Ian Kennedy is one of a number of talented pitchers that the Arizona Diamondbacks have stockpiled. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

When general managers seek out each other during this time of year to discuss roster movement, the GM with the better pitching prospects tends to hold the cards when it comes to a potential bargain. Every GM seeks out better pitching and luckily for the Arizona Diamondbacks, pitching is one thing they have in abundance.  If a deal is going to happen with the D’Backs in which they get back a major league ready position player (namely, a shortstop), rest assured that one or more of Arizona’s young arms will be included in the deal.

With the signing of former Oakland A’s pitcher Brandon McCarthy on Saturday, the Diamondbacks now have a starting rotation that will almost certainly feature Ian Kennedy, Wade Miley, Trevor Cahill and McCarthy. At the beginning of the season, it looks like four men will battle for the fifth spot in the rotation: Josh Collmenter, Trevor Bauer, Tyler Skaggs and Patrick Corbin.

Jul. 3, 2012; Phoenix, AZ, USA: Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Trevor Bauer did not endear himself with teammates, like catcher Miguel Montero, when he was called up during last season. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Collmenter is the longest tenured of the four and has the most experience of the group, but has had his issues as a full-time starter (5-3, 3.69 ERA in 90.1 innings pitched in 2012). Bauer’s brief tenure in the big leagues last year was marked by poor pitching performances (1-2, 6.06 ERA in 16.1 IP in 2012) and the fact that his routine and demeanor caused waves in the dressing room. Skaggs had the opportunity to start a few games late in the season with some mixed results (1-3, 5.83 ERA in 29.1 IP in 2012), but showed promise. Corbin was somewhat effective as a starter, which earned him multiple call-ups throughout the season (6-8, 4.54 ERA in 107 IP in 2012).

If you add in two more young pitchers in Archie Bradley (12-6, 3.84 ERA in Class-A South Bend last season) and David Holmberg (11-8, 3.32 ERA between Class A Visalia and Class AA Mobile last season), Arizona has a minor league pitching system that has to be the envy of many organizations. General Manager Kevin Towers has an trunk full of riches to deal from.

The situation becomes a little easier to predict if the D’Backs use their pitching strength to deal one or a number of the young starting pitchers for an upgrade at shortstop. Towers says that he is open to listening for deals that include other positions on the field, but the one glowing weakness appears to be at shortstop.

Even if a deal is not struck between the D’Backs and potential suitors, they can always position themselves to be in the discussions near the trade deadline with the pitching that they have. Daniel Hudson will return (most likely in July) and that could bump one of the aforementioned pitchers from the rotation.

Whichever one of the six young arms does win the 5th spot in the rotation, he will have earned it. The competition for that spot will be one of the most hotly contested throughout all the big leagues during training camp. Those that do not win the job, will be on the market. Even if one of those pitchers wins the 5th spot, Towers could see it as an audition for other teams to look at what we have and then replace them with another young, capable arm if the right deal comes around.

With the addition of Brandon McCarthy, the Arizona Diamondbacks are sitting pretty when it comes to the future of their pitching staff and do not be surprised if the patient and strategic general manager of the D’Backs uses this strength to his advantage in future deals.

Mike Moustakas could be just the right guy for the D-backs. Image: Rick Osentoski-US PRESSWIRE

For me, it starts and begins with trading one our upper-level power arms for an upgrade at third base or short stop. Presumed starters Chris Johnson and Cliff Pennington are guys that could capably fill the positions, but they are also not roster strengths by any stretch of the imagination. Pennington has 24 career home runs over five seasons. He also has a poor .313 On-Base Percentage for his career, rendering him basically useless at the plate. Thankfully, he does have some defensive acumen.

Johnson on the other hand isn’t bad either offensively or defensively but isn’t good in either aspect, either. He is the definition of replacement level as he has a -0.8 WAR over his career; though, he did have a 0.7 WAR in 2012 with the Astros and Diamondbacks.

So if the D-backs really consider themselves contenders going forward, those two positions would be the easiest to upgrade. Now how to do that? Instead of trading a guy like Justin Upton, who they should be building around not constantly shopping like I wrote here, they could pull the trigger on one of their elite pitching prospects that are big-league ready. Trevor Bauer, Tyler Skaggs and Patrick Corbin all saw time in the majors last season with mixed results.

However, all three are considered to be prospects with great potential (Skaggs and Bauer a bit more than Corbin). The Diamondbacks currently have Ian Kennedy, Trevor Cahill and Wade Miley penned into the starting rotation for 2013. The D-backs also have adding a veteran starter to the mix as a top priority at this point. Assuming they find someone, that leaves one spot for Bauer, Corbin and Skaggs to battle it out for (not to mention Daniel Hudson will be back at some point).

In addition, the D-backs have guys like David Holmberg and Chase Anderson right behind those three and Archie Bradley and Andrew Chafin behind them. That’s a long way to say that the D-backs are stacked with high-upside starting pitchers in their farm system with very little position player talent.

So perhaps, the D-backs can trade one of their arms for an upgrade over Johnson and Pennington. I’ve seen quite a few rumblings from Royals fans that they would like to trade one of their young hitters for some starting pitching. I’m not saying it’s likely, but at least asking about Mike Moustakas would behoove the D-backs front office. That is item number one on my wish list.

Possibly giving up Bauer or Skaggs and another arm lower in the ranks for Moustakas would be a coop for the D-backs. It would provide a massive upgrade at third and possibly give the D-backs one more bat in a relatively deep lineup outside of third and short.

I’m not saying it’s likely, but I could wish, right?

Image: Rick Scuteri-US PRESSWIRE

Are you ready for some hard-hitting analysis? You sure? Okay, here goes: David Holmberg is a stud.

I was able to finally get to a live ball game on Sunday, May 20, (living in rural Montana doesn’t lend itself to seeing a ton of ball games), so I was really excited to learn that I would be able to see Holmberg in action against a good Bakersfield Blaze lineup featuring Billy Hamilton.

In a system that is loaded with pitching talent, guys like Holmberg can go unnoticed at times. But he has legitimate upside to be a top-of-the-rotation starter.

Holmberg is a lefty with a low 90s fastball that cuts in to righthand hitters. He pairs that fastball with an outstanding change-up that made more than a few Blaze hitters look like they shouldn’t even be in single-A ball.

He seemed to also throw a slider/slurve but it lacked form and didn’t break sharply. He probably needs to develop that third pitch into an at least average major league pitch to be completely effecting at the major league level. But the two pitches he does have are plus pitches and will give hitters on both sides of the plate fits with the cutting action of the fastball and the plus change-up.

Holmberg went seven innings, striking out nine, while only giving up one hit and no walks. Holmberg, along with fellow pitching prospect Andrew Chafin, form a dynamic duo in Visalia’s rotation.

Holmberg wasn’t the only guy to watch on Visalia as short stop prospect Chris Owings is in his second year at Visalia.

Owings has always had the potential for legitimate power out of a middle infield spot and shows flashes of defensively excellence. But his approach at the plate has always been awful. I mean AWFUL. In a little over 1,100 plate appearances, Owings has struck out 258 times and only walked 37.

That includes striking out 130 times and walking 15 times in Visalia last year. He has not improved much this year, in fact, he may have regressed. He has struck out 53 times in 200 plate appearances this year.

While I was watching, I counted at least 5 times that Owings swung at a pitch WAY outside of the strike zone. One of which came on a 3-0 count where he swung at a pitch at his chest and grounded out to the short stop.

If he doesn’t improve shortly, it will be about time to give up on him.

On the bright side, another prospect that needs to prove something soon, Bobby Borchering, hit two home runs. Borchering is also repeating the single-A level as a 21-year old so a lot is riding on this season. Borchering also strikes out a ton, to the tune of 162 in almost 600 plate appearances in 2011. He has continued to strike out too much this year, especially in a league he is repeating.

He does choke up on the bat in two-strike counts, maybe trying to help his strike out total, and thats not a good sign for a slugger with his type of power.

Still, he did put a really good swing on a couple of offerings and blasted them over the right field wall, one of which came on an 0-2 pitch.

Both Borchering and Owings, absolutely have to do better than striking out once every few at bats at the single-A level.