Arizona Diamondbacks Trade Deadline Moves Shore Up Holes

In a refreshing, and somewhat surprising, change of pace, the Arizona Diamondbacks were buyers at the trade deadline as opposed to sellers.  In two much needed moves, the team acquired Jason Marquis to shore up the back end of the rotation, and Brad Ziegler for depth in the bullpen.

The move to acquire Marquis was a priority, as the fifth spot in the rotation had been in shambles for the past month.   After Zach Duke failed to prove himself reliable, the Diamondbacks have been trying stop gap solution after stop gap solution to fill the slot, racking up plenty of frequent flyer miles bringing in players from Mobile and Reno.

The move also allows Micah Owings to return to the bullpen where he has been outstanding, sporting a 2.37 ERA as a reliever. 

The Diamondbacks were able to add these pieces without giving up any big prospects, which would have been a devastating mistake.  While the Diamondbacks have a great shot to win the NL West they’re more than a few players away from being a legitimate contender for the World Series.

The Diamondbacks gave up Brandon Allen and Jordan Noberto to get Ziegler, and Zach Walters to get Marquis.  Allen was once thought to be the answer to the Diamondbacks longstanding question of who will play first base, but after numerous times being called up only to be sent down it was becoming somewhat apparent that Allen was one of the notorious AAA players, at least for the Diamondbacks.

With Allen off the roster, the Diamondbacks made the much anticipated call up of 1B Paul Goldschmidt from Mobile.  Goldschmidt is one of the Diamondbacks top prospects and their most hopeful option at a legitimate first baseman.

The Diamondbacks are just two games behind the Giants for first place in the NL West, could these moves be enough to unseat San Francisco?  While the Giants have arguably the best all around pitching staff in baseball, and have the second lowest team ERA of all Major League teams, they also have scored the second least amount of runs.  With that kind of unbalance, anything is possible.

With the Diamondbacks starting a three game series against their bay area rivals Monday night, they have a chance to make their own move.