If I sat here long enough I could probably think of a few other success stories of baseball teams changing their managers during the season, but I can guarantee you I can think of ten other managerial changes for every one that worked. Bob Melvin was the manager of the year just two years ago. Do you think in two years he forgot how to manage a team? The problem is not Melvin, it is much deeper.

Not that long ago I wrote a piece about the Diamondbacks should be concerned because the hitting on this team was not getting better. Since then, with a few exceptions that still remains the case. Bob Melvin is not in charge of the hitting, there are two things that could improve that. First they could get a new hitting coach, that would be the easiest solution. The second solution is a better judge of talent. Maybe the players just are not as good as they were billed to be.

Some argue Melvin did not have enough fire, the team needs someone who is a screamer. Joe Torre and Terry Francona have shown you can have some pretty good success without being a Lou Pinella.

Pinella and Torre are actually two good cases to make my point. Lou Pinella was a great manager in Seattle, he was going to be the one to finally turn things around in Tampa Bay, but he failed miserably. Then he goes to Chicago and all of a sudden he is a great manager again. Torre took over in LA last year and after four months looked like he may not be the genius some thought he was. Then all of a sudden turned it around and the Dodgers went to the playoffs. What do both situations have in common? Players!

Pinella has far superior talent in Chicago than what the Devil Rays had while he was there. Torre, he manged to become a genius again after the team picked up a little player named Manny Ramirez who managed to put the team on his back and carry them for the last two months.

The solution here is not the manager. Bob Melvin is one of the finer managers in the major leagues. The problem here is the talent, or the lack of growth the batting coach has been able to provide.

Chip Hale won the manager of the year for the Pacific Coast League while coaching the Tucson Sidewinders before joining the D-backs. There has been speculation that he had been “gunning” for the spot as the general manager. The reason why this is interesting that he will be excluded is that it was specifically called out.

Over the past few months, it appeared that there was something deeper going on with the team. There has been some speculation that the team has not been taking Melvin seriously and operating on their own accord. From a leadership standpoint, this is extremely important that this does not happen. When the team begins to see that you are not taking the games seriously, it begins to spill over into the team’s performance.

Melvin had been identified as being unfamiliar with things that were going on, on the field. Melvin appeared in multiple interviews expressing an extremely generic analysis of what was going on with his team, at time appearing oblivious to things that were going on, on the field.

From making questionable calls to insert pitchers into situations where they did not belong to not performing in the time of need, some of the fingers can be pointed at the players but, ultimately, the should be pointed at the manager. While some of us are not surprised to see Melvin go, there are some disagreements with the situation.

Regardless if the majority of the teams was “called up too fast” from the minors, ultimately the blame of the poor performance as of late lies in the poor leadership. The decision of dismissing Bob Melvin as the Manager of the Diamondbacks could prove to be the added boost to such a young team.

When you are wondering where in the world that you are going to be playing on a daily basis, it makes it difficult to know where your assignment is and what exactly your role will be. Although it will be sad, for some to see him go, this may prove to be the added strategic boost that the team needs to do well for the remainder of the 2009 season.

Last week, there had been speculation going around on whether or not it was time to hit the panic button and, quite frankly, that time may be here. In a rough time where leadership should be the key, Manager Bob Melvin was seen actually turning to the stands, pointing and yelling at a fan who had some choice words in regards to his decision to put in Jon Rauch.

Rauch has admittedly been consistently performing poorly as he continues to give up multiple earned runs and walk multiple batters in his appearances. For the Manager to show such lack of composure, this may be unnerving and may make us wonder. Is the team just frustrated? Did the words from the fan really warrant such a reaction? Was that really the time to put Rauch in to help his confidence?

Although these are questions that we may never know the answers to, one thing is for sure, leadership has been shaky. When the Manager worries, the team worries. Although we were not close enough to really know what was going on, there is absolutely no reason that a fan should be able to get a reaction out of the Manager.

This all brings us to our original question. Is there something deeper going on there? Only time will tell but, in the meantime, the Diamondbacks are making moves and adjustments early in the season to be able to remain competitive for the remainder of the season. As we learn more about additional influences that the team is experiencing, we will be sure to share them.