Random Fandom

I'd like to thank the Diamondbacks for being on autopilot during the past couple weeks. It's vastly reduced the amount of guilt I've had for not posting much during the vacation/family visits/busy time at work over the past couple weeks.

So the Diamondbacks clip along at .500 or so, just like the .500 or so team they are.

Let's see... what happened in my absence...

-- The Diamondbacks are 2 games out of first in the National League West. I'm just stunned.
-- Kata for Worrell. Typically the Diamondbacks have been picking up their interchangeable relievers via the waiver wire, so a trade seems like a little much. But Kata clearly didn't have any future with the team, so it's best for him, too. Good luck to him.
-- Dan Bickley ranting wildly on the Diamondbacks. Don't know exactly who ticked Bickley off so much that he felt the need to slam the team after ignoring them for the first 100 games of the season, but they must have said something nasty. Which is not to say that Bickley was wrong -- this team is more lucky than good -- just that it's like somebody calling the glass half empty who hadn't even asked for the water in the first place.
-- Lance Cormier. Sigh. Perhaps that "National League Rookie of the Year" thing was premature. Overworked? Perhaps. The glass-half-full approach would be to say it's just a slump, much as Halsey worked through in June. But I have no idea if that's correct.
-- Jim points out that I'm the only "indie" Diamondbacks blog left.

Which of course brings to mind this quotation from the ne plus ultra teen movie of the '80s, Say Anything...

Lloyd: I got a question. If you guys know so much about women, how come you're here at like the Gas 'n' Sip on a Saturday night completely alone drinking beers with no women anywhere?
Joe: By choice, man.

Enjoy the weekend, folks.

Well, I guess Conor Jackson's off the trading block.

Jose Cruz, Jr., designated for assignment; Conor Jackson, up from Tucson.

Now, there are many in the D-Back fan community who have been screaming for these moves loudly while fearing that Jackson -- "our precious" -- would be traded away for kibble.

I was not part of that community then, and am not of that community now, particularly as it related to the trading aspect. There had been absolutely no indication that management planned on trading Jackson (or Quentin or Santos) all season long.

Now, DFAing Cruz, I'm OK with. I -- along with just about every other Diamondback fan -- was OK with the Cruz-Fossum trade. It seemed an acceptable price to pay for a CF with just one year on his contract. Because of Cruz's back spasms, his production was limited (though, it should be noted, far better on a per-PA basis than Terrero). So the trade, based on the results, is bad. Given that the D-Backs still owe about $1.4 M on his contract (I can't imagine Cruz would refuse an assignment to Tucson for that reason alone), I wouldn't be surprised if they were willing to pay a million or so of his salary just to get some A-ball pitching prospect in return.

But I don't know if Jackson is likely to provide the D-Backs with enough offense to spark a playoff run. Keep in mind the team is still 5 games below .500.

I'd have preferred to keep Jackson in Tucson a little while longer so we could see Luis Terrero on an everyday basis for a month. We still don't have a really good sense of Terrero -- another 100 plate appearances might have helped us decide what the organization should do with him next year.

On the whole, I'm OK with this. (But with three lefties now in the outfield, if Terrero can't get into the lineup against a lefty pitcher, his fate here in Arizona must be sealed.)

More thoughts from events during my vacationary exile tomorrow.