D-backs aim to push reset button on pitching in ’17

PHOENIX — The D-backs looked like the big winners of last offseason when they surprised baseball by signing Zack Greinke to a six-year, $206.5 million deal and acquiring Shelby Miller — even though some balked at the cost — to improve their rotation.

The 2016 season, however, was a disappointment, and as the D-backs head into this offseason, many questions must be answered.

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At the top of the list is who will be the one making the decisions, with neither chief baseball officer Tony La Russa nor general manager Dave Stewart assured of being offered new contracts.

Once the front office is settled, the organization will have to figure out whether the results of 2016 represent an aberration caused by injuries or whether full-scale changes to the roster will be needed.

As they tried to do last year, the D-backs will again take strides to improve their pitching staff. Changes must be made to the bullpen, and the club will have to decide whether to break up the young nucleus in the rotation or bank on the possibility of enough of their starters taking a step forward.

While the D-backs spent a significant amount of money last offseason, they probably will not have much to work with this time around, unless they are able to move some contracts.

When Spring Training opened, the D-backs had hopes of playing deep into October. Instead, it will be a month spent trying to figure out what the right moves will be this winter.

Arbitration-eligible: SP Rubby De La Rosa, RP Randall Delgado, C Welington Castillo, C Chris Herrmann, INF Jean Segura, SP Patrick Corbin, SP Miller, INF Chris Owings and C Tuffy Gosewisch

Free agents: OF Rickie Weeks Jr. and RP Daniel Hudson

Rotation: Heading into next season, unless major trades are made, the rotation figures to consist of the same group that saw action in 2016. The D-backs will hope that Greinke can recapture the form he enjoyed …

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