MLB Free Agency: Arizona Diamondbacks Interested In James Shields
By Tony Fischer
Other than john Lester the big name pitchers in this years free agent market have received little interest. According to Ken Rosenthal, the budget consensus Arizona Diamondbacks are considering jumping into the soft market to nab one of those big names. The pitcher is Big Game James Shields.
According to a piece by Rosenthal the Diamondbacks already tried to acquire the free agent ace two seasons ago. The trade fell through and James Shields ended up in Kansas City where he helped the Royal advance to the 2014 World Series.
Now the new brain trust is interested in James Sheilds but will have to make some creative trades in order to make room under the franchises $100 million budget.
"La Russa told reporters recently that the D-backs’ payroll could range anywhere from $80 million to $110 million. Well, the D-backs already have $68.65 million in commitments for 2015, according to Cot’s Baseball Contracts. Add the projected salaries of their arbitration-eligible players and the figure approaches $90 million. So, for the D-backs to make any additions, they almost certainly will need to clear money."
Clearing money means ridding themselves of the bloated contracts attached to Aaron Hill, Cody Ross and Miguel Montero.
Montero has the most trade value but has three years left on a deal scheduled to pay him $42 million. That means the Diamondback would have to defer some salary to orchestrate a three team deal to make it work.
Even with Wade Miley and Josh Collmenter returning in 2015, the Diamondbacks are still in desperate need of a front end starter. Expect to see the Diamondbacks become players in the free agent market by the time the winter meetings come around.