If Josh Byrnes does not fire Melvin & Schu then he should be fired

[Lefty]

I have never been on the Josh Byrnes fan club. Just because he worked under Theo Epstein does not make him the next Theo. He has made some bad trades/pickups, but if he fires Melvin & Schu, I will definitely agree with his decision. If he does nothing and thinks Melvin and Schu are the right coaches for this team. then I say Josh needs to go.

I know the season is early but this team has no discipline. All they do is swing for the fences. It's a different lineup every game, so how can you have any continuity when the players don't even know where they are batting?

Finally, the guys have no emotion. No one is lighting a fire under them. I guess they get this from Melvin. There seems to be no worry in the dugout. Hale or Gibson need to be the next manager. I would bet they would get the guys playing like it was a playoff game.

I know I am ranting but I know most of us see a change in the coaches needs to happen. I hate it that we have been saying Melvin must go for over a year now but the front office can't see that. It's so frustrating.

 

[Ryanwb]

What does Melvin make in salary? Does Byrnes need to have ownership signoff to make this sort of move? Probably not..... I'm on this bandwagon to the point where I am pulling it

Fire these guys now!

 

[Arizona's Finest]

Crazy talk with Byrnes. He is not the golden boy he was 2 years ago but hes still one of the brightest young GMs in the game. Your anger is misguided and memory to selective.

Schu needs to go now and if no improvement then Melvin at the All Star break.

 

[binkar]

This team is almost unbearable to watch right now. It's more entertaining to watch the grass grow in the outfield during the games then to watch the DBacks try to hit the ball.

 

[Skkorpion]

I'm on board.

 

[82CardsGrad]

I actually like Melvin, however, when a team has underpeformed (offensively) for as long as this team has, the Manager simply has to go... This is not a one week, one month or 6 month debacle... They have sucked now for more than a full season and by all measures, are actually getting worse!

 

[SunsTzu]

Crazy talk with Byrnes. He is not the golden boy he was 2 years ago but hes still one of the brightest young GMs in the game.

If it's true that he's a bright GM then there is no hope because that means the ownership is preventing him from doing his job. Outside getting Dan haren I can't think of one good move the DBacks have made the last 3 years.

Atleast the Eric Byrnes show is coming back so there will be something less watchable than actual Diamond Backs games.

 

[Ryanwb]

I can't blame Byrnes, you can only polish a turd so much

 

[abomb]

The Dbacks are so terribly boring. They have zero personality from the mannequin managing partner down to the 25th guy on the bench. So boring.

 

[AzKarl]

My take on this team and organization

The team lacks several established/consistent veteran hitters in the lineup to take the pressure off the youngsters. This is a function of either not having the will to spend the money( Adam Dunn for example) or not having the means.

The team shows poor plate discipline and seems to be poor in the execution of baseball fundamentals such as bunting runners up, moving runners over by hitting to the opposite field, etc.. and this is on the manager and coaches who need to either insist it be done or get players in there who do it. We seem to take great prospects and somehow stifle their development while they go other places and flourish.

When a team flounders the management has to change the voice they hear or it becomes totally a lost cause. Melvin does not seem to be able to get these guys to play with fire or emotion simply because that is not who he is. This is probably why he was fired in Seattle. He just cannot light a positive fire under these guy's asses.

Finally, if Diamondback ownership lacks the financial resources to run the team they should sell it to someone who does like a Mark Cuban or even propose to MLB that Mr. Garcia in LA consider selling the Angels and buying his hometown team. As much as I loved Jerry Colangelo could you imagine if this team was owned by an owner with the resources and management ability?

 

[NHEIB84]

This team is almost unbearable to watch right now. It's more entertaining to watch the grass grow in the outfield during the games then to watch the DBacks try to hit the ball.

I agree, I was really looking forward to baseball this year too. Hopefully they get it turned around soon.

 

[boondockdrunk]

If it's true that he's a bright GM then there is no hope because that means the ownership is preventing him from doing his job. Outside getting Dan haren I can't think of one good move the DBacks have made the last 3 years.

I am not arguing that the Dan Haren trade was bad, but it wasn't great. Look at what was given up by the Dbacks to get Haren: 2/5ths of the Oakland rotation in Dana Eveland and Brett Anderson, along with first base prospect Cris Carter (who we traded Quentin for) and outfielders Aaron Cunningham and Carlos Gonzalez. The A's built themselves off of one trade with us. With the youth of our team, it might have been more reasonable to keep Anderson and have him to anchor a staff with Webb, Scherzer, and Parker. Although one can argue that the players we traded (minus Anderson of course) would not have started or had any meaningful role on Arizona, and thus Haren upgraded a position of need while giving up strengths.

Byrnes has just made a few moves which have conveniently blown up in his face. He gave up a mediocre second base prospect (and despite his unbelievable start) to get Jon Rauch. Now we all know that Rauch is useless and Bonifacio is tearing it up, but Rauch is still a talented pitcher (who I still don't want in close games until he gets his stuff together) and Emilio will eventually come back down to earth (mainly because his bat cannot stay this hot and he does not draw enough walks to be a consistently good lead off hitter [but watch now that I type this he will continue his hot start]). At the time, this was considered a steal for the Dbacks and even the "Natinals" (teehehe) gave up on the speedy Bonifacio after he was traded.

I also did not understand the trade for Tony Clark. Yeah, we traded nothing but giving Tony Clark a roster spot when Josh Whitesell is tearing up triple AAA (2008 Numbers: .328average, 26 HR, and 110 RBIs) wouldn't be considered an astute move for a money strapped franchise. Now this year, Tony Clark gets a few starts while Whitesell continues to prove he can do a better job at first than the veteran (2009 Numbers [11 games]: .389 AVG, .522 OBP, 2 HR, 11 RBIs). In addition, Whitesell can also play Left Field, giving Jackson the chance to get settled into one position.

There have been some good trades though: Brad Halsey for Juan Cruz, as well as Troy Glaus & Sergio Santos for Miguel Batista and Orlando Hudson. However, these took place early in Byrnes' career and his recent moves draw some concerns.

My major problem with Byrnes is his lack of concentrating on player development and drafting. Most of the recent draft picks from this team are full of players with low ceilings but high floors (meaning they will probably reach the majors quickly, but won't be an all star or even impact player). The only two draft picks to make note of in the past draft are RHP Trevor Harden and LHP Daniel Schlereth (and even they probably will not amount to more than a back of the rotation starter or lefty set-up man). A combination of conservative drafts and poor trades have made the D'backs farm system one of the worst in baseball, all under the watch of Byrnes and AJ Hinch.

Josh Byrnes has not done a poor job, but he just used the success of Mike Rizzo to his advantage and has not built anything himself. Rizzo should have been the original choice for GM, but that was goofed up. And again, this is purely hindsight.

 

[DWKB]

I am not arguing that the Dan Haren trade was bad, but it wasn't great. Look at what was given up by the Dbacks to get Haren: 2/5ths of the Oakland rotation in Dana Eveland and Brett Anderson, along with first base prospect Cris Carter (who we traded Quentin for) and outfielders Aaron Cunningham and Carlos Gonzalez. The A's built themselves off of one trade with us. With the youth of our team, it might have been more reasonable to keep Anderson and have him to anchor a staff with Webb, Scherzer, and Parker. Although one can argue that the players we traded (minus Anderson of course) would not have started or had any meaningful role on Arizona, and thus Haren upgraded a position of need while giving up strengths.

Byrnes has just made a few moves which have conveniently blown up in his face. He gave up a mediocre second base prospect (and despite his unbelievable start) to get Jon Rauch. Now we all know that Rauch is useless and Bonifacio is tearing it up, but Rauch is still a talented pitcher (who I still don't want in close games until he gets his stuff together) and Emilio will eventually come back down to earth (mainly because his bat cannot stay this hot and he does not draw enough walks to be a consistently good lead off hitter [but watch now that I type this he will continue his hot start]). At the time, this was considered a steal for the Dbacks and even the "Natinals" (teehehe) gave up on the speedy Bonifacio after he was traded.

I also did not understand the trade for Tony Clark. Yeah, we traded nothing but giving Tony Clark a roster spot when Josh Whitesell is tearing up triple AAA (2008 Numbers: .328average, 26 HR, and 110 RBIs) wouldn't be considered an astute move for a money strapped franchise. Now this year, Tony Clark gets a few starts while Whitesell continues to prove he can do a better job at first than the veteran (2009 Numbers [11 games]: .389 AVG, .522 OBP, 2 HR, 11 RBIs). In addition, Whitesell can also play Left Field, giving Jackson the chance to get settled into one position.

There have been some good trades though: Brad Halsey for Juan Cruz, as well as Troy Glaus & Sergio Santos for Miguel Batista and Orlando Hudson. However, these took place early in Byrnes' career and his recent moves draw some concerns.

My major problem with Byrnes is his lack of concentrating on player development and drafting. Most of the recent draft picks from this team are full of players with low ceilings but high floors (meaning they will probably reach the majors quickly, but won't be an all star or even impact player). The only two draft picks to make note of in the past draft are RHP Trevor Harden and LHP Daniel Schlereth (and even they probably will not amount to more than a back of the rotation starter or lefty set-up man). A combination of conservative drafts and poor trades have made the D'backs farm system one of the worst in baseball, all under the watch of Byrnes and AJ Hinch.

Josh Byrnes has not done a poor job, but he just used the success of Mike Rizzo to his advantage and has not built anything himself. Rizzo should have been the original choice for GM, but that was goofed up. And again, this is purely hindsight.

Emilio Bonifacio, 3B FLA
News: From the The Sports Xchange: 3B Emilio Bonifacio has dramatically tailed off from his hot start. He's having a tough time reacting to adjustments teams have made on him, going 3-for-25 over the first six games of Florida's road trip. He's hitless with nine strikeouts in his last 19 at-bats going into Monday. His batting average has plummeted from .485 on April 14 to .321 going into Monday.

Analysis: Bonifacio can't steal first base, but he deserves to be starting regularly because speed doesn't slump. He can still steal bags and score runs for deeper Rotisserie leagues.

and I think claiming Rizzo should have been our GM in the same post that you make fun of the Nationals is kinda talking out of both sides of your mouth, isn't it?

 

[boondockdrunk]

and I think claiming Rizzo should have been our GM in the same post that you make fun of the Nationals is kinda talking out of both sides of your mouth, isn't it?

Make fun of them how? By calling them the Natinals?

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[DWKB]

Make fun of them how? By calling them the Natinals?

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I thought you were referring to their record. Had no idea about the jerseys. That's pathetic for a MLB team.

 

[ArizonaSportsFan]

They still have more far more "O" than the Diamndbacks!

 

[BC867]

Melvin does not seem to be able to get these guys to play with fire or emotion simply because that is not who he is. This is probably why he was fired in Seattle. He just cannot light a positive fire under these guy's asses.

Actually, he was promoted to Special Assistant to the General Manager.

Hey, Josh, 'need a Special Assistant?