Let's Say Grace

This off-season was to be relatively quiet for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Off the heels of a third place finish and rumors of massive losses and flat ticket sales, the team said they would not be active in the free agent activity this winter. It was therefore quite a surprise when rumors of Mark Grace joining the Arizona Diamondbacks began to surface. Don't get me wrong, I like Mark Grace. I have been a fan of his for many years. He is one of the better defensive first basemen in the league and he is consistently among the leaders in hits each year. But I just don't get this deal. Looking at the Diamondbacks roster from last season, they had 3 sometimes 4 first basemen on the roster at any given moment. Erubiel Durazo, the wonder boy from 1999 started the year at first. When he was injured, Travis Lee took over at first against right-handed pitchers while Greg Colbrunn played against left-handed pitching. When Travis didn't produce they brought up Alex Cabrera to play first. The last thing I expected this off-season was for the Diamondbacks to go after a first baseman. To me there were other glaring holes that needed to be filled before we added another infielder. For example, the right field position for the Diamondbacks has been a black hole since the team began play. They have had no fewer than 20 different people play right field in the past 3 years and the position has never averaged greater than a .240 batting average. Then there is the pitching staff. Currently they have Randy Johnson, Curt Schilling and Brian Anderson that can be counted on to take the ball every 5 days. From there it gets questionable. Todd Stottlemyre when healthy can pitch but it is questionable whether he can last an entire season without getting hurt. Armando Reynoso is a free agent and the Diamondbacks have said they cannot afford to bring him back. So unless Bob Brenley is going to go with a 3 man rotation, they need to get some arms in here. Then there is the bullpen. The Diamondbacks are bringing Mike Morgan back. He did a decent job but he is 41 now and you have to wonder what he has left. Greg Swindell is the only left hander in the bullpen with the departure of Dan Plesac so something needs to happen there. Maybe I am just not seeing the big picture. In a time where the Diamondbacks should be looking to get younger, they are instead getting older. They keep saying pitching wins championships and then they try to sign aging defensive first basemen. So during this Thanksgiving day holiday, the Diamondbacks are making sure their fans remember to say Grace.