Part 4/8:
The early 2000s marked a period of reinvention for the Diamondbacks. After trading away Johnson, the team sought to reshape its pitching staff, notably signing Russ Ortiz to a similar four-year, $33 million contract following a season where he led the league in wins. Unfortunately, Ortiz's history of control issues manifested in disastrous fashion, with mind-boggling statistics, including a historically high WHIP during a particularly challenging month in 2005. His tenure would go down in history as one of the least productive in Diamondbacks' lore.
A decade-long drought marked the Diamondbacks' pursuit of free-agent aces as the front office learned painful lessons about overcommitting to fragile talents.