Arizona Diamondbacks acquire Deven Marrero, DFA Albert Suarez, select Fernando Salas - Patrick Corbin to start Opening Day

Three moves of significance for the Diamondbacks this morning, and an announcement as well.

Acquire INF Deven Marrero (did you know he went to ASU?) from the Red Sox for a player to be named later or cash considerations.

There had been rumblings about the team looking for external help to cover the gap while Steven Souza is on the disabled list. Is this the move? The obvious counter-argument is that Marrero is not an outfielder, having mostly been a third baseman for the Red Sox (also starting at second and short). But I’m wondering if the aim is to take utility man Chris Owings and make him the everyday right fielder, while using Marrero as the infield utility guy. Marrero is an interesting player. While his MLB bat has been pretty bad (OPS+ of 49 over 109 games, and only a .229 hitter in AAA), his defense is highly rated, and he can apparently hit lefties. He was out of options, so the Red Sox more or less had to trade him.

Select the contract of RHP Fernando Salas

There was perhaps a contract opt-out date involved in this decision, which makes it seem all but assured that Salas has locked down a bullpen roster spot for Opening Day. He has had a pretty solid spring, allowing only one run over 10 innings of work, with a K:BB ratio of 8:2. However, each of the last two seasons, he has been extremely good in short spurts, putting up ERAs of 2.08 with the Mets in 2016 and 2.63 for the Angels in 2017. But you could just as well look at the 4.47 he had with the Angels in 2016, or the 6.00 for the Mets in 2017, and come to the opposite conclusion, equally as legitimately! Oh, reliever: volatility is thy middle name...

Designate RHP Albert Suarez for assignment

And another rule 5 pick bites the dust, Suarez having not made enough of an impact to keep him on the roster. This spring, he had a 6.57 ERA over 12.1 innings, with a K:BB ratio of 10:5. He seemed to have a reasonable shot at a spot, with the injury for Randall Delgado opening a long-relief role, but it appears T.J. McFarland may be the occupant of that role on Opening Day instead.

Patrick Corbin to start Opening Day

The team just announced that Corbin will be the Opening Day starter, followed by Robbie Ray in the second game against the Rockies. This will be Patrick’s first Opening Day start, coming four years after he was denied the opportunity in Australia, when Corbin’s elbow issue resulted in Tommy John surgery.