acks face an uncertain future"WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections Scaling the RocksP

After a disappointing end to the 2018 season Wade Boggs Jersey , the Diamondbebble ReportRockpileRockies Game ThreadsRockies Fan ExperienceSB Nation's MLB PreviewNL West ReportRockies Season PreviewMLB preview 2019: Arizona Diamondbacks begin life without Paul GoldschmidtAfter a disappointing end to the 2018 season, the Diamondbacks face an uncertain future MLB preview 2019: Arizona Diamondbacks begin life without Paul GoldschmidtWith the 2019 season just around the corner, it’s time to catch up with the other teams around the division. Instead of trying to figure out what we need to know about them ourselves, we thought it would be a good idea to ask our friends at our neighbors here at SBNation to help catch us up.We asked James Attwood of AZ SnakePit to answer a few questions for us about the upcoming Arizona Diamondbacks season. You’ll find his answers below, edited for length and clarity.What went right for the Diamondbacks in 2018? What, ultimately, went wrong?After a disappointing exit from the playoffs at the hands of the Dodgers in 2017, the Diamondbacks spent the vast majority atop the NL West in 2019, even holding the best record in the majors for a few days in the beginning of May. Sadly, this success came by riding those who were performing well to the point of exhaustion. Between injuries and fatigue, the Diamondbacks were doomed by their lack of depth. is still trying to compete. The desire to try and compete in 2019 is a big part of the reason the Diamondbacks chose the particular trade deal they did with the Cardinals. If they were in a full-on rebuild, the Texas Rangers’ offer would have made much more sense. The team has also picked up Wilmer Flores and Adam Jones to help contribute this season. That said, it would naive to think the Diamondbacks are not still focused as much on 2021 as they are on 2019. Mike Hazen was given a mandate at the start of the offseason. Get cheaper, get better, and do it all without trading from the future.The team is in the initial stages of a soft rebuild. They are taking that (from a fan’s perspective) dreaded middle approach, neither committing to a full rebuild, not going all-in. This greatly increases the team’s chances of spending the entire season mired in mediocrity, hovering just below or at the .500 mark.The consensus seems to be that the Arizona farm system is somewhere in the lower half of the league. What’s the current state of the farm system and what will it take to build it up?The bad news is that the Diamondbacks’ farm system is a mess. The good news is that it is no longer a complete dumpster fire, like it was last season. There are only two position players in the system that profile as true high-impact players. Unfortunately, they are both still at least two seasons away from making that impact. The pitching looks a little better, but only barely. After the aforementioned Duplantier Wilson Ramos Jersey , Widener, and Clarke, it could be argued the team has no starting prospects above A+ ball.The team needs to do two things in order to improve on this. First, they need to continue to resist trading from what is left of the farm. Second, they need to figure out how to draft, especially in the first three rounds. The Diamondbacks have not had a strong draft since 2009 and it is killing them. The few good names they have picked up since then have all been moved, and there have not been enough of those anyway. This June, the Diamondbacks have seven of the top 80 selections, including two in the first round and two in the following round. If ever there was a time and a way to rehabilitate the Arizona farm system, the upcoming draft is it. BUt the key is, they have to get it right, something they have not yet demonstrated they know how to do.Prediction time: will Zack Greinke finish his current contract in a Diamondbacks uniform?While I would like to see that happen, I suspect that he will not. He may or may not get traded at the deadline this season. It might even take another full year. However, if he is able to remain healthy and productive, the deeper into the contract he gets, the more teams will be willing to absorb the financial hit. If he is still a 4 WAR pitcher with only one year left on his deal, it is difficult to see the Diamondbacks not finding numerous suitors. That could all change of course, if the team finds a way to become competitive while he is still on the roster. If some of the current players bounce back and some of the debuts turn in the sorts of performances that are hoped for out of them, then it becomes much more difficult to trade Greinke, as replacing him will be nearly impossible. I honestly feel it is 50/50 if he finishes out his contract in an Arizona uniform. What do you think is a realistic best case scenario for the D-backs this year? What’s the worst case scenario? What would a successful season look like for the D-backs?I think the realistic best-case scenario for Arizona is to make a push late and to finish at .500. I honestly think the worst-case scenario is that they spend the entire season right at .500, always just on the edges of competing. This makes the team moving higher-priced MLB talent for younger talent with more years of control a difficult proposition. It also makes it hard for the team to start turning over the team to its internal prospects. At the same time http://www.raysfanproshop.com/authentic-evan-longoria-jersey , it puts the team in a position to get a middling draft pick at best, while wasting another season of control of the likes of Robbie Ray, Jake Lamb, and Zack Greinke.What will be the best part of watching the D-backs this year? Or, put another way, why should the casual fan (who’s not scoreboard watching) watch a D-backs game this season?This is going to depend entirely on which team shows up. Honestly, the sooner the prospects start arriving, the more likely it is that there will be something special to watch. The one big exception to this could be Robbie Ray. Even in poor seasons, like 2004, fans still tuned in to Diamondbacks games to watch Randy Johnson pitch. Robbie Ray could be the kind of pitcher that people actually tune in to watch. Or, his curve resembles the flatter one he had early last season, and then he becomes a non-factor and fans across the country are waiting on prospect arrivals. DETROIT (AP) — Justin Verlander knew this would be one of the most emotional games of his major league career.He still wasn’t prepared.In his return to Detroit, Verlander received three standing ovations while pitching the Houston Astros to a 3-2 victory over the Tigers on Monday night.Verlander (15-9) made his major league debut with the Tigers in 2005 and ranks among the top 10 on several of the team’s career lists. He struck out 10 over seven innings in his first time on the Comerica Park mound since being traded to Houston in August 2017.“Our hotel is right near my old house, so I got to spend some time in the neighborhood today,” he said. “I was trying to keep my routine as much as possible.”That hope ended early, as the scoreboard played a tribute video as Verlander was walking in from the bullpen after his pregame warmups. He stopped, alone in shallow right-center field, and watched the entire show.“It was almost normal until the tribute video, but that really got to me,” he said. “I had a lot of great memories in my 13 years here, and that brought it all back. I wanted to get to the dugout before it started Blake Snell Jersey , but once it started playing, I had to watch.”Verlander received his first ovation at the end of the video, and another when he came out for the first inning. Each time, he tipped his cap and waved to the fans.The longest cheer, though, came when he walked off the mound after the seventh, having thrown 104 pitches.“The one after the seventh really meant the world to me,” he said. “The fans here were always great to be here, and they showed that again tonight. That was a really emotional moment.”The crowd was announced at 19,711 — the Detroit Lions opened their season next door Monday night against the New York Jets.“Tonight mattered a lot to him,” Astros manager AJ Hinch said. “It is important to him that he pitched here and succeeded here, so it was special for him to get back on that mound.”The World Series champion Astros opened a three-game lead over Oakland atop the AL West despite a sloppy game that came after a Sunday night loss in Boston.“I’m proud of our guys, because there was a lot going on today, and we didn’t play our best game, but we still found a way to pull out a win,” Hinch said.Verlander allowed two runs on six hits and one walk, improving to 98-50 at Comerica Park. Max Scherzer is second in career wins at the stadium with 46, while Jordan Zimmermann leads current Tigers with 14.“He got exactly the response he deserved from our fans,” Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire said. “He was a great pitcher here for a long time, and he did a lot of great things for this city.”The Tigers put two runners on in the seventh, but Verlander struck out JaCoby Jones and Jeimer Candelario to escape with a 3-2 lead. He tipped his cap again as the fans came to their feet after the final pitch to Candelario.“This was a special night Rob Refsnyder Jersey ,” Verlander said.Roberto Osuna worked the ninth for his 16th save, including seven with Houston.Francisco Liriano (4-10) allowed three unearned runs on four hits and four walks in six innings. He struck out seven in his longest outing since pitching six innings on July 4.The Tigers took the lead in the second. Niko Goodrum doubled and later scored on a single by Dawel Lugo.Liriano’s wild pitch and an error by shortstop Ronny Rodriguez allowed the Astros to score three unearned runs in the third. Tyler White and Marwin Gonzalez hit RBI singles, while the Tigers failed to turn two potential double plays.“You have to make plays,” Gardenhire said. “When you miss plays, that’s what always happens. We had a chance to get some outs, didn’t do it, and it cost us runs.”Verlander settled down after the second, retiring the next nine batters. Candelario walked to start the sixth, Christin Stewart followed with his first major league hit and Nicholas Castellanos had a sacrifice fly.“If someone had told me that I was going to get my first hit off Justin Verlander in my first major league start . geez,” Stewart said. “It was a pretty out-of-body experience.”Castellanos made a leaping catch at the right field fence to take an extra-base hit away from Gonzalez in the eighth.Josh Reddick, in the game for Houston as a defensive replacement, started an inning-ending double play in the eighth with a sliding catch in left field.EARLY STARTThe game started at 6:10 p.m., an hour earlier than originally scheduled, to try to ease traffic congestion with the Lions playing at Ford Field. A day game wasn’t possible because of the Astros playing on Sunday night in Boston.UP NEXTThe teams continue their three-game series Tuesday night with Zimmermann (7-6, 4.03 ERA) facing Houston’s Framber Valdez (3-1, 1.37).