Where do D-backs stand with 2025 Payroll and Remaining Holes to Fill?

The Josh Naylor trade filled one hole and gives us strong clues regarding next steps for Mike Hazen and the Diamondbacks

Diamondbacks general manager Mike Hazen (center) talks with Arizona owner Ken Kendrick (left) and team president and CEO Derrick Hall during the first day of full-squad spring training workouts on Feb. 19 at Salt River Fields. Diamondbacks Spring Training / Michael Chow / The Republic

The Arizona Diamondbacks' trade for first baseman Josh Naylor on Saturday was the first major addition to the Roster of the 2024-25 offseason. They sent Slade Cecconi, who did not appear to have an opening day roster spot, to the Cleveland Guardians as the return (along with competitive balance round B draft pick).

With that move, it's time to take another look at the Diamondbacks payroll situation. Naylor is in his final year of arbitration and is projected to earn $12 million in 2025 by MLB Trade Rumors. The website Spotrac estimates $14.2 million, but for the sake of consistency, we're using the Trade Rumors figure, as we've been doing for all of the other arbitration eligible players.

We now estimate the current payroll commit to be approximately $155 million, broken out in the table below. See also detailed player table at the bottom of this article

Diamondbacks payroll commit as of Dec 22, 2024 / Jack Sommers

How Much Does Mike Hazen Still Have to Spend?

We estimate that figure to be between $17-22 million. It's a bit complicated to get to that number however.

Owner Ken Kendrick indicated that the 2025 payroll budget is roughly the same as last season's franchise record payroll. So what was that number? There can be a lot of confusion on this due to the both terminology, and also accounting used by public websites.

In 2024 the Diamondbacks spent approximately $177 million on player payroll according toCot's Baseball Contracts. That is the actual spend number on player salary last season, not the Competitive Balance Tax figure that is used to compute the luxury tax. That figure is $223 million as reported by the Associated Press.

Another point of note is the $177 number includes $5.5 million paid for option buyouts to Joc Pederson, Randal Grichuk, and Scott McGough. Some websites, such as Roster Resource at FanGraphs, bucket those buyouts into their 2025 calculation. The Diamondbacks previously confirmed to me that buyout money must be paid within the current season, but the dollars are included in the 2025 CBT numbers, which creates confusion.

The fact of the matter is the Diamondbacks paid those buyouts in 2024, and they had to budget for that possibility. So $177 million is the benchmark we use. In that case, comparing apples to apples, the D-backs should still have roughly $22 million left to spend. However due to the uncertainty around this number, we can also take a conservative approach and simply estimate the figure to be $17-22 million and go from there.

What is Left to Do?

As Hazen indicated on Saturday evening, they're still looking for more offense, preferably a right-handed hitter, and also wish to add to the back end of their bullpen. Based on the current roster and the money left to spend, there are a few key points to highlight.

The first is it seems unlikely that Joc Pederson returns. He will require at least $14 million to sign (the amount of the option he turned down). That would take up the large majority of remaining budget. Hazen also seems content to give the left-handed Pavin Smith plenty of playing time at DH to see if he can replicate his second half success.

Moreover, with the addition of the left-handed Naylor replacing the right-handed Christian Walker, the need for a right-handed power bat is clear.

That bat must be at least a corner outfield capable player. At this point it's important to note that in 2024 Grichuk only started 15 games at DH. 46 of his starts came in the outfield. Even with pinch hit at bats for the DH (26) fully 63% of his plate appearances came while playing outfield.

Grichuk would be the perfect fit once again for this roster once again. But he turned down his end of a $6 million dollar mutual option to pursue free agency. He received a $1.75 million dollar buyout, so he only needs to do better than $4.25 million to increase his total earning potential.

Grichuk may very well be in search of a team that will promise him more playing time than he will receive from the Diamondbacks. But if he's unable to find that, bringing him back for between $5-7 million could make a lot of sense. That would then leave the D-backs a minimum $10 to possibly $15 million to address the bullpen, which is plenty for a significant upgrade.

In that scenario, the DH at-bats against left-hand starting pitchers would be split between the right-handed hitters already on the team, such as Ketel Marte and Lourdes Gurriel Jr., along with Grichuk (or whoever the D-backs sign or trade for) when he doesn't play outfield.

One possible alternative to Grichuk could be Mark Canha. He is a solid right-hand bat, but is not as good a defender as Grichuk. He's also not a "lefty-killer" like Grichuk. Canha's career split is dead even, with a .763 OPS agains't lefties and .762 OPS against righties. Playable both ways for sure, but just not quite as good a fit as Grichuk for what the team needs.

Trades, Free Agency, and Jordan Montgomery

Hazen said that there is no way to handicap (publicly) whether the remaining roster spots will be filled via trade or free agency. He's previously indicated that teams have been inquiring on his outfielders, and there is a clear overlap between Jake McCarthy and Alek Thomas. Furthermore, he may not be finished trading from his starting pitching depth.

That brings us to the Jordan Montgomery question. The D-backs have actively been trying to trade him to relieve themselves of his $22.5 million salary. Not surprisingly, they've been unable to move him without absorbing a significant amount of his salary. That reality was at the crux of their inability to make a competitive offer to Christian Walker, who received a three year, $60 million contract from the Houston Astros.

Related Content: What is Jordan Montgomery's True Value in Today's Market?

But should the Diamondbacks find a suitor for Montgomery and gain significant salary relief, that opens up another whole dimension of options for Hazen to explore, either at the higher end of the free agent market, or to absorb a large salary in trade. That could be pretty exciting for D-backs fans. Watch this space!

Detailed Player Salary Breakdown

D-backs player salaries for 2025 / Jack Sommers

*Ketel Marte's 2023-28 base salaries increase by $3M with a 1st-3rd place finish in the prior season's MVP vote or by $2M with 4th-7th place. Accordingly, since he finished 3rd in the 2024 MVP balloting, we have added the $3 million escalator to his $16 million base for 2025.