http://0rz.net/161pZ What is the possibility of Dontrelle Willis coming to Arizona and if he does who would we give up to get him here? He would be a great acquisition since we have no starting left-handed pitchers. --T.J., Tempe, Ariz. T.J., I think there is a possibility the Diamondbacks could acquire Dontrelle Willis at some point this year, but it's not likely to happen. There are a lot of things that would need to happen. First, and foremost, the Marlins would have to decide that they are willing to part with him and that hasn't happened yet. Secondly, the Diamondbacks would have to still be in the NL West race and would need to feel that Willis would be the one guy who makes the difference between winning the West and going deep into the playoffs. Finally, the price would have to be right and this is the spot where things get real tricky. By price, I don't mean salary -- though that's a consideration with Willis set to earn upwards of $25 million to $30 million over the next three years through arbitration -- but rather what it would cost in terms of prospects. The Marlins will likely want a lot for Willis and whether or not the Diamondbacks are willing to part with top prospects like outfielder Carlos Quentin, pitcher Dustin Nippert and catcher Miguel Montero remains to be seen. So, yes, Willis would be an outstanding acquisition, but the cost may just be too high and they may be better off using the money they would spend on Willis by signing a free agent pitcher during the offseason and hanging onto the jewels of the farm system. What is the idea of trading El Duque to the Mets for a relief pitcher? And a shaky one at that in the form of Jorge Julio? I don't see how adding a guy who has a 4.26 career ERA to a bullpen where currently no one has a ERA over 4.00 is a improvement. All this has done is create a void in the starting rotation. Who are they planning on calling up to fill that spot? As I see it, no one in the bullpen is capable of fitting into the starting rotation. --Anthony S., Pasadena, Md. By now you know the answer to the final question of who will take El Duque's spot as Enrique Gonzalez was called up over the weekend and pitched very well on Sunday. Why trade El Duque? He wasn't giving the D-Backs consistent innings and I think the fact that he reacted the way he did when he was pushed back a couple of days two weeks ago also could have factored into it. Julio's ERA this year was not good at the time of the trade, but he had been pitching better recently and he does have an electric arm. I know the bullpen has pitched well to this point in the year, but it never hurts to add another power arm. And given the way he was pitching, El Duque's won't be hard to replace in the rotation. I'm having a debate with a friend and need an outside opinion. We both follow the D-Backs and we were debating which player on the D-Backs active roster in the Majors has the most potential. My friend seems to think since Eric Byrnes is on a hot streak that he has the most potential, but I went with Conor Jackson because of his youth and being No. 17 on Baseball America's list of the 100 top prospects. What do you think? -- Scott K., Tucson, Ariz. If I have to pick between Byrnes and Jackson I'm going to have to go with Jackson simply because at his age, he's likely to improve more than Byrnes. That said, it's hard to top the month of May that Byrnes has had. You and your friend might want to expand the debate over the next couple of years when Quentin, Nippert and Stephen Drew among others will likely join Jackson in the big leagues. I watched Bill Murphy pitch for Triple-A Tucson this season, and he looks like he has good stuff. What are the chances of him being called up to fill in the void of not having a lefty in the bullpen? --Terry B., Tucson, Ariz. Right now I'd have to say unlikely, especially with lefty Terry Mulholland set to come off the DL soon. Space on the pitching staff is going to be tough to come by with Russ Ortiz coming off the DL at some point and Greg Aquino and Casey Daigle having arguably pitched well enough to be in the big leagues right now rather than in Tucson. I hope to settle the "games over .500" issue. If your record is 50-30, you are 10 games over .500 as Tim stated on 4/17. The reason Chris was wrong on 5/18 is because the record doesn't reflect games that you'd have to lose. Let's put it this way, if only 80 games existed, and a team had a 50-30 record, they'd be 10 games above .500 because they don't have any more games to play. They can't take 10 wins and put them in the loss column, and they can't just play 20 more games and lose them. The record is for games already played. I hope I've explained this enough. Chris makes a decent theory, but incorrect nonetheless. --Phil T., Phoenix, Ariz. Seems like the debate rages on. Anyone else? Steve Gilbert is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs. --

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