Diamondbacks Still Out of the James Shields Sweepstakes
By Joseph Jacquez
I don’t know if I ever seen a free agent’s market fluctuate more and be so mysterious than what James Shields has gone through this year.
The Padres, Yankees, Cardinals, Giants are among the teams interested in him, and yet he probably won’t get more than $70 million, and it’s taken till the last two weeks of the off-season for him to sign.
According to a report by Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic, the Diamondbacks are still out of the James Shields sweepstakes.
GM Dave Stewart says Dbacks still not in on James Shields.
— Nick Piecoro (@nickpiecoro) February 4, 2015
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There are two things that I take away from this news and I want to get to both. First of all can we trust anything that Stewart says anymore?
He seems to be the type of G.M. that likes to keep his true intentions to himself, and when he is open with the media, it isn’t always the truth.
Stewart also said that the Diamondbacks were not pursuing a new catcher, and that the team was comfortable with Tuffy Gosewisch, and Oscar Hernandez behind the plate for 2015.
He didn’t keep his word, and for the Diamondbacks sake it was a good thing. Stewart signed veteran catcher Gerald Larid to a minor league deal. He is great behind the plate, and he can hold his own with the bat.
Second, earlier this off-season Chief Baseball Officer Tony La Russa said that he would be disappointed if this team doesn’t finish above .500.
This revamped front office believes this team can compete this year, even though most people believe the Diamondbacks are in a rebuilding mode.
As said in my article about Shields, my opinion on the matter doesn’t matter, and neither does yours. If the Diamondbacks believe they can compete they should do whatever they can to get that goal accomplished even if it means increasing payroll.
The Dbacks desperately need an ace, and if they wait till 2016 it might be to late. What Stewart is saying about Shields contradicts what he is saying about the Dbacks ability to compete in 2015.
Even if the Diamondbacks don’t get Shields, they should try to acquire him, and it doesn’t look like they are going to try.