It is not an uncommon occurrence in baseball for a team to start strong and look promising for the season, only to hit a significant speedbump and collapse. Such instances can prove to be too much for even an MVP or Cy Young effort to turn around.
The Arizona Diamondbacks entered 2006 looking to take advantage of a wide open NL West. The previous season was their first without former ace Randy Johnson and they only won 77 games. With Brandon Webb now the ace, he was looking to fill the void and lead Arizona back to October. Bob Melvin was in year 2 as Manager and was looking for improvements from last season's 2nd place finish.
The year started perfectly. Through May, the team was in 1st place and Webb was undefeated. As the calendar turned to June, the D-Backs were well on their way, but a heck of a speedbump happened when Jason Grimsley admitted to PED use, immediately asked for his release and cleared out of town. He retired from baseball and began a messy battle with the Diamondbacks over his remaining salary while MLB handed down a suspension in the event he wanted to unretire after the scandal cools off.
Meanwhile, the rest of the Diamondbacks had baseball to play. With the Grimsley distraction over their heads and key players like Luis Gonzalez struggling, the team began to spiral, winning only a few games in all of June and dropping far out of 1st place. From there was a march to a 76-86 record, only good for 4th place and 12 games behind the San Diego Padres. The D-Backs would manage to rebound next year, playing without the cloud of scandals over them to win the NL West, but for '06. it could only be written off as a wasted year.
The one bright spot was Brandon Webb taking command of the Cy Young race, and fending off Padres Closer Trevor Hoffman for the award to become the first Diamondback not named Randy Johnson to win the hardware. Despite only existing for 9 years, the Diamondbacks now had 5 Cy Young awards, with only 6 other teams at the time having as many or more. With Webb winning the award this time, the Diamondbacks proved their ability to develop elite pitching as Webb was drafted and developed solely by Arizona.
Webb had a career year in 2006, kick starting a three year stretch of going to the all star game and finishing in the top 2 for Cy Young each time. Of course, he won the award in 2006 as he tied for the league lead with 16 Wins (the fewest for an NL Cy Young pitcher in a non-shortened season. Felix Hernandez has the record low of 13 in 2010) and leading baseball with 3 Shutouts. His 3.10 ERA was the only one among the teams Starters to be under 4.00 and he also led the staff with 235 Innings and 178 Strikeouts.
The other Starters who tried to follow Webb in the rotation. Batista managed to go over 200 Innings, but none of them could replicate Webb's dominance.
The Diamondbacks bounced between Valverde and Julio during the year, with Valverde getting 18 Saves to Julio's 15. They started with Valverde as Closer, but his struggles prompted the team to assign the 9th inning to Julio before Valverde put in the work to return to the role.
Relievers and other pitchers. The half brothers, Orlando and Livan Hernandez, would both pitch for Arizona in 2006, but not at the same time; Orlando was traded away well before they brought Livan in.
2006 turned out to be Gonzo's final season in Arizona, with the team declining to pickup up his option for 2007. The D-Backs legend would hit his 500th career Double early in the season, and naturally lead the team with 52 all year. He also led the team with 93 Runs.
Byrnes would prove to be a duel threat for the Arizona lineup, as he led the team with both 26 Home Runs and 25 Stolen Bases.
Brandon Webb wasn't the only guy in Arizona walking away with hardware in 2006. Orlando Hudson and his solid +4 at 2nd Base took home a Gold Glove for his efforts in the field.
The rest of the lineup. Chad Tracy barely edged out Byrnes and Connor Jackson for the high mark for RBI with his 80, as well as leading the team with 168 Hits. Johnny Estrada was the only regular hitting over .300 as he logged a Batting Average of .302.
Off the bench. When the D-Backs were effectively dead in the water for 2006, they had dealt Shawn Green off to the Mets, allowing Carlos Quentin to log in some time as a starter. As was also the case, the team looked to the future by promoting young talent like Stephen Drew, Chris Young and Miguel Montero. The "Baby Backs" as they were known, represented a fresh look for future seasons.
Perhaps it's unfair to tie the teams collapse in the middle of 2006 to Grimley's actions, but the results speak volumes. In early June, Federal agents raided his home under the suspicion that he was a dealer of Human Growth Hormone and other illegal Performance-Enhancing Drugs. Shortly after, he requested a release while admitting to the use of PEDs in his career. All that and the subsequent salary dispute with the front office created an unwanted distraction for the team.
And it wasn't like Grimsley was indispensable to the bullpen. His 4.88 ERA wasn't exactly set-up man stuff.
