PHOENIX (AP) — The Arizona Diamondbacks opened the season with the NL’s best record in April and stayed near the top of the NL West most of the season Sparky Anderson Jersey , leading the division at the beginning of every month.A September swoon knocked them quickly out of contention.Plagued by bullpen blowups, untimely hitting slumps and a bit of trying too hard, the Diamondbacks finished a once-promising season 82-80. Arizona had a winning record in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2007-08, but finishing nine games back in the NL West was not what the Diamondbacks had in mind after ending a five-year playoff-less streak last season.“We’re not where we need to be right now, clearly,” Diamondbacks GM Mike Hazen said Monday. “There were certainly some good things that happened this season, but it wasn’t what we envisioned in terms of what our goals were. Our goal was to go out and compete for a World Series championship and we didn’t do that.”Despite a string of injuries to key players and a couple of summer slumps, Arizona entered September with a one-game lead in the NL West. The Diamondbacks opened the month with three straight losses and finished it 8-19 to drop out of playoff contention.Arizona’s bullpen, reliable most of the season, went into a funk in September, blowing numerous leads. The Diamondbacks’ lineup went flat, producing most of its runs in early innings before going quiet late in games.And, as the pressure built, the Diamondbacks seemed to try too hard to get that big hit or out, often digging the hole even deeper.“When you try so hard to get something and you can’t reach it, it just ends up backing up on you,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said.Now the Diamondbacks face a decision: Rebuild or retool slightly.Arizona certainly needs to make changes and could potentially lose two key players in left-hander Patrick Corbin and outfield A.J. Pollock to free agency. The Diamondbacks have to decide if they’re only a couple players away from being contenders again or overhaul the roster.“We need to objectively look at what our circumstances are, what the landscape’s going to be, where we feel like the talent is going to be on our roster http://www.tigersfanproshop.com/authentic-jack-morris-jersey , what we can do conceivably to make moves to improve our roster,” Hazen said. “Clearly, we need to improve our roster.”Other things to know about the Diamondbacks’ season:MAGADAN OUTThe Diamondbacks mutually agreed to part ways with hitting coach Dave Magadan on Monday, ending his three-year stint in the desert. Arizona was one of baseball’s worst-hitting teams at .235 this season and has dropped its average each of the past three seasons. The rest of Lovullo’s staff will remain.INJURIESThe Diamondbacks had more than their fair share of injuries.Right-hander Taijuan Walker, a member of the opening day rotation, made three starts before needing season-ending Tommy John surgery. Starting third baseman Jake Lamb had season-ending shoulder surgery in early August. Pollock, fellow outfield Steven Souza Jr. and left-hander Robbie Ray each had stints on the DL.CORBIN AND POLLOCKCorbin was an All-Star and Pollock has put up big numbers when he’s been healthy. The Diamondbacks may not be able to afford either. Corbin is coming off his best season, going 11-7 with a 3.15 ERA while logging 200 innings for the second time in his career. He will be one of the top free-agent targets for teams this offseason. Pollock hit 21 home runs in an injury-plagued 2018 season and was an All-Star in 2015. Arizona will have two big holes to fill if both leave.GOLDSCHMIDT’S SEASONAll-Star first baseman Paul Goldschmidt had another productive season, finishing with 33 homers and 83 RBIs while hitting .290. But the year didn’t start or end well for him. Goldschmidt had an abysmal first two months of the season and, after a big rebound, closed with a thud, going 7 for 41 with 18 strikeouts over the final 12 games. Goldschmidt, Arizona’s best and most popular player, enters the final year of his contract in 2019, so the Diamondbacks face a big decision. BOSTON (AP) — Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred doesn’t foresee any problems if the World Series winner is invited to visit the White House.Both World Series teams have minority managers for the first time, and President Donald Trump has had tense relationships with many minority groups.“I think as an institution, Major League Baseball has always had the greatest respect for the office of the presidency,” Manfred said. “That doesn’t change, no matter who’s there. Often we’ve had situations where individuals Michael Fulmer Jersey , players, whatever, don’t agree with all of the policies of the individual that occupies the office. I think the important thing is respect for the office.”Manfred addressed a number of topics prior to Game 2 of the World Series on Wednesday night, including start times and length of games. Boston’s win in the World Series opener took 3 hours, 52 minutes and ended at 12:03 a.m. EDT. Manfred said complaints about World Series start times reflect an East Coast prejudice.“When you start games at 5 o’clock Eastern, it’s the middle of the work day in LA. That’s not quite right either,” he said. “We’re trying to strike a balance and get the point, the window, where we can get the most people all across the country having a meaningful opportunity to watch the game.”Nine-inning games in the league playoffs averaged 3 hours, 35 1/2 minutes, up 6 minutes from the 2017 postseason and more than a half-hour longer than this year’s regular season.“I am always less concerned about it in the postseason,” Manfred said “It is human nature when the stakes go up, things slow down a little bit.”Manfred anticipates a new round of negotiations with players’ union head Tony Clark and his members over pace of play and game rules. Management had the right to unilaterally implement a pitch clock before the 2018 season but did not, and it retains the right to install pitch clocks for 2019. MLB did institute a limit on mound trips without pitching changes for 2018.“I spent a lot of time between the All-Star Game and here talking directly to Tony, trying to map out the things that we’d like to have meaningful conversation about during the offseason, putting him in a position to get prepared to do,” Manfred said.Baseball is monitoring rapid changes to the game caused by analytics, including shorter average outings for starting pitchers — and some teams going entirely with relief pitchers.“I do think that starting pitchers being on the field less presents yet another challenge for us in terms of marketing the game,” he said. “You look historically Leonys Martin Jersey , right, some of our greatest stars are starters, and if they’re out there less, it has a predictable effect.”Tampa Bay used a so-called “opener” instead of a starter in 78 games. Oakland and Milwaukee had bullpen games during the playoffs.“I do think it can be a useful strategy for clubs in certain types of economic situations,” Manfred said. “It’s really hard to argue with that based on the early returns. We’ll see how the returns look over the long haul.”Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw expressed concern this week that teams may favor relievers over starters because they are less costly.“The market’s going to answer that question, right? We’ll see what happens in the market,” Manfred said. “I’m not sure that that trend at this point is persistent enough to have a market effect, but we’re going to have another market here in just a few weeks and we’ll see what happens.”Strikeouts exceeded hits over a season for the first time in major league history, causing worry that there are too many pitching changes based on matchups that decrease offense.“I don’t spend a lot of time worrying about whether analytics are a good thing or a bad thing, and the reason for that is they are a real thing,” Manfred said. “We have them. They’re going to continue to use them. There’s nothing you can do to stop people from thinking about the game, however the heck it is they want to think about the game. I think what’s incumbent upon us and what we try to do is pay attention over the course of the season … think about we’ve learned during the postseason and see whether we may need to make some change in response to what we’re seeing.”On other topics:SIGN STEALINGWhile MLB cleared Houston of breaking rules on electronic surveillance, additional rules could be put in place for next season.“Sign stealing in and of itself is not a violation of our rules. It’s been a part of the game since Lassie was a puppy,” Manfred said. “Where it becomes a problem is where there is a use of technology that otherwise violates our rules to aid the sign-stealing process. I think technology is evolving at a rate that it is incumbent upon us to constantly review and update our rules.”TAMPA BAY BALLPARKManfred remains hopeful the Rays will have a plan in place for a new ballpark by Dec. 31, the end of their agreement with St. Petersburg that allows the team to explore sites throughout the Tampa-St. Petersburg area. The Rays hope to leave St. Petersburg’s Tropicana Field and build a ballpark in Ybor City.“I love the site. I think that in terms of its geographic location in the region it’s a good one,” he said. “We have some work to do in terms of getting a financing plan together that will get that stadium built.”ANGELS BALLPARKManfred said the Angels‘ decision to opt out of their ballpark lease is part of a negotiation and should not cause worry the team would leave the area.