Which direction are they going?

Are the Diamondbacks going up, going down, or just staying where they are: mediocre?

They're in 4th place in the NL West, they are 4.5 games back from the Dodgers, and they are 3 games below .500. Not too good so far.

On the other hand, they are 5-5 over their last 10, have won two of the last three series they played, and that is a clear improvement over their first 10 games, when they were 3-7.

My answer to the first question: They are on their way up. Keep in mind they've shown this improvement without Stephen Drew (hamstring) or Cy Young winner Brandon Webb (shoulder).

When you look at this team, it's obvious they are never going to consistently score a lot of runs-- they haven't done so for over two seasons. But the starting rotation (with the exception of Petit) is excellent, and the position players who have been simply awful in this first month are starting to wake up. We can all agree on one thing, though: Jon Rauch has got to go. Okay, he is scheduled to make $2.5 million this season and $2.9M next year, but for a team who was willing to dump Russ Ortiz and eat $22 million, that's nuthin'. Let him go.