D-Backs say goodbye to Clark

The Arizona Diamondbacks have parted ways with veteran first baseman Tony Clark, who was released on Sunday night following the team’s 8-1 loss to the Florida Marlins.

Clark, who batted .182, with 4 home runs and 11 rbis this season for Arizona, provided classy veteran leadership on this young ball club. But make no mistake about it, this was the right move.

As I wrote last month, Clark’s presence would be much more valuable on a veteran team that was in the thick of a pennant race–not so much on a young team who has stumbled to a 38-51 record and is currently 11.5 games out of the Wild Card picture.

The Diamondbacks have not really had a regular first baseman since Mark Grace left the team in 2002. They’ve had players such as Conor Jackson and Chad Tracy who have logged a lot of innings at first, but are essentially playing out of position. It’s time they found someone to man the corner, and Tony Clark was taking up the roster spot that could be filled by that guy.

Josh Whitesell is having a very good season at Triple-A Reno, hitting .314 with 7 homers and 45 rbis. He’s 27-years old, meaning, the Diamondbacks had better find out if this guy fits into their future plans pretty quick. I’d expect to see a healthy dose of Whitesell playing first base following the All-Star break.

Arizona also acquired Brandon Allen, a power-hitting first base prospect from the Chicago White Sox in a trade that sent reliever Tony Pena to the Windy City. At 23, Allen is younger than Whitesell, and may have a bigger upside. If his indoctrination to PCL pitching at Reno is any indication, Allen might be with the big club soon. He’s hitting .455 with a home run and 5 rbis in his first 4 games with the Aces.

See, the Diamondbacks really had no choice but letting Tony Clark go in an effort to build for the future.

Hopefully, this wasn’t the last stop for a classy veteran.

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