2009 DIAMONDBACKS SEASON PREVIEW - PART III
* WHAT GOES UP MUST COME DOWN - As a franchise, the Diamondbacks' age, payroll and record rocketed sky-high on the way to their 2001 World Series victory. Those expensive, aging veterans that won Arizona's first major professional title began to fall from the stratosphere in the seasons to follow. The 2002 Diamondbacks (98-65) managed to repeat as NL West champs, but were swept 3-0 in a NLDS rematch with St. Louis. By 2003, Arizona would slip to a third-place finish at 84-78 behind a half-hearted mix of veterans and youngsters.
Fortunately, Arizona had found its cornerstone in Brandon Webb, whose sinker opponents were helpless but to pound into the infield grass. Drafted in 2000 while the "old" school roster was still ascendant, Webb would make his debut in 2003 and come to exemplify the Diamondbacks' new strategy: to win by developing its own talent. Another pair of building blocks joined the organization that year with the selections of Conor Jackson and Carlos Quentin. Possessing plate discipline and Pac-10 pedigrees, Jackson and Quentin were pegged for a quick trip through the minors, but they could not arrive soon enough to prevent a free-fall on the big league level.
The winter before the 2004 season saw the Diamondbacks make a handful of seemingly schizophrenic moves. First, they traded co-Ace Curt Schilling to Boston in an apparent effort to get younger and cut salary. Less than a week later, Arizona shipped a package including the cream of its young talent to Milwaukee for Richie Sexson. Both moves produced results the Snakes would prefer to forget. Schilling would lead the 2004 Red Sox to that franchise's first World Series win in more than eight decades. And Sexson would play only 23 games in an Arizona uniform before a shoulder injury ended his Diamondbacks' career, leaving as his Bank One Ballpark legacy only a dent high on the face of the JumboTron. Deprived of its top right-handed starter, its power-hitting first-baseman, and much of its young depth, the team collapsed to a ML-worst record of 51-101.
Arizona's messy 2004 inspired a house-cleaning. Skipper Bob Brenly lasted less than half the year before his 29-50 record drew a pink slip. His replacement, Al Pedrique (22-60), fared even worse than Brenly and was not retained. After the season, franchise icons Jerry Colangelo and Randy Johnson would also depart the club, soon to be followed by original GM Joe Garagiola, Jr.
Fans turned off by the turmoil in 2004 may have missed some very positive developments. In that year's June draft, the Diamondbacks chose Stephen Drew and Mark Reynolds. Arizona would enter the 2005 season under new management, both on the field (Bob Melvin) and in the front office (Josh Byrnes). With the No. 1 overall pick in the 2005 draft -- its "reward" for finishing 50 games below .500 in 2004 -- the Diamondbacks selected high school shortstop Justin Upton. Although much younger than either Drew or Reynolds, Upton would join them in rising rapidly through the farm system.
* WHAT GOES DOWN COMES BACK UP - In the seasons that followed 2004, Arizona's won-loss records improved markedly. The 2005 and 2006 teams failed to break the .500 mark, but veteran holdovers like Luis Gonzalez and Craig Counsell and placeholders like Troy Glaus and Shawn Green kept the team respectable. The real story of the 2005 and 2006 seasons was the gradual integration of homegrown talent into the ML roster. By the end of that period, an impressive collection of players had make their ML-debuts: Chris Snyder and Chad Tracy in 2004; Jackson in 2005; then Drew, Quentin, Miguel Montero, Tony Pena and Doug Slaten in 2006. Center fielder Chris B. Young, acquired in trade while still in the minors, also reached the show with Arizona in 2006. And these were no ordinary prospects: Baseball America recognized Arizona's organizational talent as No. 1 in baseball in 2006 and No. 3 in 2007.
At the start of the 2007 season, the core of the current Diamondbacks club was in place. Widely acknowledged for their tools and long term potential, the young Snakes were seen as too raw to be serious contenders. But bolstered by Micah Owings, Reynolds and the ultra-talented Upton, Arizona did more than compete. The team won the NL West title, along the way helping Webb to earn his first NL Cy Young and the Snakes fifth overall in just a decade of play. Victorious in a NLDS encounter with the Cubs, Arizona advanced to the NLCS, where division rival Colorado finally ended the Diamondbacks' precocious run.
| POS | PLAYER | ACQUIRED | FROM | YEAR | NOTES |
| RHP | Brandon Webb | Round 8, Pick 239 | Univ. of Kentucky | 2000 | No. 1 starter; 2007 NL Cy Young winner |
| LHP | Doug Slaten | Round 17, Pick 519 | Los Angeles Pierce College | 2000 | Situational reliever |
| 1B/3B | Chad Tracy | Round 7, Pick 218 | East Carolina Univ. | 2001 | Starter |
| C | Miguel Montero | Int'l Free Agent | Venezuela | 2001 | Reserve |
| C | Chris Snyder | Round 2, Pick 68 | Univ. of Houston | 2002 | Starter |
| RHP | Tony Pena | Int'l Free Agent | Dominican Republic | 2002 | Set-up reliever |
| OF | Conor Jackson | Round 1, Pick 19 (comp.) | Univ. of California | 2003 | Starter |
| OF | Carlos Quentin | Round 1, Pick 29 | Stanford Univ. | 2003 | Starter; traded to CWS |
| SS | Stephen Drew | Round 1, Pick 15 | Florida State Univ. | 2004 | Starter |
| 3B | Mark Reynolds | Round 16, Pick 476 | Univ. of Virginia | 2004 | Starter |
| OF | Gerardo Parra | Int'l Free Agent | Venezuela | 2004 | Minors; BA No. 2 Prospect |
| OF | Justin Upton | Round 1, Pick 1 | High School (VA) | 2005 | Starter |
| RHP | Micah Owings | Round 3, Pick 83 | Tulane Univ. | 2005 | No. 5 starter; traded to CIN |
| RHP | Max Scherzer | Round 1, Pick 11 | Univ. of Missouri | 2006 | No. 5 starter |
| RHP | Jarrod Parker | Round 1, Pick 9 | High School (IN) | 2007 | Minors; BA No. 1 Prospect |
| LHP | Dan Schlereth | Round 1, Pick 26 | Univ. of Arizona | 2008 | Minors; BA No. 3 Prospect |
Expectations were elevated in 2008, but a year of regression was in store instead. Arizona traded Quentin to the White Sox before the season to make room in right field for the phenom Upton. Quentin, who had struggled with ineffectiveness and injury throughout the 2007 season, went on to have a break-out campaign on the South Side of Chicago. His former club could have used Quentin's offensive output, as the Diamondbacks were beset by high strike-out rates and low run-production.
Even fortified by Dan Haren and Max Scherzer, the Snakes pitching staff often could not keep opponents from outscoring the team. Adam Dunn was acquired mid-season to add some thunder and offset the Dodgers' trade for Manny Ramirez. Ultimately, Dunn's prodigious power was insufficient and the overall lack of offense doomed Arizona to a second-place finish behind Los Angeles.
2009 DIAMONDBACKS SEASON PREVIEW: PART I - PART II - PART III - PART IV
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