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With 2015 set to begin, the Arizona Diamondbacks have issues to address that ailed them throughout this past season. 

The D-Backs 2014 season ended 64-98—the worst record in the MLB.

However, several injuries could be to blame for such a poor year—Paul Goldschmidt, Patrick Corbin, A.J. Pollock and Mark Trumbo, to name a few.

While these players should return in 2015, it is the offseason moves that should have fans excited. The most notable acquisition was Cuban power hitter Yasmany Tomas. Yet the D-Backs are still far from competing in the tough NL West Division.

Here are five New Year’s resolutions for Arizona in 2015.

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Change is certainly on the wish list of Arizona Diamondbacks fans as the holiday season approaches. 

And with spring training and the regular season also approaching, change must happen now. The 2014 season was one to forget. The D-Backs finished 64-98—worst in MLB.

Injuries to Patrick Corbin, Mark Trumbo, A.J. Pollock and Paul Goldschmidt all contributed to the struggle. It also likely led to the firing of Kirk Gibson and the hiring of new manager Chip Hale.

Corbin is projected to return to the rotation midway through the 2015 season. Goldschmidt should be fully healthy coming off a fractured left hand.

However, Arizona’s intriguing offseason moves to this point have already made headlines.

The most notable acquisition was Cuban outfielder Yasmany Tomas. He should provide much-needed power and protection for Goldschmidt in the lineup.

The D-Backs also acquired pitching depth in Jeremy Hellickson (from Tampa Bay) for prospects, and Rubby De La Rosa and Allen Webster (from Boston) for Wade Miley. 

Yet, there are still holes the organization needs to fill for a successful 2015 campaign. Here are some changes the D-Backs should make before spring training. 

Go After James Shields

D-Backs.com lists Josh Collmenter at the top of the rotation on the depth chart. Collmenter precedes De La Rosa, Hellickson and Webster.

With Corbin coming off Tommy John surgery, there are no guarantees regarding his return or performance. Arizona’s front office knows a top-of-the-rotation arm is needed to compete in the NL West.

Money is no longer the issue it once was now that the D-Backs sent Miguel Montero to the Cubs. Montero was scheduled to make $40 million over the next three years.

With some payroll flexibility, adding Shields would greatly bolster the rotation. Shields went 14-8 with a 3.21 ERA last season with the Royals, helping them reach the World Series. His durability also makes him an attractive commodity. Shields has started 30-plus games in each of the past eight seasons. 

Expect Arizona to take a look at Shields knowing that pitching has been a recent problem. Here is how the starting rotation would look midway through the 2015 season with Shields and a healthy Corbin. 

1. Patrick Corbin

2. James Shields

3. Josh Collmenter

4. Rubby De La Rosa

5. Jeremy Hellickson

Replace Miguel Montero

Losing Montero leaves Arizona with Tuffy Gosewisch as the starting catcher on the depth chart. That will certainly not suffice, especially on the offensive end. 

There are several potential trade targets for general manager Dave Stewart to consider. One is Detroit Tigers catcher Alex Avila. He is not known for his offense, but he can be a solid defensive replacement for Montero. Avila led AL catchers in runners caught stealing with 36. 

Another option Stewart has reportedly considered is Toronto Blue Jays catcher Dioner Navarro. The latter is the more attractive offensive option. Navarro hit .300 with 13 home runs in only 89 games with the Cubs in 2013. Last season, he hit .274 with 12 home runs in Toronto.

Both stat lines were more impressive than Montero‘s past two seasons (.230, 11 HR in 2013 and .243, 13 HR in 2014).

Expect Stewart to explore both options as potential replacements at the catcher position in 2015.

Consider Trading Aaron Hill

Aaron Hill’s power-hitting days are behind him. With only 21 home runs in the last two seasons and several bites from the injury bug, it is time for Arizona to part ways with the veteran second baseman.

Hill is due $24 million over the next two years—even more reason to cut ties. If the D-Backs can trade Hill, it would open up even more money to pursue quality starting pitching.

Arizona has plenty of young infield talent to replace Hill—Chris Owings, Jake Lamb and Nick Ahmed, to name a few. Veteran Cliff Pennington can also play second base if needed.  

The D-Backs’ offseason plans involved adding a power bat, shedding salary and getting younger. Trading Hill would follow suit, and it also makes sense for the long term.

Competing against the defending World Series champion San Francisco Giants and the playoff-caliber Los Angeles Dodgers will make contending in the NL West difficult for the D-Backs in 2015.

But with these changes, expect Arizona to have a good chance at finishing over .500 for the first time since 2011.

Adding quality pitching while creating a more flexible payroll—the formula for success in Arizona. 

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The Chicago Cubs‘ rapid-fire rebuild continued Tuesday, as they acquired All-Star catcher Miguel Montero from the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for pitching prospects Jeferson Mejia and Zack Godley.

Montero, 31, hit .243/.329/.370 with 13 home runs and 72 RBI last season, his ninth with the Diamondbacks. He was named to his second All-Star team and was one of a select few productive players on Arizona’s MLB-worst 64-98 team.    

The Cubs, who have finished last in the NL Central the last two seasons, have been aggressively compiling assets all winter. They started by hiring manager Joe Maddon from the Tampa Bay Rays and have been wheeling and dealing on the trade market while pursuing top-flight talent in free agency. The Diamondbacks with new management in place have largely gone the opposite route. 

Stripped of their desire to win now, this is a deal that makes a decent amount of sense for Arizona. Montero had a miserable second half, posting a .212/.303/.293 slash line that was eerily similar to his lost 2013 campaign. Signed for three more seasons at $40 million, it’s fair to wonder whether the Diamondbacks are shedding payroll while dealing a declining player.

In Mejia and Godley, they’ve acquired two non-elite prospects who nonetheless have a chance at making the major league squad down the line. Godley was a 10th-round pick out of Tennessee in 2013 and has been working his way through the Chicago minor league system. He’s compiled a 2.74 ERA and 1.22 WHIP in 54 relief appearances and is yet to make it out of Single-A.

Listed at 6’3″ and 235 pounds, Godley possesses a solid fastball that usually hovers in the low-90s and can go a little higher in priority situations. He’s struck out 105 batters in 82 minor league innings, including 52 fans in 40 innings at high-A Daytona. Odds are his peak is somewhere around middle relief levels, but it’s possible the right pitching coach can help Godley figure out how to better use his frame.

The real prize—or at least potential prize—for Arizona is Mejia, a 20-year-old Dominican import who is just beginning to scratch his potential. Signed last summer by Chicago following an impressive showing at the International Prospect League All-Star Game, Mejia has been impressive in limited minor league work.

He posted a 2.48 ERA and 1.18 WHIP in 12 appearances playing rookie ball in 2014. Listed at 6’7″ and 195 pounds, Mejia was used mainly in relief, finishing games in five of his 12 appearances. The Cubs also used him as a starter twice, though it’s unclear where they saw him fitting long-term.

John Sickels of Minor League Ball recently named Mejia the No. 20 prospect in the Cubs organization, calling him a “terrific breakthrough candidate.” While that may be the case, the excitement regarding Mejia is entirely a projection. He’s not even made his way past rookie ball yet; it’s entirely possible his stuff does not translate as he works his way through the minors.

That being said, the Diamondbacks ridding themselves of Montero’s deal is a no-brainer. The organization is nowhere near competing at this point. Montero will be entering his mid-30s by the time they can reasonably contend—if not out of the organization entirely. Even if they only get two mid-tier relievers out of the deal, they’re selling at the right time.

Follow Tyler Conway (@tylerconway22) on Twitter

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On Friday, the Arizona Diamondbacks acquired 19-year-old minor league shortstop Domingo Leyba from the Detroit Tigers.

Leyba comes to Arizona as part of a three-team deal that also sent Shane Greene to the Tigers from the New York Yankees and Didi Gregorius from the D-backs to New York.

Originally, Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reported that pitcher Robbie Ray was the key player headed to Arizona in the deal:

However, Ben Badler of Baseball America indicates that Leyba is the man the Diamondbacks will bring into the fold: 

Bernie Pleskoff of MLBPipeline.com praised Leyba:

The switch-hitting Dominican infielder has yet to make his major league debut, but he’s already shown that he can be a force at the plate. In 67 games in the minor leagues, Leyba has a batting average of .323 and an on-base percentage of .360.

In 30 games with the Tigers’ West Michigan Single-A team, Leyba hit .397 with seven RBI. He has had a few issues in the field. He committed six errors in 68 games, which isn’t that bad considering he’s still playing in the low-level minors.

Leyba could be a year or so away from reaching the big leagues, but Arizona now has depth at shortstop in the organization. Per Pleskoff, there’s also the option of moving him to second base.

Chris Owings is only 23 years old, and he hit .261 in 2014 in 91 games. He could get the first shot at playing every day in 2015. 

Switch-hitter Cliff Pennington could push his way into a platoon system. 

In the long term, both could just be keeping the position warm for Leyba when he’s ready for majors.

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We all knew it was a matter of when, not if, Jeremy Hellickson‘s days with the Tampa Bay Rays were officially over.

Late Friday night, ESPN reported that the Arizona Diamondbacks were to be his new home, as they dealt minor leaguers Andrew Velazquez and Justin Williams for the 2011 American League Rookie of the Year.

Initial reactions whenever a pitcher is dealt out of the American League—let alone the homer-friendly AL East—is that greener pastures certainly are waiting.

Hellickson needs those greener pastures, as he has pitched to a less-than-stellar 5.05 ERA over his last 44 starts. Of those 44, 13 occurred after offseason elbow surgery forced him to miss the first three months of the 2014 season. 

That is hardly a small sample size and something that seems to indicate his ROY form is far in the rearview mirror.

But his National League ERA is going to start shrinking like a balloon with a small hole in its side, right? Diamondbacks general manager Dave Stewart certainly seems to think so, as reported by Jack Magruder of Fox Sports Arizona.

“He is going to be outstanding here,” Stewart said. “I always give the guys moving from the American League to the National League a plus. Moving out of the American League East gives him another plus.”

Don’t count on it. Sure, the average NL starter’s ERA over the last three years was 0.27 runs lower than their AL counterparts, according to ESPN.com statistics and some quick division.

Hellickson‘s problem is the NL West is not the safest of landing zones, especially when you’re arriving at a team boasting one of the worst offenses in the sport.

In 2014, the Diamondbacks scored just 615 runs with a .678 OPS, good for No. 25 and No. 24 in MLB, respectively.

OK, so run support will not come easily for Hellickson, but what about his home ballpark, Chase Field? Leaving Tropicana Field has to be a plus, right?

Unfortunately, there isn’t much reprieve here, either.

“As for Chase Field, that doesn’t suit fly-ball pitchers well,” wrote Matt Snyder of CBSSports.com. “Only six ballparks saw more homers last season, and only Coors Field yielded more runs. On the flip-side, Hellickson is coming from Tropicana Field, which was 25th in homers and 15th in runs.”

When looking at the rest of the division, the picture gets far darker.

As Snyder references above, Chase Field allowed the seventh-most homers in baseball in 2014. Dodger Stadium landed at fifth, and Coors Field was second only to Yankee Stadium.

About half of the worst parks in MLB to be a fly-ball pitcher in happen to be where Hellickson will pitch the majority of his games.

It’s not all doom and gloom for him, however.

AT&T Park in San Francisco and Petco Park in San Diego are both safe havens for any pitcher, and a fresh start in a league where the threat of a designated hitter is long gone can only be a positive thing.

Case in point, someone who Jeremy Hellickson always reminded me of is former Diamondbacks hurler Ian Kennedy.

Tossed aside after early struggles with the Yankees, Kennedy found a home in Arizona and pitched extremely well at times.

Similar to Kennedy, Hellickson is a fly-ball pitcher who relies on good control and a feel for changing speeds to succeed. Neither has what would be confused for anything close to top-end velocity.

If Hellickson can follow a similar path, Arizona may just have a diamond in the rough that it can try to polish up and save from a downward spiral of a once-bright, young career.

If not, we may have seen the last of him as an impact pitcher at the MLB level, and the low-risk, medium-reward attempt will have failed.

Ultimately, this is a move that makes a lot of sense for a team with the No. 27 ERA in baseball last season (4.44). It did not give up a prospect in the deal that could truly damage the farm, and it desperately needs to build a young rotation for the future.

There’s no reason to fault Arizona for what it pulled off Friday night; it is just very unlikely that the final results will be glowingly positive.

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Shortly after the hiring of Dave Stewart as the Arizona Diamondbacks general manager, it was clear changes were coming. On Friday afternoon, it was announced that manager Kirk Gibson was fired from his position.

The Diamondbacks’ official account reported the news:  

During his time as manager, Gibson led the team to a 353-375 record with just one appearance in the postseason. Arizona won the NL West division in 2011 with a 94-68 record but was unable to string together another winning season.

Stewart was hired Thursday, as reported by The Associated Press (via ESPN), and wasted no time in relieving Gibson. Jesse Spector of Sporting News passed along his thoughts on the decision:

Stewart spoke about the upcoming manager search, per Bernie Pleskoff of MLB.com:

The Diamondbacks are currently 63-96 heading into the final weekend of the season, but they have pieces to build around for the future. Despite the struggles for Gibson, the next manager will have a team that has a chance to win.

Having the worst record in baseball also has upside, as Pleskoff notes:

Offensive players like Mark Trumbo and Paul Goldschmidt have shown flashes of greatness, along with Miguel Montero. If those players can continue to swing a good bat in the future, the next manager has weapons to help lead the team.

Unfortunately, the Diamondbacks happen to be in a division along with the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants. There will need to be changes made to the structure of the team in order to contend with franchises that have postseason aspirations every season.

Follow @RCorySmith on Twitter.

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The Arizona Diamondbacks fired general manager Kevin Towers as the team is going to miss the postseason for the third straight year. The team announced the move on Friday on Twitter:

Nick Piecoro of AZCentral Sports first announced the move.

MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert had more on Towers’ press conference:

FOX Sports’ Jack MaGruder has more on a potential hire:

Piecoro had more:

According to Piecoro’s report, the entire organization has been under evaluation since longtime manager Tony La Russa was added as the Chief Baseball Officer. With Towers out, the focus will shift to manager Kirk Gibson, whose status is unknown.

The report lists Walt Jocketty (Cincinnati Reds GM), Gary LaRocque (St. Louis Cardinals farm director) and Ray Montgomery (Arizona’s scouting director) as names to watch as Arizona starts the process of filling the key front-office void.

Towers joined the team in 2010 and the team had just one winning season (2011) during his tenure. Prior to taking the D-Backs job, Towers was GM of the Padres from 1995-2009. 

In an era where advanced statistics are becoming more prominent than ever, Towers had an old-school outlook of using toughness and grit to create a winning team. That approach led to some head-scratching roster moves.

Last fall, David Schoenfield of ESPN.com passed along comments from the longtime executive, who wasn’t happy with the lack of retaliation from his team when one of its own got hit. He said it was something that would be watched closely moving forward.

“Some of them, contractually, it’s tough to move,” Towers said. “But I think come spring training, it will be duly noted that it’s going to be an eye for an eye and we’re going to protect one another.”

It’s an attitude that had previously caused the Arizona general manager to trade Justin Upton, one of the National League‘s premier young hitters, and Chris Johnson to the Atlanta Braves for Martin Prado, Randall Delgado and a package of prospects.

Prado fit the mold of the type of player Towers was seeking, but his talent simply couldn’t match Upton’s. And when the prospects don’t pan out, those types of moves tend to sink a GM.

Peter Gammons of the MLB Network believes Towers’ best option is heading back to San Diego, where he spent more than a decade before heading to Arizona:

The Diamondbacks have been trending in the wrong direction ever since their 94-win season in 2011. Injuries certainly played a role in the subpar results this season, but the talent on the roster also didn’t match up with the likes of the NL West rival Los Angeles Dodgers or San Francisco Giants.

Towers should be able to find a position with another team, as Gammons suggests, but it was time for Arizona to move on. The organization needs a fresh outlook as it looks to become more competitive in a tough division.

No timetable was given for the addition of Towers’ replacement. It’s not clear whether Arizona will try to make a hiring quickly or let the process play out during the offseason, but one can expect the new GM to have a much different mindset.

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Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Ender Inciarte pushed his hitting streak to 18 games with a 10th-inning double in Monday’s 5-4 loss to the Washington Nationals, thus extending his own franchise rookie record.

Inciarte nearly saw his streak come to an end, as he’d registered just one walk in his four plate appearances after grounding out in the eighth inning. However, a ninth-inning homer by fellow rookie outfielder David Peralta sent the D-Backs to extra innings, allowing Inciarte to extend his team record.

Inciarte‘s 18-game hitting streak is tied for the second-longest by any rookie this year, matching the run put together by Chicago White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu from June 15 to July 4, per ESPN.com.

The season’s longest streak by a rookie also came courtesy of Abreu, who hit in 21 consecutive games from July 6 to August 1. With his streaks separated by just the one contest on July 5, Abreu hit safely 39 times in a span of 40 games.

As for Inciarte, while the 23-year-old owns a strong .316/.365/.405 batting line over the course of his streak, it’s the 27-year-old Peralta who has unquestionably been the Diamondbacks’ more impressive rookie outfielder in terms of batting this year.

Inciarte was having a miserable season at the plate before his streak started, and he still owns a rather unsavory .266/.302/.330 batting line heading into Tuesday’s game against the Nationals.

Peralta, meanwhile, has been a menace to opposing pitchers, posting a .290/.320/.461 slash line in 64 games, with six home runs, six triples, 31 RBI and 31 runs.

However, Inciarte‘s strong defense shouldn’t be forgotten about, as FanGraphs.com has him at 1.5 Wins Above Replacement (WAR) through 81 games—due almost entirely to his work with the glove. Peralta, on the other hand, has been worth just 0.7 WAR through 64 games by FanGraphs‘ measure, grading out as a below-average defensive outfielder.

While it’s unwise to place too much emphasis on advanced defensive metrics with such a small sample size, there’s likely something to the notion that Inciarte and Peralta are much closer in terms of value than their batting stats seem to indicate.

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While the Arizona Diamondbacks have struggled this season, first baseman Paul Goldschmidt has certainly been one of the team’s brightest spots. Unfortunately, according to a tweet from the team’s official Twitter account, he’ll be out of commission for a while due to a fractured left hand:  

Goldschmidt suffered the injury during Friday’s 9-4 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates, as pitcher Ernesto Frieri hit the All-Star first baseman in the hand with a 93-mph fastball in the ninth inning.

After toughing it out through the remainder of the game, Goldschmidt spoke about the incident during a press conference, via Adam Lichtenstein of MLB.com:

I’ve never had any broken bones or fractures or anything like that. It felt OK, but obviously there’s still some pain because it hit it pretty good. I don’t know what it would feel like if it was or wasn’t anything wrong with it. …

… It’s part of the game, getting hit, so I’m going to stay positive and think it’ll be OK. I guess we’ll find out, hopefully tomorrow. But it’s jut part of the game. This stuff happens, and hopefully it’s not broken.

Well, the results weren’t exactly comforting, as he’ll now begin a stint on the disabled list while he recovers.

Jack Magruder of Fox Sports Arizona weighed in on what the injury means for the Diamondbacks:

Through 109 games played this season, Goldschmidt is batting .300 while accumulating 122 hits, 39 doubles, one triple, 19 home runs and 69 RBI. That kind of production will be difficult to replace.

Alfredo Marte will attempt to fill some big shoes; however, he got off to a glowing start earlier this season against the Philadelphia Phillies, per Steve Gilbert of MLB.com:

We’ll see if he can recapture that magic in Goldschmidt’s stead.

With the Diamondbacks currently 14 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West, don’t expect to see Goldschmidt rushed back to action, as the team will want to ensure he’s able to make a full recovery.

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The Arizona Diamondbacks have fallen out of the playoff race, and that likely means they will be a seller at this week’s trade deadline. One player several teams could have interest in is closer Addison Reed, who’s apparently available if the price is right.

Jayson Stark of ESPN reports Reed headlines a group of players who could be moved from the desert over the next few days. He lays out the team’s plans, which feature at least five players who could be considered on the block:

The Diamondbacks are telling teams they’d talk about moving closer Addison Reed, but aren’t likely to move reliever Brad Ziegler. Arizona is also still listening on Aaron Hill, Oliver Perez and, for the right offer, Martin Prado and Josh Collmenter.

On the surface, Reed is having a pretty solid season. He sports a 3.80 ERA and 1.15 WHIP through 44 games, which are both slightly below his career averages. The right-hander also has 49 strikeouts in 42.2 innings for Arizona.

Yet, the 25-year-old San Diego State product also has five blown saves, putting him on pace to tie his career-high total of eight. His WAR is also on the negative side at -0.3 (via Fangraphs), and he’s given up nine home runs, already three more than any other season, with plenty of baseball to play.

Joe Sheehan of Sports Illustrated believes a combination of diminished velocity and location are key factors in his lack of consistency:

At the very least, it certainly helps explain the uptick in homers against.

During one of those rough patches earlier in the month, Reed was asked about what type of issues he was working through. Jack Magruder of Fox Sports Arizona provided his response, which included a two-fold fix.

‘Sometimes I just get fastball happy and think I can get by with some well-located fastballs,’ Reed said. ‘The thing with me is, I’ve been getting hurt a lot of times leaving the ball up and over the middle of the plate instead of hitting the corners. Obviously I need to start throwing more sliders and start mixing it up a little more, and when I throw the fastball I need to locate where I am supposed to.’

He hasn’t given up a run since those comments were passed along on July 9. That represents six straight scoreless outings.

In turn, for teams looking for a bullpen boost down the stretch, Reed becomes an attractive option. He probably wouldn’t slide right into the closer role for most postseason contenders, but he would bolster that bridge from the starter to the ninth inning.

The question is how much the Diamondbacks would want in return. He’s had some struggles this season, but he’s still a young reliever with nearly 100 saves under his belt already. He will also remain under team control through the 2017 campaign.

All told, it’s hard to blame Arizona for seeing what’s out there on the trade market. But there isn’t a great need to move him if the front office isn’t blown away by any of the offers before the deadline.

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