Arizona Diamondbacks

In the offseason, much is made of the comings and goings of established major league players in free agency.

But many often overlook the same thing happening in the minor leagues.

In the "Recapping Minor League Free Agent Losses" series, I'll be looking at what, if anything, each team is losing at the minor league levels.

I'm not going to bother covering every player, because not all of them are very important and I have little to say about many of them. I'll just be touching on those who I think could be of value to another team in free agency.

After a full week of reporting the happenings of Major League Baseball’s Winter Meetings, I resolve to finally put this subject to bed. But before I do, I wanted to add a few final thoughts from this year’s meetings.

With the exception of ”The Trade,” this year’s Winter Meetings were fairly uneventful. There were a few minor deals, but overall, the meetings were relatively quiet.

When the Arizona Diamondbacks representatives left for the Winter Meetings in Indianapolis they took with them a war chest of roughly $10 million and a laundry list of needs to fill on their roster. Given their financial position they were not expected to be major players during the meetings.

Instead the expectation was that Arizona would talk to several clubs and perhaps meet with the representatives of the second and third tier free agents on the market. It was therefore somewhat a surprise to hear the Diamondbacks mentioned in so many rumors from day one of the meetings.

This is far from comprehensive. But here goes.

1. Peter Gammons is leaving ESPN. Never liked the guy. I hate the Red Sox.

Throughout baseball, team representatives and members of the media have packed their suitcases and found themselves in Indianapolis. What could possibly possess the baseball community to make a trip to the frozen mid-west in the dead of winter?

The Winter Meetings begin today and with them the hopes and dreams of your team becoming a contender are born.

One of the feel good stories of the 2009 Arizona Diamondbacks season was the promotion of Reno Aces outfielder Trent Oeltjen to the major league club. Oeltjen immediately became a fan favorite with his contagious smile and his eager attitude.

Oeltjen, from Sydney Australia, appeared in 24 games for the Diamondbacks hitting .243 with three home runs and four RBIs. Nicknamed the “Thunder from Down Under” he had a loyal following of Diamondbacks fans who cheered whenever he appeared in the dugout or on the field.

Just under two weeks ago the Arizona Diamondbacks made a slew of roster changes setting their 40-man roster . I found the timing of that somewhat interesting since they entered the free agent period with no openings on the roster.

This leads you to believe that any changes that will occur will be the result of a trade rather than a free agent signing. Not only a trade; but one that would include a member of their 40-man roster.

The Arizona Diamondbacks current management team has made a conscious effort to be available not only to the media but to the everyday fan. Since taking over as president of the Arizona Diamondbacks, Derrick Hall has offered an open communications channel to anyone.

Besides offering his email address up to those wanting to speak with the team, Hall has also implemented a monthly forum where members of the Diamondbacks front office are available through the team website to answer questions from the fans.

The passing of the deadline for Major League Baseball teams to offer arbitration to their former players clears the landscape slightly in the free agent market.

Players who have been offered arbitration have until Monday to decide whether to accept, but at least now teams know which players will cost them draft choices if they decide to sign them.

With the trade for Aaron Heilman the Arizona Diamondbacks addressed one of their needs for the 2009 offseason. Going into the free agency period Arizona general manager Josh Byrnes publicly stated he was interested in finding a reliever, a veteran bench player, and a No. 4 starter for the rotation.

Now that the free agent market is officially open the Diamondbacks are free to negotiate with any of the current crop of players on the market. The deadline for filing for free agency is now closed meaning we now know who is available.