It’s clear that RJ still has fond feelings for Arizona, but even this past season, it was pretty transparent that most of his competitive fire is gone, and the main reason he’s still playing is to get to 300 wins. (He could end up being the last 300 game winner ever) I’d be worried that his motivation would disappear after he got that 300th W, especially in light of the amount of effort and discomfort it takes him to start a game these days.

On the other hand, there are two games this past season that come to mind as counter arguments. The first would be his 2-hit complete game victory in his swan song as a Dback, the season finale, in which he only gave up an unearned run and the Dbacks won it in the 9th. Before that game, RJ told Melvin to “toss out the pitch count” — and he stepped up big time. The second and, perhaps more indicative game, came against the Twins, when RJ pitched an 8-inning complete game in a 7-2 loss at the Metrodome. He got shelled for 6 runs in the 3rd and another in the 4th, but with the Dbacks down 6-0 and then 7-0, RJ stayed in to complete the game at Melvin’s request, since the bullpen at the time was terribly depleted. It was a strikingly selfless act, showing that RJ still cared about the team.