SnakeBytes, 1/28: Slowly Defrosting Edition

by Jim McLennan on Jan 28, 2012 9:00 PM EST in Snake Bytes

Had a fun week in Boston, but it's nice to be back somewhere that you can go outside without looking like you are re-enacting Shackleton's last voyage. We now return to your regularly-scheduled program of laughing at TV footage of people digging through snow. Here in Arizona, we get one more player signed for 2012, but otherwise the slow crawl toward spring training continues...

Team news

[AZCentral] Arizona Diamondbacks, Brad Ziegler agree to 1-year deal - One down, three to go. A slight win for Ziegler, in that the $1.795m deal is closer to the $1.945m he wanted than the team's $1.46m offer.
[FoxSportsArizona] D-backs break budget, go all in for 2012 - "It's a gamble, it's a risk. But it's one we were willing to take, because we, like a lot of our fans, were excited about the way we finished last year and want to build on it."
[rgj.com] Diamondbacks: 'Humility' is byword for '12 - "Gibson is aware the club also pressed its luck, leading the majors with 48 come-from-behind wins. It's rare for a team to repeat that kind of performance, so he's looking for more efficient baserunning and defense, which he believes will help his pitchers by either adding to Arizona's scoring or limiting the opposition's."
[dbacks.com] D-backs could have next great power duo - "D-backs outfielder Justin Upton and first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, both of whom are just 24, should give Arizona one of the elite power duos in the game for years to come."
[CBSSports.com] 2012 Fantasy outlooks: Arizona Diamondbacks - Interesting picks to "Bust" and as "Sleeper". Might not be too popular round here though.

Prospects

[tallahassee.com] Shooting for your hopes and dreams - Another great piece from prospect Bryan Henry, being very open about being a 12th-round pick. "I know it's fun to read about the million-dollar deals the top selections receive — and that's great for those guys — but I knew I didn't need a deposit slip ready when Luke arrived at my parent's home... He said, "Bryan, the Diamondbacks sent me here with one thousand dollars to get you signed.""
[Joliet Herald News] Brandon Sing anticipating last ‘go-round’ - Also at the not-so glamorous end of pro-baseball, a player who'll get a shot at perhaps making a D-backs minor-league team this year.
[MLB.com] 2012 Top 100 Prospects - MLB.com unveiled it's top prospects lists. Plenty of D-backs present - 5 in all, led by Trevor Bauer, with Archie Bradley and Tyler Skaggs in the top 21.
[dbacks.com] D-backs trio among top 100 prospects Steve Gilbert takes a look at that trio in more detail.
[MLB.com] Jonathan Mayo breaks down MLB.com's Top 100 Prospects list - "MLB.com's first Top 100 prospect list is now, as they said in "Mission: Impossible," out in the open. Now the fun is just beginning."

Other stuff

[AZCentral] Diamondbacks CEO Derrick Hall is cancer free - Good, good news - Hall discusses life post-cancer.
[Examiner.com] Astros ink LHP Zach Duke to minor league deal - Good luck, Zach. Unlike certain starters I could mention, you accepted the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune with good grace.
[Yahoo!] Daryle Ward suspended 50 games for amphetamine The veteran hit .318 with two HR and 18 RBIs in 28 games with Double-A Mobile for us last year. Won't be doing that again...
Tuesday night on MLB Network, their Baseball IQ game-show includes the D-backs representative, Josh DeFamio, so we'll be pulling for him. Random factoid: assuming it's the same guy, think he was running a comedy show at MADCAP in Tempe, the same day we had our horror film festival there in January 2010. Who knew? Anyway, he faces the Astros rep in the first round, should be 7:30pm.

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"more efficient baserunning and defense"

seems at odds with Parra or Young on the bench, unless Kubel has developed new skills.

"Without freedom of speech I might be in the swamp" B. Dylan

by xmet on Jan 29, 2012 7:15 AM EST reply actions

Correction

Unless Kubel has developed ~~new skills~~ a new body

isitspringtrainingyet.com

by imstillhungry95 on Jan 29, 2012 11:10 AM EST up reply actions

Kubel may be

this generation’s Bernard Gilkey….

sententia Platonis semper in ore illius fuit, florere civitates si aut philosophi imperarent aut imperantes philosopharentur

by NASCARbernet on Jan 29, 2012 12:45 PM EST up reply actions

Interesting articles

I have a question. In the article Dbacks break budget go all in, Derrick said almost all of the deferred salaries are gone. Does anyone know how much is left and who is owed what and for how long? Even a site I could go to would be helpful.

by AzDbackfanInDc on Jan 29, 2012 8:31 AM EST reply actions

I don't know the numbers

but it seems to me that I heard that year that we had quite a ways to go

isitspringtrainingyet.com

by imstillhungry95 on Jan 29, 2012 11:10 AM EST up reply actions

There's no detailed breakdown I could find, but here's a summary

As of June 2011, there was still $30m due, but according to Ken Kendrick, by the end of 2012, they will be “down below $5 million. Through the 2012 season, we’ll still have significant payments to make. But after that season, that really won’t be an issue.” The bulk of the rest appears to be Bernard Gilkey. “Matt Williams’ payments come off in 2014 and Gilkey, whose annual checks go up to as much as $1 million, will be the last one to come off the books in 2017.”

"There's one rule by which I generally run my life:
What would Mothra do?"

by Jim McLennan on Jan 29, 2012 12:05 PM EST up reply actions

Good thing

Bernard Gilkey put us over the top in 1999!

Oh Jerry C, you a crazy mo fo.

Where have you gone, Greg Colbrunn?

by SenSurround on Jan 29, 2012 12:24 PM EST up reply actions

At least we're not the Mets

From the last article linked above:

The most interesting salary deferral story could be the one of Bobby Bonilla. The Mets will reportedly pay from 2011 to 2035 for the $5.9 million salary they owe him from 2000, a season in which he didn’t even play for the team. The team supposedly invested the money so that they’d actually make more than they’d have to pay out, even after interest payments were calculated.

Of course, that was when they were investing with Bernie Madoff….

"There's one rule by which I generally run my life:
What would Mothra do?"

by Jim McLennan on Jan 29, 2012 1:30 PM EST up reply actions

A mere 1.19M each July 1,

so he can afford fireworks on the Fourth. A nice way to turn less than 6M into almost 30M. An 8% annual return (not an easy thing to get) would cover it nicely, but I suspect that a good part of it became a small part of Bernie’s legacy.

"Without freedom of speech I might be in the swamp" B. Dylan

by xmet on Jan 29, 2012 2:24 PM EST up reply actions