Arizona Diamondbacks 2004 Season Preview

by Paul Wysard

Sexson is a big addition to the Diamondbacks

The first few weeks of February always provide rays of hope for baseball folks who have happily watched the Super Bowl, viewed the first,  green PGA tournaments, and seen the Basketball competitions begin to separate the wheat from the chaff.

February brings the first heavy print coverage of the upcoming baseball season. The Annual Stats Reports appear, then the voluminous Fantasy previews and player analyses, and, finally, the weeklies begin to chime in with predictions, rumors, gossip, and reports from the Spring Training camps in Florida and Arizona.

Figuring that our editor would soon be canvassing the stable of contributors, and guessing that one of my assignments would be the Diamondbacks, I began to keep an eye upon what was being said and written about those Desert Darlings.  All of us who turn in Previews do not receive the relevant information through osmosis; we obviously depend upon factual and subjective data from writers and observers on the scenes who are credible and who have earned access to the various clubs.

And so I was taken aback a bit by one reference to the "younger D'Backs."  Huh? Did I read that correctly?  The first three batters in the projected order are:  Steve Finley, cf, age 39;  Robbie Alomar, 2b, age 36; Luis Gonzalez, lf, age 36.  The Ace of the starting pitching staff was listed as one Randy Johnson, age 40, and the middle of the rotation featured Shane Reynolds, age 36, and Elmer Dessens, age 33.  Add to that group a brittle 31-year-old rf who had such a great start several years ago, but who has certainly been at least somewhat eroded by injuries - Danny Bautista.  And if promising 26-year-old catcher Robbie Hammock is unable to go to the starting gate due to physical problems, then there is only Brent Mayne, age 35, a good defender and back-up, but who no longer has 130 full games in him.

Where is this influx of youth?  The optimists are doubtless looking at three people. The main one is 1b Richie Sexson, 29, who could hit 50 homers for Arizona and be the most formidable right-handed power hitter in club history, easily surpassing the one-year exploits of the likes of Matt Williams and Reggie Sanders.  Other youth was given up for this big guy (Overbay and Spivey), but unless he gets hurts, I say chalk up a trade win for Colangelo, Garagiola, and Co.

Brandon Webb, 24, was 10-9 last year, but is the subject of continuing excitement and rave notices.  His stuff and composure hint at a superb replacement for Johnson at the top of the rotation someday soon, as there were whispers that the grizzled old lefty's slider "didn't slide" last September.  The Big Unit is probably still a man one would want in there for one, big game, but dominance in 30 starts is another matter.

Oh, yes, there's a youngster named Alex Cintron.  When, as a pinch-runner, he bashed into Cardinal 3b Scott Rolen in the 2001 Playoffs, sidelining Rolen for the duration, I was, I'm sure, among the first ones to shout, "What the hell is that boob doing? Does he know he's on a Playoff ball field?"  The "boob" has since shown versatility at 2b, 3b, and ss, a .300+ batting average, and the potential for 20 homers. He is not a future A-Rod (who, after all, is?), but Arizona could do so much worse than having this talented kid somewere in the middle of its infield.

Speaking of whispers, there are those that say Gonzalez' throwing arm is shot and that Closer Matt Mantei could be on the edge of the Disabled List.  Some scrambling would be required to replace Gonzalez (assuming a .300, 25, 100 campaign), but no one associated with the club fears the elevation of Reliever Jose Valverde, 24,  if Mantei departs for whatever reason.

Arizona in 2004 is much like a honeybee.  It will sting --- a shutout by Johnson; a grand-slam by Sexson, a spoiler outing by Webb --- but then it will die, valiant but vanquished in the desert sun.