Venom Vision: Trading for offense?
Jul 22, 2013, 7:44 PM | Updated: 7:45 pm
The Arizona Diamondbacks lost ground in the National League West over the weekend, and they did so due to a lack offense against the San Francisco Giants. Chad Gaudin blanked Kirk Gibson and Co. over seven innings Friday, only to be followed up by Saturday’s performance in which they left 13 runners on base.
The problem is if GM Kevin Towers were to look for an everyday bat at this point in the year, who would he even try to replace in the lineup?
The left side of the infield (Didi Gregorius and Martin Prado) was just acquired through trades this offseason. The second baseman (Aaron Hill) just signed a three-year extension. The first baseman is an All-Star. The outfield features two Gold Glove-caliber players (A.J. Pollock and Gerardo Parra), a rookie just back from the disabled list (Adam Eaton), a player (Cody Ross) on the first year of a lucrative three-year deal and a guy (Jason Kubel) a year removed from a 30-home run season. Not to mention, the catcher (Miguel Montero) is coming off a career year and just signed a new deal last May.
Truth is, the team committed to the likes of Gregorius, Hill, Montero, Prado and Ross, whether by trade or by extension. Their struggles are well-documented and could hurt the team’s chances of winning the division, but can any of them simply be replaced in the middle of a pennant race?
The fan in all of us would love to say sure. But I’m going to say not so fast.
Of the D-backs’ needs, I think upgrading the offense will be the one that goes unaddressed by July 31.
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