Brad Cesmat
Enough with the excuses.
Our hometown heroes on the diamond have underachieved through the season’s first two months. Don’t want to hear how brutal the schedule has been with travel. Don’t want to hear that the umpire’s strike zone was the reason that a pitcher had his great outing ruined or that injuries have taken their toll. Let’s call it as it is, the 2025 Arizona Diamondbacks have been a major disappointment as we hit the Memorial Day holiday. Fans of the franchise deserve a better product on the field, and so does ownership.
Not one area of this team seems solid, which shouldn’t be the case when the bank is dishing out $181 million on the roster for the season.
Do we forget after the final day of the 2024 season looked from the outside looking in on the postseason? Paraphrasing what the late great Pedro Gomez used to say on our weekly get-togethers, “teams don’t make the postseason early in the season, but they can certainly miss it”.
Home for six against the lowly Pirates and Nationals this coming week should be an indicator that the ship is turning in the right direction. I’m not accepting this is a .500 team, yet here we are at 26-26. At what point does the conversation shift from the players to the manager? I’m not there yet, it’s a collective effort.
The eventual “we’re all disappointed, but we believe we can turn it around” company line won’t hold water much longer…
Is the weight of impending free agency impacting Zac Gallen? Sometimes, the business of sports gets into a player’s head. He was the opening-day starter for the Diamondbacks, and right now, I’d say he’s the fourth-best pitcher in the rotation. Not a good way to start out your contract year.
It’s been a year since Graham Rossini took over as AD at Arizona State. I’m pretty sure that he’s going to have to handle programs coming after his head football coach at the end of November. Both Deion Sanders and Kenny Dillingham were rewarded with new contracts this offseason. Deion will make over $ 10 million this year, while Dillingham will be close to $ 6 million. Dillingham has a Big 12 title belt on his resume, while Sanders is the highest-paid coach in the conference. When the two programs square off on November 22nd in Boulder, both men could be in the middle of the coaching carousel rumor mill. While this ia a good problem for Rossini to have to deal with, will he have the financial backing from those above him, specifically President Crow to give Dillingham the dollars that puts him into the highest paid coaches in the conference, or will Rossini be left to answer questions IF/WHEN a school like USC comes along and drops sacks full of money at the head coaches feet? IF you believe this won’t be an issue, then you truly are on the school payroll and drinking the maroon and gold Kool-Aid.
In year one, Rossini has had to navigate through more than anyone could’ve imagined. House Settlement coming soon? Budget for an athletic department to support 26 sports(for now) with NIL in play? Removing and hiring head coaches(women’s basketball), sticking with Bobby Hurley another season, watching the baseball and softball seasons abruptly end (and these are just items I’m ticking off the top of my head, I’m sure there’s much more) and of course the annual through the Desert Financial remodel.
He’s been approachable, credible, and honest with me. That’s all I can ask for in year one.
I’ve been in Las Vegas and Carlsbad this week. At both stops, there was next to no traffic, and the usual eating spots were empty. Yes, there’s concern out there.
