It just kills me how people look at last season and think we are years away from contention. This is the same team that went to the NLCS and 2007 guys. We lost our best pitcher and perennial Cy Young guy and arguably at the time our best hitter for nearly all of the season. In the mean time we had a tough season but some young guys we were waiting on really stepped up.
So yeah, of course Keith Law thinks this is a bad deal. He deals on a national perspective and doesn't know the Dbacks as closely as even the people on this MB. He thinks we are rebuilding. I am of the opinion that if we maintain 2007 health, which is the premise the FO is working on as well, that we should take back the division. We have the best starting rotation and I feel, the most potential line up wise, especially with Manny getting older and worse, not better.
So if we suck next year, then yeah absolutely this deal sucks. But we are NOT in REBUILD mode. We really aren't. We were a young up and coming team in 2007 that had huge injury problems last year.
Anyone who looks at things from a macro-perspective, I just don't see how you don't feel we should roll the dice and go for it next year. Personally as long as we get a couple bully arms and a bat I consider us the favorite in the West. Upton, Haren, and Reynolds gave me a ALOT of faith that we should be even better then 2007, again assuming Webb is back to nearly what he was.
And it kills me that people fail to point out that the 2007 Dbacks had the worst offense in baseball that relied heavily on their starting pitching AND bullpen. That team was one of the only teams in the history of baseball to make the playoffs while being outscored during the regular season. If you want to hang your hat on that season then so be it but seasons like that happen once in a lifetime.
The 2010 Dbacks won't stand a chance without a strong bullpen and that's especially true considering Webb and Kennedy are both wildcards at this point. Our bullpen is currently a joke and there's now no money to address the glaring holes in this area.
I wouldn't dismiss Keith Laws opinion either. He broke down the trade very well and is dead on. 2007 was an aberration and our offense has been bad now for years -
2007 - 26th in runs scored (14/17 in NL), 29th in batting average (last in NL), and 29th in OBP (last in NL).
2008 - 20th in runs scored (10/16 in NL), 27th in batting average (14/16 in NL), and 19th in OBP (8/16 in NL).
2009 - 20th in runs scored (13/16 in NL), 27th in batting average (13/16 in NL), and 22nd in OBP (11/16 in NL).
Therefore, over the last 3 seasons we've consisitently been ranked in the 20's when it comes to runs scored, batting average, and OBP. We also have not finished in the top half of any of those categories in the NL over the past 3 seasons. Overall, not an offense that can be depended on.
I do agree with you on one thing - The FO isn't in rebuild mode. However, they should also realize that we're not a contender either. They are taking a huge gamble on Webb being healthy which all odds are against. They are gambling with Kennedy by believing that A) he can stay healthy and B) he can contribute at the MLB level. He has proven neither. They're also taking a huge gamble by not taking our bullpen problem seriously (still can be addressed but with limited money available it appears they're comfortable with the crappy pen that's in place).
I am of the opinion that we're not necessarily in rebuild mode becuase we have a lot of good pieces in-place. However, Edwin Jackson was unnecesarry at the expense of Scherzer to supposedly make us a "contender." There are too many holes with far too limited resources
