Orlando Hudson
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Snakes Shake Lopez To Brewers
The Diamondbacks today unloaded Felipe Lopez, a player who came to symbolize the gap between talent and performance on the 2009 club. Lopez was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for a pair of low-ceiling prospects -- outfielder Cole Gillespie and right-handed reliever Roque Mercedes. The move is as much a dump of salary as of bad karma.
Lopez made undeniable offensive contributions in his half-season in Arizona colors. His two home runs on Opening Day -- one from each side of the plate -- provided hope that the Diamondbacks had found a worthy replacement at second base for Orlando Hudson. While Lopez proved not to be an especially powerful hitter, his .301 batting average and .364 on-base percentage led the team through 92 games.
But Lopez's contributions on offense were overshadowed by his sloppy and often thoughtless efforts in the field and on the base-paths. Despite above-average range and a strong arm, Lopez often muffed the balls he reached. His nine errors to...
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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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Game Report: Snakes @ Angels, March 20, 2009
* ANGELS AND DEVILS - Diamondbacks Nation came out in force for this afternoon's game against the Los Angeles Angels at Tempe Diablo Stadium. All the regulars save Chris B. Young made starts, so we got our first look at Felipe Lopez in Arizona colors.
While he took the collar in today's 6-1 loss, Lopez looked fit and confident following his call-up to the Puerto Rican national club. In a Pool 2 win over the United States, he ripped Padres' starter Jake Peavy for a 2-run shot into the Miami night. Check the video to hear Harold Reynolds call with a whistle the blast that sent at least one small child into a fit of ecstasy. ODog's heir to 2B put the ball in the right center-field stands, near to where the pool would be at Chase Field. If he can match that performance for Arizona, Lopez will make quite a splash. (Go ahead, we deserve it.)
* THE KING IS BACK! - Eric Byrnes marked his Cactus League debut and his first start since a hamstring injury forced him out of action back...
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Top 5: Favorite Arizona Diamondbacks
1. Justin Upton, Superstar.
2. Junior Spivey. Was the only youthful starter (27) on a 2002 team full of old men. Pop in his bat, 3x the speed of the vets, home grown. Smiled like he meant it, glowered when needed. Unforgettably! appeared on the cover of SI after the 2001 World Series.
3. BK got a bum rap. Maybe he was a bad apple, cos there was always that subtext. I don't think so. He wanted to be a starter, big deal. Had a cup of coffee as a 20-year old in 1999, then this:
2000: 70.2 IP, 6 W, 6 L, 14 SV, 52 H, 9 HR, 46 BB, 111 K, 4.46 ERA, 1.39 WHIP
2001: 98 IP, 5 W, 6 L, 19 SV, 58 H, 10 HR, 44 BB, 113 K, 2.94 ERA, 1.04 WHIP
2002: 84 IP, 8 W, 3 L, 36 SV, 64 H, 5 HR, 26 BB, 92 K, 2.04 ERA, 1.07 WHIP
2003: 122.1 IP, 9 W, 10 L, 16 SV, 104 H, 12 HR, 33 BB, 102 K, 3.31 ERA, 1.12 WHIP (combined ARI/BOS totals)
What more can you really ask from a kid?
4. Brandon Webb is the most valuable player in Arizona Diamondbacks history, as measured by how he's performed v....
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