Arizona Diamondbacks 2014 vs. 2016

People in green are occupying the same role then and now. People in yellow are still on the roster, but in a different role. People in red are new to, or no longer on, the roster. This is based on the "regular season" Opening Day roster for 2014, so discounts the Australia games. There is, obviously, a lot of guesswork as far as the 2016 version goes, and it's entirely likely further moves will be made - the bullpen and back-up catcher spots are the most likely areas of change. That said... We're paying a $15-20 million less this season, and if you compare the two squads, spot for spot, can anyone argue next year's model does not look massively superior, virtually across the board?

Of course, they will need to be a vast improvement, because the 2014 version ended up posting the worst record in baseball, as well as getting Kevin Towers and Kirk Gibson fired. But there's no denying the near-total revamping that has taken place under Dave Stewart and Tony La Russa, with just seven survivors our of the 25 players who starterd the campaign 20 months ago. Man, look at that 2014 rotation. Now, look at this dumpster fire. Can you tell them apart? Can you believe there was really a point where we looked at that, and expected anything other than disaster? Hindsight is truly 20/20, isn't it?