MLB reporter says Arizona Diamondbacks have added former All-Star: "Dbacks, trying to strengthen their bullpen, have signed reliever Jeurys Familia"

The Arizona Diamondbacks have signed a former All-Star reliever to a minor league deal. According to Bob Nightengale, Jeurys Familia is headed out west. Nightengale said:

"The Arizona Dbacks, trying to strengthen their bullpen, have signed veteran reliever and closer Jeurys Familia to a minor-league contract with an invite to their major-league spring training camp.”

Joel Sherman also added:

"Can confirm that Jeurys Familia signed a minor league deal with the Diamondbacks. If he plays in the majors, he’ll receive $1.5M with a chance to make $500,00 more in performance bonuses. Used offseason to go to Driveline plus play in the [Dominican Republic] to try to revive career.”

Familia has bounced around often, playing with the New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies, Boston Red Sox and the Oakland Athletics. This will be his fifth stop, but he's had success in most of the places he's pitched.

He was an All-Star in 2016 and led the league in saves that year with 51. If the Diamondbacks can tap into that talent, they'll have made one of the best under-the-radar signings of the year.

If he can't return to form, then it won't hurt Arizona much. It's just a minor league deal, so it's truly a low-risk, high-reward type of contract.

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Are the Arizona Diamondbacks expected to compete this year?

The Arizona Diamondbacks finished 74-88 last season, so they weren't exactly contenders. The National League West is incredibly deep this year and they hope to see a better performance.

They have a few really good pieces and a deep farm system, but will that be enough to make an impact on next year's record?

The Fangraphs projections model doesn't seem to think so. They're expecting the exact same record of 74-88 and they're expecting the Diamondbacks to finish in fourth place ahead of the Colorado Rockies again.

How good can the Arizona Diamondbacks be?

Anything can happen, but it appears that the Diamondbacks will be one of the worst teams in baseball yet again. They have been unable to reach the postseason since 2017 when they were a Wild Card team and lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Divisional Round.

Prior to that, their last trip to the postseason was 2011.