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POWER RANKINGS
Power Rankings
Date
Ranking
Previous
10/06/2009
23
23
Season in seven words: "Young players ripen less predictably than apples." ... Hero: Dan Haren, just for doing his job and refraining from going postal on his teammates for not doing theirs ... Loserhead: There had to be something going on with Chris Young that we don't know about (a health/family issue?), because he played with almost deliberate apathy until way late in the year ... Key need: More of a tough-love organizational approach. Pound the players on the head and scream "be more better! be more better!" if need be ... Prognosis: There's talent here. There was talent here at the start of 2008 and 2009, too.
09/29/2009
23
22
Whenever somebody talks about the Diamondbacks as one of the league's most forward-thinking franchises, please remind him or her that this was the organization that viewed Eric Byrnes as a better risk going forward than Carlos Quentin. Really: I'm a huge believer in the numbers-can-tell-us-things-that-our-eyes-and-puny-brains-cannot school of thought, but at some point maybe we should note that teams helmed by Josh Byrnes, Mark Shapiro and their ilk perform less well than those general-managed by statistical troglodytes like Ned Colletti. Yes, the respective budgets have a little something to do with it, but whose collection of young talent would you rather have, Arizona's or L.A.'s?
09/22/2009
22
27
They didn't do anything especially well this week, but the teams behind them practically begged for demotions. ... It looks like they'll try to work out some kind of deal with Brandon Webb after all. This might've had something to do with rumors that the fat-wallet teams were salivating at the prospect of inking him to one of those "we'll give you 80 ka-hundred dollars to complete your rehab on our dime, then eleventy thousand more for each start beyond that" contracts. That's a worthy investment, assuming the physicals don't reveal any tendon trauma.
09/15/2009
27
26
If your Fantasy league's constitution is so lax that it allows drops and adds at this late point in the year, I'd grab Miguel Montero. He's put up a .333/.393/.523 line since the start of August and is at .302/.364/.493 for the season. You're welcome.
09/08/2009
26
22
Sign number 36,453 the D-backs are having a horrid season: Justin Upton was recently listed as day to day with a "contact lens". ... As a fan of mindless gore, I'm happy to see Daniel Cabrera back in the majors. Many happy returns, kid.
09/01/2009
22
24
Eighteen of their remaining 30 games come against the Dodgers, Giants and Rockies. In theory, they could play spoiler; in execution, they'll likely play dead. ... In any other season, Chad Qualls' dislocated kneecap would win the "grizzliest accidental relocation of a body part" award. Alas, Adrian Beltre and his jellied testicle put that one out of reach a few weeks back, so Qualls will just have to settle for come-hither glances from MRI clinic nurses.
08/25/2009
24
22
It's apples and oranges, given who they've pitched against and how deep they went into games. All the same, Dan Haren's ERA since the All-Star break is 4.91 and Barry Zito's is 2.06, and the strikeout numbers are roughly even. ... The D-Backs went 153 straight at-bats without drawing a walk last week, which is tough to do even if you're trying. ... Nothing we've seen this year suggests that any of the prospects (with the very notable exception of Justin Upton) are on the star track. This is a moribund franchise about now.
08/18/2009
22
23
Whoever planned the team's current Atlanta/Philly/Houston/San Francisco road trip is practically begging to be replaced as team travel agent. ... Amid all the cost-cutting and injuries, they've won four out of their last five series and are finally starting to play with the swagger befitting a team of this lofty athleticism. ... One nickname suggestion for Mark Reynolds: "The Scavenger." He'll eat your fastballs and he'll eat your dirtballs; he ain't picky. What do you think? Get back to me on that, Matilda.
08/11/2009
23
23
The hits just keep on coming, with Justin Upton -- in the midst of one of the great seasons ever by a 21-year-old -- going down with a dreaded oblique injury. Too, Chris Young has been demoted to the minors -- where he won't see too much of superprospect Jarrod Parker, possibly headed to a surgeon's table with a blown elbow gasket ... Another for the people-never-learn files: the D-Backs have signed perennial disappointment Daniel Cabrera to a minor-league deal ... Oooh -- judging by his comments to the Arizona Republic about advanced metrics like WARP, Max Scherzer is a stats nerd like me. He thus gets bumped ahead of David Lee Roth, Det. Jimmy McNulty and Q*bert on my list of people I'd like to be friends with.
08/04/2009
23
22
Now that Brandon Webb has accepted the inevitable and undergone shoulder surgery, many pundits are asking whether the D'Backs should pick up his $8.5 million option for next season. Let me field that one: No. No, they shouldn't. Webb is 30 and coming off a broken shoulder. In today's baseball economy, that makes him a $4 million-plus-incentives guy ... Mark Reynolds isn't just the only guy able to hit the ball out of CitiField with any consistency; he's the only one who does it with Kingman panache. Reynolds' blasts are dingers of heroic grandeur, and should be commemorated with a limited-edition coin set.
Preseason Power Rankings
Date
Ranking
Previous
02/16/2009
6
-
Their record will look better than it should, because they'll spend a good chunk of the season pounding on the nancies of the NL West. ... The young talent here remains borderline intimidating. Imagine if Chris Young (25 on opening day), Stephen Drew (25) and Justin Upton (21) all happen to take the expected leap forward at the same time. ... Fetchingly tousled free spirit Eric Byrnes provides gnarly-dude-isms and sporadic kamikaze dives into home plate for a mere $22 million through 2010. Gosh, every team needs one of those.
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