PITTSBURGH -- Torey Lovullo gathered his team in the food room off the visiting clubhouse at PNC Park on Friday, prior to their 1-0 win in 11 innings. It was time for the daily hitters' meeting to go over the opposing team’s pitching staff, but there was another purpose on this day.
Lovullo wanted to address the elephant in the room, with the Diamondbacks having traded first baseman Josh Naylor to the Mariners on Thursday. Arizona was off Thursday, so this was the team’s first chance to gather together since the move happened.
“I felt like that was important,” Lovullo said. “The one thing that we do in that clubhouse is we identify with how we're doing and feeling, and we talk about it. I don't like to bury things. I don't want anybody to wonder if they have a question. You ask it, I'll give you an answer. You might not like it. I'm going to be as brutally honest as I possibly can. So we gave the group some time to understand what was going on, and we talked about going out and doing our job. And that's the bottom line. That's all we can do. We can control one thing, that's at 6:40 tonight, to go out and prepare to win a baseball game.”
There has been speculation for the last few weeks what tack Diamondbacks GM Mike Hazen would take at the July 31 Trade Deadline. The trade of Naylor seems to indicate that Arizona will be sellers, but Hazen said he doesn’t know that for sure yet and wants to give the team a little more time.
One of those who could be moved -- and perhaps fetch the biggest return -- is right-hander Merrill Kelly, who will be a free agent at the end of the season.
“I feel like it's a little too early for a reaction,” Kelly said of how he was taking the news of the Naylor deal. “You know, it's just part of the business, part of where we're at. Obviously, there's been a million speculations about what we're doing. I think that yesterday is probably a signal, as far as you know what route we're taking, but you never know. We'll see what the front office has in store for us over the next couple days.”
It's a challenging time for the players, who are trying to remain focused on the task at hand; but with all the chatter out there, that is not always easy.
In addition to Kelly, right-hander Zac Gallen, third baseman Eugenio Suárez and outfielder Randal Grichuk will be free agents at the end of the year and are attractive options for contending teams.
The Arizona clubhouse is a tight-knit one and they want to keep the group intact believing that they still can make a run at a postseason berth despite the amount of injuries they’ve suffered to key pieces like ace Corbin Burnes and closers A.J. Puk and Justin Martinez.
It appeared to be business as usual before the game with players going about their usual routine and the usual laughter that happens before batting practice. They sang "Happy Birthday" to Lovullo, who turned 60 on Friday, and presented him with a jersey signed by the entire team.
“I haven't noticed anything different,” Kelly said. “Especially with the guys that have been around for a little while you know that it's kind of the ugly side of this industry. You're around guys for however long you play with them, and you walk in one day and they're gone. So I think the guys that have kind of dealt with it a lot, we kind of keep it moving, just because we know this was always a possibility. There always is a possibility. But I don't sense any different vibe in here. I don't sense any different energy.”