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Diamondbacks GM: We've discussed pursuing Shields, Scherzer

Reuters

Dave Stewart took over as general manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks in September, only a few months after Tony La Russa was appointed the club's chief baseball officer, and the reconstituted front office may be looking to make a statement this winter.

Stewart - who finalized a trade with the Boston Red Sox on Friday that sent left-hander Wade Miley to Boston - noted shortly thereafter that the club has had internal discussions about pursuing pitchers James Shields or Max Scherzer, arguably the two best players still available in free agency.

The Diamondbacks trimmed nearly $16 million from their 2015 payroll by trading Miley and catcher Miguel Montero, who was dealt to the Chicago Cubs. Stewart mentioned that a big motivation for Friday's deal with the Red Sox was the desire to add power arms to the rotation.

Stewart and his lieutenants have yet to decide whether to vie for the services of either Shields or Scherzer, but both pitchers would dramatically improve a rotation that authored the fourth-worst ERA in the majors in 2014. Only two starters logged more than 115 innings for the Diamondbacks last season - Miley, the newest member of the Red Sox, tossed 201 1/3 frames - and just two of the seven pitchers to make at least 14 starts for the club managed an ERA below 4.00.

Name WAR IP ERA FIP xFIP
Max Scherzer 5.6 220.1 3.15 2.85 3.12
James Shields 3.7 227 3.21 3.59 3.56

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