When Dad and I woke up for the final day of the Four Ballparks, Four Cities, Four Days trip, we realized immediately that we had some serious ground to cover.  Although we could walk to Ballpark #3 from our Los Angeles Hilton, it was located a full 375 miles from Ballpark #4—Chase Field in beautiful downtown Phoenix, Arizona.

So off we went into the desert, our trusty Toyota Corolla pointed directly toward The City that Sleeps at 7PM.  I wasn’t sure what to expect in the six-hour drive, save for a colleague’s admonition from before I left the office—make sure your air conditioning works.  At first I wasn’t sure how seriously I needed to take this on a beautiful 80-degree day in Los Angeles.  However, as we drove deeper into the desert, the temperature steadily climbed into the 90’s before finally cracking the triple digits.  Before we crossed the Arizona state line, the Corolla’s thermometer read 105, which (not coincidentally I am certain) represented a higher number than the populations of several towns we passed along the way.

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Today on The Baseball Show, co-host Clint Evans of Diamond Hoggers and I went strong for a little over an hour. Topics for discussion included but weren’t limited to:

-Thoughts on the Justin Upton trade rumors
-We skim through the free agent class and the moves that have taken place thus far around baseball
-Thoughts on the NL Rookie of the Year
-Thoughts on Felix Hernandez winning the AL Cy Young Award
-Final thoughts on the AL/NL MVP awards

The Chicago White Sox signed third baseman Dallas McPherson, 30, who was once one of the Los Angeles Angels top prospects…..played for the Oakland A’s Triple-A affiliate in 2010….. hit .267/.339/.541 with 22 home runs in 354 plate appearances. [Baseball America]

The White Sox are willing to hear offers for RHP Gavin Floyd…..would expect a substantial return considering Floyd is a proven 2^nd or 3^rd starter…..Floyd made 31 starts for White Sox in 2010 and went 10-13 with a 4.08 ERA…..had a career best 49% groundball rate…..was 3-1 with a 0.80 ERA and 1.04 WHIP in July. [MLBTR]

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On Tuesday, rumors began to circulate regarding Justin Upton and the Arizona Diamondbacks willingness to hear offers for their right fielder.  Thus far, the teams that have expressed an interest in the 23-year old include the Boston Red Sox, Atlanta Braves, and as of a few minutes ago, the New York Yankees.  Prior to the start of the 2010 season, Upton — who, on The Golden Sombrero, is commonly referred to as JUpton — signed a 6-year/$50 mil deal with the Diamondbacks that will make him a free agent after the 2015 season.

In 2010, he posted a .799 OPS that included 27 doubles, 17 home runs and 69 RBI, while playing in 133 games.  There are very few players in all of baseball who possess the strength and bat control that Upton does, and I expect that nearly every team will inquire about his availability.  Here is a video of him taking batting practice during Spring Training in 2010:

A few months ago we posted about our good friend, Sam Eaton (known to us as “Eat-a”; pronounced EET-uh), and his job within the Arizona Diamondbacks’ front office. Last week Eat-a was promoted. He now is the Assistant to Baseball Operations. Quite clearly in our opinion Kevin Towers is running the best front office in baseball out there in Phoenix with talents like Eat-a being recognized and rewarded so appropriately. We fully expect them back in the World Series very soon.

Congratulations, dude! We’re really proud of you and know you’re going to continue to excel in your new role. Maybe see if you can’t get them to send you to scout Matt Purke some Friday evening this spring. I will meet you out in Fort Worth after school. Lots of love from the Sombrero, man.