season with the Washington Nationals‘ Triple-A affiliate, playing in 124 games and producing a line of .260/.328/.360 with three home runs and 63 RBI.

Once considered an important piece of the young core of the Kansas City Royals, Teahen has since been on the downslide of his career.

At 30 years old, there is a chance that he can get back to form. That possibility remains unlikely, though.

With the Diamondbacks, he’ll be given a shot at making the team out of spring training. Willie Bloomquist and John McDonald are the team’s utility infielders, but first baseman Paul Goldschmidt is currently without a backup.

Teahen could be given that shot, but he could also be left in the minors as an injury fill-in.

Teahen’s best major league season came in 2006 with the Royals. In just 109 games, he hit a career-high 18 home runs and drove in a career-high 69. He also produced a line of .290/.357/.517.

There’s no risk involved in Arizona picking him up, but there is a small chance for a decent reward.

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As trade rumors continue to swirl, one of the offseasons biggest trade chips, Diamondbacks‘ outfielder Justin Upton, is looking less and less likely to be moved.

According to Jon Heyman of CBSSports, Diamondbacks owner Ken Kendrick said that there is a “very high likelihood” that Upton will still with the team come Opening Day. Another member of the organization said Upton has a 90 percent chance of sticking around.

This is not the first time that the Diamondbacks have listened to offers on Upton, only to then pull him off the table.  But this time around, the team should have pulled the trigger on a deal.

Taken first overall in the 2005 draft out of high school, Upton made his big league debut just two years later at the age of 19.

By 21, he was an All-Star putting together a .300 BA, 26 HR, 86 RBI, 20 SB season and looking every bit the part of a budding superstar.

After a down season in 2010, he rebounded with a .289 BA, 31 HR, 88 RBI, 21 SB season in 2011 as he helped the Diamondbacks to a surprise postseason trip. 

Upton finished fourth in MVP voting that year.

He again took a step back this past season though, hitting just .280 BA, 17 HR and 67 RBI. It was not a bad season, as he scored a career-high 107 runs and improved his walk rate from the previous season, but it is safe to say that this is not where people expected Upton to be at the age of 25.

Despite his failure to truly breakout, he remains an intriguing trade target to a number of teams for more reasons than one.

The Diamondbacks managed to lock him into a six-year, $50 million deal prior to the 2010 season and he has three years and $38.5 million remaining on that deal.

This makes him a relative bargain, given his production and upside.

And it’s that upside that keeps trade suitors coming back.  At any point, Upton could put it all together and begin a decade long streak of .300 BA, 30 HR, 100 RBI, 30 SB seasons.

It’s that upside that is the biggest reason why the Diamondbacks should have moved Upton this offseason.

Even coming off of a down season, his value may never be higher than it is right now with three years of control and plenty of time for teams to still dream of what he could become.

That’s not to say that that same upside won’t keep teams coming back to pursue him if he’s made available again. Look no further than Upton’s brother, B.J., for evidence of that.

The 28-year-old has put up an average line of .242 BA, 20 HR, 69 RBI, 38 SB the past four seasons.

Now he stands to cash in on the free agent market as much because of his power/speed combination as because of the hope that he will find the form that made him a .300 BA, 24 HR, 82 RBI, 22 SB player back in 2007 at the age of 22.

Yes, there will always be a market for Justin Upton if the Diamondbacks opt to move him down the road, and the Diamondbacks have as much of a reason to buy into the hope that he’ll break out as any team that may look to acquire him.

That said, an outfield of Gerardo Parra, Adam Eaton and Jason Kubel, with top prospect A.J. Pollock in the mix is still strong.

The young pitching staff is impressive, the bullpen is deep and the offense has plenty of other firepower in guys like Aaron Hill, Miguel Montero and Paul Goldschmidt.

The Diamondbacks are a team on the fringe of contention, and while dealing Upton may seem like a step in the wrong direction, it could just as easily be what pushes them over the top in the NL West.

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According to R.J. White of CBSSports.com, the Arizona Diamondbacks are willing to listen to trade offers involving their phenom pitching prospect, Trevor Bauer. This would be a potentially risky move for the Diamondbacks.

Trading young pitching can haunt teams longer than you can say John Smoltz for Doyle Alexander. Just last year, the Diamondbacks dealt Jarrod Parker and Ryan Cook in the deal for Trevor Cahill.

But for an impact player, dealing a prospect could be the right move—or, perhaps, the “Wright” move.

New York Mets star David Wright is going to be a free agent after the 2013 season. According to Marc Carig of Newsday.com, the Mets and Wright have begun contract discussions but have not been talking about numbers yet.

If the two sides cannot reach an agreement, it would behoove the Mets to get more for Wright than they got for departing free agent Jose Reyes last year. They got top prospect Zack Wheeler from the Giants for Carlos Beltran. 

The Mets have a ways to go before they are a pennant contender again, but perhaps a combination of Wheeler, Bauer and Matt Harvey could be a foundation for their future.

Meanwhile, the Diamondbacks could be in a rare position to be able to trade from a strength of young pitching. Cahill, Ian Kennedy and Wade Miley are all solid starters. Patrick Corbin has talent, Daniel Hudson should be back and Tyler Skaggs is another excellent pitcher.

All will be 28 years old or younger next year.

Dealing Bauer would not leave the Diamondbacks without youth in their staff.

Plus, according to Matt Snyder of CBSSports.com, Bauer didn’t exactly endear himself with the team after his call-up by acting like he didn’t need to make adjustments.

Bauer went 12-2 with a 2.42 ERA and 157 strikeouts in 130 innings in the minor leagues in 2012.

The Diamondbacks have offense, but a glaring hole at third base.

Trading for an elite talent like Wright, holding on to Justin Upton and still having MLB-tested pitching in their 20s could give the Diamondbacks a chance to get back to the postseason for the next few years.

That might be worth Trevor Bauer.

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The Arizona Diamondbacks are going into 2013 with no shortage of solid young pitching.

Trevor Cahill, Ian Kennedy and Wade Miley are all reliable and will be 28 years old or younger next year. Daniel Hudson, Josh Collmenter and Patrick Corbin are also young and with ability.

And Tyler Skaggs and Trevor Bauer are two excellent starting prospects.

If the Arizona Fall League is any measuring stick, then Chase Anderson might be adding his name to the list.

According to Don Ketchum of MLB.com, Anderson was named the Arizona Fall League’s Pitcher of the Week during the third week of play.

While playing for the Salt River Rafters, he struck out eight in as many innings, throwing to a 0.75 WHIP and holding hitters to a .167 average.

The former University of Oklahoma pitcher is a native Texan who, according to Ketchum in another MLB.com article, emulated Nolan Ryan and Josh Beckett.

His solid start in the minor leagues was derailed by elbow issues in 2011. But at age 24 he came back with a good showing in Double-A Mobile and now the Arizona Fall League.

He was held to less than five innings a start as he recovered last year but will be healthy going into next season.

According to Ketchum, his Fall League manager Matt Williams sees him as a major leaguer with a mix of pitches including his curve and cutter.

If he makes it through Double-A and Triple-A, the Diamondbacks could have an embarrassment of riches in their pitching department. And no doubt that would suit Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson just fine.

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The Arizona Diamondbacks once acquired Dan Haren from an AL West team based in California, and it worked out well for them. They have a chance to do it again and they should.

Haren was an All-Star with postseason experience when the Diamondbacks traded a package of minor leaguers to the Oakland Athletics for him. They surrendered Brett Anderson and Carlos Gonzalez in the deal.

He did not miss a beat when he arrived in the desert. He continued to make the All-Star team and was a Cy Young contender.

As the Diamondbacks fell out of contention in 2010, he was traded, along with his contract extension, to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Joe Saunders was the main player in the deal. But the Diamondbacks also acquired young pitcher Patrick Corbin and another starting prospect Tyler Skaggs, who has become one of the best arms in Arizona’s system.

The Diamondbacks are going into 2013 with a very young and talented rotation. Trevor Cahill, Ian Kennedy and Wade Miley make up a solid under-30 core. Corbin, Skaggs and Trevor Bauer could develop into terrific starters soon.

But the Diamondbacks could use a veteran pitcher in the rotation to help ease in the young pitchers and give the squad the depth needed to compete with the World Series champion San Francisco Giants.

With Haren available, he could fit the bill perfectly. The Angels are all but certain to buy out Haren’s $15.5 million option to make him a free agent.

While he is no longer a Cy Young contender and 2012 was his first full season in the majors where he failed to pitch 200 innings, he still has tremendous value.

He would be as good of a No. 3 or 4 starter as there would be in the National League. Plus, his place in the rotation would allow the Diamondbacks the luxury of not rushing Bauer or Skaggs.

With the trade for Heath Bell and picking up J.J. Putz, the Diamondbacks are hoping their bullpen will be a deep one. Bringing in Haren would make rotation one of the best in baseball.

With pitching depth the key to championships this decade, a reunion between Haren and Arizona makes more and more sense.

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Well, we have our first real official trade of the offseason.

The Diamondbacks didn’t waste any time opening up their outfield logjam today, trading Chris Young to the Oakland A’s as part of a three-team trade involving the Miami Marlins, as reported by MLB.com.

This might cut down on the rumors of Justin Upton being traded this offseason, or this might cause the trade fires to burn more brightly.

Many things stand out from this trade.

Looking at it from the Arizona perspective, Justin Upton may not be going anywhere after all.

This trade opens CF for prospect Adam Eaton to take over and bat leadoff. Upton can continue in RF, and the D’Backs are then left to decide whether to go with offense (Jason Kubel) or defense (Gerardo Parra) in left field.  

By trading Young and taking back Heath Bell, the Diamondbacks are saving about $3 million in salary according to Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic, which they can redirect to other areas. The Marlins are paying about $8 million of Bell’s remaining contract, making Bell (at $6.5 million per year) a valuable commodity if he can regain his All-Star form.

Arizona will also receive 28-year-old SS Cliff Pennington from Oakland. Pennington will likely factor into the D’Backs shortstop mix for the 2013 season. Pennington had a poor regular season for Oakland but was excellent during the playoffs this past year.

From the Miami perspective, according to mlbtraderumors, it looks to be a salary dump by the Marlins for a player that was touted last winter as a key piece coming into Miami. Bell had a terrible year in 2012, pitching to a 5.09 ERA, and he had only 19 saves. But in his prior three seasons in San Diego, he recorded over 40 saves each year. With how volatile the reliever and closer market is, he could easily regain his form in 2013 and have real value.

The other aspect from the Marlins side is the indication that Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen may return for the 2013 season. Bell and Guillen clashed last season, and Bell was one of Guillen’s most vocal critics, so by removing Bell it may signal that the Marlins are going to give Guillen one more season to turn things around. Miami did receive a prospect in the deal, but it looks to be mostly clearing salary and cleaning out the clubhouse.

The Oakland A’s side is very interesting. By trading for Chris Young, the A’s will have four quality outfielders under contract for 2013. Arizona only kicked $500K into the deal, meaning that Young will cost Oakland $8 million next season.

Do the A’s sell high on Josh Reddick, who struggled down the stretch in 2012? Does Oakland plan on rotating all of the outfielders through the DH position? Is Coco Crisp trade bait all of a sudden?

A’s manager Bob Melvin used to be Young’s manager in Arizona, during which time Young had two of his best seasons. Maybe Young can be a productive player again for Melvin in Oakland.

The MLB hot stove has started already. Great news for everyone looking ahead to next season.

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Last night, October 1, the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies played at Chase Field. It was not a game where a lot was on the line in terms of the playoffs. The game went 13 innings with the Rockies winning 7-5.

But the game did feature some of the best and most loyal fans in all of baseball.

First of all, attending a Diamondbacks and Rockies game at this point in the year shows a level of devotion from these Arizona fans. The Diamondbacks are trying to get a winning record but they have been eliminated for a long time.

And unless there is bad blood in Arizona over the 2007 NLCS, it is a stretch to call this a rivalry game.

Diamondbacks fans were treated to a solid start by Wade Miley and a ninth inning game-tying home run by Paul Goldschmidt.

Then the game kept going. It was a Monday night, the proverbial school night. Two teams going nowhere and playing out the string faced off.

According to Baseball Reference, 24,123 were in attendance. Probably only one-tenth of that number remained to the end of the game.

Those are the most loyal fans in baseball. To stay all 13 innings with nothing on the line except the chance to see a walk-off win and be denied is almost cruel.

The Diamondbacks should have rewarded the fans who were there until the very end. Free tickets for a 2013 game or a chance to have Juston Upton show up at a birthday party.

The Diamondbacks are a franchise that have had trouble finding a fanbase.

In 15 seasons, the Diamondbacks have had eight winning seasons, won five division titles, played in two NLCS and won the 2001 World Series.

And yet they have not cracked the top 10 in attendance for the National League since 2004. When you consider they play indoors and it is air conditioned during the summer in Phoenix, that is a staggering statistic.

They need to reward the fans they have and build up some good will. If a fan stayed 13 innings to see their team lose a meaningless game on a Monday, that fan earned a free ticket.

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Arizona Diamondbacks‘ center fielder Chris Young returned to the lineup on Tuesday, but he did not last long. He re-injured his quad on the first play of Arizona’s crucial game with the San Diego Padres. 

The USA Today’s Bob Nightengale passed along the news Twitter style. 

Chris Young makes nice running catch on 1st play of game, but re-injures quad, and out of game #Dbacks

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) September 19, 2012

Adam Eaton took over for Young in center field and Gerardo Parra entered the game for Young and took Eaton’s spot in left. 

Young had been out of the lineup since injuring his quad on September 15, and apparently he was not yet ready to return. 

Hamstrings and quads are tricky injuries. They are two injuries that cannot be rushed back. If they are, you get what happened to Young. 

Now, this doesn’t mean the Diamondbacks’ medical staff was negligent. Young very well could have been moving around pain free and showed no signs that a re-injury imminent. 

This injury will likely force Young back to square one with his recovery, which is bad news for the Diamondbacks who are 72-74 and are 4.5 games out of the final wild card spot. 

Young is hitting .227 with 14 home runs and 39 RBI in 94 games this season. If he finishes this season with an average less than .236, it will be the second-straight season he has seen his average drop. 

Struggling average or not, Arizona did not want to see this. 

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The Arizona Diamondbacks are on the brink of trading starting pitcher Joe Saunders.

FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal broke the news via Twitter:

Source: #Diamondbacks on verge of trading Saunders. Destination unknown at this time.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) August 26, 2012

The team bringing Saunders in is not yet known, but Rosenthal had reported earlier this week that the Baltimore Orioles were a team interested in the left-hander’s services after he was placed on waivers, so don’t be surprised if that’s Saunders’ new destination.

Saunders hasn’t lived up to expectations in 2012, especially pitching in a weak offensive division like the National League West. In his last start for Arizona, Saunders got rocked for nine runs on 12 hits in only 3.2 innings.

The 31-year-old is 6-10 for Arizona, sporting a 4.22 ERA in his second full season with the team. He was brought over in a trade from the Los Angeles Angels during the 2010 season.

While with the Angels, Saunders had his best season in 2008 when he went 17-7 with a 3.41 ERA in 31 starts. Since then, Saunders has only had one other season with an ERA under four and that was last year when he posted a 12-13 record with an ERA of 3.69 for the division-winning Diamondbacks.

It won’t get any easier for Saunders, however.

No matter which division he goes to, none will be a more pitcher-friendly one than the division in which he currently resides. Whichever team is pulling the trigger for Saunders is taking a pretty big chance.

Saunders will be a free agent at season’s end.

At the moment, Arizona is 64-63 which leaves them seven games out of the NL West lead and 5.5 games out of the wild card. There is still hope for the Diamondbacks season to be a success, but it looks like Saunders will no longer be helping that cause.

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