Arizona Diamondbacks Season Preview: Playoff Berth Within Sight

The Diamondbacks should be chasing down a wild-card spot this season.

Editor's note: Welcome to SI's MLB preview. Click here to view every team's outlook in 2020, including predictions, projections and, yes, a preview of the 2030 preview. Click here to read the Diamondbacks fantasy preview.

Arizona has been trying to do what the Brewers did: rebuild without tanking. It’s
an admirable approach in an era when a $60 million payroll that yields just 60 wins also nets a $60 million profit.

The Diamondbacks can afford to deal high-salaried stars because they’re good at extracting more value from players than they were initially projected to provide. From indy-ball find David Peralta to trade pickup Ketel Marte to waiver claim Christian Walker, GM Mike Hazen has demonstrated a shrewd ability to discover talent. That organizational skill informs a decision to trade a homegrown star such as first baseman Paul Goldschmidt before last season, or an ace like Zack Greinke last July, because in adding catcher Carson Kelly or righty starter Luke Weaver or leftfielder Josh Rojas or first base prospect Seth Beer, Arizona believes it’s getting not only value in the future but in the present as well.

Even without Goldschmidt and Greinke, the D-backs made a late wild-card run under third-year manager Torey Lovullo. In the offseason Hazen bolstered the outfield by trading for Starling Marté and signing Kole Calhoun. Marté will play center—though that’s a stretch for the 31-year-old—allowing Marte to return to second base. (Got that?) Calhoun is an upgrade over Adam Jones in rightfield.

The team’s big move was signing lefthander Madison Bumgarner to a five-year, $85 million contract. At 30, Bumgarner is on the backside of his career after 11 seasons with the Giants, but he fills out a rotation with no glaring weak spot, with Weaver, righty Zac Gallen and lefty Robbie Ray potentially combining for 600 strikeouts. All those arms won’t be enough to topple the Dodgers in the NL West, but they will keep Arizona in the thick of a crowded wild-card race. — Joe Sheehan

Projected Record: 85-77, 2nd in NL West

After adding starter Madison Bumgarner along with outfielders Starling Marté and Kole Calhoun, Arizona will be chasing a wild-card berth late into the season.

Key Question: Can Ketel Marte Build on His Breakout Season?

 The Diamondbacks second baseman finished fourth in the NL MVP voting after hitting .329 with 32 home runs, 6.9 WAR and a 149 OPS+. — Matt Martell

Player Spotlight

Moving Up: Kevin Ginkel, RP

After fanning 65 in 35 1/3 innings in the minors, the 6' 4" righthander was pressing for the closer role with a 0.986 WHIP in 25 games.

Moving Down: Jake Lamb, 3B

The third baseman was a star for Arizona’s 2017 playoff team. In two injury-riddled seasons since then, he batted .208 with just 12 homers.

Watchability Ranking: A Better Game Is on–Probably

Mix some exciting additions—Madison Bumgarner, Starling Marte, Kole Calhoun—with a roster that was already solid, and you now have the ideal prototype of a team that’s pulled off a rebuild without a full teardown. Plus you have all these fun rodeo jokes to make. — Emma Baccellieri

Preview of the 2030 Preview

Kristian Robinson, OF: An oasis in the desert, Robinson enters his age-29 season having redefined our perception of a three-true-outcome player. Hardly a paunchy slugger prone to swinging and missing like Adam Dunn or Jim Thome, Robinson packs the punch of the earlier prototypes but does it in a hyperathletic frame that allows him to swipe bases and run down balls easily. The athletic Bahamian is a wall-clearing, walk-taking machine, and we don’t expect him to slow down anytime soon. — Craig Goldstein