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Dan Haren for Joe Saunders and minor league pitchers Right-hander Rafael Rodriguez and left-hander Patrick Corbin and a player to be named later. This is a big salary dump at best. Sure Saunders can be put into the rotation immediately but he has been mediocre at best the last two seasons. This is all about saving money in the short term. From sportingnews.com

Haren was one of the top available pitchers ahead of the July 31 nonwaiver deadline. L.A. was not considered one of the favorites to land him — the Yankees and the Phillies were — but it met one of Arizona’s reported conditions by providing a major league starter in return. Haren is signed through 2012, at $12.75 million per year, and his contract also includes a $15.5 million club option for 2013 ($3.5 million buyout). He is making $8.25 million this year. The Southern California native had said he’d prefer to remain on the West Coast if the D-backs were to trade him.

The success of this trade depends on “the player to be named later”. I hope the Arizona Diamondbacks get something worthwhile in return. From azcentral.com

According to a source, the Diamondbacks will select the player to be named from a list of prospects. One possibility could be left-hander Tyler Skaggs, a pitcher the Diamondbacks considered taking with a supplemental first round pick last season.

Oh boy, another loss, that makes 60 for the season. Man what a horrible season. At least Kelly Johnson gave us a good show by hitting for the cycle for the fourth time. From dbacks.com

But why was loss No. 60, of the 7-4 variety to the Giants, so disheartening? The mistakes marred a few good men and their stories: Major League Baseball’s statistically bad bullpen had thrown 10 scoreless innings entering the game, and during it, Kelly Johnson recorded the franchise’s fourth all-time cycle as he and his lineup mates powered the D-backs’ return from a two-run deficit in the sixth.

So this season is gone. What trades are going to be next? How much different will this team look at the end of the season. Even Dan Haren the hitting phenom is on the trading block. From azcentral.com

As the likelihood of a trade of pitcher Dan Haren seems to increase by the hour, the Diamondbacks’ vision heading into the future also appears to be coming into clearer focus. Rather than taking a package of minor-league prospects and starting a full-blown rebuilding effort, the Diamondbacks seem intent on acquiring major-league-ready pitching in return for Haren, pitchers they immediately can plug into their rotation and/or bullpen.

The series against the Yankees mirrored the Dbacks season. A great win followed by tough losses exemplified by our horrible bullpen. Monday was a great 10-4 win. It showcased the best this team has to offer. It was like 2001 all over again. A sellout crowd watched solid pitching by Rodrigo Lopez and outstanding hitting by the likes of Justin Upton. And that was it. The next two games it was the same old story. Dan Haren watched the bullpen allow 8 runs in the 8th inning and Dbacks fell 9-3 on Tuesday. In Wednesday’s 6-5 loss we put up a decent fight going 10 innings but the outcome was a familiar one. How about that attendance! Hate the Yankees if you want but they do draw the fans. From phoenix.bizjournals.com:

The Arizona Diamondbacks are getting a boost from this week’s home series against the New York Yankees. Monday night’s game drew 47,229 fans to Chase Field and Tuesday’s game another 45,776 as Yankees fans came out in force. The D-backs and Yankees end their three-game set Wednesday evening in downtown Phoenix.

Speaking of 2001 and the glory days the Arizona Diamondbacks are going to retire the number (20) of Luis Gonzalez. He’s the first Dbacks to have his number retired and will always be remembered for his game winning hit in game seven of the 2001 World Series. From azcentral.com:

For a franchise moving in reverse, the Diamondbacks are taking an important step forward. They are opening their doors to immortality. They will officially retire Luis Gonzalez’s No. 20 on Aug. 7, reversing team policy that required players to first make the Hall Of Fame. “It’s fitting that he’s first,” Diamondbacks President and CEO Derrick Hall said. “He’s the most popular player in the history of our franchise.” “It’s very humbling to be chosen as the first guy,” Gonzalez said. “This organization and the fans in Arizona have meant so much to me that it’s kind of overwhelming to have this honor.”

So should Luis Gonzalez make the Hall Of Fame? Tony Perez got in with a career .279 average and 380 home runs. Gonzales averaged .283 and had 354 home runs over 19 seasons. I think Perez got in because of his time with the “Big Red Machine” of the 1970’s. I don’t know if the Diamondbacks one World Series win will be enough “street rep” to get Gonzales into the Hall. But who knows.

Friday the Dbacks opened the series with the usual bullpen FAIL. Rodrigo Lopez pitched a great 7 innings against the Cardinals only to see the bullpen lose the game 5-2. Saturday featured a much better ending with a 7-2 win and the return to form for Dan Haren. From azcentral.com:

Haren (7-4) pitched eight innings, allowing six hits and two runs. He struck out nine and walked none, the fifth time he hasn’t walked a batter in a game this season. Haren reached a three-ball count only once against the Cardinals and improved to 4-0 against St. Louis, for which he once pitched.

The Diamondbacks capped of the weekend with a blast! A ninth inning walk-off home run by Chris Young giving them a 7-5 victory! From arizona.diamondbacks.mlb.com :

Arizona’s center fielder made up for his club’s 12th blown save of the season on Sunday afternoon by lifting a bottom-of-the-ninth Kyle McClellan fastball just beyond the left-center-field fence. The club’s first walk-off home run since Chad Tracy accomplished the feat in June 2008 cemented a 7-5 comeback win over the visiting St. Louis Cardinals. “I knew it had a chance,” Young said of his third career walk-off blast; the other two came in 2007. “I was yelling at it, hoping it would get up, and luckily it did.”

So everybody had a pretty good weekend, Team USA , the Dbacks, Valley residents in general (weather has been off the hook). Lets hope this trend continues through the week.

Let see, that was a long weekend for the Dbacks. Got swept by the Giants and lost first two to the Dodgers. Its bad. The bullpen shit the bed again Tuesday. After Dan Haren, who has been having problems of his own, pitched a solid eight innings, the Dbacks bullpen did what they do best. Completely blow it. From arizona.diamondbacks.mlb.com:

Dan Haren looked like the ace he’s been the past two years as he held the Dodgers scoreless for eight innings before finally giving way to the bullpen. Aaron Heilman managed to get out of the ninth unscathed, but the same could not be said for Gutierrez in the 10th. The right-hander, whose ERA stands at 10.31, retired the first batter he faced before grooving a 2-2 fastball that Matt Kemp deposited in the left-field bleachers. Game over.

The pitching is abysmal. Got to be the worst in the Majors. I don’t know whats worse this oil spill in the gulf or this pitching staff? OK, That was maybe going to far, dead sea turtles and pelicans are horrible images but have you been able to sit through a Dbacks game and not thrown your remote to the ground in disgust? From azcentral.com:

Entering Saturday, Diamondbacks pitching had allowed 83 home runs in 49 games, putting them on pace to give up 274 long balls this season, a total that would shatter the major-league record of 241 set by the Detroit Tigers in 1996. “We’re on a horrible pace, and we’re blowing the rest of the league out of the water,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “Pitch execution, changing eye levels, making hitters a little more uncomfortable, I think it all needs to improve in order for us to keep the ball in the ballpark.” “This isn’t a staff that I would have expected to give up as many home runs as we have,” Hinch said. “It’s a reality. The numbers don’t lie. It’s definitely something we’re concerned about and have been talking about quite a bit.”

Yeah this season is gone. Already talking about dealing players away to save money. Feel like these players have been under performing all season. If we are going to make changes we need to start with the skipper.

Not a good day at the office for the Diamondback’s Dan Haren. Haren was our ace, the guy that rights the ship and gets a W. Not lately, not against the Rockies Thursday. Haren got the Loss and the Dbacks got swept. From arizona.diamondbacks.mlb.com:

D-backs manager A.J. Hinch didn’t want to pin the entire blame on Haren, but his continued struggles no doubt must concern the team. Haren, who gave up eight runs in 6 1/3 innings, is now 5-4 with a 5.35 ERA and has allowed 16 home runs already this season, including four in each of his last two starts. He gave up 27 all of last year and just 19 in 2008. “I’m struggling, obviously pretty bad,” Haren said. “Obviously I’ve had a lot of trouble keeping the ball in the yard. It’s obviously frustrating. It’s tough to deal with. I’ve never dealt with anything like this in my career. Hopefully I’ll come out of all this a better pitcher.”

This has been a tough year for Dan Haren performance wise. He has been very inconsistent, maybe he can pull it together for the second half of the season. From azcentral.com:

Though he was articulate as usual, Haren seemed somewhat subdued when speaking with reporters. “Obviously, I’ve had a lot of trouble keeping balls in the yard,” he said. “It’s obviously frustrating it’s tough to deal with. I’ve never dealt with anything like this in my career. Hopefully I come out of all this a better pitcher.”

This is going to be a fun Memorial Day weekend, lots of drinking, lots of pool time. Everybody be safe out there!

I can gloat if I want! Its been a shaky season to say the least. I am beginning to like this “winning” its fun. After smacking Tim Lincecum around and beating the Giants 8-7 Thursday the Dbacks set their sights on the Blue Jays. This Diamondbacks team has got some fight in it. The pitching has been consistent and the offense is really swinging the bats well. From azcentral.com:

“They had to overcome six home runs from the Blue Jays, the most homer-happy team in the majors. The saving grace for the Diamondbacks? All six were solo shots. “If I gave up a couple of three-run home runs, it wouldn’t have been pretty,” said Haren, who matched his career high with four homers allowed. “Every guy can hit it out, and it looks like they have one thing in mind – to let loose and try to hit homers. I’ve never seen anything like it, really.” “They say solo home runs can’t beat you,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “We tested that one (Friday night).”

The hitting has been outstanding, our pitcher (Dan Haren) is hitting .414!!! Adam LaRoche has had 8 hits in his last four games. And the Pitching is improving, especially when it comes to giving up walks. From azsnakepit.com:

“However, the key, once again, was no walks issued tonight by Diamondbacks pitchers. I don’t think it’s coincidence that, over the winning streak, we have handed out only seven free passes in 36 innings, while Arizona has fanned 36 opposing batters over the same time-frame. It’s the first time since August 2008, we’ve had back-to-back games with zero walks. Of course, it probably helps that Toronto are such free-swingers: I think they swung a couple of times in this series when our pitcher was just trying to get a new ball from the umpire. They now have 74 homers: only the Red So (59) have even got ore than fifty in the AL.”

That felt good. Really needed that win to begin this 5 game home stand. This was a solid game for everybody, the pitching and hitting came together for a pounding. Ian Kennedy is becoming our ace, he pitched 8 innings with a season high 9 strikeouts. And the 6 homers ties a franchise record! From azcentral.com:

“Ask manager A.J. Hinch what he liked best as the Diamondbacks began a five-game homestand, and he found something different. “Just the win. A win at home. It’s been awhile for that,” Hinch said, noting his team lost all six games in its previous stand at Chase Field. “But this was a pretty good all-around game for us. That was some explosive offense and a really, really good pitching performance out of Kennedy. That’s about as much as we can ask out of him and our team. That was pretty flawless baseball and a long time coming.”

What has happend to Dan Haren.? Haren’s hitting has been amazing, but he has struggled on the mound with 4.85 ERA. You know usually Haren starts out strong but finishes the season weak. So maybe he’ll reverse that trend this season? From azsnakepit.com:

“Still, Haren isn’t going anywhere, and he strikes me as the kind of pitcher who has got the smarts to figure out what’s wrong, and either correct it, or make adjustments so it doesn’t matter as much. He seems to have been doing so already, and while that does seem to remain a work in progress, I tend to think he will figure it out. Maybe – just maybe – this will be the season where Haren finally improves in the second-half of the year!”

Dan Haren is like our best player right? He does it all. Hits, Pitches, and pitches the distance. Thursday Haren pitched a complete game, this guy has got his stuff going. From diamondbacks.mlb.com:

“The right-hander went the distance in Arizona’s 6-3 win over Houston at Minute Maid Park, striking out nine. Haren struck out the side in the first inning and kept it coming. Through three innings, Haren had struck out seven of the 10 batters he had faced. He was effective with his cutters and split-finger fastballs. “Same thing I always do,” said Haren. “I just had better stuff tonight. I knew early I had good stuff. I had all those strikeouts early.”

Dan Haren had some help, Tony Abreu provided some great hitting and impressive fielding. From azcentral.com:

“A.J. Hinch couldn’t make up his mind on shortstop Tony Abreu’s performance. “I don’t know whether to commend him more for his defense or his offense,” Hinch said. Filling in for Stephen Drew with Houston left-hander Wandy Rodriguez on the mound, Abreu established a career high with four hits and made several tough defensive plays look relatively easy.”

Folks, what the fuck has happened to Eric Byrnes? He is like the “The Dude” of Major League Baseball, or should I say softball. I can relate, sometimes your over it. Don’t want to deal with the BS anymore. Or maybe its that your constantly, high, drunk, what ever it takes to get through life. I think there is a little bit of Eric in all of us.

It was a tough week in the windy city for the Dbacks. They lost 3 in a row against the Cubs after winning the opening game. So much for that series. From arizona.diamondbacks.com:

“The D-backs have now dropped three straight after winning their two prior series, as well as the first game of the set with the Cubs. They continue their 11-game road trip Monday in Houston. “Today was just a day we got flat out beat,” D-backs center fielder Chris Young said. “Houston’s not going to take it easy on us so we’ve got to go in there ready.”

How does the this 2010 Diamondbacks bullpen measure up in terms of ineptitude to bullpens of the past? Is it the worst ever? Not yet. From azsnakepit.com:

“Any bullpen can have a bad day week month. It has not been a good April for the Diamondbacks bullpen. That’s a bit like describing Napoleon’s march on Moscow as “a somewhat poorly thought-out idea.” However, to save any suspense you may be experiencing with regard to the above question, the answer is “No.” Well, at least, “not yet.” Bad though this opening period of the campaign has been, it took five runs in two innings on the last day, before it cracked the top-five monthly ERAs in Diamondbacks bullpen history. Hell, they’ve done a lot worse and we still made the post-season.”

Hey did you know our best pitcher is also one of our best hitters? Crazy man. Dan Haren is hitting .500, he’s 9-18! So are we going to use this guy as a pinch-hitter in more situations? From azcentral.com:

“If the opportunity presents itself, I don’t have a problem using him, but I’ll probably get him off the bases if I can,” Hinch said, referencing Haren’s less-than-graceful slide into second Saturday. “There’s always a risk just because he’s still not as comfortable at the plate or on the bases as a position player,” Hinch said. “Like the ball got away from Edwin Jackson and it hits (St. Louis pitcher) Chris Carpenter. It’s 50-50 that it could have hit him in the wrist and broke it. But there’s risk every day you step on the field.”

Dan Haren was in top form, striking out 10 batters, the most strikeouts he has had this season. The Arizona Diamondbacks got a 5-3 win despite a 9th inning rally by the Rockies. From azcentral.com:

“Carlos Gonzalez homered and drove in both runs for the Rockies, who nearly rallied in the ninth off closer Chad Qualls. With two outs Ian Stewart drove in Todd Helton from second, but Qualls struck out pinch-hitter Jason Giambi with two on for his fifth save in seven chances.”

Nice to see Haren come out and dominate like that after allowing 7 runs in his last start against the St Louis Cardinals. From sportingnews.com:

“Haren (3-1) gave up five hits and walked two in eight innings and was in control all night. He retired 15 of 16 batters in one stretch. After Stewart’s one-out single in the second he didn’t allow a hit until Eric Young Jr. drove a pinch-hit double into right field with one out in the eighth.”

Weird game. It was a win and that is all that matters. Normally Dan Haren has a great start and ends up with a loss because of the bullpen. In this game Haren got off to a lousy start but made up for it with some great hitting. From azcentral.com;

“On a night he set a career high at the plate with four hits, Haren also reached new lows on the mound – he gave up seven runs, the most he had allowed in his Diamondbacks career – but still managed to pitch six innings and pick up the victory in a 9-7 win over the St. Louis Cardinals at Chase Field. To go back out there for the fifth and sixth innings? Not easy, Haren said, giving a glimpse a pitcher’s psyche. “Anytime a pitcher gives up seven runs in four innings, obviously my confidence was not high; it was low,” he said. “To go out against that lineup, I’d be lying if I told you it didn’t creep in my head, ‘Am I going to give up 12 runs?’ But I did what I could.”

Man did we need that. It was starting to get ugly before summer has even started. From diamondbacks.mlb.com;

“Boy, did they ever need a win. The D-backs were coming off a 1-5 road trip and had dropped the first game of the series to the Cardinals on Monday, their fifth loss in a row. The National League champion Phillies follow the Cards to town this weekend and before the D-backs go on an 11-game road trip. Suddenly, it seemed, the season was on the verge of unraveling just two weeks in.”

Over cast today and that sucks. i was looking forward to a sunny Friday, all well. Can’t always get what we want. The Dbacks probably want last nights game back. it was a 6-5 loss to the Dodgers. Dan Haren had the start and had a good outing. From azsnakepit.com;

“I was surprised to see Haren, at 111 pitches, hit for himself in the top of the seventh. He allowed a leadoff single in the bottom-half, then got a shallow fly-out to center, and was pulled after 121 pitches, the most he has thrown in a game since matching that number on August 16, 2007 when with Oakland. Haren went 6.1 innings, allowing six hits and two walks (one intentional), while striking out seven LA batters. However, it was probably one batter too long: I can see why Hinch wanted to save the bullpen, but Aaron Heilman promptly blew the lead, with a two-run homer to Matt Kemp, tying the score at three. If a tiring Haren hadn’t allowed that lead-off hit, we might still have had the lead.”

We got the Padres again tonight. Didn’t we just play these guys last week? The Diamondbacks do get to spend the weekend in San Diego so thats not so bad. You know who doesn’t have it so bad? The Dbacks owner Ken Kendrick. Not only does he own the Dbacks but he also owns a $2.8 million dollar Honus Wagner baseball card. Nice. I bet he doesn’t keep it in an old shoe box at his moms house either. from azcentral.com;

“There are 50 to 60 Honus Wagner cards in existence, but the one Diamondbacks owner Ken Kendrick is loaning to the Baseball Hall of Fame is the rarest because of its quality. The American Tobacco Co. originally created the card in 1909, and it gained notoriety in 1991 when hockey legend Wayne Gretzky purchased the card with Bruce McNall, the former Los Angeles Kings owner, for $451,000. Among its monikers, the card became known as the “Gretzky” Wagner, and during the past two decades it received publicity when Walmart raffled it to a lucky winner and illusionist David Copperfield, during a televised magic show, appeared to tear up the card as part of an act.”

I totally forget about this game. With the last Suns game on one channel and the first game of the Coyotes playoffs on the other, the Arizona Diamondbacks game got put on the back burner (at least in my house). It was a long one. Went 11 innings and I heard didn’t get over until close to midnight. It was a game last years Dbacks might have lost. This time the they got the win after losing the lead twice. From diamondbacks.mlb.com;

“That was quite a game and a big boost for us to be able to win that,” D-backs manager A.J. Hinch said. “For us to be able to battle back, it’s a big win for us. They made us work really, really hard as a pitching staff and they put pressure on our defense and we answered the bell. That’s a good sign for us.” The game, which featured five lead changes, took 11 innings, 4 hours and 57 minutes, and the two teams combined to use 16 pitchers and 41 players overall.”

The 9-7 Dbacks win was grind it out baseball. The Dbacks take to field today and have a chance win the series against the Dodgers and set a precedent. From azsnakepit.com;

“At some point later today, Dan Haren will take the mound for the series finale, as we try to win three straight series to start the season. You know, assuming someone can wake Vin Scully from his nap and convince the players from both squads that this won’t ever happen again.”

You know who is good on their knees?? Not her? No, no not her either. Mark Reynolds. Yep, he is amazing on his knees. Its called talent people. From Nick Piecoro at the Arizona Republic;

“Diamondbacks third baseman Mark Reynolds made three impressive stops in the field, all of which were turned into outs via throws from his knees. He got Blake DeWitt on a diving stop in the second inning then retired Russell Martin to end the fifth with a throw that first baseman Adam LaRoche reeled in on one hop. But his best play might have been in the eighth, when he had to make a spinning play on a sharply hit ball by Matt Kemp.”

Yes, thats the way to start the season off!! It was a 6-3 win against the Padres in front of a sellout crowd at Chase Field. diamondbacks.com;

“For Dan Haren, there were plenty of butterflies in his stomach heading into his Opening Day start. Haren watched the Opening Day festivities pregame along with the Chase Field sellout crowd, but it didn’t take long for it to become business as usual. In the end, though, it was the Padres who wound up feeling sick on Monday, as Haren held San Diego to just three hits over seven innings in a 6-3 Arizona win.”

I am impressed with this team. The win was a showcase of solid pitching and solid hitting including an inside the park home run by Stephen Drew. From azsnakepit.com;

“Finally, rookie left fielder Kyle Blanks tracked down the ball, but by the time he relayed it in to David Eckstein, Drew had crossed home plate with an inside-the-park home run. Stephen becomes the 6th player in Diamondbacks history to have an inside-the-park-er, and only the second to do it at Chase Field. (Luis Gonzalez, who was at the game a mere few rows in front of DBacksSkins and katers, was the other.)”

The Dbacks will be back at it at 6:40 tonight.