Kuzul

Justin Upton and the Arizona Diamondbacks had a rough go in 2010. Plagued by a historic case of strikeout fever—the batters whiffed 144 times more than any other club in the National League and the pitchers struck out the third-fewest opponents on the senior circuit—and a poor defense, the team lost 97 games.

Manager A.J. Hinch and GM Josh Byrnes got the axe, and have been replaced by Kirk Gibson (in the dugout) and Kevin Towers (in the front office).

The team did little this winter to suggest they feel like contenders in 2011. Their pitching staff was young but got even younger, and their lineup now features more contact hitters but far less upside risk. Still, this team has some pieces that have enigmatically struggled in recent years, and if they put it all together, who knows? The snakes could bite some unsuspecting National League foes.

Here are 10 things that have to happen first.

This is the first in a series of pieces listing 10 things that would have to go right for each MLB team to win a pennant this season. To find out when your favorite team’s article comes out, follow me on the twitter @MattTrueblood, or sign up for your team’s Bleacher Report newsletter.

Begin Slideshow

While there’s some question as to who’s better between Carl Crawford and Carlos Gonzalez or between Ryan Braun and Matt Holliday, there’s little doubt that those are the top four outfielders. The outfielders after them are a different story.

Enter Justin Upton and Alex Rios.

Upton is one of baseball’s top young players. It’s no surprise then that when Diamondbacks GM Kevin Towers put his name on the trading block a few months back, almost every team made an offer. Towers wisely pulled him off the block after he realized he couldn’t risk trading away someone as talented as Upton.

Rios had a career year in his first full season with the White Sox. He’ll look to continue to prove that his disastrous season in 2009, in which the Blue Jays placed him on waivers and didn’t even demand a player in return, was an anomaly.

Today we’ll decide which outfielder should be drafted first.

Each player is assigned a grade for each of the five standard offensive categories plus a few extra I felt were important to factor. Grades are based on my expectations for the season and take into account both the player’s expected performance relative to the entire player pool and relative to the position he plays at. Grades were averaged using the standard 4.0 GPA scale to provide a cumulative “Professor’s Grade.”

The Case for Upton 

After batting .300 with 26 HR and 20 SB in 2009, Upton was destined for stardom in 2010. Unfortunately, he failed to reach 20 HR or 20 SB and saw his batting average dip to .273 before a shoulder injury forced him to miss most of September.

It’s easy to forget that Upton is still just 23 years old. The former No. 1 overall pick has all the tools you look for in an elite fantasy player. Not counting the freakishly strong Mike Stanton, Upton has the most power of any major leaguer under the age of 24. He’s also athletic enough to steal 20-plus bases, a feat he has already accomplished in his young career. As if that’s not tantalizing enough, he’ll be batting out of the three-hole in a hitter’s ballpark.

Despite Upton’s disappointing stats last year, there were signs of encouragement. His walk rate was 11.2 percent, up from 9.4 percent in his breakout 2009 season. It’s rare for a player as young as Upton to show such a knack for drawing walks and it will only help increase his R and SB potential. Upton also improved his line drive rate and GB/FB ratio, which bodes well for an increase in power and batting average.

The sky is the limit for Upton and he certainly has the potential to produce first-round numbers.

The Case for Rios

Rios truly is a five category producer. He was one of three players to reach 20 HR and 30 SB, with Hanley Ramirez and Drew Stubbs being the others. It was the second time Rios reached both of those marks and the first time he did so in the same season.

Rios is also one of the few power speed players that won’t hurt your batting average. If you take out his 2009 season, Rios hasn’t batted less than .284 since 2005.

Furthermore, Rios plays in a hitter friendly lineup. He’s surrounded by talented players such as Adam Dunn, Paul Konerko, Carlos Quentin, Gordon Beckham and Alexei Ramirez. While he doesn’t have the same potential as Upton, he has shown more consistency and durability.

Who Should I Draft?

Upton and Rios are close in value, but I believe Upton is the better pick. From the chart above you can see that they each have the advantage in three categories, but Upton has the better overall grade.

You can also see that Upton has a distinct power advantage, a skill set that is becoming harder to find. The only real categorical advantage that Rios has is speed, but Upton will still contribute there for you. While Rios is definitely a safe pick due to his consistency, Upton’s potential is far too great to ignore.

He’s already one of the best young players in the game and has much room to grow. It’s for that reason that I’m taking Upton over Rios.

Check out our other head-to-head matchups, found only at Baseball Professor, as well as our other preseason coverage.

Miguel Cabrera vs. Joey Votto

Ubaldo Jimenez vs. Clayton Kershaw

Ryan Zimmerman vs. Alex Rodriguez

Kevin Youkilis vs. Kendry Morales

Carl Crawford vs. Carlos Gonzalez

Cole Hamels vs. Brett Anderson

Rickie Weeks vs. Ian Kinsler

David Price vs. Justin Verlander

2011 Fantasy Sleepers

2011 Draft Coverage

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Justin Upton is one of the brightest young stars in baseball—at least, that’s what we are supposed to believe. 

We all know he has the talent, as we’ve seen it at times, but given what he’s shown recently, should we be rolling the dice on him in the late third or early fourth round of fantasy drafts (since his current ADP, according to Mock Draft Central. is 40.27)?

Obviously, if you are in a keeper league, this discussion is completely void. In a league where you are looking not just at 2011, but beyond, there are few players that you would probably rather have than Upton. 

Keep that in mind as you read on.

First, let’s take a look at Upton’s 2010 production:

495 At Bats
.273 Batting Average (135 Hits)
17 Home Runs
69 RBI
73 Runs
18 Stolen Bases
.356 On Base Percentage
.442 Slugging Percentage
.354 Batting Average on Balls in Play

Those numbers paled in comparison to his 2009 campaign when he hit .300 with 26 HR and 20 SB. He was supposed to turn the corner in 2010 and take the next step in his development; instead, he regressed significantly.

Yet, owners are still valuing him like he lived up to expectations.

One of the major concerns is his strikeout rate, which took a significant step backwards:

• 2008 – 34.0% (356 AB)
• 2009 – 26.0% (526 AB)
• 2010 – 30.7% (495 AB)

Yes, you could argue that he turned the corner in that regard as the season progressed (25.8% in July, 24.8% in August) but the threat is still there. The idea that he could post such a high strikeout rate makes it hard to expect him to hit .300. Obviously, if he could maintain his mid-season success (as he did in 2009), it is possible. 

The upside is there, but is it something that is a guarantee?

He has power potential, but what exactly has he shown to make us think that he’s going to suddenly become a 30+ HR threat in 2011? His HR/FB fell significantly in ’10, going from 18.8% to 12.4%. 

So, which is it? It’s likely that he is somewhere in the middle, but at this point does anyone really know for sure?

Who is to say that he is more likely to return to his ’09 power as opposed to repeat his ’10 struggles? Yes, we all know the potential, but he is still just 23 years old. There just is not guarantee.

The speed is solid, but he’s not a 30 SB threat. That is something that he has proven, with 38 total stolen bases over the past two years. Yes, it is a solid number, but how much better is it than other options?

Just look at Hunter Pence’s 2010 numbers, who has a current ADP of 84.53:

.282, 25 HR, 91 RBI, 93 R, 18 SB

He outperformed Upton basically across the board, yet Upton’s hype and potential cause him to be drafted nearly 50 spots higher? 

Honestly, it doesn’t make any sense.

Pence has proven to be a consistent performer year in and year out. He is going to be a 25 HR hitter.  He is going to hit around .280. He is going to steal between 15 and 20 bases. Plus, now that he is likely the full-time No. 3 hitter for the Astros, there is a good chance that he goes 90/90 once again.

Could Upton outperform those numbers? Absolutely. He has that “potential.” However, he showed in 2010 that he also still has a long way to go and has not yet fully realized what he can and cannot achieve on the diamond.

Of course, you also have the concerns regarding his shoulder injury that plagued him in 2010. It cost him time in September and maybe did contribute to his overall struggles. 

Are you willing to bet on it, though?

Potential is tremendous, but when you are drafting for one season is it really something you want to gamble on that early? It certainly isn’t for me, especially when I can get similar, if not better, production four rounds later.

What about you? Is Upton someone you would in the fourth round of yearly leagues?  Why or why not?

Make sure to order your copy of the Rotoprofessor 2011 Fantasy Baseball Draft Guide, selling for just $5, by clicking here.

Make sure to check out some of our 2011 projections:

• Buchholz, Clay
• Butler, Billy
• Choo, Shin-Soo
• Ethier, Andre
• Freese, David
• Hughes, Phil
• Jaso, John
• Johnson, Chris
• Morrow, Brandon
• Uggla, Dan
• Reyes, Jose
• Suzuki, Kurt
• Wieters, Matt
• Willingham, Josh
• Young, Michael

THIS ARTICLE IS ALSO FEATURED ON WWW.ROTOPROFESSOR.COM

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The Arizona Diamondbacks 2011 Major League Baseball Season couldn’t be any worse than their 2010 season, could it?

The 2010 MLB Season marked the second consecutive year the Arizona Diamondbacks finished with a losing record (65-97) and in last place in the National League (NL) West.

The team’s slow start resulted in manager AJ Hinch and general manager Josh Byrnes losing their jobs midway through the season on July 1st.

Hinch was replaced by the legendary Kirk Gibson while Jerry Dipoto filled in for Byrnes on an interim basis before Kevin Towers was hired in the offseason.

To make matters worse, the 2010 Arizona Diamondbacks set the all-time MLB Team Record for strikeouts by a hitters with 1,529 with Adam LaRoche (172) and Mark Reynolds (211) both leading the charge.

LaRoche was not resigned and Reynolds was traded to the Baltimore Orioles during the offseason.  The Diamondbacks also made various moves for the 2011 MLB Season to improve their bullpen’s league worst 5.47 ERA, including the signing of veteran closer JJ Putz.

After trading tenured veterans and fan favorites, Chad Qualls, Dan Haren and Reynolds, along with hiring Gibson and Towers, the 2011 MLB Season is certainly a new beginning for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Begin Slideshow

Our 2011 fantasy baseball projections will be released one-by-one until the top 100 players have been revealed. These rankings consider past achievements, current performance and expected future results based on standard 5×5 H2H settings.

As I noted last season, Baseball America once claimed “The term ‘five-tool prospect’ somehow doesn’t seem strong enough for (Justin) Upton.” Coming off a 26/20/.300 age-22 season in 2009, it appeared as though the junior Upton was prepared for fantasy stardom.

Upton’s 2010 campaign failed to impress, however, as the former No. 1 overall pick posted a 17/18/.273 line in just 133 games. Perhaps most discouraging was Upton’s alarmingly high strikeout rate of 30.7 percent, seventh worst in the majors. Likewise, his contact rate (74.3 percent, MLB average 80.7 percent) was 16th worst among qualified batters.  

Diamondbacks’ GM Kevin Towers was reportedly fielding offers for Upton this offseason, but a deal never surfaced. Looking forward to 2011, there are reasons to remain optimistic about Upton.

It’s important to remember that Upton is entering his age-23 season. Other young phenoms such as Carlos Gonzalez (25) and Andrew McCutchen (24) finally broke through last season after what seemed like several years of hype.

Also, Upton’s plus-power/speed talent didn’t suddenly disappear. The 30/30 potential is still there. Heck, he showed life at times last year, batting .312 with eight HRs, five steals and 25 RBI between June and July.

Further, FanGraphs’s Dave Cameron wrote up an interesting piece a while back detailing players since 1980 who have recorded at least 100 MLB at-bats by age 20 (Upton, of course, qualifies). 

The point was to highlight the careers of players whose talent ushered them to regular playing time in the majors before turning 20.

The results were encouraging. Of the previous 19 players listed, 10 have become All-Stars, three are no-doubt Hall of Famers, and two are working towards Hall of Fame status.

While this doesn’t guarantee anything, it should serve as a pleasant reminder to have patience with Upton.

Due to a lingering shoulder injury that flared up again last August, Upton missed all but four September games. He has reportedly taken on a “rigorous strengthening program” this offseason to solidify his health.

Given his first full season of more than 138 games this year, he may finally begin to approach elite standards.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE: FANTASY BASEBALL INSIDERS

The latest from Fantasy Baseball Insiders:

• Guerrero to Baltimore: Why He’s Better Off in Camden Yards than Rangers Ballpark

Fantasy Baseball Insiders’ 2011 Big Board:

• Nos. 1-10: Is Pujols Still The Top Pick?
• Nos. 11-20: Where Do Votto, A-Rod and Halladay Fit In?
• Nos. 21-30: Hernandez, Lincecum or Wainwright?
• No. 31: Joe Mauer
• No. 32: Victor Martinez
• No. 33: Cliff Lee
• No. 34: Nelson Cruz
• No. 35: Jason Heyward

MLB Trades: Fantasy Impact:

• Frank Francisco Traded to the Blue Jays, Who Will Be The Team’s Closer?
• Mike Napoli Traded to the Texas Rangers: Fantasy Impact
• Vernon Wells Traded to the Los Angeles Angels: Fantasy Impact
• Adrian Beltre Traded to the Texas Rangers: Fantasy Impact

Previous articles from Fantasy Baseball Insiders:

• The Sub-2.50 ERA Curse: Why Five Elite Starting Pitchers May Regress in 2011
• 2010 Batting Average on Balls in Play Leaders: What to Expect in 2011?
• 2011 Closer’s Corner: Papelbon, Cordero & Rivera Are the Only Reliable Options

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The other day, we wrote a post looking at the “10 Breakout Candidates for 2011.” Today, we are going to look at five players who potentially could bounce back from relatively poor seasons in 2010.

These are guys who looked like they were headed for fantasy stardom after the 2009 season, but for some reason or another, had a down 2010. These are also guys that you might be able to get later in the draft because some of the other owners in your league are down on them. But you shouldn’t be.

Here are five bounce back candidates for the 2011 season.

1. Justin Upton, Arizona Diamondbacks

2009: .300/26/86/.366 with 20 SBs and an .899 OPS

2010: .273/17/69/.356 with 18 SBs, and a .799 OPS

2011: Well, there is good news and bad news concerning Upton. The good news is that all signs point to Upton being healthy heading into spring training. A lot of Upton’s down season could be attributed to a shoulder injury that nagged him all season.

The other good news is that the Diamondbacks will not use a humidor in 2011. That means the balls should continue to fly out of Chase Field. I fully expect Upton to get back to the 25-30 HR mark in 2011 and have an OPS nearing the .900 mark.

Now the bad news.

The Diamondbacks’ offense will take a step back in 2011. Gone are Mark Reynolds and Adam LaRoche and in are Melvin Mora and Xavier Nady. I could see Upton having another down year in the runs scored and RBI department.

Look for Upton’s average, HR, SBs, OBP, and OPS to increase in 2011.

2. Pablo Sandoval, San Francisco Giants

2009: .330/25/90/.387 with a .943 OPS

2010: .268/13/63/.323 with .732 OPS

2011: 2010 was a complete disaster for the “Kung-Fu Panda.” He came into the season out of shape and by the end of the season he was a complete non-factor in the Giants’ World Series run.

According to reports, Sandoval has done a complete 180 this offseason, has been working out with Barry Bonds and is supposedly in the best shape of his career. He will get every chance in the world to prove himself in spring training and I think Sandoval delivers.

Do I think Sandoval will hit .330 again? No I don’t. He won’t have a .350 BABIP again.

I would predict a .305/20/88 season for Sandoval, which would make him a top-10 fantasy third baseman in 2011.

3. Ben Zobrist, Tampa Bay Rays

2009: .297/27/91/.405 with 17 SBs, and seven triples

2010: .238/10/75/.346 with 24 SBs and two triples

2011: Zobrist went from fantasy darling in 2009 to a second-rate player in 2010. He saw a massive drop in average, HRs, RBI and OBP. The only thing keeping Zobrist from being a complete disaster was that he qualified at three different positions, which is always a plus in any fantasy format.

Zobrist will still qualify at three different positions in 2011, but if he wants to improve in 2011, he is going to need to make some adjustments. Pitchers figured out the easiest way to get Zobrist out in 2010 was to throw him offspeed stuff. He was below replacement level on curves, sliders and changeups last season.

We’ll see if Zobrist makes the necessary adjustments in spring training. He will be the “key” to the Rays’ offense in 2011 and I think he makes the adjustments and enjoys a bounceback season.

4. Gordon Beckham, Chicago White Sox:

2009: .270/14/63/.347 with an .808 OPS in 103 games

2010: .252/9/49/.317 with a .695 OPS in 131 games

2011: After impressing in just 103 games in 2009, everyone thought Beckham was going to break out in 2010. As a matter of fact, he was a candidate for “Fantasy mancrush” along with Carlos Gonzalez of the Colorado Rockies. Unfortunately for Beckham, he went in the complete opposite direction as Gonzalez.

Gonzalez was an MVP candidate and Beckham really stunk it up in the first half. Beckham hit just .216 with three HRs in the first half. He also had a pathetic .277 OBP.

But Beckham really turned it on in the second half, hitting .310/.380/.497 with six HRs. I like the odds of Beckham taking that second half over to this season and I also like the odds that he won’t hit .224 again against left-handed pitching like he did in 2010.

5. Aaron Hill, Toronto Blue Jays

2009: .286/36/108/.330 with 37 doubles and 103 runs scored

2010: .205/26/68/.271 with 22 doubles and 70 runs scored

2011: Hill had one of the all-time great seasons for a second baseman in 2009 to having one of the unluckiest seasons of any player in 2010. Hill’s .196 BABIP was the lowest of the past decade and it beat Tony Batista‘s .225 by almost 30 points.

That won’t happen again in 2011.

But I also don’t think he will hit 36 HRs again either. I would expect a .271 average with 31 HRs, and with a solid offense surrounding him, Hill should drive in between 90-100 runs in 2011.

You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @ theghostofmlg

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

For a team with 70 or fewer wins in the last two seasons, the Arizona Diamondbacks actually have several useful fantasy players.  

The first of those players to come to mind for most people would be position players.  Guys like Justin Upton, Chris Young (still cannot believe he is useful again), Stephen Drew and Miguel Montero are all useful fantasy hitters.  

Also, the addition of J.J. Putz means 2011 will not be a constant closer guessing game in Arizona as it was in 2010 (at least until Putz gets hurt).  

However, Arizona’s rotation may be somewhat overlooked.  While their staff may not be among the league’s elite, there are certainly fantasy relevant guys in the rotation.

No matter what the depth chart on the D’Backs home page says, Joe Saunders is not the No. 1 starter on this team.  

Although Saunders won 17 games in 2008 and 16 games in 2009, he really was not that good and only accumulated four Wins Above Replacement (WAR) over those two seasons. 

Not exactly sure what that means?  Let me put it this way: Gavin Floyd had a 4.3 WAR last year with only 10 wins and a plus-4.00 ERA.  Saunders clearly benefited from playing on two AL West-winning Angels teams.  

Saunders’s ERA has been over 4.40 in all but one fluke season, and his career K/9 is 5.14.  As you can see, Saunders is no staff ace, but more like a third or fourth starter on a team with a very thin rotation.  He might be useful in deep NL-only leagues, but for where you will have to draft him to get him, you should probably avoid him altogether.

In my opinion, the true “ace” of the staff is Daniel Hudson. 

Click here to continue reading this preview.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

On Monday afternoon, the Arizona Diamondbacks announced the signing of right-handed starting pitcher Armando Galarraga to a one-year contract for $2.3 million.

You may remember Galarraga from last year, as he was only one out away from a perfect game. But, in what may go down as one of the worst blown-calls in major league history, umpire Jim Joyce missed an obvious call that kept him a few feet away from a perfect game (literally).

Galarraga has a career 23-26 record in 87 games thrown. Galarraga has the ability to strikeout batters and has 301 strikeouts in 475.1 innings. What he needs to limit if he wants to progress further in his career, is his ERA (an up and down 4.58 coming into this season).

Diamondbacks general manager Kevin Towers said, “Based on this guy’s history and what he’s done, he’s got a fairly good shot of being in our rotation.” In my opinion, anyone that shows up to the ballpark has a chance in the Diamondbacks’ rotation.

In the trade with the Tigers, the Diamondbacks got rid of two minor league pitchers, Kevin Eichorn and Ryan Robowski. Eichhorn recorded a 5-6 record in 15 minor league starts last season, while Robowski was 2-4 in 35 relief appearances in the minors last year.

Let’s hope Galarraga, as well as the rest of the Diamondbacks’ pitching staff, performs well this season.

Last season the Diamondbacks were 28th-worst in the MLB with a 4.81 ERA, only converted 33 of their 59 save opportunities, and allowed a league-worst 210 home runs.

I think that Galarraga will be a good addition to the rotation, and I hope he earns a spot.

The other starters he will most likely be competing against will be Ian Kennedy, Barry Enright, Joe Saunders, Aaron Heilman, Dan Hudson and Zach Duke.

The Diamondbacks will begin spring training in their new stadium in Scottsdale, Arizona on February 26th against the Colorado Rockies.

They will start the regular season with road trips to Colorado and Chicago before coming home for Opening Day on April 8th to take on the Cincinnati Reds.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

When the Detroit Tigers signed starting pitcher and former Arizona Diamondback Brad Penny to a contract it began a domino effect that is still rumbling around Major League Baseball. In order to make room for Penny on the 40-man roster, the Tigers designated starting pitcher Armando Galarraga for assignment.

This is the same Galarraga who received national attention last season when his bid for a perfect game was broken up by a questionable call by first base umpire Jim Joyce. Both Galarraga and Joyce showed humanity and compassion after Joyce admitted his mistake and Galarraga accepted the umpire’s tearful apology.

Just a few short months after that historic event, Galarraga found himself about to be unemployed. The Tigers had one week to either try to trade the pitcher or allow him to become a free agent.

Given the rather shallow market for starting pitching, the Tigers were said to have several teams interested in trading for Galarraga. One team that didn’t seem to be a fit was the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Arizona had just signed Aaron Heilman with the stipulation that he would be allowed to compete for a spot in the already full starting rotation. It therefore came as a surprise to learn that the Diamondbacks were the leading candidate in the Galarraga sweepstakes.

The Diamondbacks offered minor league pitcher Kevin Eichhorn and another player to Detroit in exchange for Galarraga. The Diamondbacks will assume the entirety of Galarraga’s $2.3 million contract for 2011.

This deal will mean a substantial amount of competition will occur during Spring Training as seven pitchers compete for five rotation spots. That is not a bad place to be and Arizona will have what they have been desperately been lacking the past two years—pitching depth.

Hopefully this deal works out better than the last two the Diamondbacks have made with the Tigers. Edwin Jackson and Dontrelle Willis weren’t exactly the kind of returns you want to see out of a team’s trades.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

With the first Spring Training game just 39 days away, the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies hosted a behind the scenes tour of their new Spring Training facility Salt River Fields at Talking Stick.

When ground broke in November 2009, it was hard to imagine what the complex would look like.

Now, just 14 months later, the transformation is incredible.

Most of the heavy earth moving equipment has disappeared and all that remains is a few minor details and some cleanup.

Before entering the stadium, we were greeted by friendly staff who gave each of us a hardhat, safety glasses, a neon vest and cloth booties. I have to admit, I was disappointed that the hard hats were not Sedona Red and was even more depressed to learn that we had to turn in that cool vest.

I was hoping I could take it and wear it to the first Spring Training game on February 26th as a badge of honor.

The entrance to the stadium is incredible. As you walk across the bridge towards the gates, there is a water feature to the left that runs below and to an adjoining lake to the right; the other cool thing about the entrance is that you are able to look out on the practice fields and batting cages and catch a glimpse of your favorite player warming up.

The left side of the complex is the Arizona Diamondbacks side, while the right is the Colorado Rockies. Besides the stadium that seats just over 11,000 fans (7,000 fixed seats and another 4,000 lawn seats), the complex also includes 12 practice fields (six each for the Diamondbacks and Rockies).

On the Diamondbacks side, there is one field that has the exact dimensions as Salt River Fields at Talking Stick stadium, while another has the exact field dimensions of Chase Field. This will allow players to learn the nuances of each field without having to actually be at that stadium.

That should pay dividends both in Spring Training and also during rehab assignments or instructional league.

Entering the front gates, the first thing you will notice is the amazing sight lines. It is almost breathtaking to see the field emerge as you walk in.

Like at Chase Field, the Diamondbacks dugout will be on the third base side while the Rockies dugout will be on the first base side.

I sat behind home plate and waited for the event to begin. I tried to remember what this looked like during the groundbreaking ceremony. It was hard to imagine what we saw in front of us did not exist just a year prior.

The event began at 1 PM and the seats behind the plate were in the shade. Mo Stein from the architecture firm HKS explained that the stadium was designed so that 80 percent of the seats would be in the shade by game time taking into account the location of the sun during February and March.

The scoreboard beyond left field was the first thing to catch your eye—it is hard to miss at 24 feet by 48 feet. The board will look familiar to Diamondbacks fans as it is similar to the one at Chase Field and can be controlled similarly.

It is the largest LED screen in all of MLB Spring Training.

Besides the main board, there are also two LED ribbon boards similar to what you see at Chase Field. The ribbon boards are positioned so that those in the lawn seats will be able to see the information clearly.

Management for the Diamondbacks and Rockies took turns addressing the media expressing gratitude for the work that had gone into the stadium. As of January, there have been two million man-hours of work done on the facility. Each day 650 people are on site working and at its peak, there were 1,250 people there.

The hard work clearly paid off—the facility was incredible.

From the main concourse, we went to the party deck. There are three party decks at the stadium. On the left field side is the Miller Light deck, while the right field side houses the Coors Cold Zone.

The third deck is the Pepsi Party deck. For $19, fans can mingle among the three decks, which will not only have seats and patio furniture but also food and beverage.

Beyond the seats in right field currently sits a large expanse of concrete. This pad is in the process of being transformed into the Cold Stone Creamery Kids area. It will have a whiffle ball field, complete with artificial turf and have other areas where kids can go to play while their parents watch the game.

Everywhere you look, the Rockies and Diamondbacks have taken fan experience into consideration.

In tomorrow’s blog post, we will move beyond the stadium and delve into the other aspects of Salt River Fields at Talking Stick, including the team clubhouses and overall fan experience.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com