Diamondbacks’ Players of the Decade – 2000s

As we end the decade of the 2000s, let’s take a look back at the Diamondbacks’ top performers over that period. The offensive star of the decade was Luis Gonzalez, who played in 1041 games for the D’backs during the 2000s, leading everyone else by at least 300 games. Gonzalez also led the team in HRs with 198, RBIs with 663, and Runs Scored with 668. On the mound, the Diamondbacks had several stars, including Randy Johnson, Brandon Webb, and Curt Schilling. Let’s take a look at the team’s top performances of the 2000s.

The Diamondbacks are coming off a poor season in 2009, but a strong case can be made that the 2009 season had the team’s best performance of the decade at 3 positions – C, 3B, and RF. Here are my picks for the best individual seasons of the decade, at each position (minimum 80 games at that position).

C Miguel Montero, 2009: 294/355/478, 16 HR/59 RBI/61 R, 112 OPS+
1B Tony Clark, 2005: 304/366/636, 30 HR/87 RBI/47R, 154 OPS+
2B Junior Spivey, 2002: 301/389/476, 16 HR/78 RBI/103R, 11 SB, 117 OPS+
3B Mark Reynolds, 2009: 260/349/543, 44 HR/102 RBI/98R, 24 SB, 125 OPS+
SS Stephen Drew, 2008: 291/333/502, 21 HR/67 RBI/91R, 110 OPS+
LF Luis Gonzalez, 2001: 325/429/688, 57 HR/142 RBI/128R, 174 OPS+
CF Steve Finley 2000: 280/371/544, 35 HR/96 RBI/100R, 12 SB, 120 OPS+
RF Justin Upton 2009: 300/366/532, 26 HR/86 RBI/84R, 20 SB, 128 OPS+

LHP Randy Johnson 2002: 24-5, 260 IP, 2.32 ERA, 1.031 WHIP, 334K/71 BB, 197 ERA+
RHP Curt Schilling 2001: 22-6, 256.2 IP, 2.98 ERA, 1.075 WHIP, 293K/39 BB, 157 ERA+
RP Byung-Hyun Kim 2002: 8-3, 2.04 ERA, 1.071 WHIP, 84 IP, 92K, 26 BB, 224 ERA+

At C, Miguel Montero’s 2009 season was the only one of the decade with an OPS over 800. Johnny Estrada had the highest BA (.302) and most RBI (71) in 2006, but only had a 302/328/444 line.

At 1B, Tony Clark and Chad Tracy both had big power seasons in 2005, although each only played around 80 games at 1B. Mark Grace’s 2001 season (298/386/466, 113 OPS+) was probably the best among those who played over 100 games at the position. 3B is a very close call between Reynolds’ 2009 season and Troy Glaus in 2005 (258/363/522, 37 HR, 97 RBI, 126 OPS+). The two players were very close offensively, and both were below average on defense. Fangraphs has Glaus at -15.5 runs defensively in 2005, and Reynolds at -7.7, so Reynolds gets the nod for a being a little “less bad”.

Junior Spivey’s 2002 gets the nod as the best 2B season of the decade, but a trio of seasons by Orlando Hudson (2008, 2007, 2006) were very close. At SS, Stephen Drew’s 2008 led the decade in HR, RBI, and SLG. Honorable mention goes to Alex Cintron in 2003 (317/359/489 in 117 games).

The best individual seasons in the OF are pretty easy to pick. Luis Gonzalez is the clear choice at LF. His 2001 season is by far the team’s best individual season of the decade, and he also has the 5 next best seasons in LF. Steve Finley’s 2000 season, with a 904 OPS and gold glove defense, is an easy choice for CF. In RF, Justin Upton’s 2009 season edges out Reggie Sanders’s 2001 (263/337/549, 117 OPS+) and Shawn Green’s 2005 (286/355/477, 114 OPS+).

It was an outstanding starting pitching decade for the Diamondbacks in the 2000s. Randy Johnson collected 3 Cy Young Awards in the decade, Brandon Webb won once and finished second twice, and Curt Schilling had 3 Cy Young runner-ups. Johnson’s 2002 season (24-5, 2.32 ERA, 260 IP, 334K/71 BB) was easily the best by a left-handed starter in the entire National League. Among the right-handers, Schilling’s 2001 is the pick (22-6, 2.98 ERA, 256.2 IP, 293K/39BB), just edging out Brandon Webb’s 2007 and 2008 season.

Byung-Hyun Kim’s 2002 is the choice for relief pitcher (8-3, 2.04 ERA, 36 Saves, 84 IP, 92K/26 BB), just edging out Jose Valverde’s 47 Save season in 2007 (but with a 2.66 ERA and only 64.1 IP).

Finally, here are the Diamondbacks’ leaders in several stats for the decade.
Home Runs:
Luis Gonzalez 198
Steve Finley 119
Mark Reynolds 89
Chad Tracy 78
Chris Young 71

Runs Batted In
Luis Gonzalez 663
Steve Finley 376
Chad Tracy 318
Mark Reynolds 261
Conor Jackson 236

Runs Scored
Luis Gonzalez 668
Steve Finley 391
Craig Counsell 343
Chad Tracy 293
Tony Womack 281

Stolen Bases
Tony Womack 110
Eric Byrnes 88
Craig Counsell 68
Steve Finley 62
Chris Young 54

Hits
Luis Gonzalez 1131
Steve Finley 691
Chad Tracy 654
Craig Counsell 611
Stephen Drew 512

Batting Average
Danny Bautista .296
Orlando Hudson .294
Shea Hillenbrand .294
Luis Gonzalez .292
Shawn Green .285

On-Base Percentage
Luis Gonzalez .389
Orlando Hudson .365
Junior Spivey .363
Conor Jackson .361
Mark Grace .359

Slugging Percentage
Luis Gonzalez .526
Tony Clark .520
Mark Reynolds .500
Steve Finley .494
Justin Upton .485

OPS+
Luis Gonzalez 128
Tony Clark 113
Mark Reynolds 111
Justin Upton 111
Steve Finley 110

Tags: Brandon Webb, Curt Schilling, Justin Upton, Mark Reynolds, Miguel Montero, Randy Johnson