The D-Backs are giving 28-year old righty swinging 2B Ryan Roberts his first extended chance to show what he can do in the majors and he’s not wasting his opportunity. He has played in 86 games this season and he is 66 for 220 (.300 avg, .845 OPS) with 35 runs scored, 6 homers, 20 RBIs and 6 stolen bases. Roberts has done a good job replacing Felipe Lopez who was traded to the Brewers last month. Coming into this season Roberts had only played in 18 major league games and he was 2 for 27 (.074 avg, .379 OPS) with 3 runs scored, 1 homer and 1 RBI. The D-Backs hope that Roberts keeps up the good work.

26-year old righty swinging 3B Mark Reynolds continues to maul baseballs this season. He has played in 125 games for the D-Backs this season and he is 131 for 468 (.280 avg, .962 OPS) with 86 runs scored, 40 homers, 90 RBIs and 21 stolen bases. The Diamondbacks shouldn’t change a thing with Reynolds despite the fact that he has whiffed 176 times already this season because he centers the ball really well which gives him his power. The D-Backs now have a player to build the offense around in the future.

The Diamondbacks have traded 30-year old righty reliever Jon Rauch to the Twins for a player to be named later. Rauch pitched in 58 games (0 starts) for the D-Backs this season and he was 2-2 with 2 saves, a 4.14 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP. In parts of two seasons with the D-Backs, Rauch worked in 84 games (0 starts) in which he was 2-8 with 3 saves, a 4.87 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP. The Diamondbacks acquired Rauch for the playoff push last season and he has been a huge disappointment to the team. This is addition by subtraction for the D-Backs.

The D-Backs have released 41-year old righty reliever Tom Gordon. Gordon only pitched in 3 games (0 starts) for the Diamondbacks this season and he was 0-1 with a 21.60 ERA and a 3.60 WHIP. He was also terrible on his rehab assignment working in 12 games (1 start) in A+AAA ball this season and he was 0-0 with a 10.97 ERA and a 3.38 WHIP. It appears that Gordon’s major league career has come to an end but he was a solid pitcher in his time.

The D-Backs have sent 25-year old righty swinging outfielder Chris Young to AAA and he deserved it. Young played in 103 games for the D-Backs this season and he was 61 for 315 (.194 avg, .655 OPS) with 35 runs scored, 7 homers, 28 RBIs and 11 stolen bases. Young was a good player in 2007+2008 for the D-Backs as he played in 308 games those seasons in which he was 290 for 1,194 (.243 avg) with 170 runs scored, 54 homers, 153 RBIs and 41 stolen bases. The D-Backs better hope Young gets his act together as they have a lot of money invested in him.