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SnakeBytes: Down Under Edition

Though it's obviously a quiet time of the year, seem to have accumulated enough bits and pieces to make one of these worth having. We recap the trip to Australia and New Zealand, discuss the new Aces' manager and discover that hell hath no fury like this woman....

By Jim McLennan

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@Dbacks, via Twitter

Antipodean Arizonans

  • [dbacks.com] D-backs enjoy day at the races in Sydney - "National League MVP finalist Paul Goldschmidt, president and CEO Derrick Hall and Craig Shipley, special assistant to the GM, found themselves at Royal Randwick Racecourse, being interviewed on the video board and presenting the sash to the owner of the horse that won Race 6, which was named for the franchise."
  • [Dbacks.com] D-backs make historic visit to New Zealand - And after Australia, Paul Goldschmidt, Derrick Hall, etc. visited New Zealand. I guess it was on the way home. Said Hall, "I think if you look at all the countries in the world, you can say that New Zealand is probably the one that is the most on the rise when it comes to baseball. We're very excited about the opportunity here. With the popularity of softball already in place, that's an easy conversion for us."
  • [NZ Herald News] Baseball: Hopefuls impress MLB star at Eden Park - More from Goldschmidt in Kiwiland. "It was a very good year for me, and it is a lot more fun when you play well. But there are ups and downs every year. Baseball is a game of failure - there were times this year when I made mistakes which cost us the game. You move on and try to do better next time."

Team News

  • [MLB.com] Ken Kendrick discusses state of the Diamondbacks - As usual, not mincing words, with "Disappointed" the first word out of his mouth in this interview. He expands on that, "I was disappointed in the season because I think that our results were not reflective of the talent this team has." He also discusses payroll, and confirms that the payroll could get to $100 million next year. However, no players or their reputations were apparently harmed in the making of the piece.
  • [Arizona Sports] Diamondbacks looking into Yankees' staff for pitching coach position - According to John Gambadoro, "Look for former major leaguer and current coach in Yankee system Mike Harkey to get a long look for Dbacks pitching coach." He also reckons it won't be Dave Duncan, but he may still be on board as some kind of consultant.
  • [Reno GJ] New Aces manager Phil Nevin - He replaced Brett Butler, who has taken up a coaching position with the Marlins. "They’re two different managers totally," Aces GM Rick Parr said. "They’re going to command the respect of their teams differently. Brett Butler was spectacular, and it’s time to pass that torch. They’re going to be two different managers, two different skippers, two different ideas, two different dynamics."
  • [Dbacks.com] Luis Gonzalez chat transcript - In the week that had the 12th anniversary of some game or other, appropriate for Gonzo to stand in while Hall was upside-down. Of course, the 2001 World Series crops up; Gonzalez also talks about future coaching ambitions: "Since I missed so much of my kids growing up, I've really enjoyed being able to be there for them the past five years and would consider the opportunity once they graduate from high school in the next few years."

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