Currently viewing the tag: "Dave Stewart"

New GM Mike Hazen Raises Hopes and Expectations

On October 17, 2016 By

There was once a time when the hiring of Tony La Russa to oversee the Diamondbacks’ baseball functions seemed like a major victory. Oh my, does that seem like a long time ago. After Kevin Towers’ blunders, largely being hell-bent on acquiring certain player types that didn’t seem to fit the club’s home park and prioritized offense over defense, just …

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Front Office Turnover: Hyper-Traditional Tools Fail in Extra-Traditional Conditions

On October 3, 2016 By

GM Dave Stewart and Manager Chip Hale were fired today, about two weeks after cutting ties with Senior VP De Jon Watson. As of this writing, Chief Baseball Officer Tony La Russa‘s role was still up in the air, but as expected, the D-backs have made a loud statement about moving in a different direction. The team finished …

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Who’s to Blame: Fire Chip Hale or Look To the Top?

On July 25, 2016 By

This is a weird post to write. There’s a part of me that doesn’t want acknowledge something that hasn’t been confirmed and is mostly all speculation. That is not what we do here. There’s another part of me that’s so annoyed by the situation that’s arisen that I can’t help but sound off. In the middle, somewhere, is a responsible …

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Home, run! History in the Making at Chase Field

On July 22, 2016 By

Fun facts are a bit of a misnomer. For anyone who listens to the Effectively Wild podcast produced by Baseball Prospectus – really, you all should – this claim isn’t anything new. At their core, fun facts massage and knead history until some nugget is left that usually tricks the masses into thinking they’ve seen something special.

To start, an …

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An Open Letter to Commissioner Manfred on Selling Teams and Selling Prospects

On June 26, 2015 By

Dear Commissioner Manfred,

Right off the bat: I’m not asking for you to act with respect to the Diamondbacks’ trade of Touki Toussaint with Bronson Arroyo to the Braves for Philip Gosselin. I understand that your office has already approved it, and its impact is not great. Nonetheless, it’s not often that we perform the exercise of asking whether …

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Remaking Fireballers: Is Dave Stewart Building the Rotation in His Own Image?

On February 18, 2015 By

It’s been just six months, but the new front office regime of Tony La Russa, Dave Stewart and De Jon Watson has dramatically altered the D-backs depth chart at starting pitcher. With Archie Bradley already on the verge of the majors, the team has added four more pitchers with high ceilings and spotty results: Robbie Ray, Allen Webster…

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Are the Diamondbacks Rebuilding, Retooling, or Doing Something Else?

On December 12, 2014 By

An offseason of unusual activity in the sport has been fueled by a significant number of teams that had a regime change in the front office, and the D-backs are no exception. What originally looked like an offseason of tweaks now looks like something quite different — but what is it, really? Remember, Chief Baseball Officer expressed confidence exactly one …

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Roundup: Bryan Minniti Hired as AGM; Inside the ‘Zona Gets its Saber-Sherpa Wish?

On October 27, 2014 By

In Episode 3 of The Pool Shot, Jeff and I jammed in a lot of D-backs goodness: the way the pitching staff shapes up for the spring currently, some odds and ends like the Chad Billingsley issue I flagged last week, and a whole bunch on the minor league system. I think I speak for Jeff when I say I’m …

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Could the Diamondbacks Sign Former Dave Stewart Client Chad Billingsley?

On October 23, 2014 By

As with the D-backs’ own Trevor Cahill, Chad Billingsley gives us baseball outsiders a great example of how much sense it makes to a pitcher to sign a multi-year deal at salaries approaching market rate, regardless of whether it delays an even bigger potential payday. In Billingsley, we also may have an early test of how the new Dave …

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Roundup: Stewart, Watson Hired; Gibson Fired; and Introducing Our Podcast, The Pool Shot

On September 29, 2014 By

It’s been a very eventful last few days, with news of the hirings of Dave Stewart and De Jon Watson leaking Thursday, their first press conference Friday, Kirk Gibson getting fired shortly before that press conference, the Diamondbacks locking up next year’s #1 overall pick… and despite the playoffs, plenty of people were paying attention to Arizona.

But first, a …

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Can a Front Office By Committee Save the Diamondbacks?

On September 25, 2014 By

With the hirings of Dave Stewart as Vice President and General Manager and De Jon Watson as Senior Vice President of Baseball Operations, the Arizona Diamondbacks haven’t just replaced Kevin Towers. Instead, if the new front office by committee approach ultimately works, they may have just created an alternative to the traditional front office set-up. Owner Ken Kendrick installed Tony …

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