AZ Snakepit: FanPosts

The Eric Byrnes show

jessenumber1 — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 22:41:22 -0000

I'm a life long A's fan in Portland, OR and Eric Byrnes is one of my all-time favorite players. Even to the point where I find myself rooting for the Dbacks on a consistant basis. I was watching a Dbacks-Dodgers game a couple weeks back and I saw the promo for the Eric Byrnes show, I was wondering how it is and if anyone has a torrent or anything so those of us without FSAZ can check it out.

Anyway, keep up the good work and take that division!

Pitching rotation the rest of the way

Jim McLennan — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 17:54:38 -0000

Since it looks official that we'll be aiming to use our front starters as much as possible down the stretch, with Petit being skipped whenever necessary, I thought we should take a look at the anticipated match-ups for the series until the end of the season. This is, obviously, provisional, and any corrections or amendments are welcome.

August 18, Off-day
August 19-21, vs Padres: Davis, Haren, Webb
August 22-24, vs Marlins: Johnson, Petit, Davis [Petit is SnakePitFest!]
August 25-27, @ Padres: Haren, Webb, Johnson
August 28, Off-day
August 29-31, vs Dodgers: Davis, Haren, Webb
September 1-3, vs. Cardinals: Johnson, Petit, Davis
September 4: Off-day
September 5-7, @ Dodgers: Haren, Webb, Johnson

Up to this point, it seems fairly locked in. Beyond this, it gets a bit more speculative. In the next series, for example, they could insert Petit at any point if necessary. But my best guess would be.
September 8-10, @ Giants: Davis, Petit, Haren
September 11: Off-day
September 12-14, vs. Cincinnati: Webb, Johnson, Davis
September 15-18, vs. Giants: Petit, Haren, Webb, Johnson
September 19-21, @ Rockies: Davis, Petit, Haren
September 22-25, @ Cardinals: Webb, Johnson, Davis, Petit
September 26-28, Rockies: Haren, Webb, Johnson

The divisional playoffs begin October 1, so this would also set up Haren to pitch Game 1, and Webb Game 2. Of course, if we've clinched a post-season spot earlier, than any or all of the final series could see us resting our starters.

3rd player named in Dunn deal

pepperdinedevil — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 01:11:18 -0000

According to John Fay, the Reds beat writer for the Cincinatti Enquirer, the third player going to the Reds in the Dunn trade is catcher Wilkin Castillo. Supposedly our 14th best prospect going into the season, he had decent numbers for Tucson. He also played games at 3B, SS, and OF. I don't know a whole lot about him, so I can't say I'm too upset with him being included in the package. Still not too thrilled with losing Micah though.

Off Season Moves 2007/2008 Reviewed. V2.0

Wimb — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 22:09:26 -0000

On May 22nd I posted a quick review of our off season moves from 2007/2008 Linky and now nearly 3 months later I thought I would revisit and review again. Once more sorry for the lack of in depth knowledge/scouting, I'm restricted to stats I'm afraid but if anyone wants to chip in please feel free

Players In

Dan Haren: SP (Ari)

24 GS 159 IP 12-6 SO 147 BB 27 3.00 ERA 1.025 WHIP

I don't think this needs much comment really. Haren has been awesome in the process of recording a 12-6 record and an ERA of 3.00. Had it not been for the general offensive woes of the late spring and early summer, Mr Haren could well be on 15 wins by now. Still Haren has been a co-ace of the staff this year and his recent contract extension is well deserved in my opinion.

Chad Qualls: RP (Ari)

57G 54IP 2-7 2 SV 51SO 17BB 3.50 ERA 1.24 WHIP

There is a certain hand drawn graphic that demonstrates just how much Qualls (or rather Melvin's use of Qualls) has frustrated the fans at times this season. Despite several implosions which have helped contributed to 7 losses Qualls has by and large been a decent aquisition for the Diamondbacks, posting a respectible ERA and K/BB ratio. Used in a variety of roles by BoMel Chad has settled into the bullpen and whilst his meltdowns do frustrate, such troubles a bullpen wide issue and not just one for Mr Qualls to worry about.

Billy Buckner: SP

(ARI) 6G 9 IP 1-0 SO 7 BB 2 4.00 ERA 1.56 WHIP

(TUS) 19 GS 110.1 IP 5-8 SO 63 BB 39 5.30 ERA 1.53 WHIP

After being aquired for Alberto Callaspo in the off season Buckner was sent down to AAA where he and his felow Tuscon starters not named Sherzer all found themselves getting shelled in a team wide struggle. That being said Buckner has made it to 'the show' this season and performed admirably in his few appearences out of the 'pen.

Connor Robertson: RP

(Ari) 6G 7 IP 0-1 2 SO 2 BB 5.14 ERA 1.429 WHIP

(Tus) 40 G 66IP 7-3 63SO 25BB 4.23 ERA 1.21 WHIP

Part of the Haren deal, Robertson has settled in well in a relief role with Tuscon. His ERA has dropped by around a run at AAA since I last reviewed and like Bucknor he has been up and down with the D-Backs and pitched a handful of largely average innings. The jury is still out on this one but he doesn't look too out of his depth so far.

Juan Gutierrez: SP (Tus)

21G 18GS 91.2 IP 3-10 74SO 35 BB 6.68 ERA 1.79 WHIP

Fighting it out with Chris Burke to be crowned worst piece of the Valverde trade is Juan Gutierrez who is sucking the big one down in Tuscon, An ERA closer to 7 then 6 and a WHIP nudging towards 2 says it all. Certainly not someone who we'll be expecting up at the big league level when the rosters expand.

Jose Marte: RP (Vis/Mob)

(Vis A+) 9G 14 IP 1-0 3SV 15 SO 4 BB 1.93 ERA 1.21 WHIP

(Mob AA) 31G 42.1 IP 4-2 6 SV 33 SO 22BB 4.68 ERA 1.56 WHIP

Our return for Dustin Nippert was relief pitcher Jose Marte who impressed early on with high A ball for Visalia and was promoted to Mobile early on in the season. However the jump to AA proved challenging for Jose and whilst not being terrible he looks set to at least repeat AA.

Chris Burke: OF/INF (Ari)

67 G 137 AB 26 H 14 R 0 HR 7RBI .190 AVG .536 OPS

Chris Burke has managed to cross the plate a whopping 7 times since I wrote this original article, very impressive stuff from the Chocolate Teapot! The man who has one less home run then a pitcher sitting in Tuscon and as many RBI's as Brandon Webb has at least been useful defence wise this season but at the plate....well. I made this comment back in May.

Burke should heat up and when that happens he's a guy you want on your bench.

What a fool I am :(

Trot Nixon: OF/1B (Tus/NYM)

(TUS) 58G 181AB 56H 39R 10 HR 31RBI .309 AVG .995 OPS

(NYM) 11G 35AB 6H 2R 1HR 1RBI .171 AVG 579 OPS

Despite the injuries to several outfielders and infielders during the early part of this season, Trot Nixon never made it onto the Diamondbacks roster and eventually found his way to the Mets where he has largely been sidelined by injury.

Josh Whitesell: 1B (Tus)

114G 421 AB 139H 77R 23 HR 95 RBI .330AVG .996 OPS

This waiver claim from Washington is quietly having a great season down is Tuscon hitting for a decent average and slugging well. Sadly his progress is blocked by a number of players who can play 1st and might well end up like Chris Carter V1.0.

Players Out

Livan Hernandez: SP (Min/)

(MIN) 23GS 139.7 IP 10-8 5.48 ERA 54 SO 29BB

(COL) 1GS 2.7 IP 0-1 30.38 ERA 1 SO 4 BB

Livan left us as a free agent in the hope of snagging a mega bucks multi year deal but ended up signing for a year with the Twins. After a great start he fell off a cliff around the same time our offence did and after 2 months of sucktitude was DFA and picked up by the Rockies. In his lone start so far he managed to give up 9 earned runs in only 2 2/3 innings, so thanks Livan ;)

Dana Eveland: SP (Oak)

22 GS 125.0 IP 7-8 85 SO 64 BB 4.46 ERA 1.52 WHIP

After a bright start Eveland has faded fast due in a large part to a sharp drop in his K/BB ratio as the season has progressed. His stock has fallen so low as of late that he's not even on the roster for the A's right now and has been DFA

Gregg Smith: SP (Oak)

23 GS 137.7 IP 5-11 90 SO 65 BB 3.92 ERA

Like Eveland, Smith found himself in the A's starting rotation at the start of the season and like his former D-Back he made an immediate impression winning many plaudits for his role in keeping the A's as contenders in a rebuilding year. Sadly much like Eveland his stock has fallen recently but he still has decent numbers on the year.

Jose Valverde: RP (Hou)

55 G 54.3 IP 5-3 29 SV 4.31 ERA 62 SO 19BB

The Valverde deal seems to fluctuate almost weekly between good/bad for the D-Backs. At times Valverde has been dominant bt at other times he's looked lost, so in a way him and Qualls really aren't so different. Still, Jose is on course for around 40 saves and few in Houston will look at an ERA some 1.5 runs higher then last year.

Dustin Nippert: RP (Tex)

13 G 35.7 IP 1-2 24 SO 23 BB 7.82 ERA 2.13 WHIP

After a nightmare start at Texas and injury to boot, Dustin has somewhat settle down and pitched a few innings in the Lone Star State but really nothing spectacular

Brett Anderson: SP (Oak Class A/AA)

(A) 14G 13GS 74 IP 9-4 80 SO 18BB 4.14 ERA 1.16 WHIP

(AA) 5GS 25 IP 2-1 29 SO 8 BB 1.80 ERA 1.04 WHIP

Anderson is progressing nicely so far, already having moved from high A to AA ball and based on early results is settling in well. Again as with all young pitchers its harder to project, especially when you rely on pure numbers but he does seem to have some talent.

Carlos Quentin: OF (CWS)

114 G 423 AB 120 H 82 R 32 HR 90 RBI .284 AVG .947 OPS

For old times sake....

Alberto Callaspo: SS/OF (KAN)

42G 100AB 29H 8R 0 HR 4RBI .290 AVG .679 OPS

Alberto has been blighted by injuries and personal problems this season but in his limited playing time he is showing glimpses of talent.

Tony Clark: 1B (SD/ARI)

(SD) 70G 88AB 21H 5R 1HR 11RBI .239 AVG .684OPS

(ARI) 17G 37AB 8H 4R 2HR 9RBI .216 AVG .698 OPS

Well, we all know how this one worked out... GIDP anyone? Still joking aside Tony came back to the D-Backs after being one of the best examples of a pure pinch hitter around whilst in San Diego. Since coming 'home' to the Diamondbacks Tony has had more playing opportunities but has underwhelmed 2 home runs aside.

Chris Carter: 1B (Oak Single A)

(A+) 118 G 437AB 119H 89R 34HR 97RBI .272AVG .958OPS

So, maybe Byrnes was onto something with 'that trade' after all. It's a small sample size and at A+ level but so far Chris Carter V2.0 is showing some awesome power connecting for 34 Home runs already this season whilst keeping a respectable batting average and OBP to boot. One to watch...

Carlos Gonzalez: OF (Oak/ AAA)

(AAA) 41 G 157 AB 46 H 23 R 4 HR 25 RBI .293 AVG .790 OPS

(OAK) 62 G 234 AB 64 H 25 R 3HR 19 RBI .274 BA .715 OPS

Shortly after I wrote my first review CarGon was called up to join the A's and has held his own in the major leagues. The centrepiece of the Haren deal still has a lot to learn but there is no question about the potential.

Aaron Cunningham: OF (Oak AA/AAA)

(AA) 87 G 347 AB 110H 65R 12 HR 52 RBI .317 AVG .893 OPS

(AAA) 5G 17 AB 7H 7 R 2HR 3RBI .412 AVG 1.506 OPS

Aaron has recently been elevated to AAA and has started brightly after playing well at AA ball for the A's.

I don't have too much to say about these really. I think the interesting bits are the results of the Haren trade. The A's really do look to have received a lot of talent with 3 players making an impact in the big leagues and another at AAA, even below that level Chris Carter seems a genuine power prospect. However from a Diamondbacks perspective we have received a man who is an All Star and a man who is a genuine Cy-Young candidate so we can't be anything but happy. Tony Clark looked to be slowly rocking towards retirement before we granted him a final hurrah, whilst Livan looks a spent force. The trade involving Papa Grande has been a draw so far and we looked to have picked up a decent reserve player/trade bait in Whitesell

So yeah, any fresh feelings/thoughts welcome :)

New DBACKS Wallpaper

john5cole — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 20:01:00 -0000

It's that time again pit dwellers. A new Diamondbacks wallpaper is here. Little story to go along with this one. I was going to enter the diamondbacks free t-shirt giveaway contest but the wife and I ended up out of town and I never gof to finish my entry. This design is close to what I would have entered. Let me know what you guys think. As always thanks in advance for the compliments and visits to my site. If I can ask one tiny favor, if you know anyone in need of some design (mainly web design or t-shirt design) if you don't mind sending to see my site I would appreciate it. Anyways thanks again and enjoy. Just click on the link and head to the free-stuff section for the wallpaper.

www.cruciald.com

KTAR is reporting Diamondbacks acquire Adam Dunn

unnamedDBacksfan — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 18:00:23 -0000

hat the Diamondbacks have just acquired Adam Dunn in exchange for Dallas Buck and two players to be named later.

Got this as a text alert, no link or confirmation as of yet.

Here it is:

Diamondbacks acquire Adam Dunn from Reds

August 11th, 2008 @ 10:57am

by Tyler Bassett/Sports 620 KTAR, John Gambadoro/Sports 620 KTAR

Sports 620 KTAR's John Gambadoro reports the Arizona Diamondbacks have acquired outfielder Adam Dunn from the Cincinnati Reds.

The Diamondbacks are giving up three prospects in the deal, minor league pitcher Dallas Buck and two other players to be named later.

Dunn has 32 home runs in 2008 with 74 RBI. His average this season is .233.

Random Olympic Thread

Jim McLennan — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 19:35:28 -0000

Figured it might well be a place to talk about anything interesting that you've seen in the Beijing coverage, be it good, bad or indifferent. This morning, we watched the Brazilian soccer team take apart New Zealand, 5-0: I'm pretty sure than Ronaldinho earns more than the entire New Zealand roster, and the gulf between the two outfits was pretty obvious. Argentina had a lot more trouble beating Australia, behind held at bay until deep in the second-half, and only winning 1-0.

And Britain got their first gold, courtesy of Nicole Cooke in the women's cycling road race. W00t! We're #1! We're #1! Admittedly, only in the women's cycling road race, it would appear... :-) Though I was probably more impressed by France's Jeannie Longo, who finished a respectable 24th...at the age of 49, in her seventh Olympics.

Another Player NOT to be named later?

Jim McLennan — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 21:13:32 -0000

Emilio Bonifacio has had another multi-hit game today. That's his fourth in six since being traded to the Nationals, and his average with them is currently .385, having gone 10-for-26, including three triples. While, obviously, it's a small sample size, is this going to end up being another one of "those" trades, that we end up regretting later? Did we give up on him too early? After all, he is only twenty-three, more than two years younger than another second baseman that we let get away: Dan Uggla...

Chris Burke trade possibilities

utahdbacksfan — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 19:57:26 -0000

I've been thinking of trades we could make for Burke, even though the trade deadline is over, its all just in fun, though i would be delighted to see any of them happen

-Burke for Lincecum straight across- i mean the guy can play like every position!

-Burke to the Suns for Shaq- Burke sucks at batting, Shaq sucks at shooting, maybe this could work

-Burke to to the broadcasting booth for Mark Grace- I'm sure Grace can still swing the bat better then he does

-Burke and a bunch of cash to the Padres for Maddux- just so he can help us with batting practice

-Burke to the Dodgers for a snow cone to each member of our team- preferably tigers blood (win-win here- we get rid of Burke, and the Dodgers get worse)

If all else fails, SEND HIM TO FRICKIN TUSCON!! its where he actually belongs, meanwhile we can bring Scherzer back up- I'm really starting to miss that guy : ( heck, struggling though he is, i think Owings brings more value to the team than Burke does, and his BA is over 50 points higher than his, and he has a homer to his name this year, something Burke does not.

Anyway, I think I'm done now. I do kinda feel bad for bashing him all the time, but he has been given more than enough opportunities to prove himself, and has failed every chance he gets. If you can think of any more trades, feel free to say them in the comments

Playing Hard/softball

soco — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 06:24:45 -0000

So a little nugget was unearthed in the recent Game Thread about possibly setting up a game of stick and ball. Obviously with SnakepitFest coming up and then Rauch's birthday part/end of the year blowout, this is something that might not happen until the offseason. Another good reason to wait a little bit is simply so we don't all die of heat stroke.

No, this is a little fishing post, an attempt to gauge the interest level if you will. I have a few questions that can make a gathering easier to plan in the future, so if you'd happily oblige me:

1) Do you want to play? The simplest question, but even if you say no, a game and barbeque/picnic I think would be perfect for the people that might not be completely interested in playing.

2) Would you rather play baseball or softball? This is important, as if more people would want to play softball, we would need to know that for equipment, location, et cetera.

3) Do you own a glove? Saying no wouldn't exlude anyone as we can share gloves, but ideally we would want to have 9 or so gloves as a group. Also, we would need the right gloves as infielder baseball gloves don't really work well for softball.

4) Do you own a bat? Obviously we'll need at least one bat.

5) Where do you live? Most likely any location would be in the central areas of Phoenix, but if the vast majority of us are in a particular area, that would be good to know. You don't have to get specfic, just a general area like Scottsdale or Surprise or Gila Bend.

6) Do you have any experience? Again, obviously this wouldn't exclude anyone, but it would interesting to know. Me, I have some Little League experience and softball from grade school, but haven't played much since then.

Thanks for your participation!

dbacks are leaders!

gracieisaclown — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 03:43:54 -0000

I'm really excited about them DBacks! I bet they lead in several categories...

_most runners left in scoring position.

_most runners not scored from 3rd with less than two outs.

-most runners thrown out at home.

-most games turning a bad opposing pitcher into a phenom.

-most money wasted in offseason extensions. (eric byrnes&chris young)

-most RBI's traded away for nothing...Carlos Quentin.

-most saves traded away for nothing....Valverde.

thank you dbacks!

An Afternoon with USA Baseball

snakecharmer — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 21:13:11 -0000

I love the San Francisco Bay Area for a lot of reasons, but on Tuesday, I was really glad I live here. In case you haven't heard, every single Olympic athlete passes through the walkways of San Jose State University (my alma mater!) to pick up uniforms and passes and I don't know what else. (Sadly, I'm not involved with that.) Most of the time, they only stay one night, and you don't know even when which teams are coming by.

But on Saturday, I learned that the Olympic Team USA Baseball team was having an open practice and autograph session!! Not only that, but it turns out that our very own Mike Koplove is on the team!! :) So a friend and I went down to watch the batting practice and get autographs, but mainly, I wanted to say hi to Mike, because he was one of my original Favorite Diamondbacks when I became a fan and started getting autographs. He always stopped and said hi to me, and I was really bummed when he went back down to AAA. (He's now at AAA Las Vegas with the Dodgers.) Anyway, as people lined up for autographs and waited for the guys to end their practice, I was already down in the dugout, and I waited as Mike changed his shoes and then I called his name. He remembered me, and he came over! :) So we chatted for a little while! I'm such a doofus unless I have questions written down (then I'd be fine, I swear)... but basically, he just really wants to come back up to the bigs, with anybody. I told him we could use the help, hehe. He's looking forward to China, and his wife's coming out for a week with him.

They are all walking in the Opening Ceremony but they are coming home before the Closing Ceremony, coming back to their MLB teams as soon as they can. There are a lot of good players on the team, including Matt LaPorta (Indians) and Nate Schierholtz (Giants). During BP, some of these guys were hitting MONSTER shots over the outfield walls. They will definitely be fun to watch! :)

Below are some of the photos we took, and there's a link to the picasa album at the bottom. Enjoy!!!

Yeah, I made the sign, but I was given the ball and hat! ;)

Team USA Open Baseball Practice

AL West and NL Central: Imbalanced and Unfair

Brent Beck — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 15:24:54 -0000

Hey D'Backs fans, I wrote an article that I posted on Red Reporter about the uneven division sizes in Major League Baseball, a dilemma which effects NL Central fans the most by putting us at a disadvantage at the start of every season (in comparison to every other team in Major League Baseball). In my mind its an outrage but I would love for you guys to check it out, drop a vote in, or even make a comment! I would love to hear the perspective of any Diamond Back fan on this matter because in my opinion, the only way to fix this imbalance and make it fair for the teams and fans in the NL Central is to move the Diamond Backs to the AL West.

Thanks!

AL West and NL Central: Imbalanced and Unfair

by Brent Beck

Owings optioned to Tucson

Wimb — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 23:50:30 -0000

According to the Diamondbacks website as Peguero gets called up to come into the pen'

Linkage

It's been discussed over a few other threads but this move seems to make sense after yesterdays meltdown :(

Hopefully he can work on his mechanics for a month or so and make it back with the roster expansion, despite his recent struggles I still see alot of potential out there in that guy.

Petit unsurprisingly will make Owings next scheduled start and the guy does deserve it on the basis of recent displays.

[Wimb posted this while I was working on my piece reporting the same, so let's combine the two under one heading. Jim]

Jack Magruder reports so this afternoon. I imagine this doesn't come as too much of a shock - Petit will replace him in the rotation, as of Saturday, with Jailen Peguero getting to step up from Tucson and move into the bullpen. I imagine that will likely be a short-term assignment, with Juan Cruz almost ready to come back. How long Owings stays down with the Sidewinders is harder to say. There has clearly been something very wrong with him over the last couple of months: is it mechanical or mental, and in either case, is it fixable?

I certainly hope so: it's a shame that a season which started with such promise has now turned around so radically. However, he can take comfort from past history - Jose Valverde was similarly optioned down to Tucson after imploding during the 2006 season, and returned in full force, to lead the majors in saves for 2007. Fingers crossed Micah can be similarly "cured", sort out his command, work on his third pitch, and return to the good form he showed for us during April.

Mark Teixeira trade rumors

Wimb — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 14:06:13 -0000

[Moved to front page and refreshed, since the trade talks appear to be coming to the boil.]

Browsing the baseball globe today the Diamondbacks have been linked by both Fox and ESPN to signing Braves First Baseman Mark Teixeira. Fox's Ken Rosenthal in particular discusses the prospect. linky

Whilst it's been made clear in many places that the deal is unlikely would you be in favour of the move under the right circumstances?

If Rosenthal is to be believed the Braves want CoJack as part of the deal and I know I'm stating the obvious but for me that just makes absolutly no sense. CoJack now has value at both LF and 1B and is tearing up pitching recently helping spark the offence. Also worth noting his defence in left has been more then adequete and his speed has also increased making him at least a nuissance in the eyes of pitchers.

Personally I'd love Tex and I don't think it would be too damaging to commit the roughly $5 million he is owed for the rest of the season, especially considering we would get 2 draft picks when he presumably leaves for free agency.

So really I just thought I'd open it up to what sort of package you'd think it would take to get him over here (if you want him at all) With Rauch added to the bullpen we could presumably move one of our bullpen arms but I'd like to think the Braves would be tempted by dangling Doug Davis or even Micah Owings plus a prospect. With Smoltz not certain to return to the rotation and Glavine likely to retire they Braves have a need for starting pitching and with the Petit and Scherzer showing themselves as capable arms I think we could absorb the loss of either Davis or Owings/Petit.

Bottom line though is I think with the addition of Clark the D-Backs ruled this one right out and barring an injury to Clark or Tracy I don't see it happening

CJ Wins Player of the Week Award for 2nd time this year

shoewizard — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 20:31:54 -0000

Jackson led the N.L. with a .542 (13-24) batting average, a 1.083 slugging percentage and nine runs scored, and he tied for the N.L. lead with 13 hits. The 26-year old first baseman hit two doubles, a triple and three home runs, drove in seven runs, and recorded a .593 on-base percentage. The University of California at Berkeley product recorded consecutive three-hit games on July 21st and 22nd vs. the Chicago Cubs and then added another three-hit effort on July 27th at San Francisco. Jackson (.324, 12 HR, 55 RBI) ended the week by posting five straight multi-hit games in which he collected at least one RBI. This marks Conor's second weekly award honor of the season (previous: 4/21).

MLB Press Release

It's a pleasure seeing CJ come into his own and reward those who had the patience and foresight to stick with him as he made incremental improvements to his game over the last 3 years.

Coupled with the improvements to his baserunning, and the surprisingly adequate defense in LF, he has become a very valuable player, and we are lucky to have him under control for the next 3 years through what is sure to be the prime of his career.

2009 HOF BALLOT

thetomcat87 — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 18:06:09 -0000

Hey guys, I've been reading this blog for a short time now and decided to make my first post.

Now that Goose Gossage got inducted to the Hall of Fame, it is time to start thinking of the 2009 class. On that ballot we may see 3 players who played for the Diamondbacks at the end of their careers and all made a contribution to the 2001 World Series win. It is highly, highly, highly doubtful that any of the 3 get inducted as a DBack, but any of them would be the first to get in after playing for the DBacks (although Todd Stottlemyer and Devon White have been on the ballot). So the question is: Which of the 3 players will be a first ballot Hall of Famer: Mark Grace, Matt Williams, Jay Bell.

It is no doubt Gracie will get in first try, but I doubt the other 2 will. Both had solid careers, but they are not first balot Hall of Famers. Williams is much more likely to eventually get in than Bell, but it will take a weak class in the future for Williams to make it.

Your thoughts?

Minor League Report 7/26

Andersklasen — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 08:22:38 -0000

Hey guys. I am a Twins fan first and foremost, but I have recently moved to Tucson and am trying to adopt the Dbacks as my second team. I've been to one major league game, and just got home from the Sindwinder's 6-5, ten-inning win tonight. I love the minor leagues, and I am really becoming attached to the Sidewinders especially.

I want to start a regular feature where I review the minor league system of the Diamondbacks weekly. I know some of you couldn't care less about prospects, but I love them. There are others of you who don't follow the minor leagues, but are interested. I hope you read this weekly feature and get all the information you need regarding the minor league system of the team you love.

Organization record through last Sunday: 20-22

Triple A Tucson Sidewinders

Record through last Sunday: 4-2 (45-62)

The Sidewinders are still last in the Pacific South region of the PCL, but with the winning record this week, have pulled to within 17 games of Sacramento. Tucson remains the second-worst team record-wise in the Pacific Coast League. It's amazing how far a team can fall in simply two years.

The week opened up with Tucson dropping the third game in a three game series with the Tacoma Rainers. Esmerling Vasguez took the mound on Sunday, but only made it through four and two-thirds innings giving up four runs on four hits. His record is now 1-5 and he sports a 7.11 ERA. On Monday the Sidewinders again beat Tacoma 6-1 behind a great pitching performance by Matt Torra. He went seven and two-thirds innings and only allowed one un-earned run. He is now 2-2 with a 4.46 ERA. On Tuesday Tucson beat the Iowa Cubs 5-4 behind strong pitching from Evan McLane. He went seven innings giving up only three runs but ten hits. He now sits at 4-6 with a 4.86 ERA. On Wednesday Tucson again beat Iowa, this time 10-7 behind a strong bullpen. Juan Gutierrez started the game and made it through four innings while giving up four runs on five hits. He didn't get the win, so he stands at 2-10 with a 7.28 ERA. On Thursday the Sidewinders lost in a shootout, 15-7 to the Iowa Cubs. A.J. Shappi was demolished for eight runs in three innings. He now has a 1-3 record with a 6.37 ERA. After Friday's rained out game, Tucson beat the Omaha Royals 6-5 in ten innings. Juan Cruz made the start because he is rehabbing an injury but was pulled after one inning of solid pitching. My only guess as to why is because Arizona is ready to bring him back into the major league rotation again.

On the hitting side, Jeff Salazar, Josh Whitesell, and Wilkin Castillo all had over three hits in Sunday's win. On Monday Trent Oeltjen and Jamie D'Antona both had the only multi hit games for Tucson. Oeltjen had two more hits on Tuesday, as did pitcher Evan McLane. There was an offensive explosion on Wednesday's victory. Castillo, Raines, Whitesell, Merchan, and Hammock all had two hit games. On Thursday Josh Whitesell had a huge game, going 4-5 with a home run and three RBI. Saturday's game was highlighted by Jesus Merchan, who went 3-4 with a double. Tim Rainer Jr. had only a total of five hits this week, but his average is still sitting pretty at .310.

Double A Mobile BayBears

Record through last Sunday: 4-2 (45-59)

The BayBears are now officially the worst team in the Southern League. They are at the bottom of the South Division, now 12.5 games behind leading Birmingham.

Mobile started the week by shutting out the Chattanooga Lookouts 7-0 behind a great start by Brooks Brown. He went six innings of five-hit ball to improve his record to 6-10 and his ERA to 3.63. On Tuesday the Jacksonville Suns edged out the BayBears 6-5 in the bottom of the ninth. Matt Green started for Mobile and lasted four innings but gave up five runs (three earned) on seven hits. His record is now 1-1 and his ERA is 5.49. Wednesday's game was rained out, so both teams played a double header on Thursday. Mobile took the first one 4-3 behind stellar pitching by Tony Barnette. He went six innings and gave up two runs. His record is now 6-7 and his ERA is 4.18. The second half of the double header was won by the Suns. Hector Ambriz was roughed up for four runs in three innings as his ERA rose to 5.53. His record is 5-12. Friday was a 2-0 victory for the BayBears. Cesar Valdez has been excellent since his promotion and he went seven innings giving up only four hits. His ERA is 2.54 through five games, and he has a 1-1 record. On Saturday Mobile beat the Suns again 5-4 behind another start by Brooks Brown. He went seven innings and gave up four runs.

Guillermo Reyes went 2-3 with a triple on Sunday to bring his average to .232. Bryan Bryne has been great this year for Mobile. He went 3-5 with a double on Monday to raise his average to .319. Both Gerardo Parra and Javier Brito homered in Tuesday's loss. Pitcher Hector Ambriz had the only extra base hit for Mobile on Thursday. On Friday Rusty Ryal went 2-3 with two doubles. Ryal also went 3-4 on Saturday. John Hester also had a good game on Saturday, going 3-4 with a double.

High A Visalia Oaks

Record through last Sunday: 1-5 (50-55)

Visalia is also having some tough luck in the California League. They are last place in their northern division, eleven games behind San Jose.

Bryan Augenstein had a great start on Sunday, going six and a third innings while giving up only three runs. The Visalia defense was horrible though, committing three errors which led to six unearned runs, which led to a loss for Augenstein. He is now 2-3 with a 3.86 ERA. 22 year-old Eddie Romero had two starts this week; one on Monday and one on Saturday. He combined for 8.1 innings and gave up eight runs (four earned) on 13 hits. His ERA is now 4.80 and after those two losses he is now 5-11. Chad Beck made one start this week on Tuesday. He only lasted 2.2 innings while giving up four runs on seven hits. His ERA is now 4.56 while his record is 2-3. Wes Roemer took the loss on Wednesday, going 6.1 innings and giving up six runs on eight hits. His record is 6-8 while his ERA is 4.51. Barry Enright earned the only win for Visalia this week. He went a solid six innings giving up only one run on Friday. His ERA is 4.75, but his record is 8-6.

Evan Frey had a decent week this week, but really heated up towards the end of it. He combined to go 7-25 through last Sunday. Mark Hallberg was bad this week, hitting 5-22. Pedro Ciriarco was great this week, going 12-26 with a double and a home run. Konrad Schmidt is raking High A pitching after being called up from South Bend. This week Schimidt went 9-19 with two doubles. Steve Mena only appeared in three games this week, but went 0-9 anyway. Peter Clifford went 6-22 this week as he had two dingers and three RBI.

Single A South Bend Silver Hawks

Record through last Sunday: 5-1 (56-48)

The Silver Hawks are leading their division in the second half standings, but are 2.5 games beind Lansing for the overall division lead. They made a strong push this week behind some excellent pitching.

Jarrod Parker made two starts this week; on Sunday and Friday. He combined for 11 innings pitched, seven runs (six earned), and ten hits. His ERA is now 4.04 and his record is 9-5. Dallas Buck also made two strong starts this week; one on Monday and one on Saturday. He combined for 12 innings pitching, four runs, and eleven hits. He had made eight starts this year and is 1-3 with a 3.76 ERA. Joshua Collmenter had an outstanding start on Wednesday, throwing seven innings and allowing only five hits. With the win he improves to 11-5 and has a 2.99 ERA to boot. On Thursday Tom Layne took the hill and pitched six innigns giving up only one run (unearned), and five hits. He didn't get the win, but improved his ERA to 2.61 and his record sits at 4-2.

Matthew Oxendine went 8-19 this week with two doubles. Sean Coughlin was awful this week, going 2-20. Colin Cowgill went 5-22 this week and his average is now at .207 after being called up from Yakima recently. Taylor Harbin, Joseph Batton, and Chance Wheeless all went deep this week. Nobody that is active on the South Bend roster is currently hitting over .300. It is amazing the discrepency between outstanding pitching and horrible batting and fielding. The South Bend starters have really shouldered this team to where it is in the standings.

Sorry chaps, but I just don't have it in me to do the other three teams tonight. My apolgizes to the big Yakima Bears, Missoula Osprey, and DSL Diamondbacks fans out there.

I really would like some feedback on this. Again, I hope it becomes a regular feature, but it was probably extremely stupid to start right now. I leave for a two-week vacation on Sunday night, and will be unavailable to do this next week. I hope to resume on the 16th of August, but I will be stopping by here if time permits before then.

Normally, I would take any questions anyone might have regarding any player in any team in the Arizona organizaiton. Feel free to ask, but I might not be available to answer this particular week. In the future, if Mr. McLennan permits, I will try to answer every question.

I hope this becomes a regular feature at the Arizona Snakepit!

24 Hours of Trades

Captain D Bag — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 17:12:10 -0000

Woke up this morning to the news that the Dodgers have acquired Casey Blake, (opens in a new window), and this coming down from last night's news that the Yankees went and got Xavier Nady and a Bullpen Arm for four prospects (Also opens in a new window).

I find both of these pieces of news unsettling, as the Yankees have given up a lot, granted, they filled their needs nicely, and the Blake trade provides a solid bat, something the Dodgers haven't had too much of.

Do you feel like the Blake trade is going to force our hand in the trade market? And if it does. does that Nady trade make our price go higher to add a quality bat at a impact position?

Thames Valley Bisons Baseball 2008

Wimb — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 08:05:35 -0000

Howdy folks,

Jim said a while ago it might be an idea for a diary and as there's few people this side of the pond to share (or relate) to baseball I hope none of you all mind if I chronicle my first year as a baseball player, here on the 'Pit.

I won't bother writing alot of personal background here, (that's already been done in the Hello my name is thread) but in a nutshell im a 21 year old guy from the UK living in the south of England who has never played baseball before in my life. However after 7 years of following the Diamondbacks and having returned from University I finally decided to take the plunge and seek out a local side to play for. Fortunately for myself the nearest time was only 10 miles away, the Thames Valley Bisons, who i'd learned of after doing some research on UK baseball for some work experience I did with my local BBC radio station back in the fall.

Despite my enthusiasm I still didn't really fancy joining a new team by myself so dragged my mate Steve along for the ride. Even though Steve had never watched yet alone played the game before he soon took a liking to the game and so we began to play some basic catch and took a few swings with the bat down our local field. With a view to joining the Bisons for their first practise session at the end of February.

When we got to the Bisons field it wasn't exactly Chase. The diamond was at the back of two football (I will not call it soccer dammit ;) ) pitches, and all that was there to show that it was ever a baseball diamond was a mound and some rough patches where the bases had been. When our hopefully future team mates arrived It turned out that 7 of the 8 or guys there were Polish (there's a heavy and growing Polish population in Reading) of which only one or two could speak English. Still the guys were very friendly and welcoming and made us feel part of the team straight away, but we weren't just there to make friends we were there to play ball (insert dramatic music here)

The first thing I'll say as someone who has never played before Now neither of us really expected to be the next A-Rod (Steve doesn't even know who A-Rod is..) but we didnt expect to be so far behind our team mates when we turned up to our first practise session. What we saw wasn't Major League caliber by a long shot but it still made us look like little leaguers. The biggest thing I took away from my first proper game of catch Is that you never really appreciate the intricasies and techniques required to do the simplist of things such as throwing a ball. Our captain Tomasz and coach Peter took us aside for 90% of that first session and literally taught us the very basics of how to throw and grip a baseball. On the surface being taught such remedial things was enough to make me think "what the heck am I doing here?!" and such feelings only grew stronger as most of my throws barely made 10 yards, flew over Steve's head or into the dirt, yet slowly and surely it began to come together.

Sadly for us just as we thought "ok this might work out ok..." we were called over to the main field where the other guys were practising to practise catching fly balls. Having played cricket before i was no stranger to catching a ball (bare handed at that ;) ) but even so there's no words to descrive the feelings you go through when you see that ball sail into the sky off the bat knowing you have to make the catch. As I stood there waiting for what seemed like an eternity I couldn't help but think how much I take for granted a routine flyball out when I watch a game on the TV, but now standing waiting for the ball to (hopefully) hit my glove all I could think was please don't let me make a fool of myself. Fortunately it did nestle into the webbing of my glove and I made the catch sadly for me though it was one of about 3 i caught out of 6 or so.

That first session we didn't even get to bat but we'd both enjoyed ourselves enough to make a return visit the following week….

That second week felt a lot better then the first as even though neither of us could throw worth a damn we were better then the week before and getting somewhere. It was with this growing confidence that we headed over to the diamond to have our first fielding practise and I was planted at 2nd base with Steve (being left handed) in right field. As I stood there waiting I had dreams of making Orlando Hudson type plays and turning double plays for fun, but sadly I ended up making Orlando Hudson plays of the wrong kind, you know the simple ones you just mess up… The hardest bit was learning where the hell I should be when the ball went where, when to stand on the base, when to be a relay guy etc etc and half the time I felt like a kid lost in the middle of the supermarket unsure of which way or where to go. Still my team mates took it in good spirits and helped me whenever they could which admittedly wasn’t easy in mostly broken English. After dusting myself down I finally got a chance to hit a baseball as we were shown how to stand and swing the bat before being let loose on a few soft throws. This is the one thing I can seemingly do alright in as I was able to make good contact with a fair few..

After a week off to go skiing we returned ready for my BP and fielding drills. This time I played centre field probably catching about 75% of the fly balls my way and during BP I once again seemed to do alright. But at the end of the session I had to face a pitcher for the first time, with a catcher behind me. The experience was quite surreal as I stood staring down the pitcher, our captain Tomasz. Sadly Tomasz was more huge manatee then Webby and he struggled with his control meaning I got around 10 balls and about 4 strikes. Our coach Peter then took over and gave me 5 or 6 strikes so that I had something to hit and I did make contact on a couple though without a base hit!

So that’s about where I am right now heading into my final before our spring training opener against Guilford on Sunday. I still have no idea where I’ll field or if I’ll even make the team, but with numbers at around 12 I stand a good chance of being involved. I think I’d like to field first or left field to be honest, at least to start with as there is no DH ;)

Anyways hope that this isn’t too long/boring and I’ll try and update later after practise. For anyone that’s interested our website is http://www.thamesvalleybaseball.co.uk/ which has some background info on the club and last season. I should have mentioned last year was the teams first and the results page reflects this!

Still, Go Bisons! ;)