Diamondback Jay
Psalms 23:1
Another week has passed, and with it also passed have been more losses and more teams replacing Arizona in the NL West standings. And in all, the bleeding continues for the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The most recent Snake setback occured Saturday as the team squandered 4-0 lead and were sunk in the 13th following a Robb Quinlan 2-run homer with 2 outs.
The loss was Arizona's 5th in a row, and sit an all too impressive 2-17 in their last 19 games.
I know this has been said before, however it bears repeating. Something, ANYTHING needs to be done to stop the bleeding, ASAP.
The closed door meetings have done nothing, nor have Bob Melvin's Billy Martin-esque tantrums. Cutting Russ Ortiz has done nothing (not that it was going to anyhow, other than eating a bad contract that should have never been signed)..
The I-10 revolving door seems to swing on a daily basis, with mixed success. It seems like the Grimsley saga has absolutely destroyed this team from the within.
So, what to be done?
The first is obvious-- fire Melvin.
I completely understand the arguement of those in favor of keeping B-Mo, you certainly cannot blame all of the woes of this team on the manager. However, as the old saying goes, you also cannot fire an entire 40-man roster, and frankly with Melvin not being Josh Byrnes's guy to begin with, you gotta wonder how soon before Melvin begins shopping for realtors and digs out the old "FOR SALE" sign for his yard.
Another option that seems to be obvious would be to work the wires and see what, if any, interest teams would have in players like Luis Gonzalez, Shawn Green, Tony Clark and perhaps Craig Counsell.
As much as seeing old favorites like Gonzo and Counsell go would be disappointing for nostalgic purposes, neither have a long term future with the team, and with younger, cheaper answers down in Tucson, perhaps the time to go in to complete youth-movement phase is upon us. If I'm the Diamondbacks, the time to see what Carlos Quentin, Chris Young, Stephen Drew and Alberto Callaspo have, and I work the phones to try and see what teams would be interested in some of the afforementioned vets.
As for a replacement for Melvin, names such as Chip Hale and even former New York (AL), Cincinnati, Seattle and Tampa Bay manager Lou Pinella have been mentioned, however if I'm Arizona I place the call to the bench and give Matt Williams a shot.
Matty, as we saw in his playing days, has just enough fire to light one under the backsides of the current youngsters on Arizona's roster, yet he also has enough cooth to use that fire in a constructive way. Bringing in Williams would also be beneficial to the players, many of whom were in a generation that grew up around Williams, thus allowing them to relate to the lessons Williams would have to offer.
These are just my suggestions. After a 2-17 streak in the month of June that eliminated a division lead and knocked the Diamondbacks in to last place in the NL West, desperate times call for desperate measures, and these measures very well could be the best for the long term success of Arizona Diamondback baseball.
The most recent Snake setback occured Saturday as the team squandered 4-0 lead and were sunk in the 13th following a Robb Quinlan 2-run homer with 2 outs.
The loss was Arizona's 5th in a row, and sit an all too impressive 2-17 in their last 19 games.
I know this has been said before, however it bears repeating. Something, ANYTHING needs to be done to stop the bleeding, ASAP.
The closed door meetings have done nothing, nor have Bob Melvin's Billy Martin-esque tantrums. Cutting Russ Ortiz has done nothing (not that it was going to anyhow, other than eating a bad contract that should have never been signed)..
The I-10 revolving door seems to swing on a daily basis, with mixed success. It seems like the Grimsley saga has absolutely destroyed this team from the within.
So, what to be done?
The first is obvious-- fire Melvin.
I completely understand the arguement of those in favor of keeping B-Mo, you certainly cannot blame all of the woes of this team on the manager. However, as the old saying goes, you also cannot fire an entire 40-man roster, and frankly with Melvin not being Josh Byrnes's guy to begin with, you gotta wonder how soon before Melvin begins shopping for realtors and digs out the old "FOR SALE" sign for his yard.
Another option that seems to be obvious would be to work the wires and see what, if any, interest teams would have in players like Luis Gonzalez, Shawn Green, Tony Clark and perhaps Craig Counsell.
As much as seeing old favorites like Gonzo and Counsell go would be disappointing for nostalgic purposes, neither have a long term future with the team, and with younger, cheaper answers down in Tucson, perhaps the time to go in to complete youth-movement phase is upon us. If I'm the Diamondbacks, the time to see what Carlos Quentin, Chris Young, Stephen Drew and Alberto Callaspo have, and I work the phones to try and see what teams would be interested in some of the afforementioned vets.
As for a replacement for Melvin, names such as Chip Hale and even former New York (AL), Cincinnati, Seattle and Tampa Bay manager Lou Pinella have been mentioned, however if I'm Arizona I place the call to the bench and give Matt Williams a shot.
Matty, as we saw in his playing days, has just enough fire to light one under the backsides of the current youngsters on Arizona's roster, yet he also has enough cooth to use that fire in a constructive way. Bringing in Williams would also be beneficial to the players, many of whom were in a generation that grew up around Williams, thus allowing them to relate to the lessons Williams would have to offer.
These are just my suggestions. After a 2-17 streak in the month of June that eliminated a division lead and knocked the Diamondbacks in to last place in the NL West, desperate times call for desperate measures, and these measures very well could be the best for the long term success of Arizona Diamondback baseball.
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