Per Bob Nightengale of USA Today, Diamondbacks GM Dave Stewart said that while current closer Brad Ziegler hasn’t done anything to merit losing his grip on the closer’s role, he would be open to acquiring another closer or at least another high leverage reliever.
Following Saturday’s trade with the Brewers which brought Jean Segura into the fold, the D-Backs have a surfeit of depth up the middle including Nick Ahmed and Chris Owings. One of them could potentially be put in a trade to bring a reliever back to Arizona.
Ziegler, 36, performed quite well as the Diamondbacks’ regular closer last season, saving 30 games in 31 opportunities since taking over on May 21. In his 68 total innings, he struck a grand total of 36 batters but walked only 17 while inducing a rather high amount of ground balls. Among relievers who racked up at least 50 innings last season, Ziegler’s 72.8 percent ground ball rate was bested only by the Orioles’ Zach Britton (79.1 percent). Ziegler isn’t the prototypical closer and given his age, it’s understandable why the club would look for better options elsewhere.
