PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - BREAKING: Diamondbacks Trade Jake McCarthy to Rockies in NL Division Deal

Episode Date: January 10, 2026

The Arizona Diamondbacks made a surprise move Saturday morning, trading outfielder Jake McCarthy to the Colorado Rockies in exchange for the Rockies’ No. 20 overall prospect, right-handed pitcher Josh Grosz. We break down the return, Mike Hazen’s comments on the deal, and what this trade means for Arizona’s outfield plans heading into the 2026 season. Plus, we discuss why the NL West teams are so weird about trading players to each other.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/Phoenix Raceway: Get your tickets now for March 5-8! https://www.phoenixraceway.com/march-cup-weekend/?CID=PIR_DI_TP_BA_PHNX26Spring_251120ALLCITY — 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/Branded 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=allcityShowNotesbet365: 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!When 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.

We will miss you, Jake McCarthy. Well, ski and happy Saturday morning to you all. Welcome in to an emergency, an emergency edition of the PHNX Diamondbacks podcast. My name is Derek Montia, occasionally known as your mayor of PHNX. Of course, I got my guy, Damon Dog, working entirely too much this week on the ones and twos today. Thank you to Damon for being here and discussing this trade. It did not take very long for the Diamondbacks to start. making moves once they announced that Cotel Marte was indeed not being traded.

And here we are, I think 24 hours later and the Diamondbacks have, in fact, now traded outfielder Jake McCarthy to the Colorado Rockies of all teams. Apparently, this does not happen often. We do not trade within the NL West very often. And that's just for reasons. But Jake McCarthy was traded today to the Rockies in exchange for right-handed pitching prospect, Josh grows. This ends McCarthy's tenure in Arizona after multiple seasons.

He played five seasons here. McCarthy's 28 years old. He hit 260 with 46 doubles, 20 triples, 24 home runs, and 139 RBI.I over his last 4131 games. Overall, the Rockies were looking to add outfield depth and defensive versatility, and they got that. Meanwhile, the Diamondbacks received back pitching prospect Josh Gros, who, is the Rockies 20th overall prospect. He is a starting pitcher, and he was part of the package

the Rockies received in a trade for Ryan McMahon with the New York Yankees. But going back to Jake, Jake is, of course, an incredible, an incredible player for the Diamondbacks, at least in instance, right? Like, he just, we forget how good he was because Jake's had his struggles lately, but he was selected 39th overall by the Diamondbacks back in 2018. And his first full season in in 2022 saw him finish fourth in National League Rookie of the Year voting. And that's something I think we're very quick to forget. Jake slash 283, 342, 427 that year with eight home runs, 23 steals, and 340, 354 played appearances.

But again, he was just an incredible player when he first debuted. And then his production tallied off in in 2023 there to the point where he was not even part of the Diamondbacks incredible playoff run to the World Series. But came back in a career high, 142 games there in 2024, hit 285, 349, 400, and again, made you feel like Jake was back and progressing in a positive direction. Meanwhile, then, he regressed again in 2025 this past season. He only had a 60 WRC plus. He slashed 204, 247, 345.

And he spent two months in AAA. and really didn't do a great job of getting his bat back on track there. But overall here, the Diamondbacks do receive a starting pitcher in return, though it is a prospect that has not achieved a very high level in his career yet, but he did begin the season in high A of Hudson Valley with the Yankees before being acquired there by the Rockies, along with another pitcher in exchange for Ryan McMahon. on July 27th.

He went four and eight. This is Josh Gross, went four and eight with a 4.14 ERA and opponent batting average of 2.11, 35 walks and 94 strikeouts and 15 starts. He will most likely start the season in AA Amarillo for the Diamondbacks. And he, according to Mike Hazen,

will stay as a starting pitcher. So the Diamondbacks do get starting pitching depth, but it is a prospect that is quite a ways away from making his major league debut. So he was not able to get offers, according to Hazen, in a trade for Jake McCarthy, that would send essentially a major league ready reliever to the Diamondbacks. As far as Mike Hazen was concerned,

this was the best deal the debacks could get for Jake McCarthy. And I think, of course, overall, this is more about the Diamondbacks, you know, stocking their farm system, especially with arms. and perhaps at a later time trading those players or moving those players in a trade. The prospects, especially this high, can be very valuable. And like I said, he finished 2025 rated as the Rockies' 20th overall prospect by MLB pipeline.

So he signed by the Yankees in 2023 as an 11th round selection out of East Carolina University. But we know that Jake McCarthy's name has been part of trade talks for a while. We've been discussing it. In fact, the idea of trading either Alec Thomas or Jake McCarthy came up, I think before the Cotel Marte trade rumors kind of exploded. But again, McCarthy is going to give the Rockies a lot. I'm sure Jake is going to go to Colorado and be great for the Rockies. I just have that feeling.

It's hard not to. But again, the Diamondbacks get in return, a right-handed pitching prospect. And again, again, just adding over. overall here to their pitching depth. I know that some might feel like this is selling low on McCarthy a bit, considering that, you know, his offense has been good at times and his, you know, defense has been good. He's 98th percentile for speed.

So, again, the change of scenery for Jake might definitely give him the boost that, you know, that he's seeking, you know, and I'm sure the Colorado Rockies are going to be thrilled to have a guy like that. I mean, Jake's just a great guy overall. So I for some reason think he is going to absolutely thrive in Colorado. Meanwhile, what this means for the Diamondbacks is Alec Thomas isn't going anywhere. And I think that's something that a lot of fans are pretty happy about. I would be one of those people. I thought overall here of the two outfielders that Alec Thomas was more talented. Alec Thomas is one of the best defenders in the outfield that that that that's an MLB. I mean, I think only Michael Harris Jr., Michael Harris II, has less errors in the outfield than Alec Thomas. But he overall has been good for this team, but he's had his struggles as well, especially offensively.

I think overall, though, this signals that the Diamondbacks cannot trade Alec Thomas, will not trade Alec Thomas. And I think that's a good thing. Much like not trading could tell Marte, I do believe that Thomas is going to, you know, be a guy that we would regret trading and be a guy that, you know, could definitely have his breakout season and put everything together in 2026. So the opportunity is wide open for him. But something else Mike Hazen said on his media availability today when asked about it almost immediately. It was our guy Alex Weiner from Arizona Sports 98.7. asked it, but he asked if any of the basically minor league outfielders would get an opportunity in camp come spring training to earn a starting role in the outfield. And Mike couldn't have said

yes any faster. He didn't want to say any names. And he alluded essentially to the fact that you know, we're all thinking of the same guys. Right. And so the fact that there is that opportunity for young players coming into camp to earn an outfield outfield a role is. exciting. It's an exciting opportunity for those minor leaguers. Not only to hear that from Mike Hazen, but to probably already have an idea that with the way that this Diamondback's team is structured with the way the roster is constructed, that opportunity is wide open pretty much for anybody. There's nobody within the organization that can't come into camp in spring training and absolutely impress and find themselves earning a role outside of maybe, you know, shortstop,

right field, and second base. But anything else seems. to be wide open right now for this team. There's still a lot of questions. So trading Jake for a starting pitcher that will at the most start in AA this year, raises questions about the outfield, raises questions about what the Diamondbacks are going to do to fill these roles, right? We saw a video of Lordus Guerriel being superhuman in his, you know, in his comeback from his knee injury.

It does appear like he is well on track. and he himself wants to be ready by opening day, it would appear. Don't know how likely that is, especially with an injury that was rumored to keep him out until, you know, or for most of 2026. I hope that's not the case. I hope Lourdes can be ready very soon. But what are the Diamondbacks going to do to fill his role and other roles in the outfield? That's definitely a question. Kobe is saying the name that we're probably thinking here, probably the name that Alex and Mike were thinking, which is it's Waldschmidt season.

And it very much could be that. But again, there also is the potential here for the Diamondbacks to trade some of their young prospects right now to fill that outfield role. So it remains to be seen. It does feel like they've opened up a roster spot and they've done this intentionally because perhaps they do plan on making some sort of trade right now for another major league ready player or perhaps even sign somebody through free agency. but overall this team still needs a lot of help in the outfield. And trading Jake McCarthy right now for a prospect in your minor league system doesn't solve that problem. With the loss of Lordus Gurriel and with the loss of Jake McCarthy now, you feel like you have

even more problems to solve on your roster. We knew that this was going, both of these things were most likely going to happen. We knew the Diamondbacks were going to most likely trade either McCarthy or Thomas. We also knew that there was a good chance that they were going to be going to be going to happen. going to still need to go out and fill an outfield role through free agency. The last thing we also knew is that they don't have very much money to do any of this. So again, now that they've decided not to trade Cotel, Marte, we're seeing the wheels moving. Perhaps these were conversations and negotiations that were in the works long prior to them making

the announcement that they weren't going to trade Cotel, but they had to wait and see what they could get for Marte. Thankfully, the return wasn't big enough and the Diamondbacks get to hold on to their MVP caliber second baseman and add to this team this season. But they really don't have, I guess, much room here to trade prospects and kind of deplete their minor league depth or really call them up and add to this team. Right. So it does feel like perhaps a free agent move might be the next thing we see this team make. they still need to add to the bullpen. So, you know, again, this is just another hole that they have to fill without very much, many resources to do that. The resources is definitely, you know, in the minor league system is increasing.

So they do, if they want to dip into their minor league system, they do have more, you know, now after the trade deadline in 2025 than they had last year. Our guy Eric Ruby is here. Eric the goat, great to see you here. He said sending him to the Rockies is low-key sad for him. You're not wrong, Eric, but I'll tell you this, there's a good chance that he instantly becomes one of the best players on the Rockies. And when you go and you get to hit at Coors Field for 81 games a year, there's a good chance you could see your offense pick up considerably versus what he had here in Arizona.

So perhaps this is best for him overall. For the Diamondbacks, it's still just about. about adding to their minor league, not even minor league depth, just minor league system. You can't say a guy that's reached high A at this point of his career at the highest is going to add to the minor league depth. But he does overall add to the prospects and overall just what the Diamondbacks have potentially in the future, as well as a trade that they could make. Speaking of trades, Mike was asked about why the National League West teams are so weird.

about trading with one another. In fact, Mike didn't even know off the top of his head if he's ever made a trade with the Rockies before. Meanwhile, he's made 9,000 trades with the Seattle Mariners. And Mike kind of confirmed that there's no particular reason why. He says other divisions trade within the division. It's not an uncommon thing. He also said that he has had talks about high-level players,

trading high-level players with other teams in the National League West. it would just seem that overall those deals don't come to fruition, nor do they come to fruition between other National League West teams. I think it's just because we all, it's such a nasty division. And it's pretty much right now ran by the damn Dodgers. So I don't know if we can all figure it out. But in this case, it's not really the return. I think many of us were seeking overall.

I think that when we thought we were going to trade Alec or Jake, we would at least get back that, you know, MLB ready reliever. And the Diamondbacks didn't do that. According to Mike, again, from the media availability today, he did say that this was the best offer that they received, that they felt like going with. And again, it does clear a roster spot. So I think until all the pieces are in place,

especially with how many free agents are still available out there, we can't judge it too much. But again, it's mostly about this team needing to cut corners wherever they can and, you know, have free up money so that they can make some of these moves. Jake just agreed to his arbitration amount last week. So, and it wasn't very much. So it doesn't exactly remove a ton off of the Diamondbacks books for 2026. Considering how close, you know, how little money they have to spend this offseason, it still might be enough to add to, to, you know, to their payroll to be able to go out there and add a reliever or add another outfielder via free agency.

Kobe says the rest of the NL. West needs to trade everyone to the D-BAC so we can put together the NL West All-Star cast to take down the Dodgers. Who says, no, I'm in favor of that. I don't hate that at all. Ernesto says Jake Speed is huge in Colorado out. Sorry, that got off my page. Jake Speed in that huge Colorado outfield might get him a ton of. bloop singles. You're not wrong about that. So that's definitely the case. And again, Jake's a great guy. So it's like this is one of those cases where you got to wish him the best. And as much as it might hurt, you kind of want to see him flourish elsewhere. Jake McCarthy was the first person. I remember when I made my stupid purple hair bet about the Diamondbacks having a winning record in

April of 2023, Jake McCarthy walked out on the field one day. day looked at me from a pretty considerable distance and yelled, you're going to look great with purple hair. So I'll miss them personally. But again, this is, there's, there's a lot of interesting ways the Diamondbacks could go with this. And I still think that until, you know, we get closer to a month from now when pitchers and catchers report, we don't really know what the overall plan was that guy dev.gov snake says blaze to left field, I guess. That's my assumption. Right now, if no moves are made, it feels like Blaze will be in left and Jordan Lawler will be at third base. However, again, Mike did make a point to say that the young, you know, minor league outfielders

will get a chance this spring to make an impression and get a shot to be a starter at a major league level. So perhaps it comes from one of those guys as well. But we appreciate you guys. so much for being here. We will definitely have more on this and any moves the Diamondbacks make on the show this week. Make sure to join us for that. We also have Dre Jameson stopping by on Wednesday. Fingers crossed that no moves considering him get made. So that way that doesn't get impacted. But of course, we love you guys. We appreciate you for being here. You can follow me on Twitter at cap underscore caveman with a K. You can follow Damon at Damon Dog with a D-A-W-W-G. We are all Damon's dogs, bark, bark. Of course, our shows at P-H-N-X-E-H-N-E-E-W-S-W-E.

Dbacks, but all roads do lead to at PHNX underscore sports on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Appreciate you guys so much for being here. Like I said, we'll be back on Monday at 12 p.m. Shoot us your mailbag Monday questions in regards to Jake McCarthy or any other topics you guys have, and we will be sure to cover them on that show. Until then, have yourselves a wonderful rest of your weekend. Enjoy the football action. And remember kids, baseball is fun, but it'll be a little less fun without Jake McCarthy on this team.