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Arizona Diamondbacks
Scouting Report
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The Diamondbacks are counting on Bell to anchor their
infield and lend stability to their clubhouse.
(V.J. Lovero)
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Arizona managing
general partner Jerry Colangelo is catching some serious
heat. But it's dry heat. Some of his fellow owners have
been sniping at him behind his back for spending too
lavishly and thereby driving up the cost of doing business
for everyone. Undeterred,
Colangelo telephoned one prominent owner and barked, "If
you've got a problem with me, say it to
me, not to someone else." Then he assured him that the
Diamondbacks' greenbacks will continue to flow. Since the
team is already among the five highest revenue producers in
baseball, without having played a game, Colangelo has only
just
begun.
"What it gets down to is jealousy," he says of
the criticisms. "I guess in baseball the egos are
bigger than they are in basketball. The first thing some of
these guys should do is look in a mirror.
"I have a 32-year track record of being
responsible," adds Colangelo, who has run the NBA's
Phoenix Suns since 1968. (The Suns have never won a league
title, falling to the Celtics in 1976 and the Bulls in 1993
in their only NBA Finals appearances.)
"Nothing has changed. If anything, the stakes are even higher.
Our goal is to separate ourselves from how baseball teams
have operated for a long time. That's not to say we ignore
tradition, but we're going to do things we believe are
right."
The Diamondbacks, who open with a $32 million payroll, have
spooked even George Steinbrenner, whose Yankees are the
richest team in baseball. Worried about losing
centerfielder Bernie Williams to the desert, Steinbrenner
has asked acting commissioner
Bud Selig to investigate whether Arizona tampered with
Williams, who is eligible for free agency after this
season.
Colangelo's spending spree began with the $10 million he
gave first baseman Travis Lee, a first-round pick by
Minnesota in 1996 who became a free agent because he wasn't
offered a contract soon enough by the Twins. Then he made
veteran free-agent
shortstop Jay Bell the highest-paid middle infielder in baseball,
at $6.8 million per year over five years. Next up was third
baseman Matt Williams, who got a five-year deal at $9.5
million a year—after Williams said he wanted to play only
in Arizona so he
could be near his children. Then he corralled pitcher Andy
Benes with $18 million over three years. Most recently,
after catcher Jorge Fabregas "lost" his
arbitration and was awarded an $875,000 contract, Colangelo
gave him a two-year, $2.9 million deal
anyway. Colangelo said he felt uneasy about the arbitration
figure because Arizona had offered Fabregas $1.05 million
before the
hearing.
"We won the arbitration, and I didn't feel good about
that," Colangelo says. "We made him an offer
based on what we thought his value was, so why should he be
penalized? That's the difference between me and how other
people do business. I want to do
what's
right."
Said Fabregas, who previously played for the White Sox and
the Angels, "I was very shocked. Things like that just
don't happen in baseball. This is the best-run organization
I've known. From [manager] Buck Showalter to his coaches to
everybody else,
they really care about
you."
Arizona has one of the highest season-ticket bases in
baseball: 34,000. It has a state-of-the-art, $354 million
ballpark, $238 million of which came from local taxes. When
it will put a state-of-the-art team on the field, however,
is less certain,
though the club's revenue and spending pattern suggest it could
be
soon.
"The Rockies made the playoffs in their third year,
but that was a strike season," Showalter says.
"When we get there, we don't want it to be a one-year
deal. We want to be consistent and have a farm system that
makes us a
self-replenishing
organization. What a good farm system does is help keep your payroll
down."
Clearly, though, the Diamondbacks can speed their
maturation through free agency. Colangelo has all but hung
a shingle on Bank One Ballpark, his
convertible-roofed stadium:
FREE AGENTS
WELCOME. "This is about recruiting," he says.
"Having the right facilities, treating people right
and being located in an attractive place to
play."
In the meantime Colangelo knows the rest of the baseball
world will keep a sharp eye on him. Last month for
instance, he attended a charity function in which people
wearing Yankees pinstripes served drinks. "I didn't
ask for one, though," Colangelo
says, "because I thought I might be accused of
tampering."
—by Tom Verducci
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