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| Kevin Towers has a plan ... maybe. (US Presswire) |
All offseason, I have been wondering what Arizona Diamondbacks' general manager Kevin Towers is doing. In trading Justin Upton for a package led by the versatile and underrated Martin Prado -- yet overall underwhelming -- I'm still wondering.
In addition to dealing talented players like Upton, Chris Young and Trevor Bauer, the Diamondbacks have added low-upside players like Cliff Pennington, Heath Bell and Eric Chavez. I do like the Brandon McCarthy signing, but adding Cody Ross to take the place of Upton isn't good enough.
Remember, the Diamondbacks weren't terrible last season. They went 81-81. In 2011, the D-Backs won the NL West with a 94-68 record. Some injuries and underperformance contributed to the decline last season, but apparently that was enough for Towers to take drastic measures with his roster. It's just that his roster looks worse.
Here is how the D-Backs lined up for 2013 heading into the offseason:
C: Miguel Montero
1B: Paul Goldschmidt
2B: Aaron Hill
SS: John McDonald
3B: Chris Johnson
LF: Jason Kubel
CF: Chris Young
RF: Justin Upton
Starting rotation: Ian Kennedy, Trevor Cahill, Wade Miley, Trevor Bauer, Tyler Skaggs
Back end of bullpen: J.J. Putz, David Hernandez, Brad Ziegler
Here is how they look now:
C: Montero
1B: Goldschmidt
2B: Hill
SS: Cliff Pennington
3B: Martin Prado
LF: Kubel
CF: Gerardo Parra or Adam Eaton
RF: Cody Ross
Starting rotation: Kennedy, Brandon McCarthy, Cahill, Miley, Skaggs
Back end of bullpen: Putz, Hernandez, Heath Bell, Ziegler
Any upgrades are minor. As I alluded to above, I love Prado here. It's just that the talent that they gave up in Upton, Young and Bauer was significant. There's plenty more upside in Upton -- who is still only 25 and one year removed from an MVP-caliber season -- and especially Bauer.
The trade of Upton in particular at this point is what is most shocking. Anyone who makes trades in any walk of life, albeit the stock market or even fantasy baseball, knows you don't sell low with a highly-regarded commodity. Yet that's exactly what Towers has done. Upton's value was sky-high after 2011. During the 2012 season, club officials let it be known they had an issue with Upton's attitude. Throughout the offseason, the D-Backs seemed desperate to deal him. Even though he's a star, the Diamondbacks had handcuffed themselves. It's impossible to get back a great package under these circumstances.
Looking ahead, the present outfield defense with Ross and Kubel at the corners is going to be an embarrassment in terms of range. So when you see a few D-Backs pitchers with higher WHIPs (and probably ERAs) than you expected, maybe check out that batting average on balls in play (BABIP) and realize it's due to all those balls falling in the outfield. Please be astute enough to not simply wonder what is wrong with the pitchers.
Maybe it's character that is the driving force here for Towers. Is that the argument -- that Towers cleaned house and got rid of the attitude problems? Because the Rockies started going for "character" guys a few short years ago. How did that turn out? Didn't a group of guys who fancied themselves "idiots" break a made-up curse in Boston in 2004? Ever heard of the mid-1980s Mets? How about the Bronx Zoo Yankees?
The examples don't stop there. They are plentiful throughout the history of baseball. There obviously are many examples of bad clubhouses losing and good clubhouses winning, but the point is that having a "good clubhouse" and winning don't necessarily go hand in hand. The two are generally unrelated and more tied to how talented the roster itself is. And Towers has made his roster less talented this offseason.
If Arizona's makeover was in hopes of putting the best possible team on the field, they appear to be massively failing. If it was to clean up a toxic clubhouse, they may have succeeded. So that's a plus, but the win-loss record appears headed for fourth place (behind the Giants, Dodgers and Padres in some order) at best in the West.
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