October 10, 2007
Growing a Team
Nick Piecoro writes on the importance of building from within to both the Rockies and Diamondbacks:
"You have two choices," Rockies scouting director Bill Schmidt said. "You can build from within, or you can spend a lot of money. If you build from within and you want to sustain it, that's where patience comes in. You have to give credit to our ownership group. They had belief in us that we were doing the right thing."
It didn't happen overnight for either organization. The Rockies are in the playoffs for the first time since 1995. In between, they doled out some $175 million in contracts to pitchers Mike Hampton and Denny Neagle before the 2001 season, only to watch both struggle.
The Diamondbacks last made the playoffs in 2002 but endured three consecutive losing seasons from 2003-2006, including a 111-loss campaign in 2004.
For Byrnes to be in Tucson to watch his instructional league team - including this year's first-round draft pick, Jarrod Parker - showed the club's effort to bridge the gap between the minors and majors.
The Diamondbacks bring their instructional league players to see a game at Chase Field, to watch batting practice, to get a firsthand look at the majors. Last season, Upton and second baseman Emilio Bonifacio watched the game from a suite in right field.
"A year later," Byrnes said, "they're down here."
Bad Altitude doesn't think residents of Phoenix appreciate their team:
Here is the real kick in the face about the Diamondbacks, though, with thanks on the link going to Buster Olney: As of this morning, some 12,000 seats for the NLCS at Chase Field remained unsold. I told you Phoenix was a crummy sports town. Of course, that didn't do the Yankees much good in 2001, but that Diamondbacks team was constructed of veterans from other organizations, many of whom got their starts in cities to which big chunks of the retired community in Arizona remained loyal. Rockies fans are now completely on board with this youth movement thing; Arizona fans still seem to wonder where Luis Gonzalez and Mark Grace went. It's hard to develop from the inside in an area where half the biggest stars in the game play for peanuts right in your backyard for a month every year. Phoenix might be a market where you have to get at least a few already-famous free agents on your roster to convince fans you mean business. The Cardinals and Coyotes certainly work this angle, although look how successful they've been. The best franchise in the area is the Suns, who have mixed and matched free agent signings and player development, but I've always felt like the Suns are far more appreciated by NBA junkies out of town than the locals, who show up for the games when the team is good but will never approach the loudness of the fans of Sacramento or Denver.
I think that will change now that the start time for game two was moved to Friday evening.
Posted by David Pinto at
08:36 AM
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