The D-Backs are "expected to increase their spending again, perhaps even getting into the nine-figure range next year for the first time in more than a decade," according to Nick Piecoro of the ARIZONA REPUBLIC. After the "surprise signing" of LF Cody Ross, the team's '13 payroll "came in around" $90M. D-Backs GM Kevin Towers said, "We’ll be above that, definitely above that." Piecoro notes the team is "already on target to exceed" its '13 payroll, with several players "due significant increases in their salaries next year." The D-Backs' current roster "will be due" close to $95M for '14 when arbitration raises are included (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 10/23). In Phoenix, Dan Bickley writes the D-Backs are a "flawed group coming off successive .500 seasons, suddenly competing with a payroll juggernaut" in the Dodgers. It is "only going to get harder, and it will test just how much" Managing General Partner Ken Kendrick "can and will spend" on D-Backs players. Team President & CEO Derrick Hall said, "Nobody wants to win more than Ken Kendrick. He challenges us everyday to increase revenue so we can put it back on the field. He has never put a single penny in his pocket from this team because he wants it in his player personnel purse" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 10/24).
FRONT OFFICE CONSISTENCY: Hall on Tuesday said that the Tigers "have not contacted him to ask for permission" to contact D-Backs manager Kirk Gibson about replacing Tigers manager Jim Leyland. Hall added that Towers is "in the 'same boat' as Gibson after the club decided not to exercise options" for '15-16 in Towers' contract. Hall emphasized that his "intention is for both to remain with the club over the long haul" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 10/23).
