Arizona Diamondbacks acquire veteran arm to help bullpen
The Arizona Diamondbacks have officially attempted to right their struggling bullpen via the trade market.
They have traded cash considerations to the Minnesota Twins for right-handed reliever Matt Bowman. Bowman has appeared in five games this season for Minnesota. He has posted a 2.35 ERA, a 0.783 WHIP and a 2.3 hits per nine innings rate.
He has been playing Major League Baseball since 2016. However, he missed all of 2021 and 2022 due to Tommy John surgery. Bowman has experience pitching in the National League from 2016 to 2019 when he pitched for the Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Cardinals. DBacks starter Merrill Kelly was transferred to the 60-day injured list as a result of this move to open up the spot on the 40-man roster.
The move for Bowman signals that the front office has indeed identified a weakness on the team in the bullpen. Of the 30 major league clubs, the DBack bullpen ranks 20th with a 4.34 ERA. They also rank 20th with a 4.12 FIP, suggesting that they are not dealing with a tremendous amount of bad luck when it comes to their lackluster results this far into the season.
Potentially more indicative of that is the bullpen's 3.36 SIERA, which places 28th among the sport. This weakness contrasts with the offense of the team — which ranks fourth in runs (162), eighth in batting average (.249), and 10th in OPS (.719).
As for the cash considerations traded to the Twins, the DBacks are not among the front end of the league when it comes to spending, and almost never are. Even this year, when the DBacks are being uncharacteristic in dropping $169,268,300 on the team's total payroll, that number still just barely cracks the top half of MLB, ranking 14th around the league. Perhaps it was only a matter of time before the DBacks looked to make a trade like this.
As for the Twins, they add cash to what was already a low-spending club in 2024 — ranking 19th in total payroll with $127,657,359. After winning the AL Central last season, the Twins are 17-13 and clearly may be gathering inventory for a deal of their own to make another run for another division title.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Diamondbacks send Twins cash for veteran relief pitcher
