As the Arizona general manager, though, he gets paid to make decisions based on more than just emotion. Therefore, as he heads into what figures to be a busy offseason, he does so with a dose of perspective.

"Going forward, I think the foundation of the team is solid. We just need to make some decisions around that to try and get back into the playoffs," Byrnes said. "If you look at 2007, it was a great year, and we won a lot and the skeptics said we overperformed some of the underlying statistics. This year we underperformed some of our underlying statistics. I think we have a lot of parts of a good team. Would we like to have said we had two playoff years? Yes. But unfortunately we had only one."

With second baseman Orlando Hudson ($6.25 million), Brandon Lyon ($3.1) and Juan Cruz ($1.9) coming off the books, along with $9.5 million paid to former pitcher Russ Ortiz last year, the D-backs will have some money to spend, but it will probably add up to less than $10 million.

That's because their arbitration-eligible players will be due for increases and salary bumps are due to pitchers Brandon Webb and Dan Haren and outfielder Chris Young. And then there's the issue of Randy Johnson, who is a free agent and is sitting at 295 career wins and almost certainly will want to play another season. Whether he fits in the D-backs' budget remains to be seen.

All of that points to more of a tweaking than a major overhaul, and looking both at the production and potential of Stephen Drew, Young, Justin Upton, Conor Jackson and Mark Reynolds, there's evidence that a tearing up of the club's foundation is not necessary.

"I don't want to underestimate the job, but I feel good that we have a very good core of players," Byrnes said. "And, for the most part, they're all positioned to be here for a while."

Byrnes' top priority will be to improve the offense, which was inconsistent during 2008. There are many different ways for the D-backs to put together their roster, with position switches possible for players like Reynolds and Jackson.

CONTRACT ISSUES

Free agents: Juan Cruz, RHP; Tony Clark, 1B; Adam Dunn, RHP; David Eckstein, 2B; Orlando Hudson, 2B; Randy Johnson, LHP; Brandon Lyon, RHP.

Eligible for arbitration: Chris Burke, INF; Edgar Gonzalez, RHP; Robby Hammock, C; Conor Jackson, OF; Wil Ledezma, LHP; Augie Ojeda, INF; Tony Pena, RHP; Chad Qualls, RHP; Chris Snyder, C.

Player options: None.

Club options: None.

Non-tender possibilities: Chris Burke, INF; Wil Ledezma, LHP; Robby Hammock, C.

CATCHERS
Chris Snyder, .237 BA, 16 HRs, 64 RBIs
Miguel Montero, .255 BA, 5 HRs, 18 RBIs
Robby Hammock, .190 BA, 0 HR, 2 RBIs

Snyder is regarded as the superior defensive catcher, while Montero provides an intriguing bat. The two provided decent offense production for a time before struggling down the stretch. Hammock might be valuable if the team decides at times to play Montero at third.

FIRST BASE
Chad Tracy, .267 BA, 8 HRs, 39 RBIs
Josh Whitesell, .328 BA, 26 HRs, 110 RBIs (Triple-A)

If the club doesn't move Jackson back to first base or acquire a first baseman, Tracy may get the bulk of the playing time. Arizona would be banking on his balky right knee being healthier than it was in 2008, since he will be further removed from microfracture surgery. Whitesell, who came over from the Nationals in 2008, put himself on the radar with a strong Triple-A campaign.

SECOND BASE
Orlando Hudson, .305 BA, 8 HRs, 41 RBIs
David Eckstein, .219 BA, 1 HR, 4 RBIs (with D-backs)

This is by far the team's biggest question mark position heading into the offseason. Hudson is almost sure to depart, Eckstein will be a free agent and Burke did not impress the club in his first year since coming over from Houston. Look for the team to try to acquire a second baseman (free agent Mark Ellis?) or try moving third baseman Reynolds there.

SHORTSTOP
Stephen Drew, .291 BA, 21 HRs, 67 RBIs, .836 OPS

Drew had a breakout year in 2008 and established himself among the elite shortstops in the league. Who will back him up is an open question. The club could keep Ojeda or Eckstein, or look to acquire a backup infielder in a trade. The D-backs likely will try to reach an agreement with Ojeda to back up at short, second and third.

THIRD BASE
Mark Reynolds, .239, 28 HRs, 97 RBIs

Reynolds set a Major League record for strikeouts and also led the Majors in errors. Despite that, he still was a productive offensive player and showed some athleticism defensively. He will work on cutting down his strikeouts next spring and figures to be a big part of the lineup either at third or possibly second.

OUTFIELD
Eric Byrnes, .209 BA, 2 HRs, 12 RBIs
Conor Jackson, .300 BA, 12 HRs, 75 RBIs
Justin Upton, .250 BA, 15 HRs, 42 RBIs
Chris Young, .248 BA, 22 HRs, 85 RBIs
Jeff Salazar, .211 BA, 2 HRs, 12 RBIs

Byrnes missed most of 2008 with a hamstring injury, and Jackson filled in nicely for him. Whether the club wants to move Jackson, who prefers left field, back to first base remains to be seen. Byrnes will be difficult to trade, as he is entering the second year of a three-year $30 million contract and has a full no-trade clause. Upton and Young figure to be mainstays.

ROTATION
Brandon Webb, 22-7, 3.30 ERA
Dan Haren, 16-8, 3.33 ERA
Randy Johnson, 11-10, 3.91 ERA
Doug Davis, 6-8, 4.32 ERA
Max Scherzer, 0-4, 3.05 ERA
Billy Buckner, 1-0, 3.21 ERA
Yusmeiro Petit, 3-5, 4.31 ERA

A strength for the team in 2008, it figures to be again in 2009. Webb and Haren give them a powerful 1-2 punch, and rookie Scherzer showed in his 16 big league appearances that he has tremendous potential. Davis has another year left on his contract, and the D-backs could re-sign Johnson. Past that, the candidates to fill out the rotation likely will be internal, with Buckner, Petit and Cesar Valdez among others as possibilities.

BULLPEN
Chad Qualls, 4-8, 2.81 ERA, 9 SVs
Brandon Lyon, 3-5, 4.70 ERA, 26 SVs
Tony Pena, 3-2, 4.33 ERA, 3 SVs
Jon Rauch, 0-6, 6.56 ERA, 1 SV w/D-backs
Juan Cruz, 4-0, 2.61 ERA
Doug Slaten, 0-3, 4.73 ERA
Leo Rosales, 1-1, 4.20 ERA

If both Lyon and Cruz depart, it will challenge the depth in the bullpen. The 'pen was a strength in 2007, but inconsistency from the back end of it in 2008 hurt the team. Qualls will go into 2009 with a leg up on securing the closer role based on his performance in the latter part of '08. The club hopes Pena will fulfill his tremendous potential and that Rauch is the pitcher they saw with the Nationals, rather than the one he was when he came over to the D-backs in August.