FanPost

Dontrelle Willis for Justin Upton?

I posted this as a reply in the "Good Bye El Duque" thread, but this might warrant its own special place.

From Gambo's column on azcentral.com:

"...Arizona has had discussions with the Florida Marlins about acquiring left-hander Dontrelle Willis to form a solid 1-2 punch with Brandon Webb. While Florida is unlikely to trade Willis at this time there is a chance it will be more willing to deal him come July and the trade deadline..."

The Marlins basically suck and Gambo suspects Willis will want off a team that has given up on being competitive against the likes of the Braves and the Mets.

Gambo goes on to speculate that (I'm paraphrasing) a Webb-Willis duo along with maybe another rock-solid starter will put the D-Backs in championship mode, not just NL West pennant contention, and bring some butts in the seats on a long-term basis.

Willis is 1) 24 years old; 2) a lefty and 3) finished second in the Cy Young voting last year (22-10, 2.63 ERA).

Maybe this will make up for the loss of El Duque who was traded right on the heels of his strongest start so far this season. But the Marlins will want quality young talent in return or it will be a blow to them; they are trying to drum up support for a new stadium in the (predominantly Latino) local suburb of Hialeah as a last-chance effort to keep them from becoming the Las Vegas Marlins or something. Willis is a SF Bay Area native (Alameda, CA) so coming to an NL West team would be a homecoming of sorts for him.