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Major League Baseball announced the National League Most Valuable Player selection and, for the first time in three years, the winner is not someone named Albert Pujols.

The 2010 NL MVP was Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto. Votto’s win was not that surprising given the type of year he had but the degree with which he won was shocking. Votto received 31 out of a possible 32 first place votes and that one vote was a second place.

Pujols finished the voting in second place receiving the one first place vote Votto did not get plus 21 second place and eight third place votes.

In yet another reminder to Diamondbacks fans of what we gave up, Colorado Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez finished third.

Gonzalez was part of the package of players that went to the Oakland Athletics in the trade for Dan Haren. At the time I cringed at the thought of giving up so many prospects in exchange for a starting pitcher.

Most of the prospects have not had an impact yet; at least not to the extent of Gonzalez. After struggling in Oakland in his rookie season he was sent to the Rockies as part of the Matt Holliday deal and blossomed in the thin Colorado air.

Diamondbacks fans will be continually reminded of the level of talent Car-Go has and how he could have solved the issue the team currently has in left field. Many die hard fans had dreams of an outfield containing Justin Upton, Chris Young, and Gonzalez.

Since the trade the Diamondbacks have had numerous left fielders including Conor Jackson, Gerardo Parra, Rusty Ryal, Ryan Roberts, Brandon Allen, and Cole Gillespie in just the last year. Those players combined they did not equal the statistics that Gonzalez put up for the Rockies.  

This is one of those trades that will haunt the Diamondbacks for years.

Looking at the voting totals for the NL MVP race there were no Diamondbacks players that received a vote. That should probably not be too much of a surprise given the Diamondbacks’ anemic offensive production in 2010.

Still, it would have been nice if anyone had received a vote, even a tenth place vote.

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Over the last week, the Arizona Diamondbacks have began tweaking their roster— not in a wholesale massive way, but rather by adjusting the player mix one small step at a time. Many Diamondbacks fans will look at each of these moves and question whether they are actually making the team better or just shuffling like a three-card Monte game.

In their first deal of the offseason, the Diamondbacks sent minor league pitcher Scottie Allen to the New York Yankees in exchange for minor league first baseman Juan Miranda. Allen was the Diamondbacks 11th round draft choice in the 2009 amateur draft. He spent two seasons in the Diamondbacks minor leagues. In 2010 Allen played for the Class-A South Bend Silverhawks where he compiled a 5-4 record including 95 strikeouts in 28 games and a 3.95 ERA.

Miranda played for the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees in 2010 hitting .285 with 15 home runs and 43 runs batted in. He did play briefly for New York this season hitting just .219 with 3 home runs.

Diamondbacks General Manager Kevin Towers spent the 2010 season as a special assistant to the Yankees GM Brian Cashman, and he obviously made notes of players he would be interested in once he became a GM again. The question is, where will Miranda fit with Brandon Allen already on the roster as the incumbent first baseman with Adam LaRoche now gone?

The Diamondbacks also added two of their minor league players to the 40-man roster, a precursor to the upcoming Rule-5 Draft that will be held during the Winter Meetings in early December.

Both players added were pitchers, signifying that the Diamondbacks feel their strength in the minor leagues continues to be the pitching staff. Right-hander Yonata Ortega was added from the Visalia Rawhide roster while right-hander Josh Collmenter was added from the Mobile BayBears.

Neither expects to be on the 25-man roster next spring, but Collmenter has pressed the Diamondbacks to promote him as he has overachieved at each level. Taken in the 15th round of the 2007 amateur draft, Collmenter has earned a spot as a prospect through hard work and a very good Arizona Fall League campaign.

Arizona also claimed right-handed pitcher Juan Jaime off waivers from the Washington Nationals. Jaime had limited work in 2010 recovering from Tommy John surgery. He has a powerful arm and could become one of the pieces in the revamped bullpen Towers is assembling.

While none of these roster moves stand out as the answer to the dismal 2010 season, collectively they very well could be some of the pieces that act as the glue that will hold the team together in 2011.

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When Arizona Diamondbacks General Manager Kevin Towers publicly stated he is willing to listen to trade offers for any player during the General Manager’s meetings, it sparked off a firestorm among Diamondbacks fans and local sports talk shows.

For the first time team officials have suggested they are willing to listen to offers regarding their young right-fielder Justin Upton. Last season before the trade deadline it was suggested the Diamondbacks identified two players as “untouchable”. Those two were pitcher Ian Kennedy and Upton.

So has there been a change of heart? Towers was careful to say that he was not actively shopping players, but rather he would be willing to listen to any and all offers for any player.

The local sports radio personalities couldn’t leave it at that. They blasted the airwaves asking callers to weigh in on what value the team could get by moving Upton. They questioned his abilities and what impact he could have on the game.

Upton detractors took the opportunity to blast the outfielder, recalling his high strike-out totals and somewhat lackadaisical play in the field at times. Talk show hosts piled on with comparisons with other young players and how Upton was failing to live up to his potential.

While Upton did take a small step backwards offensively in 2010, the bigger concern is his continual failure to stay healthy. Upton has yet to play a full season without a trip to the disabled list or a long period of inactivity trying to nurse himself back to full strength.

That is obviously a concern for team officials as well. They have asked Upton to remain in the Phoenix area this offseason and work with strength and conditioning coaches to try and build a regime that will hopefully limit his injuries over a 162-game schedule.

Since becoming the youngest player to make his Diamondbacks debut in 2007, Upton has been constantly compared to some of the greats in the game, such as Ken Griffey Jr. and Alex Rodriguez. Given his skills, those comparisons may be warranted, but that is a lot of pressure to put on a young man.

Upton will never be able to live up to his potential, as it was set too high to begin with when the Diamondbacks made him the number one overall pick in the 2005 draft. Hopefully, though, Tower’s comments will act as a wake-up call for Upton.

He needs to realize that you cannot build a career on potential. At some point he will need to have success. Not just nominal success, but a breakout season that shows everyone what type of player he can be.

Hopefully that will occur in a Diamondbacks uniform, and not like that of Carlos Gonzalez, whom the Diamondbacks traded and now have to face in Colorado.

In the meantime, don’t look for Upton to be dealt anytime soon. It would need to be a blockbuster trade that returns several major league ready players, and that is likely not going to happen.

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With teams like the Yankees, Cubs, and Red Sox, we fans simply assume that their means to improving the ball club is to sign pricey veteran players. However, the Red Sox are looking to trade for younger right fielder Justin Upton of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The Red Sox have had to deal with many injuries during the 2010 season and it cost them the playoffs. They have been looking at free agents Carl Crawford and Jason Werth. Crawford makes sense if they’re going to keep Jacoby Ellsbury and have a speedy outfield. Werth, .296BA 27HR 85RBI, you have to sign him to make your team better by default. But it also makes sense to sign Justin Upton as well.

Last year, Justin Upton hits .273 with 17HR and 69RBI. Their current right fielder, JD Drew hits .255 with 22HR and 69RBI. Here’s the difference. Justin Upton has stolen 18 bases and is 23 years old with a lot of upside. JD Drew has stolen 3 bases and is 34 years old, slowly passing his prime. Upton was paid $.7M, Drew was paid $14M.

It makes perfect sense to trade for Upton. It makes even makes more sense to sign Crawford and cut ties with Mike Cameron and JD Drew.

But the Red Sox are going to have to give up a package for Upton. My guess is it’s going to cost Boston two good, young, major league ready arms and a bat.

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November 15, 2010

PHOENIX—The Arizona Diamondbacks have signed utility infielder Geoff Blum to a two-year, $2.7-million deal.

New Diamondbacks GM Kevin Towers wanted to strengthen the bench for 2011 and he did so with a familiar face.

“The signing of Geoff Blum is the first step in identifying how we can improve Kirk Gibson’s options off the bench next season,” Towers said in a statement. “Geoff is a veteran that can play nearly every position on the field while also having the experience of contributing to key situations late in the game as a pinch-hitter off of the bench.”

Let it be known that Blum was a player on the San Diego Padres from 2005-2007, and during that time the Padres had won two division titles and were a slide away from a third consecutive playoff appearance.

Towers clearly knows the formula to having a good bench.

“It’s hard for young guys to be effective pinch-hitters coming off the bench,” Towers said in late September. “If you don’t have that experience or those guys that are threats, it makes it pretty easy on the opposing manager, because he has no fear of anyone that is coming off the bench.”

Geoff Blum last year was a .267 hitter with 2 HR and 22 RBI in 202 AB.

This is clearly a step in the right direction for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

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During the recent Season Ticket Holder Seat Relocation event for the Arizona Diamondbacks, I jotted down a few notes not necessarily related to seat relocation but were interesting nonetheless. I completely forgot about these notes until my wife washed my jeans.

Now, I have what looks like a paper blog with partially legible ink strokes wrapped in dryer lint. I’ll attempt to decipher this mess, but please don’t hold me to any of this.

When I arrived at Chase Field for the event, the Season Ticket Services team held the introduction in the rotunda rather than on the main concourse as is normally the case. The reason for this was explained as a result of construction noise within Chase Field.

The noise is a result of air compressors. The Maricopa County Stadium District is having the roof to Chase Field cleaned before the 2011 season begins. Diamondbacks fans have been asking for several years when this would be completed.

When the stadium name changed from Bank One Ballpark to Chase Field, the Bank One logo was removed from the roof. The area that was exposed was white compared to the remainder of the roof’s dirty appearance.

The work is to continue through the end of the year. The first two panels already look much better. The next time you drive past the stadium or fly into or out of Phoenix, check out the progress.

I spoke with several members of the Season Ticket Services team asking about upcoming events this off-season. Two in particular caught my attention. Early next month the Diamondbacks will be holding a seat selection event that allows Season Ticket Holders an opportunity to select seats at the new Spring Training facility in Scottsdale.

The Diamondbacks will once again be offering a behind-the-scenes tour of Chase Field this off-season. If you have not had an opportunity to take this tour, I highly recommend it. It is fascinating and you gain access to areas in the ballpark that are typically off-limits to fans.

I asked if there would be a similar behind-the-scenes tour of the new Spring Training facility.  Unfortunately, it does not appear to be an option being considered at this time. This is due to timing, since the new facility is currently under construction.

That was disappointing to hear, as I was hoping there was a small window where we could be able to tour the facility before Spring Training starts next March. Hopefully, this is something the Diamondbacks will consider next season.

As I was leaving Chase Field, I happened to talk to Cory Parsons – Senior Manager Season Ticket Services. We talked about the Season Ticket Holder Advisory Panel (a great idea and the Diamondbacks did an outstanding job identifying members of this panel). Cory wanted to let me know that the panel had acted on some of the suggestions I had sent in.

Look for an upcoming announcement from the team and the advisory panel on special merchandise. I was pretty excited to hear the news and now have something to add to my Christmas or birthday wish list.

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On the first Thursday of every month, the Arizona Diamondbacks host an on-line chat with a member of the team’s front office. Typically the chat is with Diamondbacks CEO/President Derrick Hall, who answers questions from the fans for 30 minutes.

For the November on-line chat the host was the newly appointed General Manager Kevin Towers. This is the first opportunity the fans have had to interact with the General Manager.

Since many of the questions asked each month understandingly deal with the team’s roster, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to gain some insight into the direction the Diamondbacks roster will be taking this offseason.

The chat began with the fan’s already questioning the decisions the team is making. In particular, why first baseman Adam LaRoche would not be returning next season, a result of the Diamondbacks declining his option for 2011.

Towers’ answer was indicative of what we should expect this winter. While LaRoche had a fine season for Arizona, his salary and make-up does not fit with the direction this team will be going. The Diamondbacks have a finite budget and many holes that need to be filled.

The bullpen is in complete shambles and will need to be recreated from the ground up. Add to that the fact that there is very little veteran presence on the bench and it becomes clear that the money paid to LaRoche could be better utilized in other areas.

You would be hard pressed to argue against those facts, but it was a comment Towers made late in the chat that was even more telling. A fan asked how new hitting coach Don Baylor will approach cutting down the strikeouts. Towers response was, “First way to cut down on the strikeout total is to change the personnel in the lineup, with the focus more on contact and pitch recognition.”

While LaRoche drove in 100 runs last season, he also struck out 172 times, second only to Mark Reynolds. By not re-signing LaRoche, Towers has substantially reduced the team strikeout totals.

This statement does not bode well for third baseman Mark Reynolds and his team-leading 211 punch-outs. Clearly Reynolds has a bulls eye on his back to either change his approach at the plate or play somewhere other than Chase Field next season.

Towers also suggested the Diamondbacks will be looking at corner infielders and a left-fielder during the off-season and understands that some of these holes will be filled through trades in addition to free agency.

From a pitching perspective, Towers had high praise for Jarrod Parker and admitted that Parker could be a member of the Diamondbacks pitching staff as early as next season depending on how he does during Spring Training.

There are still concerns with his health coming off Tommy John surgery last year, but so far Parker is ahead of schedule. Towers’ expectation is that once Parker reaches the major league level he will become a front of the rotation type pitcher, taking over the mantle of staff ace formerly held by Brandon Webb.

Other questions by the fans surrounded the reasoning behind hiring the coaching staff they did. Most of the comments were positive by the fans, meaning the team is restoring some level of confidence, at least at this point; something that has not been the case the previous two years.

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I’ve had this date circled on my calendar for nearly six weeks. As the day continued to get closer, I found myself having more and more difficulty sleeping at night. I tossed and turned in bed, stared at the clock praying for time to go faster and finally bring morning.

“What could possibly be so important that you can’t sleep?” my wife asked.

I stared at her incredulously. That’s like asking why do I need to inhale and exhale in order to breathe. I stood there with a dazed look in my eyes trying to understand how she could even ask that question.

Clearly my wife had suffered some kind of brain aneurysm or something that caused her permanent brain damage. So I chose my words carefully and talked really slow, just in case she was still having medical issues.

“It’s seat relocation day at Chase Field,” I politely explained taking extra care to spell out the words Chase and Field in invisible finger motions.

She continued to stare blankly at me and I briefly thought about calling 9-1-1 to get an ambulance to come get her.

“But you love your current seat location”, she said.

Ok, I’m at a loss here. Whether I love my seats in Section 132 Row 9 Seats 9-10 is completely beside the point. Of course, I have no intention of upgrading.

How do you upgrade from near perfection (perfection is sitting above the Diamondbacks dugout, but until I get the kids through college that’s probably not going to be possible)?

She was failing to grasp what I thought was obvious.

Select-A-Seat Day was not just about choosing the place you will spend 83 days a year. It is also an excuse to hang out at Chase Field during the long winter months, duh!

Obviousl,y I was not communicating clearly. I tried to explain it once again, but Trina, my wife, began ignoring me (something that occurs quite regularly). Instead, I decided to focus on the task at hand.

I began looking for the postcard that had my Select-A-Seat appointment time. I shuffled through the papers on my desk, but could not find it. I began to get a little worried and my heart rate went up. After nearly 30 minutes of searching and more than one frantic call to Trina for help I finally found the card.

Printed on the back was instructions and my allotted time—October 28 at two pm. Wait, let me read that again—October 28 at two pm. Are you kidding me? My appointment was last week? I began hyperventilating and freaking out.

Trina rushed in thinking I was having some kind of heart attack but what I was experiencing was much more painful. How in the world did I ever get the dates mixed up?

I suddenly felt light headed and thought I would pass out.

Trina was alternately reminding me to breathe and telling me it was not that big a deal since I had not planned to relocate anyway.

Ok, that’s not helping and please stop making me breathe into a brown paper bag.

My hands were shaking so badly that I could not even hold the card. Trina took it from me and began reading. After a couple of minutes, she stated, “Dear, this is last year’s card for the 2010 Select-A-Seat event.”

Oh, well that’s different. I already went to that event. She went through another pile of papers and handed me the card for this year where my appointment was clearly November 3.

The instructions said to arrive 10 minutes before my assigned time slot. Well, if 10 minutes is good, 20 minutes is better. I paced the floor waiting for the time to leave to go downtown. Traffic was relatively light today, allowing me to arrive even earlier than planned.

I waited patiently on the concourse for the time when we were allowed to enter Chase Field. As the clock struck 10, Cory Parsons the Senior Manager for Season Ticket Services welcomed the group and gave us instructions.

We would have 25 minutes to walk around Chase Field and look at the available season ticket seats. At the conclusion of that time, we would be able to select the seats. If two fans wanted the same seats they would use our priority numbers to determine who would get the seats.

It’s always fun to watch this process. Fans will wander around looking at the various open seats. They pretend not to be interested all the while scoping out everyone else’s priority number to gauge whether they stand a chance at getting the seats they want.

My first observation was that the number of open seats seemed substantially less than last year. Considering the Diamondbacks have finished last the previous two seasons that was somewhat surprising.

It shouldn’t have been surprising if I would have thought about it. In 2011, the Diamondbacks host the MLB All-Star game and people are holding on to their seats to have priority to buy All-Star game packages.

I talked to several of the Season Ticket Services team who stated the renewal rates to this point are around 80 percent.

Given the economy and the on-field product that is impressive.

A lot of the credit goes to Derrick Hall and the Season Ticket Holder team for maintaining a high level of loyalty and providing an extremely positive game day experience.

I wandered around the stadium taking pictures and soaking up the ambiance of Chase Field one last time before winter begins. I was surprised to see that the two seats to my right were not renewed.

I wondered if I had somehow offended the people with those tickets or if they were just tired of the crazy fan who went to every game and kept score.

In the back of my mind I’m hoping those don’t sell and become day of game tickets just so I can buy extra tickets for specific games.

At the end of the 25 minutes I decided not to change seat locations. While I could have moved down to Row 6, I felt comfortable in where I was. From the looks of the people walking the concourse, several upgraded their tickets and were very excited for the 2011 season.

All in all, it was a good day.

I didn’t move seat,s but at least I was able to go down to the ballpark and hang out in the stands imagining what it will be like in April when the season starts fresh.

Hopefully, I’ll be cheering from those seats well into October, watching the Diamondbacks in the playoffs.

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I was floating around the Internet over the weekend, and I came across an interesting rumor. According to ESPNChicago.com’s Bruce Levine, the Arizona Diamondbacks will pursue free agent 1B Paul Konerko this offseason.

Now, of course this is what it is—a rumor. And rumors usually don’t lead to much, but if this is correct, and there is no reason to doubt Levine’s sources, I just have one question to the Diamondbacks.

Why?

Yes, I understand that Konerko is from Scottsdale, AZ. Yes, I understand Konerko still has a home in Scottsdale, AZ. And yes, I also understand that Konerko is coming off an MVP caliber season in which he hit .312/.393/.584 with 39 HR.

However, I don’t understand how Konerko would fit into the Diamondbacks immediate future. Konerko will be 35 in March, and the Diamondbacks don’t figure to challenge for a playoff spot for at least two or three years. The Diamondbacks have lost 189 games over the last two years, and things don’t figure to turn around quickly in the Valley of the Sun.

What’s the point of signing Konerko to a three or four-year deal when by the time the Diamondbacks turn into contenders, Konerko will be on his last legs. Plus, is Konerko that much of an improvement over current first baseman Adam LaRoche?

If both play to their 2010 stats, Konerko is about a two win improvement over LaRoche. Plus, I am 100 percent confident in saying Konerko won’t come anywhere close to repeating his 2010 season in 2011. I will venture to say he resembles more of his 2008 and 2009 seasons in which he averaged .260/.349/.466 with 25 HR.

Is that two win improvement worth not picking up the $7.5 million mutual option on LaRoche, investing $20–$30 million on a guy who is at the end of his career and retarding the progress of Brandon Allen? I don’t think it is.

The reason I say between $20–$30 million is because I can’t see Konerko signing anything less than a three-year deal. Maybe he signs a two-year deal with an option for a third, but three seems to be a likely scenario.

Also, do the Diamondbacks not believe Allen is the answer at first? Allen will be 25 at the start of spring training next year, and at some point the kids are going to need to be on their own.

The Diamondbacks are a young team, and they need to find out if Allen can play sooner rather than later. Another year at Triple A doesn’t help the Diamondbacks find that out.

So take this for what it’s worth, a rumor. But in my opinion, I think the Diamondbacks have two options: Either re-sign LaRoche, or let LaRoche go and see what Allen can do.

Option three doesn’t involve Konerko. They should let him re-sign with the Chicago White Sox, which is where I think he will be playing ball in 2011.

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

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Game 4 of the 2001 World Series was historic in many ways. The Arizona Diamondbacks won the first two games at then-Bank One Ballpark. The next three games moved to Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.

In Game 3 the Yankees sent Roger Clemens to the mound to face Brian Anderson and the Arizona Diamondbacks. It was a classic pitcher’s duel. Clemens threw seven innings, allowing just one run on three hits. Anderson pitched well himself, allowing just two runs on five hits in 5.1 innings of work.

The win set up a Game 4 match-up of Curt Schilling for Arizona and Orlando Hernandez for New York. Under a full moon, the two teams would match up on October 31, Halloween. Schilling threw seven stellar innings, allowing one run on three hits.

The Yankees would score first on a home run by Shane Spencer in the third inning. The Diamondbacks would come back with a home run by first baseman Mark Grace to tie the game in the top of the fourth.

Arizona would take the lead in the eighth on a double by Erubiel Durazo, scoring Luis Gonzalez. Durazo would score on a fielder’s choice by Matt Williams to give the Diamondbacks a 3-1 lead.

In the bottom of the eighth inning Diamondbacks manager Bob Brenly brought in his closer Byung-Hyun Kim to face the bottom of the Yankees order. He struck out Spencer, Scott Brosius and Alfonzo Soriano in a 1-2-3 inning. The Diamondbacks likewise went down in order, setting up a bottom of the ninth with the visitors up two runs.

The inning started with Derek Jeter grounding out, followed by a single by Paul O’Neill and a strikeout by Bernie Williams. With two outs, Tino Martinez came to the plate and hit a home run to right-center field to tie the game.

I remember that moment like it was yesterday; that dulling numbness that comes when victory is snatched away at the very last moment. I was in shock, but that was not the worst part. That would come an inning later.

With the full moon high above the stadium, Jeter strode to the plate. Brosius and Soriano had both flied out. Kim threw eight pitches to Jeter, who fouled off balls to bring the count full. On the ninth pitch, as the clock struck midnight, Jeter hit a home run to seal the victory for the Yankees, tying the series 2-2.

The Yankees hometown announcers proclaimed Jeter “Mr. November,” a title he was ill-fitted to maintain. What was most historic was not the home run as much as it was the time. For the first season in history, baseball had stretched into November.

The season had gone this long as a result of the attacks on September 11, 2001. It seemed almost surreal to think that baseball was still going on in November. The 2001 World Series would not end that night; it would conclude three days later in Phoenix Arizona.

Perhaps the most famous bloop single in MLB history, over the outstretched arms of the so-called “Mr. November,” would score Jay Bell and make Luis Gonzalez a Diamondbacks immortal.

Here we are, nine years later, and once again the World Series is being played in November. This time, though, it was not a result of a delay, but actually scheduled to continue this late. There were no late-inning heroics.

The offense is not the talk of this game in November. Instead it is two dominating pitchers. One hopes to lead his team back from the brink of elimination, while the other hopes to carry his team to victory, a victory not tasted in over half a century.

Regardless of the storylines, baseball fans everywhere can rejoice that every game played from this point on brings us one day closer to February, when pitchers and catchers will report to Spring Training and usher in another season.

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