This Would Be Their Times

A bitchin haboob rumbled over the valley Thursday night, it's bitchin surpassed only by Diamondback fans, after a 13th defeat in seventeen tries.

"Fire the hitting coach", someone wisecracked, after the most recent scoring drought. ( Oh, that's right, we already did.)

Well, that was before a pair of welcome victories over the surging Cubs, courtesy of Juan Cruz and Yusmiero Petit, propelled Kendrix Vermillion to within 2.5 games of the wildcard spot - with a ******** 62 to play.

Objectively speaking, that's the definition of "contention", almost two thirds into the season. You'd think this would be the time fans would flock to Chase Field to root on their crimson heroes fighting for the flag - but that's not the case. You'd think this would be the time that message board die hards swathed in scarlet, and sabermetric politicians wearing same, would be optimistic - but quite the opposite is true. With rare exception, they're resigned to a dreary September finish and have focused their hopes on 2008 and beyond.

You'd think this would be the time for the front office to swing a deal for the wildcard run, but that seems unlikely with each passing day, which is a pity because that's what the front office promised they were prepared to do. They had earmarked funds for precisely this circumstance (wildcard contention) , arguing the money could be better targeted at midseason to address a pressing need and, you know, compete. Instead, GM Josh Byrnes recently served up that "other teams" dont seem too motivated to make a trade right now, and that he doesnt want to pay too much for a "rental" player anyway, since they can only contribute towards the remaining 40% of the season. Which team was it again, Josh, that wasnt motivated?

While one might explain away such discouraging tones as negotiating talk, Byrnes also volunteered that he's primarily in the market for a starting pitcher, a curious request coming from a gentleman responsible for constructing the worst hitting team in baseball.  Well, it's curious assuming one's serious about winning through September. After all, Arizona currently sports the second best park adjusted ERA in the National League and is dead last in more offensive categories than one can count. Wouldn't a given investment in hitting yield a higher marginal return for this team than a like investment in pitching?

It would - but this isnt about this year. This is about stablizing the 2008 rotation and beyond, when all the hitters will be older and presumably less crappy, and Livan Hernadez will be a free agent, and 44 year old Randy Johnson will crow that he's "never felt better".  There's a word for Byrnes' strategic approach - and it's not "contending".

It's called "rebuilding", and we're three years into it already, since investors wrested control of one of baseball's best farm systems from that system's creators.

Yeah, yeah, I know I said this team is the definition of "contention" - but that's only to date. Contending through the middle months and fading into oblivion, for whatever reason, is not "contention".  For current ownership, it's business as usual. With veteran difference makers like Adam Dunn and Dmitri Young available, one could play to win now - for a price - but the current brass refuses to be dictated to by frivilous concerns like "winning", "markets" or "fans". They will win and lose on their terms, on their calendar. They will dress up our championship franchise as they see fit, and will draw fans based entirely on their ticket pricing, policies and vision.

It's time people understood that this would be their team.

And this would be their times. 

(photos courtesy of azcentral.com)