D-backs deal Soria at mostly quiet Deadline

Friday's Trade Deadline passed rather quietly for the D-backs, who dealt closer Joakim Soria to the Blue Jays in exchange for two players to be named later.

Arizona had already dealt infielder Eduardo Escobar to the Brewers on Wednesday night, receiving a pair of Minor Leaguers -- infielder/outfielder Cooper Hummel and third baseman Alberto Ciprian.

The relative calm at the deadline was not a surprise, as D-backs officials had been saying for weeks that any overhaul of the roster would more likely take place during the offseason when it is easier to get moves done.

"We made a couple of trades that we feel good about," D-backs GM Mike Hazen said. "I didn't necessarily anticipate there being a mass of trades [for us]."

The D-backs currently own MLB's worst record at 32-71, so there was some expectation among the fan base that they might make more deals.

However, Hazen said after surveying the landscape he did not want to make trades just to make trades. Ownership, he said, did not put any pressure on him to unload salary, though they did save roughly $2.8 million in the Escobar deal and another $1.3 million with the Soria trade.

D-backs team president/CEO Derrick Hall said on Thursday that while the exact direction of the offseason has not been finalized yet, the team was likely to hit "reset" and field a younger roster in 2022.

"I think moving forward, we are going to have more players coming up, and we want to give them opportunity to come play," Hazen said. "So that may shift a little bit how we look at things. I still don't think we have the entirety of our [farm] system ready to come up and perform at the Major League level to the point where you're going to see a completely young roster, one through 26. There's going to be veteran presences and players that we obviously have on the roster now that we value."

The youthful transition will happen, though, and it will begin even before the offseason.

For example, the team promoted third baseman Drew Ellis from Triple-A Reno on Friday, and fans should also expect to see younger players like Pavin Smith, Daulton Varsho and Josh Rojas continue to get a lot of playing time.

In addition, Josh VanMeter and Andrew Young will get playing time and Hazen said there could be more promotions from Reno as the season goes along.

Again, the D-backs will not go young just to go young. And securing the No. 1 pick in next year's MLB Draft, which they would get if they have the worst record, is not something Hazen considers something to shoot for.

"Where we pick in the Draft, we're going to pick good players," Hazen said. "You know, getting the first pick in the Draft is not a goal of mine -- playing good baseball is."