What Diamondbacks fan doesn't love Tatman? Who? Raise your hand and out yourself. If you dared to raise your hand, don't come crying to me when Rockstarr and her cronies have beaten you like a homemade custard. 

We all love Roberts, but just how good has he been this season? And, as has been questioned in recent posts, is it for real? Can we count on him going forward? After the jump we'll explore those questions.

Continue reading this post »

In the offseason there was talk of possibly starting a podcast. I would love nothing more than to see this site launch a podcast. Now, admittedly, I'm biased as a non-AZ resident and not having access to AZ radio. But having just spent 3 weeks back in Tucson and Phoenix I know you all can't be satisfied with what passes as Diamondbacks talk on the AM dial. I have no doubt the folks here can put out a superior product than what is on the radio.

Further, as a podcast junkie I'm acutely aware of the lack of podcasts available for D-Backs talk. Just plug in "diamondbacks" or "arizona diamondbacks" in the search bar at iTunes and you'll find 2009 podcasts in the top 3 of the results. There would be zero competition if a podcast was launched. 

We all know that there are more than enough strong contributors to this site who could deliver not just an informed, but fun weekly podcast on our boys. After the jump are a few of my recommendations for what might make a strong show...

Continue reading this post »

It's been a relatively slow year in the Free Agent market.  That's not a total shock, given the relative dearth of impact names combined with the financial instability of many clubs moving into 2010.

The Diamondbacks appear to either be done with their Free Agent signings or almost done (there's still a chance we could see a mid to lower tier 1B (Garko perchance?) get signed by the club).  The only real way to judge the club's signings is on comparative worth, so let's go round the leaue and rate the signings thus far.

After the jump we'll look at those signings and then reflect on them and compare the to the Diamondbacks' moves thus far. 

Continue reading this post »

The 2010 Hall of Fame ballot has been announced.  Of the 26 players, yet again the most interesting nominee is McGwire, on the ballot for the fourth time.  Andre Dawson and Bert Blyleven are also holdovers and perhaps have the best chance at induction.

Newcomers to the ballot include Roberto Alomar, Edgar Martinez, and Fred McGriff.  Nominees face a difficult task to move from a mere nominee to an inductee.  It requires a 75% vote in their favor from the several hundred eligible sportswriters to secure induction.  After the break I will include the full list of nominees and a breakdown on those most qualified for induction including one you might be surprised by.

Continue reading this post »

Favorite boyband sensation and pitching superstar for the Giants, Tim Lincecum, has been cited for marjuana possession. 

SEATTLE (AP)—San Francisco Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum is facing misdemeanor marijuana charges following a traffic stop in his home state.

Washington State Patrol spokesman Steve Schatzel said Thursday that the 2008 Cy Young Award winner and former University of Washington star was pulled over for speeding on Interstate 5 in the town of Hazel Dell, about four miles north of the Oregon border, on Oct. 30.

An officer approached Lincecum’s 2006 Mercedes and smelled marijuana as the pitcher rolled down his window. Schatzel said Lincecum immediately complied with a request to hand over the drug and a marijuana pipe from the car’s center console.

Ohhhh... soo many good jokes will linger for soo many years.  Please, do offer some suggestions for nicknames.  Bye bye "The Franchise" and "The Freak"; hello "Sir Munchalot" and "Tweaky Bird."

I absolutely hate losing and in baseball more than any other sport you're rewarded very little for losing.  Sure, you get a higher draft pick, but higher draft picks in baseball mean less than in any other major sport.  So even when our playoff hopes had evaporated in July I wanted us to win every game.  But now we sit here in the last week of the season and we've got the seventh worst record (we could slide as low as fourth or get as high as eigth based on this week's outcome). 

So, I think I'm finally rooting for us to lose.  Are you?

As per IHSB's recommendation, I'm reposting this as a fanpost.  Nick Piecoro posted this (pasted below) on his latest blog post.  It's an interesting look at what the Diamondbacks 2010 budget might look like and how that influence decisions about free agents and options.

Continue reading this post »

RJ and the Giants just came to terms on a one year, $8M deal.  An additional $5M are available in performance bonuses.

It seemed that it was a competition between the two Bay teams for Randy's services with the Giants ultimately outbidding the A's.  Seems to me that how reasonable this contract is (and, connected to that, how outraged D-Backs fans should be) is based on the performance bonuses.  If the bonuses are easily reachable (say, 150 IP), then this looks like a deal that we had no business trying to compete with. 

On the other hand, if the bonuses are rather unreachable (and the contract is basically just $8M straight up), then I wish we would have upped the ante on our offer.  $8M is not unreasonable.

With the steroids era at the doorstep of the HOF, questions about entry into the HOF have been raised again.  And at the forefront of HOF questions is always the albatross that is Pete Rose.  I’ve contended for some time that because of Pete’s non-acceptance into the Hall his stature has grown greater than what it really was (or should be).  Frankly that was an unsubstantiated claim… so I’ve put in the effort to see if that is indeed the fact.  Since Pete played OF, 3B, and 1B (hey, he actually played a few seasons at 2B when he first came up), I couldn’t just narrow the comparisons to one position, so I grabbed up OF, 3B, and 1B contemporaries of Pete and did a little comparison.  Here is what I came up with:

Pete Rose
4256 hits, 160 HR, 1314 RBI, 198 SB (149 CS!), .303 BA, .784 OPS, 118 OPS+

George Brett
3154 hits, 317 HR, 1595 RBI, 97 SB, .305 AVG, .856 OPS, 135 OPS+

 Orlando Cepeda
2351 hits, 379 HR, 1365 RBI, 142 SB, .297 BA, .849 OPS, 133 OPS+
<!--[endif]-->

Tony Perez
2732 hits, 379 HR, 1652 RBI, 49 SB, .279 BA, .804 OPS, 122 OPS+

 Mike Schmidt

2234 hits, 548 HR, 1595 RBI, 92 SB, .267 AVG, .907 OPS 147 OPS+

 Carl Yastrzemski
3419 hits, 452 HR, 1844 RBI, 168 SB, .285 BA, .841 OPS, 129 OPS+

Now I’m prone to favor OPS+, so I’d happily scan the list, see Rose’s 118 mark and call him the worst of the lot.  But that isn’t entirely fair.  Rose should be credited for his remarkable longevity. 

With that in mind, I think it would be fair to rank them: 1) Schmidt; 2) Brett; 3) Rose; 4) Yaz; 5) Cepeda; 6) Perez.  So, let baseball history say that Charlie Hustle was a great player?  Undoubtedly, he was.  But let’s not consider him the best hitter of his era… he wasn’t... no matter how much more often he's talked about than these other five.

Chipper's early surge this year followed by his predictable injury has got me thinking about his career.  I've got to admit, last year's huge year (941 OPS, 29 HR) really surprised me.  I thought Chipper was fading into the sunset.  Instead,  Chipper just might be positioning himself at making a run at the Hall. 

What do you think?  A slam dunk HOF candidate, not yet (but on his way), or not a chance? 

Take a look at Chipper’s career numbers (he turns 36 this week, by the way) compared with two HOF 3B and one who will likely end on the outside looking in:

Chipper Jones

2150 hits 392 HR 1317 RBI 134 SB .308 AVG .953 OPS 144 OPS+

George Brett

3154 hits 317 HR 1595 RBI 97 SB .305 AVG .856 OPS 135 OPS+

Mike Schmidt

2234 hits 548 HR 1595 RBI 92 SB .267 AVG .907 OPS 147 OPS+

Mark Grace

2445 hits 173 HR 1146 RBI 70 SB .303 AVG .825 OPS 119 OPS+

It's unlikely Chipper will get the 3,000 hit pass to the HOF.  If he had 4 more years in him and gets 182 hits a year (his career average), he will eclipse 2800 hits.  But with Chipper’s injury problems he only has 117, 106, 133, 173 hits in the last four seasons.  That sort of pace would leave him in the 2500—2600 range. 

His HR rate is in the 500 range, though, which bodes well for him.  Chipper averages 33 bombs a year (more like 26 in the last four years)… so by the end of 4 years he might be knocking on doorstep of 500.

In the end, I think he'll be remembered as a very similar player to Brett (although Brett had superior bat control)) and Schmidt (although Schmidt had more punch).  Furthermore, there hasn't been (as far as I know) any inkling that Chipper was in any way connected to any performance enhancing drugs.

All in all, I think Chipper has a legitimate shot at the hall.  For his sake, I hope he stays healthy and is able to put together these type of numbers.  Hats off to you, Chipper.