Burns: Too many problems for D-backs
Jun 4, 2009, 5:24 PM | Updated: Jan 14, 2011, 4:23 pm
The walls need painting. The tree in the backyard needs to be moved. You’ve been meaning to redo the kids bathroom. The microwave doesn’t match the rest of the appliances in the kitchen.
When I think about what’s wrong with the Diamondbacks, I think about what’s wrong with my own house.
I don’t know where to start.
The problem is that there are too many problems: bullpen, starting rotation, offense. On any given night with this baseball team something is bound to go wrong because there are so many things that could go wrong.
Just in the last few days if it wasn’t the bullpen (Tuesday night’s meltdown-a 5-1 lead with four outs to go), it was the starting rotation (Garland and Scherzer against the Braves) or the offense (wasted chances on Tuesday and Wednesday). And don’t even get us started about Chris Young.
Just when you think you’ve stitched up the wound another gash opens up.
There are those nights when it all comes together. But there haven’t been enough of them. As of Thursday morning only three teams have more losses than the D-backs (Nationals, Indians and Rockies).
Soon this team will face questions about trading off parts that contenders will find to their liking (Doug Davis, Felipe Lopez, Jon Garland, Chad Qualls). For some – SI’s Tom Verducci among them – that time is now.
Verducci makes the point that most teams are loath to make a June deal. The summer just started. The kids are out of school. The last thing you want to do is tell your fan base “we give” with two-thirds of the season remaining.
The Pirates completed the rare June trade by shipping off outfielder Nate McClouth to the Braves. The message to their fan base came a little earlier in the calendar year than normal. But the message is a familiar one; it ain’t happenin’.
At this point it’s almost impossible to see how a different fate awaits this Diamondbacks team.
It’s either that or do what I’m doing with my Thursday. Spend the day at Home Depot trying to figure out what to fix first.
