PHOENIX — Diamondbacks General Manager Mike Hazen wasn’t really in the mood to talk after the World Series, yet he still was able to answer questions from the media for about 30 minutes on Thursday. Hazen is extra thankful for the postseason success and proud of the club but he has some regrets.
“I have a lot of regrets," said Hazen. “It’s kind of painful to sit here and talk about this after getting bounced from the World Series and feeling like what happened in Game 4 isn't 100% on me. We added at the deadline but we didn't do enough. We went through the playoffs knowing (in) a seven game series, that fourth spot was going to be a bullpen day twice. First time, we made it through, the second time, we did not. That's a tough one to swallow for me right now.”
D-backs did not have a fourth starter in the playoffs but it wasn’t because of lack of effort at the trade deadline.
“We were buying. I chased every starting pitcher on the market. The cost was pretty expensive but now sitting here in the World Series, it kind of changes your perspective.”
D-backs got a bunch of calls on young outfielder Alek Thomas and rookie starting pitcher Brandon Pfaadt. Both ended up being major contributors in the team’s World Series run.
“I do not regret not trading Alek Thomas or Brandon Pfaadt. I know I didn't get a starting pitcher and that's on me,” Hazen said.
Hazen was asked if adding an established starting pitcher is a top priority.
“Yeah. I love our young rotation but having three rookies in our rotation creates a lot of uncertainty on a night-to-night basis. So yes, having veterans in that rotation matter.”
“We know we have a lot of work to do. We know there are areas of our team that we want to try to improve. I think this run of 30 days highlighted some of our best baseball. I think the 84 wins during the regular season highlighted some of the areas where I need to make improvements. I think starting pitching is certainly going to be an area we need to address. From a position player side of things, we're losing some right-handed hitting off our roster and that's probably going to be an area that we're going to need to address again.”
This likely means the D-backs will have to spend some money. That will start with working out a long-term extension for manager Torey Lovullo.
“I'm not anticipating that the question of where he's going to be managing anytime soon is going to be something we're going to spend a whole lot of time on.”