When Seinfeld and real life merge.

“It sounds kind of small-minded, but I would think they probably have the legal right to do that, especially if they let people know in advance that that’s the rule,” said Paul Bender, a professor of law at Arizona State.

“I hate to say that. I don’t like them doing that. And it’s conceivable if it’s treated as a city, state or county stadium that the rule would be different. But with what kind of clothes people wear, usually people who run the ...

“You have no idea how important it was to bring in some of these guys,” closer J.J. Putz said, “especially a guy like Hinske.”

Hinske, 35, has never been a .300 hitter in the major leagues. He’s never belted 25 or more home runs in a season, either. But it’s all the intangibles he offers that makes him just as valuable as a superstar.

“Having those kinds of guys is huge,” Hinske said. “It doesn’t have to be one person. It doesn’t have to be an everyday player. It just ...

For those who have known Orlando, it’s not difficult to associate him with his well-worn nickname - The “O-Dog.” He’s gregarious and outspoken. He’s the kind of guy who wears his emotions on his sleeve and his initials embroidered on the outside of his shirt cuff. His on-field persona involves some mix of flair and grit. A second baseman with limited power and decent speed, his calling card for many years was highlight-inducing defense. He speaks quickly and often, and you might catch him ...

At Hardball Talk, Calcaterra said of this B-Pro guest piece by former journeyman pitcher Eric Knott:

We should spill way less ink about who we think “the real Home Run King” is — as if that matters — and think way harder about those frequent minor league suspensions and what they mean to the people who are faced with the choice to take dangerous drugs or wind up out of baseball.

Against that backdrop is this excellent column from Eric Knott. Knott pitched 11 years in the minors and ...

Former Major League infielder and Louisiana State quarterback Josh Booty was named the winner of “The Next Knuckler,” MLB Network’s first reality series competition, Thursday evening. The victory earns Booty a non-roster invitation to the Arizona Diamondbacks’ Spring Training camp, to which he’ll report Friday.

The Cubs announced that they have traded outfielder Tony Campana to the Diamondbacks in exchange for minor league right-handed pitchers Erick Leal and Jesus Castillo…

Campana, 26, finished 2012 with a slash line of .264/.308/.299 in 192 plate appearances.  The speedster also racked up 30 stolen bases last season, good for ninth in the National League.  The Diamondbacks are already more than set in the outfield, so its not clear what kind of role they have in mind for Campana.

the Arizona Diamondbacks knew of Didi Gregorius’ elbow problem, and they had no trouble trading for him even with that knowledge.

There were initial reports that the Diamondbacks did not do a proper physical or proper medical background check on Gregorius.  That is simply not the case.  Kevin Towers, the DBacks GM, said the team knew that Gregorius had hurt his elbow preparing for the World Baseball Classic.  Gregorius was doing so in December when Arizona acquired him.  They knew.

Montero said earlier this week that Bauer, among other things, didn’t listen to Montero when he was his catcher with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Bauer has since been traded to the Cleveland Indians. Which leads us to this song ...

“You Don’t Know Me” was posted online on Wednesday. But MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian reports that Bauer recorded the song in December, which is when he was traded.
Bauer, in not exactly the cleanest of flows, says things such as:

“Its time to get back to all ...

“Last year, we scored more runs than in the previous year. It’s not all how many runs you score. In 2011, we were very good and efficient at winning close ballgames. Last year, we weren’t. If you look at statistics, high-leverage situations we were not good. Late and close we were not good. Yet we improved ourselves with runners in scoring position. 2007 was the same way, we had a negative run differential (and still won 90 games). That’s what we’re looking for. We’re looking for ...

Hill, 30, was scheduled to earn $5.5 million this year as part of the two-year agreement he signed with the D’Backs last offseason. It’s unclear if the new extension will take effect immediately or be tacked on to his current contract. Arizona signed Martin Prado to a four-year, $40 million extension last week.

I suppose the Dbacks won the Kelly Johnson trade.

MLB Network is debuting a new series next week called “The Next Knuckler.” The concept: several former college (and pro) quarterbacks are going to learn to throw a knuckleball under the instruction of Tim Wakefield. The best knuckleballer at the end of the series will get an invite to Arizona Diamondbacks’ spring training. The quarterbacks: John David Booty, Josh Booty, Doug Flutie, David Greene and Ryan Perrilloux…

The show debuts on Wednewday, February 13th at 9PM.

(But may be delayed ...

Players to finish in Top 3 in Cy Young balloting three straight years - Sandy Koufax, Warren Spahn, Fergie Jenkins, Catfish Hunter, Jim Palmer, Steve Carlton, Tom Glavine, Pedro Martinez, Greg Maddux, Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson…and Brandon Webb.

Brandon Webb, the 2006 National League Cy Young Award winner and one of the most dominant starters in the game during a five-year stretch with the Arizona Diamondbacks, is officially retiring from baseball, according to his agents at Millennium ...

The Arizona Diamondbacks have agreed to a $40 million, four-year contract with Martin Prado just a week after acquiring the former All-Star infielder in a trade that sent Justin Upton to Atlanta.

This strikes me as a rather large overpay for a good but not great player.

Mark Grace, in court Thursday, pleaded guilty to endangerment and DUI, avoiding what could have been a lengthy prison sentence.

Instead, a judge imposed a sentence that includes work-release jail time as well as three years of supervised probation. Additionally, an Interlock device must be installed in his vehicle for six months and he will need permission to travel out of state.

His work-release sentence begins Feb. 10.

Grace, a former Diamondbacks player and broadcaster, was charged with ...

My opinion on the deal is right in line with the general consensus: The Diamondbacks didn’t get enough. Which, in so many ways, is incredible to me. After close to 2 1/2 years of on-again/off-again trade discussions involving Upton, this is the deal they settle on? After saying time and again that they’re only going to trade Upton if/when the right package comes along, this is the one they deem the right one?

*This whole off-season seems like a huge overreaction, something Towers said in ...

• Asked if the Diamondbacks preferred grinding, gritty players

Towers replied, “That’s accurate. That’s the way [manager Kirk Gibson] played the game. That’s how we won in 2011, and Justin was part of that club.” Towers lauded Martin Prado as having that kind of mentality, grinding out at-bats and not striking out. He added, “Justin played hard every single day,” and “he cared, he’s a competitor.” But because he had a bit of a “swagger,” and because of his general body language, people might ...

As much as any baseball team in recent memory, the Diamondbacks on Thursday publicly embraced the idea of grittiness and guts, of the inherent and unquantifiable. And in doing so, they finished a two-trade whammy over the last six weeks that has seen them ship out their two most talented players in an effort to better embody this belief.

First went Trevor Bauer, the super-talented and cerebral pitching prospect who rubbed manager Kirk Gibson and some teammates the wrong way. And now [Justin] ...

Kevin Towers gave up more talent to acquire Didi Gregorius than he received in return for Justin Upton.

Source: Braves get Justin Upton and Chris Johnson from D-backs for Prado, Delgado, Ahmed and Spruill.

The Diamondbacks have really painted themselves in to a corner on this one.

Now the D-backs are looking to strengthen their pitching staff with a deal similar to the one they had agreed to with the Mariners. Had Upton not exercised his right to veto the trade, Arizona was going to receive a strong package that included shortstop Nick Franklin and pitchers Taijuan Walker, Stephen Pryor and Charlie Furbush.

This package would have included three of Seattle’s top six prospects, as rated by ...

Phoenix or Seattle? I’d go with Seattle.

The Diamondbacks were in agreement on a trade that would have sent Upton to the Seattle Mariners, but the two-time All-Star rejected the proposed deal, major-league sources say.

Luis Gonzalez is eligible in 2014. Steve Finley was eligible in 2012.

Kevin Towers’ mind is a raging torrent, flooded with rivulets of thought cascading into a waterfall of creative alternatives.

Justin Upton for Chase Headley?

The Arizona Diamondbacks and San Diego Padres have held on-and-off discussions about a trade involving those players since July, but the talks have failed to progress, according to major-league sources.

The Diamondbacks, however, continue to discuss Upton with other clubs, including the Texas Rangers and Seattle Mariners…

The Rangers ...

But as we saw in reactions to the Bauer trade, a GM’s reputation is the absolute epitome of, as Janet Jackson (or Eddie Murphy, depending on taste) put it: “What have you done for me lately?” That the Diamondbacks came within a squib of the National League Championship Series last year, while spending only more than the Pirates and Padres in the league, has apparently all been forgotten. Instead, Towers has often been dismissed as “lucky” at best, and incompetent by many. Let’s see if the past ...

The Arizona Diamondbacks agreed to terms Saturday with free-agent outfielder Cody Ross on a three-year contract, according to sources. ESPN’s Jim Bowden reports the deal is worth $26 million and includes a club option with a $1 million buyout.

Well, they say Ross has discount prices, but the last time this team got an outfielder around that price they got Byrned.

Gregorius… yeah… Sipp, Anderson, hey I remember Anderson… WHUHUH??

The Diamondbacks announced that they have acquired shortstop Didi Gregorius, left-handed pitcher Tony Sipp, and first baseman Lars Anderson from the Indians in exchange for right-handed pitchers Trevor Bauer, Matt Albers and Bryan Shaw.  The Reds are receiving Shin-Soo Choo and Jason Donald in the swap.