Snake Bytes, 6/23. Will it be a perfect 10?

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[Arizona Sports] La Russa: 'We'll be a contender soon' - "There is a lot more of a promising core to build off of than you would have thought after 98 losses," La Russa said. "We're advancing, and we're not asking our fans to be patient four or five years from now…we'll be a contender soon, maybe even next year and do it for several years.. We've got the youngest club in the major leagues, and they're competing. They're exciting a lot of people. On the pitching side and the position player side, they're coming quick."

[AZ Central] La Russa: Trade creates financial flexibility - "We're not going to be willing to part with our core. And when I say 'careful [buyers]', what I mean by that is if there's a piece that came available and we thought it was smart that fit the rest of the year and going forward, then we would be interested... If I'm a fan, I would be skeptical: 'Hey, man, they traded the future away.' Touki has a future, but it's not an immediate future like we need. We think (our future) is sooner rather than later."

[FanGraphs] Touki Toussaint and Prospect Valuation - Realistically, this looks like the D’Backs just deciding that they don’t buy into Toussaint’s future value, and if they thought his stock was only going to go down the longer everyone got a look at him, this could be seen as salvaging some value from an asset with declining value. That’s basically the only argument you can put together on why this trade might make sense from Arizona’s perspective. If they know something about Toussaint that suggests he’d be valued significantly lower this winter, then taking what you can get now is a reasonable proposition.

[Arizona Sports] Arroyo surprised to be traded - "I said 'of course I'm going to pitch 400 innings, that's what I do, what I've trained my whole life for. It's like, this is my whole world encompasses getting out there every fifth day. "Then I start the season last year and I think I had a torn rotator cuff the entire time, but a cortisone shot kind of calmed that down and I started feeling pretty good, and then the elbow thing came on and I pitched six more times." Arroyo said it was like being in the middle of a war, being hit twice and just trying to "come out the other side alive."

Team News

[dbacks.com] Mental approach raises Goldschmidt's game - When Goldschmidt got to the D-backs in August of 2011, he met Peter Crone, a mind and performance coach. "He helps you take a lot of stress and worry out of things," Goldschmidt said. "Whether it's a fear of failure or really any type of fear, we all have fears or think too much about the future or the past and let that affect us. He just tries to put you in a state of mind where you're focused, but relaxed. It helps you get the distractions out of your head whether it's a fear of failure or worrying about results."

[FOX Sports] Diamondbacks' best stretch fueled by quality starting pitching - "It all goes with our starting pitching," Chip Hale said after another quality outing Sunday, when Jeremy Hellickson pretty much dominated San Diego in a 7-2 victory. "When our starting pitching gives us a chance to win, I think we are a very, very good team. It allows our bullpen to get rested. Our hitters feel better about things. They don't feel like they are always coming back. Those guys have really been doing a great job of keeping us in the game early. You saw the games we weren't. We struggled. I think that's where it all starts."

[AZ Central] Diamondbacks demote Addison Reed, reinstate Enrique Burgos - "He needs to get better," Diamondbacks manager Chip Hale said. "It seemed like he was getting it there for a while, but then just of late he hasn't been very effective." Hale was hesitant to go into specifics regarding what he'd like Reed to work on because he hadn't spoken to him yet on Monday.

[TheTandD] Godley gets all-star start and promotion from Diamondbacks - He has pitched so well this season that he has been named as the California League’s starting pitcher for tonight’s All-Star Game Godley was also informed by Arizona on Sunday that he won’t return to Visalia after the all-star game. He is being promoted to Double-A ball to pitch in Mobile, Alabama, where he will begin play for the Mobile BayBears next week.

[FOX Sports] Nationals reportedly interested in Diamondbacks' middle infielders - "The Nats could use some pop from their middle infielders' bats, as utility infielder Danny Espinosa has been the only one out of a rotation of three Nats middle infielders, including slumping shortstop Ian Desmond, to be productive at the plate this season. If offense is what the Nats are after, Hill would be the most logical target, given his hot-hitting past, which includes a career-best 2009 season in which he hit 36 home runs with 108 RBI." From your mouth...

And, elsewhere...

[Forbes] How 'Memorabilia Leeches' Should Not Be Allowed At Games - Paging Zack Hample... Mr. Hample... "If Commissioner Manfred is serious about growing the interest in Major League Baseball with youth, then the ability to get back to an age of players interacting with those that see the players are icons, not a meal ticket, needs to happen. Fans coming in with arm loads of items to sign, or bullying their way repeatedly to gain something that is nothing more than a notch on the bedpost needs to stop. Players that use performance-enhancing drugs may be the worst thing that a player can do. Being a memorabilia leech has to be one of the worst things a "fan" can do."

[ESPN] Pete Rose bet on baseball as player in 1986 - For 26 years, Pete Rose has kept to one story: He never bet on baseball while he was a player. But new documents obtained by Outside the Lines indicate Rose bet extensively on baseball -- and on the Cincinnati Reds -- as he racked up the last hits of a record-smashing career in 1986. The documents provide the first written record that Rose bet while he was still on the field. "This does it. This closes the door," said John Dowd, the former federal prosecutor who led MLB's investigation.

[ABC News] Baseball's Darryl Hamilton Remembered Following Apparent Murder-Suicide - The baseball world was left reeling Monday after authorities announced that Hamilton was dead at 50, the victim in an apparent murder-suicide in Pearland, Texas. His girlfriend Monica Jordan, 44, was also found dead inside the home, as well as the couple’s unharmed 14-month-old, authorities said.

[Time] Could This French Shortstop Be the MLB’s First Female Player? - After over 150 years, Major League Baseball might have taken a step closer to finding its first female player. Melissa Mayeux, a 16-year-old shortstop on the French U-18 junior national team, made MLB history on Sunday as the first female player on the international registration list. Her addition to the list means she is eligible to be signed on July 2, although MLB.com reported that it is unlikely she would be signed next month. However, the site says only players with serious potential to be signed usually make it onto the international registry.