Joe Saunders

Joe Saunders left Monday’s start against the Indians in the bottom of the first inning after being hit in the lower left leg by a comebacker.

Steve Gilbert of MLB.com wrote that Saunders appeared to disagree with the decision to leave the game, so it doesn’t sound too serious, but the D-backs clearly didn’t want to take any chances. The southpaw allowed one hit and struck out one over two-thirds of an inning before exiting. Stay tuned for an update on his status.

Joe Saunders wasn’t sharp in his spring debut Tuesday, allowing two runs on five hits and a walk over two innings in a loss to the Rangers.

Conor Jackson took Saunders deep in the second inning. The 30-year-old left-hander posted a 3.69 ERA with the NL West-winning Diamondbacks last season, but his secondary numbers suggest he was pretty lucky, so we’re not betting on a repeat performance.

Diamondbacks signed LHP Joe Saunders to a one-year, $6 million contract.

Steve Henson of Yahoo! Sports first reported news of the agreement while Jon Heyman of CBS Sports passed along the contract information. Saunders reportedly turned down a two-year deal before being non-tendered in December, so this looks like a pretty bad miscalculation on his agent’s part. The 30-year-old left-hander posted a 3.69 ERA with the NL West-winning Diamondbacks last season, but his batting average on balls in play and stand rate both indicate that he was the beneficiary of some good fortunate. Don’t expect a repeat performance during his second full season in the desert.

According to Steve Henson of Yahoo! Sports, the Diamondbacks and Joe Saunders have agreed to a one-year contract.

Terms aren’t yet available. Saunders was non-tendered by the D-Backs in December due to his $8-9 million projected salary via the arbitration process, but the club remained interested in bringing him back at a lesser salary. It sounds like they got their wish. The 30-year-old southpaw posted a 3.69 ERA and 1.31 WHIP over 31 starts in 2011.

Bob McManaman of the Arizona Republic reports that the Diamondbacks are still interested in re-signing Joe Saunders.

We thought that ship had sailed, but evidently not. The D’Backs balked at paying Saunders what he would earn via arbitration, but they’d still like to bring him back at a lesser rate. FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reported earlier this month that Saunders is receiving both one-year and multi-year contract offers and could even get three years from someone.

According to Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com, Joe Saunders is receiving both one-year and multi-year contract offers.

It’s hard to believe, but he also suggests that a three-year deal is possible. While it’s not clear which teams have submitted offers, Rosenthal calls the Marlins and Tigers “logical fits.” Saunders was non-tendered by the Diamondbacks last month after posting a 3.69 ERA and 1.31 WHIP over 31 starts in 2011.

Joe Frisaro of MLB.com reports that the Marlins have “little to no interest” in free agent starters Joe Saunders and Edwin Jackson.

The Marlins were mentioned in regard to Saunders before the holidays, but it sounds like their interest has waned in recent days. While Frisaro writes that we shouldn’t dismiss the possibility of a trade to upgrade the starting rotation, it would likely take a lot to pry someone like Matt Garza away from the Cubs. Besides, the Marlins’ farm system isn’t exactly a strength.