Monday, April 5, 2004 - Page updated at 12:00 a.m. Pacific
 

AL West AL Central AL East NL West 1. San Diego Padres 2. Arizona Diamondbacks 3. Los Angeles Dodgers 4. San Francisco Giants 5. Colorado Rockies NL Central NL East Baseball '04 main

2. Arizona Diamondbacks
 
He's here: 1B Richie Sexson, 2B Roberto Alomar, RHP Shane Reynolds, RHP Steve Sparks, 1B Greg Colbrunn, C Brent Mayne.

He's outta here: RHP Curt Schilling (Boston), RHP Miguel Batista (Toronto), LHP Mike Myers (Seattle), OF Raul Mondesi (Pittsburgh), 1B Mark Grace (retired), 2B Junior Spivey (Milwaukee), INF Craig Counsell (Milwaukee), 1B Lyle Overbay (Milwaukee), C Chad Moeller (Milwaukee), OF Quinton McCracken (Seattle).

Ranking the rotation: 3rd in the division, 16th overall. D-backs still have Randy Johnson, and an emerging star in Brandon Webb, but the back end of this group looks pretty weak.

Written in Stone: The word on the street is that manager Bob Brenly is one slow start away from being replaced by retired first baseman Mark Grace, who could make the same jump from the broadcast booth that Brenly did. That outcome will be considerably less likely if Johnson, now the lone ace after the departure of Curt Schilling, bounces back from last year's injury-plagued, six-win season. Early indications are that the Big Unit is in vintage form. The Diamondbacks made a great acquisition in Richie Sexson, who could launch 50 homers in Arizona, but he's a free agent after the season. Sexson is in his prime, but the rest of the team seems either too young or too old. Of the young, Webb and Alex Cintron have the highest-end potential. Of the old, Roberto Alomar could really give the team a lift if he can recapture his form.

Lineup card

P Hitters Avg. HR RBI CF Steve Finley .287 22 70 2B Roberto Alomar .258 5 39 LF Luis Gonzalez .304 26 104 1B Richie Sexson .272 45 124 SS Alex Cintron .317 13 51 3B Shea Hillenbrand .280 20 97 RF Danny Bautista .275 4 36 C Robby Hammock .282 8 28

TH Starters W-L ERA SO LH Randy Johnson 6-8 4.26 125 RH Brandon Webb 10-9 2.84 172 RH Elmer Dessens 8-8 5.07 113 RH Casey Daigle* 11-11 4.59 115 RH Steve Sparks 0-6 4.88 54   TH Closer W-L ERA SV RH Matt Mantei 5-4 2.62 29

*Minor-league stats