Arizona Diamondbacks: 1998 Expansion!

[phillies999]

Mid-Season Review

Overall Record: 37-53
Runs Scored: 344
Runs Allowed: 441
Team Batting: .243
Team Pitching: 4.48

Part 1 Of July

So far this July, it's been pretty pitiful. We lost Jeff Reboulet for the rest of the season, because of a ankle ligament. Then we lost Scott Livingstone, who's been hitting better, to a sprained thumb, but that's only for a couple weeks. What's worse you ask? We were the victims of a no-hitter. On July 10th, we lost to the Mets 3-1. We only got a run because they made a error, but Al Lieter pitched great, allowing just walk. Finally, our record is 3 wins and 9 losses. But there is one highlight. Tim Raines set yet another milestone, on July 6th, he picked up his 2,500th base hit.



So far this year, David Segui has been our team player. He's quietly been hitting at .300, leading the team with 11 homeruns and a .371 OBP. He's been one of our better picks in the draft, and we have locked with the team until the 2001 season. I think the only problem I find with him is that he has been a little streaky this season, and when he doesn't do well, our team can't pick up the slack.

NL West Standings

1. San Diego Padres (49-38)
2. San Fransisco Giants (45-43)
3. Los Angeles Dodgers (44-44)
4. Colorado Rockies (38-50)
5. Arizona Diamondbacks (37-53)

Current Stats

Catchers

1998 Batting             Team    G   AVG    AB    H  2B  3B  HR   BB    K   SB  CS    R  RBI   SLG   OBP
Reed, Jeff                ARI   54  .223   197   44   4   0   4   16   46    1   0   19   19  .305  .282
Fabregas, Jorge           ARI   44  .250   128   32   2   0   2    8   12    1   0   14   12  .313  .294
Decker, Steve             ARI    4  .200    15    3   0   0   0    1    2    0   0    0    1  .200  .250

Fabregas has performed respectfully in replacement for Reed, but not enough to be a starter. Our lineup needs some more hitters, and it can surely start here. However, Fabregas has a cannon for a arm gunning down nearly 50% of baserunners! With Fabregas in his contract year, he could be trading bait, but its not very likely because Decker can't hit, and Rod Barajas is still in Single A.

Infielders

1998 Batting             Team    G   AVG    AB    H  2B  3B  HR   BB    K   SB  CS    R  RBI   SLG   OBP
Segui, David              ARI   88  .300   307   92  19   0  11   34   50    1   1   34   54  .469  .371
Weiss, Walt               ARI   80  .213   277   59  11   1   0   34   41    6   2   28   18  .260  .306
Livingstone, Scott        ARI   73  .257   253   65   9   0   5   17   38    1   0   23   28  .352  .304
Sojo, Luis                ARI   69  .295   241   71  12   3   1   10   15    2   2   28   14  .382  .327
Hansen, Dave              ARI   47  .247    93   23   8   0   0    8   15    0   0   11    6  .333  .314
Ripken, Billy             ARI   28  .209    86   18   1   0   0    1   18    0   0    6    2  .221  .225
Reboulet, Jeff            ARI   27  .154    52    8   1   0   0    4   15    1   0    7    4  .173  .214
Halter, Shane             ARI   31  .143    42    6   2   0   1    6   15    0   0    5    6  .262  .245

Segui has been great this season, he's not going anywhere. At second base, Sojo has really surprised me this season. But he's in his contract year, and he's probably going to want a increase. His health is still very low, and with other players around him being hurt, it would be risky to invest in him next year. At shortstop, Walt Weiss has outright sucked this season. Nobody wants him, and I'm stuck with him for the next season. Thank goodness he's a patient hitter. Scott Livingstone hasn't been brilliant this year, but not as bad as Weiss, but I wouldn't want to start him next year. We'll see what happens. Dave Hansen has been pretty dissapointing so far, hitting just .167 for the D'Backs. As for everyone else, they're backups, I'll look to trade them.

Outfielders

1998 Batting             Team    G   AVG    AB    H  2B  3B  HR   BB    K   SB  CS    R  RBI   SLG   OBP
Eisenreich, Jim           ARI   87  .279   298   83  15   1   5   27   31    2   1   38   36  .386  .338
Palmeiro, Orlando         ARI   79  .247   239   59   9   2   1   31   23    3   5   31   29  .314  .335
Raines, Tim               ARI   62  .272   239   65  13   3   3   25   25   12   3   43   20  .389  .343
Incaviglia, Pete          ARI   64  .209   191   40  11   0   9   22   65    1   0   22   37  .408  .300
Brumfield, Jacob          ARI   44  .282   117   33   7   2   1   12   23    9   0   21   10  .402  .354
Henderson, Rickey         ARI   57  .204   113   23   3   1   2   22   19   11   1   14   15  .301  .331

Eisenrich has been our starting rightfielder, and played first base when Segui needed a day off. He's been hitting pretty well, and I don't plan on sending him anywhere. Palmerio hasn't been the player I imagined, and as this is his arb year, he could be trading bait. Tim Raines leads the team in steals, and has another good year left in him. Incaviglia has struggled this season, but had some big hits. Brumfield is a great guy to have on the bench, making contact with the ball, and stealing bases. Henderson looks like his career is just about finished, but we have him for another year. He's good off the bench thanks to his OBP.

Rotation

1998 Pitching            Team     IP   ERA    G  GS   W   L  SV    K   BB   R/9
Wells, David              ARI  112.1  3.77   16  16   5   7   0   83   25 10.09
Hershiser, Orel           ARI  112.0  3.86   18  18   5   8   0   76   28 11.65
Nagy, Charles             ARI  104.2  5.42   18  18   4  10   0   61   30 14.10
Rijo, Jose                ARI  104.1  5.18   18  18   5   7   0   74   48 13.89
Hernandez, Livan          ARI  113.2  4.51   18  18   6   9   0   86   47 12.91

David Wells has pitched pretty well, not like a ace, but good enough for our team. Hershiser has had times where he's been hit hard, but he fought his way to hold his spot. Charles Nagy has been absoultely terribly. Teams are offering deals for him, we're just waiting for a good offer. Jose Rijo hasn't been too good either, and we're looking to send him packing. Livan Hernandez is pretty good, but he'll make a bad pitch or too and it screws up his composure.

Bullpen

1998 Pitching            Team     IP   ERA    G  GS   W   L  SV    K   BB   R/9
Walker, Jamie             ARI   15.0  3.00   13   0   1   0   0    7    6 10.20
Lidle, Cory               ARI   51.0  4.24   22   1   2   2   1   39   22 13.41
Dreifort, Darren          ARI   48.1  3.17   27   1   1   0   1   44   19 11.36
Heredia, Gil              ARI   46.0  4.30   32   0   2   1   1   24   16 14.28
Assenmacher, Paul         ARI    8.2  2.08    9   0   1   0   7    6    5 12.46
Castillo, Tony            ARI   27.2  7.16   29   0   2   2   1   14   15 14.96
Cormier, Rheal            ARI   38.2  5.82   29   0   2   4   0   15   15 16.06
Embree, Alan              ARI   32.1  3.62   36   0   1   3  13   25   25 17.26

The Jamie Walker signing has so far worked out, pitching 8 innings with a era just above 2 for the D'Backs. Cory Lidle and Darren Dreifort each got chances to start, and they're both doing well out of the 'pen. We have gotten some trade offers for both of them, and we've been thinking about it. Heredia has been for the most part, average, but works out of jams. Castillo and Cormier have been lousy, but Cormier is injured for the rest of the year, and considering this is his contract year, we may have seen the last of him. Castillo is also in his contract year. Assenmacher has been injured and will join the team in 3-5 weeks, and will likely be the situational pitcher. Alan Embree has done great as a closer, but since he gives up hits and walks guys, watching the end is a little scary. But he gets the job done, and hasn't blown a save yet.


Around The League:

Divison Leaders:

NL East: Atlanta Braves (57-31)
NL Central: St. Louis Cardinals (52-36)
NL West: San Diego Padres (49-38)
AL East: Baltimore Orioles (54-37)
AL Central: Cleveland Indians (47-41)
AL West: Seattle Mariners (54-34)

League Leaders

NL Batting: Pirates Jason Kendall (.352)
NL Homeruns: Cubs Sammy Sosa (30)
NL RBI: Cubs Sammy Sosa (84)
NL ERA: Padres Kevin Brown (2.07)

AL Batting: Mariners Alex Rodriguez (.359)
AL Homeruns: Angels Jim Edmonds (28)
AL RBI: Mariners Ken Griffey Jr. (77)
AL ERA: Mariners Jamie Moyer (2.82)

[phillies999]

Rodriguez puts on show in Colorado

Alex Rodriguez of the Texas Rangers won the 1998 homerun derby last night, belting 5 homeruns in the final round over Ken Griffey Jr of the Seattle Mariners with 4 homeruns. He finished near or at the top in each of the 3 rounds, ranking second behind Jason Giambi of the Oakland A's, hitting 10 homeruns in round 1. A-Rod tied with Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals, hitting 8 homeruns. In the second round, A-Rod and Ken Griffey were the leaders, each hitting 4 homeruns which led to the final round. "I had my power stroke tonight." says Rodriguez "I was just trying to make contact, and I knew good things would come out of it."

[phillies999]

American League belts 7 homeruns, powering them to a 12-4 victory

The American League will get home field advantage in the world series this year, as the AL all-stars belted 7 homeruns from 5 different players. Alex Rodriguez, winner of the homerun derby hit 2 homeruns. Albert Belle of the Orioles also belted 2 long balls. Other homeruns came from Mo Vaughn, Jim Edmonds, and Robin Ventura. The National League also slugged some homeruns, 2 coming from Chicago's Sammy Sosa, and another from Gary Sheffield. The victims of the outburst from the AL are starting pitchers Todd Stottlemyre, Curt Schilling, and John Smoltz. Some of the best closers, Billy Wagner, Antonio Osuna,and Ugueth Urbina. None of the relivers had era's above 2.

Arizona's own, David Segui, represented the D'Backs in the All star game. He did not make a apperance. It was his first time elected.

American League at  National League
July 14, 1998

                     1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 +  R  H  E
American League (AL) 0 3 2 0 1 0 1 5 0   12 17  1
National League (NL) 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1    4  7  0

                     ab  h bb  r hr bi  k sb     avg
J. Damon (CF)         5  4  0  1  0  0  0  0    .328
R. Alomar (2B)        5  1  0  1  0  0  2  0    .328
A. Belle (LF)         5  2  0  2  2  5  0  0    .329
A. Rodriguez (SS)     5  3  0  3  2  2  0  1    .359
M. Vaughn (1B)        4  2  1  1  1  1  1  1    .293
J. Edmonds (RF)       5  2  0  1  1  2  1  0    .297
I. Rodriguez (C)      5  1  0  1  0  0  4  0    .325
R. Ventura (3B)       4  1  1  2  1  2  1  0    .276
 M. Ramirez (P)       0  0  1  0  0  0  0  0    .336
 J. Giambi (P)        1  1  0  0  0  0  0  0    .338
 J. Posada (P)        1  0  0  0  0  0  0  0    .296
 P. Molitor (P)       1  0  0  0  0  0  0  0    .321
TOTALS               41 17  3 12  7 12  9  2

   2B:  J. Giambi, M. Vaughn
   HR:  R. Ventura, A. Rodriguez 2, A. Belle 2, J. Edmonds, M. Vaughn
   GIDP:  R. Alomar, A. Belle

                   ip  h bb hr  r er  k pit    ERA
      T. Worrell  1.0  1  0  1  1  1  1  15   3.09
      R. Johnson  3.0  4  1  1  2  2  6  55   3.83
        J. Moyer  1.0  1  0  0  0  0  1  23   2.82
      M. Mussina  2.0  0  0  0  0  0  0  28   3.59
         J. Putz  2.0  1  1  1  1  1  2  33   2.25
          TOTALS  9.0  7  2  3  4  4 10 154

                     ab  h bb  r hr bi  k sb     avg
B. Larkin (SS)        5  0  0  0  0  0  2  0    .326
G. Sheffield (RF)     4  1  0  1  1  1  1  0    .327
M. Piazza (C)         4  0  0  0  0  0  1  0    .318
B. Bonds (LF)         4  0  0  0  0  0  1  0    .341
J. Bagwell (3B)       3  1  1  1  0  0  2  0    .303
S. Sosa (CF)          4  3  0  2  2  3  0  0    .328
M. McGwire (1B)       3  0  1  0  0  0  1  0    .264
J. Kent (2B)          4  1  0  0  0  0  1  0    .312
 V. Guerrero (P)      1  0  0  0  0  0  0  0    .334
 B. Abreu (P)         1  0  0  0  0  0  0  0    .324
 J. Olerud (P)        1  1  0  0  0  0  0  0    .316
 T. Helton (P)        1  0  0  0  0  0  1  0    .315
TOTALS               35  7  2  4  3  4 10  0

   2B:  J. Bagwell
   HR:  S. Sosa 2, G. Sheffield

                   ip  h bb hr  r er  k pit    ERA
  T. Stottlemyre  2.0  5  1  2  3  3  1  41   2.74
    C. Schilling  2.0  4  0  2  2  2  3  44   3.33
       J. Smoltz  3.0  4  1  1  2  2  4  42   2.11
       B. Wagner  0.1  2  1  0  3  3  0  16   1.78
        A. Osuna  0.2  2  0  2  2  2  0  17   1.29
       U. Urbina  1.0  0  0  0  0  0  1   8   1.08
          TOTALS  9.0 17  3  7 12 12  9 168

     WP: R. Johnson
     LP: C. Schilling

     Temperature: 68F
     Wind: Calm
     Attendance: 52,392
     Time: 3:03

[phillies999]

Charles Nagy traded to Montreal

The Arizona Diamondbacks and the Montreal Expos agreed on a deal late last night. Charles Nagy and prospect Bret Prinz were sent to the Expos for propsect Brad Wilkerson. Nagy, the 9th overall pick in the expansion draft, went a dissapointing 4-10 with a 5.42 era in his Arizona tenure. Hitters were getting on OBA of .307 on him. Brad Wilkerson was drafted last year, 33rd overall by the Expos. This year in rookie-ball, he's hitting .264 with 4 homeruns and 20 rbi's. He is expected to be promoted to Single-A. This move cuts about 2 million off the D'Backs payroll.

"Charles Nagy wasn't just fit for our team." says Colangelo. "He was giving up too many hits, and put the game out of reach for our team." "As for Brad Wilkerson, we feel that he could perhaps be a september call-up next season, or even be promoted before then. Brad has some good speed, drives the ball far, and can field pretty well."

Darren Dreifort has been filled in the rotation to fill the missing starting spot. Dustin Hermanson has been promoted from Double-A to fill the missing bullpen piece. Hermanson was mostly a reliever but started 11 games. He went 5-8 with a 3.75 era. He has also pitched in the majors since 1995, having a career record of 12-9 with a 4.64 era in 205.2 innings.

[phillies999]

D'Backs cut more salary

The Diamondbacks traded away reliever Paul Assenmacher, in a surprise move along with prospect Tim Olsen, to the Florida Marlins. The D'Backs have recieved infielder Craig Counsell. Assenmacher was scheldued to come back in a couple of weeks, after suffering from a broken ankle. Assenmacher pitched 8 innings this year, going 1-0 with a 2.08 era, closing out 7 games. Assenmacher was making about 1 million this season, and is in the last year of his contract.

"Simply put, I don't think we'll need him." says Colangelo, "He's a good pitcher, but he's aging, and Alan Embree has done good as a closer. With the situation we're in right now, we need some hitting and defense, and we feel that Craig Counsell can provide this." "If Assenmacher is aviable in the Free Agency market come November, we'll try and sign him."

"I'm kind of shocked." says Assenmacher. "I was going through some re-hab down in the minors, and now I hear I was traded to the Marlins. I'm a little upset actually, I was looking to rejoin the D'Backs. I'm not saying I don't want to go to Miami. I like the Marlins as they are a competitive team, and are trying to compete for another world series."

Craig Counsell was playing the bench this season for the Fish, hitting just .152 with no homeruns and 5 rbi's. It is expected he will play the middle infield. In his career, he's hitting .263 with 1 homerun and 21 rbi's in 213 at bats.

[phillies999]

Brumfield sent to Baltimore

The Diamondbacks made another trade, sending 34 year old Jacob Brumfield to the Baltimore Orioles. Brumfield was a bench player but got to play as a defensive replacement, and even started a fair share of games. He hit .262 with 1 homerun and 10 rbi's in 149 at bats in a D'Backs uniform. He also stole 10 bases, getting caught just twice. This will be his 5th team in his career, previously playing with the Reds (92-94), the Pirates (95-96), and the Blue Jays (96-97).

In return, the D'Backs recieved 23 year old reliever Redhames Dykhoff, a native from Aruba. He is a lefty who pitched in Single A this season, going 1-1 with a 3.35 era, closing out 19 games out of 23 chances. He is expected to be promoted to the Double A level. Shane Halter has also been promoted from Triple A to fill the last bench spot. Halter was recently demoted after the arrival of Craig Counsell.

[phillies999]

July Review

Month Record: 7-19
Overall Record: 41-63
Runs Scored: 392
Runs Allowed: 520
Team Batting: .245
Team Pitching: 4.59

The Story Of July

Thank god this month is over. We suffered through a through a 12 game losing streak, starting on July 9th, and ending July 25th, after the all-star break. Some of the losses were really close, where we didn't score enough runs, or it was a blowout and the pitching sucked. We were wheelin' and dealin' this month, picking up 2 propsects and a young shortstop, Craig Counsell. So far, Counsell is hitting .227 in only 22 at-bats. One positive thing to note is David Segui, who was elected to the all-star game as a back-up. Now that the trading deadline has passed, there's not much to do now is play out the rest of the season and wait for the off-season.





Jorge Fabregas has done excellent as the new starting catcher since the injury to Jeff Reed. When we lost Jeff Reed, I didn't think Jorge would be able to handle the starting role, but, he proved me wrong! Jorge is hitting .277 with 2 homeruns and 17 rbi's. His OBP is a little low, at .329, but what really shines is his defense. Fabregas has made no errors this season yet in 57 games, and has gunned down 46% of baserunners.

Events Of July

7-8: David Wells pitches a shut-out over the San Fransisco Giants at home, and Jorge Fabregas powers the offense by hitting a 3-run homerun. This would prove to be the game-winner as the D'Backs win 3-0.

7-9: The D'Backs are shut-out the next day, losing to the New York Mets 4-0. Rick Reed pitches 8 1/3 innings giving up 5 hits, while John Franco pitches the remaining 2/3.

7-17: We come close to winning a game and nearly go into extra's. We lose to the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-3, as Kevin Young hits a game-winning double off Alan Embree. This is the 4th loss in a row.

7-25: Our long losing streak ends, as Jose Rigo pitches 8 strong innings over Milwaukee, giving up 2 hits and just 4 hits, striking out 6. A big 5th inning scores us 5 runs, as Scott Livingstone powered the offense with a 3-run homerun, his 6th of the year. Final Score, D'Backs 6, Brewers 2.

7-28: Playing against the Montreal Expos, we're down 4-2 in the bottom of the 9th. Close Scott Strickland comes in to pitch, as Luis Sojo leads off by grounding out. Jorge Fabregas beat out a infield single, and took second on defensive indifference. Scott Livingstone beats out a grounder, putting runners on the corners. Craig Counsell flies out to center, and Fabregas scores to make it 4-3. Jim Eisenrich pinch-hits for the pitcher and singles, and Tim Raines hits the game-tying single. Orlando Palmerio was walked intentionally, loading the bases for Pete Incaviglia. But he struck out.

In the next inning, Alan Embree came in to pitch and gave up a leadoff single to Jose Vidro. Orlando Cabrera sacrificed him to second. Hensley Meulens struck out, for the second out. Kirt Manwaring was intentionally walked, sending up Chris Widger to pinch-hit for the pitcher. Widger singled, bringing home the leading runner, making it 5-4. Terry Jones woud line out to end the inning.

Moving to the bottom of the 10th, we lead off the inning with walks from David Segui and Luis Sojo putting 2 runners on with no outs. Jorge Fabregas put down a sacrifice bunt, moving up the runners to second and third. Scott Livingstone was was intentionally walked, loading the bases for Craig Counsell. Counsell got the job done, hitting a single up the middle to tie the game. Walt Weiss pinch-hit for the pitcher, and struck out.

3 and a half innings later, we start the bottom of the fourteenth with a walk from Jacob Brumfield. Luis Sojo sacrificed him to second base. Next batter, Jorge Fabregas, hit a single to left field, scoring the winning run, and winning the crazy game! 19,490 fans were sent home happy!

Injuries

7-6: Scott Livingstone sprained his thumb for 2 weeks. Dave Hansen will start at third, and Billy Ripken is promoted from AAA.

Contracts

N/A

Milestones

N/A

NL West Standings

1. San Diego Padres (57-45)
2. Los Angeles Dodgers (53-50)
3. San Fransisco Giants (52-51)
4. Colorado Rockies (42-61)
5. Arizona Diamondbacks (41-63)

Minor League News

Team Batting Leader (AAA): Aaron Boone (.296)
Team Batting Leader (AA): Danny Klassen (.344)
Team Batting Leader (A): Gabe Kapler (.354)
Team Batting Leader (R): Jack Cust (.344)
Team Pitching Leader (AAA): N/A
Team Pitching Leader (AA): Mike Koplove (3.52)
Team Pitching Leader (A): Jaret Wright (3.38)
Team Pitching Leader (R): Mike Schultz (1.74)

Team Hitting:

1998 Batting             Team    G   AVG    AB    H  2B  3B  HR   BB    K   SB  CS    R  RBI   SLG   OBP
Castillo, Tony            ARI   33  .000     3    0   0   0   0    0    1    0   0    0    0  .000  .000
Cormier, Rheal            ARI   29  .000     3    0   0   0   0    0    0    0   0    0    0  .000  .000
Counsell, Craig           ARI   36  .176    68   12   1   0   0   12   11    1   1    6    9  .191  .305
Decker, Steve             ARI    6  .158    19    3   0   0   0    1    2    0   0    0    1  .158  .200
Dreifort, Darren          ARI   29  .333     6    2   0   0   1    0    2    0   0    1    1  .833  .333
Eisenreich, Jim           ARI  101  .275   353   97  18   1   6   28   36    2   1   44   42  .382  .326
Embree, Alan              ARI   40  .000     2    0   0   0   0    0    1    0   0    0    0  .000  .000
Fabregas, Jorge           ARI   57  .277   173   48   2   1   2   13   17    1   0   19   17  .335  .328
Halter, Shane             ARI   35  .143    49    7   3   0   1    6   17    0   0    5    6  .265  .246
Hansen, Dave              ARI   58  .246   118   29   8   0   0   11   20    0   0   12    6  .314  .315
Henderson, Rickey         ARI   65  .190   121   23   3   1   2   25   22   12   1   14   15  .281  .327
Hershiser, Orel           ARI   20  .088    34    3   0   0   0    2   13    0   0    3    4  .088  .135
Hernandez, Livan          ARI   18  .265    34    9   0   0   0    0    2    0   0    3    5  .265  .265
Heredia, Gil              ARI   39  .000     6    0   0   0   0    0    2    0   0    0    0  .000  .000
Incaviglia, Pete          ARI   71  .199   211   42  12   0  10   25   73    1   0   24   39  .398  .292
Lidle, Cory               ARI   29  .333    12    4   1   0   0    0    5    0   0    0    0  .417  .333
Livingstone, Scott        ARI   79  .263   274   72  10   1   6   20   40    1   0   28   32  .372  .315
Palmeiro, Orlando         ARI   88  .264   276   73   9   2   1   37   27    3   5   34   30  .322  .352
Raines, Tim               ARI   75  .260   288   75  13   5   4   29   32   14   3   50   26  .382  .334
Reboulet, Jeff            ARI   27  .154    52    8   1   0   0    4   15    1   0    7    4  .173  .214
Reed, Jeff                ARI   54  .223   197   44   4   0   4   16   46    1   0   19   19  .305  .282
Rijo, Jose                ARI   19  .152    33    5   0   0   0    2   11    0   0    2    3  .152  .200
Ripken, Billy             ARI   30  .207    92   19   1   0   0    2   20    0   0    6    3  .217  .229
Segui, David              ARI  102  .308   351  108  23   0  12   40   53    1   1   41   60  .476  .378
Sojo, Luis                ARI   82  .295   288   85  14   3   1   13   17    2   2   32   19  .375  .331
Walker, Jamie             ARI   18  .000     1    0   0   0   0    0    0    0   0    0    0  .000  .000
Weiss, Walt               ARI   90  .213   305   65  11   1   0   37   45    6   2   29   21  .256  .304
Wells, David              ARI   19  .075    40    3   0   0   0    1   13    0   0    0    1  .075  .098

Team Pitching:

1998 Pitching            Team     IP   ERA    G  GS   W   L  SV    K   BB   R/9
Castillo, Tony            ARI   36.2  5.40   33   0   2   2   1   19   17 12.76
Cormier, Rheal            ARI   38.2  5.82   29   0   2   4   0   15   15 16.06
Dreifort, Darren          ARI   60.1  4.03   30   4   1   2   1   53   22 12.38
Embree, Alan              ARI   35.2  4.54   40   0   1   4  14   26   27 18.67
Hershiser, Orel           ARI  129.2  3.96   21  21   5  10   0   89   30 11.45
Hernandez, Livan          ARI  124.0  4.72   20  20   7  10   0   90   51 12.99
Heredia, Gil              ARI   54.0  4.00   39   0   2   1   1   33   18 13.67
Hermanson, Dustin         ARI    7.1 13.50    5   0   1   1   0    8    3 19.64
Lidle, Cory               ARI   66.0  3.95   30   1   2   2   1   48   28 13.50
Rijo, Jose                ARI  124.0  4.94   21  21   7   8   0   89   59 13.43
Walker, Jamie             ARI   19.1  4.66   18   0   1   0   0    8    7 13.03
Wells, David              ARI  131.0  3.98   19  19   5   9   0   97   28 10.44

[phillies999]

Around The League:

Trades:

7-4: Anahiem trades pitcher Dusty Bergman (60/76) to the Devil Rays for pitcher Jimmy Key (79)

7-15: Arizona trades pitcher Chrales Nagy (78) and pitcher Bret Prinz (49/72) to the Expos for outfielder Brad Wilkerson (62/81)

7-16: Mariners trades third baseman Justin Leone (55/72) and rightfielder Rob Ryan (60/71) to the Tigers for outfielder Frank Catalanotto (74/76)

7-24: Arizona trades pitcher Paul Assenmacher (76) and third baseman Tim Olsen (58/75) to the Marlins for shortstop Craig Counsell (73/78)

7-26: Yankees trade pitcher Jorge DePaula to the Devil Rays for rightfielder Derek Bell (78)

7-27: Rockies trade pitcher Darryl Kile (85) to the White Sox for pitchers Rocky Biddle (63/81), Byran Ward (67/82), and Kevin Gryboski (65/80).

7-27: Expos trade outfielder Rondell White (84) to the Yankees for pitchers Jose Contreras (61/79), and Scott Proctor (63/78)

7-29: Mets trade pitcher Pedro Feliciano (69/81) to the Devil Rays for pitcher Andy Ashby (80)

7-30: Devil Rays trade outfielder Dante Bichette (79) to the Dodgers for catchers Adam Melhuse (60/70), Koyie Hill (59/73) and outfielder Luke Allen (61/73)

7-31: Arizona trades outfielder Jacob Brumfield (72) to the Orioles for pitcher Redhames Dykhoff (62/72)

7-31: Marlins trade pitchers Michael Tejera (63/80), and Ryan Dempster (71/84) to Colorado for pitcher John Thomson (82/86)

7-31: Yankees trade pitchers Randy Keisler (53/72), Sam Marsonek (52/72), and Adrian Hernandez (52/70) to the Tigers for pitcher Frank Castillo (77).

Milestones:

7-6: Tim Raines of the Diamondbacks hits his 2,500th base hit
7-8: Brandon Claussen of the Yankees pitches a no-hitter
7-10: Al Leiter of the Mets pitches a no-hitter
7-10 Randy Johnson of the Mariners strikes out 18 batters
7-18: Otis Nixon of the Twins steals his 600th base
7-22: Barry Bonds of the Giants hits his 400th homerun
7-29: Cal Ripken of the Orioles drives in his 1,500th rbi
7-29: Albert Belle of the White Sox hits his 300th homerun.
7-31: Mark Grudzielanek of the Rockies ends a 21 game hitting streak

Divison Leaders:

NL East: Atlanta Braves (69-34)
NL Central: St. Louis Cardinals (58-45)
NL West: San Diego Padres (57-45)
AL East: Baltimore Orioles (62-42)
AL Central: Kansas City Royals (57-48)
AL West: Seattle Mariners (63-40)

League Leaders

NL Batting: Pirates Jason Kendall (.343)
NL Homeruns: Cubs Sammy Sosa (35)
NL RBI: Cubs Sammy Sosa (96)
NL ERA: Padres Kevin Brown (2.07)

AL Batting: Mariners Alex Rodriguez (.359)
AL Homeruns: Angels Jim Edmonds (34)
AL RBI: Royals Jermaine Dye (94)
AL ERA: Mariners Jamie Moyer (2.77)

[phillies999]

Alan Embree to stay with Diamondbacks

The Diamondbacks have announced that Alan Embree has signed a contract that will keep him until 2002. Each year, he will be payed about $1,200,000 a year. Embree is 1-4 with a 4.85 era this season, closing out 16 games. The contract keeps him from going to arbitration this season. Hitters are eating away at him, as they have a OBA of .309. The manager, Buck Showalter, thinks differently about him.

"For the most part, Alan has done his job this season. His numbers don't mean much to us, the only reason they are high is because he has come in blow-out situations." "He is better when he's in a situation, and he's proved it this season." GM Coangelo declined to comment, but we got Alan Embree to speak about it.

"I'm happy about this deal." says Embree. "I never thought I would turn into a closer this season, and I'm happy that Colangelo and Buch Showalter have confidence in me for next year, and so on." "I love Arizona, I love the fans, and I feel that in a couple of years, we'll have a good team going for contention."

[phillies999]

D'Backs Keep Dreifort

The Diamondbacks have announced they have signed starting pitcher Darren Dreifort to a 4 year deal, at about $1.45 million per year. Darren started in relief and switched to a starter after the trade of Charles Nagy. Dreifort is 3-4 with a 3.45 era in 94 innings. Like Alan Embree, he was set for arbitration this season. Dreifort has kept hitters off balance, as they have a OBA of .236.

"Darren Dreifort is a young pitcher, and still has potential in him." says GM Colangelo. "He had injury problems in the past, and stayed healthy this season. When he's healthy, he has great stuff."

Dreifort has a career record of 9-15, with a 3.82 era in 210 innings. He has struck out 197, while walking 96.

[phillies999]

August Review

Month Record: 6-22
Overall Record: 47-85
Runs Scored: 471
Runs Allowed: 666
Team Batting: .242
Team Pitching: 4.68

The Story Of August

Injuries suck. It hurt us this month, and it hurt us hard. When you need to sign guys from free agency with little expirence or none at all, you know you're in deep trouble. We had regulars who got hurt, so minor leaguers got a shot this month, and they got hurt. So guys from F/A who were open had to be quick signed. Aside from the injuries, it was a extremely frustrating month, as we lost 9 games by only 2 runs or less. We're going to need more offense next season.

No key highlight player this month, but some intresting things happened this month:



That's right. The #1 pick by the Royals, at 17 years old, no-hit the Red Sox. Kind of ironic huh? Anyways, Dice-K is off to a amazing start, 3-0 with a 2.30 era. Hitters have a OBA of just .215. He should, with no doubt, win ROTY. But with BM and the way it favors hitters, we just won't know.



Remember Charles Nagy? Well after we traded him to the Expos, he got injured.... twice. Kind of ironic, since we got guys hurt, he went down too, and he was a former D-Back! Well now we know for sure that the trade we made was successful. Oh yea, he did manage to start 3 games for Montreal. He went 3-0 with a 2.42 era in 22 innings. Go figure.

Events Of August

8-2: Despite 8 strong innings from David Wells, giving up 2 runs, 1 earned, only 5 base-runners allowed, the D'Backs lose 2-1 to the Florida Marlins.

8-9: Darren Dreifort pitches 8 excellent innings, allowing 5 baserunners and striking out 7. The D'Backs chip in 2 runs and beat the best team in baseball, the Atlanta Braves, 2-0.

8-11: The D'Backs win in the bottom of the 11th, thanks to a pinch-hit single from Dave Hansen. Final Score, Marlins 3, D'Backs 4.

8-15: Darren Dreifort throws for 8 innings again, striking out 9 and giving up 4 hits and a walk. Our offense doesn't help though, as we lose 2-1 to the Padres.

8-27: Dreifort continues to amaze, pitching 8 innings over the Rockies, allowing 1 run and striking out 7. 2 rbi's from Jim Eisenrich is all we need, as the D'Backs win 2-1.

Injuries

8-8: Rickey Henderson will miss 2 weeks due to ankle stress fracture. Emil Brown is called up from Double-A to take his spot.

8-8: Gil Heredia will miss 2 weeks due to a pulled groin. New pitcher Ricardo Jordan (see contracts), fills his spot.

8-12: Dustin Hermanson will miss 5 weeks due to shoulder seperation. Mike Koplove is called up from Double-A.

8-20: Mike Koplove will miss 2 weeks due to severe elbow tendonitis. Gil Heredia comes off the DL to take his spot.

8-23: Steve Decker will miss the rest of the season due to a torn knee ligament. New catcher Chris Tremie (see contracts) takes his spot.

Contracts

8-9: Ricardo Jordan is signed for 1 year at $210,000
8-21: Alan Embree signs for 5 years at $1,210,000
8-25: Chris Tremie signs for 1 year at $210,000
8-28: Darren Dreifort signs for 4 years at $1,420,000

Milestones

N/A

NL West Standings

1. San Diego Padres (78-53)
2. Los Angeles Dodgers (72-59)
3. San Fransisco Giants (67-65)
4. Colorado Rockies (52-79)
5. Arizona Diamondbacks (47-85)

Minor League News

(season ended, see next post to come later)

Team Hitting:

1998 Batting             Team    G   AVG    AB    H  2B  3B  HR   BB    K   SB  CS    R  RBI   SLG   OBP
Brown, Emil               ARI    7  .050    20    1   0   0   0    2    3    0   0    0    1  .050  .136
Castillo, Tony            ARI   45  .000     6    0   0   0   0    0    1    0   0    0    0  .000  .000
Cormier, Rheal            ARI   29  .000     3    0   0   0   0    0    0    0   0    0    0  .000  .000
Counsell, Craig           ARI   61  .148   115   17   2   0   0   17   28    2   1    8   10  .165  .267
Decker, Steve             ARI   11  .200    30    6   1   0   0    3    3    0   0    1    2  .233  .273
Dreifort, Darren          ARI   34  .100    20    2   0   0   1    0    9    0   0    1    1  .250  .100
Eisenreich, Jim           ARI  128  .276   449  124  25   2   7   37   51    3   2   50   53  .388  .329
Embree, Alan              ARI   46  .000     2    0   0   0   0    0    1    0   0    0    0  .000  .000
Fabregas, Jorge           ARI   82  .256   262   67   7   1   6   15   30    1   0   26   27  .359  .296
Halter, Shane             ARI   39  .148    54    8   3   0   1    8   18    0   0    5    6  .259  .266
Hansen, Dave              ARI   83  .259   189   49  11   0   1   21   32    0   0   20   15  .333  .336
Henderson, Rickey         ARI   78  .213   155   33   3   1   3   29   26   13   1   19   18  .303  .335
Hershiser, Orel           ARI   26  .064    47    3   0   0   0    2   21    0   0    3    4  .064  .100
Hernandez, Livan          ARI   24  .293    41   12   1   0   0    0    3    0   0    3    5  .317  .293
Heredia, Gil              ARI   49  .143     7    1   0   0   0    0    2    0   0    0    0  .143  .143
Hermanson, Dustin         ARI   11  .000     0    0   0   0   0    1    0    0   0    0    0  .000 1.000
Incaviglia, Pete          ARI   88  .190   252   48  14   0  10   27   85    1   0   25   40  .365  .278
Jordan, Ricardo           ARI    8 1.000     1    1   0   0   0    0    0    0   0    0    0 1.000 1.000
Lidle, Cory               ARI   37  .263    19    5   1   0   0    0    8    0   0    1    0  .316  .263
Livingstone, Scott        ARI   96  .247   324   80  12   1   6   22   46    1   0   34   36  .346  .297
Palmeiro, Orlando         ARI  114  .260   362   94  13   2   2   49   45    3   6   39   37  .323  .352
Raines, Tim               ARI   91  .265   347   92  16   5   9   35   39   17   4   65   33  .418  .344
Reboulet, Jeff            ARI   27  .154    52    8   1   0   0    4   15    1   0    7    4  .173  .214
Reed, Jeff                ARI   54  .223   197   44   4   0   4   16   46    1   0   19   19  .305  .282
Rijo, Jose                ARI   23  .184    38    7   0   0   0    2   12    0   0    2    3  .184  .225
Ripken, Billy             ARI   34  .208   106   22   1   0   0    2   20    0   0    7    5  .217  .227
Segui, David              ARI  123  .307   414  127  27   0  15   54   69    3   1   48   69  .481  .386
Sojo, Luis                ARI  107  .276   377  104  16   4   1   18   24    4   3   40   22  .347  .315
Tremie, Chris             ARI    1  .250     4    1   0   0   0    0    0    0   0    0    0  .250  .250
Walker, Jamie             ARI   32  .000     1    0   0   0   0    0    0    0   0    0    0  .000  .000
Weiss, Walt               ARI  112  .232   375   87  13   1   0   47   55    8   3   35   27  .272  .326
Wells, David              ARI   25  .082    49    4   0   0   0    3   14    0   0    0    1  .082  .135

Team Pitching:

1998 Pitching            Team     IP   ERA    G  GS   W   L  SV    K   BB   R/9
Castillo, Tony            ARI   49.1  4.93   45   0   3   3   2   27   22 13.32
Cormier, Rheal            ARI   38.2  5.82   29   0   2   4   0   15   15 16.06
Dreifort, Darren          ARI   94.0  3.45   35   9   3   4   1   88   35 11.30
Embree, Alan              ARI   41.0  4.61   46   0   1   4  18   31   29 18.00
Hershiser, Orel           ARI  163.0  4.03   27  27   7  12   0  110   49 12.09
Hernandez, Livan          ARI  156.2  4.94   26  26   7  15   0  110   67 13.16
Heredia, Gil              ARI   69.0  3.52   49   0   3   1   1   42   23 12.52
Hermanson, Dustin         ARI   16.1  8.27   11   0   1   2   0   19    5 17.08
Jordan, Ricardo           ARI    8.1  8.64    8   0   0   0   0    6    8 20.52
Koplove, Mike             ARI    6.1  7.11    5   0   0   1   0    2    3 15.63
Lidle, Cory               ARI   87.2  4.21   38   2   2   4   1   61   36 13.55
Rijo, Jose                ARI  139.1  5.36   25  25   7  11   0  100   70 14.15
Walker, Jamie             ARI   32.0  6.19   32   0   1   0   0   17   11 14.06
Wells, David              ARI  163.0  4.31   25  25   5  14   0  120   33 10.66

[phillies999]

Around The League:

Trades:

N/A

Milestones:

8-2: Matt Williams of the Cleveland Indians hits his 300th homerun
8-3: Tony Fernandez of the Toronto Blue Jays hits his 2000th basehit
8-8: Harold Baines of the Baltimore Orioles knocks in his 1,500th rbi
8-11: Darryl Strawberry of the New York Yankees knocks in his 1,000th rbi
8-12: Julio Franco of the Milwaukee Brewers knocks in his 1,000th rbi
8-15: Moises Alou of the Houston Astros has a 21-game hitting streak
8-24: Chuck Knoblauch of the Atlanta Braves steals his 300th base
8-25: Andres Galarraga of the Atlanta Braves hits his 300th homerun
8-28: Dice-K of the of the Kansas City Royals pitches a no-hitter

Divison Leaders:

NL East: Atlanta Braves (84-48)
NL Central: Houston Astros (73-58)
NL West: San Diego Padres (78-53)
AL East: Baltimore Orioles (77-53)
AL Central: Kansas City Royals (78-55)
AL West: Seattle Mariners (79-52)

League Leaders

NL Batting: Pirates Jason Kendall (.346)
NL Homeruns: Cubs Sammy Sosa (43)
NL RBI: Cubs Sammy Sosa (123)
NL ERA: Braves John Smoltz (2.37)

AL Batting: Indians Manny Ramirez (.352)
AL Homeruns: Indians Jim Thome (39)
AL RBI: Royals Jermaine Dye (116)
AL ERA: Angels Ken Hill (2.78)

[phillies999]

September Stuff

As we go into the final month of the season, there is still some work that has to be done. Guys are going through arbitration, or could be released to free agency. During this final tier, we will negotiate and see who we are keeping.

September Call-up List

(3B) Aaron Boone (.305, 15 HR, 90 RBI) at AAA
(OF) Emil Brown (.304, 11 HR, 74 RBI) at AA, (.270, 0 HR, 6 RBI) at AAA
(IF) Shane Halter (.256, 2 HR, 19 RBI) at AAA
(3B) Danny Klassen (.348, 3 HR, 38 RBI) at A, (.321, 5 HR, 44 RBI) at AA
(OF) Gabe Kapler (.354, 6 HR, 66 RBI) at A, (.356, 3 HR, 19 RBI) at AA
(2B) Junior Spivey (.338, 16 HR, 94 RBI) at A
(C) Rod Barajas (.226, 4 HR, 55 RBI) at A
(1B) Lyle Overbay (.351, 13 HR, 49 RBI) at A

(RP) Vladimir Nunez (0-0, 4.02 ERA, 9 K) at A, (0-0, 2.65 ERA, 12 K) at AA
(SP) Geremi Gonzalez (3-4, 4.87 ERA, 43 K) at A, (1-2, 4.05 ERA, 17 K) at AA
(SP) Jeff D'Amico (4-1, 2.71 ERA, 41 K) at A, (4-4, 3.51 ERA, 55 K) at AA
(RP) Redhames Dykhoff (1-1, 3.35 ERA, 59 K) at A, (1-1, 2.84 ERA, 10 K) at AA
(SP) Jaret Wright (8-7, 3.38 ERA, 74 K) at A, (1-0, 3.60 ERA, 4 K) at AA
(RP) Greg Aquino (1-2, 6.20 ERA, 21 K) at R, (0-2, 3.29 ERA, 25 K) at A
(RP) Duaner Sanchez (2-1, 2.25 ERA, 29 K) at R, (0-0, 9.00 ERA, 2 K) at A

CONTRACT RENEWALS

Arbitrational Players

1998 Batting             Team    G   AVG    AB    H  2B  3B  HR   BB    K   SB  CS    R  RBI   SLG   OBP

Decker, Steve             ARI   11  .200    30    6   1   0   0    3    3    0   0    1    2  .233  .273
Fabregas, Jorge           ARI   82  .256   262   67   7   1   6   15   30    1   0   26   27  .359  .296
Palmeiro, Orlando         ARI  114  .260   362   94  13   2   2   49   45    3   6   39   37  .323  .352

Fabregas is a better option then Decker at catcher, but he has a terrible agent. He was asking for 4 years, which was a couple of weeks ago. Hopefully he changed his mind about that and asks something reasonable. Palmeiro has the best chance of being re-signed of the players on here, but I'm not sure what his agent wants.

Free-agency Contracts

1998 Batting             Team    G   AVG    AB    H  2B  3B  HR   BB    K   SB  CS    R  RBI   SLG   OBP

Hansen, Dave              ARI   83  .259   189   49  11   0   1   21   32    0   0   20   15  .333  .336
Incaviglia, Pete          ARI   88  .190   252   48  14   0  10   27   85    1   0   25   40  .365  .278
Livingstone, Scott        ARI   96  .247   324   80  12   1   6   22   46    1   0   34   36  .346  .297
Reboulet, Jeff            ARI   27  .154    52    8   1   0   0    4   15    1   0    7    4  .173  .214
Sojo, Luis                ARI  107  .276   377  104  16   4   1   18   24    4   3   40   22  .347  .315
Tremie, Chris             ARI    1  .250     4    1   0   0   0    0    0    0   0    0    0  .250  .250

Dave Hansen is a good asset off the bench, and has a chance to remain with us. Incaviglia showed some pop this year, but, he's made $700,000 this season, and unless he takes a big decrease, I don't think we'll need him. Livingstone had a tough season starting, but had some hits off the bench. I'm not sure about keeping him though, it kind of depends how he does this month. Reboulet got hurt this year, and with Aaron Boone nearly ready for the majors, he might take the bench spot over. Luis Sojo had a great season for a bargain $650,000 deal, but this was his career season, and he has a very low health rating of 56, so I don't know if he's coming back. Tremie was just a emergancy signing, and I already know I'm releasing him.

1998 Pitching            Team     IP   ERA    G  GS   W   L  SV    K   BB   R/9

Castillo, Tony            ARI   49.1  4.93   45   0   3   3   2   27   22 13.32
Heredia, Gil              ARI   69.0  3.52   49   0   3   1   1   42   23 12.52
Jordan, Ricardo           ARI    8.1  8.64    8   0   0   0   0    6    8 20.52
Rijo, Jose                ARI  139.1  5.36   25  25   7  11   0  100   70 14.15

Tony Castillo had a very average season as a mop-up reliever, and I think we can use someone from a minors at a cheaper price. Gil Heredia is someone we could keep next season, as long as his asking price isn't overboard. Ricardo Jordan has no chance of coming back, because we have pitchers coming off the DL that are set for next year. Jose Rijo allows too many runners on base, and I would consider keeping him maybe as long relief, but he'll have to pitch some good starts. But, it's a very slim chance and we may just hunt in free agency for a new starter.

[Foamy]

Nice dynasty. I'm a huge Jim Eisenreich fan (don't ask why, I root for mediocre ball players all the time!), so I will be following!

By the way, if you want teams to draft the best available players, and not simply whomever they did in real life, go to League Settings. (You'll have to go into Commish Mode) and, in the lower right hand corner, there is a setting for "Mimic Historical Draft" or some such. Default is 0%. Set it to -100%, and teams will draft either according to need or simply the best available player. Given a choice between five prospects of roughly the same skill, they will still tend to take players that they historically did, but Pujols would have gone to the A's, not fallen all the way to #6.

Setting it to +100% means they will draft the best available player that they did in real life. I don't like doing this, as it lets you steal players with a mid to late round draft pick.

[phillies999]

Foamy: Haha I know what you mean! Eric Bruntlett of the Phillies happens to be my personal favorite in RL! As for the draft settings, I'll change the settings like you metioned come the amatuer draft next June.

Catcher Fabregas Inks 3 Year Deal

The Diamondbacks have announced that they would hold on to Jorge Fabregas for the 1999 and 2000 seasons at a price of $900,000 per year. Fabregas is hitting .253, with 6 homeruns and 31 rbi's for the season. He started the season as a backup and worked himself into a starter role thanks to the injury of teammate Jeff Reed. He also showed good glove behind the plate, making no errors so far, and gunning down 47% of baserunners attempting to steal.

"We feel this is a good deal." says GM Colangelo. "We feel he may end up playing backup next season, but Fabregas is a great asset off the bench, whether you need him for offense or defense."