Proud As A Ruse-ter

If Derrick Hall is "proud" of something, watch out. This gushing sentiment of his almost invariably heralds choreographed ambiguities designed to distract and dupe the public. There was the time, for example, when inveterate abuser Alberto Callaspo knifed his common law wife, hurled their one year old into a headboard, and wore Sedona Red a mere nine days later, prompting Hall to express widespread organizational pride. Or the time Hall cheekily exonerated degenerate Dback fans for throwing bottles at Rockie players in the 2007 NLCS. Or when a fan bemoaned the discontinuation of Jerry Colangelo's popular $1 seats, and Hall responded that he was "extremely proud" of the most deceptive pricing campaign in major league baseball.

So be forewarned. Derrick Hall is proud again. Not quietly satisfied, like knowing parents who scrimped to put their kids through college. Proud in the papers, and on radio, of his 'creative' front office that didnt bill the taxpayer for their latest stadium-on-demand. He's trying to contrast the Dbacks with the Cubs, who are lobbying to impose a variety of taxes and ticket surcharges to bankroll their new Mesa stadium.

Hall:

They [The Cubs] do draw well, as do we, yet we were creative in our search for a new site to identify a partner willing to finance the entire project without public dollars"

- and -

"....we [Dbacks] can take pride in knowing that the taxpayers are not building it [the Scottsdale stadium]."

Except that's exactly what's happening. According to the Phoenix Business Journal (subscription only), the Salt River Pima-Maricopa tribe:

"... is taking a $23M loan, backed by federal stimulus money, to help fund the $100M project."

Sounds as if taxpayers are integral to the Dbacks' venture, after all. Maybe the tribe is, in Hall's words, "willing" to finance the project without public dollars, but what's more germane, it seems to me, is that they will not actually do so. Hall's Blackjack Ballpark is backed with A) taxpayer stimulus money, presumably spirited away from projects like hospitals, schools and roads - and B) "private funding" - Hall's highbrow euphemism for gambling profits. Little old ladies throwing away social security checks at the slots - that sort of thing. An industry that, apart from alcohol and drugs, undermines more Arizona marriages, families and dreams than any other addiction. Here, in the middle of a regional depression, that addiction enables the Dbacks' $100M, wholly discretionary, practice complex, in addition to welcome political cover for their third taxpayer financed stadium in fifteen years. These are the creative funding streams Derrick Hall is "proud" of ? Seriously?

I get how stadiums are financed nowadays. No illusions about that. And I dont begrudge the Diamondbacks, or any other club, their right to oppose the Cubs' latest wrinkle on getting others to spring for their spring home away from home. What rankles me are the adjunct allusions advanced by Hall about his organization's motives and actions here - and the generally passive Arizona press that let's him do it, virtually unchallenged.

It's not enough for Hall to directly oppose the Mesa legislation, on grounds it's an unprecedented funding mechanism. He has to float the broadly inaccurate dichotomy that the Cubs aim to rely on public funding, whereas the Diamondbacks did not. Hall expressed frustration that Prop 302 money wasnt there for the Diamondbacks to exploit, but he doesnt want a special subsidy for any team. Since when is a $23M loan backed by federal stimulus not a special subsidy for his team? Well, technically, I guess it's an indirect subsidy, as the money goes to the tribe. But does he limit himself to that rather sly construction? Not with earnest reporters scribbling away.

"It is frustrating to know that state money was used for the last few complexes that opened, yet funding is now dry for the home team" he said.

Ah, the "home team". Nice. The injustice of it all. Of course Arizona taxes should benefit the Phoenix home team, right? Well, no. Not really, actually. The taxing authority (AZSTA) was established to (among other things) seed the economic engine that is the Cactus League - not Arizona's regular season home team. Indeed, our indigenous Diamondbacks may warrant very low priority in terms of AZSTA funding, for several reasons:

1. Our fans are primarily local and dont drive ancillary spending (entertainment and travel).

2. These "last few complexes" Hall cites, enticed brand new teams to Arizona, generating more games and entirely new interest and revenues to the state. To equate the benefits or investment rationales for Goodyear and Camelback Ranch, with the Dbacks' intrastate move from Tucson to Scottsdale, is highly dubious.

3. The Diamondbacks chose to abandon a taxpayer funded stadium in Tucson that is barely a decade old for "greener" pastures. Hohokam is older. Since the early 1990's, the Angels, Padres and Mariners have managed to survive and/or thrive in older parks than TEP. Phoenix Muni was built in 1964 and the Athletics have called it home for 29 years (although it did get a $8M facelift in 2005). Does the "home team" deserve priority consideration over these clubs, just because Diamondbacks brass contracted a shameless case of Camelback Ranch envy?

4. A paid for, alternative Phoenix venue is at the exclusive disposal of the Diamondbacks - namely Chase Field. The club insists it's an unacceptable spring facility, and it's true there arent the necessary practice fields, but practice fields are nearby at Papago Park and elsewhere, and the Dbacks host a pair of spring games every year at Chase. If Hall's stadium quest was truly confined by an organizational pride to not soak the public, wouldnt such a 'creative' FO manage the above or similar arrangement? Sure, but they're confined only by their relative conscience and greed. The way they've lobbied the public that both gifted facilities (Chase and TEP) are now completely unsuitable to their "needs", it's easy to make a case the Diamondbacks are among the greediest, least grateful outfits in baseball.

Hardly news to this page, or the end of the world elsewhere. Somebody's got to be the greediest MLB team this spring. It might as well be the "home team", painting itself for years as a singularly fan-centric, socially responsible, virtual non-profit. The point is that neither the greed nor the gaping inconsistency between what is and what the Diamondbacks so often want us to believe, are qualities to be proud of.

GM Byrnes Upstaged by CEO's Hot Stove Triumph

It had been a whirlwind off season for GM Josh Byrnes, acquiring a pair of starting infielders and four moundsmen, but nothing revitalized the heart of the franchise or calmed the guts of dyspeptic fans like Derrick Hall's hot stove triumph Monday night. Hall ditched the baloney and candy floss he's been serving customers for years in favor of a sounder, healthier alternative he's confident will be a recipe for 2010 success and beyond.

Forget Heilman & Howry. Jackson and Kennedy. Kelly Johnson and Adam LaRoche. The Diamondbacks' CEO and reluctant bon vivant has - according to him - gifted us something more lasting and precious.

Health and happiness, courtesy of his own vital life choices.

Re-examining Webb

Few body parts were examined more in 2009, physically or vicariously, than Brandon Webb's right labrum, but to better understand why he didnt pitch past Opening Day, perhaps one needs to apply the scalpel to conventional wisdom as well.

Or, since this is Diamondhacks, a hammer with blood on the claw should suffice.

Interested parties agree Brandon frayed his labrum, and Diamondhacks editors acknowledge there's a physical issue. No one cuts a magic arm if there's not. But convention further assumes the resulting impingement and pain prevented him from pitching all but the first game last season. We think there's more to it than that. What's never been clear is the severity and functional significance of the injury. Was it sufficiently incapacitating to retire Webb for the season? Or did other factors play into Brandon's decision to sit out 2009?

Let's speculate, for example, that Webby was interested in maximizing career earnings. Sounds crazy, I know, but imagine that was on the unassuming Kentuckian's mind. How might he approach the second half of the 2008 season, immediately after the $54M extension was pulled in June? Secondly, how might he approach the 2009 season, a full ten months after the deal was aborted, ostensibly due to insurance "flags".

The first question seems pretty easy to answer. Webb finished 2008 very strong, going 10-3 with a 3.38 ERA. Does that sound like a physically or psychologically compromised pitcher? Or a healthy, motivated Brandon Webb? Webb appears to have sublimated (or channeled) any lingering anger or disappointment over the contract, by pitching up to his own superlative standard for the remainder of the season.

But what about the spring of 2009? After that affirming second half and a long off season to ruminate. What was his reward for keeping the mediocre Dbacks in the 2008 NL West race, and keeping most of his personal disappointment out of the papers? It was not $54M - or anything resembling that. His reward was $5.5M and the presumable satisfaction of a job well done. Tall cotton for most of us, to be sure, but our established skills dont annually command $15-20M on the open market.

Let's bludgeon that point a moment. After 2008, Webb had accumulated approximately $13.5M in career salary, and according to fangraphs.com his open market value during that time exceeded $80M. That's not necessarily the Diamondbacks' fault - it mostly reflects MLB's salary structure, which generally underpays young stars and overpays tenured veterans. But the purpose of this exercise is to get inside the head of an athlete who, for whatever reasons, was systematically and grossly underpaid in terms of his career production.

An athlete who finally got teased with pay roughly commensurate with performance, and then had that hope quashed by privately held "medical concerns" subject to considerable interpretation. A proud athlete who put all that aside to vastly outproduce his earnings for an additional three months. As he had his entire career.

What was Brandon Webb thinking that winter. Maybe he thought he proved the front office wrong. Maybe he thought the Diamondbacks would finally recognize and reward him as one of the game's most durable aces. He had just capped three consecutive Cy Young caliber seasons, going 22-7 and was - for all intents and purposes - the fourth highest paid starter on the club. He earned several million less than journeyman Doug Davis, barely a third of Randy Johnson's 2008 salary, and lacked the kind of long term extension the club generously granted a younger Dan Haren that August. Webb was pushing thirty years old, arguably the best pitcher in baseball over the previous six seasons...and only Micah Owings made less in the Arizona rotation.

It's hard to exaggerate the extent to which Webb must have felt undervalued, and to some degree, un(der)appreciated, by his employer. And not just in terms of the reneged extension. It must have eventually dawned on Brandon that he was never going to collect that kind of money from the Arizona Diamondbacks. If winning ten of his final thirteen decisions didnt alleviate the brass's medical concerns, what could? That's as good as he can pitch.

If you're 29 or thirty years old, under team control for a couple more years, and feel your employer is never going to pay you anything close to your value, what do you do? One option is you quietly play out your contract. Another strategy is to get away from the Arizona Diamondbacks as quickly as possible. Some athletes demand a trade, badmouth the owner in the papers. Or you can discourage your spendthrift employer from exercising your 2010 option, and a good way to do that is to not pitch. To complain that something you cant quite put your finger on, doesnt "feel good". To elegantly fulfill Jeff Moorad's public prophecy that you present a significant injury risk - and become one.

We're not calling Brandon Webb a faker. We believe he suffered an impingement, and that he and others have pitched through similar soft tissue challenges. Sometime in the winter of 2008 Webb decided it made little sense to pitch through it again in 2009.

Not in Arizona.

Achy shoulder or not, every pitcher possesses a finite number of bullets. Should Webb have pitched his heart out in 2009 for $6.5M, all but insuring he'd pitch in 2010 for $8.5M? Or was it in his career interests to "rest up" in 2009, in hopes the Dbacks passed on his option - opening the door to free agency? Arizona opted to keep Webb, of course, but was that a reasonable way for Webb to perceive things and manage his career? To perhaps rationalize that the front office "owed" him a great deal in unpaid production anyway, to save some bullets and hope for better luck (ie fairer pay) elsewhere.

Reasonable skeptics may doubt that sitting out a season would enrich a player, but due to Arizona's contractual control and established aversion to paying their best players near market value, Webb would gain more by jettisoning the Dbacks a year early, than he'd lose due to generic injury concerns. Dont think so? Ben Sheets sat out 2009 and just signed for $10M plus - and doesnt have the durability or reputation Brandon enjoys. As a free agent, Webb would have garnered far more than the $8.5M he's earning in Arizona.

Even if Arizona picked up the option, Webb saved himself a year's worth of bullets, presumably to shoot another day, under the auspicies of a more generous front office. Today he finds himself in a genuine contract year, however. In terms of monetary reward, it makes sense for him to pitch well on the brink of free agency. A one year hiatus, followed with a stellar, post-surgery year should put most GM concerns to bed, whereas back to back seasons out of commission, or ineffective, could severely diminish Brandon's earning power.

This is good news for Diamondback fans. Well, bad news for fanboys clinging to the fantasy that our beloved Webby would run through brick walls for this organization - and by extension, for us - until retirement or death. But good news for adults, for realists, who understand that professional performance involves so much more than appearances. Convention would have us believe that Brandon Webb's 2009 spirit was willing, but the flesh was weak. We think that's essentially upside down - the flesh was worn but relatively able, and our hero's rational desire, spirit if you will, was systematically compromised.

Dbacks Swap Upton For Cash

In a surprise move Thursday evening, the Arizona Diamondbacks reportedly traded babyfaced rightfielder Justin Upton to the rival Los Angeles Dodgers, for an undisclosed sum of cash.



Upton, whose athleticism has been said to reduce major league peers to comparative "little leaguers", was photographed Friday afternoon by mlb.com at a Dodgers pre-training camp workout.

Diamondback sources were unavailable for comment as of Friday evening, however it's presumed the impetus of the move was to relieve payroll pressures, set off by the lavish acquisition of Adam Laroche.

....developing

About Town

Crowded sports week locally. We all saw the Cardinals get swamped by a powerful New Orleans Brees faster than you can say "Hurricane Katrina" or "Lower Ninth Ward" - or Hines Ward for that matter. It was that quick, and a bigger train wreck than Phoenix Light Rail, which has sustained only 52 crashes to date.

Here's a picture of Dback fans (above) descending on downtown to protest Friday's incomprehensible release of Eric Byrnes. Just kidding. There arent that many Dback fans since Colangelo left. Actually, it's the first mile of Sunday's PF Chang's Marathon, which wends its way through Phoenix each January, much like today's MLK parade - only five hundred times bigger, longer and whiter.

Allan Hubris Selig also oozed into town, up the north side of Camelback Mountain to be precise, hosting his annual owners' meeting at the exclusive Sanctuary resort. It's there leading industrialists will discuss how to make their game more relevant to recession ravaged fans, and possibly have a massage. The steeply priced, 53 acre mountainside spa is owned by fruit wholesaler and Cincinnati Reds' top banana Bob Castellini , which Commissioner Selig has deemed to be in the best interests of baseball this weekend.

The Dbacks inked Adam Laroche, tossing a transformative monkey wrench into Ken Kendrick's Five Year Ho Hum Hitting Initiative, but the sizzling story about town appears to be the inexorable departure of Eric Byrnes. The Republic is running at least four articles on it, the most revealing of which confirms that his controversial $30M extension was, at the time, more or less a consensus front office decision.

This is a crushing blow for dbbp's self styled cognescenti, who've spent thirty months stridently misinforming fans that our boy genius GM was double crossed by the devious Jeff Moorad of their comic book imaginations. Like virtually all FO quotes, the appearance of unity exceeds the reality somewhat, but assuming Moorad "went rogue" or didnt enjoy significant front office backing betrays an ignorance of how big organizational decisions necessarily transpire.

Josh Byrnes "went along" in 2007 because he projected Eric and several teammates (most notably CY and Drew) to be more productive than they proved to be, and he knew he could flip the blocked talents (Quentin, Carlos Gonzalez) for a prime time starter - which is what he wanted and essentially what he did with Haren. Ownership had the money to splurge on Eric Byrnes, Josh overestimated other pieces, and they all got burned by the injury and immediate, precipitous fall even EB's harshest critics couldn't envision. Josh Byrnes "went along", and it's refreshing to hear he and Kendrick eventually acknowledge their part in the decision.

Herb Sendek's 14-5 Sun Devils hopped atop a closely bunched Pac-10 with a pair of convincing road wins in Oregon. Derek Glasser looks like he's partied too much recently and has visibly lost a step, but Sendek's kids still play a pesky matchup zone, and Ty Abbott has emerged as a primary scorer, to help out the crafty Kuksiks.

The overacheiving Coyotes and Suns are both enduring worrisome slumps. Not as fundamentally worrisome as December's chilling conversion of Meredith Baxter from a fresh faced, fluffy-haired MILF with an adorable overbite to a wrinkled lesbian donning oversized bowling shirts. But worrisome still.

I spent this MLK day hiking the circumference trail around Squaw Peak, or Piestewa if you prefer, dancing in and out of a light desert rain. Years ago, I hiked downtown, when Meachem was governor, on this day. I marched right behind Art Hamilton's big black ass, because it seemed like the right thing to do. Now I march up and around a different mountain.

Final thought on King. In 1964, before passage of the Civil Rights Act and not a year after President Kennedy was killed, he spoke before 450 Kiwanis Club members in an oppressive southern backwater. He was thirty five and said this to his overwhelmingly white, and uncomfortable, audience:

We will match your capacity to inflict suffering on us with the capacity to endure suffering. You may throw us in jail, bomb our homes, threaten our little children, and, difficult as it is, we will still love you.

Can you imagine? Can you further imagine he said this in Phoenix, at a long gone restaurant which is now a Quick Trip I fill up at most every week. I never knew. Maybe one doesnt need to book a flight to Washington DC and stand at the Lincoln Memorial to feel inspired. The inspiration, and mountains to climb, are both right here.


*****************

A couple snapshots I took from Sunday's marathon, just north of 24th St and Camelback.


The Ethiopian Lead Pack




...and an hour later, here come the Americans!

Up & Adam

With his 142 strikeouts, below average glove and attention deficit label, Adam LaRoche should melt effortlessly into a dugout enabled by psychology major Andy Hinch, perhaps the most effete leader of men since Capt Jack Sparrow.

No, seriously. Things are looking up. Adam's a hopeful acquisition and dependable wheel for this peloton of positional talent pedaling and backpedaling into their primes. The eldest son of eephus deity, Dave LaRoche, smacks righties, comfortably projects to .270 and 25 homers, and has steadily improved his walk rate to 10-11% - about the same as Reynolds and Upton. That represents a monumental upgrade over wannabes Josh has previously trotted out at first, and embeds pathologically well rested Conor Jackson in left.

For the first time in years, it's actually fun to play with the batting lineups in one's head, and at least fantasize of a balanced and adequate offense.

From an organizational standpoint, any glee is tempered by the fact I (and many others) have been chirping for three or four years now, that this front office always had the financial capacity, and desperate necessity, to acquire a slightly below average major league first baseman.

This move seems evidence of both, unless they recoup a big chunk of dough by trading Eric Byrnes or Chris Snyder, which seems unlikely. Byrnes may be released any day now, while Snyder's probably a bit too expensive to trade.

Among Dback faithful (we few, we miserable few...), euphoria generated by this overdue harvest of relatively low hanging fruit serves to illustrate just how far fan expectations had fallen. After weeks, make that years, of criminally neglecting first base, and peddling dour, unsubstantiated financials for Nick Piecoro to transcribe, the brass almost seem like heroic philanthropists now, prying open the checkbook to secure a slightly below average starter.

It's a good move, and it's about time.

Discounted Macs

For all the blather about PEDs and the Hall of Fame, there are really two major camps. People who feel admitted or probable drug use bars players from consideration, and people who dont. Those in the latter group often argue that PEDs "dont matter", and should be ignored for a variety of moral or practical reasons.

Fortunately, the gap between these entrenched extremes has finally been bridged by an independent voice of reason, our good friend from azsnakepit.com, who asks if we can dispassionately quantify McGwire's "clean" career stats for HOF consideration.

This was an intrepid question - three years ago, when I asked it - but it's fun to see Jim take credit for the idea now, as well as plug in some numbers to test "his" hypothesis. Mr McLennan reasons that andro etc inflated McGwire's tater tally by about 125, and that Mark's "clean", park adjusted OPS is roughly 20-25 points lower than his "dirty" 163.

I havent really thought about Jim's methodology, but am fine with his adjustments as a point of discussion. They actually sound pretty reasonable. Anyway, Jim researches and crunches this lengthy piece, and closes as follows:

Having seen the apparent scope of the benefit gained, I'm forced to conclude he shouldn't be allowed within a hundred miles of Cooperstown

Let's think about this, in light of Jim's numbers. He's estimated "clean" Mark would hit 458 homers (583-125) and have a career OPS+ near 140. Is it reasonable to conclude that a clean player with those credentials "shouldn't be allowed within a hundred miles of Cooperstown".

I would think not, considering of the fifteen eligible hitters in history who've met both thresholds, every single one has a plaque. That doesnt prove our theoretically clean Mac is a lock however. Fred McGriff met those thresholds, in spirit if not in fact, and didnt garner much support first time around, despite a notable absence of PED whispers attached directly to his candidacy.

The point is, McLennan's abrupt conclusion contradicts the tone and particulars of his quantatative analysis. A clean 458/140 guy is, by definition, an extremely serious HOF candidate, and clearly a better hitter than either Jim Rice or Andre Dawson, to name two recent "immortals".

One can only wonder why McLennan's about face concludes his otherwise logical essay. Maybe it's because, deep down, he feels PED users should be be automatically barred from HOF consideration. Fine. If so, it would be nice if he expressed that up front, instead of propping up statistical research to awkwardly reinforce his own predetermined beliefs.