The D'backs wasted no time in making some big noise this fall - partaking in the 3-team blockbuster that shuffled Curtis Granderson to NYY and a host of pitching talent to AZ. That talent includes SP's Edwin Jackson and Ian Kennedy. For starters, the D'backs play in the worst division in baseball from an offensive point of view. Combine that with the larger, pitcher friendly parks and the Wild Wild West becomes a crap-shoot for all four teams. The Snakes won their 2001 WS title on the backs of Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling and no disrespect to those two but this staff has a lot more depth.
Pitching - Brandon Webb is poised to come back in late April and he is the Ace that the team lacked last year. After winning 22 games in 2008, Webb threw one game in '09 and then was shut down for surgery. A healthy Webb throwing every 5th day is paramount to the team's overall success. Behind Webb is the equally deadly Dan Haren, who was acquired to be starter 1-b for a bag of balls from the "genius" Billy Beane. That trade was so awful the real Genius would have known better than to make it. Sure it netted two lefty starters for the A's but Brett Anderson and Dana Eveland are not much to squawk about. That said, Jackson slides over as the third or fourth starter at best - which is ideal considering he'll give you about 20-24 decent starts and another handful of crap. Kennedy is an anomaly, former 1st round pick that had a tumultuous run in the Bronx that included surgery to repair and aneurysm.
The 'pen is decent, with lefty Clay Zavada providing solid relief and the best mustache in MLB since Rollie Fingers. Don't believe me? Check it out! Chad Qualls is the "closer" but he's not the most reliable late inning guy around.
On the Offensive - Mark Reynolds is the thunder, Justin Upton is the thunder and the lightning. Reynolds can drop bombs with the best of them and he strikes out like a combo platter of (Rob) Deer served with sides of Reggie and Mickey. Today's baseball says this is ok but I have my reservations. Upton, however, was just rewarded for his contributions at the ripe old age of 22, with a $51.25MM deal over the next 6 years. He has all five tools and he uses them really well. Chris Young roams CF but his numbers have steadily declined since 2007 and I wouldn't be remiss to call this a do or die year for him. S. Drew is another player that needs to rebound to be more like the 2008 version and less like the 2009 edition.
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