Arizona Diamondbacks

For a team with 70 or fewer wins in the last two seasons, the Arizona Diamondbacks actually have several useful fantasy players.  

The first of those players to come to mind for most people would be position players.  Guys like Justin Upton, Chris Young (still cannot believe he is useful again), Stephen Drew and Miguel Montero are all useful fantasy hitters.  

On Monday afternoon, the Arizona Diamondbacks announced the signing of right-handed starting pitcher Armando Galarraga to a one-year contract for $2.3 million.

You may remember Galarraga from last year, as he was only one out away from a perfect game. But, in what may go down as one of the worst blown-calls in major league history, umpire Jim Joyce missed an obvious call that kept him a few feet away from a perfect game (literally).

When the Detroit Tigers signed starting pitcher and former Arizona Diamondback Brad Penny to a contract it began a domino effect that is still rumbling around Major League Baseball. In order to make room for Penny on the 40-man roster, the Tigers designated starting pitcher Armando Galarraga for assignment.

With the first Spring Training game just 39 days away, the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies hosted a behind the scenes tour of their new Spring Training facility Salt River Fields at Talking Stick.

When ground broke in November 2009, it was hard to imagine what the complex would look like.

Now, just 14 months later, the transformation is incredible.

Most of the heavy earth moving equipment has disappeared and all that remains is a few minor details and some cleanup.

Capistrano can have its swallows, farmers can have their almanac, and Punxsutawney can have its groundhog, but baseball fans everywhere know that the surest sign that spring is in the air is when Cactus League and Grapefruit League tickets go on sale.

The mere mention of Spring Training will put most baseball fans into a trance. They are whisked away from the frozen landscape and accumulating snow and transported to places with perpetual sunshine and blue, cloudless skies.

Two years ago, fantasy owners looking for a sleeper second baseman (or, more accurately, a bounce-back candidate) may have taken a flyer on the Toronto Blue Jays' Aaron Hill.  Those that did were rewarded handsomely, as he had a huge 2009 campaign:

682 AB, .286 average, 36 HR, 108 RBI, 103 R, 6 SB

Of course, those same owners felt bitter disappointment in 2010 when Hill followed up his impressive year with the following debacle:

528 AB, .205 average, 26 HR, 69 RBI, 70 R, 2 SB

On the first Thursday of every month, Arizona Diamondbacks CEO/President Derrick Hall took time out of his busy day to attend an online chat where he discussed the team and what fans should expect during the 2011 season.

Questions to the chief executive once again centered around the roster and the moves the team has made since finishing last in the National League West for two consecutive seasons.

Hall was very enthusiastic about the moves General Manager Kevin Towers has made this offseason.

Really? Kelly Johnson hit 26 home runs?

Do you ever have one of those days where it doesn’t seem to matter what you do, you just somehow find a way to stick your foot in your mouth? And then you try to fix things and you make an even bigger mess out of stuff than if you had just let things alone? Unfortunately, that pretty much describes every day of my life but even more so it describes my day yesterday.

At the conclusion of the final home game of the 2010 regular season, the Arizona Diamondbacks held a celebration for their season ticket holders on the playing surface at Chase Field. Season ticket holders had the opportunity to sign up and have their pictures taken with various players and coaches.