This change instead signalled the beginning of the end of Minor League baseball in El Paso. The Diablos ceased many of the promotions that made the team successful earlier, and the lack of strong players (save for the brief time that Brad Penny spent in the organization) in the Arizona system rendered the team weak and unsuccessful. With the exception of making the playoffs in 2000, the team was largely dismal and the atmosphere around the park had largely changed from the lighthearted atmosphere that had existed during the Jim Paul era.