At first blush the Snakes look as though they should actually contend for this division this year, or at least matter. Their pitching if healthy should be downright filthy at least 2 out of every 5 days. Actually, the other three days look fairly bright too.
Manager: AJ Hinch has a psychology degree from Stanford so I’m going to assume he knows how to motivate and work with people.
Key Departures: Eric Byrnes departure wasn’t really much of a surprise and the truth is that Byrnes has probably seen better days. Losing Schlereth I think is bad for the club in the long run. Doug Davis is something of a sentimental loss.
Key Pick-ups: Ian Kennedy should be a strong pick up for this team as his stuff is good enough to allow him to shine.
Outfield: Justin Upton and Chris Young are the proverbial tease dates. All those tools, so little production. Young was so bad last year that he visited AAA. Upton only stole 20 bases and his OBP was only .366. He did have a good year from an OPS perspective, if that matters. The bottom line is that this outfield is full of potential and question marks. Grade: Offense C-; Defense B+
Infield: Will Stephen Drew overcome his injury from last year? Will Mark Reynolds defense improve? Will Connor Jackson be able to right the ship? Will he actually be able to hit something smaller than a beach ball? All in all this infield should be solid on the left side, while the right side will leave some questions to be answered. Grade: Offense C; Defense C+
Starting Pitchers: If Webb comes back healthy this will be a huge strength for this team. Haren logged 229 innings last year. Edwin Jackson should easily win 13-15 games if the offense scores any runs. If he does that, with Webb and Haren doing their thing this team could easily win enough games to be very competitive in this division. Ian Kennedy will probably be in place for the fourth starter and he could certainly win 12-13 games. Grade B
Bullpen: Chad Qualls is the closer and while he did a serviceable job last year before getting hurt, I wonder how he will do if the D-backs are actually competitive. Will he be able to handle the pressure? How they get to him, will also be an issue. Grade C- (there’s just too many questions)
Key To Winning in 2010: Last year looked like an audition for a new M.A.S.H show. If this team wants to win this year they need to stay healthy. They need their rotation to return to form and the outfield needs to improve.
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