Currently viewing the tag: "Cody Ross"

If you’d like to acquire an outfielder, you might want to call the Arizona Diamondbacks. They have plenty and might have one more on their hands sooner rather than later, because according to reports, the Yasmany Tomas-at-third-base-thing isn’t working out so well. While that was predictable, the organization had been going to great lengths to highlight what they could, …

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The D-backs may have quite a few players that they’d like to renegotiate salaries with, but after purging Miguel Montero‘s contract and shuffling some deck chairs in the offseason, there are probably only three contracts that the team wishes it could outright delete right now. I’ll give you a hint; their three 2015 salaries/offseason commitments total about $33M. The …

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The Diamondbacks have a balance problem and balance is important, at least to a degree. We hear time and again that teams seek to keep a mixture of right and left-handed bats in the lineup because, as we know, platoon splits are very real and very common. Righties usually hit lefties well and lefties, righties. This is not startling news …

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The D-backs are an interesting team, defensively: in 2013 they were the second-best fielding team in baseball, but in 2014, they were one of the league’s worst in defensive efficiency. We speculated on Episode 2 of The Pool Shot that the D-backs may shift more under new manager Chip Hale. I’d like to take it one step further now, …

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Call me crazy, but at the time that Arizona brought Cody Ross to the desert on a three-year, $26M deal, I thought it was a smart move for the club. I still do, as it’s only with the benefit of hindsight that the deal looks bad now. It doesn’t help that the deal was somewhat backloaded, but I believe it’s …

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There are a few new faces with the Diamondbacks within the last week; Cody Ross is back from the 15-day DL, and Daniel Hudson in on the roster and ready to take the mound again for the first time in over two years. But there was another curious development: a successful waiver claim that brought Nolan Reimold to Arizona from …

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The Diamondbacks have five outfielders on their active roster. Gerardo Parra, Mark Trumbo, and Cody Ross have all spent time as starting outfielders. Rookies Ender Inciarte and David Peralta are looking to establish themselves are legitimate major-league players. A month ago I wrote about the effects of the injuries to the outfield. Now, the rookies have played well …

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Attempting to draw up and execute an all-encompassing plan for the trade deadline is a bit like forming a battle plan while the battle is already raging. But we’re taking a run at it, because we’re good like that.

It’s a foregone conclusion that the D-backs will be sellers at the deadline this year. We know the front office has …

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There have been a lot of complaints about player performance thus far into 2014. Most of those complaints have been warranted and the Diamondbacks’ winning percentage reflects this. The season is more than just underway now, and to keep saying “it’s still early” is doing everyone a disservice. It’s not still early, we’re approaching some pretty serious cutoffs where the …

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In sabermetric circles, you frequently hear that the ideal lineup is worth only five to fifteen runs over the average lineup. But five to fifteen runs is more than nothing, even over the course of the season, and lineup construction also happens to be fun to talk about. My preferred lineups — and justification — are below.

2014 lineups

Lots to …

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For a time last week, one forgot the horrible start to the season. For a time, the D-backs looked like last year’s squad, capable of a comeback or walkoff at any time. But in dropping yesterday’s contest despite an excellent start by Brandon McCarthy, the team actually went 3 for 7 in the last week. The Cubs series may

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You’ve heard it all winter long: the Diamondbacks thrive on good defense. Gerardo Parra was simply incredible in right field last year en route to his second Gold Glove. Paul Goldschmidt, never one to be left out, earned one of his own at first base. A.J. Pollock was stellar in center, Gregorius was solid at short, Prado was just fine …

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*Previous entries: Steamer Projection Primer | 2014 Rotation

The Diamondbacks’ outfield was solid but unspectacular at the plate in 2013. There were no black holes, at least once Jason Kubel stopped receiving playing time, as everyone posted a wOBA right around .320. Unfortunately, there were no standouts with the bat and unit lacked offensive punch last season. Defense, though, …

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Major League Baseball rosters expand on September 1, enabling teams to carry up to 40 players, provided they are on the 40-man roster.  If you’re rusty on the mechanics of the 40-man and protecting players from the winter Rule V Draft, check out this mlb.com summary.  In terms of guessing at what Arizona might do this year, the main …

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The Diamondbacks went 5-1 in their last six games, abusing the Orioles before gutting out a series win in Pittsburg.  The Orioles series could not have had more drama, with walkoff hits in all three games by three different players.  In comparison to “the walkoff series,” the wins against the Pirates were almost garden variety; and yet the Diamondbacks posted …

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For a five-game week (off days on Monday and Thursday), the last several days have been unusually tumultuous for the Diamondbacks.  In a two game series against Tampa Bay, the offense broke out; but although Kirk Gibson’s squad carried the same lineup and offensive success through Friday, Saturday and Sunday were not banner days for the team.  On Saturday, David …

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