Russ Ortiz

The Diamondbacks just designated him for assignment. This is a ballsy, and smart, move by Josh Byrnes - off the top of my head, I assume that this is the most expensive contract to be bought out (Denny Neagle's salary was withheld, I believe), which is appropriate, because it's one of the five or six worst ever signed (Neagle, Hampton, Dreifort and Park are worse; it's early on Burnett, but it doesn't look good).

Over the next two and a half years, the Diamondbacks will pay Ortiz roughly $20 million just to go away. More than the trades of Vazquez and Glaus, this is a damning statement about the previous ownership/management group, and a much-needed shake-up from the post-Grimsley funk that the team has been in.

Good for the Diamondbacks - I give them tons of credit for grasping the concept of a sunk cost. I'm now rooting for them to win the NL West, even though I picked the Dodgers.