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AZ Snake Pit

https://www.azsnakepit.com/ | 395 entries published

An unofficial Arizona Diamondbacks community and blog

Latest Entries

The Arizona Diamondbacks and the Paul Goldschmidt conundrum

We’re now less than three weeks from pitchers and catchers reporting to Salt River Fields, and it feels like the D-backs’ off-season remains a work in progress. With all respect to Taylor Clarke, the bullpen has barely been touched. We don’t know who will be replacing Lourdes Gurriel in left field on Opening Day. Arizona […]

about 2 months ago | 3 reads

The popularity of baseball

This kinda was inspired by samath’s comment, saying that baseball has never been more popular. That seemed a stretch: but like defensive metrics, it turns out that the truth of the statement depends on how you measure it. Certainly, MLB has absolutely no qualms about tooting its own trumpet (as any business would). At the […]

MLB

about 2 months ago | 12 reads

SnakePit Hall of Fame 2026 ballot

[Quick bump on this, with the BBWAA HoF announcement today, to get the votes of any stragglers before we lock things down here!] Previous SnakePit Hall of Fame Inductees The rules We began with the same ballot as the Hall of Fame in 2015, and have proceeded from there on. The same 75% super-majority is […]

about 2 months ago | 6 reads

Nolan Arenado

Inspiration. The Diamondbacks acquired Nolan Arenado.  He has won 5 Silver Slugger awards, 10 Gold Glove awards, and 6 Platinum Glove awards.  And yet his batting declined to near average in the last couple seasons.  What happened?  Will he impact the Diamondbacks?  Batting. The context of his batting decline was that even in decline his […]

about 2 months ago | 8 reads

D-backs Dispatch: One Dodger After Another

Last night, the D-backs Dispatch crew had a long broadcast to chew over all the recent activity on the team front, and in baseball generally. As well as whether The Lord of the Rings is the best movie trilogy of all time [Jim: in addition to the Godfather trilogy mentioned on the show, I’d say […]

about 2 months ago | 7 reads

MLB: The brokenest

Okay, that line is slightly tongue-in-cheek. But only slightly. To be fair, it’s not particularly the Dodgers that broke baseball. Jesse Friedman made a salient post on Twitter, which I largely agree with. All of these statements can be true at once:1) Dodgers are doing precisely what they should be doing.2) They probably won’t win […]

about 2 months ago | 2 reads

Arizona Diamondbacks News, 1/19: Blast from the Past

Team news [MLB] From World Series winner to sausage meister: A visit to Byung-hyun Kim’s German restaurant – “When I was playing in the States, any time families and friends would come, I would take them out to a restaurant that I recommended. I saw the joy that people felt from having good food,” Kim […]

about 2 months ago | 5 reads

Snakepit Roundtable: News and Non-news

The decision was finally made to pull Ketel Marte off the trade market. Was this the right move? James: If the right price was not met, then there is no reason to trade him. I have no particular desire for the team to trade Ketel Marte. By the same token, if they were able to […]

about 2 months ago | 8 reads

Cuban SS Ruben Gallego headlines Dbacks 2026 International Signees

The Arizona Diamondbacks entered the International Signing period with $8,034,900 in international bonus pool money, tied for the most in the league with Baltimore, Cleveland, Colorado, Kansas City, Pittsburgh and St. Louis. Market size, revenue, free agents turning down the qualifying offer, and trades all impact the size of a team’s bonus pool. There’s not […]

about 2 months ago | 5 reads

Snake Bytes 1/18

I see Jim has one going up tomorrow, so I don’t want to potentially infringe on whatever he has. It’s been a couple of weeks since I wrote anything. They want us to do one thing a week. Trivia bytes, and other things… This day in history: https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/january-18 This day in baseball: https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/January_18 Clean snow […]

MLB

about 2 months ago | 8 reads

2025 SnakePit Awards: MVP – Geraldo Perdomo

This was every bit the procession expected. Corbin Carroll did get some votes, and there was also a brave person who opted for Ryne Nelson. But this was a landslide, befitting a banana republic presidential election, with absolutely no doubt about the outcome. And deservedly so, because Geraldo Perdomo enjoyed a season for the ages. […]

MLB

about 2 months ago | 2 reads

2026 Arizona Diamondbacks Roster Dark Horse: Kohl Drake

This is the second year we’ve done this, looking at names in the Diamondbacks system who might be able to help the team this season. 2025’s selection was a bit of a mixed bag, shall we say. We were one of the earlier passengers on the Tim Tawa bandwagon, and he ended up playing 74 […]

MLB

about 2 months ago | 3 reads

Arizona Diamondbacks agree to terms with RHP Taylor Clarke

In a move to strengthen the bullpen, the D-backs announced this afternoon that they have signed reliever Taylor Clarke. It’s a return home, since the 32-year-old was actually an Arizona draft pick originally, being selected in the third round of the 2015 draft. He made his debut as a Diamondback in 2019, and appeared in […]

about 2 months ago | 9 reads

Nolan Arenado talks about becoming an Arizona Diamondback

Yesterday, we heard from GM Mike Hazen about why he carried out the trade which brought third baseman Nolan Arenado to the desert. Today, it’s the turn of the player to talk about why he agreed to come to Arizona, what he brings to the table, both on and off the field, and what his […]

about 2 months ago | 9 reads

2025 SnakePit Awards: MVP nominations

Well, I’m expecting a bit of a procession here. I may have already started work on the announcement article, to be honest. 🙂 But, hey, I think it’s fair to say that this year worked better on an individual level for the team, than as a collective. We got to enjoy some stellar personal performances, […]

NHL

about 2 months ago | 4 reads

A Too Early Win Projection

Inspiration. I was dismayed because the relative absence of moves to improve Diamondbacks’ weak points.  One exception is that starting pitching could be as good as last season with the re-signing of Kelly and the signing of Soroka. Perhaps Soroka and Mena will adequately fill Gallen’s slot. Pfaadt might improve somewhat.  However, the context is […]

about 2 months ago | 6 reads

Diamondbacks Acquire Nolan Arenado

The Arizona Diamondbacks are in agreement with the St. Louis Cardinals to acquire third baseman Nolan Arenado in exchange for 2025 8th-Round draft pick, Jack Martinez, a right-handed pitcher. Arenado has already agreed to waive his complete no-trade clause.  Arenado is still owed two years and $42MM, though the Rockies are on the hook for […]

about 2 months ago | 3 reads

SnakeBytes 1/13: Skubal’s Epic Arbitration Case

Diamondbacks News D-backs’ Michael Soroka ready to represent Canada in World Baseball Classic by Wendy Lopez [Burn City Sports] “I’ve had this one circled on the calendar for a while, one that I really wanted to be able to do, for a multitude of reasons,” Soroka said Saturday ahead of Baseball Canada’s annual awards banquet, […]

about 2 months ago | 7 reads

SB Nation Reacts Results: One down, much to do…

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the MLB. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Arizona Diamondbacks fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys. The D-backs have made some moves this off-season – notably the signing of free-agents Merrill […]

MLB

about 2 months ago | 5 reads

Arizona Diamondbacks News, 1/12: Do something

Team news [MLB Trade Rumors] Mike Hazen Discusses Diamondbacks’ Remaining Offseason Goals – The Diamondbacks bullpen could clearly use an established late-inning arm to help stabilize things while Martinez and Puk are on the shelf. Hazen didn’t name specific targets in his recent comments, but it seems Arizona is interested in just that sort of […]

about 2 months ago | 6 reads

2025 SnakePit Awards: Most Valuable Player nominations open

And, so, we come to the final award of this campaign. I don’t think this category will prove too troubling to establish nominees. The traditional route has been that the Pitcher and Rookie of the Year get automatic slots, and the other three slots are chosen in the usual way. This year, the byes go […]

MLB

about 2 months ago | 2 reads

A 2026 Arizona Diamondbacks Opening Day roster, v1.0

Pitchers and catchers report next month. So it seems about the time we should start putting together a possible D-backs roster. Of course, things are still subject to change. Players will arrive. Even if there are no big-ticket free-agent signings, there’s a good chance that a non-roster invitee will impress enough in spring to make […]

MLB

about 2 months ago | 2 reads

2025 Diamondbacks Pitcher of the Year: Ryne Nelson

For the first time since before COVID [Kids! Ask your parents!], someone other than Zac Gallen or Merrill Kelly has won our award for Pitcher of the Year. Gallen and Kelly had strictly alternated victories for the past five seasons. And if you had gone on our player ratings, that would have continued, because Kelly’s […]

MLB

about 2 months ago | 5 reads

Jake McCarthy traded to the Colorado Rockies

The D-backs announced this morning that outfielder Jake McCarthy has been dealt to Colorado, in exchange for pitching prospect Josh Grosz. McCarthy was a first-round pick (18th overall) in the 2018 draft, and reached the majors in 2021. He had a solid rookie campaign the following year, coming fourth in NL Rookie of the Year […]

about 2 months ago | 7 reads