Arizona Diamondbacks Possible Threat to Los Angeles Dodgers
The Arizona Diamondbacks appear to have been having quite the MLB offseason, following the signing of Madison Bumgarner as a free agent. That signing was reportedly for a five-year period at $85 million. Not only that, but the Diamondbacks went even further by bringing Hector Rondon, Kole Calhoun and Stephen Vogt to their rankings, amongst a selection of others.
It didn’t end there either, because the Diamondbacks then reportedly traded Starling Marte in a deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates, sending them two prospects and $250,000 in international signing bonus pool money. Prior to that trade, Marte had spent the entire eight years of his career with the Pirates.
With such offseason moves, MLB pundits have found themselves becoming quite enamoured with the Diamondbacks. In fact, it has led to some singling out the team as being a highly legitimate threat to the Los Angeles Dodgers, who have long been the favoured team in NL West. Pundit Richard Justice even went as far as to say that the acquisition of Marte was the “final touch on another tremendous offseason by D-backs baseball boss Mike Hazen”.
Needless to say, baseball is one of those games that has plenty of focus put on it by online sports betting sites. 22bet, for example, is one such sportsbooks that finds itself taking many wagers on the outcomes of games in the MLB. That could be due to the favourable odds that it provides, or the range of games available to bet on. Yet, it could also be due to the fact that there’s a 22Bet bonus code available to benefit from there, too. That’s something that all bettors can claim through this site.
More Pundits Hype the Diamondbacks
It hasn’t only been Justice that has been praising the offseason moves of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Even Buster Olney said that since Mike Hazen took over the baseball operations for the team, he has made significant changes and gained the respect of front offices within the industry. Unlike a lot of other teams, he said, “the Diamondbacks didn’t tank. They’ve addressed payroll issues, moving beyond Paul Goldschmidt and moving past Zack Greinke, but they have stayed competitive”. He went on to say that he believes the Diamondbacks are the biggest threat in the National League West when compared to the Dodgers.
Dan Bernstein called the traded Starling Marte an “important ingredient in a potential 90-win campaign and wild card berth”. Meanwhile, pundit Jayson Stark said that he just likes Arizona’s offseason. “It feels like they’ve been dropping pieces into a puzzle”, he commented to MLB Now.
The likelihood is that once the offseason is over, the Arizona Diamondbacks will be quite the focus for many who take notice of the NL West division. With the teams’ acquisitions and trades, it will be the game plan of many to see just how impressive they can be, and also, whether they’re actually able to defeat the Dodgers, too.
Main Photo
Embed from Getty Images
