I’d like to get the ball rolling on trade talk, because I think that’s where a lot of interest is going to lie in the next few weeks, and besides, we have to be psychologically prepared for at least the possibility of some major moves.

Rather than explain my personal vision of where I think this team ought to be going, which would be my natural starting point, I think instead I’m just going to throw a couple of names out there to see where that leads, even if it means being savaged by the wolves.

When it comes to trading, I think it’s important not to be too reactive, which is something the Diamondbacks organization has perhaps been guilty of recently.

That is to say, they reacted to Byrnes having a career year, even though most people recognize that he’s a pretty average player.  They reacted to Carlos Quentin’s mediocre performance, even though many observers felt that this guy’s a beast, ready to break out at any moment.  They assumed Young would continue an uninterrupted curve of success, and that Upton would come into his own.  They seem not to have anticipated anything other than what their five senses told them.   

One key to making a good trade is using the other team’s shortsightedness against them, so that doesn’t bode well for us.   

In any event, here goes.  I think our most tradable commodity right now is Doug Davis.  And I think the position player you could shop him around with is Chad Tracy.  Both those guys have American League written all over them – Tigers, Yankees, etc – which is where we’re going to come up with some hitting, power, and outfield depth.

I realize Davis has looked exceptional of late…that’s the point.  He’s done well against the American league, has decent stuff, a great understanding of the game, and is probably going to have his career year sometime soon.  He’d beef up a so-so rotation big time, and could be a phenomenal 2 or 3 on a team that scores runs.    

But the reality is he’s an above average pitcher – no more – who could bring us proportionately much more in the hitting department.  The sky’s the limit as to what some of those high-powered AL teams desperate for a starter might give up for him.  Then you throw in Tracy (who is I think a more obvious name) because another team might be able to bring him along better in an offense-oriented environment, and will want to have something else to show for the all-star they give us for Davis. 

So my top two tradables are Davis and Tracy, but there are very few untouchables, either.  Actually, there’s no such thing as an untouchable, but the closest we come is Webb, followed by our minor league pitchers who are close, along with the core of young players with whom we identify the team…Jackson, Reynolds, Upton, and Young.  Drew and Hudson are not on that list, but middle infield isn’t exactly the easiest place to shore up while also concentrating on your hitting.  Drew seems to be one of the Dback victims of bad coaching, with a different approach every time up, so he could still come along; Hudson’s having a good year, but is soon on his way out regardless.  I’m going to say our top two untouchables are Webb and…hmm, still gotta go with Upton as a 5-tool guy with all-planet potential. 

Anyway, I could make this a very long post, but I’d rather leave it up to others to name their top two tradable players and top two untouchables. 

Andy

For a fleeting moment tonight, as Randy Johnson handed his glove to the kid in the front row, I wondered if maybe there was something symbolic in the gesture, as if he knew this was the end of the road, and he was ready to hand the game over to a younger generation.  The psyche that’s most difficult to penetrate in the continuing decline of this once-great pitcher is that of Johnson himself.  In his heart, he knows whether the fluff he was throwing out there tonight is indicative of what he’s got left, or if the occasional flash of the old Randy he’s shown this year could still ignite one last fire.

Organizationally, there’s seldom such soul-searching.  In baseball, when your time has come, your time has come, and your sentimental value to the team, or your historic value to the game, has little bearing on the next roster move.  People don’t come out to see a once great player embarrass himself.  That’s just sad, like going to see your great-grandfather, the once formidable patriarch of the family, stricken with Alzheimer’s.  We want to see a competitive team on the field while enjoying a cold one, not be reminded of the ravages of time.   

So what’s to be done?  Grace was vehement during the broadcast tonight that Randy won’t go to the bullpen.  (Not that Grace gets the final word – Johnson could still be given an ultimatum.)  You can’t keep surrendering games in the standings with him as a starter.  He’s certainly not going to be someone you call on for a big game, and he’s not even eating up innings at this point.  He’s not going to be sent down, and he’s not going to bring anything in a trade.  That doesn’t leave much.  The next release point we discuss in reference to Randy might be the club’s.

With 300 wins becoming an increasingly remote prospect for this year if ever, what is the carrot for Johnson, one has to wonder, if in that pursuit he hurts a team that is at least a marginal contender?  He has said he wants to leave the game on his terms.  Perhaps he will have to revisit what those terms are.  One of them might just have to be to do what’s best for the team.  

One consideration for the Dbacks is that they have to start bringing along Scherzer and other prospects, and giving the full responsibility of the rotation to the players who can realistically carry the team, hoping that between them, they can pull out enough wins to make the playoffs, and that someone will come into his own as a truly dominant #3.  Any trades at this point have to be for hitting and outfield depth.

It is becoming increasingly obvious that while the Dbacks have a core of rising stars and don’t need to rebuild the franchise, they do need a serious refit if they’re going to be a threat this year.  They’re probably going to have to pull off at least one significant trade, and make some hard decisions along the way.

The hardest decision, though, and the hardest cut of all, might just be the man who is the best player to ever wear a Dbacks uniform.

In order to get through the rest of the season, I think we need a Diamondbacks drinking game.  I didn't see one elsewhere.  Here are some rules to get us started... 

There are 2 players or teams, a home and a visitor

If the opposition gets any kind of hit - you take 1 drink; if they score a run - take a drink

If your team commits an error - drink

If the error later gets changed to a hit - opposition takes 2 drinks

A drink is required whenever Grace says "Gas" (the batting team), "Car" (whichever team is responsible for the delay), or "Oh dear" (whichever team was at the wrong end of the play)

If your team's batter breaks his bat and the announcers complain that the bat is maple - drink

If Byrnes dives, somersaults, or otherwise leaves his feet in an exaggerated way, drink...if he still makes the play - opposition also drinks (guess this one's on hold for awhile)

Pitching change on your team - change your drink

If Walsh asks someone in the crowd to express their feelings about something unrelated to baseball - both sides drink

If Haren is pitching and the announcers speculate that he'll come back with the same pitch because he's stubborn - drink...if he strikes the batter out - opposition drinks

If your manager gets ejected - finish you drink; if your player charges the mound - opposition finishes drink

Anyway, this is just a starting point, could probably use several more before compiling the official rules.  Suggestions?

It has to be said that one of the challenges of being a Diamondbacks fan – and there are a few – is the kind of team we have.

Most changes in baseball over the last several decades have been for the purpose of bringing more offense to the game.  From a sheer entertainment point of view, offense is where it’s at.  When you think of the great dynasties, you think of the great offensive teams, the Bronx Bombers, the Big Red Machine… you don’t think of the great middle relievers and gold glove third basemen.  The teams this year I suppose a lot of people would say they enjoy watching the most would be the Red Sox or the Cubs which are, not coincidentally, the offensive juggernauts of their respective leagues.

It’s fun to watch a slugfest.  If you’re in the stands, you can’t always tell what the pitcher’s doing, but you can always see the screaming line drive bound into the corner.  In a pitching duel, you’re sort of waiting for something to happen, and sometimes it seems that you waited all night for a double, a groundout, and a sacrifice fly to bring in that scant run.  If that run happened in the second inning, then you were kept waiting indefinitely for something more that never came.

Psychologically, if your team scores 6 runs a night, even if they give up 8, it always feels like they’re at least doing something.  Not only that, it feels like everyone’s contributing, not just one person on the hill doing all the work.  And you can always fall back on the consolation that your team is just a couple of starting pitchers away from being unstoppable.  What are you supposed to think when there’s an entire lineup that fails to produce – even if you do have the required pitching?  It’s frustrating when runs are so hard to come by.

Offense is the great marketing tool of all the big team sports.  There’s more offense in football than ever before, hockey keeps trying to circumvent the coaching systems that bring gridlock to the game, and if there’s not more offense in basketball, at least there’s less defense.  It might be a sellout to keep peddling offense, but the fans are buying it.  Why do you think no one likes soccer? 

Phoenix’s favorite son has always been the Suns.  Of course they’ve been around awhile, but it’s their brand of basketball in recent years that has excited fans, and really been the standard bearer of offense in the NBA.  Would we like to see them have better defense?  Of course, that might have taken them all the way, but given the choice between one or the other, we’ll take our 115 points a night.

A purist would argue that there’s every bit as much to like about a team with great pitching and defense, even if the offense is a bit stingy, as there is a team with a potent attack.  Small ball, no DH, setting up a batter for the next pitch, a clean single up the middle, these, he will argue, are what make the game beautiful.  All this chest-pounding and pointing skyward after a 400-foot blast is so much hype.  Then there’s the vaunted pitching duel.  Who doesn’t enjoy those… every once in awhile?  Nevertheless, even the diehard traditionalist would have a hard time denying that a low-scoring finesse game with lots of great breaking balls and high heat doesn’t cut it on the fun meter the way a come-from-behind 11-8 game does with three homers in the 7th to turn the game around. 

So what kind of team do we have with the Diamondbacks?  When enough of their players click at the same time, they’re a decent offensive team at best.  Not the team of April – that was an aberration.  You have to look not just at this year, but last year as well, to see that they’re unlikely to be a dominant offensive team in the immediate future.  Looking up and down the lineup, you end up saying things like, “He’s a pretty good hitter”, “He’s got some power”, “When he gets hot, he can get around on anyone’s fastball,” and especially, “He’s got loads of potential.”  But the lineup as a whole isn’t intimidating by any stretch.

The Diamondbacks do, however, have the starting pitchers to take any series.  You can never count out a team with Webb and Haren 1-2.  And the defense, although struggling more this year, is still a strength of the team.  The running game and aggressiveness have vanished, but that might be part of the overall offensive malaise. 

This grinding, strong pitching, clutch defense, close-game team is something we probably have to accept.  If we get to the playoffs, that style of play would give us a chance, but we’ll have to get there winning even uglier than we have up to now. 

Is such a team possible to love?  Is it possible to go absolutely bonkers and fill the seats when the final score will probably be 3-1 for someone, and you’re likely to be treated to a parade of players on both sides heading back to the dugout? 

Of course, you’re reading this, so you already love the Diamondbacks as a fan.  But I think there are also precedents where fans have embraced their team not just despite of, but because of its personality with all its flaws.  Ask any Bears fan, and they’ll tell you that defense and the running game are what’s important in football, and they wouldn’t have it any other way.  Forget the aerial fireworks of the Patriots or Colts: let your defense score all the points.  Ask any Detroit Pistons fan, and they’ll tell you it’s just as gratifying to see the other team frustrated at a season-low halftime score, as it is to see an easy dunk by their own team.  

Instead of thinking “We want a hit,” maybe our battle cry should be “Shut them down”, because that’s what we do best.  When there are two strikes on the other guy, that’s the time to go crazy.  We can celebrate the D-backs because if they’re on, our starters can take down the most awe-inspiring lineups in the game, and the D-backs have already shown they have enough other tools and the know-how to win.  They might not be the child we wanted, but they’re what we got and by God we’re gonna love them.