Brad

Ziegler

He did so on his 39th birthday. Especially for someone who didn’t debut until age 28, Ziegler had a heck of a career, making 739 relief appearances with a 2.75 ERA and 105 saves. He even led the majors in appearances at age 38, pitching in 82 games and throwing a career-high 73 2/3 innings this year between the Marlins and Diamondbacks. He would have had no trouble finding work as a free agent this winter.

Ziegler requested $1.945 million and was offered $1.46 million from the Diamondbacks when arbitration figures were exchanged last week, so the two sides settled just north of the midpoint. The 32-year-old right-hander posted a 2.16 ERA and 44/19 K/BB ratio over 58 1/3 innings last season between Arizona and Oakland. He remains under team control through 2014.

Ziegler, who is arbitration-eligible for the second time this winter, had a 2.16 ERA and 44/19 K/BB ratio over 58 1/3 innings last season. The two sides should be able to settle somewhere in the middle.

Arizona acquired Ziegler two months ago, and he’s been masterful ever since, posting a 1.74 ERA and 1.02 WHIP in 20 2/3 innings for the Diamondbacks. That was before Sunday. In fairness, one batter reached base on an error, while one of the walks was intentional. But there’s no escaping this performance, which was the first playoff appearance of his career.

The former 20th-round pick hasn’t received much attention since he blew onto the scene as a rookie in 2008 (finishing eighth on that season’s Rookie of the Year balloting), but he hasn’t slowed down much. The right-handed specialist has posted a career 2.45 ERA over 347 appearances, which makes him a good bullpen piece in deeper formats, even if he had more saves in that rookie season (11) than he’s had since (eight).

It was a half-hearted endorsement, as Gibson also didn’t dismiss the possibility of David Hernandez or Brad Ziegler being used in a save situation Sunday. With J.J. Putz also due back soon, Bell, who has allowed a home run in each of his last five relief appearances, is on very shaky ground.

Financials of the deal aren’t known. Ziegler, who was in his second year of arbitration, posted a 2.49 ERA out of the pen in 2012 in his first full year with the D’Backs. He’ll be used as a right-handed specialist again in 2013.

Ziegler has fired six consecutive 1-2-3 innings, a run that began on August 30. He owns a poor 37/21 K/BB ratio over 71 appearances, but Ziegler’s success comes by inducing weak contact and he’s done so often this year, posting a 2.30 ERA and 1.14 WHIP.

Ziegler surrendered a pair of singles but walked the tightrope and protected a one-read lead. He’s strung together seven consecutive scoreless frames, nice to see after Ziegler’s rough patch in late August. The right-hander is 11-for-13 in save conversions and boasts a 2.26 ERA and 1.15 WHIP.

It’s time for the Diamondbacks to put Ziegler back into a setup role, but their best option to replace him, J.J. Putz, just returned to the DL with a finger injury. Unless they want to go back to Heath Bell -- and they don’t -- Ziegler will likely keep the job for now.