Welcome to SB Nation FanPulse, a survey of fans across MLB. Each week, we send 30 polls to plugged in fans from each team. Diamondbacks fans, sign up HERE to join FanPulse.
What should the D-backs do at the trade deadline?
Though there was not a clear majority for any one option, I was surprised to see “Sell” getting more votes than “Buy” by such a huge margin: more than six to one in favor of selling, if you discard the “stand pat” voters. Considering how close the team currently is in the standings to a wild-card spot, it would seem more logical to be adding players to get Arizona over the hump and into one of those post-season slots. However, I think it is far to see that the D-backs’ contention is a fragile creature, with all the stolidity of a mayfly. We lose in St. Louis: oh, no, we suck! We destroy the Rangers: hell, yes, we’re awesome! We lose the opener against the Brewers: oh, no, we suck again!
As a result, the percentages above are probably going to be quite volatile: you’d get very different results if the survey was taken on Monday morning from those on Wednesday night. But perhaps it also reflects an appreciation that the farm system represents the team’s best hope for future contention, and a reluctance to weaken that for what could be a “one and done” in the wild-card game. Or even if we win there, “one then we get to play the Dodgers in the NLCS again - and you know how well that worked out last time” However, there is a counter-argument that we might as well get used to battling for the wild-card, because it’s gonna be a while before Arizona can realistically compete with LA.
Anyway, curious to see explanations in the comments for how people voted in this one
Are you confident in the direction of the team: 43% Yes
Do you approve of the job Torey Lovullo is doing as manager? 65% Yes
The above numbers do suggest that most responses to the poll were submitted before the Diamondbacks wiped the floor with the Texas Rangers on Tuesday and Wednesday. The team confidence figure is the third-lowest of the season, and down from an even 50/50 split the last time we checked in. Lovullo’s rating, while higher, was unchanged from the previous week, but is still also close to a season low, ahead only of the 60% in Week 14. It’s quite a decline from the 90% or better he scored from Week Two through Seven. The harsh realities of another hard-fought battle to escape mediocrity may be settling in, but we’ll see what happens over the remaining three games against Milwaukee, before the next poll.