│ D-backs spread cheer at Boys & Girls Club Club donates $100K for south Phoenix facility to add new gymnasium By Katie Krause / Arizona Diamondbacks http://m.dbacks.mlb.com/news/article/104226854/d-backs- spread-cheer-at-boys--girls-club Diamondbacks follow off-season script: Big bat, smaller payroll, young arms By Jack Magruder / FOX Sports Arizona http://www.foxsports.com/arizona/story/diamondbacks- follow-off-season-script-big-bat-smaller-payroll-young-arms- 121614 Could Justin Upton be headed back to the NL West? By Jules Tompkins / ArizonaSports.com http://arizonasports.com/42/1791941/Could-Justin-Upton-be- headed-back-to-the-NL-West Are Cubans now getting overpriced? MLB NEWS By David Schoenfield / ESPN.com December 17, 2014 • MLB.com http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/53973/are- http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/news/mlb_news_ind cubans-now-getting-overpriced ex.jsp Roundup: Order Among Winter Meetings Chaos; Humidor ASSOCIATED PRESS the Key to the Offseason? December 17, 2014 • Sports.yahoo.com By Ryan P. Morrison / Inside the 'Zone - ESPN.com http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/morenews http://insidethezona.com/2014/12/roundup-order-winter- meetings-chaos/ MLB TRANSACTIONS December 17, 2014 • MLB.com Are the Diamondbacks Rebuilding, Retooling, or Doing http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/transactions Something Else? By Ryan P. Morrison / Inside the 'Zona - ESPN.com http://insidethezona.com/2014/12/diamondbacks-rebuilding- retooling-else/ Best extreme stadium food offerings of 2014 By Kelyn Soong / The Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/early- lead/wp/2014/12/16/best-extreme-stadium-food-offerings-of- 2014/ Bryan Henry column: Baseball about making adjustments By Bryan Henry / Tallahassee Democrat http://www.tallahassee.com/story/sports/college/famu/2014/ 12/16/bryan-henry-column-baseball-making- adjustments/20495477/ 1 │ declining membership," Brad Kuluris, COO of the Boys & Girls Club. "But with the help of the D-backs and MLB, we have D-backs spread cheer at Boys & Girls Club turned this club around from declining membership to filled to Club donates $100K for south Phoenix facility to add new the brim, and annually the D-backs return to celebrate with the gymnasium kids at the holiday party." By Katie Krause / Arizona Diamondbacks http://m.dbacks.mlb.com/news/article/104226854/d-backs- The D-backs' club serves an at-risk youth population in south spread-cheer-at-boys--girls-club Phoenix and is an important destination for young people in the community. A fixture in the community for more than 50 years, PHOENIX -- The D-backs played Santa for a few hundred kids the club serves more than 1,500 young people, many of whom on Monday night with their fifth annual Holiday Party at the live at or below the poverty level. MLB All-Star Arizona Diamondbacks Boys & Girls Club, Diamondbacks follow off-season script: Big bat, smaller located south of downtown Phoenix, just five miles from Chase payroll, young arms Field. However, the big surprise was an early holiday gift of By Jack Magruder / FOX Sports Arizona $100,000 from the Arizona Diamondbacks Foundation for the http://www.foxsports.com/arizona/story/diamondbacks- facility to provide a new gym for the kids to enjoy for years to follow-off-season-script-big-bat-smaller-payroll-young-arms- come. 121614 Kids at the D-backs Boys & Girls Club were treated to a toy, PHOENIX -- The Diamondbacks did not make the biggest pictures with Santa, dinner provided by Raising Canes, games splash at the winter meetings last week. Chicago's teams did that, and a craft station. D-backs employees assisted kids with the both the south- and north-siders. New Los Angeles Dodgers' holiday decorations and each kid was able to select a toy from a president Andrew Friedman found creative ways to rework his secret toy room filled with everything from a skateboard to a unwieldy roster, also. doll from the movie Frozen. But the D-backs were plenty busy in their own way -- sticking to "It's a fun and exciting night for us, and if we did our job right the plan laid out by chief of baseball operations Tony La Russa these kids will get exactly what they have asked for from Santa," and general manager Dave Stewart. said Derrick Hall, D-backs president and CEO. "It never gets old when you see the kids march in with smiles on their faces. The D-backs made three major moves in three days in an And for a lot of these kids, this is the only gift they will get this attempt to distance themselves from an everything-that-could- Christmas because their families might not be able to afford it. go-wrong-did 2014 season. This is what the season is all about: giving, and giving in a D- backs way." The winter plan was to add a bat, shed salary and get younger and deeper, and the D-backs made inroads on all of that by The D-backs kicked off the evening with the $100,000 check announcing the signing of Cuban free agent Yasmany Tomas, presentation to the D-backs Boys & Girls Club that will be used trading catcher Miguel Montero to the Cubs and adding four to convert the outdated gym into a modern multi-purpose sports controllable pitching prospects in trades that cost them court. The club received the funding as part of the Arizona Montero, Didi Gregorius and Wade Miley. Diamondbacks Foundation Grand Slam Grant program. The new sports court will be used daily for team sports, fitness Still on the radar are a catcher to pair with Tuffy Gosewisch and classes, career fairs, holiday celebrations and games. Some possibly a left-handed bat in the outfield. improvements include new flooring, paint, sound proofing and energy-efficient lighting. Stewart added to the intrigue Friday when he said that the D- backs have discussed free agent right-handers Max Scherzer and "As a player, you don't really realize the impact the D-backs have James Shields, the two highest profile pitchers remaining in free on the community," said J.J. Putz, a former closer for the club agent pool since Jon Lester signed a six-year, $155 million deal who now serves as special assistant to Hall. "But to be here and with the Cubs. see the looks on these kids' faces, knowing that they are getting a brand new gymnasium and the toys they are able to pick out, The D-backs entered the offseason saying high-end starters were these kids are going to have a great Christmas and every kid off limits, and adding Scherzer or Shields would seem to require deserves it." them to trade another higher-priced veteran such as Aaron Hill in order to get the payroll relief necessary. Shields is believed to The D-backs, Magical Builders and Major League Baseball be seeking a deal worth perhaps $20 million a year; Scherzer, invested $2 million into renovations of the Boys & Girls Clubs much higher. of Metropolitan Phoenix during the 2011 MLB All-Star Game that was held in Phoenix. The renovations included a new games The D-backs have shown nimbleness by signing Tomas and room, teen center, main entry, multi-use outdoor sports field, making four other offseason deals, including one for starter outdoor baseball field, restrooms, cafeteria, kitchen, youth media Jeremy Hellickson, so while adding a big-money starter is center, youth computer lab and building façade. unlikely, it seems anything is possible. If the D-backs could swing either Scherzer or Shields to put at the top of the rotation, "The D-backs are very important to us because four years ago it would seem to signal they have fast-tracked their rebuilding they renovated this club along with Major League Baseball timetable and hope to contend sooner rather than later in the during the All-Star celebration, and up until that time we had 2 │ NL West against the likes of the deep-pocket Dodgers and http://arizonasports.com/42/1791941/Could-Justin-Upton-be- Giants, who have won three of the last five World Series. The headed-back-to-the-NL-West Giants are among the teams rumored to have interest in Shields. Justin Upton left the National League West nearly three years If the offseason has shown us one thing, it is that uber ago in a blockbuster trade between the Arizona Diamondbacks competitors La Russa and Stewart are not afraid to make a move and Atlanta Braves. and accept some risk. The D-backs have had to face him 12 times since they traded "It is difficult to go from 98 losses to 98 wins, but I don't think him east and the outfielder has torched his former team, batting you give in on the potential that sooner rather than later we can .357 with three home runs, 10 RBI and a 1.110 on-base-plus- be contenders," La Russa said at the winter meetings, giving a slugging percentage. general overview of the team's thinking. And in 2015, the D-backs may have to face Upton more than "If you have a good talent pool and they play tough and they just six times a year, as the 27-year-old may well be traded to a play well, you win extra games. We have a nice young nucleus. team within Arizona's division. There is a lot to build on. We have some quality veterans. I think what the winter is for is to create as much depth as possible." The San Diego Padres have often been linked to interest in Upton, who last year won his second Silver Slugger award after The position player group seem set except for catcher, when the hitting 29 home runs and 102 RBI to go along with a .270 D-backs could target former Cubs starter Welington Castillo or batting average.