Melvin’s Pink Slip is Showing
Press, press, press. For two weeks now, the Diamondbacks have pressed. And for a long time before that, if we want to be honest.
Spring Training was Pressure Fest ’09. We shouldn't care about wins and losses in the Cactus League, but we couldn't help notice the way the Snakes were losing. Arizona had Mark Reynolds booting balls, Justin Upton striking out, Brandon Webb and Max Scherzer and the bullpen all not right.
That followed an off-season in which nothing went to script, from Randy Johnson’s departure to San Francisco, to Orlando Hudson’s defection to Los Angeles, to the degradation of the infield defense, to the egg-on-our-faces discovery of money for Jon Garland when Johnson and Hudson were allowed to walk to division rivals.
We understand that an arbitration offer to Adam Dunn could have been a disaster. Were he to accept, he might have commanded a salary in the eight-figure range. The team already has four starting OF and only one 1B job for Chad Tracy, Tony Clark and Conor Jackson to share. Still, the failure to obtain draft picks for Dunn smacks of an effort to play it cheap. That’s not Bob Melvin’s fault, but it tightened the grip that’s choking the life from this team.
We can trace this back all the way to May of last year. After precociously winning the NL West title in 2007, Arizona opened 2008 with an incredible April. The following month is when the season started to fall apart. On May 18, the Diamondbacks were twelve games over .500. They finished the month on a jag that lasted clear through June. A July surge was turned back by the Dodgers’ acquisition of Manny Ramirez. Arizona would be four games under .500 by September 14, then rally to finish at 82-80, two games behind Los Angeles and out of the playoffs.
These first two weeks of 2009 are not a passing moment. They are the continuation of an extended period of angst. For too long now, things have not been well with the Snakes.
Aching for a swing in fortune, we focused on the big rally in Game 2 of the St. Louis series. With confidence we declared it to be the result that would break the Diamondbacks out of their nasty funk.
But no such thing happened. Instead, they lost the final contest with the Cardinals. A weekend series hosted by San Francisco, a club swept in its previous six games, ended no better. The last gasp was a 2-0 loss to Johnson and the Giants that featured one Arizona base hit.
We hoped aloud for the Diamondbacks to sweep. We got only more of the same -- another 1-2 series loss.
The starting pitching has been good. The bullpen has been spotty, but rarely do the relievers have leads to protect. Fielding gaffes remain a major concern. The improvement on offense that we anticipated and the club assured us would come has not.
Our expectations for better days ahead have been frustrated. We have not given up hope in the Diamondbacks players; only our willingness to forecast a bright future under present leadership has faded.
The Bob Melvin Pink-Slip Watch is on.
When a team has struggled for as long as the Arizona Diamondbacks have done, change is gonna come. Radical roster reshuffling is not required. It would not do to break up a club so young, inexpensive and laden with talent. But the Snakes' psyches must be fixed.
Fortunately, there is an alternative to finding a whole new group of players. The change that’s soon to come – the sooner the better, we say – is that the Diamondbacks will cut ties with their manager.
His ought not to be the only departure. Both Melvin and Rick Schu, the latest hitting coach to fail to get Arizona’s talented hitters to repair their plate-approaches, need to leave for this team to thrive.
It matters, of course, who is brought in to replace them. Not all change is for the better. But a new direction is needed. Change is now due.
Were it just these two weeks, we would counsel patience before passing judgment. The futility of a full year is too long a rap sheet to ignore. On a record stretching back to last season, there is evidence enough to condemn Melvin and Schu. After deliberating on the appropriate sentence, we can say with grim certainty that these are dead men walking.
Melvin and Schu must go.
7 responses to this Post, with 5 unique participants
Agree with Dustin
From the games I have seen the pitching was phenomenal and the batting was horrible. I think Schu definitely needs the boot. If Haren pitches 9 strikeouts and has a low ERA for the game, he shouldn't be losing because the offense can't put up any numbers at all; it just doesn't make sense.
Melvin & Schu
If it were only issues at the dish, I'd agree that Schu should go first and see if that fixes the problem. I don't think it's just plate discipline and situational hitting.
This year and last, the Diamondbacks have had trouble with base-running, defense, setting the line-up, using the bullpen effectively, etc. There's a feeling of frustration around the entire the team.
Since it's not for lack of talent, I gotta point to Melvin as the responsible party. Cutting ties w/ Schu might give the bats a new start, but it would not change the vibes.
These kids should be having fun. They should be using their speed and playing NL-style baseball. They need a leader to give them a spark and unlock their abilities. IMO, Melvin is not the guy for this job.
AMEN
Perfect. Mr. Low Key Melvin playing everything by the book......He's got to go.
These young guys are to good to be doing what they are doing. They played GREAT
in Triple A ball, no one could touch them, now look at them! They gave up on Carlos
Quinton and Chicago saw his batting flaw, fixed it, and now look at him.
Spring training was a disaster. They made NO EFFORT to improve the offense, only to plug the holes in pitching created by Randy's departure and the relievers we lost.
I was hoping I was wrong before the season, but my thoughts were, we don't have a chance of winning the division without improving the offense (after watching them last year). So far, it's looking like a carbon copy of last years season ending games.
Melvin will have to take his mountain bike and ride it somewhere else, hopefully with Shu.
Anonymous
04/19/09
11:31pm
Doody.
Schu rhymes with Poo.
Anonymous
04/20/09
10:40am
Hitting Coach
They should hire Julio Franco as hitting coach. Anybody who can continue to hit ML pitching at his age shouold have something worthwhile to teach.
Zac Denver
04/20/09
12:53pm
Mark Grace
We could get Grace out of the box with a promotion to the bench as hitting coach. Sounds like a win/win to me ;)
Schu First
Schu has to be the one on the hot seat. The bats are nowhere to be found. Now if you blame the lack of consistency on the way Melvin is playing Upton, Byrnes, Tracy, and Clark, then you have a case for axing both right now. I certainly would not be upset if they decided both had to go.