The Arizona Diamondbacks 2016 season was a trainwreck, and apparently so was the front office. Tony La Russa was the only member of Baseball Operations and Management to stay within the organization, with both Chip Hale and Dave Stewart fired on Monday. La Russa is now no longer the President of Baseball Operations, and was offered an advisory role. He would have a voice in the room, but would not direct in any way. He is expected to decide within the next day or two. The new general manager will head up baseball ops.
Tony LaRussa has been offered an advisory role with the Diamondbacks will make decision in next day or two.
— John Gambadoro (@Gambo987) October 4, 2016
LaRussa would have a voice in the room, weigh in with ideas and opinions but not direct in any way.
— John Gambadoro (@Gambo987) October 4, 2016
Tony La Russa Out as CBO in Arizona
The 2016 season for Arizona was met with a whole lot of opening day hype. Fancy and flashy new uniforms, and a potential Cerberus of starters with Patrick Corbin, Shelby Miller, and Zack Greinke to headline. It went from disaster to disaster. Greinke got smashed around during the first month of the season and Miller spent significant time in Triple-A, not because of injury. They also traded away top prospect Dansby Swanson for Miller, and Ender Inciarte. Inciarte ended up being sorely missed, considering A.J. Pollock was out for a significant period of time. From the transaction side of things, they lost almost every move they made.
According to Stewart, his firing came from the owner and not LaRussa. The situation in Arizona doesn’t seem to be the most inviting of all openings. Ken Kendrick essentially cleaned house after two years. Impatience does not work well in baseball; just ask the San Diego Padres. They got impatient leading into the 2015 season and traded away a bevy of prospects to get Matt Kemp, Wil Myers, and Justin Upton. Myers is the only remaining member of that group, and has definitely come into form. The rest no longer play in San Diego, and they basically got nothing in return.
Trading away Swanson might have been the worst of all the moves. Time will tell if the impatience came from LaRussa or Kendrick. Stay tuned for updates on La Russa’s decision.
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