D-Backs just 4 steps away from contention

Two words to sum up the Diamondbacks' season - and no, it's not "organizational advocacy":

Good riddance.

This has been a season to forget. Bob Melvin was fired, A.J. Hinch was hired and the Diamondbacks played lousy baseball for both managers.

They couldn't hit with runners on base, they couldn't play defense and by September they were irrelevant.

If not for Mark Reynolds, Justin Upton and Dan Haren, the Diamondbacks would have been the worst of both worlds: Bad and boring.

"Losing sucks," Hinch said.

Eloquent? Maybe not. But as eulogies go, it's perfect.

Thankfully, the season has nearly ended and Arizona can look forward to 2010.

I know what you're thinking:

What is there to look forward to, Scott? The Diamondbacks won't spend any money. They're going to let Brandon Webb go. Why will 2010 be any better than 2009?

Here's why: Arizona isn't that far away from competing in the National League West. In fact, if they follow my four-step plan, I'll guarantee next September will be far more exciting and meaningful.

1. Pick up Brandon Webb's contract option.

We've talked about this before so we won't belabor the point. But Arizona has to keep Webb - and hope he's healthy - if it wants to field at least a .500 team in 2010.

Without Webb, the starting rotation is Dan Haren, Max Scherzer and a bunch of guys you don't want to see out there every fifth day.

"I don't want to put so much emphasis on Brandon Webb being the answer, but you feel so much better if he's healthy and taking the ball," Hinch said.

2. Sign a veteran reliever.

One of the positives to come out of this season - and there weren't many - was the development of young relievers like Juan Gutierrez and Esmerling Vasquez. But the Diamondbacks would be foolish to think either Gutierrez or Vasquez is ready to be the eighth-inning setup man and bridge to closer Chad Qualls.

Bring in a veteran - perhaps Brandon Lyon, who's had a terrific second half with Detroit - to pitch the eighth inning and allow Gutierrez and Vasquez to pitch the less stressful sixth and seventh innings.

3. Make Conor Jackson the starter in left field.

Yes, Gerardo Parra has had a terrific rookie season, but the ideal outfield setup next season would have Jackson in left and Parra as the fourth outfielder, getting 350 or 400 at-bats while filling in at all three positions.

When healthy, Jackson is the perfect complement to Arizona's all-or-nothing hitters. In 2008 he hit .300 with just 61 strikeouts. He could bat second in the order and, when there's a tough lefty on the mound, fill in for Brandon Allen at first base.

Also, having Parra as the fourth outfielder would give Hinch some flexibility should Chris Young continue to specialize in infield pop-ups.

4. Catch the ball.

The Diamondbacks had the second-most errors in baseball - only the Washington Generals, er Nationals, were worse. Simply put, everything else the Diamondbacks do in the offseason will be meaningless if they continue to be such a poor defensive team.

"It's not a youthful problem. Youthful to me is a crutch," Hinch said. "We've practiced it enough, worked on it enough. It's pure and simple execution."

Hinch and general manager Josh Byrnes said defense will be an emphasis next spring. Hinch also believes there's a chicken-and-egg thing going on: When this season went south, some of the younger players didn't focus as much as they should on their defense. And the more balls they misplayed, the worse the Diamondbacks' record became.

"If we were 20 games above .500 there's no way you'd have those lapses," Hinch said. "That is the mental grind of the season. If you allow it to take over, those things tend to happen ...

"If this season doesn't bring us back to renewed effort on fundamentals, nothing will."

It's hard to be positive about 2010 when 2009 was such a disaster. But the potential is there: Haren and Webb at the front of the rotation; Reynolds and Upton in the middle of the lineup, a healthy Jackson, a deeper bench. You can see the possibilities.

"It's not a major overhaul we need as much as it is a realignment," Hinch said.

The onus is on Byrnes. He fired Melvin. He hired Hinch. He put this roster together. If he makes the right decisions this winter, everyone will forget about organizational advocacy.

But if 2010 is a repeat performance of this year, well, those two words should serve as Byrnes' epitaph here.