Arizona Diamondbacks shake things up

It has seemed pretty apparent over the last few weeks that the Arizona Diamondbacks were going to shake things up. I think a lot of us expected them to deal away a lot of players and look to rebuild around prospects. Instead they have fired their Manger AJ Hinch and General Manger Josh Byrnes. Bench Coach Kirk Gibson steps in as the interim manger and Jerry Dipoto has taken over teh interim General Manger duties. It seems pretty clear that the D-Backs will use the balance of the 2010 season to evaluate their club from top to bottom, and then make informed decisions on where this team will head in the future.

I really like the addition of Kirk Gibson as manger, and since he is a childhood hero of mine and played for my hometown Detroit Tigers, I think he will bring a fire, and an enthusiasm for the game of baseball that seems to have escaped this team. I would hope that he gets to take the interim tag of his title and be the manger of this team heading forward.

The problem with Hinch was that he was never a manger at any level in the league. He had a short career as a catcher, but nothing on the level of Gibson who was a World Series hero for two different clubs, and has experience in the coaching ranks of baseball. Hinch was brought to the club because he was very familiar with the young players of this organization, but it seemed pretty clear he lost this team awhile ago.

What remains to be seen is how active this team will be on the trade market. I would expect them to start making deals to deal away their assets and acquire as many highly rated prospects as possible. That probably means Pitchers Dan Haren and Ian Kennedy will be discussed for trades, and anyone else on the roster who could net star prospects in return.

Related Links:

•Arizona Diamondbacks news and notes
•The Business of Major League Baseball
•MTR Baseball.com