It is not always Hall who conducts these web chats. In the past the manager or the general manager has been put on the spot of answering questions from the fan base. This month’s chat featured General Manager Kevin Towers who took time out of his preparations for Spring Training to sit down for 30 minutes and field questions.

As was to be expected, the majority of the fans questions surrounded the roster and how it looked to be playing out. I say as expected because it has been my experiences that no matter who the Diamondbacks official is on the other end of the chat people have questions about players and the roster. The Diamondbacks could send in the guy responsible for food services and they would be answering questions about Stephen Drew’s return from injury.

The subject of Drew did come up and Towers answer was interesting. Drew is now doing baseball-related activities but in a very controlled environment. No one knows how well he will be able to perform until they see him in game action during the Cactus League. Towers was cautiously optimistic about Drew being ready by Opening Day but the message was clear that was why the Diamondbacks were so active in signing middle infielders just to be on the safe side.

Towers discussed the signing of Montero to a one-year deal and fielded questions on whether a long-term contract could be negotiated before Montero becomes a free agent at the end of the 2012 season. The two sides are very far apart on dollars but seem to be close in contract duration.

The leverage in this deal is clearly on Montero’s side. Towers discussed the major league and minor league systems and expressed concern over the lack of depth in position players – specifically middle infield and catcher. If the Diamondbacks do not have a strong young catcher in the wings they are more likely to have to shell out the money necessary to keep Montero. That being said, if Montero’s salary demands undermine the overall make-up of the roster the team may choose to make a deal for a free agent in next year’s market and let their slugging catcher walk to greener pastures.

Towers also fielded questions on the new collective bargaining agreement and how it will impact the team. Through his comments fans can expect the Diamondbacks to be more active in the International Free Agent market and should expect to see dividends from their presence in Central America.

In the upcoming amateur draft the Diamondbacks will have the 26th selection in the first round after two years of seeing their draft picks be at the top of the order. This is exciting because it means the big league club is having success but also puts pressure on the scouting department to find those diamonds in the rough at the later picks.

The team will be looking more at position players and athletes this year after focusing on pitching the past two seasons according to Towers. They are attempting to balance the bats and arms in the system and given that they have potential free agents in Montero and Drew that makes sense. It is doubtful that they will find someone who can make that kind of immediate impact but shows their thinking going into this draft.

The web chat lasted 30 minutes and fans probably could have kept him online all day if given the opportunity. Towers declined to predict where the Diamondbacks would finish this season but did suggest they expect to improve on their 94-win season in 2011. Hopefully that’s accurate and Towers will have an opportunity to do a web chat in late October after the Diamondbacks have made the World Series. A guy can dream can’t he?

It is traditional in our house to celebrate Groundhog Day in a very traditional sense. I try not to go outside for fear of seeing my shadow, I attempt to hibernate under my covers for at least six more weeks, and I have a meal consisting of ground hog meat. It is important to note that I wrote “ground” and “hog” separately. You miss just one little space between those words and you find yourself eating road kill. The evening ends with the family curled up on the couch watching the 1993 movie starring Bill Murray (who incidentally is a huge baseball fan and a minor league baseball owner to boot).

There is at least one moment during that movie that I stop to consider, what would happen if I were to suffer the same fate as Bill Murray’s character? No I am not talking about the frightening idea that I would have to share camera time with Chris Elliot although that does give me the shivers. I mean what if I had to spend my life repeating the same day over and over and over?

The answer to that question would really depend on what day that actually was that I was repeating. There are some days that would definitely be torture. I can’t even imagine having to relive June 25, 1999. What a disaster that would be!

For those of you who either don’t know what happened that fateful day in June or for those like me who have tried to block the memory out of their minds let me recount. Randy Johnson was on the mound for the Diamondbacks and was facing the St. Louis Cardinals who were sending rookie Jose Jimenez to the mound. Johnson threw a gem. He threw a complete game allowing just 5 hits and walking 2. He struck out 14 that day being his usual dominant self.

In the ninth inning of a 0-0 tie Johnson struck out Joe McEwing to start then walked Darren Bragg and Mark McGwire. Eric Davis struck out leaving just one out away from getting out of the inning. Thomas Howard came up and singled to left field allowing McEwing to score while McGwire was thrown out trying to advance to end the inning but giving the Cardinals a 1-0 lead.

Jimenez struck out Andy Fox to start the bottom of the ninth then got David Dellucci to fly out to shallow right field for the second out. With an 0-1 pitch to Tony Womack, Womack grounded out to the second baseman who threw to first to end the game.

Getting beat 1-0 when your ace throws a complete game 5-hitter is bad enough but that night not one Diamondback was able to get a hit. It was the first no-hitter thrown against the Arizona Diamondbacks and it happened at home. Arizona was only able to get two base runners on the whole night with walks to Luis Gonzalez and Steve Finley.

What made that night even more painful was the fact that I think my family caused the whole thing. My daughter Tiffany had sent the lucky hat to the game with my wife and she refused to wear it. What kind of woman would refuse to wear the lucky hat? So I will forever live with the guilt that not only did I have to witness the first no-hitter against the Diamondbacks in franchise history; I might could have prevented it from ever happening.

These are the kinds of things that keep me up at night. I guess I should just be grateful that the movie Groundhog Day is fictional. Well at least I think it’s fictional. I’ll let you know tomorrow if I wake up and the radio is playing “I Got You Babe” for the second day in a row.

The next year there were big expectations for Owings who struggled a little in 2008 with his control and found himself shipped off to Cincinnati as part of the deal that brought Adam Dunn to the desert for a late season surge to make the playoffs. That of course didn’t happen and the Diamondbacks slid behind the Los Angeles Dodgers finishing out of the post season.

In Cincinnati Owings continued to struggle and soon found himself back in the minor leagues to work through some control issues and better hone his pitches. It looked as though Owings was going down the path of a one-season wonder and before last season found himself getting little interest from the various ball clubs.

Diamondbacks General Manager Kevin Towers was looking to revamp his bullpen after taking over the job from Josh Byrnes. The 2010 Diamondbacks bullpen was one of the worst statistically in baseball history so any move he made would likely be seen as positive.

In an unheralded transaction that winter was a brief footnote that the Arizona Diamondbacks had signed pitcher Micah Owings to a minor league contract with an invitation of Spring Training. There at Salt River Fields Owings worked as hard as I have ever seen him work. Not just on his hitting which he could still do but also on his pitching.

Owings ended up forcing himself onto the Diamondbacks roster but not as a starting pitcher. He was sent to the bullpen to become the long relief. Owings appeared in 33 games with the Diamondbacks in 2011 with 29 of those appearances being in relief. He had a respectable 3.57 ERA striking out 44 while walking 23. Owings record ended up 8-0 for the regular season and he added another win in the post season.

It seemed like whenever Owings got into the game something would happen and the Diamondbacks would find a way to win. In a lot of cases it wasn’t pretty but it was effective. After the season ended the Arizona Diamondbacks decided that they had other pitching options and Owings was non-tendered ending his second stint with the team.

During this off-season there would be a few rumors that Owings may return to Arizona but there didn’t seem to be a roster spot especially after the Trevor Cahill trade that brought reliever Craig Breslow.

With Spring Training only three weeks away teams are now starting to finalize their rosters and reaching out to unsigned players with potential invitations to try and make the team. The San Diego Padres who’s GM is former Diamondback Josh Byrnes have contacted Owings and his representatives signing a minor-league contract with an invitation to Spring Training.

So for the second straight year Owings will be in Arizona but this time he will be in Peoria trying to help another team get out of the National League Western Division cellar. Hopefully he will be successful. Well successful unless he’s playing the Diamondbacks then we only want to see him sitting in the bullpen chewing sunflower seeds.

As part of that first year the Diamondbacks wanted to offer a fun event to their Season Ticket Holders. They came up with a Spring Training event where full and half-season ticket holders could attend a Diamondbacks Spring Training game. Before the game fans were able to meet Diamondbacks players in an informal autograph session. The game was catered with all-you-can-eat hot dogs, hamburgers, soda, and water.

The event was highly successful and sold out within just a few short days of when they became available. It was an outstanding experience and one fans talked about not only during Spring Training but throughout the regular season as well.

Yesterday the Arizona Diamondbacks Season Ticket Sales team announced the second annual Season Ticket Holder Spring Training event. It will be held on Saturday March 10th. The Diamondbacks will host the Seattle Mariners in Cactus League action. It is a rare night game at Salt River Fields.

Prior to the game the team will host Season Ticket Holders to an autograph session and provide all-you-can-eat food for the game. The cost for this evening of fun was announced at $35. This is quite a value and a testament to the Diamondbacks striving to remain the best value in baseball.

I immediately reserved two spots to the event in hopes of having another wonderful time. I was obviously not the only one excited for this event. The Season Ticket Sales team announced this morning that the event had sold out in less than 24 hours. This may be the first event in team history to sell out in less than a day. (Key word here is event not game. There have been several games sell out that quickly.)

It should be noted that the Spring Training game for March 10th is not sold out, only the Season Ticket Holder event. The reason for the sell out is that they have a finite amount of time to allow everyone an opportunity to receive an autograph and to ensure everyone is fed.

This event is becoming a very popular tradition which hopefully the Diamondbacks will continue. Perhaps if demand continues to grow the Diamondbacks will consider adding a second event to the spring schedule.

I’m not sure what surprised me more, the fact that the Diamondbacks were creating this event to try and bring to the forefront how important corporate partnerships are to the success of a Major League Baseball team or the fact that no one had thought to do this before now.

It’s not like every team doesn’t have corporate sponsors. One look around every ballpark in Major League Baseball will tell you that the marriage between corporate America and baseball is a strong union.

What makes the Diamondbacks approach so interesting is that they look to take these relationships to the next level. Instead of looking at sponsors as a necessary evil and one that fans equate to “selling out” and the inevitable advertising in what seems like every nook and cranny, the Diamondbacks are attempting to recognize the unique ways that their partners are building team loyalty.

This is especially important in the Arizona Diamondbacks market. The D-backs are not a team with a large nationwide following. Most of the fans are either located in the television market for the Diamondbacks or who have some connection to the team.

By recognizing and helping these corporate partners come up with unique ways of showcasing the team they can hopefully build more awareness of the D-backs which will in turn result in increased attendance at future games.

The Most Valuable Partner celebration will take place at Wild Horse Pass & Casino in the east valley. There will be a red carpet arrival that will be reminiscent of award shows such as the Academy Awards or the Grammys.

Partners will be greeted by such Diamondbacks luminaries such as Diamondbacks legends Luis Gonzalez and Matt Williams; broadcasters Daron Sutton and Mark Grace; and current Diamondbacks such as Ian Kennedy, Chris Young, Ryan Roberts, and Paul Goldschmidt.

There will be seven awards given out culminating with the Most Valuable Partner of the Year. It will be interesting to see how well this goes over. The Diamondbacks are expecting approximately 300 guests at the event.

I was fortunate enough to be able to persuade my name on the guest list for the night. I’m sure my wife won’t mind too much that I promised the Diamondbacks that my son would be renamed to Chase Field Summers. It really has a nice ring to it after all.

During the event I plan on taking a few photos disguising myself as some kind of corporate partner paparazzi. I’m also planning on tweeting from the event using the hash code of #dbMVPawards so if you want to follow along or if you want a specific photo let me know and I’ll do my best to accommodate (at least until someone does their best Sean Penn impression and beats me with my camera or iPhone). Look for a full report of the event tomorrow.

In the morning I sat down and penned a blog entry where I talked about the Arizona Diamondbacks interest in adding another veteran starting pitcher to the rotation. I briefly went over the various candidates that could fulfill the Diamondbacks needs. Among those candidates were previous Diamondbacks starter Joe Saunders.

While I would love to see Saunders back in a Diamondbacks uniform and thought that he represented the best fit for Arizona I was pragmatic in his chances. At two different points in time Saunders and the Diamondbacks showed interest in each other but it was reported that the two were substantially apart in what both salary and number of years on the contract.

It was a foregone conclusion that Saunders was looking for a two or three-year deal north of $8 million a year while the Diamondbacks wanted a short-term deal to allow their young pitching prospects an opportunity to be on the roster over the next two seasons.

In December the Diamondbacks were said to offer Saunders a two-year deal for approximately $12 million. Saunders countered with a three-year deal for $27 million. The Diamondbacks decided to go a different direction and non-tendered Saunders making him a free agent.

Over the winter Saunders was linked to teams such as the Baltimore Orioles and the Washington Nationals. Despite that he continued to train at Salt River Fields at the Diamondbacks facility. After the first of the year it looked as though there was no possibility of the two sides striking a deal. The Saunders era in Arizona seemed to be over.

Arizona went on to make a trade for Trevor Cahill with Oakland and then seemingly finalized their roster signing free agent outfielder Jason Kubel. Despite what looked like a completed roster, General Manager Kevin Towers kept searching for creative ways to tweak the roster making the Diamondbacks a better team.

Towers and representatives for Saunders reached out with the player again hinting he would really like to play for Arizona. Despite being at the limit for salary for 2012, Towers talked to General Partner Ken Kendrick and CEO Derrick Hall who approved of the salary overage and Saunders was signed to a one-year deal.

On the surface this looked like very poor negotiating on Saunders part. He went from declining a 2-year contract at $12 million to agreeing to one year at that rate. Perhaps there is something to be said for the dedication and loyalty of Joe Saunders.

Perhaps he didn’t find the free agent market as eager for his services as he expected but he did have more attractive offers with other clubs. Instead of personifying the typical stereotype of a mercenary player only interested in the money Saunders went a different route.

He chose to take less money for a shorter period of time so that he could attempt to take this team to the next stage reaching the league championship series or the World Series. There’s also the fact that Saunders and his wife recently purchased a home in Arizona and this way he can stay closer to home and his family.

It is reminiscent of another player who accepted less to stay closer to home. In the fall of 1997 then Cleveland Indians third baseman Matt Williams requested a trade from a team that was just short of winning the World Series to join an expansion team because he wanted to be closer to his children.

Perhaps this will work out for Saunders as it did for Williams over a decade before. Maybe this 2012 team will be like its 2001 counterparts and bring Arizona its second World Championship. If that happens this decision by Saunders will look like one of pure genius.

Arizona has been stockpiling young pitchers in their minor league system with several seemingly ready to compete for a big league roster spot. If that is the case, why would Arizona be looking to add another pitcher to their staff? The simple answer is, window of opportunity.

With the San Diego Padres full-tilt in rebuilding mode, the ownership problems in Los Angeles casting doubt about their 2012 season, the Colorado Rockies seeming retooling, and the uncertainty of the San Francisco Giants offense to support their pitching; the National League Western Division is anyone’s.

Rather than waiting for the young arms to mature in 2-3 years the Diamondbacks have decided that their window of opportunity is now. The formerly untouchable Jarrod Parker was sent to Oakland as part of the Cahill trade. The question now is, are the Diamondbacks willing to part with any other pitching prospects for a proven starter?

The answer seems to be no. Arizona will look to fill their desire for a fifth starter via free agency rather than by trade. Colon, a free agent after spending last season with the New York Yankees subsequently signed with the Oakland Athletics but other starters are still on the market.

Among the names still available are former Diamondbacks Joe Saunders, Micah Owings, Zach Duke, and the every lovable Armando Galarraga. Saunders would seem to be the best fit and wanted to come back but contract demands may preclude a reunion.

It may be worth a shot to take a flyer on a former starter who is attempting to return from injury. There is of course Brandon Webb who hasn’t pitched in three seasons and Chris Young whose arm problems have kept him off the field for most of the past two seasons.

Another name that could become a viable option is Roy Oswalt who is likely looking for a rather short-term deal to show he is healthy which would fit nicely with the Diamondbacks desire to have a veteran this season and allow their minor league pitchers one more year before being mainstays in the Arizona rotation.

Salt River Fields at Talking Stick is being groomed with practice fields and stadium playing surfaces looking immaculate as ever. The grass is lush and green and the landscape around the Spring Training facility is coming alive with the first signs of spring.

From a fan’s perspective, the only thing missing is the annual free-for-all that represents the first day Spring Training tickets become available for purchase. Each team in the Cactus League seems to have their own timeline of when tickets go on sale.

For the Arizona Diamondbacks, single-game tickets for the 2012 Cactus League will be available starting Saturday January 14th at 10 AM MST. If 2011 was any indication tickets will go quickly for the 19 game home schedule for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Fans need not wait until Saturday to buy tickets though. The Arizona Diamondbacks have announced they will have a pre-sale for 2012 Diamondbacks Season Ticket Holders. Tickets will be made available beginning today January 10th at 9 AM MST. This pre-sale will go through tomorrow January 11th at 1 PM MST so act now to get the best selection of seats.

Cactus League games officially begin on Saturday March 3rd with two road games for a Split Squad Diamondbacks club. Half the team will travel to Scottsdale to take on the San Francisco Giants at Scottsdale Stadium beginning at 1:05 PM MST. The other half of the team will play at Salt River Fields as the visiting team against the Colorado Rockies at 1:10 PM MST.

The Diamondbacks home Spring Training schedule begins the following day on March 4th when the Diamondbacks host a split squad of the San Francisco Giants. The Diamondbacks end their Cactus League season at Salt River Fields on Monday April 2nd at 1:10 PM MST against the Chicago Cubs.

The team will host the Milwaukee Brewers for two Spring Training games at Chase Field on April 3rd and April 4th in a rematch of the National League Divisional Series before opening the season at home on Friday April 6th in an afternoon game.

The Spring Training Pre-Sale is just one of many benefits the Diamondbacks provide to their Season Ticket Holders. If you would like to take advantage of this offer but are not yet a Season Ticket Holder there are still seats available at Chase Field. You can contact the team either through the team’s web site or by calling Season Ticket Sales at 602-462-4600.

Larkin received 495 votes giving him 86.4 percent well over the 75 percent necessary for enshrinement into Cooperstown. Last year Larkin received just over 62 percent falling behind Roberto Alomar and Bert Blyleven but a year later he saw his stock raise over 22 percent to solidify his spot among the game’s best.

An 11-time All-Star Larkin was known not only for his defense where he won 3 Gold Gloves despite playing in the same division as fellow Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith but he also had some of the best offensive statistics by a shortstop. Larkin won nine Silver Slugger awards and was the first 30/30 shortstop in the history of the game.

I remember growing up watching Larkin play. He was one of the first Fantasy Baseball players I ever drafted and he helped lead my team to the season championship not just one year but over a three-year stretch so I definitely understood the value Larkin could bring not only on the field but to fantasy owners everywhere.

Larkin will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on July 22nd and will be joined by the wife of the late Ron Santos who was elected by the Veterans committee. It will be one of the more memorable induction ceremonies and in the end there may not be a dry eye in Cooperstown.

Pitcher Jack Morris finished second in the voting receiving 66.7 percent of the votes meaning he will have just two more years of eligibility to be elected by the writers before his case will be turned over to the Veterans. Houston first baseman Jeff Bagwell also saw an increase in support getting 56 percent of the votes.

Other notable vote getters was Lee Smith who retired as the all-time saves leader who received 50.6 percent in his tenth year of being on the ballot. Smith definitely deserves to be inducted given his dominance for such a long time but so far the writers seem apprehensive to electing relief pitchers to the Hall of Fame.

My own personal favorite Dale Murphy also saw his vote total increase from 12.6 percent in 2011 to 14.5 percent. It’s a long way from the needed 75 percent and with just one year remaining in eligibility it would take a miracle for him to reach the Hall of Fame. He will forever be remembered by those who saw him play as a dominant player in his prime and one of the best character guys on and off the field. At least he can hold his head up knowing that a portion of the writers felt strongly enough about his career to keep him on the ballot for 15 consecutive years.

The two players with Arizona Diamondbacks ties, Eric Young and Tony Womack, did not receive enough votes to remain on the ballot and will not be eligible to be included in the vote next season.

Congratulations to Barry Larkin and Ron Santos, the Hall of Fame and baseball immortality have been rightfully earned.

For the most part this year’s Hall of Fame class is lacking a big name first ballot persona. Those who will be listed for the first time on the ballot include: Bernie Williams, Vinny Castilla, Javy Lopez, Ruben Sierra, Jeromy Burnitz, Tim Salmon, Tony Womack, Phil Nevin, Brian Jordan, Erick Young, Bill Mueller, Terry Mulholland, and Brad Radke.

Two of those names should look familiar to Arizona Diamondbacks fans. Tony Womack was in integral part of the Diamondbacks success during their World Series championship in 2001. Everyone remembers the Luis Gonzalez bloop single to win Game 7 over the New York Yankees but somehow lost is the crucial hit Womack got to keep the inning alive and allow Gonzalez an opportunity to bat.

Despite the heroics and fond memories Diamondbacks may have for Womack, his induction into the Hall of Fame seems remote at best. We will have to be content to remember him and his accomplishments locally.

The other name that is familiar to Diamondbacks fans is Eric Young. While Young was never a player for the Diamondbacks during his career, he is now the first base coach for the club and was instrumental in helping the 2011 Diamondbacks come from a last place finish the year before to winning the National League Western Division. While Young had an illustrious career it seems unlikely that he will garner the votes necessary for induction.

No, the most likely inductees will probably come from those players who return to the ballot from years past. Of those two are at the top of my list with a third that is a sentimental favorite that I pine for every year when he does not garner the amount of votes that I feel he deserves.

In my estimation the one player who has likely the best chance of being voted in by the Baseball Writers in 2011 is Cincinnati Reds shortstop Barry Larkin. This is the third year Larkin is on the ballot and he has steadily improved his chances each year. This last sentence is always a strange thing for me to type. None of these players on the ballot have done anything on the field from year to year yet the number of votes they receive fluctuates leaving you to wonder, did the writers not do their due diligence the year before or what changed their mind that a player is worthy being in the Hall of Fame this year versus last year.

Larkin garnered 51.6% in his first year of eligibility in 2010 and saw his total jump to 62.1% last year leaving him just short of the 75% needed for induction. With the relatively sparse list of first year candidates the writers may see Larkin more favorably. Quite honestly, it is hard to believe Larkin is not already in the Hall of Fame. During the era in which he played he was perhaps the most dominant shortstop to ever play. His defense ranked up there very closely with Ozzie Smith but Larkin hit for power and average making him much more valuable. He would definitely get my vote.

The other returning player who I think deserves induction is outfielder Time Raines. Raines was one of those players who completely disrupted the game whenever he was on base. His speed and his ability to steal bases continually put pressure on teams to try and defend otherwise a walk would soon turn into Raines being on third base with two quick steals. His running efficiency rating put him at the top and in many cases you could argue that Raines running game was more valuable than Ricky Henderson. Henderson had more total steals but Raines seemed to run at the right moment to give his team the advantage. It is therefore perplexing to see Raines vote total be only 37.5% in 2011, which was up from 30.4% in 2010. Hopefully this year the writers will look more closely at the numbers and give Raines the support he deserves.

No Hall of Fame post would be complete without me pleading once again for writers to consider Dale Murphy. Murphy was one of those guys who quietly went about his business but in his prime he was so dominant that teams would develop game plans just so Murphy would not beat them. During his career statisticians used Murphy as the measuring stick to compare all players.

I don’t think anyone doubts how dominating Murphy was during his peak. The problem becomes one of longevity. According to writers I’ve talked to, Murphy just did not sustain his domination for a long enough period of time. Some of this may have been attributed to physical breakdown. Murphy’s career ended just as the steroid era began and while I have no proof, part of me wonders whether players at that cusp are being somehow downgraded because those who were tainted were putting up monster numbers compared to those who were clean at that time.

Regardless of the reasoning it is doubtful that Murphy will increase his voting percentage from 12.6% last year to the needed 75%. At this point my hope is that his total increases and keeps him on the ballot one more year, which will be the 15th year he was eligible. I may have to be content knowing that Murphy went the distance and was respected in the game to keep him on the ballot.

Like many others I will be glued to the television as Major League Baseball unveils the Hall of Fame class of 2012. For some individuals this day will be the culmination of a lifetime of work. For baseball fans it will be a reminder of great people and great moments in the game.