Interim GM Jerry Dipoto, Arizona Diamondbacks HoldTown Hall Meeting

The Arizona Diamondbacks held their second Town Hall meeting for season ticket holders prior to today’s game against the San Francisco Giants. These meetings give season ticket holders an opportunity to talk with club officials and ask questions.

The subjects at these meetings vary from discussing on-field player personnel to suggestions for changes to game-day fan experiences. During today’s meeting the speakers were Diamondbacks President/CEO Derrick Hall and interim General Manager Jerry Dipoto.

With all of the recent changes to the Diamondbacks' management, there were many questions surrounding the state of the team and what changes the fans could expect the team to make to be more competitive this year or next.

This was the first meeting in which season ticket holders have had an opportunity to hear from Dipoto, so I was especially interested in hearing what he had to say. My initial reaction was pleasant surprise.

Speaking with Josh Byrnes in the past, his ego—and dare I say, arrogance—was so prominent that it made communications difficult. I always came away from those conversations frustrated, as it seemed Byrnes was talking down to me.

Conversely, Dipoto appeared very open as he answered fans' questions and laid out the organization's goals in creating a competitive 25-man and 40-man roster. Looking at the faces around the room, I could tell that I was not the only one who made that connection.

I will attempt to relay some of the highlights from the question and answer session.

Dipoto described the situation with the team structure. He said that there are too many players with the same skill set/deficiencies.

Normally, fans and media talk about this with regards to having too many hitters who strike out a lot, hit long balls, and are inconsistent hitters with runners in scoring position.

He then went on to say that the pitching staff has similar problems. So many of the pitchers on the Diamondbacks staff are so similar that it gives batters the repetition they need to be successful.

They throw from the same arm slot, angle, side of the mound, etc. What the team needs is complementary pitchers who are a little different to mix things up.

Hall and Dipoto described how the team had been focused on starting pitching, but little had been invested in the relief staff. They then described how a staff needed to be 12 pitchers that acted as a relay team, to get through nine innings.

From that perspective, they committed to developing a roster where each of the 12 pitchers had both the depth and experience to work towards a common goal. That may seem like common sense, but looking back at the past two plus years, that is not how the Diamondbacks were constructed.

Much of the conversation in the town hall dealt with the state of the roster and the farm system. The Diamondbacks admitted that the upper levels (Double-A and Triple-A) were fairly barren, while the lower levels seemed to be stocked with high-ceiling talent.

The goal going into this trade deadline is to make deals that will help to bridge the gap from the major league level to the lower farm system to strengthen the team and set them up to have a continual flow of talent from the minor leagues to the major league.

From that, you can assume that any deal the Diamondbacks make will have to include prospects at the Double-A or Triple-A caliber and that the team will trade losses this year for wins in the next couple of years.

For fans, that is a mixed signal. On one hand, it was encouraging that they want to build for sustained success, but that means it is probably going to be a couple of very long seasons before they are competitive.

Besides the on-field personnel questions, Hall also fielded questions regarding the 2011 All-Star game and the impending ticket price increase.

From an All-Star game perspective, the team has not been given any indication that the commissioner is considering any change in venue. The Diamondbacks are moving forward and planning to have the game in July 2011.

Most season tickets will go up $1-2 per game for the 2011 season. After two years of holding ticket prices flat, the team needs to increase prices by a nominal amount, due in part to the low attendance figures this season.

Everyone acknowledged that a winning team will increase attendance and revenues, but until that happens, the Diamondbacks need to raise ticket prices to slow down the losses that are mounting from higher payrolls and fewer fans in the seats.

I can appreciate the spot the team is in. While I never like to see prices raised, the Diamondbacks will still be the most affordable ticket in the valley and probably throughout all of baseball, even with the ticket price increase.

Overall, the town hall meeting was a success. The room was packed and the fans and team officials were very open and honest in their questions and answers. Hopefully, some of these proposed changes will make a difference, not just in the wins and losses columns, but also in the attendance figures.