SnakeBytes, 12/10: Rule 5 draft and Winter Meetings Day 4 Open Thread

Diamondbacks news

[AZ Central] Diamondbacks' Dave Stewart sees Shelby Miller deal as chance to win - "I value the draft picks just as much as other ballclubs," Stewart said. "I think the difference is that if my gut tells me to do something then I follow my gut. But I value the Number 1 picks. I value the comp pick that I traded away. I value development. Our minor-league system, I think, measures as good as anyone else’s. There’s nothing different about how I value draft picks or the development system. It’s just I guess you could call me a little bit aggressive if I see an opportunity." Stewart noted that  he’s also targeted young minor leaguers in deals during his year-plus on the job.

[Yahoo Arizona GM Dave Stewart: 'We’re in the business here to win' - - As far as the winter meetings are concerned, every tomorrow is Christmas. At worst, tomorrow is a tag-along thing, stapled to today, as though today couldn’t possibly exist without, you know, tomorrow, because today without tomorrow is like plaids without skinny jeans. Which is what’s made the Arizona Diamondbacks’ offseason pretty satisfying. Today, boys. Today. Nobody’s getting any younger, the Dodgers aren’t getting any poorer, the Giants aren’t getting any dumber, and Paul Goldschmidt and A.J. Pollock aren’t getting any more ready to win.

[New York Times] Diamondbacks Not Worried About Future, or Finances - Stewart is unapologetic. He disputed the idea that he had compromised the team’s future by dealing three first-round picks. "That’s three players," he said. "Believe me, they’re very highly regarded players. But three players do not make our future. We’ve got second-round picks, third-round picks, fourth-round picks. The draft goes to 40."

[ABC News] Diamondbacks shaking up the NL West - "That's now a damn good team," an NL West scout said Tuesday as the rest of the sport was trying to digest the Diamondbacks' dramatic deal for Miller. "That's a very tough lineup to work your way through. They play the game the right way. And I like their rotation a lot. I'm a big Patrick Corbin fan, and if he's not all the way back, he's pretty close. I thought Rubby De La Rosa pitched very well the second half last year. So there's a lot to like." If you noticed, he just ran through his lot-to-like list and never even mentioned the name: Paul Goldschmidt. In truth, there's even more to like.

[Inside the 'Zona] Welcome to Winning - Parting with Inciarte is hard. Losing Swanson and Blair is difficult, even if they were overvalued by most. Shelby Miller’s value has jumped around, but there’s reason to think the most recent version is here to stay. Who fills the number five spot is a mystery, but one we’ll gladly take. You have to do this if you’re the Diamondbacks – you can’t go half way. It’s all in, right now, no matter what. Welcome to winning.

[Washington Post] Love their deals or hate them, the Diamondbacks are the talk of the offseason - "People have always asked me, ‘What is the worst part of my job?’ " Stewart said Wednesday. "And my answer has always been, ‘Sometimes, you do things that you don’t want to.’ Believe me, I didn’t take any great pleasure in trading … Aaron Blair or Dansby Swanson. But in the short term, it makes our major league team better. It gives us an opportunity to win today. And that’s what my thought was in the moves that we made." What, exactly, is wrong with that thinking?

[MLB Daily Dish] Diamondbacks are transforming the NL West - The Diamondbacks look like they will be resurgent in 2016 and that we may have a total realignment in the NL West to contend with. That said, they paid a heavy price to do it... In five years, this deal may look awfully silly for the Diamondbacks. But, then, if they make the postseason and have a deep run a couple of times in the next three years, nobody is going to give a damn about that. And rightfully so.

[Arizona Sports] The D-backs made a good move in getting Miller - To lure the stud 23-year-old [Fernandez] away from Miami, the D-backs would have had to part with — drum roll please — Pollock, Corbin, Bradley, Shipley, Chase Anderson and Brandon Drury. Now, that would have been highway robbery. This deal with the Braves isn’t. It’s just a good trade for both teams as Atlanta is rebuilding and needs prospects and Arizona is going for it all this year. This deal with Atlanta keeps Arizona’s best team on the field right now. They exchange one major leaguer outfielder for a bona fide No. 2 pitcher.

[MLB.com] D-backs' Chip Hale excited for Greinke, Miller - Hale said it looks like outfielder A.J. Pollock, who hit third toward the end of last season, will move to the leadoff spot. Hale said right field belongs to Yasmany Tomas for now. The infield will feature intense competition/ "That's going to be a nice battle," Hale said. "Guys are going to earn it. Last year Brandon had a fantastic camp; as you remember, we got him out of camp fairly early because we knew he was going to start the year in Double-A. This year, it's wide open. If he has that camp, he's going to be starting somewhere on our team."

[Examiner.com] Diamondbacks develop "win now" mentality - If Stewart is ready to move forward, manager Chip Hale is clearly in concert. Speaking with reporters late Wednesday afternoon here, Hale carefully formulated the present Diamondbacks’ culture as creating a great sense of urgency. "We’re at a point right now where want to win now," he said. "Sure, it hurts to trade away players who are part of your family. Ender is a great outfielder and Swanson will be a great player at the major league level. Of course, we didn’t want to give up those guys, but we want to take this team to the next level."

[Minor League Ball] The baseball player without a position, Peter O'Brien - While manning right field in 2014, he made just one error in just 12 contests, then another 10 in 101 games splitting time between both outfield corners for Reno in 2015. O'Brien truly proved that the search for a defensive home is still a work in progress. Depending on what media outlet you look at, O'Brien is listed anywhere from the 9th best prospect in their system (MLB.com), to the 19th best (FanGraphs). With a log jam of good players at every position that O'Brien could potentially play in 2016, O'Brien looks to potentially be a trade piece or if nothing else another AAA stud for Reno.

And, elsewhere...

[HardballTalk] Major League Baseball issues new safety netting recommendations - Major League Baseball has issued recommendations to all 30 Major League Clubs with respect to fan safety at games. Specifically, recommendations related to expanding the number of seats covered by protective netting and expanding the ways in which clubs warn fans about the dangers of sitting near the field.

[The Good Phight] Addition by Addition: Phillies Sign David Hernandez - Matt Klentak -- owner of such blockbuster moves as "Acquiring Jeremy Hellickson for a pitcher who is barely in single-A" and "grabbing some guys you may or may not have heard of off waivers" -- has done it again, signing David Hernandez in a move that will be sure to make everyone in baseball say "Oh yeah that guy, wondered what happened to him." But David Hernandez -- former bullpen ace for the 2011 and 2012 Diamondbacks -- is a pretty good Phillies target.

[PJ Media] The Greatest Baseball Player Nobody Knows - Few people could identify the Major League Baseball player who set the record for most times stealing home in a single season (7), and most times carried off the field in a stretcher in his career (11), not including similar events while playing ball in the Army during World War II. That player, who enjoyed a season and a half of extraordinary performance until the first of many head-on collisions with an outfield wall short-circuited his career, was Pete Reiser, sometimes known as the original "Pistol Pete."