SnakeBytes 11/17: Paul Bronzeschmidt

Award news

[MLB] Paul Goldschmidt finishes 3rd in NL MVP voting - "I'm actually getting tired of talking to him and congratulating him with all these awards," D-backs manager Torey Lovullo joked. "But what it means is you have one of the best players in the game on your team, and it's all so well deserved for him. We're proud of him for that. He's so unassuming while winning the Silver Slugger and the Gold Glove that you just take those things for granted, because he is so special and so consistent every day."

[FOX Sports] D-backs Torey Lovullo wins NL Manager of the Year Award - "I wanted to change the culture, change their expectations,” he said. “And I watched that during spring trining, these guys really gravitated to one another. Just get to the idea of raising expectations, raising the bar a little bit higher. That’s what we need to do in Arizona.I think there’s still a little bit of hurt about how this season ended, the guys are still feeling it, I think we’re all eager to see what we can do in future years.”

[AZ Central] Lovullo wins NL Manager of the Year - “It’s an organizational thing is how I’m viewing it,” Lovullo said during a press conference at Chase Field on Tuesday evening. “Without ownership as strong as it is, without the front office and the relationship I have with them, without the coaches and the players, I’m not sitting here. A lot goes on behind the scenes that nobody knows about. The final piece of that whole puzzle is the players go out and perform at the level they do, and that’s why I’m sitting here today.”

Team news

[MLB Trade Rumors] Offseason Outlook: Arizona Diamondbacks - Hazen decided against cleaning house in his first offseason as Arizona’s GM, and his relatively quiet winter was rewarded by a postseason trip. A busier offseason seems to be on the horizon now, however, as while Hazen is still looking to better position the team for the future, there is more pressure to win in the aftermath of 2017’s good results.

[AZ Central] Derrick Hall says Diamondbacks’ payroll won’t see steep increase - Hall said the club’s target 2018 payroll could rise as the offseason progresses depending on whether the club’s anticipated revenues increase, but he said that wouldn’t be a significant jump. “You’re not talking about $10 million,” he said. To that end, Hall said the team has seen strong numbers in its season-ticket renewals for next year. He said the team normally hopes for an 80-85 percent renewal rate; it is already over 90 percent for next year. “With the season we had, we expected the results to be strong and they have been,” Hall said. “I’m thrilled with where we’re at and we’ve had a lot of new sales in addition to the renewals.”

[MLB] D-backs get Competitive Balance pick in Draft - In 2018, the groups of teams switch places, meaning there will be eight Comp Round A picks and six in Round B. Major League Baseball re-ran the aforementioned formula, and while no teams dropped out because they are no longer in the bottom 10 in revenue and/or market size, the order in each round has changed. The Pirates, Orioles, Padres, D-backs, Royals, Indians, Rockies and Cardinals all picked in Round B in 2017. They move up, in that order, into Round A for 2018. That currently falls in picks 31-39, with the Rays sneaking in for pick No. 32 as compensation for not signing No. 31 overall pick Drew Rasmussen in 2017.

And, elsewhere...

[Fanrag] Union Challenge Means Otani Status On Hold - One week after MLB and Nippon Professional Baseball worked out a “tentative agreement” on a $20 million posting system for Japanese two-way megastar Shohei Otani, the players union balked at the arrangement on Wednesday, meaning there remains a significant hurdle to be cleared before Otani makes his move from the Nippon Ham Fighters to the majors. MLB had been hoping to receive approval Wednesday for its one-year extension arrangement. But the players union has the right to approve – or reject – any foreign protocol agreement. And the union decided not to accept, and instead to counter.

[NY Daily News] MLB says they'll look into 'juiced' baseballs - Fans charged that the ball was "juiced," MLB denied it. But even MLB wanted some evidence to back that up apparently. Monday, the GMs received a presentation from MLB on how they are looking into the issue, Mets assistant GM John Ricco said. "They talked to us about the committee they put together that is currently in the midst of studying it," Ricco said. "They have put together a high-level panel of physicists and scientists to study the ball and early returns are there really not much has changed, But we'll see what they say at the end."

[FanGraphs] 2017 Disabled List Information - The number of trips by hitters is up 29% and up 21% for pitchers. Almost all of the jump in pitcher trips can be explained with the 10-day DL. While the days dropped 12% from 2016 to 2017, the trips increased by 29% for pitchers. It’s tough to know what is causing the disparity. It could be that 2016 was the peak with injuries and teams are finally keeping players healthy. It could be that shorter stints give players a needed break (even if they aren’t hurt) to make it through the season. It could just be a fluke season and injuries will skyrocket next season in keeping with a 10+ year trend. There are just too many factors in-play with the 10-day DL to predict the future.