Diamondbacks Re-Sign Lyle Overbay

by Jim McLennan on Dec 8, 2011 1:07 PM EST in Diamondbacks News

Jon Heyman Tweets, "Lyle Overbay in agreement with #Dbacks for $1 mil, 1 yr deal".He'll act as a platoon back-up to Paul Goldschmidt at first-base. The 34-year-old Overbay hit .234/.310/.360 in 121 games and 440 PAs, between Pittsburgh and Arizona last year - that's an overall OPS of 85. It's hardly a bank-breaker, but he should likely be okay if kept away from left-handed pitching. Overbay's OPS is 119 points better (.823/.704) against RHP in his career.

The signing appears to complete the Diamondbacks' 2012 Opening Day roster as far as position players go, assuming Drew recovers from his ailments in time for next season. Starters would be: Montero, Goldschmidt, Hill, Drew, Roberts, Parra, Young and Upton, with a bench of Blanco, Bloomquist, Blum, McDonald and Overbay. Of course, Kevin Towers might always have something up his sleeve as a Christmas surprise...

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This is a good sign

Overbay as a left hander to occasionally offset the right handed Goldschmidt, and can spell some relief when needed.

Is it mid-February yet?

by NASCARbernet on Dec 8, 2011 1:13 PM EST reply actions

But not an improvement on 2011 roster

Probably cheap enough for a backup 1B (were there really other teams offering $1M?), but this move and KT’s others are status quo.

Hope we at least get improvement in rotation instead of 2 years of Saunders

by NLWestBaseball on Dec 8, 2011 1:23 PM EST up reply actions

Status quo is, well, pretty darned good

would you rather be a Padres fan?

Is it mid-February yet?

by NASCARbernet on Dec 8, 2011 1:25 PM EST up reply actions

Even Padres fans don't want to be Padres fans right now

But they did just shank the Rockies in the Street trade

by NLWestBaseball on Dec 8, 2011 1:39 PM EST up reply actions

Yes

Is it mid-February yet?

by NASCARbernet on Dec 8, 2011 1:53 PM EST up reply actions

Teams like Arizona with limited budgets can't try to constantly seek upgrades

They build with youth and let the youth develop and improve. That’s where roster improvements will come from.

Founder and Chairman of the Send Dan Some Pizzeria Bianco Commission (SDSPBC). SDSPBC is a totally, definitely for-profit organization.

by Dan Strittmatter on Dec 8, 2011 1:52 PM EST up reply actions

And it's going to be a limited budget

for a while. The Arizona economy has to improve really before the check book can be seriously opened.

Is it mid-February yet?

by NASCARbernet on Dec 8, 2011 1:53 PM EST up reply actions

That or actually sell out playoff games

by NLWestBaseball on Dec 8, 2011 1:57 PM EST up reply actions

In general, D'Back baseball seems to be more blue collar

than it is some of the more glamorous markets (this is a value judgment based on the games I’ve attended, not any financial or sociological study), and in a bad economy, the working middle class simply doesn’t have a lot of money available for entertainment.

Is it mid-February yet?

by NASCARbernet on Dec 8, 2011 2:05 PM EST up reply actions

Agree, but D'Back tickets among most affordable in MLB

Hopefully back-to-back years of contention will make a difference – was just sad to see empty seats in AZ compared to the full house in MIL

by NLWestBaseball on Dec 8, 2011 2:15 PM EST up reply actions

Yeah, but it wasn't THAT empty

Is it mid-February yet?

by NASCARbernet on Dec 8, 2011 2:21 PM EST up reply actions

Agreed

In my opinion overall attendance was pretty good, especially considering the epic fail fans had to witness the last two years.

I’d even go as far to say that the overall quality of the fans attending the games has become better as i feel there are quite a few more devoted followers of the Dbacks than even there were in 2007.

"I could have been king, but in my own way I am king. Hail to the king baby." Ash from Army of Darkness

by Turambar on Dec 8, 2011 2:44 PM EST up reply actions

That's a good point

especially considering that Phoenix is largely a city of persons from other places.

Is it mid-February yet?

by NASCARbernet on Dec 8, 2011 2:46 PM EST up reply actions

Compare like with like

And see how Tampa did for attendance in the playoffs, rather than against a team which has been in its current location for a couple of generations, not half of one.

"Barry's Puffin has gone red and is hiding under a pirate hat!"

by Jim McLennan on Dec 8, 2011 2:46 PM EST up reply actions

Such a pity

that Tampa can’t get behind their quality baseball team.

Is it mid-February yet?

by NASCARbernet on Dec 8, 2011 2:47 PM EST up reply actions

Agreed

May be more of a challenge now with cross-state Marlins buying a team

by NLWestBaseball on Dec 8, 2011 2:52 PM EST up reply actions

The solution for Florida

would be to put them in the same league and division.

Is it mid-February yet?

by NASCARbernet on Dec 8, 2011 3:04 PM EST up reply actions

Tampa has more issues than that.

For starters, they play in a rundown stadium in a suburb that’s across the bay from the majority of the population.

What's one more comeback, anyway?

by Zavada's Moustache on Dec 8, 2011 4:37 PM EST up reply actions

Thank you

It’s funny how we outdrew the Tampa market by 1.5 million per year (on average), for seven years under our previous owner, but now that the gap’s dwindled to half a million (or just 200k the year prior), the markets are “like to like.”

Indeed, the Valley consistently kicked Milwaukee’s ass in attendance as well – I see them mentioned above as a presumably favorable market – but I digress.

by Diamondhacks on Dec 8, 2011 11:50 PM EST up reply actions

That record's hopelessly scratched

But just to “clarify” your statement, the Rays didn’t win more than even 70 games until 2008. By which point, Arizona had four division titles, a World Series and was now busy paying off the quarter-billion dollars of debt Colangelo spent to win it. Yeah, they’re totally identical.

But if you’re going to play that card, you also need to assign responsibility to Jerry for the million-plus of attendance lost on his watch [a number that dwarfs those under the current ownership]. But since you’ve never shown any inclination to do so previously, it would be hypocritical of you to change now.

And, of course, you’re never that.

"Barry's Puffin has gone red and is hiding under a pirate hat!"

by Jim McLennan on Dec 9, 2011 12:36 AM EST up reply actions

Talk about

a scratched record and intransigent demeanor. You continue to defend Kendrick’s relative inability (and unwillingness) to attract fans, based on a narrow and misleading notion that Phoenix and Tampa are “like” markets.

Inherent ticket demand isnt at all similar in those markets, as evidenced by our 1998 gap of more than a million fans – before Colangelo won, stole or swindled any division titles. Moreover, the inaugural Rays played nearly .500 ball thru that first six or seven weeks, while the ‘98 Dbacks fell off a competitive cliff. Not even regular NYY and RedSox visits could boost Tampa’s structural draw within a million of the Valley in those formative days.

It’s certainly true that winning boosted our gate, as it later did for the Rays, and does anywhere to some degree, but your implication that the AZ / TB winning gap explains all or most of the market attendance gap belongs in your portfilio of debunked distortions, alongside the truly bizarre contrivance that since Colangelo (who exceeded NL ave attendance every single year) eventually drew less than his own, unsustainable highs, therefore Mr Kendrick (who has lagged NL ave attendance every single year) must be the real fan magnet in these parts.

by Diamondhacks on Dec 9, 2011 3:48 AM EST up reply actions

Attendance records are skewed since 2008

in Arizona due to the depressed economy. The odds are the economic forces which have hampered attendance during the past three years would have hampered attendance even if Colangelo was still at the helm.

Is it mid-February yet?

by NASCARbernet on Dec 9, 2011 9:23 AM EST up reply actions

The Rays were hamstrung from Day One

While the 1998 D’backs were the only and first ever major-league team in the state, the 1998 Rays were about 200 miles, as the crow flies, from the reigning World Series champions. So it was about equivalent to starting another major-league team in Tucson for the 2002 season. Think they’d do well?

the inaugural Rays played nearly .500 ball thru that first six or seven weeks,

Ooh! How exciting! “nearly .500”! That’ll really bring the fans out in droves for 162 games. They were fourth or lower every day bar one after April 17 and last actually saw .500 on April 26.

AZ’s attendance numbers speak for themselves:

I added a helpful vertical line to indicate the departure of Colangelo. It’s obvious he was bleeding the franchise dry of fans almost as quickly as he was bleeding it of money.

But we’ve rehashed this about a billion times, and we all know exactly where you stand. This thread is about the re-signing of Overbay. Stick to that topic going forward.

"Barry's Puffin has gone red and is hiding under a pirate hat!"

by Jim McLennan on Dec 9, 2011 11:35 AM EST up reply actions

Even Lyle Overbay

knows your black line is in the wrong place. He toiled before your multigenerational Milwaukee fan base when Jerry got canned, and surely recognized playing in an emptier (and newer) venue than the one he’d just left in “Tampa-like” Phoenix.

The fuschia line is good, though. Too bad we cant talk about it.

by Diamondhacks on Dec 9, 2011 3:57 PM EST up reply actions

But

One millions seems to be the minimum any vet free agent signs for these day so in a sense a minimum free agent contract. From the looks of it, but Lyle and Goldy have similar personalities so they should work well together. Wonder if Gracey will be asked to give some defense pointers during spring training…

by Sunspot51 on Dec 8, 2011 2:31 PM EST up reply actions

Not an improvement over our final roster last year

But a full year of Goldy and Overbay should be an improvement over the parade of failure we had at first base for a good portion of 2011.

by Craig from Az on Dec 8, 2011 3:41 PM EST up reply actions

Too true

by SongBird on Dec 9, 2011 12:03 AM EST up reply actions

Wonder if Brad Hawpe would have been cheaper

Put up similar numbers to Overbay in 2011 (but with home games at PetCo), younger and not quite as many years removed from real production.

by NLWestBaseball on Dec 8, 2011 2:30 PM EST reply actions

And also

Useless in the field and unfamiliar with the clubhouse.

Founder and Chairman of the Send Dan Some Pizzeria Bianco Commission (SDSPBC). SDSPBC is a totally, definitely for-profit organization.

by Dan Strittmatter on Dec 8, 2011 4:07 PM EST up reply actions

A butcher in the field

But I don’t know about the clubhouse comment. Rockies always viewed him as a solid clubhouse guy.

by NLWestBaseball on Dec 8, 2011 6:52 PM EST up reply actions

Unfamiliar with our clubhouse, though.

Founder and Chairman of the Send Dan Some Pizzeria Bianco Commission (SDSPBC). SDSPBC is a totally, definitely for-profit organization.

by Dan Strittmatter on Dec 8, 2011 7:49 PM EST up reply actions

Overbay was signed in August - he was only here 2 months

Was there some sort of induction ceremony? Did Gibby show him the sacred texts? Is that why we have to resign the entire 2011 closing roster, because they know AZ’s secrets?

by NLWestBaseball on Dec 8, 2011 11:52 PM EST up reply actions

LOL

I have nothing to add. This just made me laugh.

by SongBird on Dec 9, 2011 12:03 AM EST up reply actions

Club knows him

Considering that Hawpe really isn’t very good or better than Overbay, what’s the big issue? Nothing wrong with letting little things factor into little decisions like this.

Founder and Chairman of the Send Dan Some Pizzeria Bianco Commission (SDSPBC). SDSPBC is a totally, definitely for-profit organization.

by Dan Strittmatter on Dec 9, 2011 12:40 AM EST via mobile up reply actions

Brad Hawpe was hurt all of 2011 & didn't play

I got sprayed by Ryan Roberts!!!

by Rockkstarr12 on Dec 8, 2011 9:22 PM EST up reply actions

He played the front half of the season and was about equivalent to Overbay

Hurt in August and may not be healthy in time for Spring Training. Makes it almost certain he could be had cheaper. Hawpe would have been more risky (or maybe just a delay in starting him), but I bet he’d be better bang for the buck.

by NLWestBaseball on Dec 9, 2011 12:20 AM EST up reply actions

He was pretty much hurt ALL season

He played through pain until he couldn’t stand anymore…and had Tommy John surgery.

I got sprayed by Ryan Roberts!!!

by Rockkstarr12 on Dec 9, 2011 9:09 AM EST up reply actions

Weak Bench

This is a pretty weak bench. We need more pop from that bench. We can’t really weather a major injury to any of our top 6 hitters very well.

Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

by sonic barracuda on Dec 8, 2011 3:16 PM EST reply actions

Agree

I think we will see some changes after Drew shows he is or is not capable of playing SS next year. If he is capable, we’ll get rid of Blum or MacDonald (opening a roster slot). If he’s not – I don’t know what we do. Trade for Hanley Ramirez? I know everybody here loves Hanley ;-)

by Craig from Az on Dec 8, 2011 3:43 PM EST up reply actions