Photo Credit: Arizona Diamondbacks
When a sports team underperforms, there are always plenty of fingers to be pointed; hell, it’s basically a cottage industry if the team is prominent enough. It elevates radio personalities and YouTubers. It is the fuel that helps turn a flame into a raging inferno where jobs are lost and careers are destroyed.
There are always plenty of potential targets. Players are an obvious one, as are coaches and managers. General managers are the ones who put together the roster, so that’s a good one as well. But sometimes it goes all the way to the top: ownership. Fans of teams like the Washington Commanders, Dallas Cowboys, and Colorado Rockies can attest to this. And bad ownership is the virus you can’t kick; you can fire a coach or release a player, but you can’t vote out a bad owner (unless they’ve ticked off the entire league, like Dan Snyder).
Enter the Arizona Diamondbacks. This year started with incredible promise; only two seasons removed from a surprise World Series trip and with a blockbuster signing in pitcher Corbin Burnes, hopes were high. Reality simply hasn’t delivered however; at the time of writing, they are under .500 and in 4th place in the National League West, in front of only the pathetic aforementioned Colorado Rockies and their historically bad season.
But while sometimes the blame can be pinned on ownership, not in this case. This is definitely not Ken Kendrick’ fault.
Many owners will nickel and dime on facilities such as practice facilities; after all, if it’s a field and there are some weights and stuff, why does it even matter? Well it does; good facilities stick out to players and make them want to spend time there. He invested in top-tier spring training facilities.
There is the subject of payroll, a subject that fans have often been critical of Kendrick about. You have to be competitive in pay when it comes to bringing players in, and while they will never match the Los Angeles Dodgers they need to be competitive. The recent signings of Burnes and Jordan Montgomery shows that he is willing to pay a premium for premium players.
No one wants an activist owner that is hovering over the shoulders of the managers and coaches and calling the day-to-day shots; Cowboys fans know this well. But Kendrick stuck with his management team after a poor 2021 season and is showing great patience in his older age. Good leadership is hiring good people and getting out of their way, and he does this.
It’s a long season, so there’s plenty of time to recapture greatness. But even if this season ends up being a wash, there is one person who doesn’t deserve your blame.