The season has finally come to an end, and the Super Karate Monkey Death Car has parked in Kirk Gibson's spot. Despite a healthy 88-74 record (9th overall) the Goldschmidt-less Diamondbacks failed to make the playoffs and ownership decided to move in a different direction. In another front office shakeup ownership opted to terminate it's dual-GM experiment by firing Mr. Schroeer and retaining Mr. Ayers. The team is already hunting for a new coach and fielding trade offers for basically everyone on the roster.
The biggest surprise of the closing days was the status of Chris Owings' shoulder. The team had him rehab and let him come back at the end of the season only to post a sad slash line (.208/.256/.236), but it turns out that his injury was worse than originally thought. Owings is scheduled to undergo surgery on his left shoulder, hopefully Dr. James Andrews can work his magic in a non-Tommy John procedure.
The Diamondbacks' MVP was... Paul Goldschmidt! Even after missing most of the 2nd half he finished with one of the best stat lines on the team. Carlos Santana made it hard on voters with 27HR and 85RBI, but the .231BA wasn't working in his favor. David Peralta and Ender Inciarte also looked good, finishing the season with better-than-expected numbers, but ultimately it was the loss of Goldschmidt that doomed their season.
On the mound things get even muddier in terms of who was the 'best' pitcher. Ian Kennedy is the front runner with a full season under his belt and a career mark in K's (207), but a 13-13 record and a 1.29WHIP makes his 3.63ERA look much worse. Gio Gonzalez, the staff ace, missed a number of starts and didn't look sharp during a long stretch after returning. Gonzalez finished the season strong, but at that point it was too little too late in the face of a late season charge by the Braves. It actually looks like the best pitcher in Arizona was Pat Neshek, an early season free agent, who only tossed 67.1 inning but did more with them than just about anyone not named Jake Arrieta. Arrieta started the season late himself, but posted low win and K totals, and his 0.99WHIP and 2.53ERA were just what the team needed.
With so many people getting fired, and management looking to rebuild, it's hard to believe everyone will be back for the 2015 season. Most expect the GM to gut this team and look toward the future by stockpiling prospects.
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