****A major trade was pulled off by the Diamondbacks this week, as more than
two dozen players will be changing addresses. The St. Louis Cardinals and
Arizona Diamondbacks exchanged...AA baseball cities. The Diamondbacks will
move their AA affiliate, the El Paso Diablos, to Tennessee while the Cardinals
take their AA affiliate and move them to Springfield, TX at least temporarily
cutting El Paso out of the minor league picture. In the Politically
Correct name choice of the year the new club will be named The Smokies. No
word yet on whether they will have a 'Complimentary Zippo' promotion.
****Wouldn't it be nice to reassemble the team that could be in the playoffs
right now? The Red Sox feature Curt Schilling and Mike Myers, and are
awaiting their chance to play in the ALCS. The Dodgers will likely not
make it past the first round, but they are chock full of former D'Backs as a
result of trade deadline deals in 2004. In addition to Steve Finley and
Brent Mayne, Elmer Dessens also made the Dodgers playoff roster. Meanwhile
the Dodgers' first round opponent, the Cardinals, have Reggie Sanders and Tony Womack getting significant playing time. Take it a step farther and had
Matt Williams not vetoed the trade in 2002 Larry Walker could have been a
Diamondback too.
****The Arizona Fall League rosters are set, and the AFL season has
begun. The Scottsdale Scorpions are the Diamondbacks affiliate in the
league, with all but one of the D'Backs representatives coming from the now
defunct El Paso Diablos. Though each team is allotted six slots, the
Diamondbacks actually send eight players, with two being designated for the
'taxi squad.' While there was a lot of speculation that the Diamondbacks
would send their trio of talented lefty pitchers (Clint Goocher, Billy Murphy,
and Matt Chico) it was actually three right handed closers that made the trip to
Scottsdale. Jason Bulger and Mike Schultz make the trip from El Paso while
Justin Wechsler is on the taxi squad as one of two non-Diablos on the D'Backs
AFL roster, after posting excellent numbers for (Hi) A affiliate
Lancaster.
|
Wins-Losses |
ERA |
Strikeouts/Walks |
Saves |
| Jason Bulger (AA El Paso) |
0-3 |
3.91 |
25/19 |
8 |
| Mike Schultz (AA El Paso) |
1-1 |
3.00 |
14/13 |
2 |
| Justin Wechsler (Hi A Lancaster) |
4-1 |
2.48 |
96/27 |
18 |
Two catchers make the squad and while Chris Snyder is officially listed as an
El Paso Diablo he has certainly moved up, spending the last month of the regular
season on the Diamondback's roster, but it appears that the Tucson Sidewinders'
Corey Myers is the one getting more repetitions. Finally it was the entire
El Paso outfield getting the AFL call. Conor Jackson and Carlos Quentin
will generate the most interest, as both will at least challenge for spots on
the big league club in Spring Training, while Marland Williams joins Wechsler on
the taxi squad. In addition Watch for FutureBacks.com to give you the best
AFL coverage.
| |
AVG |
HR |
RBI |
| Chris Snyder (@ AA El
Paso) |
.301 |
15 |
57 |
| Marland Williams (@ AA El Paso) |
.257 |
8 |
43 |
| Conor Jackson (@
AA El Paso) |
.301 |
6 |
37 |
| Carlos Quentin (@
AA El Paso) |
.357 |
6 |
38 |
| Corey
Myers (@ AAA
Tucson) |
.289 |
7 |
25 |
****The Pedrique predictions have started, with the interim Diamondbacks
manager making his case to return. Pedrique is a long shot to be asked
back, but there really is not a clear cut favorite. Names mentioned
include Mark Grace, Jim Riggleman, Jim Fergosi, Jaime Quirk, and recently fired
Mariners manager (and former Diamondbacks bench coach) Bob Melvin, a Phoenix
resident in the off season, as reportedly been contacted by Diamondbacks GM Joe
Garagiola Jr.
****Another oft mentioned name has been Lancaster JetHawks Manager Wally
Backman. Backman led the JetHawks to the California League Championship
Series, and the former Major League 2nd baseman won a World Series with the New York Mets. A source inside the front office says that the club feels that
Backman might be the front runner because of his combination of name recognition
and managerial experience. Though Backman downplayed his chances of
getting the job during the season the Diamondbacks have apparently contacted
Backman about interviewing.
****Will Randy keep going past the upcoming season? He has one more
year left on his contract but rumors have swirled that he might ask to be traded
in the off season, when a deal with the Yankees might be able to be worked
out. The Diamondbacks have held firm that they would like to see Randy
finish his career a Diamondback, and comments made earlier this week by Johnson
indicated that might not been after next season. "You guys expect me
to do well and when I didn't do well and I had a bad knee a lot of people said
that I was done. I took offense to that. I'll know when I'm done. I wasn't done
last year. I'm not done this year. I won't be done next year." His
work in 2004 certainly did not look like the work of a pitcher at the end of his
career, but still at 41 years old one wonders how much of a contract extension
the Diamondbacks would be willing to offer.