New Faces Help Change Attitude

The new faces of the Arizona Diamondbacks, and there are many of them, were meant to be added to help change the attitude of the clubhouse and overall play out on the field.  The Dbacks didn't go out and get the overall best guys available, but may have picked up some of the more respected veterans in the game.

Melvin Mora, Geoff Blum, Henry Blanco, Willie Blomquist, Xavier Nady, Zach Duke, J.J. Putz, Russell Branyon are all guys who have been around awhile.  They have all had some highlights in their career but none of them jump out at you on the stat page over the course of their careers.  For the Dbacks, that is just fine.  For the fans, it should be as well.

All of them have had experience in other clubhouses.  They have all been part of winners and losers.  For some, they are here just to help those youngsters gain experience, provide some maturity, and give them the experience of what a good attitude does, even when things aren't going so well.

Henry Blanco hasn't exactly blown people away at the plate, but he is a heck of a catcher who is well respected.  He will be a tremendous help to Miguel Montero.  Geoff Blum and Willie Bloomquist can help Brandon Allen.  Xavier Nady can help Gerardo Parra and so on.

Last year and the year before, word was the attitude it what killed the Dbacks when it came to their play on the field.  Those with poor attitudes were shipped off, such as Chris Snyder.  Snyder is a great defensive catcher with occasional power and was great with the media, but word was he wasn't such a great teammate in the clubhouse.

They may not be the best team on paper om 2011, but in the clubhouse, I'm not sure there is a much better conglomeration of players.  It all starts with the right attitude.