Welcome to the D-backs Insider Newsletter. It was quite a week for the D-backs and all of Major League Baseball as the Hot Stove has finally started to heat up. Let’s get right to it ...

The Dodgers’ signing of free agent Shohei Ohtani to a record 10-year, $700 million contract left some D-backs fans discouraged, but it doesn’t seem to have fazed those in Arizona's front office.

Los Angeles won 100 games last season, 16 more than the D-backs, but as Arizona showed with last year’s run to the Fall Classic, you don’t have to win your division or finish with the best record to get to -- or win -- a World Series.

For general manager Mike Hazen, having to play a tough division opponent like the Dodgers a bunch during the regular season can be an advantage come October.

“This is one of the most competitive, toughest divisions in baseball,” Hazen said. “We’re happy to compete in it. I think it makes us better, frankly, that we have a division that for 162 [games] we get pushed. I think it helped us in the playoffs this year that you get beat up in this division quite a bit, and then you walk into the playoffs and you’re kind of used to it.”

Ohtani’s contract calls for him to make $2 million a year for 10 years, with $680 million deferred until after that.

D-backs managing general partner Ken Kendrick spoke with reporters following the news conference to introduce the newly signed Eduardo Rodriguez and cleared up what he thinks has been a misconception by people.

Yes, the Dodgers will only owe Ohtani $2 million a year in salary, but by rule, they will need to fund the deferred money in an escrow account. Multiple reports have listed that figure as over $40 million per year.

“They’re playing by the rules,” Kendrick said. “They got a great player, who is going to be an addition that makes them more competitive. But the economics are not so tilted in a way that puts them at an incredible advantage over the rest of us. That money has to be sequestered in an account and held on behalf of the player.”

After years of looking up at the Dodgers in the division as well as being swept by them in the National League Division Series in 2017, the D-backs turned the tables on them in 2023. Arizona swept Los Angeles in the NLDS, winning the first two games at Dodger Stadium, a place that had been a house of horrors for the D-backs in recent years.

“I think it's good for us that we get to compete against [Ohtani],” Kendrick said. “Last I looked, he's one of nine. And the last I also looked, he's a designated hitter. He's a great player. Is he the second coming? I would suggest not. Would you like to have a player of that talent on your team? Of course, everyone would. And we'll have fun competing against them. We already did have fun competing against them, at least the last time we played.”

Here’s a look at some other topics that Kendrick touched on with reporters on Tuesday:

Team payroll

Following their run to the World Series, the D-backs anticipate more revenue in 2024, and as they’ve done in the past, the ownership group is prepared to reinvest that.

“We’d like to think we can have greater revenue streams going into next season, when more people want to come out and watch our team play,” Kendrick said. “And we’re going to reinvest. The Diamondbacks are going to go on the field this year with the highest payroll in the history of the team. I’m not going to tell you what it will be, but it will be the highest payroll we’ve ever had.”

According to Cot’s Baseball Contracts, the D-backs’ highest Opening Day payroll to date was $131,565,116 in 2018.

Kendrick said that Hazen has been told that he has money left in the budget to spend this offseason.

The D-backs are not leaving Arizona

The D-backs' lease at Chase Field runs through 2027, and the organization has been exploring other locations in the Valley, as well as refurbishing Chase Field.

Staying at Chase Field is the most “likely event,” Kendrick said, but he added that there hasn’t been a final decision made yet.

One thing that is clear is that the D-backs won’t be leaving Arizona.

“Well, that ain't gonna happen,” he said.

Club is working on TV deal

Bally Sports ended its relationship with the D-backs midway through last season, with MLB stepping in to produce the games. Next year’s plan is not yet set.

"We'll have a very viable regional television deal going into next year," Kendrick said. “We’re still looking at exactly how we’re going to do it.”

The D-backs, he said, are exploring options that include having some of their games broadcast over the air.

Keeping up with the changing media landscape is a challenge that a lot of MLB teams will be facing in the coming years, Kendrick said.

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