Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2007 6:47 pm Post subject: AZ/NL West Preview
Tim Brown, taking a break from Rich Gannon's cannon, looks at the NL west...
Quote:
Arizona Diamondbacks
First impression: Twenty wins from 300 and having found a 34-19 record in New York is not nearly good enough, Randy Johnson is back in the desert, where he once won a World Series and four Cy Young awards in a row. He's also coming off back surgery, which the Diamondbacks consider a good thing. There is a prevailing opinion that less back pain and more flexibility will return the bite to Johnson's once devastating slider. His signature pitch had flattened out, leading to a statistical spike in, notably, ERA, WHIP and balls in play. There is a chance Johnson could be ready by opening day (April 2 at Colorado), but the Diamondbacks won't rush him.
Competition: They have only two days off in the first 5½ weeks, so the Diamondbacks will need five starters right away. Assuming Johnson's rehab bleeds into the season, the early rotation sets up as Cy Young Award winner Brandon Webb, Livan Hernandez, Doug Davis and then two of Micah Owings, Dana Eveland, Dustin Nippert and the two Gonzalezes, Edgar and Enrique. Owings is the 24-year-old right-hander the Diamondbacks refused to include in the Johnson trade. He was 16-2 with a 3.33 ERA in 27 starts in Double-A and Triple-A in 2006.
Healing: Fourth outfielder Jeff DaVanon, who lost the final two months of last season to an ankle injury and subsequent surgery, and backup first baseman/pinch hitter Tony Clark, who had shoulder surgery, are healthy for spring training.
Joined: 10 Aug 2006
Posts: 2404
Location: Gold Canyon
Posted: Wed Feb 14, 2007 12:37 am Post subject:
And Rosenthal gives AZ accolades as "Honorable Mention" amongst those MLB teams that made the best moves this off-season...
Kenny wrote:
Diamondbacks: Acquired two left-handed starters, Johnson and Doug Davis, without sacrificing elite prospects. G.M. Josh Byrnes also netted four draft picks by completely shunning the free-agent market while losing left fielder Luis Gonzalez, right-hander Miguel Batista and utility infielder Craig Counsell.
LA was bunched with the 5 teams that made the "best" moves, and SF was tagged with "Dishonorable Mention." CO and SD got no mention.
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