At 44, Johnson can still bring the heat (when healthy), and there is plenty of firepower in front of him in the rotation. Doug Pensinger/Getty Images
	FAST FACTS MANAGER BOB MELVIN fourth season with Arizona Team Page | 2008 Schedule THE NUMBERS LIE | DON'T LIE 50 Stolen bases last year by Eric Byrnes, the first outfielder to reach 20 home runs and 50 steals in the same season since Rickey Henderson did it in 1993. Don't expect a repeat performance from journeyman Byrnes, 32. In fact, only four players in history -- Henderson (four times), Joe Morgan and Cesar Cedeño (three apiece) and Eric Davis (twice) -- had more than one 20-50 season. CONSIDER THIS The Diamondbacks' lineup lists heavily to the right side; only shortstop Stephen Drew and switch-hitting second baseman Orlando Hudson take any cuts from the left. Catcher Miguel Montero will help that balance when he returns from a fractured right-index-finger injury that will keep him on the disabled list beyond Opening Day. The return of Chad Tracy, though, would be a huge lift. His season was cut short by microfracture surgery on his right knee in late September, and his rehab will likely keep him on the DL for the start of the season. The 27-year-old infielder is a career .308 hitter against righthanders with a .371 OBP and .508 slugging percentage, and should share time with Mark Reynolds at third base and Conor Jackson at first. Tracy provides high OBP and lefty power, two things that Arizona will need to exceed last year's paltry 712 runs scored. BATTING ORDER POS. PLAYER B-T PVR BA HR RBI SB CF CHRIS YOUNG R 49 .237 32 68 27 2B ORLANDO HUDSON S-R 177 .294 10 63 10 1B CONOR JACKSON R 97 .284 15 60 2 LF ERIC BYRNES R 52 .286 21 83 50 3B MARK REYNOLDS R 84 .279 17 62 0 SS STEPHEN DREW L-R 203 .238 12 60 9 C CHRIS SNYDER R 182 .252 13 47 0 RF JUSTIN UPTON R 92 .221 2 11 2 BENCH POS. PLAYER B-T PVR BA HR RBI SB IF-OF CHRIS BURKE R 317 .229 6 28 9 3B CHAD TRACY L-R 290 .264 7 35 0 C MIGUEL MONTERO L-R 287 .224 10 37 0 ROTATION PITCHER PVR W L K/9 WHIP ERA RH BRANDON WEBB 3 18 10 7.4 1.19 3.01 RH DANNY HAREN 9 15 9 7.8 1.21 3.07 LH DOUG DAVIS 151 13 12 6.7 1.59 4.25 RH MICAH OWINGS 105 8 8 6.3 1.28 4.30 LH RANDY JOHNSON 75 4 3 11.4 1.15 3.81 BULLPEN PITCHER PVR W L S WHIP ERA RH BRANDON LYON 95 6 2 4.9 1.24 2.68 RH TONY PEÑA 126 5 2 6.6 1.10 3.27 RH CHAD QUALLS 174 6 5 8.5 1.32 3.05

"We have a chance to win, not only this year, but for several years."

General manager Josh Byrnes didn't land the biggest off-season pitching prize (Johan Santana) or even the second best (Erik Bedard). Instead, he settled for the bronze, obtaining Dan Haren from the A's in an eight-player deal that brought neither the payroll hit of Santana (six years, $137.5 million) nor the toll in prospects of the Bedard deal (notably centerfielder Adam Jones and pitcher Chris Tillman). In return for the 27-year-old Haren, an innings-eater still three seasons removed from free agency, Byrnes surrendered six minor leaguers who were blocked by the team's glut of young talent. (Leftfielder Eric Byrnes is the only regular older than 30.)

Josh Byrnes's more daring move, though, came a matter of hours after he closed the Haren deal on Dec. 14, when he dealt closer Jose Valverde to the Astros for reliever Chad Qualls, utilityman Chris Burke and minor league righthander Juan Gutierrez. The margin for error is particularly thin in baseball's most competitive division, top-to-bottom, and Valverde's dominance (47 saves) was an important factor in the Diamondbacks' major-league-best 32-20 record in one-run games last season.

Yet as good as Valverde was, the setup trio of Juan Cruz, Brandon Lyon and Tony Peña was no less valuable to a club whose inability to score runs made tight games a near-nightly occurrence. Lyon will be the new closer and, as a sinkerballer who pitches to contact, an unconventional one. Last year, however, opponents hit only .210 against him with runners on base, and he's almost equally efficient against righties and lefties. "I go at hitters and throw strikes," says Lyon, 28, the one remaining piece from the trade that sent Curt Schilling to the Red Sox in 2003.

Cruz, Peña and Qualls will work in front of Lyon -- a model similar to the one the Indians successfully employed last year, when flamethrowers Jensen Lewis, Rafael Betancourt and Rafael Perez cleaned up big messes in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings before soft-tossing Joe Borowski took over in the ninth. "They all could close," says manager Bob Melvin of his setup trio.

Innings one through six are in even better hands. In each of his three years with Oakland, Haren won at least 14 games, made 34 starts and pitched more than 217 innings. "I wanted to go to a team that was winning now," he says. "We have a chance to win, not only this year but for several years."

Forty-four-year-old Randy Johnson might be the game's best No. 5 starter -- if he can find his groove after having back surgery each of the last two years. As evidence that the five-time Cy Young winner can still pitch at a high level, Byrnes points to a six-start stretch last season in which the Big Unit was 4-0 with a 2.02 ERA and struck out 51 batters in 35 2/3 innings.

But will the Diamondbacks score enough runs to support this deep staff? Arizona was outscored by 20 runs last year despite playing in a hitter-friendly park. After his team ranked last in the NL with a .321 on-base percentage, Melvin emphasized plate discipline in spring training. "We're going to have to do the small things," says centerfielder Chris Young, who hit 32 homers from the leadoff spot but had a sub-.300 OBP. "We're going to have to steal bases, get the bunts down. Our pitchers are keeping us in the game, so offensively we need to get a few runs late to win a ball game." -- Joe Lemire

Issue date: March 31, 2008