INSIDE BASEBALL
The Least With the Most
by Mark Bechtel and Jeff Pearlman
Posted: Wed September 16, 1998
To the list of swell things expansion has brought us (diluted
pitching, diluted hitting, lots of bright new uniform colors,
etc.), add the following: one more race to watch come September.
While neither the Diamondbacks nor the Devil Rays will make a
fuss over it, the race to see which first-year team will finish
with the better (or less-dreadful) record is going on in earnest.
With a 1-0 win at Pittsburgh on Sept. 3, Arizona pulled ahead of
Tampa Bay for the first time.
Entering the season, the Diamondbacks looked like a lock to come
out on top. The deep pockets of managing general partner Jerry
Colangelo allowed them to pursue high-ticket veterans such as
righthander Andy Benes, third baseman Matt Williams, shortstop
Jay Bell and centerfielder Devon White. The organization was so
confident—some might say arrogant—that general manager Joe
Garagiola Jr. declared that he expected the team to finish at
.500, which would have been a record for an expansion team. (The
1961 Los Angeles Angels had the best rookie year, going 70-91.)
An 8-31 start put the kibosh on that kind of talk, though, and
now the Diamondbacks are trying their best to avoid 100 losses.
Meantime, they seem to have found a silver lining in the process
of self-discovery. "One of the greatest things an organization
can do is evaluate its own people," says Arizona manager Buck
Showalter. "People spend too much time evaluating everybody else.
You better evaluate your own people first. It'll be nice going to
spring training next year knowing some things about some people."
Showalter now knows, for instance, that youngster Karim Garcia
(.213, six home runs, 33 RBIs through Sunday) is not the answer
in rightfield, while rookie Travis Lee (20 homers, 61 RBIs) gives
him a potential franchise cornerstone at first base. He also
found out that Tony Batista can hit. After the 24-year-old belted
16 homers in fewer than 240 at bats, Showalter finally moved the
underachieving Bell (.251) to second base so Batista could play
shortstop every day.
But the most important lesson Showalter learned was that spending
big bucks on pitching at the outset is foolish. Benes (13-13) has
been no better than expansion draft pickup Brian Anderson
(11-12), and Willie Blair was an appalling 4-15 before being
traded to the Mets for slumping outfielder Bernard Gilkey.
When it comes to pitching, Arizona could take a lesson from the
Devil Rays, who put together a promising but inexpensive staff.
Through last Saturday, Tampa Bay was fourth in the American
League in ERA, a position that, should they hold it, would be the
highest ever for an expansion team. Cuban refugee Rolando Arrojo
(13-12 with a 3.67 ERA, 10th in the league) has been a
certifiable ace, and 24-year-old righthander Julio Santana was
4-4 with a 4.03 ERA in his 17 starts at week's end. The
bullpen—populated by no-names such as Scott Aldred, Albie Lopez,
Jim Mecir and Esteban Yan—has been among the league's best with
an ERA of 3.92, good for third in the AL through last Saturday.
Good pitching alone hasn't been enough for Tampa Bay, though. As
has been the case in Arizona, the big-name vets counted on to
provide offense—third baseman Wade Boggs, designated hitter Paul
Sorrento and first baseman Fred McGriff—have been disappointing.
After a 20-25 start, the Devil Rays' anemic offense (their 103
home runs are tied for last in the league) sent them plummeting.
"When we got off to such a good start, I think we put some
[unreasonably high] expectations on ourselves," says Sorrento.
"[The drop-off] was caused by a combination of things. When we
pitched well, we didn't hit. When we hit, we didn't pitch well."
In other words, they were an expansion team.
Issue date: September 21, 1998
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