Worst to First - The Sequel

[NYY #23]

As we approached the end of July it was time to honestly evaluate the situation. The Diamondbacks were under .500, 14 games back in the division, and 10 games back in the wild card. It was time to throw in the towel.

The first move we made was trading pending free agents Marvin Bernard and Jeff Conine to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for 27 year old 3B Mike Lowell. Lowell is eligible for arbitration, so he'll remain under our control next year.

Unfortunately we couldn't find a good second move to make, despite spending some time trying. None of the moves made too much long term sense.

The Diamondbacks went 13-13 for the month.

Barry Zito, Jose Offerman, and Juan Gonzalez were selected for the All-Star Game.

[NYY #23]

A 17-11 month was too little too late, but the Diamondbacks are playing ok right now. With Marty Cordova gone we needed to do something about centerfield, so we signed Darren Lewis to a contract through 2002 for $400,000 per year. My hope is that he can hold down center this year and serve as a fourth outfielder next year.

Juan Gonzalez returned from the disabled list and hit safely in 20 straight games before his streak ended in a game against the Giants.

[NYY #23]

Well, if there is any consolation to our lost season it's that Kerry Wood didn't pitch great in Chicago either, going 9-13 with a 4.03 ERA. At least I don't feel like it was a mistake dealing him.

Year 4 didn't end as well as I would have liked with a 78-84 record, but we'll try and return to the playoffs for Year 5.

[NYY #23]

The Diamondbacks were selecting 18th in the amateur draft. With our first pick we selected centerfielder Coco Crisp. In the supplemental round we selected another outfielder, Wily Mo Pena. We selected RF Mike Ryan in the second round along with reliever Trey Hodges. We selected pitcher Jorge Sosa in the third round, and reliever Kevin Gryboski in the fourth round. Catcher Trey Lunsford and LF Chin-Feng Chen rounded out the draft.

Arizona Diamondbacks - Expansion
1998 - Arizona Diamondbacks 58-104 (.358) 44 GB (Season Score - 1)
1999 - Arizona Diamondbacks 83-79 (.512) 18 GB (Season Score - 62)
2000 - Arizona Diamondbacks 89-73 (.549) 11 GB (Lose to St. Louis Cardinals 3-0 in Wild Card, Season Score - 70)
2001 - Arizona Diamondbacks 78-84 (.481) 22 GB (Season Score - 1)

[NYY #23]

Arbitration time as Arizona chose to non-tender MR Julio Machado, MR Marcus Moore, SS Rey Sanchez, and CF Kevin Belcher.

We also executed the option year for SS Jose Offerman.

With our attendance dropping and arbitration raises we don't have any money available for free agents. We really do need to find a first baseman and second baseman though, so we'll be looking for cheap deals or exploring the trade market.

[NYY #23]

This wasn't a good offseason for the Diamondbacks. The contracts of Juan Gonzalez and Ivan Rodriguez are starting to catch up to us along with the arbitration raises that we are experiencing. Something has got to give soon, and while Juan Gonzalez has played well for us, we are still on the hook for $6 mil a year for the next three years.

We worked out an extension with Tim Hudson to obtain some cost certainty and avoid arbitration. We offered him a 4 year $17 million contract that he agreed to.

We brought on 1B Tino Martinez on a one year deal after he hit .276 with 22 home runs last year for Kansas City.

We also signed 2B Quilvio Veras to a one year deal. Last year Veras hit .250 with 10 home runs and 35 stolen bases.

Our owner passed away and his son is now running the team. He's expected to be an economizer, so that should be fun since our budget is already in the bottom third of the league.

[NYY #23]

Arizona has gotten off to a poor start this season going 10-16, and has seen minor injuries to Juan Gonzalez and Tim Hudson, and we have lost Matt Clement for four months.

We'll need to find someone to step up in the rotation, and need contributions from two of Josh Fogg, Eric Milton, and Josh Towers. That's a scary thought.

[NYY #23]

The Diamondbacks had a winning month, going 15-14. Our starting pitching is really struggling though. With three pitchers in the rotation with an ERA over 6.00 it's tough to win games.

[NYY #23]

A 17-10 month has the Diamondbacks back over .500, but 10 games behind San Diego in the division, and 7 games behind the Pirates in the Wild Card race. The next few weeks will be key on whether we sell at the deadline, or buy. Although buying will be tough to do.

Juan Gonzalez hit the 400th home run of his career this month.

Tim Hudson was named the Pitcher of the Month after going 4-1 with a 1.31 ERA in June. Hudson struck out 39 batters in 48 innings.

[ShagVT]

So I see you at 14th defensively and can't help but notice that you have Jose Offerman at shortstop ... if you're looking for a way to improve...

[NYY #23]

Originally Posted by ShagVT

So I see you at 14th defensively and can't help but notice that you have Jose Offerman at shortstop ... if you're looking for a way to improve...

Unfortunately I'm on somewhat of a bad trend. Colorado had no pitching, Arizona has no defense. Good defense makes things so much easier too. Offerman is someone I definitely would like to replace. I definitely feel I've backed myself into a corner in Arizona though.

I'm starting to worry that we won't be able to win the World Series without some big changes.

[NYY #23]

Arizona went 15-10 for the month to pull with 6 games of San Diego in the NL West, and within 3 1/2 games of Pittsburgh in the Wild Card race.

We explored a couple of deals at the deadline, but couldn't find a way to improve the team that was either cost effective, or too costly in terms of players we would need to give up. We turned our attention to free agent Mike Mussina, who has been out of baseball since last year, and 1B Bobby Bonilla. Last year Mussina was terrible, going 8-15 with a 5.60 ERA, but if I can get him to agree to a deal he could be better than Josh Fogg.

Bonilla is 39, and hopefully he'll have some left in his tank. Neither has agreed to a deal yet, but I expect they will and can suit up in August. We also look forward to the return of Matt Clement in 3 weeks.

Juan Gonzalez reached another milestone this month, collecting the 2000th hit of his career. Gonzalez was Arizona's lone All-Star representative this season.

Quilvio Veras finished the month with a 23 game hitting streak.

[NYY #23]

The Diamondbacks are hot, going 19-9 in August to move into first place in the NL West, and open up a 3 1/2 game lead.

We'll be calling up some reinforcements for roster expansion, and I'm hoping we can continue our hot streak.

Quilvio Veras saw his hitting streak stopped at 26 games.

[NYY #23]

We came so close, but in the end we came up short, finishing 3 games behind the Dodgers. In the end an 88-74 record isn't too bad. We'll head into the offseason looking for ways to improve, and get back to the postseason with the Diamondbacks.

[NYY #23]

The Arizona Diamondbacks picked 23rd in the draft and with our first round pick we selected SS Bobby Crosby. In the second round we selected reliever Chad Cordero. Relievers Brian Sweeney and Greg Jones, and second baseman Alex Prieto rounded out the draft.

MR Jeff Zimmerman and 2B Donnie Sadler were non-tendered.

Arizona Diamondbacks - Expansion
1998 - Arizona Diamondbacks 58-104 (.358) 44 GB (Season Score - 1)
1999 - Arizona Diamondbacks 83-79 (.512) 18 GB (Season Score - 62)
2000 - Arizona Diamondbacks 89-73 (.549) 11 GB (Lose to St. Louis Cardinals 3-0 in Wild Card, Season Score - 70)
2001 - Arizona Diamondbacks 78-84 (.481) 22 GB (Season Score - 1)
2002 - Arizona Diamondbacks 88-74 (.543) 3 GB (Season Score - 68)

[ShagVT]

Wow, pretty slim draft I guess? Hopefully Crosby is beget for you than his real life counterpart.

[NYY #23]

Originally Posted by ShagVT

Wow, pretty slim draft I guess? Hopefully Crosby is beget for you than his real life counterpart.

Yes, it was definitely a slim draft. I don't feel like we improved that much, but I'll keep my fingers crossed that Crosby can provide some value.

[NYY #23]

The Diamondbacks made a big trade with the Angels sending SP Alan Benes and MR Byung-Hyun Kim west while getting back 1B D T Cromer, C Kevin Cash, and Alfonso Soriano.

Soriano will be starting at third base, with Lowell shifting over to second, and Cromer starting at first. I don't want to lose a pitcher, but Benes was getting too expensive for what he was providing.

For depth we also signed 2B/3B Bill Mueller, and RF Richard Hidalgo to one year contracts. We also signed SP Mike Mussina to a two year contract to help provide some rotation depth with Benes leaving.

[NYY #23]

Another slow start by the D-Backs as we went 13-15. Our pitching has been terrible, especially the bullpen and our fifth starter.

[NYY #23]

This has been a frustrating year so far, as our pitching has been terrible, yet our offense has been pretty good.

I'm hoping that we can start to heat up soon.