SB Nation User Blog: AJforAZ

The Diamondbacks' Thought Process

AJforAZ — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 04:03:09 -0000

I posted this on the original thread on the topic, but I thought I would bring everyone's comments together to one singular, hopefully competent thought.

This is what the Front Office was thinking.

Max Scherzer- POTENTIAL future all-pro pitcher who’s lack of a complete 2nd pitch, coupled with his mechanics is a health risk and most likely bound for the bullpen due to his strikeout or no out capabilities. He is under team control for the next 5 years.
Daniel Schlereth- Son of former Broncos lineman Mark Schlereth who’s absolutely filthy curveball is nullified by his inability to actually hit the strike zone with it. First round college relief pitcher who wasn’t even the closer on his college team, yet has closer potential. Also a major health risk due to mechanics. (Trade throw-in)

for

Edwin Jackson- 26 year old starting pitcher with 2 years of team control left. He established himself as a good 2-3 starter with the Tigers last year, but ran out of gas late in the season. His fantastic numbers in the AL would translate better to a weaker hitting NL West, I think with a bit of regression (as his last season would be hard to replicate) would basically keep him around a 3.5 ERA, conservatively. He would slot into Max’s spot in the rotation at 3 and has proven to be durable.
Ian Kennedy- Yankees starting pitcher (which immediately gives him more value than Schlereth) who has struggled in his 12 major league starts in the heavy hitting AL East. He missed all of last year with an aneurysm. However he came back in the AFL and was lights out against a plethora of future MLBers. The entirety of the front office scouted one of his AFL starts. He has an absolutely filthy changeup and immediately slots into the vacant 4 spot in the rotation.

SO here is what this trade initially boils down to. The Arizona Diamondbacks are a very budget conscious team and if they plan to compete within the next year or two a trade like this had to be done. They give up Max Scherzer who provides at least one year as an unproven starter and as a whole 5 years of uncertainty, whether its 5-6 innings per start, injury or fireballing out of the bullpen. Danny Schlereth is a run of the mill hard thrower out of the ’pen, dime a dozen.

We trade them both for two starters. One, Jackson, is a proven pitcher who can more than handle a role as a number 3 in a NL rotation. Ian Kennedy is unproven but talented enough to be a career 4-5 starter in the AL, perhaps better in the NL. Take Kennedy out of the pressures of pitching in NY and he wouldn’t be the first to improve.

Now the key part of this trade isn’t the players sent or players received it is the personnel transaction. The DBacks have turned one uncertain #3 starting pitcher and middle reliever into a guaranteed #3 starting pitcher and a #4 starting pitcher. Without this they would have to go out and get one in FA. After the Penny signing it looks like the price of a #4 caliber pitcher is $7.5 million a year guaranteed. After a bit of swapping for pitchers and salary they save roughly $4 million dollars and fill a necessary role.

Those saved funds can then be turned towards a bat that can hit left handed pitching and platoon/play 1B or LF. So assuming they do go out and get that bat, the DBacks, achieve two things with this trade. They get a #4 pitcher and a very needed bat. If this trade did not happen the Diamondbacks, with limited funds, would probably have to pick one or the other. Both are essential to compete next year. Without one of these next year would be more of the same of this year. This trade gives them the possibility to compete next year and the year after where without it they would basically be waiting on Jarrod Parker to get healthy again (2 years).

All of this essentially boils down to what you value for Max Scherzer. Do you value the next two years of potential competitiveness, or would you prefer 2-3 year of gross uncertainty and 2 years of competition in 2012? That's for you to decide and next season to reveal. If the Diamondbacks make the playoffs this will all be forgotten or even claimed to be a good move. Especially if everyone's favorite heterochromatic misses significant time to injury or is forced into the bullpen.

COMPLETELY OFF TOPIC: Advance at your own peril. With poll!

AJforAZ — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:32:37 -0000

So here is the deal. There has recently been a debate raging between two factions. I was hoping you all could shed some light on the topic and give your opinion. Mac and cheese with hot dogs cut up and mixed in with it. What is your opinion? Would you say you are for? I'm not asking if its your favorite but solely if you find it good to eat. If you don't like it, go ahead and give an example of dorm food that you prefer. I'm sure you all have some great insight into this issue. :-)

Poll

Mac and cheese with hot dogs. For or against?

A resounding yes. A staple of my diet.

16 votes

Hell no! Are you clinically insane?

14 votes

Why haven't mods deleted this yet? I am in fact less intelligent for reading this.

9 votes

39 votes | Poll has closed

LAA Angels: In the wrong?

AJforAZ — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 18:27:55 -0000

The LAA Angels clinched a division championship last night and proceeded to celebrate like any other team that does something similar, with champagne and beer. They decided they wanted their lost 22 year old teammate, Nick Adenhart, to be apart of the celebration. They went to his locker where his jersey still hung and doused it in champagne and beer. They made the playoffs in a season dedicated to the kid.

http://a.espncdn.com/media/apphoto/aef3551c-2102-4c03-bd53-fde8f41f012c.jpg (picture)

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-angels-fyi30-2009sep30,0,602419.story (LA Times Article)

My question is was this an act of teammates celebrating with their deceased comrade or was it a noble motive with an insensitive way to go about it?

Poll

Were the Angels in the wrong?

Yes, he was killed by a drunk driver, this is very insensitive.

3 votes

No, they were celebrating with the best of intentions.

23 votes

Meh, I could see it both ways.

11 votes

37 votes | Poll has closed

Reynolds v. Sandoval: Let's Pick a Fight

AJforAZ — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 14:10:17 -0000

more after the jump. :-)

I was thinking back to the All-Star game and IMO the two biggest snubs in the AL and NL alike, Pablo Sandoval and your Mark Reynolds. So I decided that I was going to break it down and figure out to date who was the biggest snub and has since proven he deserved to be in that game. Let's start with the bad guys.

Pablo Sandoval is a 23 year old Venezuelan national signed out of Puerto Cabello in 2003 by the San Francisco Giants. He proceeded to post a 5 year line in the minors of .303/.342/.445. Sandoval was rewarded with a cup of coffee in the latter half of 2008 and won the starting job out of Spring Training this year at 3B. Perfect for comparison reasons. Sandoval has put up quite a stellar year hitting at a .333/.380/.555 clip. All of these stats are a bit above his career numbers and feign a slight fall back to earth, but not much. Pablo has driven in 68 runs and has scored 50 himself. Stellar contact rates are really helping him in his average category. Out of 434 PA, Pablo has wiffed on strike three a meager 59 times, whereas he has taken 29 walks. For all of you that enjoy rounding up that gives him a 1/2 BB/K ratio. Those hitting stats are good enough for a 142 OPS+. According to baseball-reference, Pablo has created 82 runs on the season, which is ultimately the most important thing. Meanwhile on the defensive side of the field, Pablo has a .964 fielding%.

Now let us take a gander at our very own Mark Reynolds. (Can I make another jump? )

Marky Mark is a 26 year old 14 round draft pick from 2004. He spent 4 seasons in the Diamondbacks minor league system from '04 - '07 hitting .280/.360/.525. Mark was rewarded for his efforts with nearly a full season in 2007 getting the call up in May and never losing his starting position since. That year he had a stellar rookie season and showed signs of what was to come. (Though not many of us, me included, payed much attention to this as we had bigger fish to look forward too. Justin Upton) Reynolds continued to fly under the radar even with his own fanbase coming into the 2008 season where his seemingly biggest achievement was striking out more times than anyone in the history of the game. However, this year Reynolds has really spread his wings. .290/.377/.613. Mark has 470 PA and 151 K to go with his 56 BB. We'll both round up and down this time to put his BB/K ratio at approxiamately 1/3. However to go along with the bad there is plenty of good. He has driven in 80 runs good for fourth in the National League and has scored 75 runs, good for fifth. He also has exploded onto the stolen base scene with 20 in 27 attempts. All of this adds up to a 149 OPS+ tacked on with his .944 fielding%. Mark has created 97 runs on the season. Needless to say Mark has drastically improved his play over last year and has done well enough to be considered an up and coming premeire hitter. The question is do you take Sandoval first?

Poll

So which is it? Do you take Pablo "Kung Fu Panda" Sandoval or is it the home team hero Mark "Look what I can do" Reynolds?

Mark Reynolds

66 votes

Pablo Sandoval

32 votes

98 votes | Poll has closed

Smoltz DFA'd. Arizona bound?

AJforAZ — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 21:11:41 -0000

So, as I was browsing one of the internets I came upon news that Smoltz has been DFA'd. Now he's really really struggling (the Yankees only swung and missed twice last night), but he's still a decent major league arm. The question is do we dare sign him to fill in for the rest of our floundering season? Max is nearing his innings cap and Smoltzy is going to put butts in the seats. Maybe we even insert him into the bullpen. What do you guys and gals think? Do you take a big gamble (less than DaCab obviously, but gamble non the less) in an already bust season?

Stokley's 10th

AJforAZ — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 15:31:05 -0000

Espn reported that Brandon Stokley suffered his tenth career concussion this past Sunday, and is still feeling the effects of it.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3641888 (opens in new window)

I know when he was with us he was a real favorite of mine and it brings up a real question. Is it time to call it quits for the sake of health? Should he give up on his career to protect his mental and physical stability in his later years? What is everyone's opinion here. As a friend would you encourage him one way or the other?