SnakeBytes, 8/2: Welcome Home Edition

So our team comes back, but not quite looking the same. Maybe it's the new players, maybe it's the winning series on the road.  Either way, let's hope we can show the Natinals some fight this week.

Previews:

• [dbacks.com] D-backs return home with new look vs. Nats - Plenty of new faces- over the week, 20% of the roster have either been traded away or sent to Reno.

• [miamiherald.com] Washington Nationals (46-59) at Arizona Diamondbacks (39-66) - The Nats bring in some familiar faces like Adam Dunn and Livan Hernandez.

• [cbssports.com] Nationals-Diamondbacks Preview - I guess we should get used to playing Washington- we go visit them next weekend.

• Preview: Diamondbacks vs. Nationals - How is Kirk Gibson dealing with the trades? "Yeah, there's 25 guys. We try to keep it that way."

After the jump, talk about the trades, and the real reason the Rays wanted Chad Qualls.

Dbacks News:

• [azcentral.com] Arizona Diamondbacks' Derrick Hall still plans to conduct search for General Manager - Don't get too settled in, Jerry. "We owe it to the organization to go through a process." Derrick Hall also said we'll see more changes in the off-season and perhaps even before the waiver deadline.

• [examiner.com] What did the Diamondbacks achieve - "In the end, the recent transactions seem to address an overall economic issue rather than putting in place, an cohesive and intelligent plan to build for the future. Perhaps now is the time to think of that "bottom line" in the standings rather than the "bottom line" in the ledger page."

• [fanster.com] Let the Rebuilding Begin - It's a painful thing to admit, but after already suffering plenty through this season, I think we can handle it.  We're rebuilding.

• [espn.com] The day in home runs - I link because of this ridiculous sentence: LaRoche "became the first left-handed hitter to ever hit a pair of three-run home runs against a left-handed pitcher in the same game against the Mets." On a Sunday, north of the Mason-Dixon line, when the moon was waning.

• [cbssports.com] Rangers stand tallest after trade deadline - Listed among his winners: Jerry DiPoto. "Rival executives who dealt with DiPoto came away impressed by his honesty, his direction and his no-nonsense approach."

Around baseball:

• [tampabay.com] Tampa Bay Rays reliever Grant Balfour out 4-6 weeks - The Year of Freak Injuries continues. Grant Balfour was lost to a horseplay injury- "messing around … wrestling, in a way" with his pitching coach during batting practice.  As such, they needed a reliever, and we certain had one to offer.

• [yahoo.com] Unreal: These umpires have no idea how the infield fly rule works - Wait, or is it the Year of Bad Umpiring? Guys, we need to get together to figure these things out.

• [mlb.com] Bonds keeping tabs on A-Rod's chase - Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez- two players you're just thrilled to hear about, I'm sure.

• [yahoo.com] Rinku and Dinesh go Hollywood with Sylvester Stallone - Remember the two Indian cricket players who joined a reality show and were eventually signed to the Pirates farm system? Yeah, there's a movie script in the works.

There's your links for the day. We'll once again see if our team can put together any sort of momentum off a big win, as we take on the Expos Natinals.  Go Diamondbacks!