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Melvin Out as Diamondbacks Manager
The Arizona Diamondbacks (12-17) have decided to fire Manager Bob Melvin, according to a report aired on KTAR 620. A replacement will be announced prior to Friday night's series opener versus the Washington Nationals.
We at Diamondbacks Nation grimly approve the move. With their record now five games under .500, the Snakes are performing well below the level of their talent. Nearly three weeks ago, we made the argument that this season's struggles are merely an extension of the slide that began a full year ago.
Check back later for more details on the ouster, the new manager, and what will come next for the Diamondbacks franchise.
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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...
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2009 DIAMONDBACKS SEASON PREVIEW - PART IV
* LOOKING FORWARD - Having once been a team of veterans drawn from other clubs, Arizona enters 2009 with a roster whose players are predominantly young and of local origin. For most of these players, the coming season will be their third together as a group. The experience of developing as a team is rare in modern baseball, where free agency and trades shuffle almost every organization's roster annually.
Indeed, the Diamondbacks have not been immune to turnover on their pitching staff or in the field. Several key players are gone from the 2008 edition. Unable to work out a new pact with the club, Randy Johnson has taken his quest for 300 wins to San Francisco. Orlando Hudson has joined another division rival, signing on to play second base with the Dodgers. A third NL West team, the Padres, have made David Eckstein their starting second baseman. The Nationals reached a two-year agreement with Adam Dunn, who will play first base in Washington. Ex-closer Brandon Lyon joined the...
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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....
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Curt Schilling Should Enter HOF as a Diamondback
With the announcement of his retirement on Monday, Curt Schilling sparked a firestorm of debate over his worthiness to be enshrined in Cooperstown. Let’s assume for a moment that he’s Hall of Fame material and consider whose cap he ought to wear on his plaque. Schilling’s ML career spanned 20 seasons with five clubs, so there are multiple contenders for the honor. Here at Diamondbacks Nation, we are firmly resolved that Schilling should be the first player inducted into the pantheon as a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Have Gun, Will Travel (1988 to 1991). Originally drafted by the Red Sox, Schilling was dealt to the Orioles in July 1988 and made his first ML appearance with Baltimore that September. After a handful of starts over three seasons, the hard-throwing right-hander was shipped to Houston, where he pitched exclusively from the pen. (The 1991 Astros club also featured future Diamondbacks Luis Gonzalez and Steve Finley, the latter included with Schilling in the...
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