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I wouldn't expect much from Betemit. He's turning 26 soon and last season was his first significant action.
And Pan, yes the DBacks mortgaged the future ut they also won the division in 99, and 02 and finished above .500 in 03 (despite having lost RJ for basically the season and Schilling for nearly half of the season). The Schilling trade (however botched it was) was done with the intention of getting Sexson and the RJ trade was initiated by RJ, not the team as a salary dump. Those were the only trades involving high paid players.
People look back on it as a spending spree followed by a fire sale but it wasn't that way. They started building that team almost right from the start by getting Bell, Miller and Williams right away, then RJ, Gonzo, Finley, and Womack the next year. They traded for Schilling in 2000 and signed Grace (for less than what he made in 2000) and Sanders as free agents in 01.
People like to remember them as going from chumps to champs then back to chumps but it was NOT that way at all.
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