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Analysis precedes action in Arizona
By Tim Brown, Yahoo! Sports
The telephone Josh Byrnes used to answer at Chase Field has a recording that deflects the caller to another in-house number, ”for any general manager-type calls,” which, it turns out, is the wrong number, too.
Jerry Dipoto, a general manager-type for not even three weeks, is at a third number. He, too, has some directional issues, given the Arizona Diamondbacks will finish last in the National League West for a second consecutive season (an outcome that cost Byrnes and manager A.J. Hinch their jobs) with a roster (Brandon Webb(notes) notwithstanding) that should have been all grown up by now.
”We’ve watched as an organization,” Dipoto said, ”while our group has stagnated.”
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A Byrnes loyalist and therefore as much a part of the problem three weeks ago as he is part of the solution now, Dipoto is an interim GM-type with an interim manager in Kirk Gibson re-examining a broken roster just in time for the non-waiver trading deadline, and that’s a big undertaking.
The questions that dogged Byrnes – chiefly, how do so many terrific athletes come together to make such a bad baseball team – are foremost on Dipoto’s mind. The deadline does serve to heighten the introspection process, at least for a few weeks, as Dipoto begins to sort the athletes from the ballplayers, and the philosophy from the results.
As Dipoto pointed out from the end of the phone maze, the Diamondbacks possess a third baseman (Mark Reynolds(notes)) of 40 home runs, a shortstop (Stephen Drew(notes)) of reasonable consistency, a second baseman (Kelly Johnson(notes)) of the best OPS in the league at his position, a first baseman (Adam LaRoche(notes)) of 100 RBI potential, a right fielder (Justin Upton(notes)) of superstar skills, a center fielder (Chris Young) of All-Star qualifications, and a right-hander (Dan Haren(notes)) of ace material.
And, OK, maybe the worst bullpen in the game.
United, they became 100-or-so losses, an organizational overhaul and a couple new guys running the place. And they become interesting fodder for clubs on the other end of the standings, the 18 contenders, most of whom could use Haren, many of whom could make something of Drew, LaRoche, Johnson, Edwin Jackson(notes) or Aaron Heilman(notes).
When, say, the Chicago White Sox, St. Louis Cardinals, Philadelphia Phillies and Los Angeles Dodgers think Haren, Dipoto, in return, thinks roster balance and, he said, skills ”diversity.” Basically, he seemed to be saying, it’s one thing to have a roster with a couple swing-and-miss guys, another to have an entire lineup card of them.
He said he’d like smart players with baseball acumen. He said he’d like players with ”a winning edge.” He said Gibson already has helped there. Whatever it is, exactly, he seems to be saying the Diamondbacks lack it.
”A lot of things are probably intangible,” Dipoto said. ”We have a lot of physical ability on the club. One of the difficulties is turning tangible evidence into intangible quality.”
It’s time for change. Maybe not massively so, and Dipoto seemed to be thinking smaller, but you could hardly blame them if they went big, either.
As he said, ”We’re no longer looking at a group of players you’re allowing to experience life at the major-league level. Now we assess who they are and what they are as a team.”
By the end of the season, the once young and indomitable Diamondbacks will have a single regular position player under the age of 27 – Upton. Young, Drew and Reynolds each will have well more than 2,000 big-league plate appearances. At some point, they are what they are.
And then what?
Then the general manager types sort it out. |
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