Snake Bytes, 12/7: St. Louis Blues

[The Athletic] Rosenthal: A Q&A with Diamondbacks owner Ken Kendrick on a ‘bittersweet’ trade and his message to fans - Why is this right for the Diamondbacks, in your opinion? Because it was apparent that as his contract would end, what he would want in a new deal would not fit where we think we need to take this team at this point. It has been reported there were discussions about an extension. But there was obviously not a deal to be made... The value of him in the marketplace today is probably greater than it would have been at mid-season or at the end of the season if we were unable to sign him. And we became convinced we wouldn’t be able to.

[Fox Sports 910 Phoenix] GM Hazen: Bridging The Gap We Have To Get Creative - The general manager says there are more moves to be made due to a roster filled with players moving towards free agency. “It’s becoming more challenging given that our roster not aging from an age standpoint but from a control standpoint. We have a number of players that contracts are coming up in the next couple of years and you can never bank on doing an extension. This is a tough division. In order to compete year-in and year-out you need talent and a lot of it. Unfortunately at the upper levels of our system we haven’t had as much as we needed to and we felt like we needed to make this deal to build upon that for awhile now.”

[Arizona Sports] New D-backs pitcher Luke Weaver expects better season in 2019 - “It wasn’t a great feeling to see numbers like that,” Weaver said. “You want to go out there and be the best you can. It was humbling to look at them and know how much there is to gain from it.” Weaver, 25, said it will take “easy fixes” to get him back to his 2017 form, when he posted a 3.88 ERA in 60.1 innings. He cited several bad starts as the reason his numbers took a dip in 2018.

[dbacks.com] Kelly, Weaver excited for opportunity in Arizona - Kelly said of Molina, who is revered for his ability to work with pitchers and call a game. "I've gone to five Spring Trainings with him, so I've got to see firsthand the work ethic and what it takes to be a Gold Glove catcher and the leader of a team. I've just taken that stuff to heart. I've written a lot of stuff down. I like to write stuff down. I've taken a lot of information in and applied to that to my game and now I feel that I'm getting my opportunity to go out there and perform and show what I've got."

[Sports360AZ] Carson Kelly Looking to Grow, Help Luke Weaver Do the Same - Learning from one of the best catchers in baseball can be a double-edged sword. Kelly could learn the lessons to make him great from Molina, but he couldn’t apply those lessons consistently in Major League scenarios because of his mentor’s stranglehold on the position. In 117 at-bats over the course of three years, Kelly hit .154 with no home runs and 10 RBI. “It was a tough situation for sure,” Kelly said. “It was more the mental side than the physical side I thought I was ready to play but getting those opportunities and not knowing when you might get another one, it weighted heavily on me. I think that is part of the reason I haven’t had a ton of success at the big league level yet is because of that.”

[Arizona Sports] President Derrick Hall hopes Paul Goldschmidt can be a D-back again - “I’m so happy for Goldy. He is such a good human being,” Hall said. “The difficult part for our baseball staff was trying to separate the man from the decision. Speaking to him yesterday, I was emotional on the phone with him. I teared up and let him know how much I loved him. He is so important to me. He’s a member of my family. As I told him at the end of our conversation, ‘Goldy, I hope you’re back with us, either as a player in the future or working for us and for me because that’s how important you are to me and our organization.’”

[Inside the 'Zona] 2019 D-backs Top Prospects: #1-10 - After a ton of debate, checking my own thinking, re-reviewing the stats, checking my notes on guys I’ve seen, and talking to scouts and evaluators, the final ten are set. And let me say for the record: this top-10 was harder than any other. There’s legitimate argument for who should be #1 overall, and it doesn’t get any easier from there. It’s a matter of weighing upside and certainty, tools and performance, the known and the unknown. Disagreement is expected, not because I took wild chances, but because everyone’s preferences are different. So it goes…

[Cronkite News] ‘Goldy’ gone: Arizona sports scene suffers another blow as D-Backs trade Goldschmidt - The trade left many to wonder who will replace him as the face of the franchise. “I think we have a number of players who have invested quite a bit into this team,” Diamondbacks Senior Vice President and General Manager Mike Hazen said. “From Jake Lamb to David Peralta, Robbie Ray, Nick Ahmed, I think we have a number of players. Hopefully some of the younger players like Ketel Marte see this as an opportunity to take a lead in that area.”

[WDEF] The Diamondbacks are committed to a rebuild after trading Paul Goldschmidt - how drastic will it be? - The team’s best hitter and best pitcher from last season are gone, with A.J. Pollock and so many others poised to follow, so it makes little sense to cling to other veterans still under team control... Nabbing Kelly plus a buy-low on Weaver in exchange for one season of Goldschmidt is exactly the kind of move that Hazen should be empowered to make with the rest of the current roster. If DBacks fans want to see winning baseball again relatively soon, they should root for more of the same with just about everyone who’s still left.