Closer:
Corpas will probably get the first shot at the job, but he has had difficulty handling the pressure, losing the role in ’08 back to Fuentes.
If he does struggle early in the season, look for Hurdle go with a veteran rotation of Vizcaino and Grilli, extremely scary.
Taylor Buccholz established himself as a late innings setup man in ’08 and may get a look later in the season, but Hurdle will want to see him succeed as the 8th inning setup man for a month or two.

Holliday:
Expectations are high for the return from a trade of Holliday, with the emphasis on frontline pitching over position players and quality over quantity. This trade would need to reset our starting rotation including a legit #1 or #2, preferrably with a couple of controllable years. Given Matt’s home vs road splits, we may have a higher value on him than other organizations.
A winter meeting trade could happen. It would not be surprising though if we have to wait until next year’s trading deadline. As a Type A player, any return would need to exceed the value of two first round draft picks in 2010. Having watched the Fuentes sweepstakes, where we held on to Brian because we were still “in the hunt for a playoff spot”, I would never downplay this organization’s ability to overplay their hand.

Organization:
Both the GM, Dan O’Dowd and the Manager, Clint Hurdle are in the last year of their respective contracts. Our tepid 2008 results after a very hot 2007 have brought them even more into the spotlight.

O’Dowd has made statements that he wants to be held accountable and needs Hurdle to take a firmer hand with the team. He was disappointed that in the deterioration of the team’s fundamentals, fielding, baserunning, etc…, after leading the NL in several categories last year.

Hurdle is setting records for tenure as a losing Manager. In ‘07 he did allow the team’s veterans to take control of the locker room. But free agency and injuries removed most of the positive influences and the team lost focus until after the All-Star break, when the hole was dug too deep for them to climb back into the race in a very weak NL West.

Hurdle fired several coaches yesterday, including the Bench Coach, and reassigned the Bullpen Coach. Clint has expressed interest in having a veteran manager with ML level experience fill the Bench Coach position to act as a mentor. Davey Johnson has been mentioned as a possible.

There is a feeling that the Pitching Coach, Bob Apodaca, should also have been let go, since pitching was also a major weakness of the team in ’08. He has a close relationship with Hurdle and may only leave when he opens the door for Clint on their way out.

Even though the team has been promoting regularly in the last several years, there are still a couple of interesting prospects that may arrive in 2009:
Dexter Fowler in CF may be a mid season addition, if not earlier if Taveras is moved.
Casey Weathers is a former first rounder that should join the bullpen after some AAA seasoning.