Estes stays close to home
Valley resident signs one-year deal with D-Backs
By Steve Gilbert / MLB.com
PHOENIX -- In the end, Shawn Estes chose family over money.
That was good news for the Diamondbacks, who were able to sign the free agent
left-hander to a one-year, $2.5 million contract.
And it wasn't the only move of the day for Arizona, which also traded infielde
r Shea Hillenbrand to the Blue Jays for reliever Adam Peterson.
Estes spurned a two-year, $7 million offer from the Nationals and a one-year p
lus an option deal from the Padres so that he could live in his Paradise Valle
y home with his wife, Heather, and their two sons, who are both under the age
of 16 months.
"To me, that was the thing that sealed the deal," Estes said. "My family defin
itely comes first in my life right now and my career is second, so it was an e
asy choice for me because I get to be around my kids, I get to be around my wi
fe."
There were other factors as well. Estes knows a few of his new teammates, havi
ng played with shortstop Royce Clayton last year and pitcher Russ Ortiz a few
years back and having gone on recruiting trips with outfielder Shawn Green.
Oh yeah, and there's that little thing about staying in the National League We
st, a division that has been very good to him over the years. Last year, he wa
s 8-1 with a 3.73 ERA against NL West teams.
"It's a comfortable division for me," the 31-year-old said. "I know the ballpa
rks and a lot of the hitters. To me, it was really a no-brainer. [Arizona] is
where I wanted to play from Day 1 of the offseason and they made it work for m
e, so I'm very excited."
The Diamondbacks have been extremely active during the offseason as they try t
o remake a club that went 51-111 last year. In addition to Estes, they've sign
ed free agents Troy Glaus, Ortiz, Clayton and Craig Counsell and have traded f
or pitchers Javier Vazquez and Brad Halsey along with Green.
"It's kind of crapshoot when you bring a bunch of new guys together," Estes sa
id. "You either gel and do well or you go the other way. I'm hoping that we ge
l and there's some camaraderie."
This offseason was far different for Estes than the last year. Back then, he w
as trying to revitalize his career after going 8-11 with a 5.73 ERA for the Cu
bs in 2003. The phone wasn't exactly ringing off the hook for him, and he woun
d up signing a minor league deal with the Rockies.
But what teams didn't know at the time was that Estes had dedicated himself to
a strenuous workout program under the guidance of Valley workout guru Brett F
ischer. The results were noticeable early on as Estes wound up being Colorado'
s Opening Day starter and went on to go 15-8 with a 5.84 ERA.
"I concentrated on my physical conditioning last year and I noticed it," Estes
said. "Mainly I noticed it in August and September, the dog days when you act
ually start to feel kind of tired. I didn't feel like I lost much in that time
and I felt like I finished strong. I'm back in with Brett this offseason and
I'll continue to do it the rest of my career."
Pitching in hitter-friendly Coors Field can be unforgiving, but for Estes it t
aught him some very important lessons that he plans on carrying with him this
year.
"If there's any place you want to pitch in to help you mentally, that's the pl
ace to do it, because you see what you're made of there," Estes said of Coors
Field. "If you don't focus for the time you're out there [on the mound], you'r
e going to end up giving up a lot of runs. You're going to give up runs regard
less. It's how you deal with giving those up.
"I had some big innings there, but they were an inning at a time every other g
ame. I didn't allow that one inning to carry over to the rest of the game. I w
as able to put up zeros from there on and out and give our team a chance to co
me back. It allowed me to just focus more mentally and realize that that's wha
t I had to do in order to have success there."
Estes joins a rotation that includes Vazquez, Ortiz and Brandon Webb. Whether
Estes fills the third or fourth spot could depend on whether the pitcher that
wins the fifth spot is a righty or lefty.
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http://www.wretch.twbbs.org/album/randycox 一本被Rioss嫌的相簿 XD
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