Jared Cohen
The Arizona Diamondbacks solidified on Monday, the day after their 2016 season came to an end, that their upcoming offseason will be full of storylines as they have fired their general manager, Dave Stewart, and manager, Chip Hale.
“We are very grateful to Dave and Chip who are widely respected throughout the game of baseball,” said managing general partner Ken Kendrick. “Ultimately, the results have not been what we had hoped and while that responsibility is shared by all of us, we have decided that a change is necessary. We are still discussing what the appropriate role for Tony La Russa will be going forward.”
“Stew and Chip are quality individuals who I consider friends and I respect greatly,” said team President Derrick Hall. “I thank them for their tireless efforts while wearing our logo on their chests. We will look to move quickly as we turn the page and begin another chapter for this proud franchise.”
The interesting note there from Kendrick was what he stated about La Russa and what his role will entail. He was named the Chief Baseball Officer back in May of 2014 and was involved in the hire of Dave Stewart, DeJon Watson (who was fired before the season ended) and Chip Hale.
This season was a complete and utter disaster. You knew changes had to be coming. I see the firing of Dave Stewart and Chip Hale as possibly necessary but the major problem I have with it is the fact that this team has zero stability. “Moving quickly as we turn the page” wont lead to wins quickly when there continues to be no consistency in the front office and with management. The best franchises traditionally in all sports are the ones that have success as a result of their stability. This franchise now has shown through multiple regimes of general managers to managers and coaching staffs that it has anything but and it’s 148-176 record that last two seasons is a direct reflection.
This next hire now becomes the biggest of Derrick Hall’s tenure. While he has done nothing but handle himself with grace and integrity in the public eye, the in-stability under him on the baseball side now speaks for itself. It’s time for the team to commit itself to a four to five year plan, regardless of results to build an identity. Until that happens, this team will continue to try walking up an escalator that is moving down.
And I’ll end on this. It pretty much sums everything up around this franchise as their former number one overall pick that was traded away, tweets about loving Atlanta the same day Dave Stewart is fired.
Atlanta, thank you. This city is where my dream was envisioned, and now fulfilled. Looking forward to the ones to come! #ATL
— Dansby Swanson (@LieutenantDans7) October 3, 2016
