PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - Black Friday Baseball

Episode Date: November 26, 2021

On this episode, a very stuffed Derek and Jesse are discussing some of Derek's terrifying Black Friday tales, some of the free agency moves in MLB, and spending the D-backs money on Black Friday deals. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello and welcome to a very overstuffed and hungover edition of the PHNX Debaks podcast right here on PHNX. I, of course, am occasionally known as your mayor of PHNX. My name is Derek Montia, and I am joined by my vice mayor, my friend, and my co-host, Thundersstick, Jesse Friedman. You ate too much, huh, Derek? Oh, Jesse, I ate too much. I ate too much of everything. It's so predictable, right? It's like the one day that you just, it's like completely socially acceptable to,

like just gorge yourself. Although I will say I don't normally eat that much at Thanksgiving personally. Like I feel like it's just like kind of a normal meal and I'll get seconds. And then like that's kind of it. Sure. I know. I get where you're coming from. I think I, over the years, I've adapted the sides and and how our Thanksgiving is more to like my specific taste. So it makes it that much harder for me to like just pick and choose a couple the sides I want. It's all of my favorite things and I want all of it in my stupid mouth as soon as possible. But, you know, that's the way that it goes. And I loved every minute of it. But, well, you know, we have more to talk about. Of course, we want to remind everybody that this show is brought to you by the fine folks at the Draft King Sportsbook app. Go download the Draft King

Sportsbook app now. Use our code of PHNX. And simply for betting $1 on any NBA or any NFL game, you will get $100 in free bets instantly. Should either team, score as long as anybody scores. Just need some on score. Just score some points. Score some points this Black Friday and you'll score. You use that extra money for all of your fun holiday spending. But again, we thank you guys so much for joining us. Of course, this is the Black Friday edition of the D-BACs podcast.

So we're going to go shopping for free agents. Again, we're going to spend a little bit more of Ken Kendrick's money. But this time, we're going to be frugal about it. We're going to try not to spend. fine well you try to get deals on black friday jessie it's what's all what i'm all about i have a lot of hats that i wear around here and some of those hats are outside of here as you know i was recently made commissioner of izw wrestling so i am now a pro wrestling commissioner officially jesse i have i don't get licensed on on tuesday for it there was a whole process you interestingly enough

you get your pro wrestling commissioner license at the dmv which sucks uh really but Really? You go to the DMV to get your... You have to go to the DMV to get your pro wrestling commissioners. All these other losers are in line trying to get their registration. Yeah, man. And then Waltz is up Derek, who's there to get his official commissioner. It's what Windows M is for.

That's right. Absolutely. But, you know, it's a whole ordeal. But another hat I wear around here, Jesse, is I am. I know I've called myself the king of PHNX. I'm the king of Black Friday. My history of Black Friday is lengthy. I have, I'm old school Black Friday, Jesse.

I'm pre-internet Black Friday. Wow. I am standing out in a line at 4 o'clock in the morning on Black Friday at Target. I'm that old school. You mean like, you mean sitting on your computer at. No, Jesse, I do not mean that. I do not mean that. I mean standing out.

You used to go to actual stories. I actually used to go to a brick and mortar store to purchase items with my hands and my money in real life. I had to interact with other people. I had, as a matter of fact, I will say this. My brother and I, my brother Dax and I were like joy bringers when it came to Black Friday. Other people would be, they'd be grumpy, they'd be tired. Yeah. They'd be sad.

My brother and I would be there in funny hats. we would be high-fiving people and stuff. We were trying to make it as pleasant as possible. I will say that- We're just trying to get them on your side so that you can like run over them within the next hour, right? That's very astute, Jesse Friedman. I do tend to like to get people,

again, that's a very pro-wrestling thing. I like to get them on my side just so I could stab them in the back. Yeah, yeah, make sense. Get that 55-inch TV that's going to break in six months for myself. but no, I have actually, believe it or not, been in Walmart of all stores on Black Friday. And when I say that- The lamest place to go on Black Friday. It is not the lamest place, Jesse.

It is by far the most dangerous place to go on Black Friday. I shit you not. The videos that you have seen on the internet do it. no justice versus where you're actually there in person trying to survive to get a $13 PlayStation game. It's incredible

the stuff that we go through to save a few measly bucks. But when I say that, okay, here's the thing about Walmart. I think they changed their ways for the better, right? But what they used to do on Black Friday was they used to have the Black Friday

items plopped in a crate in the middle of the aisles and it would be wrapped in plastic it would be wrapped in plastic so you could kind of see through it and know like what like if you if there was a coveted item you were there for let's say for your kids or for your spouse and you need it or maybe you're just selfish and you want it for yourself and this is what specifically you came there for you can walk in the building because Walmart was and is for some reason inexplicably still open on Thanksgiving and 24 hours and all that jazz. So you could just go, stand next to the palette that has your item on it and wait for midnight to come around. What's supposed to happen at midnight, Jesse, is a Walmart person is supposed to come over and very calmly and, and, you know, judiciously unwrap the items.

And then we as the consumers are supposed to just. each grab one, you know, and take one and pleasantly and politely walk away without disturbing other, you know, patrons of the store. And I'm sure that's exactly what happens, right? Instead, Jesse, instead what happens is at 1154, some maniac in the crowd that's seething and foaming at the mouth now for these goods that they need to get in their cart decides that that's just plastic wrap standing between that item and us surrounding it. And I have seen these human beings just decide to take it upon themselves to rip into the plastic,

which then causes everybody that's surrounding that particular palette to go into a, and I shit you not, an actual, like, feeding frenzy where you just see nothing but the blacks of people's eyes. fighting and grabbing and ripping plastic and going for more items next thing you know all that's left at 1159 is an empty cardboard kiosk with no nothing left on it and yeah it's

it's actually scary I'll say that I will say that I have been a predicament or two that I found actually be a bit terrifying because you really get to see the worst out of people in those situations I don't

wait so. you don't like so you're saying you you weren't waiting outside the front door of this walmart it's just once midnight strikes yeah everyone's already in there yeah and and the poor and the poor walmart lady just yeah goes over there that's exactly what i'm saying right oh my gosh and then they have like they have like timed releases so there's some pallets that like okay we're not unwrapping this one until three o'clock in the morning you really think people are going to wait and do you think people that are checking people out up at the front care, they're just scanning and they just want to get people

the hell out of here, right? So, like, that's where things really go off the rails. You combine that with the little pay that you're actually, you know, giving to these people that work at these stores and expecting them to care about whether or not people ripped into a bin five minutes early

and just, you know, acted like zombies trying to eat human flesh. And, yeah, you're just like, whatever. just get out of here i just want this whole process to be over it it happens kind of in a flash you know like in any of those situations that i've been in where i actually went to the store it's like the doors open or the thing starts and people go insane and they all there's only certain items you know that everybody's after it's like people know that everybody's after those items so that's

kind of what causes people to act the way they do right but uh i i don't know man i've i i for the most part have uh really enjoyed the you know i don't know the turn things uh the way things have turned as far as black friday shopping goes doing things online makes so much more sense to me and at the end of the day if my items out of stock i i can yell at my computer i can yell at my wall i can get mad at anybody i want to but there's no human being whose fault it absolutely is not that they're out of stock of that item for me to take my irate Christmas rage out on, you know? So it's, uh, it seems to be for the best for everybody, you know.

I feel like Black Friday is, is really the day when we all understand the human condition, right? Like, like, you understand like deep down what human beings are really like on a day like Black Friday when everyone's just rushing in and. It's so weird because I think really, um, I mean, there, there are some misguided people out there, Black Friday. don't get me wrong. Sure. You know, and I'm sure there's nice people, too, who aren't, like, trying to mess anything out.

Well, I guess what I'm saying by misguided is, like, yeah, there's a couple of people that are out there just for themselves. There might be even people that don't celebrate Christmas that are just see it as, like, a big sale. And they're like, hey, I want to get on in the sale. I don't celebrate that holiday, but I want a 70-inch, you know, TV from Walmart for $398. Give it to me, you know. Yeah. But I think at the core of. it, Jesse, is still people

wanting to give to others. You know, it's... That is the hot take of the day. I know. Well, because that's what really you see out there, right? It's almost like the same... It's like when you see the parents fighting over the toy, right? They're not fighting over the toy because,

like, they saw some woman in the store. They're like, yeah, I could take her. That is not why they're fighting. They're fighting because at the end of the day, people want to provide for their loved ones. Sure. They want to get them that amazing gift. And it's not our fault that we see something in a Walmart ad. And there's, you know, it's like this amazing deal on something we would never be able to afford for our loved one otherwise.

And we want to get it. And then when we go to the store, they have two in stock. You know, that's not fair to anybody. It's not fair to the people that work at the store. it's not fair to us as consumers going there expecting to actually get it. It's just the truth of the matter. You know, they dangle the carrot in front of us with a couple of items and hope that once we're there, even though we're disappointed,

that we didn't get the big thing we came for, that we'll still buy five sets of pajamas for $5 and get our loved ones another set of frames that they don't actually need. You know, that kind of stuff, right? I think that's the strategy there. But at least for the people I see there, I think that's the thing about it. People really want to, they want to hit that home run for their kids or their spouse. And in some cases, getting those Black Friday deals are the only way that they can do that.

So I ask in the season of giving and the season of thankfulness, let's just remember to be kind, even to some of those people that seem to be frantic shopping maniacs like myself. Yeah. You know, we know some of you who are listening right now are just seeking entertainment as you are actively. waiting in one of these lines we're talking about. And we're not judging you. We love you and we know why you're out there. And you keep doing what you're doing to make this

holiday special for whoever you are trying to make it special for. Right. But I feel like Black Friday shoppers get a bad rap now. You know, I mean, I really do. I feel like the entire process. Well, because we've all seen the videos of like breaking windows and stuff. Like, I've never seen anything like that. I've never seen

anybody get trampled or I've never seen like the mad brush. I have seen like a target occasionally when they open the front door and the first couple of people get in. I have seen those people take off in a full sprint and you're just like, why? And there's a weird herd mentality where I think in some of those videos we do see where people do that, like all it takes is two or three people to start doing that to make all the other people start thinking that's necessary. However, I'm not kidding you.

I have seen grown men do this on a Wednesday at Target because they were toy collectors. And apparently Wednesday was the day that they stocked, and I'm not kidding you, Jesse, the new Hot Wheels. And these grown men, I love Hot Wheels. When I was little, Hot Wheels were my team. Well, let me tell you, I don't, I didn't know that there was this huge underground market for hot wheels as far as like collectability but apparently there is yeah apparently there are minor worth now actually well things are out of control right baseball cards and Pokemon cards all sorts of training cards are like through the roof and value and and popularity right now and I have no explanation

for it I really don't I thought I thought a lot of these are things that my dad warned me not to get rid of and like in my mid 30s I was like these are there's no way there's nothing Yeah, like, I think my favorite thing was some comic book cards I had that I found out were literally worthless. Like, to the point where on a, I saw a show about comic books and a store that kind of evaluated people trying to sell comic book related stuff. And the store offered to give the guy the cards he was missing out of his set for free. That's how, that's how invaluable the cards were. Yeah, it's probably not a great sign. And it was the exact same set.

that I have still to this day in a collectible card set because I thought it would be worth money one day. So, you know, that's what happens. But even though cards may or may not be money, I'll tell you where you can make some money, Jesse is the Drafking Sportsbook app. Go over there, use our code of PHNX, and simply for betting $1 on any NFL team

or any NBA team to win their game, you will get $100 in free bets instantly. Should they actually score some points in that game? And again, don't make me talk about the most boring basketball game in history. There were still two points. scored in that game. So let's not forget that. But Jesse, I talked about Black Friday. I'm a fan of Black Friday. I want to remind everybody that even on Black Friday, you can go on to the Draft King Sportsbook app and find some same game parlays to get into. You can find yourself multiple

game parlays to get into. You can do whatever you want with your Draft King Sportsbook app because, you know, there's just so many options. And I'll tell you, you can even get on on some games, even if you don't find any live games, uh, 3 o'clock in the morning while, while you're doing some Black Friday shopping, you might find some brand new live sports to bet on, just like I have.

So, uh, remember, uh, Draft King is a safe, secure, reliable. Best of all, you can deposit withdraw your cash whenever you want.

Download the draft King Sportsbook app. Now use our code, uh, promo code of pHNX. You can bet $1 on any NFL or NBA game and win $100 in free bets, either team scores a point. That's promo code PHNX, uh, this black,

Friday. Draft King Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of the NBA and the NFL, 21 and over only, Arizona only gambling problem. 1,800 next step. New customers only eligibility restrictions apply. See draftkings.com slash sportsbook for details. And yeah, I'm not, I'm not done with Black Friday yet, Jesse. I got all my shop and done, by the way.

I don't like to brag about that. I know people don't like that. It's like one of those people. Oh, people. fucking hate me for that Jesse, let me tell you, people hate me for that. And the main reason why, I'll say this,

is because the longer I wait to buy gifts, the more people I forget to buy gifts for. I have this thing where if I can get the, especially the close people in my life done, that's when I'll start thinking of those other gifts. If I wait too long, again, these people that I live with,

these wonderful women in my house that I'm married to and I'm the father of they are my priority so that's where i tend to like slide off and forget to get things for other people and i mean again it's not a big thing right it's always just the thought that counts i always just try to get a little something for my friends and and you know my co-workers and stuff like that of course jesse i have you in mind this black friday yeah i was going to say you know big expectations well no it's not because i'm going to buy you anything it's because i want to go black friday shopping with you for the Arizona Diamondbacks. That's what I want to do.

I want us to go Black Friday shopping and take a look because MLB free agency is inexplicably happening. Obviously there is some news going on, some waves being created recently by New York Mets owner, Stephen

Cohen. And Jesse, like you said, definitely not the best look by Steve Cohen. Why is Steve Cohen on Twitter? That's my biggest question. Let's start with that question right there. Why is Steve Cohen?

Like we talked about this before we hopped on. Like, could you guys imagine if Robert Sarver was on Twitter? Did you imagine if even just Ken Kendrick was on Twitter? No. It's just a platform for people to get angry at you pretty much. And unfortunately, in the case of Steve Cohen, you know, he's sort of a little bit more of an outspoken guy, right? Like, he's willing to literally go on Twitter and say, I think you might.

have the full tweet. He literally basically said that there was all sorts of unprofessionalism exhibited on the part of Stephen Matts's agent. And the Mets are a little bit bitter that Stephen Mats is now a member of the St. Louis Cardinals. Yes, he agreed to a four-year, $44 million deal with the Cardinals, Stephen Mats, his agent, Rob Martin, apparently really upset Stephen Cohen for him to tweet out the other day. I'm not happy this morning. I've never seen such unprofessional behavior exhibited by a player's agent, I guess words and promises don't matter. So he's, he's big mad. He's out here big mad.

And he's putting all, like, like you said, like, I, there are a lot of people that I question what the purpose of them being on Twitter is, right? Yeah, there's probably more people on Twitter than who really needs to be. I definitely had no business being on Twitter. You know, I am, I am one of the main reasons why social media shouldn't exist. I have no idea. Why so many people follow me and I don't know how this whole thing happened. But I will say that I at least understand the promotion of your work and the ability to reach more people that would otherwise never even know you exist to get like your stuff out there depending on what you do.

You know, whether you're again, in my world like pro wrestlers, obviously there's a big benefit there for them to get popular, get people talking about them, get more signings and potentially get hired by one of the big television-related companies that could really be their big opportunity and big break. Same thing I think with writers. Even if you are at the top of your game, even if you're one of the best writers, you still need to promote your work, you still want people to see it. Social media is very valuable for that. I understand it as a news source and an information source.

I also understand still wanting to be on there, but not necessarily. having a blue checkmark next to your name and identifying yourself as the owner of the goddamn Mets, right? Like, just go create a account called Bodie McBoatface and just, you know, use that to scream at the sky and have your random thoughts. I mean, I just wonder how many people actually do have a burner account just for the purpose of like venting, you know, because nobody knows who they are in this account so they can go on there and be like, oh, man, that Rob Mark.

is a real piece of shit, you know, and like, let me tweet this out, right? Like, then, then, you know, then you're not getting your, uh, your, your, your little tantrum made into a new story. And now here we are talking about it, right? I'm not, I'm not sure with the optics of, of a major league baseball owner having a burner account would necessarily be. I mean, could you imagine if someone found out that,

that Steve Cohen was, what did you say, Bodey McBoat face? Yeah. was out there tweeting about agents he didn't like. That might be a little, that might even be worse. I mean, at least he's kind of owning up to who he is. I guess. I don't know. I think the best.

I guess, yeah, he just needs to get off of Twitter. That's probably, yeah, when you have millions of dollars, you probably shouldn't be on social media, but I don't know why anybody would. Like, that especially goes for athletes. Like, people are more surprised when athletes don't have social media. I'm actually shocked when they do. I'm like, why? Yeah, it is, I feel the same way.

What are you doing? You're just asking for trouble. The minute that you make the Major League Baseball Association, just delete your account altogether. Yeah. Or just like some guys just don't really ever post. They never really go there, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I'm going to link it to my Instagram and you'll get some posts from there whenever I post there. But that's kind of thing, right? Right. So, but yeah, no, we had, of course, some free agency action happening, even though, again, as we've talked about several times, we are so close now, just a few days away from the impending lockout.

But there is some movement. MLB Players Association agreed to move up tender deadline amid lockout uncertainty. So Major League Baseball and the Players Union have agreed to move the upcoming deadline for team to offer contracts certain players in order to keep them out of potential limbo in the event that we do have a work stoppage, which we are going to. So the tender deadline was moved from December 2nd, which would have been beyond the lockout, which would allow them not to do anything about this, to now being November 30th. So that would be at 8 p.m.

So that's just before the collective bargaining agreement expires the following day at midnight, or 1159 p.m. Yeah, but. This is interesting. It is. I think it's at least it's not super encouraging for them to get a deal done. But I imagine that it's very beneficial for the players that could potentially be in this limbo that they're discussing of wanting to get that, you know, settled up before we are, you know, in a situation of a work stoppage, right? But we do have some free agency moves that have been made.

Justin Verlander signed a one-year deal with a player option back with the Houston Astros. And we got Eduardo Rodriguez's deal with the Detroit Tigers. Yeah, they've got money to spend. The Detroit Tigers, they're kind of a team to look out for. I don't know. I mean, Eduardo Rodriguez, he's not necessarily an ace, but he's got big-time stuff. And there's definitely some reason to be excited there. And the Tigers are going to be in the mix on some of these bigger-name guys.

So I am all aboard with the Detroit. tigers they have they have been through it the last few years so hopefully they can start to turn things around and they seem very active they're tied to almost every name it feels like you know like whenever they bring up guys it feels like the tigers or even if they're not the first team they bring up they're one of the teams that bring up it's because they don't they they have a lot of needs and they have a lot of money that they're apparently willing to spend so it's sort of like if someone's on the market who's you know going to move the needle the tigers are going to be in the makes. But going back to the

Steve and Matt's deal real fast, I mean like the weird thing about this tweet is I imagine this happens to teams all the time, right? Like, I imagine this is common practice for a free agent to potentially flirt with a new team and then end up going

to sign with a different team, right? Right. He was a part of the Toronto Blue Jays run and he is leaving the Blue Jays. Blue Jays are expected to be aggressive and free agency as well. So I don't know, but the Cardinals obviously signing him away. Brandon Belt signed a new or accepted the Giants qualifying offer.

So he'll be back with the Giants. And then also, he's been really good lately. Brandon Belt has like low key been one of the best hitters in baseball the last couple years. If you don't really notice, but he's been, I mean, his numbers are insane over the last two seasons. So I guess the only big move from one team to an X that we haven't discussed is Kendall Graveman has left the Astros to sign a new three-year deal with the White Sox, who is another team, another team that's young and impressive and continuing to approve. So that's a good signing for them. There are a lot of names unsigned those still, obviously, in the free agent market.

So I wanted to just kind of stroll through and, you know, you yelled at me for talking too seriously about Starling Marte. so I don't want to talk Starling Marte type players, but I do want to talk about some of the guys. You're not getting a Black Friday discount on Starling Marte. Let's just say it. Let's just say it that way. Let's let I have a few players I want a proposition you on to see if you think we could get a Black Friday type deal on some of these guys. Sure. All right. One of the guys that obviously I've, you know, coveted and wanted back is Eduardo Escobar. Do you think Escobar could be the. ultimate Black Friday deal for the Diamondbacks if they're able to re-sign them. That's a pretty, that's a pretty compelling, pretty compelling guy to bring up.

We've, we've talked about his name before. Obviously, like, from a history standpoint, it's not very common for a player to, you know, have their contract expire somewhere, you know, get traded at the deadline, and then, you know, come back to the team that they got traded from. We don't see that very often, but Eduardo Escobar did really seem to enjoy his time in Arizona and just given his age and the fact that there's not much of a ceiling there. He's one of the better third baseman on the market, Derek. I mean, other than, you know, Kyle Seeger at the very top along with Chris Bryant,

there's not a whole lot of other, you know, clear starting caliber third baseman. And Diamondbacks need one. So Eduardo Escobar does make some sense. And I think you're right, Derek. I don't think he would really cost that much. So I think that's reasonable. Whether it happens, again, I'm skeptical. It's just kind of weird.

It doesn't happen very much where a guy returns to the team that he got traded from at the deadline. But Eduardo Escobar was, you know, it's been a big part of this team for a few years. So I wouldn't be too, too shocked if that happened. And I like the fact that he would probably sign with the Diamondbacks for cheaper than he would sign with anyone else. That's possible. Yeah. Right. He has experience here.

It's possible. I mean, it's not like a hometown situation necessarily, but I mean, I guess he might, I mean, he might still, you know, have a house or whatnot in Arizona. It's definitely, definitely a possibility. So yeah, yeah, I mean, we'll see what happens. But the Diamondbacks need a third baseman one way or another. I mean, I don't think you're going into next season with, you know, a Josh Van Meter, you know, Josh Rojas situation, right? Like, they need someone who's more of a true third baseman. and Drew Ellis came up at the end of last season

and really struggled offensively, so I'm not sure he's really a long-term solution at this point. Well, I'll tell you what's not a long-term solution is what the Tampa Bay Rays did with Wander Franco. It's Wander Franco? I probably agree. Okay. 12-year deal, Jesse.

12-year deal. Wait, what? Rays agreed to a 12-year deal with Wander Franco, former number one prospect. When did this happen? I was not aware. Wander Franco signed for 12 years with the race? 12 year deal.

Raised three. Yeah. How much is it for? That I don't have right here in front of me, but I will find out for you. I did. I don't want the Arizona Diving Bags to ever do that as long as they live. despite how much we've talked about wanting.

Oh, my gosh. I mean, okay, so 12-year deal is in like- 185 million guaranteed, maximum worth up to $223 million over 12 years. I'm honestly surprised that Wander Franco did that because, I mean, he's a big, big-time player. I mean, he struggled out of the gate this season, and then he got really good, really fast. And he's the kind of guy who could get, you know, like a Fernando Tatis, Francisco Lendor type deal that's up into the 300s. So I'm actually kind of surprised that he that he agreed to that.

But I assume what you're saying is that it's 12 years like from now. It's not like he signed a 12 year extension. Correct. Yeah, yeah. I don't know. I mean, he's probably going to hit free agency in like 2030. So I don't know if they're signing him until he's like 57 years old. This is the rest of his career.

He's done. This is what he's going to spend the rest of his career. I mean, it could be still. I mean, 12 years. He's a young guy. So I mean, he'd, I think he'd be 30. 33 at the end of that deal, something like that. So he might have some career left.

All right. Well, I have another name for you. Former San Diego Padres outfielder Tommy Fam. I like Tommy Fam. Partially because I kind of hated him on the Padres. He's just one of those like- That's always a good reason to want a guy on your team. You didn't know why you hated him.

He's kind of a pest. He's a good base runner. And he, I remember especially, at the beginning of 2020, when the Diamondbacks opened the season against the Padres. Tommy Fan was just running wild around the bases in that series. And yeah, he has some, you know, some upside. He didn't have that great of a year this past season in San Diego. That's part of the reason that things didn't pan out so well for them.

But, yeah, that's the reason why for me personally, I think that he could be such a big Black Friday deal for the Diamondbacks, right? Yeah. Again, a guy that just kind of needs a change of scenery, a guy that's around potentially just kind of a disruptive clubhouse right now that that isn't unified, right? I'm not saying that the Padres can't get, you know, everybody back on the same page, but we saw a lot of friction going on with that team this year. So I don't know if Tommy Fam is a good center fielder at this point in his career.

He's probably a bit of a liability in center. But wouldn't we need a corner outfielder at this point, too? I mean, sort of. I mean, David Peralta is probably your starting left fielder. And then in right field, it's Pavan Smith and Josh Rojas. And like, there's some, there's some room. I mean, there's Jake McCarthy, too. So, like, there's some room for another guy.

We're staying with Pavan Smith and right field because I don't, I don't want to do that. I mean, I mean, it depends on the decision they make with Christian Walker. If they non-tender Christian Walker, then Paveen Smith probably scoots over to first base. And, you know, maybe you do actually find. yourself with a need in right field. Did you perhaps write a little something about non-tendering Christian Walker, Jesse? Yeah, I thought I might have at some point. I don't know.

Yeah, I think you might have. So maybe. I don't know. Check out go phnx.com and see if Jesse did. You can become a member over there. Sign up for either an annual membership option, which will get you a free t-shirt over at p.nx locker.com or you can get the month-to-month option. For just 50 cents, you'll get your first month.

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checking out all of the content on go phtonx.com. But, Jesse, I'm going to give you a couple more. Okay, okay. one more one one one's a pitcher and i would just i just like this guy i just like him it's joe kelly from the dodgers oh you like joe kelly huh i don't know why i think he brings a certain level of toughness again he's the the the crying face you know yeah yeah that's something you hate if he's not on your team but if he's on your team he's on your team yeah that's my speed i like that joe kelly i mean he was still really affected for the dodgers last year and i don't think

He's not one of those relievers. He's about to get, you know, four years and, you know, 50 million or something ridiculous like that. He's definitely kind of nearing the end of his career now, but still very effective. He was really good for the Dodgers this last season. So I'm on board with that, Derek. I think that could be a good pickup. He's going to have a lot of suitors, right? Like the Diamondbacks aren't going to be the only team in on him.

Kirby Gates is maybe a little more of their speed given the question marks with Tommy John surgery or whatever. but but he's a he's a compelling guy and and they you know they need some some anchors for this bullpen who are a little bit more stable than you know the j b wendelkins and uh noe ramirez types that the diamond backs have floating around regardless of what they do they they need to bring in talent right it doesn't matter the experience the mentor part all that part's great leading leading by example is is fine too we don't necessarily need mentors as much as now they need like actual able-bodied

pitchers that can get outs and be productive for them. Kelly has a 2.86ERA and a 0.98 whip this year for the Dodgers. Good stuff. Good stuff. All right, I'm going to give you one last one and this one's kind of, I'm going to make you make a choice

here. Ooh. World Series champions. Atlanta Braves. Eddie Rosario. John Peterson. or Jorge Soler. Oh, man.

I have to pick one out of those three. You get one out of those three. Okay, say them one more time. Jorge Soler, Eddie Rosario, Jock Peterson. All outfielders. All outfielders. Hmm.

I think, so Jock Peterson, I think, kind of is what he is at this point. I think we kind of know who Jock Peterson is. Eddie Rosario had an incredible postseason. I mean, he was just unbelievable in the World Series. And I always loved him on the Twins, too. He's just an easy guy to root for.

So I love me some Eddie Rosario. But I think I might go Jorge Soler out of that list. It would depend on what the price is because based on what Soler did in the postseason, I think he severely escalated. Too expensive. Yeah. Yeah. But wouldn't you say the same thing about Eddie Rosario too, though?

Well, not really. Not as much because Eddie Rosario is just a pretty established player at this point. People kind of know what he is. Horace Saleris had a very weird up and down career, right? Like with the Royals. The youngest of the three, by the way. Yeah, yeah, absolutely the youngest of the three. And with the Royals a couple seasons ago, the guy had almost 50 home runs.

I mean, he's had he's had stints in the major. where you're like, oh my gosh, this dude is the real deal. And this past season was not one of them. People forget that. They think Jorge Saler in the playoffs and they think of this, you know, monstrous cleanup hitter type. He wasn't that way for the Braves, right? I mean, he's sort of floated around the last couple years for a reason.

He's kind of struggled a little bit. And he's also not a very good defender. But the Diamondbacks don't necessarily, like we said earlier, in right fields that, you know, they don't necessarily have a firm everyday option at this point. if the DH comes to the National League, and we already have a long list of, you know, positionally confused diamondbacks prospects who may, you know, who may be a good fit for that.

But Jorge Saler has upside, Derek. And at this point, what I've said is that I want the diamondbacks. If they're not spending that much money, I want them to chase after upside because that is what is going to, you know, give them unprecedented value at the trade deadline that they could potentially move to other teams. That's what's going to give them.

them pieces that could even stay here, you know, long term and, uh, and really establish themselves here in this organization. So I would rather them go after upside and just see what happens. And like we've said, they don't have much to lose and you go get Jorge Soler. I don't think you have much to lose there either. I love that idea. And I love your reasoning behind it. I couldn't, I couldn't agree more. I couldn't agree more. But I also think he is like, like going after Jorge Saler is like going after buying a car right now, something you are very familiar. with cars are very expensive. Used cars are somehow more expensive than new cars.

Yeah. I don't understand it. It makes sense to me, Jesse, and I'm very confused. But I will say this. I'm going to let you guys in on my Draft King's pick of the week. And it's not even my Draft King's pick of the week. But just reminder, go over Draft Kings. Use our code of PHNX over a Draft King's Sportsbook app.

And you will get $100 in free bets for betting $1 on any NFL or NBA game. As long as those teams, score some points. And as long as they score, you score. Our friend, Espos, Greg, Gregory Esposito, he has won in back-to-back nights, $2,500. Oh, my gosh. $25. Did another one of his stupid, like, who's going to score first in the Sun's game?

He did it two nights in a row. Yeah. And both nights, both nights, it was, it was Jay Crowder both nights. So, and that's all I'm telling you guys to do. I am telling you guys to go bet on Jay Crowder to make the first field goal in tomorrow's game against the Brooklyn Nets. That's what I'm telling you to do. I know it's there's no way it can happen again, right? Or can it?

Or can it? I will just say that you never know what's going to happen. And even our man Shane, Diefen, Bach, aka the Diefen Lod. got in on it with a little $5 bet on and that made him 60 bucks just on a $5 bet. Espo's out here throwing $100 at it because he's big time and he rolls like that. Espo's bold. I mean, like that's a lot of money to throw on who's going to score first. I mean, that's just like a crapshoot.

I mean, nobody knows who's going to score first. I was throwing $50 on the coyotes to lose every single game. So I don't even know what's happened around here, but things have gone off the rails. Let me tell you. but that's my draft king's pick of the week. Remember, go over to PHNX sign up at goPHNX.com to become a member. You can get an annual membership or the month-to-month option. We appreciate you guys doing that so much.

Of course, if you are listening to this right now on your favorite audio podcasting app, please subscribe, sign up, give us a five-star review if you would be so inclined. Also go over to YouTube, sign up there and sign up for notifications, so that way you get all of this hot, fresh Arizona sports baked content. You can get us on social media. Of course, I am at Cap underscore Caveman with a K. Jesse is at Jesse and Freeman. Our show is at PHNX underscore D-Backs.

But of course, all roads lead to PHNX underscore sports. And that is on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. We thank you guys so much for joining us for we're so thankful for you. And we promise. How many other shows out there post on Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday? I don't know, Jess. Like, where else are you going to get any? Like, I'm not just talking about devax content.

I'm like, like, what sports show in the state of Arizona operates on Thanksgiving Day and on Black Friday? You're making me think about this too much. And I'm really starting to think that you and I signed up for something that we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. Who needs days off, right, Derek? Before I have an existential crisis, I just want to remind you guys on behalf of Jesse and myself, we thank you for checking out this show,

no matter if it's Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Christmas, Hanukkah, it doesn't matter. We are here for you this entire holiday season, this entire off season. We're always here. We're always talking about Debex. And we appreciate and thank you for checking out the show. And remember, kids, baseball is fun, but it's way more fun when Jesse doesn't point out how often we're here on holidays.