The Arizona Diamondbacks signed free agent Brandon McCarthy on Saturday to a two-year, $15.5 million deal. McCarthy provides depth to the Diamondbacks starting pitching staff. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

The Arizona Diamondbacks continued their off-season spending spree as they signed pitcher Brandon McCarthy to a two-year, $15.5 million contract on Saturday pending completion of a physical, according to Yahoo Sports.

The 29 year-old right-handed pitcher played in Oakland the last two seasons. The oft-injured McCarthy poses a significant risk to the Diamondbacks as he has battled shoulder issues and is coming off a horrific season-ending injury that saw him treated for a fractured skull after being hit by a line drive in a game last September.

McCarthy threw in 43 games for the A’s over the past two seasons, amassing a 17-15 record with a 3.29 ERA. He fared well at home last season in the pitcher friendly confines of the O.co Coliseum, but struggled on the road as his ERA was about a run higher in road games.

The 6’7, 200 lbs. McCarthy was a 17th round draft pick by the Chicago White Sox in 2002 and pitched in Chicago through the 2005-2006 season. He was traded to the Texas in December of 2006 and played three seasons with the Rangers organization. He signed as a free agent with Oakland in 2010. In his seven year career, McCarthy is 37-39 with a 4.02 ERA.

Arizona’s addition of McCarthy will bring stability to a rotation that seems to be shaping up as one of the most interesting in all of Major League Baseball next season. Ian Kennedy, Wade Miley, Trevor Cahill and McCarthy would seem to be the top four in the rotation with one of the young pitchers (Trevor Bauer, Tyler Skaggs, Patrick Corbin) filling out the rotation as the 5th starter. The addition of McCarthy gives the Diamondbacks organization time so that they do not rush Daniel Hudson back from the Tommy John surgery that he had completed on his throwing arm last season.  Hudson is slated to return mid-season.

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Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-US PRESSWIRE

The D-backs starting rotation composition has long been all-but decided so once it was officially announced it wasn’t expected to be a surprising event. That is, until the order of the rotation became clear.

Manager Kirk Gibson and his staff decided to go with Ian Kennedy as the ace which was already announced followed by Daniel Hudson, Josh Collmenter, Trevor Cahill and finally Joe Saunders.

The order actually does not matter much in the long run considering Gibson’s penchant to not skip pitcher starts but it was still telling about why Collmenter was third and Saunders was fifth. Collmenter was expected to be slotted in the fifth spot considering his regression at the end of last year and, frankly, the lack of quality pitches.

Collmenter relies almost entirely on a deceptive arm slot to succeed; but it becomes less and less deceptive, and in conjunction, less effective after a couple of turns through the batting order. He is most likely headed to the bullpen at some point this year which would be a perfect chance for the D-backs to call up uber-prospect Trevor Bauer.

Is it possible that the front office and Gibson foresee this scenario and would like to slot Bauer into the third spot in the rotation once they move Collmenter into the bullpen? It’s not like GM Kevin Towers and Gibson sat in the back room and decided to give reporters and bloggers like me something to talk about.

Or did they?

D-backs andThe Arizona Diamondbacks have come to terms on a one-year contract with right-handed reliever Brad Ziegler to avoid arbitration.

The deal is reportedly worth $1.795 million according to Ben Nicholson-Smith of MLBTradeRumors.com.

Ziegler was acquired from the A’s last season in an attempt to fortify an improved but shallow bullpen. While with the D-backs, he pitched in 23 games and had a 1.74 ERA.

Zeigler is considered a “righty-specialist” as the Batting Average Against (BAA) Zeigler is almost .200 points higher (.373) for left-handed batters than it is for right-handed batters (.188).

However, Ziegler was an important part of a strong bullpen for the D-backs in the final months of the season and signing him was a priority now that the rotation is filled out.

There are still three arbitration eligible players the D-backs have yet to sign – Miguel Montero, Ryan Roberts and Craig Breslow. If the D-backs are unable to come to terms with these players, the club and the players will be heard in next month’s arbitration hearings.