A day after drafting one of the higher-rated guards to come along in decades, the Cardinals landed two more players Friday that at least once were viewed as potential first-round picks.
“Oh, I don’t think there’s any doubt about that, talent-wise,” head coach Bruce Arians said.
Hundreds of young football players will be waiting by their phones this weekend as the NFL draft continues to play out following Thursday night’s first-round selections.
But at least one player doesn’t plan to follow the usual etiquette.
It’s still only April, and Major League Baseball’s disabled list is already one crowded place to be.
Diamondbacks second baseman Aaron Hill became the 129th player to join the active disabled list earlier this week when a CT scan revealed a surface break on the top of his left hand.
It wasn’t the long ago when folks looked at the NFC West and snickered.
It was viewed as the doormat of divisions in the NFL and it seemed like about the only thing it had going for it moving forward was a hot-shot young quarterback named Sam Bradford.
Miguel Montero felt so bad for Brandon McCarthy last Tuesday after a 6-5 loss to the Pirates that he went into the Diamondbacks trainer’s room while McCarthy was getting his right arm iced down and apologized.
“I went right up to him and said, ‘Hey, dude, my bad, man,’ ” Montero said. “I thought he had great stuff; I just didn’t make it work. I take full responsibility for that, and I told him, ‘You trusted me and I didn’t call the right pitches at the right time.’
The NFL Draft isn’t until April 25-27, but it’s never too early to take a look ahead and see how the first round might play out. Last year in my final 2012 Mock Draft, I correctly projected 26 of the 32 players that would be selected in the first round, with eight going to the designated team I predicted. With that, here is an updated look at my 2013 NFL Mock Draft. I’ll be updating this periodically between now and the draft itself. My picks are based on observations, team needs, scouting services and various NFL sources:
The first round of the 2013 NFL draft is just 10 days away and the guessing game still continues as to which players will go where and why.
Unlike most drafts, even predicting who will be the top overall pick this year is no sure thing.
PHOENIX — As soon as Josh Beckett decided to intentionally walk Miguel Montero in the bottom of the ninth inning Sunday, Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson turned to veteran Eric Chavez in the dugout and offered this wish with a runner at second and Paul Goldschmidt coming to the plate:
“I hope it’s just a little (expletive) hit,” Gibson said. “I hope he hits it in just the right spot.”
There were so many television cameras, microphones and tape recorders around Don Mattingly on Friday at Chase Field that it must have felt more like a pregame media session before Game 1 of the World Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers manager, not just a regular-season game in April against the Diamondbacks.
That’s what happens, though, a day after a free-spending team like the Dodgers loses their $147 million pitcher to a fractured clavicle during a brawl.
As Jackie Robinson’s story gets the full Hollywood treatment with the release Friday of “42,” people in and around baseball tell azcentral sports’ Bob McManaman what Robinson and his legacy means to them:
Ralph Branca – Member of the 1947 Brooklyn Dodgers
As the last surviving member of the 1947 Brooklyn Dodgers, Branca is in singular position to tell stories about the great Jackie Robinson’s arrival in the major leagues, when he broke through the game’s racial barrier amid great controversy.
Peter King met Pat Tillman only once, but once was enough to leave a lasting impact on the longtime Sports Illustrated writer.
Tillman had the kind of effect on pretty much everyone.
If numbers never lie in baseball, they’re not telling the whole truth as far as Brandon McCarthy can figure.
Just take Tuesday night’s 6-5 loss to the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates for example.
Justin Upton’s locker used to be located right next to Gerardo Parra’s in the Diamondbacks’ clubhouse.
“Oh, one of my best friends ever, for sure,” Parra said Monday. “I love J-Up. I miss him.”
Former Cardinals quarterback Kevin Kolb met with members of the Buffalo area media on Monday and in addition to saying all the right things, he had some interesting words about his two years in Arizona.
The Cardinals released Kolb last month, deciding not to pay him a $2 million roster bonus, and since have signed Drew Stanton as a free agent and acquired Carson Palmer through a trade.
When it was finally over, after they sang Take Me Out to the Ballgame twice, ran the Legends Race twice, and the clock stood at 12 minutes after midnight, Cliff Pennington did the safest thing he could do.
After driving in the winning run with a single up the middle in the bottom of the 16th inning early Thursday morning, he turned around and looked for the biggest teammate he could hug.
Three games into the season might seem like a premature time to start talking about resting a player.
But with the two busier catchers in the major leagues on the same field together for a third consecutive night Wednesday at Chase Field, it makes for an interesting debate.
Adam Eaton got a nice ovation from the sold-out Chase Field crowd Monday night when he was introduced as part of the Diamondbacks’ 2013 Opening Day roster.
He was appreciative, to be sure, but it would have felt a lot better if he didn’t have to start the season on the disabled list and instead was in the starting lineup against the St. Louis Cardinals.
The Diamondbacks officially locked up their latest poster boy, and General Manager Kevin Towers said he wishes he could “mold 24 more” just like him.
“When you enter into these long-term commitments, character is very important, especially for this organization, and there’s no better guy than Paul Goldschmidt,” Towers said Saturday of Arizona’s young first baseman, who agreed to a five-year, $32 million contract extension with a club option for a sixth year worth $14.5 million.
For having his normal pregame routine virtually go up in smoke, Trevor Cahill looked dead-on locked into full regular-season mode on Thursday.
The Texas Rangers didn’t exactly have their best team on the field at Surprise Stadium in Arizona’s last official Cactus League game, but Cahill mowed them down with relative ease.
Josh Wilson isn’t taking anything for granted. Sure, on paper, it looks fairly obvious the utility infielder is bound to break camp with the Diamondbacks and find his name on the 25-man Opening Day roster.
The trade of John McDonald to the Pirates and the oblique strain to Willie Bloomquist would almost seem to guarantee a spot for the 32-year-old journeyman in this, his third go-round with the Diamondbacks.
The NFL free-agency signing period has slowed to a crawl, making it difficult for football-starved fans not to turn their attention to next month’s draft.
Judging by the number of unrestricted free agents still unsigned, it would appear most NFL teams feel the same way.
Another spring training is winding to a close in Arizona, and things aren’t so good in Goodyear for the Cleveland Indians.
Oh, on the field, things are just rosy. The Tribe added more muscle to the middle of the lineup with Mark Reynolds and Nick Swisher, the outfield looks improved with fellow newcomers Michael Bourn and Drew Stubbs, and the pitching staff under new manager Terry Francona just might surprise this year.
There’s a lot more that goes into determining who wins the No. 5 starter’s job than simply analyzing how Patrick Corbin and Randall Delgado have pitched this spring.
Their past histories and track records will play a big part of it. So will identifying how they fit into the staff and how they complement the other starters. But it goes even deeper than that, from judging whether one is better served starting in the minors to perhaps which one is better at facing left-handed hitters.
Diamondbacks pitcher Brandon McCarthy came up with the perfect comparison to describe the perfect teammate, that grizzled veteran ballplayer who serves as part captain, part class clown.
“He’s the guy you definitely want over to your house when you’re throwing a dinner party,” McCarthy said. “He’s the guy who you really hope shows up, because it doesn’t start to get any fun until that guy gets there.”
When the Diamondbacks decided to hold auditions for the No. 5 spot in their starting rotation, they neglected to invite right-hander Josh Collmenter.
It wasn’t necessarily a regrettable omission, either.
