Kuzul

Over the past week, the prospect of the Arizona Diamondbacks trading staff ace Dan Haren went from being highly unlikely to becoming imminent. A good indication of the likelihood of a trade occurred from a rather unconventional source.

As I entered the Team Shops in Chase Field, several employees welcomed me with news of a new sale they were having. For the remainder of this home stand, the Team Shop was offering anyone who purchased either a Dan Haren or Brandon Webb jersey and a T-Shirt with either of these two players’ names imprinted on them would receive a game-used baseball bat from Justin Upton, Mark Reynolds, or all-star Chris Young.

Clearly the team shop was sitting on a lot of inventory of merchandise for these two players that would have to be substantially marked down if either of these players were traded. Given that Webb is still on the disabled list, it seemed likely that Haren would be traded relatively soon.

At the conclusion of the game against the San Francisco Giants, the Diamondbacks announced they had reached a deal with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim that sends Dan Haren to Anaheim in exchange for three pitchers and the proverbial “player to be named later”.

The known names in this trade are left-handed starter Joe Saunders along with minor league reliever Rafael Rodriguez and starter Patrick Corbin. The rumor mill has identified the player to be named later will be Tyler Skaggs.

Skaggs who is currently playing for the Cedar Rapids Kernals of the Midwestern League is not eligible to be traded until August 7, since he has not yet been under contract for the necessary one year.

Saunders gives the Diamondbacks a left-handed starter who will take Haren’s place in the Diamondbacks starting rotation for the remainder of the season.

Rodriguez, a right-handed reliever in the Angels organization is currently with the Salt Lake Buzz and will likely be sent to Triple-A Reno for the remainder of the minor league season. Chances are, he will be among the September call-ups for Arizona.

The two most important pieces of this trade are probably Corbin and Skaggs, both of whom were identified among the top prospects for the Angels farm system. Corbin projects into a number two or three starter at the Major League Level, as does Skaggs.

This sets the Diamondbacks up with the bridge between the major leagues and minor leagues that interim General Manager Jerry Dipoto described during the Season Ticket Holder town hall meeting.

It gives the Diamondbacks some payroll relief and sets them up to begin building the next wave of pitchers to come through the farm system. Initial assessments by media outlets suggest Los Angeles got the better end of this deal.

From a short-term perspective, it would tend to favor the Angels. Should Corbin and Skaggs develop into the players they are capable of becoming, this trade may favor Arizona in the long run.

Of course a lot could change in that time, so it’s anyone’s guess. Does this trade signal the end to any deals the Diamondbacks might make? That is doubtful. There are other pieces of the current roster that should interest teams making a play-off run, so this is most likely just the first of many changes the Diamondbacks will make before the end of this season and next.

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With baseball’s trade deadline just 10 days away, rumors are running rampant around the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Mired in last place for much of the season, the Diamondbacks are seen as sellers hoping to add prospects and players that will return them back to contention in 2011.

Amid the center of the rumors is staff ace Dan Haren who took the mound for the D-Backs last night in their final game against the New York Mets.

The way the pitching rotation is playing out, Haren will have two more starts before the trade deadline.

The first would be Tuesday against the National League defending champion Philadelphia Phillies in Philadelphia.

The second start would be in New York against the Mets.

Since both are road games, this could possibly be Haren’s final start at Chase Field as a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The question is, what are the odds of the Diamondbacks actually dealing their ace at the deadline?

Sports Illustrated reported Arizona is asking a steep price for Haren. Two starting pitchers and a reliever would be needed to give a team a front-line starter capable of taking them to the playoffs.

The two starters would most likely be high level Double-A or Triple-A prospects projected to be front of the rotation starters.

The reliever could either be major-league ready or very close. It would not necessarily have to be a closer; although, that would give the team an edge in trade talks.

Is the price too high?

Looking at the recent deals for Roy Halladay, Jake Peavy, Cliff Lee, and others that seems to be the standard deal.

It should be noted that Haren is not just a half-year rental like some pitchers. He is under contract through 2012 with a club option for 2013 giving a team cost certainty for two additional seasons.

At last night’s game, there were several scouts in attendance including representatives from the Phillies, Chicago White Sox, and Detroit Tigers.

So obviously there are some teams entertaining the thoughts of making a trade.

The Diamondbacks have been saying consistently that they are not planning on making a trade unless they are overwhelmed by a deal that would set them up for long-term success for several years to come.

So, while last night may have been Haren’s final start at Chase Field, it is my belief that once the calendar turns from July to August Haren will still be a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Of course I am also the one who thought the Diamondbacks should not have traded for Haren in the first place.

I would much rather have had Carlos Gonzalez playing left field for Arizona and possibly having Greg Smith or Dana Eveland pitching.

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When we moved to Arizona in 1994, Phoenix was clearly a basketball town. The Phoenix Suns were continuously sold out and you heard stories of people spending hours on the phone the day single game tickets went on sale hoping to score tickets to a single game during the season.

When the Suns were on television it felt like the whole city stopped whatever it was doing and focused all of their attention on the basketball game. I had never lived in a city so obsessed with a sports team and soon I found myself drawn into their enthusiasm. But alas, I am not a basketball kind of guy, my love is baseball.

On March 9, 1995 when Major League Baseball introduced the Arizona Diamondbacks as their newest franchise I was exstatic. If people in this town were excited about basketball, just wait until they had an MLB team. Then they would have a real reason to celebrate.

I was in attendance on March 31, 1998 when the Arizona Diamondbacks faced the Colorado Rockies in their first Opening Day. Bank One Ballpark was sold out. Even the standing room only tickets were long gone as people wanted to be a part of this historic event.

Along with me I brought my wife, Trina, and my son, Dakota, who was just an infant. I had several people question why I would bring my son to the game when he was clearly too young to understand. It never occurred to me not to bring him.

Having Diamondbacks season tickets have been an annual event. We have always had two seats. I would attend every game while the second seat would be shared by the rest of the family.

Each game I would take one of my five children or my wife. It was just what we did. For 81 nights each year we would go to “the ballpark.” It was in my mind the perfect situation. It gave me an opportunity to spend quality one-on-one time with one of my children or my wife while watching the game I loved.

It gave me an opportunity to teach my children about this great sport and what it meant not just to me, but also from an historical perspective. When the Diamondbacks started, my oldest daughter was 15, while my son was just a baby.

No matter their ages, they were given an opportunity to go to the game. To me it sounded like the perfect way to spend your childhood. I mean who wouldn’t want to spend time with their dad at a Major League Baseball game?

At first the kids thought the same way. It was new and it was cool to be down at the ballpark. You might catch a foul ball or get an autograph. If you were lucky one of the players would wave at you.

But when a kid is subjected to this for 81 days a year for 13 years, their excitement wanes just a little. No one wants to spend that much time with dad especially if he is some crazed baseball fan that rarely, if ever, misses a game.

While I can’t prove this, I have a suspicion that my wife bribed the kids to go to the game offering them prizes for going just one more time. But you know, something changed somewhere along the way.

My two oldest daughters are now grown and married. They are no longer part of the regular game rotation that occurs every season. They have their own lives to live. Instead of celebrating the fact that they no longer have to spend all summer at the ballpark, they now lament the fact that they don’t have that opportunity.

Their change in attitude has proven a theory I have had for a long time. In order to build a strong loyal fan base, you need multi-generational fans that grew up rooting for the team. You will get some longtime fans such as me that gravitate to the home team, but the most loyal fans grow up with the game.

I recently became a grandfather for the first time. While I am lamenting the sudden loss of my youth. I am excited at the thoughts of a brand new generation of Diamondbacks fans. As soon as my granddaughter Lily was born, she received a Diamondbacks outfit in the mail from me.

This week they came to Arizona to visit which coincided with the beginning of a seven game home stand. Like I did with my own children, I planned to introduce baseball to the newest member of our family.

Although Lily is only four months old, there she was in Section 132 Row 9 seated on my lap. I held her and my scorebook while pointing out all of the sights and sounds of Chase Field. She sat there looking all around trying to absorb this new place.

She helped me fill out the scorebook and even drooled all over the Mets lineup. We sat there for nine innings enjoying the game. It was the perfect game ending with a Diamondbacks win.

The wins and losses don’t matter nearly as much. It was the fact that I could share my love of baseball with another generation. One that I hope will one day grow up and tell her own children about the time grandpa took her to the ballpark and showed her the game he loved so much.

It is through experiences such as this that this will become a baseball town. One day the stadium will be filled to capacity with loyal fans rooting for the home team. That’s my dream, to let the children experience baseball one game at a time.

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When the 2010 season began, the Arizona Diamondbacks thought they had all of the pieces in place to compete in the National League Western Division. Team officials were confident that 2009 was an anomaly and they had taken steps both with the pitching staff and the offense to overcome the difficulties they faced last season.  The thinking was that they should compete for the divisional crown, or at the least, the wild card.

Through the first week of the season confidence was growing for this team. They began taking two of three from the San Diego Padres and won the series with the Pittsburgh Pirates. The mounting losses of 2009 seemed like a distant memory.

With the first road trip of the season, the Diamondbacks fortunes changed when the team went 1-5 against the Dodgers and the Padres. Little did we know that trip would be a more accurate barometer of how this team would play through the first three months of the season.

While the Diamondbacks stumbled at home, going 21-25, that was nothing compared to their struggles on the road where they are a woeful 13-30 thus far.

Several theories have been proposed as to why the team has done so poorly.

The players did not seem to respond to manager AJ Hinch and he was subsequently let go by the team; the roster construction relied heavily on power hitters who strike out at alarming rates; and, of course, no one can forget the bullpen which has the worst ERA in the major leagues and is on pace to shatter the single season record for failure.

The roster shortcomings resulted in General Manager Josh Byrnes getting fired.

During the press conference when Hinch and Byrnes were let go, General Partner Ken Kendrick and CEO/President Derrick Hall alluded to more changes that could be on the horizon.

At the All-Star break, questions remain: what changes are in store for the Arizona Diamondbacks and what are the expectations of the team over the second half of the season?

Hall and Kendrick have already publicly stated they will be evaluating all aspects of the organization to identify areas of improvement. There are no areas that will be off-limits to these assessments.

Already there have been changes in the baseball operations staff and further changes may be coming. From a scouting and player development perspective, too many of these young players are reaching the majors with swing flaws and questionable plate discipline.

Interim manager Kirk Gibson has already expressed concern over the strikeouts and has challenged his coaches and players to begin changing their approach.  Otherwise, they may not remain on this team long.

Likewise, the pitching staff, under the direction of pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr., has been challenged to become more involved in the advanced scouting and preparation. Rather than having scouting reports provided to the pitchers, Gibson and Stottlemyre expect the pitchers to collect the information and share it amongst themselves to become more hands-on in preparing for a series or game.

That might sound obvious, but to many of these young players it is a foreign concept. They are now being asked to be more accountable, something that should have been taught at each level of their minor league development.

The players are not immune to the assessments being made by Kendrick and Hall. They understand full well that the Diamondbacks will be sellers at the trade deadline and that no one is exempt from being dealt if the right deal comes along.

Although, it may be naïve to believe the Diamondbacks will make wholesale changes by the July 31 trade deadline. Most of the players on this team have underachieved and, therefore, have little trade value. The Diamondbacks will not make trades just for the sake of change. A deal will only be considered if it makes this year’s team better while also improving future teams.

It is more plausible to think Arizona will make the bulk of their roster adjustments in the offseason when they can assess the free agent market as well as the trade market. Given the comments by members of the Diamondbacks management team, I anticipate the roster to be constructed differently next year than what we have seen in 2009 and 2010.

The roster needs an infusion of players capable of getting on base and providing more situational hitting expertise than the current group has. They also need to re-evaluate the relief pitching and organize a staff that won’t lose leads.

All of these changes could mean potential free agents such as Chad Qualls, Adam LaRoche, and perhaps Kelly Johnson may not remain with the team.

The second half of the season should be entertaining if for no other reason than to see how club management views the pieces they have in place and which will be deemed expendable. Buckle your seat belts, this could be a heck of a ride.

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When pinch-hitter Rusty Ryal struck out to end last night’s game, it seemed rather appropriate. After all, the Arizona Diamondbacks lead the planet in strike outs. Looking at the latest season statistics on MLB.com, the Diamondbacks have five position players in the top 20 for strikeouts in the National League.

Mark Reynolds of course leads everyone with 115 punch outs in 276 at-bats. In second place is Justin Upton with 108 strikeouts. First baseman Adam LaRoche is in seventh with 88. The other two Diamondbacks in the top 20 are second baseman Kelly Johnson and center fielder Chris Young, each with 74 and tied for 18th place. These five players account for 459 strikeouts in just 84 games. To put this into perspective, reigning NL MVP Albert Pujols has just 611 strikeouts in his 10-year career.

Shortly after Kirk Gibson was named manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks, he expressed his desire to reduce the number of strikeouts his team was putting up. Gibson is not the first manager to voice this desire. Bob Melvin and AJ Hinch also expressed a concern of their team’s propensity to strike out.

It used to be that striking out had a negative connotation in baseball. It was almost embarrassing to be punched out rather than putting the ball in play. This new generation of players seems to accept striking out as a logical outcome from an at bat. They shrug and explain that striking out is just a byproduct of being a power hitter.

They are willing to exchange a strike out for the opportunity to hit a homerun, putting their team back in the game. The concept of a productive at-bat that moves a runner from base to base is as foreign as stirrup socks and bases filled with sawdust.

We are living in a time of immediate gratification and these younger players are willing to sacrifice a few strikeouts for the chance to win the game on a 3-run home run. While they may not admit it, their actions show them to be less team oriented than their counterparts from previous generations.

The fans likewise are at fault. Nightly, I hear shouts rooting a player to “hit one out of the park” when all that is really needed is to get on base and extend the inning. The strategy of taking a walk, stealing second, being sacrificed to third and scoring on a fly ball to the outfield has given way to getting on base striking out and making it to first on a wild pitch then waiting for the next guy to hit a home run.

I applaud Gibson for making this a priority; I just wonder whether he will be able to convince these young players of the value of playing under control and exhibiting some plate discipline. During last night’s Diamondbacks-Cubs game, the Arizona Diamondbacks last five outs of the game came via strikeout, killing any opportunity they might have had to get back into the game.

This is not just an Arizona Diamondbacks problem. Going into the All-Star break, the National League could see six players with over 100 strikeouts. While we are seeing a resurgence in pitching, it is hard to believe pitchers have gotten that much better this season. It may just be that pitchers have developed a comprehensive plan to take advantage of the free-swinging hitters that proliferate the game these days.

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Coming into the series with the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Chicago Cubs had lost seven of their last ten games. They had not been losing close games either, they were getting blown out. The pitching staff had struggled and the drama of the Carlos Zambrano saga was obviously a distraction to a team that was struggling.

It wasn’t just the pitching though, the offense would show up one game then be non-existent for days. Clearly the Cubs were reeling like only the Cubs can do. From a Diamondbacks fan’s perspective, this is the best time to welcome the Cubbies to Chase Field.

Maybe this is just what the Diamondbacks need to jump-start their season. With just seven games remaining before the All-Star break, it would be the perfect time to run off a few victories and begin climbing back into being relevant.

Of course the same holds true for the Cubs. A visit to Chase Field to face a pitching staff that leads the league in giving up home runs might just be what the doctor ordered.

Arizona sent a well-rested Ian Kennedy to the mound hoping some extra rest would be good for Kennedy. From the looks of his pitch selection, that was not the case. The Cubs scored early and often ultimately recording a 9-4 victory over the home team.

This was exciting for the many Cubs fans who seemed to outnumber the Diamondbacks faithful both in bodies and enthusiasm. Throughout the game there were chants of “Let’s Go Cubbies ” and fanatical cheering for any play the visiting team completed.

In the end, the Diamondbacks fans sat rejected as they watched the opposing team giving each other high fives on the infield celebrating a victory. Chicago fans were walking through the concourse smiling and cheering for one another singing the Cubs victory song.

On the other side, Arizona fans walked dejectedly through the stadium trying not to make eye contact with anyone. In the off-chance that they did come in contact with a Cubs fan they would mutter under their breath, “Wait until next year”.

Are the Diamondbacks becoming the new Chicago Cubs? The inconsistent play on the field, the offense that disappears for weeks at a time, the pitching staff that seems to implode whenever the game is on the line; all of these have been used to describe the 2010 Diamondbacks.

I shudder to think how horrible that would be. It’s only been nine years since the Diamondbacks World Series win against the New York Yankees, yet it seems like an eternity. I cannot even imagine what it would be like to go 103 years without a championship. No wonder beer sales are so brisk at Wrigley Field. I wonder if the Diamondbacks are likewise seeing an increase in beer consumption this year and last?

About all we are lacking are a goat curse and an inebriated Hall of Fame announcer and the transformation will be complete. This is definitely not good.

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Fresh on the heels of the announcement that The Wiggles are coming to Chase Field, the Arizona Diamondbacks announced their second post-game concert.

I have to admit I am a lot more excited about this one than I was the first.

The Arizona Diamondbacks announced there would be a concert featuring Hall & Oates after the Los Angeles Dodgers/Arizona Diamondbacks game to kick off the Fourth of July Weekend.

This is an exciting announcement for anyone who grew up in the 1980’s or who has a parent who seems to be stuck in the 1980’s.

From 1980-1985, the duo of Daryl Hall and John Oates dominated the music scene.

They put together a string of songs and albums that remained at the top of the charts in sales and play. Songs include such classics as “Rich Girl,” “Kiss on my List,” “Private Eyes,” “I Can’t Go For That,” and “Maneater.”

The concert begins a series of three days where the Diamondbacks are celebrating the Independence Day holiday.

Friday games typically end with a post-game fireworks show. But for this series, the fireworks will move to Saturday and will be expanded to become the Valley’s largest Independence Day fireworks show.

The All-American Weekend is sponsored by the Arizona Milk Producers and will be a series not to be missed.

The only thing that might have made this even more spectacular would have been if the Diamondbacks had scheduled 1980’s night on July 2.

I guess that may have been too much as we surely would have depleted the ozone layer with the fans using that much hair spray in one day.

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For the fifth consecutive night Arizona Diamondbacks fans sat helplessly and watched as their team dropped yet another baseball game to the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers.

It is not just that the Diamondbacks are losing; it is the way they are losing that has fans up in arms. Last night was the latest example of the struggles this team has faced this year.

Arizona’s offense continued its struggles getting just four hits and no runs over the first six innings. During this same period the Dodgers would score three runs on nine hits.

After the first Dodger run scored, the fans let out a collective groan knowing the Diamondbacks likely would not be able to overcome even a single run deficit. That outlook changed when Arizona pieced together four hits and scratched out three runs to get to within one.

All of the excitement quickly dissipated when the game was turned over to the Diamondbacks bullpen. By the time the last out was recorded in the eighth inning, the Dodgers had sent 12 men to the plate and scored seven runs. The beating was not over as the Dodgers would tack on another two runs in the ninth on their way to a 13-3 win.

The bullpen struggles are nothing new, it has been occurring all season.

Diamondbacks coaches and front office executives continually preach patience and explain at great lengths that the season is 162 games long and we are just 34 games into the season.

I can understand that argument and I can appreciate their loyalty to their pitching staff but if 2009 taught us anything it was that a downward and negative trend can snowball quickly with a young team—sooner or later the losses can add up to an insurmountable uphill battle.

During his post game remarks, Diamondbacks manager AJ Hinch was inevitably asked about the struggling bullpen. Clearly this latest episode was even more than Hinch could bear. His tone was short and he began questioning whether the current personnel were capable of overcoming their difficulties.

At a minimum, the roles in the bullpen are in a state of flux with no one guaranteed a spot. This is a challenging time to be making wholesale changes to the ‘pen but the team appears to be ready to begin reconstruction.

General Manager Josh Byrnes warned that the team would not make trades just for the sake of doing so but did appear to be open to a multitude of changes and suggested that nothing is off-limits (including the possibility of moving a starting pitcher to the beleaguered bullpen).

In the words of Byrnes, “that would be the equivalent of robbing Peter to pay Paul” so maybe extreme changes might not be warranted at the present time but could be revisited if or when Brandon Webb and Kris Benson return to action.

For now the fans need to develop thick skin and hang in there. The boos will continue to flow through Chase Field whenever a pitching change occurs and the Diamondbacks will keep searching for an end to this losing streak.

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