SB Nation User Blog: Jim McLennan

Livan Hernandez? Livan Hernandez?

Jim McLennan — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 22:16:31 -0000

Livan Hernandez? Livan Hernandez?

Per Nick Piecoro, "The only thing we can give you at this point in the day is a fifth-starter possibility: familiar face Livan Hernandez. We’ve heard the Diamondbacks are considering bringing him back, most likely more for his role in the clubhouse and how he can help young players than for his potential performance."

"it’s clear the club needs more starting pitching depth beyond just Billy Buckner, Bryan Augenstein and Kevin Mulvey. Hernandez probably would be about as effective as those guys, perhaps providing roughly league-average production for a fifth-starter. There are a lot of other options for fifth starters -- another Cuban, Jose Contreras, is one that would make sense -- but the Diamondbacks always have been appreciative of the intangibles Hernandez brings to the clubhouse."

I'd rather see Billy Buckner in the role of #5 starter than Livan. We don't really have any shortage of potential #5's - it's the gaping hole left by the departures of Davis and Garland that needs to be filled. And Livan is certainly not up to that these days.

Elsewhere, the Mets are interested in Chris Snyder - apparently they wanted some kind of swap for their second-baseman Luis Castillo. "That initial foray proved unsuccessful. But the Mets do remain interested in Snyder."

SB Nation Awards: Rookie of the Year

Jim McLennan — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:03:31 -0000

by Matt Slocum - AP

Tommy Hanson = NL Rookie of the Year

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Moving on to the next in the series of SB Nation awards, we have the voting for Rookie of the Year. In contrast to the Manager of the Year award yesterday, which was a landslide for Jim Tracy, this was a great deal closer. The top four contenders all received between six and nine first place votes and it was largely the distinctions further down the rankings which decided the final victory. One thing, however, remained unchanged: the word "Diamondbacks" was not to be heard on any voter's lips, despite the decent performance by the like of Gerardo Parra in this area.

After the jump, we'll go through the ballot in detail, and throw a few reminders at you, in case you're not quite able to put a face to the name.

Rk	Player	Team	1st	2nd	3rd	Pts
1	Tommy Hanson	Atlanta Braves	9	9	6	78
2	J.A. Happ	Philadelphia Phillies	6	9	7	64
3	Andrew McCutchen	Pittsburgh Pirates	8	3	5	54
4	Chris Coghlan	Florida Marlins	7	5	4	54
5	Dexter Fowler	Colorado Rockies	-	3	1	10
6	Randy Wells	Chicago Cubs	-	-	6	6
7	Garrett Jones	Pittsburgh Pirates	1	-	-	5
8	Casey McGehee	Milwaukee Brewers	-	1	2	5
9	Seth Smith	Colorado Rockies	-	1	-	3

Arizona faced winner Tommy Hanson on August 17th in Atlanta., and he pitched pretty well that day, giving up two runs on six hits over six innings - he walked none and struck out seven. Arizona lost 8-4, with Hanson taking the win, though to be honest, the six unearned runs allowed by Max Scherzer that day, probably had something to do with it as much as Hanson. Curiously, runner-up J.A. Happ posted exactly the same line against us, when we faced the Phillies on July 29th. However, he ended up with the loss, the Braves running into the buzz-saw which was, er, Yusmeiro Petit. The Petit Unit shut down the potent Philadelphia line-up for six innings, and Justin Upton drove in three runs as we blanked the visitors 4-0. Based on their performance against us, Randy Wells would probably be a Rookie of the Year contender, as he blanked us for seven innings during the final series at Wrigley.

On the position player side, if we were going purely on performances against the Diamondbacks, neither Andrew McCutchen nor Chris Coghlan would likely have qualified, as neither made much of an impression. In six games, McCutchen went 5-for-29, with no home-runs and one RBI, though five walks helped elevate his OPS to a merely mediocre .693. Chris Coghlan would have been delighted with anything like that: in seven games, he was 4-for-25, posting a line of .162/.192/.200, and a K:BB ratio of 6:1. Better numbers were posted by Casey McGehee (7-for-12 with two HR), though he only played in three games against Arizona. In more at-bats, the award would go to Dexter Fowler, who in 38 PAs versus the Diamondbacks, was at .310/.459/.586, with three stolen bases.

My ballot went Happ, Coghlan, Hanson. Even though Happ was relatively old for a rookie, at 26, you can't ignore a 145 ERA+. Some of the raw numbers, such as WHIP, went in Hanson's favor, and at age only 22, he's got astonishing potential - he's probably more likely to win a Cy Young down the road, and become another in the long line of great young Braves pitching. However, Happ threw almost forty more innings and was also working in a much less pitcher-friendly environment. Despite his struggles against us, Coghlan flourished, ending the year with a .321 batting average, sixth-best in the National League. He also had a credible K:BB ratio of 77:53, and didn't embarrass himself with the glove, in his first professional year playing the outfield.

Moving over to the American League, it's really hard to comment meaningfully, as I barely know anything about most of the contenders. Still, got to love any players named "Elvis," especially one playing in Texas. I note Andrew Bailey getting almost twice as many first-place votes, but also getting left off almost half the ballots, and that cost him first-place. It'll always be tough for a closer to win this award. Further down the list, I note former Diamondbacks prospect Brett Anderson, traded to Oakland as part of the Dan Haren trade. He had a solid year, especially given he's only 21. In July, he had a complete-game shutout against the Red Sox, and less than two weeks later, took a perfect game into the eighth. Haren didn't come cheaply...

Rk	Player	Team	1st	2nd	3rd	Pts
1	Elvis Andrus	Texas Rangers	6	9	6	63
2	Andrew Bailey	Oakland Athletics	11	1	3	61
3	Jeff Niemann	Tampa Bay Rays	3	5	3	33
4	Rick Porcello	Detroit Tigers	2	7	2	33
5	Brett Anderson	Oakland Athletics	5	1	3	31
6	Gordon Beckham	Chicago White Sox	1	2	8	19
7	Nolan Reimold	Baltimore Orioles	1	-	1	6
8	Matt Wieters	Baltimore Orioles	-	1	3	6
9	Brad Bergesen	Baltimore Orioles	-	1	-	3
10	Ricky Romero	Toronto Blue Jays	-	1	-	3
11	Travis Snider	Toronto Blue Jays	-	1	-	3

Tomorrow, it'll be the Cy Young award, and one hopes that Dan Haren might perhaps merit a mention on a ballot or two there?

SB Nation Awards: Manager of the Year

Jim McLennan — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:41:35 -0000

More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP

Jim Tracy = NL Manager of the Year

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As well as the ongoing 'Pitties, we also have an SB Nation-wide set of awards, voted upon by two contributors from each site - in the case of the SnakePit, it's myself and 'Charmer. This week, those awards will be handed out: we start with the Manager of the Year today, and then tomorrow we have the Rookie of the Year; Wednesday is the Cy Young, and Thursday will be the MVP. As with the BBWAA awards, there's one for each league; for obvious reasons, we'll be concentrating on the National League awards, though will also mention the top few finishers in the American League, for completeness.

Rk	Manager	Team	1st	2nd	3rd	Pts
1	Jim Tracy	Colorado Rockies	24	1	2	125
2	Tony LaRussa	St. Louis Cardinals	3	7	10	46
3	Fredi Gonzalez	Florida Marlins	2	6	5	33
4	Joe Torre	Los Angeles Dodgers	-	9	2	29
5	Charlie Manuel	Philadelphia Phillies	-	3	5	14
6	Bruce Bochy	San Francisco Giants	1	1	1	9
7	Bobby Cox	Atlanta Braves	-	1	4	7
8	Bud Black	San Diego Padres	-	1	1	4
9	John Russell	Pittsburgh Pirates	-	1	-	3

Probably not too much of a surprise here, with the stunning turnaround achieved by Jim Tracy on the Colorado Rockies impressing the members of the SB Nation academy. After starting the season 18-28 under Clint Hurdle - a win percentage fractionally worse than the one that got the other 2007 NLCS manager, Bob Melvin, fired here in Arizona - Colorado went 74-42 the rest of the way. That extrapolates to a 103-win full season, an amazing reversal to disprove the argument that in-season managerial changes never work. It worked immediately in Denver, where they went 18-5 over his first four weeks, including a 16-1 run.

Be interested to hear from some of the visiting Rockies fans why they think it made such a difference to the team. I am, of course, supremely jealous that it didn't work out quite so well in Arizona - Bob Melvin's winning percentage (.414) was only improved upon slightly by AJ Hinch (.436). One of the suggestions touched upon in 'charmer's end of season review, was that the players in Colorado were much more on board with the change. The ones here had to be convinced, to varying degrees, both of the need for change and that Hinch was the right man for the job, given his lack of managerial experience.

My ballot is actually sitting at work, so I'm not certain who I picked, though I'm fairly sure that it was Tracy as my #1 - odds in favor, since he got 80% of the first-place ballots [looks like one blog didn't take part]. A lot less unanimity for the second- and third-place spots, with nine of the 16 NL teams seeing their helmsmen mentioned. I think I went for Fredi Gonzalez as my runner-up, based on the wonders worked in Florida on a budget that could be funded from the back of the sofa in George Steinbrenner's office. Fire sale or not, the Marlins are probably the poster-child for winning in a small market, and one can only wonder what Gonzalez might do if given a reasonable amount of cash.

Of course, this is as much an award for the front-office who construct the team: I'm really not certain how much influence the manager generally has. There are exceptions, however, and if any manager does affect his team, it's probably third-place finisher, Tony LaRussa. He has absolutely no hesitation in rejecting "conventional" wisdom when he feels it's in the best interests of winning, e.g. batting his pitcher eighth. If I could pick any other major-league manager to be in charge of Arizona, it'd be LaRussa. Elsewhere on the ballot, I'm not sure who voted for John Russell in Pittsburgh, for leading his team to a brilliant 62-99 record, ahead only of the Nationals. I went over to Bucs Dugout, and if it was them, they're not 'fessing up, yet...

I trust it wasn't 'charmer, anyway - I'm sure she will be along a llttle later to discuss her ballot and explain her picks. I'll finish with a quick mention of the American League results, where both Ron Gardenhire of the Twins and the Angels' Mike Scioscia ended up with nine first-place votes. However, Scioscia got more X's further down the ballot, and so took the award, with Don Wakamatsu of Seattle finishing behind Gardenhire. I can't believe that almost half the voters left Gardenhire off their ballots entirely: again, we're talking about a man who has worked wonders with little or no cash, and has got to be in the running, at the very least. He'd have got my vote, certainly, though as we only get to vote for our own leagues, that's a token gesture. Here's the full results there:

Rk	Manager	Team	1st	2nd	3rd	Pts
1	Mike Scioscia	Los Angeles Angels	9	8	3	72
2	Ron Gardenhire	Minnesota Twins	9	5	1	61
3	Don Wakamatsu	Seattle Mariners	6	3	8	47
4	Joe Girardi	New York Yankees	2	4	2	24
5	Ron Washington	Texas Rangers	1	4	4	21
6	Terry Francona	Boston Red Sox	1	1	3	11
7	Jim Leyland	Detroit Tigers	-	2	4	10
8	Joe Maddon	Tampa Bay Rays	-	1	1	4
9	Ozzie Guillen	Chicago White Sox	-	-	1	1
10	Trey Hillman	Kansas City Royals	-	-	1	1

Tomorrow, we'll continue the series with the Rookie of the Year award.

This week in AZ baseball: Webb returns, the 2010 roster takes shape, and an AFL Gameday Thread

Jim McLennan — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 16:32:47 -0000

Didn't bother doing one of these last weekend, as there really wasn't enough to justify it. Not the case at all today, with a lot of contract news following the end of the World Series, and as a result we can see the first signs of the roster for next season taking place. Or, at least, cross some names off the potential candidates' list, anyway. Today is also the Arizona Fall League All-Star game out in Surprise, with first pitch at 6:15 pm. It's going to be televised, both on the MLB Network and free at mlb.com, so this post will also be the Gameday Thread for that event.

Details of that, analysis of the roster moves, an update on the latest numbers by Diamondbacks in winter ball and more, after the jump.

While no surprise, the big news is, of course, that Brandon Webb will be pitching for the Diamondbacks in 2010, after the team exercised their option. Everyone concerned seemed upbeat at the news, our ace saying, "I was hoping that they would. I was just waiting for the phone call. It was up in the air for a while and rightfully so, it was a big question mark for a while, but I've bounced back really well and am feeling good and I'm happy I'll be back next year." His agent - and one-time SnakePit poster! - Jonathan Maurer added, "We've said from Day 1 that Brandon is very happy with the Diamondbacks and our preference was to remain in Arizona. We would love to work out something long term, but we will just take this year and see how it plays out." Webb concurs: "Hopefully it goes well for both of us and we can maybe start some talks, if everything goes well, toward the end of next year."

Three months after the surgery in early August, Webb will be doing a little gentle soft-toss next week to end his season, before then closing things down and eventually beginning his usual build-up towards spring training and, all going well, Opening Day. He sounded fairly confident he'll be the same pitcher he was: "Even when I was throwing and I was still having some pain, the life on the ball was still there. I can't be too sure, but I'm pretty sure I'll always probably have that sinking action, because that's just how my arm action is, it allows the ball to do that." I certainly hope so: Webb without his sinker...why, that'd be like Lincecum without a pipe in his mouth.

Brandon may be coming back, but there are a lot of Diamondbacks who apparently won't be - though again, none of the news on that front was massively unexpected. On the pitching front, Doug Davis and Scott Schoeneweis filed for free-agency, while Daniel Cabrera declined his assignment to Reno and became a free agent too. Yusmeiro Petit was taken from Arizona on waivers by the Mariners - likely a better location for the fly-ball prone Petit Unit., and our colleague on Lookout Landing are quite excited. The trio accounted for almost one-third of our starts last season (34 for Davis, 17 for Petit, one for Cabrera), and means the competition for the fifth spot next year is currently down to Billy Buckner, Bryan Augenstein and Kevin Mulvey, with the first-named the favorite at this point. Doug Slaten was also picked up off waivers, by Washington.

On the position player front, we say a poignant farewell to Chad Tracy, whose 2010 option was bought out by the Diamondbacks. Only two players - Luis Gonzales and Steve Finley - have played more games in an Arizona jersey than Chad, who appeared 704 times for Arizona over six seasons. His career line with the team was decent, at .280/.339/.453, for a .792 OPS, but since returning from knee surgery, his output has slumped. Chad's numbers against left-handed pitching were particularly poor, helping to make the decision to decline his $7m option relatively easy. Also possibly on the way out are Alex Romero and Trent Oeltjen, moves intended to relieve the impending crush in the 2010 outfield.

Good article in the Republic today on how the economic downturn is hitting all valley sports teams, not just the Diamondbacks. "Every professional sports team in metro Phoenix, along with Arizona State University's football team and the annual Fiesta Bowl, has had trouble selling tickets this year... Teams have been forced to try promotions once considered unthinkable as the drop in attendance cuts deeper into revenue and costs jobs.." Said Jerry Colangelo: "I have been here over 40 years, and this is the worst it has ever been." Other points of interest with regard to the local franchises:

The Suns streak of home sellouts ended this month and the team just laid off about 10% of employees.
The Coyotes have the lowest average crowd in the NHL, attracting just 5,855 for Monday's game. [There's also an article on whether Phoenix might be better served by minor-league hockey]
The NFC champion Cardinals have needed an extension for all but one of their home games, to avoid them being blacked out on TV.

Time for an update on our winter league ball-players, starting with Conor Jackson in the Dominican. If he's still not showing much power - one home-run in fourteen games - he's still getting on base with impressive frequency: he has an OBP of .523, thanks in part to a K:BB ratio of 14:9. Conor's batting .364 and has stolen six bases in six attempts. Alex Romero and Trent Oeltjen are also hitting above .350 in Venezuela and Mexico, but since they are potenially going to be ex-Diamondbacks in the near future, I'm not going to look too hard there. The potential 2010 right-side of our infield continues to struggle: Tony Abreu has a .640 OPS in the Dominican, while Brandon Allen is hitting only .162 in the traditionally-hitter friendly AFL. Allen's 19 walks do lead the league, however.

On the pitching front, Tom Layne is the only one of the four in the AFL making a good impression. He has allowed two earned runs in 9.1 innings of work, on seven hits and four walks, with ten strikeouts. Bryan Augenstein has pitched the same number of innings, but allowed fifteen hits, leading to seven earned rusn. That's still better than Cesar Valdez, who has wobbled his way to an 11.25 ERA in eight innings. Intriguing line from the Dominican, where Jordan Norberto has nine strikeouts in five innings: while he's allowed five runs, only one has been earned. Scott Patterson has been working well in Venezuela: in 5.1 innings, he has given up three hits and a walk, with six K's.

Speaking of the AFL, today is the Rising Stars game at Surprise, where 50 of the best and brightest major-league baseball has to offer will go head to head. The only Diamondback taking part will be Allen, but it'll be almost your last chance to see live baseball from inside the United States until next March, so I fully intend to take advantage. As mentioned, the game is on both the MLB Network, and streaming for free at mlb.com, so there's no excuse not to be watching this one - and commenting in this thread. [I'll be here, just a little late, as we've got to have dinner first]

The scheduled starting pitchers are both 2009 frst-round draft picks - Desert Dogs right-hander Stephen Strasburg was #1 and Atlanta left-hander Mike Minor was #7. Be my first chance to see the much-vaunted Strasburg in action. Per Red Reign in the comments, looks like Strasburg has been scratched from the game with a strained neck. Probably injured it lugging his bonus to the bank.

Finally, Clay Zavada had his number, #35, retired by Illinois Valley Community College on Thursday. He pitched there in 2003 and 2004, and is the first alumni of the institution to reach the majors in its 85-year history. Around 200 replica handlebar mustaches were handed out for the ceremony, at half-time in a basketball game at the college in Oglesby. "It couldn’t happen to a better kid," said IVCC athletic director Tommy Canale. "He’s really had some tough tribulations in his life and he fought through that." Hear, hear.

Chris Snyder for Lyle Overbay? Apparently not

Jim McLennan — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 19:01:55 -0000

More photos » by Darren Calabrese - AP

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An interesting report by Nick Piecoro regarding a possible trade with the Toronto Blue Jays. This would see prodigal first-baseman Lyle Overbay return to the Diamondbacks. He was traded to the Brewers as part of the Richie Sexson trade in December 2003, and has been with the Blue Jays since the end of 2005. The deal is reported to involve Chris Snyder, now deemed expendable because of the blossoming of Miguel Montero. While Snyder is generally seen of as a superior defensive catcher, the output from Montero's bat is just too great to be ignored, and he will also be a lot cheaper than Snyder in the coming seasons.

After the jump, we'll take a look at the possibilities this might present, and what the trade could mean for Arizona next season - both at catcher and first-base.

[Update]. Per Nick Piecoro, "Concerns about catcher Chris Snyder’s surgically repaired back caused the Toronto Blue Jays to nix a trade that would have brought first baseman Lyle Overbay to the Diamondbacks. Not sure if Snyder "failed" the physical exam he was scheduled to undergo today or what the exact terminology is here, but we know that his condition was the reason Toronto called it off." So it seems the two teams were pretty close to a trade, before it fell through. I suspect the news will make other teams think twice about Snyder too, so it may be hard for Josh Byrnes to trade him this winter.

From a salary point of view at least, I like the basic concept of the deal, though my feelings will depend on the specifics of any trade - for example, do any money or other prospects change hands as a result Assuming, for the moment, that it's a straight-up swap, Overbay will earn $7 million next year, and then become a free-agent. Snyder is scheduled to receive $4.75m in 2010, $5.75m the season after that, with a $6.75m team option in 2012 (the buyout for that is $750K). So, it will lead to Arizona taking on about $2.25 million in additional salary - however, first-base was definitely one of the areas the team was looking to solidify, and doing so for that amount seems fairly cheap at the price. By the end of next season, we might have a better idea whether Brandon Allen is the 1B of the future.

Overbay had a very solid 2009, posting a line of .265/.372/.466 for an OPS+ of 120, including sixteen homers. It would initially seem he'd be a defensive upgrade too, having committed only two errors in 117 starts at the position last season. However, UZR is less impressed, scoring him at -0.6 in 2009, though his three-year average at the position is better, at +2.1. I also wonder how long it'll take him to adjust from the artificial surface on which they play in Toronto, back to 'real' grass in Phoenix? Looking at the UZR for Orlando Hudson, when he made the same transition, it's not good, as O-Dawg went from +8.2 to -1.3 his first season here. Hard to be sure if that's due to the change in conditions, aging, or something else.

One aspect which does surprise me is that Overbay is a left-handed bat. I would have been expecting us to look for a right-hander, someone with whom Allen (also a LHB) could team up. However, Overbay's career splits against left-handed pitching are mediocre: an OPS of .711, compared to .847 versus right-handers. And he's been even worse the past couple of seasons - over 228 at-bats against LHP in 2008-09, Overbay is hitting only .206 with one home-run. If he does arrive, it does nothing to address that gap in our line-up. One wonders if the plan would be to play Jackson at 1B against southpaw starters, with Eric Byrnes in LF for those games? [Assuming he's still about - if not, it'd be Gerardo Parra, and that's another guy who CHLFS.]

The departure of Chris Snyder would probably leave John Hester as the backup to Miguel Montero. The 26-year old catcher was 7-for-28 in fifteen appearances at the end of last season, replacing Snyder after Chris returned to the DL with back issues. Hester batted very well down in Reno - in 92 games, he was .328/.375/.535, an OPS of .910 - though as we all know, hitting there is like getting laid at the Bunny Ranch. No-one is very impressed and it doesn't exactly prove much. Still, Montero will be seeing the vast bulk of the starts; I hope his defense and game-calling continue to improve, as they seemed somewhat to do after he became the regular starter last year.

The 2009 'Pitties: Game of the Year

Jim McLennan — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:42:40 -0000

by Ross D. Franklin - AP

Gerardo Parra tried to dodge a pounding after a walk-off hit in the 10th inning against the Dodgers on August 15th.

View full size photo »

Not quite as close a poll for the second of the 2009 'Pitties. The B-bullpen of Jon Rauch, Esmerling Vasquez, Clay Zavada and Leo Rosales swept majestically to a collective victory, for their nine innings of no-hit ball in the marathon against the Padres. The same game is also nominated in this week's category.

One of the good things about baseball having a 162-game schedule is that, even in a disappointing year like the Diamondbacks experienced in 2009, there will still be contests which we remember with great fondness [contrast any 'Game of the Year' poll for the Detroit Lions last season, which I imagine made kinda wretched reading...] Arizona still won 70 games, and included among them were blowouts, squeakers, comebacks, slugfests, pitching duels and marathons.

After the jump, you'll find our selection of the five best games of the 2009 season described in detail - the link goes to the recap of the contest in question.

May 16th: Max finally tastes victory, vs. ATL

Only twice since 2002 has the team scored a dozen or more and shutout the opposition - oddly, both times were against the Braves. Here, a 12-0 victory was important, not just for the offensive outburst, but because it gave Max Scherzer his first career win, in his fourteenth start. However, it was only late on that it became a sure thing: when he was lifted for a PH in the seventh, after six innings of four-hit ball, it was only 3-0 to Arizona. However, the offense then piled onto the Atlanta bullpen, tagging them fror nine earned runs over the final seven outs, capped by Chris Snyder's grand-slam in the ninth. This was the largest winning margin for the Diamondbacks since 2006.
May 23rd: biggest comeback of the year, vs. OAK

Arizona had more than their fair share of opposition recoveries inflicted on them in 2009 (44 blown leads in all, ahead only of Washington in the NL), but this was our biggest comeback of the year. We trailed the A's 5-1 going into the eighth, having been stifled by, of all people, former D-back Edgar Gonzalez. However, another ex-Arizonan, veteran Russ Springer, was tagged for three runs without retiring a batter, and we tied things up on a two-run Chad Tracy double. We scored three times in the 11th, but Chad Qualls made it interesting, allowing two runs to score and putting the tying run on third with one out. A ground-ball double-play allowed him and Arizona to escape, 8-7.
June 7th: the game without end, vs SDP

I think the fangraph is all we need here, as we blew a 6-0 lead, allowing five runs in the ninth, then traded zeroes with San Diego until the 18th, where Mark Reynolds' three-run shot off a utility infielder won it for the Diamondbacks, five hours and 45 minutes after the first pitch. Madness? This is Petco!
August 15th: the late, late show, vs. LAD

Jonathan Broxton came into the ninth with 25 saves in 29 opportunities, and having allowed just two home runs in his previous 97 innings, going all the way back to June 2008. With a 3-1 lead - Hiroki Kuroda having out-duelled Doug Davis - things looked bleak for the home outfit, especially after Gerardo Parra's K reduced our WP to 5%. However, Mark Reynolds then deposited the first delivery he saw into the bleachers, and three pitches later, Miguel Montero followed suit, tying the game up. Parra then redeemed himself, driving in the winning run with one down in the bottom of the tenth, sealing the Diamondbacks' first series victory over the Dodgers for more than a year.
August 29th: Garland and Upton and Reynolds, oh my! vs. HOU

Seven shutout innings from Jon Garland - not just his best start in a Diamondbacks' jersey, but also his last before getting traded to LA. Mark Reynolds became the first Arizona batter since 2001 to hit forty home-runs in a season. And Justin Upton hit his 21st blast, four days after no longer being 21 himself. On Luis Gonzalez Appreciation Day and in front of the fourth-biggest home crowd of the year to that point, the D-backs rolled to a 9-0 win over the Astros. This was SnakePitFest 2: Clay Zavada pitched a scoreless eighth in front of the mustached ranks of the Zavada Brigade and team president Derrick Hall stopped by to say hello. Yeah, not too bad a day, all told...

Poll

What was the Game of the Year for the Diamondbacks in 2009?

Farewell: Chad Tracy, Yusmeiro Petit, Doug Slaten, Daniel Cabrera (and maybe Alex Romero and Trent Oeltjen)

Jim McLennan — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:56:52 -0000

More photos » by Rick Scuteri - AP

Chad Tracy gets high fives from Josh Whitesell and Augie Ojeda after hitting a three-run homer against the Pirates in July. Chad's now gone: who else will be left?

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With a hat-tip to Amit for the first news, a flurry of roster moves for the Diamondbacks the morning after the World Series - albeit most of them not entirely unexpected. Chad Tracy had his buyout exercised, while Daniel Cabrera, Trent Oeltjen and Alex Romero were outrighted to Reno. Cabrera has also elected to become a free agent instead, and it's possible Oeltjen and Romero may follow - ladylike weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth to follow. Yusmeiro Petit was picked up off waivers by the Mariners, and Doug Slaten went similarly to the Nationals. The 40-man roster now has five vacant spots left on it, after the moves.

Not really any surprises here. However, I'll write a bit more about these decisions in Saturday's round-up.

Brandon Webb: Should he stay or should he go?

Jim McLennan — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:37:02 -0000

More photos » by Matt York - AP

Brandon Webb: the 2010 season depends on you. No pressure...

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The end of the World Series - about which, the less said the better - means that Arizona now have five days to decide whether or not to exercise their option on Brandon Webb for 2010. It's a choice that, depending on how he pitches, could define the entire season - we saw how much the rotation struggled to replace him this year, with the Diamondbacks dropping to their worst record since 2004. On the other hand, with a below-average payroll, the team can hardly afford to take on another bust of a contract.

I asked the team here at the Pit to write about the choice that will shortly have to be made by Josh Byrnes and his front-office staff. They had no requirement on length or position, and the only requirement was that they write their piece independently, to avoid the potential of influencing each other. After the jump, you'll find all the posts I received in response - obviously, there's going to be some overlap of points, but I think these just emphasize the importance of these angles.

Jim McLennan
The timing of Webb's injury could hardly have been worse for the Diamondbacks. One year earlier, he'd simply still have been under contract; one year later, and he'd be a free agent, and probably someone else's problem. But the decision is now strictly the team's, and they are faced with a pig in a poke. [I hope this phrase isn't uniquely British!] The franchise has to decide whether or not to pay $8.5 million to someone who has hardly thrown a meaningful pitch in thirteen months. There's not even any solid rehab work on which to go: even though the surgery happened three months ago, and went well by all accounts, he is still some way from any kind of mound work.

To be honest, I am probably more concerned that surgeons didn't find anything significantly wrong with his shoulder when they opened it up. Sure, they tidied up a little in there, tucked in the loose ends. But that could be like making the bed to get rid of a bad smell in your bedroom - it won't help if your dog has crapped in the closet. I'd probably have been happier if they'd found a parasitic pitching goblin, gnawing on Webb's labrum. At least we'd then know what the problem was. Instead, there's a nagging fear that the real issue is unresolved.

Balancing that, is the fact that Webb's option will "really" only cost the team $6 million, because even if we choose not to exercise it, we still need to pay him a $2 million buyout [a hefty sum, though until this year, the odds of the buyout being exercise were slim indeed]. One imagines Webb would not mind that at all, since he would likely command more than $6.5m as an unrestricted free-agent. It would present him and his agent with an interesting dilemma. Take a one-year contract, hope he stays healthy and go for the big bucks in 2011? Or get a longer, guaranteed contract to provide security if his arm breaks down again?

From the team's perspective, however, the buyout does make the decision easier, since they are on the hook for $2m either way. The difference between Webb and no-Webb, in terms of available payroll to sign a replacement, is somewhat less than we paid for Jon Garland: a starter coming off a down season, at a time of economic turmoil. That's really what it comes down to: if the team thinks Webb will be at or above league-average in 2010, then the cost is more than reasonable. While there is clearly a significant chance that won't happen, there's also a chance (about the same, I'd say) he'll be the Webb of old, giving us a 1-2 punch anyone in the NL will envy. As ever, the reality will likely be somewhere in the middle, but I think the odds are that Webb will be better than anyone else we can get for the same cash. Exercise the option: YES

Zephon
In my opinion, picking up Webb's option is an easy decision. Yes there is the chance that he doesn't throw a single pitch next year, or that he doesn't pitch as well as he did before, but I think we're better off rolling the dice on Webb's option. I'd hate to see him go to some other team, and pitch as well as he did before, and blow our chance at resigning him to a long term contract. 8.5m is a bargain for even a league average innings eater, let alone a possible Cy Young caliber pitcher. Picking up Webb's option gives the team good PR with possible free agents, and makes our team a more attractive place to play. In addition, declining Webb's option would result in a lot of negative PR with the local media and fans. Webb is one of the most popular and well known Diamondback. He's a home grown Cy Young award winner. Why not take the chance with him? Pick up the option, see how he pitches next year, and either revisit a contract extension if we're in the pennant race, or trade him for prospects if we're out of it.

PROS

If Brandon Webb comes back and pitches at least at a league average level, the option is a no brainer. In this market, league average or better starting pitching at 8.5 million is a bargain.
If Webb returns to his previous CY young-worthy form, the option is even more of a bargain.
We'll be hard pressed to find another starter via FA who can put up Webb type numbers for 8.5m or less.
If we pick up the option, and Webb comes back at league average or better, there's a good chance he'll sign an extension. If we don't pick up the option, there's zero chance of that happening.
Without a healthy Webb or equivalent starting pitcher, there's really no chance of us making the post season. With a healthy Haren, Webb, Sherzer, Buckner + FA starting pitcher, we have one of the better rotations in the league IMHO.
Picking up Webb's option makes us more attractive to those injured free agents out there. A Harden, Sheets, Et Cetera will find Arizona a more attractive place to pitch if they see us treating our injured starting pitchers well.
There's also the PR hit we'd take if don't pick up his option. Picking up Webb's option shows the public that the team is dedicated to keeping it's players, and that we're dedicated to winning.

CONS

There's always the chance that Webb doesn't throw a single pitch in 2010, or he pitches at replacement level. If that happens, we'd have been better off finding a replacement via free agency.
There's also the chance that, even though Webb comes back and recovers, that he re-injures his shoulder, and is out the rest of the year.
If he doesn't throw a pitch, or is injured the majority of next year, we're out 8.5 million, which could have spent on another starting pitcher, a reliever, or a first or second basemen.

Exercise the option: YES

soco
I want to be the dissenting vote, but given the free agent market this year I can't bring myself to do it. It would be nice for the Diamondbacks to have another $10 million to spend this offseason, but if last year was any indication, it won't much matter and Webb will have at the very least a good year somewhere else. Imagine if he gets picked up by the Dodgers. Even if he goes far away from the division, there's no guaranteed that the Diamondbacks will be able to pull off a deal that brings in a Type A offensive weapon, and that's assuming the Diamondbacks even go that direction. If Webb is let go then that's also another slot in the rotation that needs to be filled, soit effectively becomes a salary swap with someone who most likely will be well below Webb's talent. The Diamondbacks cannot afford to backslide on the rotation. Exercise the option: YES

kishi
First off, let's look at who we're talking about. Brandon Webb. We all know the basics- Cy Young winner, went to three straight All Star Games, threw 42 consecutive scoreless innings in '07- for years, Webb has been one of the brightest beacons of success on this team, and we've had him at a bargain price. Now, that changed last season when he went had one bad outing to start the season, and then went down with injury. But let's just take a second to consider what he did before that. Here's a number for you: 143. That's Webb's ERA+ from his debut in 2003 to the end of 2008. When looking at that pitchers with 900+ innings during that stretch, Webb is only second to Johan Santana by ERA+. Santana, notably, is the same age as Webb and made just under $19 million last year. In fact, the rest of the guys in the top ten, save Ben Sheets who didn't play, averaged about $15 million last season. Webb, in comparison, has made about $20 million in his seven years in the majors. Webb has been a bargain.

Okay, yes, I know, the question isn't "How good was Webb" but rather "How good will he be?" Answer? I don't know. All I know about labrum injuries, I learned from Dr. Jim McLennan of the Arizona Snakepit Medical Center, so I can't tell you anything someone else knows better. But for the money we'd be giving him, $6.5 million, what could we get? Well, let's look at last season- what did that money buy you on the free agent market? $5.5 million gave you Braden Looper, career ERA+ of 103. $5 million could get you Randy Wolf, who had his own surgery for a frayed labrum. Spend a little more money, and you see someone like Jon Garland. I don't know about you, but I'm willing to wager (someone else's money) that Webb's going to be as good or better than what we expected out of Garland. Do I think he'll be the ace we saw in 2008, giving us great pitching and 22 wins? No. But do I think he'll still put up some good numbers and give us our money's worth? Yes.

Spend the money- bring back Webb. Exercise the option: YES

snakecharmer (belatedly)
My thoughts on Webb's option fluctuated over the course of the season. In Spring Training, I honestly wasn't sure. I was reading lots of different thoughts - yes, we need the starter, no, he's not worth it - and I didn't really know one way or the other. After Webb's injury and subsequent problems coming back from it, I became very worried that the front office would choose not to pick up. Then came the trade deadline, and gone was Jon Garland, and NOT in exchange for a pitcher. I honestly think that the trading of Jon Garland, the struggles of all the replacement starters, and the subsequent chatter of Doug Davis being somewhat unhappy and wanting to look elsewhere for financial support makes it a much easier choice that the Diamondbacks choose to spend (net) $8.5 million to keep a definite #2/1-type starter around for another year. Exercise the option: YES

Conclusion
Fortunately, it seems the front-office are likely to be on the same page as everyone here, with the rumors tending strongly towards Webb's option being exercised. There's no doubt, everyone accepts it is a roll of the die with regard to his recovery, and if it doesn't work out, then 2010 could be just as disappointing as 2009 in the desert. But there aren't many, if any, potentially better starters going to be available to Arizona for the money this winter, and the upside, if he's anywhere close to 2005-2008 form, is obvious.

Dodgers' pitcher shoots self in leg

Jim McLennan — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:17:51 -0000

Dodgers' pitcher shoots self in leg

"Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Vicente Padilla (FSY) has accidentally shot himself in the leg at a target range in Nicaragua. Dr. Eduardo Reguera says Padilla has left Managua's Metropolitan Hospital and didn't need surgery.
Police spokesman Vilma Reyes said Wednesday that Reyes' pistol apparently jammed during a target shooting session late Tuesday. The Nicaraguan was reportedly trying to clear a round from the chamber when the pistol went off."

I think this sums up the difference between baseball and gridiron players perfectly. Baseball players shoot themselves in the leg when performing maintenance during a target-shooting session. Gridiron players shoot themselves in the leg when trying to catch a gun stuffed into their pants at a night-club...

Yes, it IS supposed to look this way...

Jim McLennan — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:12:11 -0000

Yes, it IS supposed to look this way...

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