FanPost

Fanpost Friday: Nothing Changes if Nothing Changes

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Admittedly, the title is not so accurate. There have been fairly significant changes particularly those with decision making power. While Tony La Russa's influence might only be limited, gone are Chip Hale, De Jon Watson, and Dave Stewart. However, did Mike Hazen make enough changes or the right changes to the roster during the offseason to achieve success this season? Will a partial retooling become yet another regret we can look back at and debate?

Some fans and critics of the team have bemoaned the fact that the team did not initiate a full blown rebuild. We have some significant pieces at the major league level that can be traded to rebuild a farm system that is universally described as lackluster. The argument is that regardless of significant injuries to key players last season we’re returning mostly the same team that could not get the job done. If the team stumbles out of the gate again this season, maybe those tradeable assets don’t have as much value as they did previously resulting in a lower return. Projections again have the Diamondbacks below .500 and out of the playoffs. As bad as last season was, meeting those projections would have been welcomed in retrospect. Can it be said with certainty that this team as currently constructed is better than last year?

We were only able to enjoy one season of our Snake Pit MVP, Jean Segura. Arguably the lone bright spot of last season, some had hoped that the trade of Los Seggy signaled the coming of a large scale rebuild. Not only did that fail to materialize, we’re now without our dynamic leadoff hitter from a season ago. He was a spark plug for the team and will be greatly missed. It cannot be said for certain that he would produce as he did last season, but it would have been a pleasure to watch him chase Gonzo’s team record for hits in a single season again.

Now that Wellington Castillo is gone, the situation behind the plate again looks bleak. The counterpoint is that the Diamondbacks have opted for a more intelligent approach behind the plate with better game callers and pitch framers. There was never a question about Beef’s offensive ability and durability to catch a full season in the desert. Not knowing what discussions were had behind closed doors it is also hard to believe that the team could not obtain any value in the form of a trade before releasing Castillo. Greinke has been on the record stating that he had no issue with Castillo. It cannot be denied that he was not good at pitch framing, but did he have good chemistry with our staff? How certain are we that a platoon situation behind the plate is going to be successful? What are the team’s options if one of either Jeff Mathis or Chris Iannetta are injured during the season?

As discussed amongst other members, Greinke’s velocity has been on a steady decline over the past few seasons. Nick Piecoro has recently written about the issue this spring, and Jim has been kind enough to present the information graphically. It is true that Greinke does not achieve success by powering past opposing hitters rather relying on his supreme control and baseball acumen. However, a decrease in velocity as well as his injury history last season could suggest a lingering issue that hasn’t been made public. How can we as fans be optimistic about watching our most expensive player possibly sitting on the DL again? If the team is to have any success, we need our best pitcher to take the mound every fifth game.

Did we witness a crack in the armor of Paul Goldschmidt last season? We saw just how bad he could slump out of the gate. Age does catch up to everyone, and he will soon be on the wrong side of 30. If the team is in a situation where a full on fire sale is required by the All Star break and he is struggling again, we may not be able to get as much of a return as possible before.

Jake Lamb and Yasmany Tomas are the tale of two half seasons. Both have significant flaws in their game and have yet to demonstrate that they can overcome them. Do they make significant strides forward, or have we seen all they have to offer as players? If we lose AJ Pollock and David Peralta due to injury again, there may not be enough outfield depth to sustain success both defensively and at the plate. Pollock has been susceptible to injury multiple times in his career albeit to no fault of his own. There are significant questions surrounding those four players despite the tremendous upside.

Like it or not Ken Kendrick is still the Managing General Partner and still seemingly refusing to increase payroll also contributing to the lack of significant change. The free agent pool was not as strong this offseason as last, and I’m not advocating anything as extreme as what we did last year. However, there is reason to believe that this team in this market can sustain a higher payroll. That extra payroll could allow Hazen the flexibility to sign more interchangeable pieces. Perhaps the situation in the bullpen would be a bit clearer had Hazen had the authority to take the payroll to a new height.

It would be a shame to look back at the impending season and say that the team did not make enough changes to sustain success.