Busy Offseason In The Desert

          This has been a fairly busy winter for the Arizona Diamondbacks. And with the way they performed on the field this season, it should be. The Diamondbacks organization should be disgraced by the way they went from finishing a close second in 2008 to dropping all the way to dead last in 2009. If it had not already happened early in the season, there would definitely have been a change at manager. But after taking over in May, A.J. Hinch has shown signs that he has the potential to become a good manager. Joining Hinch on

A Peek At The D’Backs Future

          To most people, the only professional baseball being played right now are the Major League playoffs. But here in Arizona, there is another option. Sixteen years ago, Major League Baseball created a new winter league for top prospects to gain more exposure. They called the league the Arizona Fall League. It has become a great place to see the stars of tomorrow, and has already produced some of today’s superstars. For Arizona Diamondbacks fans, the Fall League offers a chance to get a better look at first baseman Brandon Allen. Along with Allen, there are six other top prospects from the Diamondbacks’ farm system, including outfielder Cole Gillespie and second baseman Pedro Ciriaco. Allen has already been named the Diamondbacks’ first baseman of the future and spent most of the time starting at the position after being called up from AAA Reno on August 22^nd. Gillespie and Ciriaco will have a much more difficult time making it to the Major League, at least with the Diamondbacks anyway, as both play positions that are currently over crowded.

Allen got off to a very slow start with only one hit in first three games, but has since started to heat up and is now hitting .268 with one home run, three doubles, and eight RBI. In Saturday’s game he went three for three. Despite his slow start at the plate Allen has been outstanding defensively which is a good sign for the Diamondbacks heading into next season.

Gillespie, who hit .304 with five home runs and twenty-seven RBI in forty-two games with AAA Reno, has only seen action in six games so far but is hitting .375 with two doubles and one RBI. He has also stolen two bases. Gillespie will have to make the most of every start he gets throughout the rest of the Fall League as he splits time with Thomas Neal, from the Giants, who has played phenomenal defense and posses one of the best outfield arms in the league.

Ciriaco comes from Mobile Bay, the Diamondbacks’ AA affiliate, where he hit .296 with four home runs and fifty-four RBI. So far in the Fall League he has made appearances in five games as part of a middle infield rotation with five other players. In those five games, he has hit .462 with three doubles and three RBI. Like Gillespie, he has also stolen two bases.