If you want to know what a "roster churn" is, look no further than the Arizona Diamondbacks.
'Zona signing Madison Bumgarner raised some eyebrows, considering the team just shipped off Zack Greinke at the 2019 trade deadline for four of Houston's top prospects. Weird that they'd believe they were better served not only eating money on that deal, but signing Bumgarner for essentially what was left on that Greinke deal, even if the years are a bit longer.
But it should be applauded that a team went out and spent money, given the state of free agency over the past year or so. Even if it's as weird a team as the Diamondbacks.
But there's been lots and lots and lots of talent that's passed through the desert over that span, and it's resulted in just two NL West crowns since 2007 and three postseason appearances overall. The Diamondbacks haven't exactly kept core talent around and have missed on some trades while trying to figure out what they want to be.
Still, because of payroll or decent trades or desire of prospects, lots of guys who could have stayed longer in Arizona uniforms just didn't.
So, in alphabetical order by last name, here's a list of some talented guys who played for Arizona at some point. You may draw your own conclusions.
Bauer, Trevor
Years: 2012
Career accomplishments: All-Star (2018).
Bauer pitched in just four games as a 21-year-old in 2012, but his ascent up the ranks was quick. He was drafted in the first round in 2011 out of UCLA, and just over a year later, he pitched in four games for the Diamondbacks before being sent back down to Triple-A.
Bauer was traded in a three-team deal (a recurring theme with Arizona, as you'll soon find out), that sent Bauer to the Indians, Shin-Soo Choo from Cleveland to the Reds and Didi Gregorius from the Reds to the Diamondbacks. We'll see how that deal works out a bit later.
Bauer has had an up-and-down but solid MLB career, highlighted by his 2018 season, his lone All-Star appearance. It was also the only year to date that he got a Cy Young vote, finishing sixth in the voting.
Goldschmidt, Paul
Years: 2011-2018
Career accomplishments: All-Star (2013-2018), three-time Gold Glove winner (2013, 2015, 2017), four-time Silver Slugger (2013, 2015, 2017, 2018).
Mr. Diamondback was a perennial All-Star for Arizona and finished in the top five of MVP voting three times. He had 209 home runs with the D-backs over eight seasons, a .930 OPS/145 OPS+ and played Gold Glove caliber defense for the majority of his tenure in the desert.
With a year left on his contract, Arizona shipped Goldie off to St. Louis for Luke Weaver, Carson Kelly and Andy Young. Weaver and Kelly both performed well for Arizona in 2019; Weaver turned in a very promising year, pitching to a 2.94 ERA (3.07 FIP) in 12 starts (an injury-shortened season), while Kelly whacked 18 home runs for Arizona, a career high.
Still, it's tough to see one of the NL's best players traded — a year before his contract ended — but for now, it seems to be working out for Arizona as they enter a rebuild-on-the-fly phase.
Gregorius, Didi
Years: 2013-2014
Career accomplishments: N/A
After being acquired in the aforementioned Bauer trade, Gregorius didn't do much of anything offensively in two seasons with the Diamondbacks. He slashed .241/.314/.368 in 183 games over two seasons with Arizona. But that came with a bit of reason.
In 2013, Gregorius was hit in the helmet by lefty Josh Outman, and he later attributed his inability to hit lefty pitching to that incident, saying he didn't feel comfortable stepping in the box against southpaws.
In December 2014, Gregorius was part of a three-team trade which sent him to the Yankees, Shane Greene to the Tigers from the Yankees, and Robbie Ray from Detroit to the desert. Ray remains a fixture in the Arizona rotation, despite (somewhat unsurprising) trade rumors surrounding him in 2019.
Gregorius continued to grow as a player with the Yankees and turned around his offensive woes, slashing .269/.313/.446 in the next five seasons with New York, setting career highs in home runs in three consecutive seasons between 2016 and 2018 (20, 25, 27).
Greinke, Zack
Years: 2016-2019
Career accomplishments: AL Cy Young (2009), six-time All-Star (2009, 2014-2015, 2017-2019), six-time Gold Glove (2014-2019)
The Diamondbacks dropped a bombshell by signing Greinke to a $206.5 million deal on Dec. 8, 2015. The 2016 D-backs roster was pretty good, but they finished with just 69 wins, and it was Chip Hale's last season as manager before Torey Lovullo was brought in. Arizona won 93 games the next season.
Greinke was coming off a Cy Young-caliber season in 2015 — he probably should have won, if not for Jake Arrieta's insane second half — but signing with the Diamondbacks was a shocker. It didn't necessarily appear as though the Diamondbacks were ready to compete, especially with the ever-shifting roster, but setting a contract record for a pitcher at the time was very uncharacteristic.
In 2019, Greinke was traded to the Astros at the trade-deadline buzzer. They also sent cash to help pay for the deal and got four pretty good prospects back in the process. Seems like a win-win, but time will tell.
Haniger, Mitch
Years: 2016
Career accomplishments: All-Star (2018)
Haniger was originally drafted by the Brewers but was traded to Arizona in 2014 for Gerardo Parra. He was then part of the deal that sent Taijuan Walker and Ketel Marte to the D-backs in 2016, and it's one that looks pretty OK on both sides. Though, Arizona does need outfielders at this point.
Haniger was an ascending outfielder in 2018, hitting 26 home runs and amassing a 6.1 bWAR in his first and best full season in the majors (157 games played).
Injury cut short Haniger's 2019 season.
Pollock, A.J.
Years: 2012 to 2018
Career accomplishments: 2015 NL Gold Glove
Pollock had a fairly up-and-down career with the Diamondbacks, largely beset by injuries in his seven season with Snakes, so it's reasonable to see why Arizona let him walk in free agency to the Dodgers.
Pollock had a career year in 2015, garnering some MVP votes as he finished with a 7.2 bWAR. It was also the second and last time Pollock finished the season with more than 120 games played.
When Pollock is healthy and right, he's a very productive three-win player. Unfortunately, it's hard to gauge when that will happen. He missed a majority of the 2019 season while dealing with an elbow injury, his first year playing for the rival Dodgers.
Scherzer, Max
Years: 2008-2009
Career accomplishments: Three-time Cy Young (2013, 2016-2017), World Series champion (2019), two no-hitters thrown.
Scherzer was shipped to Detroit as part of a three-team trade that sent Curtis Granderson to the Yankees. The Diamondbacks got Edwin Jackson and Ian Kennedy in the deal. Fair trade.
Scherzer wasn't really Scherzer yet, and he wouldn't be for another few years with Detroit. Still, it was apparent the talent was there — he was Arizona's No. 11 draft choice, after all — and trading him off for EJax and Kennedy is probably something that the Diamondbacks would like a do-over on. While Kennedy helped the D-backs win the West that year, long term it probably wasn't the right move.
While Scherzer eventually signed a $210 million deal with the Nationals in free agency, it's hard to see how they're better off churning the roster entirely and spending that extra $4 million on Scherzer as opposed to Greinke.
Weird, man.
Segura, Jean
Years: 2016
Career accomplishments: All-Star (2013, 2018)
The D-backs traded Chase Anderson, Isan Diaz and Aaron Hill to the Brewers for Segura, which doesn't look too bad in hindsight. Segura had the best season of his career in Arizona in 2016 with a 5.5 bWAR season, playing the majority of the time at second base.
Then, the following offseason, he was traded to the Mariners for Ketel Marte and Taijuan Walker, a deal that made a lot of sense at the time, and still looks pretty solid. Marte is coming off an MVP-caliber season, but Walker was non-tendered by Arizona after having dealt with Tommy John surgery, forcing him to miss the better part of two seasons.
Segura would eventually be traded to Philadelphia after having two very good years with Seattle.
Swanson, Dansby
Years: N/A
Career accomplishments: N/A
It's probably unfair to list Swanson here considering he never played an inning with the major league club, and his career hasn't exactly taken off to this point (3.7 bWAR over four seasons with Atlanta). But the Diamondbacks traded Swanson for Shelby Miller, who … well, it was a pretty bad trade on paper. Swanson, Ender Inciarte and top pitching prospect Aaron Blair for Miller.
Swanson was one of the top overall prospects in the game at the time, and Miller was coming off a pretty good year with Atlanta (3.9 bWAR). He would never sniff those heights again, pitching in 29 games over the next three seasons with Arizona, tossing a 6.35 ERA, as well as dealing with injuries which resulted in Tommy John surgery. It's widely considered one of the worst trades in history, though there's time yet for a "no contest" on this deal.
Upton, Justin
Years: 2007-2012
Career accomplishments: All-Star (2009, 2011), Silver Slugger (2011)
Upton came up as a 19-year-old wunderkind in 2007, and over the next six seasons he would slash .278/.357/.475 with 108 home runs for the D-backs. Upton would then be traded in the winter of 2012 to Atlanta for Brandon Drury, Nick Ahmed, Martin Prado and Randall Delgado.
Overall, Upton would amass 13.7 bWAR in six seasons with the Diamondbacks with 731 games played.
