Literally minutes before an arbitration hearing was scheduled to begin in Tampa, the Diamondbacks and Miguel Montero agreed on a one-year deal worth $5.9 million. Montero told Steve Gilbert, "I was sitting in the [hearing] room. I was getting a bottle of water right before it was supposed to start and they told me to step outside to talk." The final figure was a good bit closer to the team's submitted figure of $5.4m, than what Montero was seeking ($6.8m).

It has also just been announced that Ryan Roberts and the team have agreed on a one-year deal to avoid arbitration, settling at $2,012,500. I'm sure it was the extra $500 that did it. :) This deal slightly favors Roberts: the team offered $1.65 million, while the Dread Pirate wanted $2.275 million in booty. It leaves Arizona's streak of seasons without an actual hearing, intact - at least, for now. The last was in 2001, but one player is still outstanding - new reliever, Craig Breslow.

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Four players exchanged their arbitration figures with the Diamondbacks this week, the first step in a process which could - but probably won't - lead to an arbitration hearing, at which they and the team will each put their case before an impartial panel of arbitrators, who will set the salary for the year. After the jump, we'll explain the process, and let you play arbitrator by deciding which of the four men in question most deserves what they're asking for.

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Just when he was all but forgotten, it appears that Joe Saunders is - somehow, someway - going to be an Arizona Diamondback in 2012. The southpaw has reportedly agreed with the D-backs on a one-year contract after the team non-tendered him earlier in the off-season, having found the free agent market underwhelming despite posting 3.69 ERA in 212 innings for the D-backs in 2011. Yahoo!'s Steve Henson first reported the deal on Twitter, and ESPN's Jim Bowden seemed to confirm the signing on his Twitter account as well.

CBS Sports' Jon Heyman is now reporting on Twitter that Saunders will earn $6MM in 2012, a $500,000 raise on the $5.5MM Arizona paid him in 2011, and a steep cut from the $8MM or so he could have earned through arbitration. Nick Piecoro has also confirmed these details on Twitter. I think the lesson to be learned by all is never to say never with D-backs GM Kevin Towers. Having said that, I'm going to guess - ill-advised though it may be - that this is the final piece added to the club on a major-league contract for the 2012 season, with every spot on the roster seemingly accounted for.

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Well, that was an interesting thread. I don't think we've ever passed twelve hundred comments for a single move in the history of the SnakePit. Which goes some way to show how divisive a move this has been, with a certain section of the community really, really hating it, and most viewing it negatively. Personally, I won't necessarily argue with that viewpoint; I think it's certainly an odd move, if [and it's a significant if] that's the end of the story. We don't know, as yet, whether this is a precursor to a further trade that will free Gerardo Parra - in one way or another.

But if you don't fancy going through all the comments, I'll attempt to summarize both sides of the debate after the jump, in a Cliff Notes version of the discussion...

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Well, if you thought the D-backs were done with position players... Think again. Numerous sources report the team signed free-agent outfielder Jason Kubel to a two-year deal for $15 million; Steve Gilbert reports there's an option, but no word on the amount involved in that at this point, or if it's player, team or mutual. [Edit: Per Nick Piecoro, 2014 option is a mutual one, also for $7.5 million, with a low buyout of less than one million].

Kubel turns thirty in May, and has spent his entire career with the Twins since making his debut for Minnesota in August 2004. In his career, he has a line of .271/.335/.459, which works out at a 112 OPS+, with last season's numbers being very close to those - .273/.332/.434, 111 OPS+. [And a h/t to blank_38, who I just realized Fanshot this while I was still giving it Z's!]

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Ken Rosenthal reports that the Diamondbacks have non-tendered both Joe Saunders and Micah Owings. However, he adds that the team will likely try to sign both, but that the market will likely be "robust" for Saunders.

In two years with Arizona, Saunders went 15-20, but had a decent 3.85 ERA (105 ERA+). He was in his final year of arbitration, and having earned $5.5 million last year, was likely in line for something around $8 million in 2012. Owings, in his second stint with the team, had a 3.57 ERA with three starts in his 33 games and 63 innings of work. He went a perfect 8-0, though it took Ryan Roberts' bottom of the 10th-inning grand-slam against the Dodgers to keep things that way, Owings having allowed five runs in the top of the frame.

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Fresh off the weekend swap of Jarrod Parker for Trevor Cahill (et al), D-backs GM Kevin Towers made another splash on Monday evening, signing right-handed reliever Takashi Saito. The signing was first reported by Jim Bowden of ESPN and CBS's Jon Heyman on Twitter. Anthony Jackson, a beat reporter for the Dodgers, reports that the deal is a one-year contract. More terms of the move have yet to come out, but it seems like another solid acquisition for Towers, finishing off what looks to be a dangerous pitching staff for 2012. [Hat-tip to battlemoses for the original Fanshot]

Update: Terms of the contract are out, and it's a one-year, $1.75MM contract, according to Heyman. Hat-tip to G.O.B. for the link

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We've got budget flexibility to be able to afford another starter. I can't say if it's going to be Joe, maybe it'll be someone externally from the outside. We've certainly had ownership support to make this deal, but if it means make another trade, or acquire another starter through free-agency, we have that ability and the wherewithal to do that, if the right deal presents itself.
-- Kevin Towers

New Diamondbacks Trevor Cahill and Craig Breslow joined Arizona GM Kevin Towers this evening to discuss the trade with Oakland, and what it means for the team. Here's a transcript of that session with the media.

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