Diamondbacks decline Zach Davies’ mutual option

The Diamondbacks declined their end of a mutual option on Zach Davies’ services for the 2023 season. The right-hander will now receive a $250K buyout and (as per the MLB Players Association) officially becomes a free agent.

Davies inked a one-year guarantee with the D-backs in March and posted a 4.09 ERA over 134 1/3 frames in 2022. It ended up being quite a solid return for Arizona on its $1.75M investment ($1.5M salary, plus the buyout) on the 29-year-old, and since Davies had some extra bonus money tied to his number of starts, his 27 trips to the mound likely earned him some additional dollars.

The value of the mutual option wasn’t known, though mutual options are almost never exercised by both parties. It’s probably safe to assume that it wasn’t an exorbitant sum, yet despite Davies’ solid bottom-line numbers, his advanced metrics provide some reason why the D-backs might be OK with moving onto other rotation candidates. Davies had strikeout (17.9%) and walk (9.1%) rates that were well below the league average, as well as his typically low fastball velocity and chase rates, though he did do a good job of avoiding hard contact. A .257 BABIP undoubtedly helped Davies, as his 4.71 SIERA is perhaps a more accurate reflection of his 2022 performance.

It’s possible the Diamondbacks might pursue a reunion with Davies, but with these stats in mind, the D-backs might choose to pursue another fairly inexpensive veteran arm rather than look to re-sign Davies himself. Arizona has Zac Gallen, Merrill Kelly and Madison Bumgarner atop its projected rotation, with such younger hurlers as Drey Jameson, Tommy Henry and Ryne Nelson set to compete for the final two spots in the starting five. The D-backs could prefer to let those youngsters compete for just a lone rotation job and acquire a veteran to fill the fourth starter’s role. Theoretically, that fourth starter could perhaps be flipped at the deadline, thus opening up more time for another prospect to get more innings.

Davies might well have been traded himself last summer had it not been for a shoulder injury that sidelined him for all of July. The right-hander will now hit the market once again and could join his fifth different team in as many seasons. Davies was a part of prominent trades in both the 2019-20 and 2020-21 offseasons, moving from the Brewers to the Padres and then to the Cubs before signing with the D-backs last winter.