Diamondbacks Designate Dontrelle Willis For Assignment

By: Tyler Ward

The D-Train has probably made his last stop in Arizona. As reported on Sunday, the Arizona Diamondbacks have officially designated pitcher, Dontrelle Willis, for assignment. This means Arizona has 10 days to either trade, release, or send him to one of their minor league affiliates.

The Diamondbacks acquired Willis in a trade with the Tigers on June 1. Many thought that he would resurrect his career, but he would not do so in Arizona. Willis went 1-1 with a 5.91 ERA with the Diamondbacks. He got assigned bullpen duty a few days ago, only to surrender three earned runs in one inning of work. This more than likely prompted Arizona to make the decision they did today.

It appears that Willis has lost his confidence on the mound, as he has surrendered more and more walks as the season has gone along. He has been anything, but spectacular this year in his stints with Detroit and Arizona. With his stats combined, Willis is a lowly 2-3 with a 5.62 ERA. He has given up 56 walks in a little over 65 innings of work this year.

Willis was expected to be one of the best pitchers in baseball after he won the National League Rookie of the Year with the Florida Marlins in 2003. In 2005, he won a league leading 22 games and had a superb 2.63 ERA. But, since then, it has all gone hill for the D-Train. On December 7, 2007, Willis was traded to the Detroit Tigers. Soon after, he was signed to a 3-year/$29 million extension. Since being traded over two and a half years ago, he has won a total of three games.

It is unclear if Willis has any possible suitors right now and this could possibly be the end of a rather short career. I hope to see Willis and his unorthodox release in baseball again, but this could have been D-Train's last stop.