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The Dbacks have been on a downward spiral since April ended and with the trade deadline approaching the Dbacks GM Josh Byrnes needs to pick up the phone and make some trades. The Dbacks are not going to go anywhere with the lack of run production coming from their lineup and the absolutely awful bullpen.

The starting rotation is still pretty solid. Haren has a MLB best 17 quality starts out of 20. He has a steller 2.58 ERA but only a 9-5 record to show for it. Webb has a 13-4 record and a 3.11 ERA. Doug Davis has been doing well this season allowing 3 or fewer runs in 10 out of his 13 starts but lack of run support and bullpen struggles have him sitting with a below par 3-4 record. Johnson has been on and off with allowing 3 or fewer runs in 7 of his 17 games and 6 games where he allowed 5 or more runs. Owings has also been a hit or miss. He has allowed 3 or fewer runs in 11 out of his 17 starts and has allowed 5 or more runs in the remaining 6 starts.

With a pretty solid starting rotation the problem must be with the offense then right? Not neccessarily. The Dbacks have 3 regular starters batting over .300 in Chad Tracy (.308), Connor Jackson (.307) and Orlando Hudson (.306). They also have 4 other players with 10 or more homeruns with Mark Reynolds leading the pack with 19, Chris Young with 13, Stephen Drew with 12, and Justin Upton with 11. Chris Young, Conor Jackson and Mark Reynolds each have 50 or more runs scored with Stephen Drew at 49, Orlando Hudson at 45 and Upton with 43. The 7 of the 8 regular starters each has 30 RBI (the 1 exception being injured Eric Byrnes with 23). So the offense isnt all that bad but with Byrnes out for the season and Upton on the DL now the Dbacks should make some moves. Augie Ojeda has proved to be an outstanding fielder and a solid hitter in the little playing time that hes gotten this year.

The new lineup for the Dbacks without making any trades should look like this:

OF- Augie Ojeda, Conor Jackson and Chris Young (Switching out Ojeda for Uption when he returns from the DL)

Infield- 1B Chad Tracy, 2B Orlando Hudson, SS Stephen Drew, 3B Mark Reynolds, C Chris Snyder

Backups- 1B Tony Clark, C Miguel Montero, OF Alex Romero, 2B/3B/SS- Augie Ojeda

Jeff Salazar, Chris Burke, Emilio Bonifacio and Robby Hammock only play if absolutely necessary.

 So the starting rotation doesnt need fixing, the lineup if tweaked a little bit should work out pretty well. So where does the trading need to take place? The weekest point of the Dbacks staff. The bullpen. With Juan Cruz on the DL now the Dbacks bullpen is shot. Doug Slaten and Edgar Gonzalez are also on the DL now. So who should stay and who should go in this bullpen?

Chad Qualls most certainly needs to go. After his redhot start to the season Qualls has been awful and blowing games left and right for the Dbacks this year.

Brandon Lyon is the only option the Dbacks have for a closer so he needs to stay unless the Dbacks can get a real closer in trade, in which case Lyon if he gets any playtime it will be in the 7th or 8th inning replacing Qualls.

Tony Pena has potential and should remain as the 7th or 8th inning man. 2 bad outings have inflated his ERA but hes a good power pitcher who can get the strikeouts in big situations.

Leo Rosales I keep for the time being. I think he will prove to be an affective reliever when given a more regular opportunity.

Connor Robertson has shaken off the rookie nerves and has been affective in his last 2 games so Id give him a few more chances to prove himself.

Yusmeiro Petit will make for a good long relief pitcher. Something needed for a team who has a 44 year old starter with a bad back and a hit or miss pitcher in Micah Owings.

Max Scherzer needs to be brought back onto the active roster as a reliever.

I say out with the old and in with the new with this Dbacks bullpen who has collapsed since a strong April. With Doug Slaten, Edgar Gonzalez and Juan Cruz on the DL this opens up room for the other relief pitchers to be enlisted on the active roster and for the struggling relief pitchers to go back to the minors and find a groove again. This is my new bullpen roster with the 7 spots available for it.

Middle/ Long Relief- Yusmeiro Petit, Max Scherzer and Leo Rosales

7th/8th inning men- Connor Robertson, Esmerling Vasquez and Tony Pena

Closer- Brandon Lyon (attempt of a trade for a better closer in this spot, in which case Lyon would move to setup man)

Replacements in case of injury or poor performance- Juan Gutierrez, Bill Buckner and Chad Qualls

With these small changes to who is activated and deactivated in the Dbacks bullpen I think that it will only take 1 trade to make this team a World Series contender and to blow past the Dodgers and leave them in the dust for the rest of the season. The 1 trade is for a closer. Everything else can be fixed by making simple switches in who is activated in the everyday schedule.