April fools.
For the Arizona Diamondbacks the entire month has been no joke.
They’ve stumbled to the worst record in baseball and are the only team who will finish the first full month of the 2014 season with at least 20 losses. They also own the worst run differential and home record in the majors.
Kirk Gibson’s team has already had a three-game losing streak, three four-game skids and an ugly stretch of six-straight setbacks. They’ve lost nine of ten series.
To this point, it’s almost unthinkable to believe the season could be essentially lost after around 30 games but it’s certainly a stark reality as this unforgettable month comes to a close. 2014 was a far cry from last April when the Dbacks finished 15-12.
“That’s the consensus around baseball,” ESPN baseball insider Pedro Gomez told Sports360AZ.com’s Brad Cesmat in a recent phone interview about Arizona’s long-shot of getting back into contention. “This is a reality when a ball club is not constructed to be able to compete in this division.”
Season-ending injuries to lefty ace Patrick Corbin and valuable reliever David Hernandez didn’t help matters, nor did recently losing slugger Mark Trumbo to a stress fracture in his left foot. Gibson and general manager Kevin Towers’ jobs are in limbo but some wonder what sort of impact a change at either position would bring. The club is saddled with overpaid, underperforming players like Trevor Cahill or youngsters like shortstop Chris Owings who are under affordable contracts with options.
In short, there aren’t many trade pieces which are available.
“When you look at the Diamondbacks roster, there’s not a lot where clubs would maybe say, ‘hey we’d like to have that guy,” Gomez explained to Cesmat.
Two players would could be attractive pieces to front-running teams are catcher Miguel Montero and second baseman Aaron Hill.
