The Arizona Diamondbacks acquired Didi Gregorius on Tuesday in a three team, nine player trade that attempted to solidify Arizona’s future at the shortstop position. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports

The Arizona Diamondbacks continued their busy off-season on Tuesday by acquiring what they hope to be their answer at shortstop for years to come in a three-team, nine player trade also involving the Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Indians. Arizona acquired young shortstop Didi Gregorius from Cincinnati and left-handed reliever Tony Sipp and first baseman Lars Anderson from Cleveland.

Arizona shipped prized pitching prospect Trevor Bauer and relievers Matt Albers and Bryan Shaw to Cleveland. Cleveland also acquired outfielder Drew Stubbs from the Reds. Cincinnati received Indians outfielder Shin-Soo Choo, shortstop Jason Donald and about $3.5 million from Cleveland.

Arizona’s Trevor Bauer was shipped to the Indians on Tuesday in a three team, nine player deal involving Cleveland and Cincinnati. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

The center piece for the Diamondbacks was Gregorius, a player that GM Kevin Towers said reminded him of “a young Derek Jeter”. Considered more of a defensive standout, the 22 year-old Dutchman got his first taste of big league action last season. Gregorius hit .300 with two RBI’s in eight games with Cincinnati last season. In five minor league seasons, Gregorius hit .271 with 20 home runs and 166 RBI’s, splitting time between rookie ball t the lowest level and Class AAA at the highest. His best season in the minors came in 2010, when he hit .272 with five home runs and 41 RBI’s split between Class A ball and  professional baseball in Australia. He also hit 11 triples for the Reds farm system that season.

The Diamondbacks had an obvious falling out with Trevor Bauer and he became expendable with the signing of Brandon McCarthy last week. While Bauer has massive potential, his throwing program and attitude irked people in the organization and he became surplus for the Diamondbacks. They had to give him up to get their man in Gregorius. Bryan Shaw was going to see his role reduced this season with the acquisition of Health Bell and Albers was seen as a stop-gap in the bullpen for the short term.

Tony Sipp will get his chance to compete for a left-handed spot in the Arizona bullpen with Matt Reynolds. The left-handed Sipp pitched the last four seasons in Cleveland. Last season, Sipp was 1-2 with a 4.42 ERA in 63 appearances for the Indians.

Anderson will most likely be sent down to Class AAA Reno. Anderson hit .250, with 9 home runs and 59 RBI’s last season with Class AAA Pawtucket and Columbus.

Both offer something a little different than the other. One is cheaper on some groceries and the other is cheaper in other groceries. So in an attempt to maximize our groceries and minimize our spending, my wife and I create two separate shopping lists – one with groceries that are usually cheaper at one store and another for groceries that are cheaper at the other. It’s our own personal “Moneyball” if you will. Billy Beane has nothing on us.

Okay, so we’re spending $200 instead of $60 million, but the idea is the same. We’re trying to maximum the value of our dollar.

Each season, every MLB team tries to do the same thing – maximize the value for their dollar. For teams like Beane’s A’s, the Rays and the D-backs, that means being only able to spend half, or less, the money that teams like the Dodgers, Yankees and Tigers can. So every dollar counts.

Miguel Montero was the latest Diamondback to sign a long-term deal but the D-backs will have to do some other shopping this offseason to round out their roster. Image: Chris Humphreys-US PRESSWIRE

With that in mind, I’ve taken a quick look at what the D-backs will be shopping for this offseason. Using Baseball Reference and Cot’s Contracts, I was able to compile the D-backs guaranteed contracts in 2013, arbitration eligible players and pre-arbitration eligible players.

To start, the D-backs used a 13 position player, 12 pitcher composition of their 25-man roster for most of the season. The D-backs have 10 players with guaranteed contracts in 2013 (numbers in parenthesis are in millions): Miguel Montero ($10), Justin Upton ($9.75), Jason Kubel ($7.5), Aaron Hill ($5.5), Willie Bloomquist ($1.9), John McDonald ($1.5), Heath Bell ($9), J.J. Putz ($6.5), Trevor Cahill ($5.5) and David Hernandez ($1.25). That fills six position player spots, one starting pitcher spot and three bullpen spots for a total of $58.4 million (minus $4 million that the Marlins will be paying of Bell’s contract).

Other players that are locks to make the opening day roster are Gerardo Parra, Paul Goldschmidt, Adam Eaton, Cliff Pennington, Ian Kennedy, Brad Ziegler, Matt Albers, Josh Collmenter and Wade Miley.

Parra, Kennedy, Ziegler and Albers are all arbitration eligible while Goldschmidt, Eaton, Pennington, Collmenter and Miley are all pre-arbitration. The exact numbers for each of these players’ salaries for next year is volatile so I won’t even pretend to guess at that number. However, the number will likely take the D-backs close to a $70 million cap number.

In addition, the D-backs have options on catcher Henry Blanco (club option for $1.24) and Matt Lindstrom (mutual option for $4). The D-backs seem unlikely to pick up Lindstrom’s option now with Bell, Ziegler, Putz, Hernandez, Collmenter and Albers already in the pen.

The option on Blanco is up in the air at this point.

Now that we’re all caught up with the details, it looks like the D-backs will have six spots on their grocery list to fill the 25-man roster: 3B, a back-up catcher, a bench corner infielder, two starting pitchers and one more relief pitcher.

The two starting spots seem to be the easiest to fill from within. Patrick Corbin probably is being considered a strong candidate for one of the two starting spots available. Corbin pitched well for the D-backs in stretches last season but did finish the season badly and ended with a 4.54 ERA. Corbin may be destined for the bullpen at some point. Last season as a reliever he had a 1.54 ERA, and as a starter, he had a 4.91 ERA.

Trevor Bauer struggled mightily in his stint with the D-backs last season but has to be a favorite to fill one of the two starting spots. Bauer, by pretty much all accounts, was stubborn in his approach and never wanted to challenge hitters by throwing strikes. Basically, he tried to get major league hitters to chase pitches out of the strike zone. Well, they’re major league hitters for a reason and wouldn’t give in to Bauer. Because of that, he had a 6.06 ERA and walked 13 batters in 16.1 innings of work.

The frustrating part is that Bauer has plus stuff and could challenge all hitters in the strike zone and get results. If he is able to learn that lesson and throw strikes, he could be the top of the rotation pitcher the D-backs thought they were drafting.

However, the pitcher I think should and will end up in one of the starting spots is Tyler Skaggs. Skaggs threw 29.1 innings in 2012 and compiled a mediocre at best 5.83 ERA. But I for one came away from his outings impressed. He wasn’t wild and has a repertoire that should be able to miss bats at the major league level. He’s spent four seasons in the minor leagues compiling a 2.98 ERA and appears to be ready to make the next step.

That fifth spot will either be Bauer or Corbin but signing a veteran free agent to a one-year deal worth $5 million or so isn’t outside of the realm of possibility, either.

The next biggest priority for the D-backs should be a starting third baseman. Chris Johnson took the D-backs by storm after his acquisition from the Astros last season but slowed down quickly. He is arbitration eligible this season for the first time and if the D-backs choose to sign him, he will undoubtedly be the starting third baseman. I think this might be the best option for the D-backs at this point. However, there are other options if the D-backs decide to go another way.

Ryan Wheeler played for the D-backs regularly after his call up in late July last season. However, he failed to impress. He had a .294 OBP and a .339 Slugging in 109 at bats. Now, that’s still a small sample size and the D-backs may believe in Wheeler enough to give him the starting spot, but I think that would be a mistake. Wheeler has always been strike out prone and his defense is suspect at best.

The problem the D-backs face, if they don’t believe in Wheeler or Johnson, is the free agent class at third, though. The class is mediocre with Kevin Youkilis probably the best option. The D-backs would likely only want a short-term contract to serve as a stop gap until prospect Matt Davidson is ready (most likely the 2013 season).

Yet another possibility is trading for a third baseman, which GM Kevin Towers has shown he is not afraid to do. Still, I think the most likely option, out of the few mediocre options, is signing Johnson.

That leaves a backup catcher and one more bench player. Montero played a league leading 141 games at catcher last season. That left a paltry 21 games for backup Blanco for the entire season. Montero’s durability is part of the reason the D-backs signed him to a six-year, $65.9 million deal during the season. However, that contract is also a big reason to make sure Montero stays healthy by sitting him a few more games.

They should take his starts down to a more manageable 125-130 per year. That’s still quite a bit but it also makes a decent backup catcher a bit more valuable. Blanco probably is not the answer at 41 years old. A good right-hand hitting catcher to allow Montero to sit against tough lefties is probably the goal. Perhaps a guy like Kelly Shoppach at one year and $1.5 million would be a good fit. Shoppach has a career .868 OPS against lefties and a .658 OPS against righties.

Having that extra bat to come off the bench against lefties can be very valuable to the D-backs.

To fill the last bench spot, the D-backs should look at a left-handed hitter that can fill in at first to give Goldschmidt some help against tough righties. (Side note: as much as Goldy is known for absolutely owning Tim Lincecum, he has actually struggled against righties and killing left-handed pitching. He has a 200 point difference in OPS from lefties to righties.)

A guy like Adam Laroche, if his option is not picked up by the Nationals, should strongly be considered by the D-backs.

To round out the shopping list, the D-backs will need one more relief pitcher to fill out the bullpen. That will almost assuredly come from with the organization. Guys like Bryan Shaw and Sam Demel will probably be the front runners for that slot. I’d like to see the D-backs give Shaw another shot.

All-in-all, here is the 25-man roster that is most likely (plus a few things I would personally like to see) going into 2013:

C- Montero

1B- Goldschmidt

2B- Hill

3B- Johnson

SS- Pennington

LF- Kubel

CF- Eaton

RF- Upton

BN- Parra

BN- Bloomquist

BN- McDonald

BN- Shoppach

BN- LH Power Bat (e.g. Laroche)

SP- Kennedy

SP- Cahill

SP- Miley

SP- Skaggs

SP- Bauer

CL- Putz

SU- Hernandez

RP- Bell

RP- Ziegler

RP- Albers

RP- Collmenter

RP- Shaw

Arizona Diamondbacks shortstop Stephen Drew (6) (right) shakes hands with third base coach Matt Williams (9) after hitting a home run against the Philadelphia Phillies during the second inning at Citizens Bank Park. Image: Dale Zanine-US PRESSWIRE

Record Notes: With the loss on Sunday the team dropped its record to 55-53 and fell four games behind the Giants as both the Dodgers and Giants swept their opponents over the weekend.

*The offense was shutout on Saturday 4-0 marking the sixth time this season they have been shutout- all after June 4th.

*Of their ten losses in the second half, in eight of them the offense has plated two or fewer runs. It was the 37th time in their 53 losses that they were held to two or fewer runs.

*With Sunday’s 5-4 walk-off loss the Dbacks fell to 8-15 in one run games- a year ago this team was 28-16 in one run games.

GOOD: Starting Pitching. All three starters put together quality starts over the weekend and have now had six straight quality starts going 4-1 in those games. There were a couple mental mistakes that cost them including a bases loaded walk in the fourth by Joe Saunders to make it 2-0 on Saturday and on Sunday when Trevor Cahill threw a wild pitch with runners on second and third to cut his lead to 3-2 after the Dbacks put up three runs in the top half of the second inning.

*Ian Kennedy won his fourth straight start on Friday night hurling six innings and allowing just two earned runs. Kennedy retired just one batter via the strikeout marking the first time he was credited with a win and recorded just one strikeout since he did so against the Mets on July 19th, 2010. He had one strikeout against the Cardinals in April 2011 but lasted only three innings while getting pounded for nine earned runs. It was also his fourth straight quality start improving his record in the second half to 4-1. Two side notes about Kennedy that shows he still isn’t the ace we grew accustomed to last year: he hit his tenth batter on Friday night matching a career high set in 2010 and also allowed his 19th homerun on the year matching last years total. His career high for homeruns allowed is 26 set in 2010.

*J.J. Putz recorded his 11th straight save on Friday night closing out a perfect evening where the relievers threw three shutout innings without allowing a hit. It was Putz’s 20th save on the year marking the second consecutive year with 20+ saves. After a dismal start to his season that saw his ERA balloon to over 10.00, the closer has not allowed an earned run since June 19th when he took the loss against the Mariners allowing two ninth inning runs- a span of 13 consecutive scoreless innings.

*Chris Johnson is making sure his series against the Dodgers wasn’t a fluke as he added another RBI single on Friday and smashed a two run homerun off of Cliff Lee on Sunday. He is hitting .381 with three homeruns and 10 RBI’s in his first six games as a Diamondback.

BAD: Aaron Hill has cooled off over the last couple weeks and has not recorded an RBI in his last six games while benefiting from only one multi-hit game in his last thirteen efforts. He also hasn’t homered in his last fourteen games.

*Jason Kubel continues to struggle as he is now 6 for his last 38 (.158) with 16 strikeouts and just one RBI. He hit his first homerun in his last eight games- a solo shot- on Friday night but is clearly not seeing the ball very well with his high strikeout count and low walk count (6) during the stretch.

UGLY: I’m convinced Gerardo Parra is the worst base runner on the Dbacks. He just may be the fastest Dback but he is certainly not the smartest base runner on the team. The situation: Saturday night trailing 2-0 in the eighth- after Halladay dominated the team all night- was replaced by Josh Lindblom who then retired the first two batters of the eighth (both strikeouts) before walking Parra on four pitches. Drew is up- last two at bats: single and a double- and on a 1-1 count Parra takes off for second (with a red light) and is caught stealing to end the eighth. True, Parra on base doesn’t automatically mean that he scores and the team comes back to tie it but it certainly doesn’t leave any opportunity for a guy who was swinging the bat well. Again, poor decisions keep running the Dbacks out of innings- this time it just may have cost them the game.

*Mike Zagurski failed to make it through the eighth on Saturday night as he allowed two of the first three hitters to reach base with singles before being pulled for Matt Albers- his first appearance as a Dback- and Albers couldn’t close out the inning either allowing a two out single and Zagurski being credited with the run making it 3-0 heading into the ninth. It was the second time in Zagurski’s last three appearances that he failed to make it out of the inning.

NOTES: Paul Goldschmidt hit his 16th homerun on the year Sunday afternoon- his third in the last six games- and is the last man standing with a .300+ batting average on the ballclub. Just over one week ago there were four hitting .300 or better.

*Stephen Drew connected on Sunday for his first homerun of the year and first since June 29, 2011. It was also Drew’s first RBI in his last eleven games. Still, Drew is swinging the bat very well despite his average.

*Henry Blanco was hurt in Sunday’s eighth inning and has been placed on the 15 day DL with a sprained thumb. He left the team to return to Arizona for an MRI Monday- Blanco believes there is ligament damage which could end his season.

*To combat the injury, the Dbacks have signed 34 year old catcher Wil Nieves off of waivers from the Rockies.

*Justin Upton hit his 100th career homerun on Friday night and later that evening his older brother B.J. Upton mashed his 100th career homerun into the seats. Upton led the Dbacks with six hits against the Phillies over the weekend.

*David Hernandez left with an injury to his calf after being hit with a line drive Sunday afternoon but it isn’t believed to be serious and may be available as early as Tuesday night.

*The Diamondbacks travel to Pittsburgh to take on the Pirates Monday night for the start of a four game set. The Pirates are a N.L. best 33-16 at home this season while the Dbacks are 25-29 on the road.

Now bring on the Buccos!!!

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