PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - 5 Budget Free Agents That Could Make D-backs Contenders In 2026

Episode Date: December 4, 2025

Pete Fairbanks and the Diamondbacks look like they’re getting serious, and we’re starting to get excited about adding a consistent, high-leverage arm to the bullpen. But is Fairbanks enough to make Arizona a contender in 2026? In this episode, we break down five affordable offseason moves the D-backs could realistically make to become contenders in 2026. We also take shot at adding our ideal targets and yes, we get sticker shock from the jaw-dropping price tags. Plus, get the scoop on Corbin Carroll’s new virtual space, where you can explore his card collection and learn how to train like the fastest man alive. JOIN THE SUPPORTERS CLUB ➡️ https://tinyurl.com/yc6km2r4An ALLCITY Network ProductionSUBSCRIBE to our YouTube: https://bit.ly/phnx_youtubeALL THINGS PHNX: http://linktr.ee/phnxsportsMERCH https://store.allcitynetwork.com/collections/phnx-lockerALLCITY Network, Inc. aka PHNX and PHNX Sports is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by the City of PhoenixPHNX Events: Get your tickets to PHNX events and takeovers here: https://gophnx.com/events/Aura Frames: Exclusive $35 off Carver Mat at https://on.auraframes.com/PHNX. Promo Code PHNXALLCITY — including us here at PHNX — is teaming up with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America for an exciting three-year partnership. To learn more, visit https://www.bbbs.org/allcity/APS:  Find instant rebates, discounts and special offers on smart thermostats, energy-efficient appliances and more at https://marketplace.aps.com/default/heating-cooling/smart-thermostatsBranded Bills: Use code BBPHNX at https://www.brandedbills.com/ for 15% off your first order!Husband & Wife Law Team: If you’ve had a serious injury, Call The Husband & Wife Law Team first at 602-783-8841 or visithttps://husbandandwifelawteam.com/?utm_source=allcity-padcasts&utm_medium=digital-phx&utm_campaign=allcityShowNotesChicken N’ Pickle: Family friendly fun awaits! Visit chickennpickle.com to plan your visit today!Access Auto Insurance Agency of Arizona, LLC (Access Auto) is a renowned agency offering personal and commercial auto insurance options to Arizona residents. If you’re on the hunt for a new policy, call Access Auto today at 1-480-400-0546 or get a free insurance quote by visiting our website www.access-insurance.com.Visit https://www.macu.com/accounts/checking/mystyle-checking?cid=ea-PHNX-AZ-mystyleAugust2025-checking to learn more about their MyStyle Checking Accounts!bet365: https://www.bet365.com/hub/en-us/app-hero-banner-1?utm_source=affiliate&utm_campaign=usapp&utm_medium=affiliate&affiliate=365_03485317 Use the code PHNX365 to sign up, deposit $10 and bet $5 to get $150 in bonus bets!Disclaimer: Must be 21+ and physically located in AZ.  If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-NEXT-STEP, text NEXTSTEP to 53342 or visit https://problemgambling.az.gov/Gametime: Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code PHNX for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply.Shady Rays: Head to https://shadyrays.com and use code: PHNX for 35% off polarized sunglasses. Try for yourself the shades rated 5 stars by over 300,000 people.Circle K: Join Inner Circle for free by downloading the Circle K app today! Head to https://www.circlek.com/store-locator to find Circle Ks near you!Monarch: Use Monarch to get control of your overall finances with 50% off your first year at https://www.monarchmoney.com/phnxWhen you shop through links in the description, we may earn affiliate commissions. Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Well, we reported on it yesterday, but it sounds like a move to get Pete Fairbanks onto the Arizona Diamondbacks is in the works. Hopefully we can see the Diamondbacks complete that acquisition. We have more on that. And we have more on five affordable ways this Diamondbacks team can fix their roster and actually be a contender in 2026. Don't you go anywhere. We're starting in 30 seconds. Welcome in to another edition of the PHNX Diamondbacks podcast. Love to be okay.

Presented by our friends at Circle K. It is I, your mayor of PHNX, occasionally known as Darif Montaia, draped in purple, the greatest color of this team has ever worn. I am not alone. I'm never alone. On the ones and twos today, I got the one, the only,

the incomparable Damon Farrell, aka Damon Dogg, the jelly to my peanut butter. I'm thrilled to have you guys here. You are also a very important part of this sandwich that we call the PHNX Diamondback show. But we are presented to you by our friends at GameTime. Go download that GameTime.

right now create an account and use code pHMX for $20 off your first purchase terms do apply. Great to see so many of you guys in the chat. More importantly, great to hear confirmation that my sauces weren't wrong. According to Nick Piccolo and his report shortly after we went off of air yesterday, the Diamondbacks are in fact in talks with Pete Fairbanks. Let's just first address that, right? Credible reporter Nick Piccora put out a piece like six minutes after yesterday's episode ended confirming from his source that the Diamondbacks are in talks with closer slash reliever Pete Fairbanks.

Damon, my first question is, am I Nick's source? Yes, undeniably. I don't believe that for a second. He's not a fan of this show. But this would be a move that would indeed signal we are back, right? I mean, this move, this one move, I know it's a reliever. I know it's Pete Fairbanks, right? It's not Robert Suarez.

It's not Edwin-Diaz. It's not Ryan Helsley or Devin Williams, but this guy has put up better numbers than most of those guys. And this guy is going to be far cheaper than any of those guys would have been. So I'm kind of pumped that the Diamondbacks are in talks here, not that this means in any way, shape, or form that they are, in fact, going to sign him. But, I mean, for them to be in negotiations with him and in talks with him definitely feels like a kind of under the radar move that could make this team much, much better. better in 2026. Definitely, uh, read will, will impact the bullpen significantly and it just, you know, would make it feel like the Diamondbacks are, uh, do have a good plan here to kind of get things going on a budget. We have five very affordable, very budget friendly moves that this

team could make, including bringing on Pete Fairbanks that we feel like could make them a contender as soon as next year. And we'll get to that here, uh, in a little bit. But, but first, we do want to just talk about the signing of Pete Fairbanks. Like I said, we talked about it on yesterday's episode. We showed you guys his stats, his numbers from 2025. Signing Pete Fairbanks would give the Diamondbacks just this strikeout heavy, reliable, versatile high leverage arm in their bullpen that they just don't really have right now. It just can stabilize their late innings.

And I mean, again, he's just a guy that here has been a closer on a bad team, arguably bad team. The rays aren't always bad. kind of just go up and down. And Fairbanks has been a consistent part of their bullpen and a consistent part at the end of their bullpen, high leverage, and then a closer over the last few seasons. He had 27 saves and 32 opportunities last year. More importantly, a 2.83 ERA and a 1.044 for a whip.

He also had an 8.8 strikeout per 9 ratio, which is down over previous seasons and a 1.2B war. But again, this is exactly what a contending or near contending team would want in their bullpen, a guy coming from the Tampa Bay raise, knowing that team is not going to pay free agents and bring them back. And I mean, again, now not necessarily a veteran, but a guy who could help mentor so many of their young relievers that they do have in the bullpen. Fairbanks has a consistent track record over his MLB career and quite, well, I didn't say, I was almost going to say quite frankly, but he really could be a guy. You know how much I love. You know how much

I love a guy, you know, that has, you know, I love a guy that has that ability to mentor the young talent on this team. I felt like it's always kind of a way for this team to get better. And quite, again, they don't really have that much veteran leadership, right? Like, so just, again, when you're talking about the other arms in the bullpen being such young guys like Brandon Garcia and, you know, the Philip Abner's of the world. I think that he could definitely help, right? So exciting news, and if the Diamondbacks do make that signing, even though it's not a starter, even though it's not the thing that they really need, you can feel like a big part of their off-season need checklist is done

between bringing James McCann back and going after, you know, a top, honestly, a top-end elite reliever like Pete Fairbanks. After that, it'd be great to see them get another bullpen arm, but they really truly need to focus on starting pitching from that point going forward. One option for this team might be off the table. We do know that they may have needed to do that via trade, and it would seem that Freddie Peralta, even though he is in fact being shopped around by the Brewers,

according to Ken Rosenthal, he is not a likely candidate to come to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Per Ken Rosenthal, the brewers may be open, more open, in fact, to a parolta trade than they were before, due to a high level of interest from other clubs. He wrote in his article on the athletic, both owner Mark Antonsio and general manager Matt Arnold said they were excited about their rotation after righty Brandon Woodruff accepted the team's $22.025 million

qualifying offer. But if the brewers get a strong offer for Peralto, they believe the veteran presence of Woodruff and their numerous other rotation options could still give them, leave them in a position to contend in the NL Central. You know, of course, you know that the return for Peralta is going to be much higher should that deal get done now than if it gets done as a decisive move at the trade deadline should the Brewers season not go the way that they wanted to go. But it does sound like what they want in return is not something the debacks have to offer. The brewers undoubtedly would set a high price for Peralta according to Ken Rosenthal.

And he said ideally landing a major league ready starting pitcher as part of the return. We don't have any of those. Sorry, we don't have any of those to spare, basically. So I think that makes us an out. Not only were we probably already an out because I don't think that they wanted to mortgage their future on just one season of Freddie Peralta. But again, the cost would impact that. And we do have, you know, of course, the rest of his contract, which is very team friendly

that you would add to your payroll. But, you know, again, it might just be that the cost in return for Freddie Peralta is going to be too high and just one the Diamondbacks don't have the money for it's holiday season right now we can all kind of relate to that I know that there are a lot of things I wanted to buy for myself selfishly and I don't have the money for that right now I'm just going to let those deals pass I'm going to keep deleting those emails so I stopped getting FOMO about what I'm missing out on but another guy that I think we never had FOMO about leaving here it was Josh Burns who really didn't get the credit he deserved is his time as Diamondbacks GM, but Josh Burns was now hired as the Rockies new general manager and just an

interesting move, especially having a guy that knows so much about our organization here in the NL West and now helping the Rockies get things together. I think that the Rockies are starting to build something that we should keep an eye on. I do think that they're putting together some pieces that will make that team so much better than they were in the past. The biggest problem has been everything, just being such an internal decision by the ownership group over there. And I don't think that that's going to be the case with Paul DeBosta taking over and Josh Burns here as their GM. But again, we'll see. Under Burns, don't forget that the Diamondbacks won the NL West in 2007. And that was like after this team was an absolute dumpster fire when he took over after those 2004, 2005 seasons.

They advanced all the way to the National League Championship Series in 2007. And then much of the 2008 season saw us spend most of the year in first place in the division. And overall, Burns' first couple of years here in Arizona seemed to really work. Then, you know, things didn't go so well. And again, there's the 2010 dismissal of Josh Burns. But he did build a foundation here in Arizona via drafts, via cost-controlled, young core players. Notable picks under Josh Burns when the Diamondbacks had him,

Max Scher, Paul Goldschmidt, A.J. Pollock, and Adam Eaton. So all of those guys, I mean, except arguably Adam Eaton, were some pretty incredible players for this franchise and incredible players overall in Major League Baseball, as Max Scher turned into. But again, the draft that Burns did for this organization definitely. you know, built a foundation here, and it was a big reason why we were, you know, good, surprisingly good throughout that stretch there through the mid-2011, 12 period, Golchman's time here. And overall, some of his moves were always questioned, but you could say, like, the AJ Hinch hire was not the worst thing and was ahead of his time based on what Hinch did in his time as manager after that. And he also built, you know, built this organization based on youth and scouting young players and building, you know, a core.

So that is something now that the Rockies have as part of their internal organization and going to help that organization turn things around. But they are still in a very bad place. And the Diamondbacks are in a much better place for 2026, believe it or not, even though many, most of us might think that the Diamondbacks are in the bottom five of Major League Baseball. ESPN does not believe that. ESPN released an article, Bradford Doolittle, great name by the way, incredible name. He ranked where all the Major League Baseball teams currently stand prior to making moves or after some of the moves that they've made this offseason. And the Diamondbacks have not done much, but he did rank the Diamondbacks currently as the 18th highest ranked team in Major League Baseball. He said, he noted it's important to keep in mind that the Arizona ranked eighth and runs after runs per game after the 2025 trade period during which they offloaded Genos War as Josh Naylor and Randall Gritchick and that this team is still brimming with offensive talent.

Less so if rumors of Ctele Marte getting dealt proved to be true. But he did go on to say that the outfield could use a boost, but you wouldn't want to block the path of one Ryan Waldschmidt, especially if he's fast. track. That's an interesting take there, considering that we would love to see Waldy up here in 2026. And then he also loves the idea here of bringing back Paul Goldschman. He said also please bring back Paul Goldschman. And so we're on board with all of this, but more than anything, Arizona needs to inject some veteran innings into the rotation. They need high quality arms. And we are going to get pretty crazy here. We, not crazy. I want to momentarily. I want to momentarily. get crazy and we're going to do that after the break but we do have less crazy options we do have

five very affordable options that the diamondbacks can uh moves that they can make this off season that can help this team actually become a contender in 2026 and really a team that could surprise a lot of people we're going to do that on the other side of this break don't you go anywhere you're watching the ph next diamond back show well shout out to pure edibles we love pure edibles i love pure edibles they were founded right here in arizona they're a wonderful company and they offer you a wide array of candy, not just gummies, that can help you get exactly where you're going. And when I say where you're going, I mean the wide variety of effects that Pure Edibles has. Whether you're looking to improve your mood, you're looking to chill out, or looking to get yourself some sleep,

there is an option for you, and there's a delightful candy for you. They do have gummies, but they also have hard candies to choose. They have soft candies. They also have their version of Starbursts that they call kicks and so much more. So make sure to check out everything that they have to offer, including their new collaboration that they have with the finest brewery in all the Landmother Road Brewing Company up in Flagstaff, Arizona. These two iconic brands come together to form Noble Road and bring you their new Tower Station IPA

all in one. You're not familiar with Tower Station IPA. It's a delicious, delicious IPA. Smooth, tie in ABV, and it gets, it's just one of the best beers that you can find in the state of Arizona. Well, they offer that in a crisp, the crisp citrus and piney hops of Arizona's favorite IPA, but with a smooth THC twist in an all-in-one device. So do not miss out on this.

It is a collaboration that might not be around forever. So make sure you get your chance to get your hands on one. And also go find yourself some pure edibles products from one of over 130 dispensaries across Arizona. And whatever the moment, it's never ordinary. At Bet365, as you know, Bet365 is always having, they're always having a good time, but more so during football season. They have over 90 million users worldwide.

they live stream 780,000 events each year, and they offer you a wide variety of fun during the NFL and college football season. Right now, you can get down on the Thursday night football safety net bet offer, as well as the Sunday night football $365,000 jackpot. With that one, you got to place a $10 bet on the first touchdown score, and you will get a split of the $365,000 jackpot and bonus bets if your player scores the final touchdown of the game. So a great way for you to get both of those bets. You can win your bet and you can still get in on the bonus bet jackpot if your player scores the final touchdown of the game. There's offers on Tuesdays for NBA. There are early payout offers on every sport, including NHL hockey. And as you know, whatever the moment, it is never ordinary at bet 365.

Right now, new customers can get $150 in bonus bets when you bet $5 when or lose. Sign up, use that code, a PHNX 365. Deposit $10 and place a bet for $5 to get $150 of bonus bets if your bet wins or loses. bonus beds can be used on the spread totals players props futures and more whatever the moment it's never ordinary bet 365 must be 21 and over and or over and physically located in arizona if you or someone you know as a gambling problem and wants help call 180 next step text next step to 53342 or visit problem gambling dot a z dot go well damon we kind of hit there on the information we got about pete fairbanks right i'm not going to pat myself on the back too much but i've been doing it all day and my elbow kind of hurts so uh i would love you know know for you to pat me on the back about that at some point but I guess you know whatever well who cares who cares who credited who right like who cares you want me to pat you on the back I was I just want some sort of add-a-boy you know what I mean I'm proud of you Derek good for good for this podcast

we're breaking news on this podcast and it's why everyone should tune in yeah I mean you're not wrong you're not wrong I agree but also the other reason why everyone should tune in including the diamond back's front office is that we have found easy ways to fix it. this team, right? We've talked about it. Oh, it's so hard to fix this team. No, it's not. No, it's not. Me and Damon, we hashed it out in like 20 minutes. It's no problem. So what we're going to bring you now actually is a thoroughly thought out plan for the Arizona Diamondbacks this off season and what they can do to add to this team. But first, I mean, I do have to admit. I know that being reasonable is not normally like my bag.

So I know at times I'm fairly unreasonable and I know that I can get a little crazy. So we also have, you know, maybe some ideas on how this team, you know, if money was no object, how this team could be fixed. But I don't know. I don't want to get crazy here. I know like we got a lot of options that we've talked about.

The biggest problem with many of the options, as my friend Josh texted me to tell me that our headlines, Damon, are getting depressing because it's just one guy after another that we wanted getting scooped up by another team. That's not my fault. I didn't mean to give Josh false hope. That's not what my intentions were, Josh, and I'm sorry. My intentions were to cover guys I thought the Diamondbacks could reasonably go after, break down how much they would cost and discuss if it was reasonable or unreasonable to pursue these players, right?

The biggest problem is that the Diamondbacks would be. Backs need to ball on a budget, right? Like they need to go find those, not just the Black Friday deals. I'm talking about like the Walmart clearance deals, right? I'm talking about like the super deep discounts. 90% off is what the Diamondbacks are in need of finding in order for them to complete, doing all of these things that they need to do. So that's kind of the problem overall is that when we've looked at so many of these players

and looked at what they cost, you know, as much as some of them seem reasonable, even now when we look at the deals that they got, like right? and Helsley's deal with the Oriole seems fairly reasonable, but as we discussed yesterday, or the other day, is it, I mean, was it, are other Diamondbacks able to spend $14 million on a reliever? Probably not, you know, and so that's the most heartbreaking part about so many of these players, including, as you know, Tatsuya Amai, which I want more than any other player overall. But Michael Dixon is asking if I'm a jinx. And that's a question that I've had. to ask myself entirely too many times, Damon. That is a conversation I've had internally in front

of a mirror often. I don't know. We still haven't come to a conclusion on that. All right, I think, are we ready, Damon? Because I think we have some dream offseason acquisitions to get to, perhaps, and then maybe some more realistic ones, I guess. I don't know if you want to, what we want to do here. But I do have some unrealistic, you know, ideas of what the Diamondbacks could do. And we know what they need, right? They need two starters. That's a fact. You could argue that they need two relievers. You could probably argue that they need more than two relievers, but with once again, the limited budget that we have, two relievers is probably the most that we can get. And then as far as other position players, first baseman is very helpful for a team that does not currently

have one really, and an outfielder, especially if the Diamondbacks intend on trading any of theirs, and preferably a right-handed outfielder. Is that fair to say that kind of sums everything up? Yeah, for the most part, maybe third base as well, but yeah. I mean, if they were to acquire an outfielder and a first baseman, I mean, it's hard to say that they don't have the option there with either Jordan Lawler or Blaze Alexander to take over there at third base.

Just which one would you prefer? So far, Blaze Alexander has shown that he plays a position exceptionally well, and Jordan Lawler has struggled offensively a lot and honestly has not been as good over there. I think you could just as easily make the argument the same thing about first base. And the debacks probably are. To Gambo.

That's why he reported the information that the, you know, that they're happy with Pavin and with Tyler Locklear. I mean, yeah. And again, you're right. You're right. Because, again, that's more about in-house options that they currently have under contract. And when you don't have enough money to spend out there, then it's much easier for you to not have to do that and replace those guys.

They're flexible in a couple different spots. They are flexible. Where they could maybe move players. But it's still like how much do you want that? Who's the D.A. on this team and other things. So I think what we're going to do here, let's first get crazy, Damon,

and I want to just have like money be no object. Does that make sense? Let's do money is no object version of Derek's offseason list. And this would be my very first and most important offseason edition. It would be adding starting pitcher Tetsuya Amai. Right now, projections have him on a six-year, $135 million deal. And he's the most important thing to this organization ever.

There's never been another player that we needed more, that we needed their attitude more, that a player that 100% just wanted to beat the Dodgers more than anything else in their life, it's Tatsuya Mai. All right. And now I got to look at the starting pitchers that are also still available.

And again, even though I feel very sensible about this one, But it's because I just really like Michael King. I like Michael King a lot. And I think as far as a second additional starting pitcher, Michael King fits everything that I would want to see this team add. Not only was he an incredible starting pitcher, but again, there's just, should the Diamondbacks make the postseason, he's a guy that has experience being a reliever, right? Like, so should we get into those crazy scenarios where the Diamondbacks make the postseason, he's a guy. and Beck's, you know, want to throw all, everything out the window like we saw in the playoffs late. He is a guy that can also be a stud out of the bullpen.

But he has been incredible. And apparently it'll take three years, $70 million. Damon, pick number three, I had to go with a reliever. And I had to get a little crazy. And that's because pick number three might be a little bit more about a sentimental pick. But I'm bringing Luke Weaver back. I'm bringing Luke Weaver back. as a reliever, not a closer, but a reliever.

And we're going to get Yankees playoff bullpen Luke Weaver, right? Right? Everybody? Okay. I mean, Luke Weaver's been so damn inconsistent recently. I don't even know what to think about him. Yeah, I know. I know.

Well, I'm already spending so much money here that I just, I had to be, I guess, I couldn't go out there and just add the two top relievers to the team. but I am adding one of the top relievers to this team, and it's closer Robert Suarez. We got to steal him away. We got to limit the Dodgers from being able to get him. So Robert Suarez, that's who I'm adding as our closer. Meanwhile, number five, again, sentimental, but I don't care.

And I think we still need him. Paul Goldschman over there at first base. One year, $8 million. Who says no? Nobody. Nobody says no to that. Last but not least, let's get really crazy. and I just needed to make a trade.

And I know we've all been talking about trading Alec Thomas. So let's just give the Chicago White Sox, Alec Thomas, for Luis Robert Jr. Now I know what you're going to say. He was awful and you are not wrong. But if you look at his baseball savant page, there's so much red on there when it comes to like defense and speed. And I think that you get him here,

you get him in this offense, and you'll see those numbers pick up. And again, this is only going to cost the Diamondback. this off season with additions to the payroll, including eating a lot of Luis Robert Jr.'s salary because he's owed like $20 million next year. $98.55 million. We almost added $100 million to the budget.

We almost did it. We were so close. All right. Damon, we can get this off the screen. None of that's going to happen. Probably none of those moves are going to happen. But one of those moves I actually do have on what I was consider a far more realistic list, right? So big problem there, as you see. There's a lot of guys on

there that we've talked about, guys that I've suggested the Diamondbacks add. Now we know that they're not going to add all of those guys. We know that they're probably not going to add any of those guys. But again, there's a lot of guys on there that I like. And I think that that, especially as far as the pitching is concerned, really does change this entire dynamic of this team next year. But that's a type dream. That's a fairy tale. So how do we get this team to contention while still playing within the confines of the rules, right? The rules being the budget limitations this team has. We don't really know what the Diamondbacks are going to do as far as their budget is concerned. And again, let's not forget that the competitive balance tax does bring, if I'm not mistaken, the Diamondbacks

some money from the Dodgers specifically who spent an ungodly amount of money on their team. So let's just say again that the Diamondbacks have $40 million to spend from this point going forward. That's probably a bit of an overestimate. It's probably more in the neighborhood of 35. It might even be less than that. But let's see how we can spend Uncle Ken Kendrick's money and stay within that $40 million budget. My first addition, of course, is a starter. I don't think the Diamondbacks can get away without adding a starter.

So as far as budget starters are concerned, know that Jesse Friedman suggested that it would be far more to bring Merrill Kelly back, but so far some projections for Merrill Kelly suggested he could be brought back for $2 million, $35 million, or two years, $35 million. I know what I've said personally about Merrill Kelly, or Zach Gallen bringing either of those guys back. I know it's just not the kind of move that's going to excite the fan base, but I do feel like of those two players, if you could bring back Merrill Kelly, I do think that Merrill Kelly,

the move to bring back Merrill Kelly would be much, would go much more, much further with the fan base than bringing back Zach Gallen. Zach Gallen is going to cost you a ton of money. So on top of the money that it's going to cost you, it's also not going to be exciting. It's just not. I mean, and that is no knock to Zach at all. That is not what that is intended to be. but I would say that, you know, again, Merrill Kelly for some reason,

just I think has been more consistent to most of us that have been fans of this team. And Merrill also has the connection to the valley, right? So that is definitely something that I feel like we could see reasonably happen, right? So if the Diamondbacks do still need two starters, I will figure out a way to get us a second one. But as we have discussed, as has been reported, as has been. sourced. Pete Fairbanks is in talks with the Diamondbacks. And again, projected contract for Pete Fairbanks is two years, $18 million, $9 million per year there for Fairbanks. I don't think that that's unreasonable. And I do think that, again, that is going to fill a closer role for

this team until the return of AJ Puck and Justin Martinez and is also going to perhaps be, you know, that closer beyond that, maybe he's a setup man, he's going to be a high leverage arm. It's going to make the Diamondbacks bullpen formidable. That's one thing that excites me about those guys returning. I think that Fairbanks can hold things down there in high leverage situations and give the Diamondbacks a sense of security. They can have an actual closer, a guy named a closer that is a closer, and a guy that's willing to work in high leverage situations as well, not necessarily a guy like some of the other options on the market that have been nothing but a closer, right? I said that kind of about Ryan Hesley and Devin Williams.

I felt like changing their roles from being a closer to a high leverage arm is what, you know, caused some of their inconsistency and caused some of their bad, you know, statistical numbers last year. But Pete Fairbanks, again, he is a good option for this team. And $9 million, obviously, he's going to save the diamondbacks about $5 to $6 million that they would have had to spend on some of the other. elite arms in baseball. And he is elite.

That's it. That's a fact. I mean, his numbers might be, uh, kind of have gone up and kind of been over, over the place a little bit, but he has been so consistent. And when I say all over the place, not really, but, uh, Pete Fairbanks. Again, my second addition to my list overall. Um, and I think that, again, that's a guy who will, uh, be an exciting addition when the Diamondbacks hopefully make that announcement.

But guy number three, again, had to maybe forego another reliever or another closer on this one. Because again, if we're getting within the confines of the budget, I really could only find the budget to get one reliever. So if we're trying to hit all of these things that the Diamondbacks need, we're bringing back Paul Goldschmidt. One year, $8 million. I don't care. I don't care if they like what they have over there. I like Blaze and Jordan Lawler at third, far more than I like the opposite. to Pavin Smith and Tyler Locklear at first.

And I still don't feel like that brings you any kind of OPS, any kind of power at first base over there with Paveen Smith and Tyler Locklear. And I also don't know what the Diamondbacks are going to do for a DH. Are they just going to continue to have like the guy that gets the day off DH? Like that's not a, that's not what teams in baseball are doing. They have a guy that can mash the goddamn ball is their DH. and that's what we need. I don't know if Paul Goldschmidt's that guy anymore. But I think as far as the other options are concerned,

and Goldie not only playing first base, but getting to DH quite a bit because of those other options, I think this is a versatile match for exactly what they need. And I think it's a good match for Paul. I think bringing Goldie back here for a year is going to make everybody's heart grow five times in size, right? And we're all going to enjoy the reunion. We're all going to enjoy him coming back

and being in a diamond back uniform again. But I think it's also going to be good for him. And he already put up really good numbers with the Yankees. He's just at that point in his career where people don't really believe in him due to age and feel like it might be too much of a risk. For us, it serves a dual purpose. I know that this is something people don't like. But, I mean, bringing fans back to the stadium is a big part of being a baseball team.

And if there was a move that was going to do that more, besides a gigantically, overpriced free agent, it's going to be bringing Paul back to the valley. So let's do that. This next move, it's ugly. People aren't going to like this one, Damon, I don't think. But we need an outfielder. We need a right hand outfielder. And we need somebody on a budget. Mark Kanah. Had himself the, had himself the worst season of his career in 2025. He went on the IEL twice for two different injuries. But in 2024, between the Tigers and the Giants, he slashed 242, 342, 344, 346

with a WRC plus of 102, right? Just above league average there. The reason why I like this is because we need it, right? We need it for depth and we need it for this outfield without Lordus Gurriel as an option, right? He's going to cost you $1 million, maybe even less. Like might be a minimum contract deal. So again,

and just as far as guys that are available out there that have majorly experienced, guys that we have coveted in the past and wanted to bring to this team, I think Mark Kenah could be that super cheap, 90% off clearance option of the Diamondbacks need in order to actually fill out their entire rotation, right? But again, it's not a great move.

And you look at his numbers from last year and you might make the puke face that I kind of make. But that's the, those are the moves Damon and I have discussed time and time again. This team is going to have to make in order for them to fill out all of their roster needs. And if they need to add depth there, it would be much, don't get me wrong. I would much rather add a high profile outfielder there, a Harrison Bader or somebody like that. But I don't know, man, Marcana, again, he is a guy that at least fits the budget.

And last but not least, trade. Trade. We got a little bit of a trade action here. I know that the twins are going to have a fire sale. I know that the twins are going to trade some of their best players. And as has been rumored, Joe Ryan, starting pitcher is one of those guys that is rumored to be traded. I am willing to give the twins their pick of Alec Thomas or Jake McCarthy and maybe even prospects to get Joe Ryan. It's going to take more than Alec Thomas or Jake McCarthy. But as far as, you know, what the twins are looking to do, Alec Thomas.

Jake McCarthy both kind of fit what they're trying to do. There's a good chance that they're going to trade some of their high-priced outfielders and Byron Buxton might be one of those guys that gets traded. So they might need outfielders to replace the ones that they plan on trading. I think it might be just exactly what the twins are looking for. And as far as Joe Ryan is concerned, he is exactly, exactly what the Diamondbacks are looking for. And I'm sure at like any player, Joe Ryan will just be thankful to get off of that sinking ship that is the Minnesota twins. So come aboard. Come aboard. I mean, ours isn't doing much better.

Ours is full of holes. We need to do a lot of patchwork in order to get this thing sea worthy. But come on over to this side. Now, the big question is these five additions, the trade, the contract you bring on for Joe Ryan, which is a $6 million estimate in 2026. What does it do for the Diamondbacks budget? We got right up to the edge, baby. This adds 39.9.9. million dollars to the diamond back's budget in 2026. We have we have we have a little bit of money to go have a party with Damon. We can go get ourselves a nice dinner with the remaining money there. Right? Let's go.

State 44. Let's go. Let's go spend a hundred thousand dollars. I don't know. Again, is this realistic? Is this enough to actually make this team competitive? I don't know. I mean, it's an arms race.

you're hearing now rumors about the Dodgers trying to get better. What? Oh, the Dodgers have a bullpen problem. Oh, the Dodgers have a closer problem. They have to go out. They're going to get Edwin Diaz. They're going to get Robert Suarez. And then you also have the Toronto Blue Jays that quite honestly,

even though we throw a lot of shade at the Los Angeles Dodgers and are always going to now, then, and forever, the Blue Jays might become the new Dodgers. Like the Blue Jays are so bloodthirsty for a chance. championship title that they are going for it this off season and it feels like money is no object to that team. So we what what it feels like is instead of like bringing the Dodgers back down to earth to spending like the rest of us, no, no, the teams that get close are just going to have to lose their minds and spend as much as them in order to compete the following season with the Dodgers. And then are you though, does that ever work out for a team? It sure didn't work out for the Diamondbacks when we got close to winning a World Series championship.

championship and came just short as we tried to add Jordan Montgomery. And my head's my right side of my head hurts anytime I think of that or bring up that whole deal. So anyway, we're going to take a quick break on the other side of this break. Well, first, before we do that, I'd love to hear from you guys, thoughts in the chat. Where do you guys stand with these additions? Does those five moves make the Diamondbacks better in 2026? Does it make them a contender?

and especially considering what this starting rotation and bullpen would look like once Corbyn Burns and our two big arms return in AJ Puck and Justin Martinez. So drop us, of course, your thoughts in the chat. And on the other side of this break, we are going to talk about other moves that have happened in Diamondbacks history

on another edition of Throwback Thursday, perhaps the last one because it's slim pickings beyond this week as far as Diamondbacks history is concerned. Got to wait for February and March to come back around to get some more info. But of course, don't you guys go anywhere. You're watching the PH and X Diamondback show. Well, Rally House is your go-to spot.

If you want to look as clean as I do today, look at this. I mean, my shorts match. The hoodie. They're the same material. It's crazy. And you can look this good by getting yourself outfitted over there at Raleigh House. They have all of your game day needs, whether you're looking to dress like me or actually not dress like grimace, but maybe get yourself some sun's gear.

This is a great time to support that team. It doesn't matter what you're looking for. Hats, jersey, shirts, hoodies. They got you covered over there at their rally house locations. And they have shop locations in Tempe, Mesa, and Glendale. Right now, they carry only Arizona sports teams too. So you don't have to look at that Dodgers World Series, you know, hoodie, right? When you walk in the front door.

Plus, every time you visit a rally house, you're guaranteed to find something new, unique, and that matches your game day by. Find your local rally house location, shop their entire product assortment online. at rallyhouse.com today. And of course, you know what season it is. It is the season, the season for over $80 million in prizes over Arizona Lottery. You can play their holiday tickets from Arizona Lottery for your chance to fill your stockings with cash instead of candy canes.

And if you love candy canes, they have a scratcher for that too. There are six festive scratchers to choose from, including cash countdown, which has prizes up to $250,000 and candy cane cash, which smells delightfully like peppermint. Plus, you can dash to instant prizes with holiday fast play tickets. But don't forget, holiday scratchers make the best gift this holiday season, whether it's a white elephant party, whether it's a stocking stuffer, or whether it's just a last minute gift because you forgot or you live your life on the edge like Jesse Friedman does. And you don't buy your gifts until the last minute because of the rush you get.

Get that rush from getting yourself some holiday scratchers from Arizona Lottery. Get them for your friends, your family, your coworkers. It's a great time to do so. Love the play and spread holiday cheer with holiday scratchers from the Arizona Lottery. lottery play and gift today must be 21 or over to play well damon you know when i'm draped in purple that it means it must be thursday and it is yet another throwback Thursday and like i alluded to perhaps the last one i don't know we had a couple of things that happened historically uh but yeah let's get that purple vibe in here let's get the mood changed and let's talk about things that happen

on this day in diamond backs history uh one of the most unfortunate things to ever happen in diamond Backs history happened this week, Damon. It happened when the Diamondbacks unveiled their 2016 uniforms at Chasefield, including eight distinct uniform options. We ranked these jerseys, and I believe these were in their own tier of being that awful, if I'm not mistaken, right? This was the gradient years. and nobody never wants to go back to the gradient years, Damon. I think I've talked about it.

I was present at the unveiling ceremony and they actually had, I think you could still see this on my old YouTube channel. They had a runway and they had like a fashion show showing these off

and I couldn't decide if I hated them or if I really, really hated them. Or if I really, really hated them but yeah they were definitely different and uh something that i don't know i mean at least it lives on uh to this day in diamondbacks history and in their serpientish jersey just a little bit so um but yeah there was a crazy that was that was a crazy time in this team's uh past another crazy thing that happened was the diamondbacks on this day or not on this day uh on december 1st

2003 acquired slugger Richie Sexton in a six-player trade with the Milwaukee Brewers. And I was so excited as a young man about this trade until I found out that it wasn't six players. It was nine players. And it involved dealing Craig Counsel and second basement junior spivey, who I adored to the Milwaukee Brewers. And then I wasn't so sad. Also, Lyle Overbay, Chad Moller, Jorge de la Rosa, and Chris Capuano were all dealt till Milwaukee. What a deal. The Diamondbacks, meanwhile, received Richie Sexton and Shane Nance. We got fleeced on that one, David.

We absolutely got fleeced by the Brewers. That might be more of a reason to hate the brewers than what they did to us in the playoffs. Yeah, I mean, the Richie Sexton trade goes down as much. one of the worst, right? Oh, God. If not the worst. It's really bad. Well, the Scherzer trade exists.

The Scherzer trade does exist. You're not wrong. A deal that actually we should kind of celebrate is on December 8, 2015. The Diamondback signed one Zach Granky to a six-year contract with Arizona. Shocking the baseball world. Shocking the baseball world, by the way. Also, the Dodgers had offered Zach Granky a qualifying offer, which he rejected to come to the Arizona.

Diamondbacks, that qualifying offer turned into Will Smith for the Dodgers, World Series Hero, Will Smith. Gross. On December 1st, 2021, the Diamondbacks and Mark Melanson agreed to a two-year contract with 2023 and a mutual option for 2024. Mark Melanson led the league and saves the year prior with the San Diego Padres, only to come over here and stink up the place and also get injured. So, I mean, I'm sure it wasn't entirely all Mark Melanson's fault.

But, I mean, Damon, that was one of those moves that just made you, like, throw your hands up in the air and say, like, that's, that's like where the beginning of nothing is going to work out for us started to happen, I feel like for me, is that the Mark Malanson move ended up being so bad. And, I mean, could you imagine how different things would have been history could have been in 2023 if Mark Malanson would have just worked out from the beginning and not had to be. even bring on Paul Seawald if Bart Palances would have been as good as he was with the Padres the year prior? Yeah, I mean, it would have been nice, I guess, but that's the curse of the Diamondbacks and when it comes to signing free agent pitchers. Yeah. You can only bring them over via trade mid-season in order for it to work out, right? Like, we can't actually sign these guys. Maybe that's what the Diamondbacks will have to do here in order to make something.

We can't. We can't. That one felt pretty obviously like it was going to blow up, though. Yeah. I won't lie. He was old. He was old when he came over. And but I mean, again, that's kind of like what we're talking about now with the debacks, right?

Like you kind of have to accept that risk with some of these needs. And if it doesn't work out, it's going to suck. But you got to take your chances and you got to kind of make this team competitive as quickly as possible. So, you know, that you can be in the mix when hopefully those guys return at the All-Star break. And again, that's such a weird thing to constantly be like that's such a weird. destination point or island because we have no idea where that destination point actually is we have no idea when corbin burns a j j puck or jrc or j martinez are going to return or if any of them are in fact going to return in 2026 it's just an assumption it's based on the timetable that also includes

a range that involves them not coming back in 2026 so let's hope that's not the case but uh for the for the most part, the Diamondbacks have to build this team, right? Like they don't have those guys returning. And that's why it feels like a guy like Pete Fairbanks would be that anchor that they need. But now that I'm talking about all of these past things that have happened, all these past transactions, maybe no matter what, maybe we're just cursed when it comes to that. But those winter meetings, though they will tell a lot.

There will be a lot of information that starts coming out once those winter meetings come this weekend. And as Michael is alluding to, he says the winner meetings are going to be wild. Yes, they are. But speaking of a wild time, a time when we did this show on December 2nd, 2021 with no CBA in place between the Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association, the league implemented a lockout. It was a dark time in my life. And I honestly don't even remember what we talked about. I don't want to revisit those shows. I don't want to really remember how that went.

I do remember that on March 10th, it finally came to an end. And the lockout ended after 99 days of MLB being locked out and no MLB news. Opening day was tentatively scheduled for April 7th. So, and I'm not looking forward to that. I mean, like I said yesterday, I know there will be no peace, but I need peace. I need them to figure out a way to avoid this. I need them to not be locked out for another 100 days when December of 20. 2026 comes around because I do this show solo now and I'm not capable of that kind of stamina.

Damon doesn't want to figure out ways to entertain me for an hour. It's going to be difficult. It's going to be difficult. But one man who has had no difficulty on the mic like I just did, it was when the D-backs named Chris Gersiola as the second ever radio play-by-play announcer following the governor's Greg Schulte's retirement. that was on December 1st, 2003. I love Chris. I love him as a person. I love getting to chat with him at games and talk to him in the press lounge.

But I am a huge fan of Chris Gersiola. I think he does an outstanding job as a play-by-play announcer. And I feel like he's only gotten better over his time since 2023. So I really think that he would be an outstanding television announcer. I think he's going to be a huge part of this. team's future. And I think we all should be very thankful that Chris Gershola is here and part of this team. He does, again, a great job. I find myself on many occasions listening on the radio due to traveling over and, you know, just my time of getting from like the stadium over to the studio.

And I always enjoy listening to Chris. And I always get a ton of information from him to share with you guys or to look into in such a short amount of time in some cases. So I, again, Again, great job by Chris and look forward to hearing him soon when baseball resumes. But I do want to also say how appreciative I am for each and every one of you. Our guy, Jason, I know he became a diehard yesterday. Thank you so much, Jason, for doing that. He is also a member of our supporters club. If you have not joined our supporters club yet, I know it's very tempting.

You've got to check out all the custom emojis we have. I know ours are gone, but don't worry, they'll be back. It's the offseason. There's a lot of sports going on right now. But again, make sure to join our supporters club. It truly, truly helps us. It does support us. You can join on our YouTube channel for five bucks a month.

You get a badge next to your name and your name in the live chat and comments, as you see so many of your fellow commenters have. You also get access to those custom emojis in the chat and in the comments. Plus, you also get behind the scene blogs, bonus content, experimental content. You get our brand new show headbands, which we are just throwing sports icons, if you want to call it, or in our first episode, Valley Villains, onto the heads of some of your favorite producers and personalities around PH&X. We're going to have ourselves a good time.

So you're going to get content like that as a supporters club member. And again, if you already send Super Chats, this is a great next step, just for you to jump in and join us and become part of everything we got going on here. So we thank you guys so much. And look, I'm going to say this. I know between our day of giving and our diehard sale and Super Supporters Club Super chats and all of that. We have asked so much of you guys financially,

and I just want to tell you guys, we understand how especially this time of the year, can be difficult. So I do not want to ever make it sound like in any way, shape, or form. We don't appreciate all of you. If you are here listening to me and Damon try to fix this baseball team, we love you and we appreciate you.

We thank you so much. So, again, we know that this is one of those times a year. Like I said earlier, sales are being thrown at me every single day. I don't even know what to do with myself sometimes. I have to decide what I do and don't spend my money on. And of course, that involves spending my money on that championship belt. You saw me unbox the other day. That's where I correctly spent my money and properly spent my money.

And now I'm broke and I'm going to just hope that I can eat by until Christmas comes around. But I will tell you, there is a brand new place for me to go that costs absolutely no money and is a quite, it's a delightful place for me to spend my time. It is Corbyn Carroll's digital place, digital space. We got this sent to us the other day. It's on a website called placed by dot me. And it's a chance for celebrities and athletes to set up essentially like, I don't know how, the best way I could describe it is it reminds me of the

like customized rooms and such that we would have on video games like 2K where you're like I'm here to play basketball and they're like no no sir you're here to design your apartment and pick out furniture and which which which plants you want in your in your digital apartment right so we have this place though for corbin carroll and i found this thing to be incredibly cool and now mind you, I'm also old, so websites like this used to exist. I don't feel like they really exist anymore, and I'm thankful that they do. But here we got a look at Corbyn Carroll's digital space. And again, this is an interactive space for you to go on and click on items. Now, if we were showing you the actual website instead of just a screen grab of it, the cat there would be moving. There would be another

animal walking around in the forefront. And a lot of this stuff would be those videos, the TV, the video on the left, they all kind of play. This has, many cool features, including like highlights of Corby and Carroll that you can click on when you click on the TVs. And there, right there in the middle is a look at Corbyn Carroll's baseball card collection, including his favorite cards. And if you click on the cards, not only can you get a chance to see what cards he has, but you can click on the card once you click on the card, double click, click in and then click

again. And it takes you to like an interview on some Instagram live page or somewhere where, where Corbyn Carroll talked about each of these baseball cards and more of his stuff. There's also all sorts of other cool options in this digital space. It has his bobbleheads over there. So if you just wanted to familiarize yourself with his old bobbleheads, you could see each one of the three bobbleheads that have come out for Corbyn Carroll. Or if you didn't get one of those, you can actually purchase them.

And I believe he has autographed versions of those bobbleheads up on his, it's his charity site. and 100% of the proceeds there go to charity for Corbyn Carroll. So again, if you're looking for great gift items, there's some great gift items in there, just all sorts of cool stuff to be had, honestly. Like, even if you click on the glove laying there, Damon, it takes you to Rawlings' website to the exact glove that Corbyn Carroll uses if you wanted to play exactly like Corbyn Carroll.

That's very cool. And I'll save you the trouble. It's sold out. It's sold out. But there are a lot of other things in here. I mean, don't get me wrong. This is definitely a cool marketing situation for him because I know that he might have partnerships with some of this stuff. You see there on the left side hanging in his locker, that's a junk band.

And if you click on that junk band, it takes you to junk band's website. There's other things, too, like the plio balls and other things in here that are like training, baseball training tools that Corbyn uses. And, I mean, again, if you're a young player that wanted to train like the pros and want to know, you want to know exactly what your favorite. player uses, it's all in there. And again, it's very, very cool. Stephen in the chat asked the link. It is at placed by, placed by, like the word placed, P-L-A-C-E-D, by dot me, and then it's slash Corby Carrel, his whole name as one word. So you can find it in there. And it's, uh, Jarme is very correct. It definitely has MLB, the show vibes, definitely has like video game vibes, maybe even a little like classic MySpace vibes?

I don't know. I'm showing my age once again on that. But I just think it's cool. I think stuff like this is cool. I think that, again, from knowing more about him, from getting to see his highlights to especially card collecting stuff,

I think we're all really big into card collecting these days. And it's very cool to see not only, you know, what gems he has, but in the case of being able to click on the cards and see the videos, it's a great opportunity to see some, you know, great candid stuff.

from Corbin and what honestly stuff we don't really see all the time from him. So again, if you want to check that out, definitely, like I said, it's at placed by. dot me slash Corbyn Carol. And I don't know, Damon. What would my digital space look like, right? Like, obviously Cosmo is going to be the animal that's roaming around in there, as well as Damon. Like, there'll be a little Damon dog.

Maybe it's this guy running around. I don't know. My two best friends are dogs, by the way. So, I mean, one's an actual dog. ones this guy over here. But I don't know. There would definitely have to be, I don't know, probably not my card collection.

My card collection isn't that strong. Maybe my comic book collection? My comic book collection is very strong. It's very, very strong. I got a, let's see, Jarmy says, obviously the studio. Yeah, that would probably be a good digital space for mine, is this studio.

You could pull the dog's tongue and it goes bark, bark. you click on the cactus light, it turns on and off. Killer X would do unspeakable things to whatever the interaction is with this Torrey Bumblehead in front of me. It would be great times, great times. But again, if you want to check this out, I think this is very cool. Again, I don't even know. Do kids still like stuff like this? It's like when action figures come out and I see them and I'm like, who is this really for?

Is this for adults or is this for children? Because I don't think children play with these anymore. But I don't know. I don't know. My daughter definitely played with dolls and played with a lot of stuff. And then now at 14 years old, as I told Damon, she just wants to throw it all in a trash bag and put it outside for people to take for free. And it breaks my heart and kind of my wallet thinking about all of that money I spent on past Christmases going into a trash bag out on the street. But anyway, I mean, it's got to be the most heartbreaking thing for a parent, probably. Oh, don't even get me into it. I already explained to all of you guys.

You'll start crying live on here. I will definitely start crying. Like, see, that's the thing is people just underestimate that these toys are, they just mean something to the children, right? No, no. Watching my daughter play with these toys, especially the ones that were like her things for years. Yeah, that's heartbreaking enough. But you know what my memories are attached to?

Fighting another dad for that target on Black Friday in 2015 because it was the last one left. This guy right here, I went to three Toys R Uses to. get this guy and she just wanted to cast him aside. That's why he now lives with us in this studio. Oh, come on. Like, think of the dads. Think of the work we've put in to going out there and making sure that the deed gets done, that the Christmas list gets crossed off every single item. That's what we are here for. We are the unsung heroes of the holiday seasons. And I'm not thinking, I don't need my, I don't need my attaboy now. I'm not asking for that. I already got mine from Damon earlier. What I'm saying is, is that when time comes to callously cast these,

Toys aside, let's think of the fathers and the work they put into getting these toys in the hands of these children. Damn it. There. That's all I have to say. Anyway, I appreciate you guys so much. Love you guys so much for stopping by. We will be back tomorrow with another 12 p.m. show. Our guy Alex Dagostino is going to stop by to talk to us more about the Diamondbacks offseason priorities as well as how the hell they can fill this list. I'm going to run my options past him and see what he thinks. But I do appreciate each and every one of you. Of course, you can follow us on Twitter. I am at cap underscore caveman with a K. Our guy Damon is at Damon Dog with a D-A-W-G.

And as you know, we are all Damon's dogs. Bark, bark, bark. Our show is at P-H-N-X underscore D-Backs, but as always all Rotesley to at P-N-X underscore Sports on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. We'll see you guys back here tomorrow. Until then, have a wonderful evening. Behave yourselves. Our guy, Yellow Bear, says,

My Spotify says I'm a 2% listener on the pH and X. Let's go, sir. Thank you so much. By the way, loved hearing how much people listen to our show. I can never get enough of that. So I don't care how many people have sent it to us. Please continue to send us. Yeah, Derek needs that as much as anybody that works at this company.

I need to know people like us. I just need to know that people are listening. Specifically Derek. Yeah. Tell Derek, send Derek a nice message that says like, I could go without some Damon, but Derek, you really make you break. the show. Damon doesn't take crap from anybody. Damon doesn't need your approval at all. Meanwhile, let's not forget that I want to be liked by everybody so much. It is why hanging out with me is in

fact like hanging out with somebody who is running for the mayor of nothing. So don't forget that. Also, don't forget your time is valuable. We thank you for sharing it with us. It's a commodity. Don't share it with everybody. Share it with those who deserve it. We value that we deserve. and earned your time. So we appreciate you guys so much. We will see you back here tomorrow. Until then, we hope you all have a wonderful evening. And remember, kids, baseball is fun, but it's so much more fun when you can put together some options for this team that cost less than $40 million.