PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - BREAKING: Ketel Marte Will STAY in Arizona, D-backs Shut Down Trade Talks Per MLB Insider

Episode Date: January 9, 2026

The breaking news we’ve been waiting for is finally here. Ken Rosenthal reports that the Arizona Diamondbacks have officially shut down trade talks involving Ketel Marte. We break down why the D-backs are keeping their All-Star second baseman in Arizona, Mike Hazen’s comments that no offer came close to being enough, and why at least one MLB insider still believes this doesn’t eliminate the Snakes from the Alex Bregman sweepstakes. We also cover the Diamondbacks coming to terms with all eight of their arbitration-eligible players for 2026 while coming in under estimates. Plus, the market for Zac Gallen appears to be shrinking, and that could ultimately cost the D-backs a compensatory draft pick.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/ALLCITY — 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/Phoenix Raceway: Get your tickets now for March 5-8! https://www.phoenixraceway.com/march-cup-weekend/?CID=PIR_DI_TP_BA_PHNX26Spring_251120Phoenix Raceway: Get your tickets now for March 5-8! https://www.phoenixraceway.com/march-cup-weekend/?CID=PIR_DI_TP_BA_PHNX26Spring_251120Branded 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/olp/open-account?affiliate=365_03330244 Use the code PHNX365 to sign up, deposit $10 and choose your offer!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/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.Gametime: Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code PHNX for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply.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 have the best possible free agent news, and that is Catelle is staying in Arizona. So for the last time, say it with me, y'all. Lose this number. Happy Friday to you all. Welcome in to another edition of the P.HNX Diamond Plac podcast, love from Studio K on a great day in this office. Welcome in and happy keeping Cattel day to you all. My name is Derek Montia, occasionally known as your mayor of PHNX, and one of the biggest supporters of keeping Cotel Marte in Arizona.

And guess what? Today, my wish comes true, your wish comes true. The trade talks for Cotel Marte are dead. Damon, let that song play extra long, buddy. It's a celebration. I'm going to have to open up another bottle of tequila around here. I am thrilled to have you guys here. I'm thrilled to be here with my guy, Damon Farrell,

aka Damon Dog on the ones and twos, the leche, 2I cafe home. And we are thrilled to be talking this morning about breaking news that the Arizona Diamondbacks have finally told every GM in the league to lose this number when it comes to trading for Cotel Marte. Ken Rosenthal broke the news today, but the news is official. Cotel Marte will stay with the Arizona Diamondbacks this off season. Hopefully for the rest of his career, And multiple reports have confirmed that today.

The athletics Ken Rosenthal first reported the decision. We also had Steve Gilbert from MLB.com, our good buddy, confirming that with this tweet. He said, can confirm that Ketelmarte will be staying with the debacks as Ken Rosenthal is reporting. Team did not get what it considered a fair offer for him. Man, and that's such an important part of that, right? Like I know on one hand a lot of people, by the way, let's go ahead and turn this. guy on because this is a win, right? This is an absolute win for us here. I know a lot of people expected Cattel to be traded. And I know that at some point, the concern here for us, as it was for

many people out there, was, you know, again, what was the truth to this matter? Were the Diamondbacks shopping, Cotel Marte around, as was worded by so many journalists and reports out there? Or was Mike Hazen merely just listening, as he said, time and time again. It's hard to really know. It's, you know, of course, there's a lot of maneuvering. There's a lot of politicking here when it comes to what the truth actually is. It would seem like this definitely felt like it was more than just the team taking calls on Cotel Marte. But I will say that Mike Hazen has never really changed his position that, like, he said this isn't that big of a deal. He said that this is no different than any other year. And now, according to Steve Gilbert's article from MLB.com this morning,

Mike Hazen said, it never ended up getting that close. He went on to say, just sort of reaffirming what I've been saying the entire offseason, like my expectation was, this wasn't going to happen. I felt like I had to do my job just to listen to what people had to say. He's a superstar player for us and has been for a long time and is going to continue to be. And that is fantastic news, especially that end part. And again, now the Diamondbacks do have a lot of work to do. Now the real work starts knowing that the trade for Cattel isn't coming and that they're not going to be able to fill the needs that they have on this team for 2026 via a trade, at least for Cotel. There are other trades that could be in the works. We've talked about trades involving potentially

Alec Thomas, who we don't really love that idea, Jake McCarthy, which feels like it's going to be a little underwhelming as far as a return is concerned. And then it still feels like there's plenty of prospects in the diamond back system that are in danger of being traded potentially to try to fill some of those needs now that the diamondbacks have moved on from a Cotel trade. But the fact that no offer met Arizona's asking price means a lot. I think that that should mean a lot to Cotel, even though he probably does have some, you know, hurt feelings in regards to this. Any human being would have hurt feelings over a team that they've committed themselves to

and thought that they were like the superstar of the team and the, you know, again, vital piece of an organization suddenly becomes, you know, essentially expendable, right? That's that, that, you know, that has to feel bad. But at least what we didn't get was the Diamondbacks actually just trying to get rid of Marte. And that's something that was kind of presented in many reports and many articles. The things that came up at the All-Star break, things that came up with Marte and the clubhouse, seemed to try to push the narrative in a direction that he was a bad teammate, which he is not. and at least from my honest perspective,

and also that it was like becoming a problem where the Diamondbacks felt a sense of urgency to get rid of Cotel Marte. And that's the part that I think made Damon and I sick. Right, Damon? I mean, that's fair to say. Like, it's one thing for you to be positioning yourself in a way where you're discussing it,

there's our dog, discussing it like, oh, hey, you know, because of the position we're in, we're kind of unfortunately have to take a look at a trade for Marcy. tape, but that's not the way the narrative works. The narrative for this, besides the five and ten rights things, seem to focus around like, again, some sort of need to get rid of him off of this team and out of that clubhouse. It always felt like other teams were saying that the Diamondbacks were more desperate than the Diamondbacks actually were. Like other fan bases being like, well, they're

trying to get rid of Cattel. No, we're not. No, we're not. We were, we were gauging trade interest in can tell. We were seeing if there was an offer that we would not be able to refuse, essentially, I think. And that offer didn't come. I think that it had the potential of being made during when the Red Sox noise was really getting the loudest. I think that was probably the closest we ever got from kind of the little rumblings and rumors that I've heard to kind of peel back the curtain a little bit. It seems as though Marcello Mayer was the holdup in that deal. Like the Diamondbacks were like, he's, he's, that's how we start the conversation. Yeah.

The Red Sox were like, we're not getting rid of that guy. He's part of our future. And I think that that was kind of where talk stalled in that situation because I think the Red Sox were willing to give up the pitching pieces that were needed to make this trade happen. But the Diamondbacks wanted more. I personally like, I think that Cattel hasn't exactly been the model leader of this team based off of how. based off of what he's paid compared to the majority of the roster, compared to what caliber of player he is. But that being said,

like trading him for pennies on the dollar would be criminal. You only were going to trade him for an absolute monster haul. And that never came. So it's like, cool. Then we're comfortable keeping by far the best second baseman in the sport. I mean, it's not even close. He is far and away better than every second baseman in baseball. look at the other lists and it's like, okay, we have a, we have the, you know, the Himalayan mountains that

are Cattel Marte up here and everybody else is like Camelback Mountain down below. It's like, yeah, it's a hard climb, but it's, it's nowhere near as hard as getting up to Everest. Yeah. You know what I mean? So, yeah. Like on a cool day, a lot of people could summit Camelback Mountain, but you're not doing that at Everest for sure. No, and I mean, you're, you're so right. I think that's the thing. That's why this is honestly, the biggest free agent move the Diamondbacks could make or offseason move, not trading could tell. Ever since this came up, it felt weird, it felt wrong, and it felt like none of it made sense. That's why that narrative, you know, kind of made made it a little spicier, made it make a little more sense. That narrative, though, is like you said, it's pushed by journalists who are, you know, reporting on the situation, as well as, you know, opposing fan bases, opposing fan bases.

opposing fan base blogs and, you know, podcasts and things like that, because they see the value in Cotel. They hear that Cotel Marte is suddenly available and every single fan base in baseball wants them. Not even the ones that are like close, good teams that feel like they could put themselves over the edge. We reported that the race somehow were in the race and we're one of the teams pushing for a Cotel Marte Trey trip. Because he has such a good contract, right? So every team can afford him. Exactly. And also, as I just said, like, the gap is so large between him and all the other second baseman, every single team would be getting an upgrade at that position if they traded for Catelle Marte.

That's it. There's not one team in baseball that would not be upgrading, bringing in a Ctele Marte. So that's where, yeah, I mean, it makes sense that teams would be interested. It makes sense that this would be pushed and be like from, you know, say like, not saying that they were doing it, but like, CHGO Cubs podcast, right? Like if Catell was mentioned, let's make it the topic of the show. show, right? Like that's, it makes perfect sense. But also, the Diamondbacks were never going to just try to get rid of Cotel Marte. This was not Paul Goldschmidt on an expiring contract, like trying to get any sort of value. It's not gallon. It's not Merrill Kelly last year. It's none of that.

Exactly. Exactly. That's the reason why it always felt weird. It always felt circumstantial. And the, the strangest part about it was that everybody kept talking about how team friendly Catel's deal is. that's the part that's like, yeah, you know who needs a team friendly deal for a player of Cotel Marte's caliber? The freaking Arizona Diamondbacks, bro. That's who needs him. So I'm just glad that this is over. I'm glad that we can move on. I'm glad that perhaps there's some time just overall for the Diamondbacks to, you know,

men fences a little bit with Cattel. I'm sure he's a professional. He's been kind of poking fun at this whole situation on his Instagram. He's been rocking Diamondbacks gear, as somebody pointed out. in the chat on his Instagram. I think Marte is known for a while that he wasn't going anywhere. However, again, you have to do your due diligence. I have a stupid fun coppap, Damon, of Ray Mysterio that my brother bought for me at 7-Eleven, right?

I thought that this fun cop was worth maybe approximately 75 cents on the resale market. And I came to find out that it's actually incredibly rare and worth $500. Do I want to get rid of this fun cop? No, it was a gift from my brother. But for $500, I feel like even my brother would say, like, you need to sell it. What a pickup. Sometimes in life, right? Sometimes in life you have something that you weren't necessarily trying to get rid of or putting on the market to shop.

But then you go on eBay one day and you find out Ray Mysterio 711 pops are freaking going for $500. Yeah. I mean, that's like trading All-Star Jean Seguer for the unknown that was Catell Marte. And then all of a sudden you go, you open it up. And you go, what is this? How do I have this? What? This is the most valuable item in the league.

Yeah. But yeah, no, I, I, it's great to have Katel back. We're fired up about it. And, uh, and, and, and yeah, it just, it wouldn't feel right for Katel Marte to not be a diamond back, right? That's it. He is so ingrained with what this organization's culture and like the, you know, just kind of like the fun vibe around this team that we, that we have right now is, is, it's, it's,

it's, it's, it's, Lord of us. Gurriel Jr. It's Corbyn Carroll. These guys are electric players. They have a good vibe about them. And I think it makes it where it's easy for us as Diamondbacks fans to really buy in on these guys en route for them. That being said, Derek, I do wonder if they're, like, I know you were talking about him poking some fun on his social media being like, ah, not good teammate, huh? And all this stuff, right? Do you, do you, any concern that there's like some fences that need to be mended

here from Mike Hazen and probably to a lesser extent, Tori Lovolo standpoint because it's not as if he's making trades. But he is going to try to probably be that connector because that's what his job is. And that's what he's good at, right? That's why we have Tori Lafalo in the organization. As much as people don't want to hear that, like the Tory haters out there, like, he is, that is what Tori is best at is the, like the connectivity of his team. And I think like just, you know, kind of having a good culture and good locker room.

So it's going to be up to him and, you know, Mike to probably. tell Ketel, you know, like we were just doing our job and we love having you here and Ketel to buy in on all of that, right? I think you're right. I think again, there's there's times in life and we've all experienced this where something hurts you a little bit and it's not enough for you to, um, leave the situation, quit a job, whatever like the case, that case may be. But it doesn't mean that that initial like devotion you had towards that, uh, that entity is not harmed in some way, right? And you might not have that same level of devotion.

Marte overall is a professional, just like many of these guys are. I think that one thing I've learned in being in the clubhouse is like we as media, when something like this goes down or whatever, we try to like, you know, be a little considerate, handle it with a little bit of care. And I've seen on more than one occasion, essentially baseball players say, I'm a big boy. I can handle this. This is the business of this.

And I think that at the end of the day, Marte does have to do that a little bit. I hope that he sees it from a glass half full kind of aspect where it was like so many teams in baseball wanted him, that he simply a rumor about calls, you know, or possibly a trade, became the biggest story of this off season.

You could honestly say it eclipsed Cody Bellinger and Kyle Tucker's free agency. you could say it's definitely eclipse Framber Maldez, who I don't feel like you hear about at all, right? Cotel Marte became the hottest topic of the hot stove season. Yeah. So, I mean, I think it's like scoobel and Cotel, right? Yeah, Cooble and Cotel.

Definitely, scuba and Cotel, right? And scuba's situation was just more of at first the idea that he might be traded as well by the tigers. Now you have this whole other situation evolving where the tigers aren't even close on an arbitration offer. We all know where this is heading. Oh, it's going to get nasty. No, no, but I mean how it ends. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It ends with Cherik Scouble with the Los Angeles Dodgers, right, signing in the offseason.

And then trading what, like Tyler, as you said earlier, Tyler Glassnow's contract, someone will take it for and give them like all-star caliber players essentially is what they'll get for it. That's kind of how all of this goes down. But I mean, we do know somebody who is friends with Tarek Scouble, like close friends with Tarek Scouble. and we have heard that the Dodgers are at the front of the line. I don't, I know. I'm not surprised. I wouldn't be surprised. They wouldn't be the Dodgers if they weren't there at the front of the line.

So the future, the future is bleak, David, and I don't want to talk about that. I want to talk about the urine now. And that is Cotel Marte. We got one season. We got one season to try to win this freaking thing, man. We got to go all in. Someone tell Ken Kendrick that Tarek Scoobel is a Dodger in 2028 because, or 2027, because maybe he will go. Alex Brighman then. Maybe he'll go out there and go, shoot, I guess we got one shot at this thing.

I'm going to tell you that was the biggest thing that this deal with Cotel Marte kind of signaled overall here is that the deal with Alex Brighman is dead, right? Maybe not. Because according to John Heyman and this tweet, John Heyman posted that despite the fact that this Cotel Marte situation is dead. Word is they are still open to Alex Brighman, who has a robust market, also Boston, in Toronto Cubs. D-backs are a team that cares about winning. I love that last line. I mean, like, it doesn't mean anything in the grand scheme of things.

John Heyman on his Twitter account saying the D-BACs care about winning is, it literally could not mean anything less. They are words on a screen. That being said, I just like hearing from like national baseball people that the D-BACs are a team that's trying and that they want to go out there and they want to get good free agents and they want to be a competitive baseball team because we've lived life where that just was not the case whatsoever.

And even being in the room with these free agents makes me happy. You know what I mean? No, I agree. Like that's why the, even if they don't get much done this off season, you have to appreciate how active they've been. Is it lip service? Possibly. But it's also, again, Ken Kendrick realizing that maybe just realizing what Damon just said.

Not not the Terrick Scoobel stuff because who knows what happens with him. There's no way for us to even know if baseball's going. to be a sport after the is off the fact that the diamond back's drafted him and he's going to end up being known as a dodger for like majority like i bet he's going to go there win like three world series and they're going to be like yep he's a dodger forever legend and you're going to be like should have been a dime back well here's the thing though is is that uh even though uh even though this team is in the position that they're in and even though they have a lot of still a lot of position position positional needs to address there is

a sense of urgency for the diamondbacks for this year there really is like yes that thing that damon's talking about and fearing can happen but also corbin burns can opt out of his contract out of twenty 26 i don't know how likely it is coming off of to tomby john surgery and still being paid so much money by the diamondbacks it still seems like it's a safe bet for him to come back in twenty twenty seven with the uncertainty of that uh season and and the market but overall that's the reality of the matter this could be it for corbin burns being an arizona diamond We might only get, you know, a second half of 2026 with Corbyn Burns. So we have to make it mean something.

It's kind of like the Zach Gallen situation where it's like, and obviously Gallen almost ended up playing so bad that he played himself out of it. But like we were talking about if Gallen goes out there and has a great year in 2025, he's gone. Like, because we're not going to be able to afford him. Yeah. I think if Corbyn Burns comes back off injury and his Corbin Burns, there's a pretty solid chance that he's opting out for one last payday.

And that doesn't mean the Diamondbacks are out of it. Right, right. I mean, because he clearly wants to be in Arizona. And I think that the Dinembacks would still be interested in probably bringing him back, especially if he has a good second half. But it does mean that he probably would not opt into his deal. Well, according to our pal Gambo over at 98.7, he shut down the John Heyman. Not tweet. He didn't really go after the John Heyman tweet in particular, but Gambo said this.

As we have said all along, there was no way the Diamondbacks could get Alex Braggman unless they dealt Catell-Marte and got. off the 100 million 102.5 left on his contract. I hate how they make it sound like Catelle has this huge contract and it's this albatross across around their neck and they just have to get rid of it. I still do not believe that. I still don't. I am an idiot though. So what do I know? I just still feel like the real reason, the real reason is because if they do sign Bregman, that's it. That's the whole budget plus going into the negative. A bunch, right? A bunch. Right. A. bunch. So if they do that, then they literally have no money to go out and make any moves. Their hands are completely tied. And the only thing they're left being able to do to improve this team

with a lot of needs still left is trade, trade or trade. That's it. It's the reason why the Cotel Marte trade felt so important not to get off of its contract. I don't believe. I don't believe. Because I don't think Cotel Marte is getting paid enough for it to be a problem for this organization. overall. I think that the reason why is because they needed to fill the other positional needs. Now this is what they, now they can move on with their offseason. Please move on with your off season, Arizona Diamondbacks. We need you to go out there and be active. Time is running out. I'm not sure if the market is moving in their favor or against it, right? Like as we get closer to spring training, like I said yesterday, players want to be in camp. They do not want to be still unsigned

with uncertainty for 2026. So I feel like the closer we get to spring training and even once we get into spring training, the more we get closer to the season, price tags have to come down. And there are a lot of players still out there. We're still waiting for Framber Valdez to sign, which is going to start moving the starting pitcher market.

And then you still have Ranger Suarez to sign. And who knows what happens with Zach Gallen. We're going to talk about him later in this show. And if whatever deal he signs could potentially screw the Diamondbacks out of their compensatory pick that they were supposed to get after offering qualifying offer. So we're going to do all that, but first...

We need Sir Anthony. We need Sir Anthony Dominguez. Sir Anthony Dominguez. And he needs to have a press conference where he comes in wearing a suit of armor, even though that's S-E-R, not S-I-R. But it's a whole thing. We'll get into it at some point when we eventually sign him. I do have some chat business to take care of, though, Damon.

Got to give a happy birthday to Deborah. Absolutely. Debra's birthday. Thank you so much, Deborah. Deborah is one of the most lovely human beings in our chat. She always says hello to every single person that stops in. She does a better job at that than I do. I know that for sure.

But she's a sweetheart and we can't thank you enough for being here all the time. Happy birthday to you, Debra. And then also big news is that it's the return of BCSC in the chat. And I've never been happier. What's up, B. Com C clearly. Good to see you. Damon, you want to get in a BCSC super chat for us? Absolutely, Derek.

I was born to do it. Super Chat $5. Be calm C clearly. We get to keep the clapper. the mega dump truck, Cattel Marte, snatch it and return to Arizona. We are one. No, don't read that right. Then at the end.

Don't read that last part. No, no, no, no. No, no, you got us. DCSC, you got us, man. All right. Well, we're going to take a short break. On the other side of this break, we're going to talk about some more good news for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

And that is that they have officially come to terms with all eight of their arbitration eligible players. That's very exciting news. We're going to take a look at those deals on the other side of this break. Don't you guys go anywhere? You're watching the PHNX Diamondback Show. Well, you already know nobody does it better than Heela River Resorts and casinos. You can visit any one of their four valley locations and let them show you what the next level of entertainment is all about.

Of course, they have themselves an amazing nightlife over there, including their over 4,500 live slot machines and table games, which is exactly where you will find Damon and I putting a little money on red over at the roulette table. You can also make sure to check out their sports. book, huge TV, some great food, and of course, a little paper ticket in your hand. No matter what, though, they will show you what they got going on over to Healer Resorts and Casinos. They'll show you what an unprecedented level of entertainment is all about. You do you at Heala Resorts and Casinos. Visit play atheela.com for more details. And Damon, I wish I could multiply a lot of things in life, at least the positive things in life, especially my paycheck. I wish I could

get a multiplier on that. But since I can't do that, I can try to strike. get rich with Arizona Lottery's scratcher tickets and they're multipliers right now. They're multiplier scratchers are the perfect way to add to your life. With multiplier scratchers from Arizona Lottery, you can multiply the good things like vacation time, relaxation, and celebration because you'll have plenty of money to do all of those things. With more than over $270 million in prizes, you could win big enough to do more of the things you love, which again would probably be me going over to Hill of River Resorts and Casinos and putting red on the roulette table.

But we don't need that with the multiplier tickets because you'll strike it. Rich, you can start at just $1 and you could win prizes up to $5 million. So, of course, with access at over 3,500 retailers across the state, you can play whenever and wherever you like with Arizona lottery and their multiplier scratchers. Well, cool bro in the chat. You might be exposed. Fake news. Given a forks up, Damon in the super chat.

Thank you for the super chat, cool, bro. He said, D-backs don't have you of A night. I got bad news for you, pal. They actually do have you. So, Derek, when Wilbur and Wilma Wildcats show up every year, there's Arizona logos all over the crowd. They give out free, you know, Cardinal and Navy signs that say, let's go DBAX. I, of course, have it signed by Arizona alum Kevin Ginkle, one of the greatest relievers in Dax history. I actually played catch with Noah Fafita.

You did play catch with Noah Fafita? I mean, did all of this stuff not happen? Was this a figment of my imagination? Sometimes. Sometimes I do. feel like some of this stuff is just part of Damon's weird imagination, but not that. That actually did happen. But something else that did happen was, according to Nick Piccoro, who first reported it,

and a number of sources yesterday kind of reporting individual players news coming through. The Arizona Diamondbacks have avoided the awful, awful process of arbitration with all eight of their eligible players coming to an agreement with Gabrielle Moreno, Pavin Smith, Alec Thomas, Jake McCarthy, Ryan Nelson, Ryan Thompson. and Kevin Gingle. Now, what's weird is arbitration is one of, I think, like, arbitration only happens in baseball, and it's one of the dumbest things that could potentially be a part of the sport. But what it is meant to do is it's meant for players, especially players that are young

and still under team control to have breakout years and to be compensated properly for that. Right? So the arbitration process can be confusing and for the most part, just to kind of break it down, these figures are just for 2026. So this is just the arbitration eligible players for 2026. And this is for what they will get paid just for that year. This has nothing to do with future years or extensions on their contract or anything like that. So of the eight eligible arbitration eligible players, only Ryan Thompson received more money

then he was estimated to receive. Ryan Thompson was estimated to get a contract at 3.9 million, and he received 3.95 million. So good for him. And again, no free tickets to the pro wrestling show, Ryan. You're going to have to buy him on your own. Meanwhile, everybody else received a little bit less than estimated. AJ Puck was estimated.

AJ Puck and Ryan Nelson were both estimated at 3.3. AJ Puck comes in at 3.1. Ryan Nelson comes in at 3. Kevin Ginkle estimated at three comes in at 2.725. Pavin Smith and Gabriel Moreno were both estimated at 2.40. Excuse me, Gabby also like Ryan Thompson got a little bit more than estimated. Gabby got 2.525. Meanwhile, Pave and Smith got 2.5. Excuse me, Gabby got 2.52. Paving got 2.25. Then Alec Thomas was estimated at 2.20. He got 1.963. And then Jake McCarthy estimated at 1.9 million. He comes in at 1.9 million. He comes in at 1.9 million. He comes in at 1.5. 1.525. So overall, the Diamondbacks were estimated to spend $22, close to $22.5 million on these eight players.

They end up spending $21 million. So overall, the Diamondbacks saved in the neighborhood of $1.5 million for their overall payroll. Not a big deal overall. But again, for a team balling on a budget, that $1.5 million might be enough to help them secure potentially another reliever or perhaps some sort of backup outfielder or some other player that could add depths to this roster where they don't currently have depth. But basically the arbitration process works like this according to MLB.com. If the club and an arbitration eligible player have not agreed

on a salary by a deadline, which is typically in the middle of January, the club and player must exchange salary figures for the upcoming season. That's where we go to the higher regency or the Renaissance across the street. We meet in a lovely boardroom and we have discussions about this. After the figures are exchanged, a hearing would be scheduled. So this is the reason why, not the saving of money. The saving of money is good. One and a half million dollars. It's nothing in the grand scheme of things when it comes to professional sports. However, it is more about the stability for the team and the overall vibes, I think. Nobody likes going through arbitration. What we discussed earlier with Terrick Scoobel, where he and the Tigers are so far apart

on a figure, they're not even close. They're not even close. In fact, the Tigers have paid more, like position players more money than they're offering Terrick Scoobal. It's a crime what Detroit is doing. And that situation is going to get nasty. I have a feeling. The reason why is because with them being so far apart, they are going to have to go to an arbiter. They're going to have to sit in a hearing, which will be scheduled for February for some time, and the Tigers are going to have to sit down in front of a two-time Sy Young winner, and they're going to have to somehow argue that he is worth less money than Merrill Kelly is going to make in 2026. Good luck with that, and that's no discredit to Merrill Kelly. If Mert was sitting here right now, he would agree with

me and say how outrageous it is that they want to pay Tarek Scoobel less money than Merrill Kelly is making, right? So again, it's insane that a team apparently wants to go through this with a player and I'm glad the Diamondbacks don't have to. And that Scoobel situation, like I said, sucks. It sucks for him. It sucks for that team. It really does signify that there's going to be know happy ending for scoobble and the tigers it's just going to come down to him leaving that team at the end of the season and getting the free agent contract that damon fears he's going to get from the dodgers i was talking with noa off air about it uh producer noa of the ph and ex cardinals podcast he's a tiger's fan he's from detroit um he like scubel has coincided with the the dog the

the tigers getting competitive like yeah this rise of turik scubal yeah has made the Tigers a legitimately competitive team again. Where before they were nothing, they were in the dark days of between Verlander and before Scoobel. And instead of resigning that guy who has essentially made you relevant, I mean, not all on his own, they obviously have some young talent, but like he's by far the biggest contributor to it if you had to pick one guy. To get rid of that guy, it's so despicable.

It's such a slap in the face to your fans. How can you sell people on going to the ballpark? If you have a guy that is that damn good at baseball and you just flat out can't resign him because you're that far off on price points. It's every single time a player is on a team like the Tigers. It's every single time a player that's a superstar is on the Royals. It's every time a player is a superstar on the Milwaukee Brewers or the Arizona Diamondbacks. They have to essentially leave somewhere to go somewhere else at the end of their contract to get their big payday. It's one of the biggest problems with baseball. And this

goes beyond the Dodgers spending. This is more about the Tigers not spending. And this is about the fact that this is actually, David, the largest gap in arbitration history with Scoobel filing for at 32 million and the tiger's offering 19 million according to Jeff Passon. Like that's a that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's a lot of money and a piece of yoshi in the chat says the 32 million ask that's a unprecedented it is a lot of money for a player who's going through arbitration uh is that is asking for right so you have scuba asking for 32 and the tiger's going through you know again they'll probably meet somewhere in the middle it'll still be an astronomical figure and Scoopal will still get the huge payday after this season when that day comes.

But also, it is the highest requested amount. I think he said 32 by Juan Soto. Wong Soto was 31 million with the New York Yankees in 2024. So this is the biggest, I guess, biggest amount a player has asked for an arbitration. I would go on to say, is he not worth it? is he not a player that just won the American League's Cy Young Award two years in a row? Is he not a guy that you would pay all the money in the world to? I can understand where the Tigers are coming from not offering him 19.

And this is probably more of a cost-saving measure to go to arbitration just so that they meet somewhere in the middle rather than having to agree to his terms at $32 million. But man, I mean, if there was a single player in baseball, I think I would be worth this besides show Aotani. It's Terrick Scoobel right now. Yeah, I just, I can't. I can't fathom being in the tiger's shoes. Like, obviously Derek, it's going to be the most expensive ever because he's the best guy who is needing arbitration this year.

And every single year, inflation, hello, it's a thing that happens. So there's a reason that in the NFL, the new highest paid player at this position is that is, is every single off season because that's how inflation works. The cap keeps going up. So why wouldn't salaries keep going up? I think it makes perfect sense for him to be the highest paid arbitration player of all time. And that gap there is ridiculous. Like I think that they can meet somewhere a little bit closer to the middle.

But $13 million difference is wild when we're talking about 19 and 32 million. It's very wild, right? But overall, like I said, getting back to the Diamondbacks, I mean, at least when you take a look at the overall amount, the Diamondbacks paid $21 million total to eight players. And you're talking about Terrick Scouble asking for $32 million just for himself, right? This is the reason why the Diamondbacks can't really get into business with these players. It's the reason why Scuba won't be in a Diamondbacks uniform is they can't pay a guy, a single guy, this much money.

It's the same reason why I've kind of been insulted by the idea. of adding Alex Brigman. And not because I don't feel like Alex Brigman isn't worth the money he's asking or wouldn't be a huge contributor to the offense or this team. It's just once again, with all of the needs this team has had, if they were going to spend $160 million on one guy, there's no reason that they couldn't have spent that, you know, broken it up and spent it around,

spread it around a little more and improve this team in several different ways rather than just pursuing one single high-priced free agent that's going to basically tap out your entire budget. So I don't know what the future holds for scubel and baseball, but I hope, I hope at the end of the day we see him sign anywhere but L.A. So we'll see what happens. We have a lot of free agents this offseason still to sign,

and they could definitely change baseball where they land. But one of those free agent signings could really screw the Diamondbacks, and that is where Zach Gallen ends up landing, and for how much is more important. We're going to talk about that. On the other side of this break, don't you go anywhere, you're watching the PHNX Diamondback Show. Well, the holidays are over and now is the perfect time to get started on those home renovations

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If you were someone you know is a gambling problem, wants help. Call 1-800 next step. Text next step to 533442 or visit problemgambling.az.gov. Well, we have some news breaking, according to our guy Jacob Franklin, aka Big Jake,

the Arizona Diamondbacks Dodgers opening day game just got Sunday night baseball flexed, but on a Thursday. So the Diamondbacks and Dodgers will be playing on national TV on opening day. No pressure, boys. No pressure. Just go out there and ruin it. it for them. Ruin it for them. Diamondbacks. Also, we got some super chats or a super chat.

It's from, let's see, we got Cali Cat. Thank you, Callie Cat. $10.00. Says, happy birthday, Deborah. Deborah, happy birthday once again. We appreciate it. And our guy, R.A. gave five PH&X sports memberships. Really? Let's go, R.A. He said, in honor of Cattel, staying a snake. Thank you so much. We appreciate you. We appreciate the kindness. and the generosity. And shout out to, because I'm sure some of these people are maybe like not as much active in the chat. So I'm not, who knows if they even know?

Shout out J. Beasy, Marwin Smith, John H. Rudy. Of course, Rudy's always in chat. And Commander Nearsight on you guys becoming members of the PH&X Sports Channel. Now you guys are, uh, you can send in, I believe one chat a month, uh, which is similar to a super chat. We'll read it always on air. Of course, you have access to all of our emojis in the chat. Some of our extra content that we do behind the scenes, Derek, of course, tried to ruin my life when I'm playing headbands.

And he's probably going to try to do it again. We're going to put it through arbitration. That's really going to ruin his life. Yeah. I feel like Derek might just play like a sick bit in his head where he just tells the other people I'm playing against in headbans the answer every time so that I just end up getting last place. That's a good bit. Yeah. Just give me the hardest, the hardest one.

every time and it's somehow everybody else is like easy yeah I get like it's like hated sports figures and I get like an umpire who made a bad call once I get like Alfonso Marquez from his bad call against the debax in game five of the world series and yeah

and you're given like Noah and Kevin like Otani and freaking I'll tell you you're giving me good ideas here is what you're giving me I appreciate cool bro super chat cool bro says Brickman at his age is like eating a choro dog sure it feels and tastes good in the moment, but how are you going to feel later when you're lactose intolerance?

Honestly fair. He also had to agree. I mean, he said it. He said he had another metaphor. I'm loving his metaphors. He also said it's like eating at a steakhouse when you have no groceries in your fridge, right? Like you're going out, you're eating out. You spent how much on that steak?

You went to Gordon Ramsey's in Las Vegas? Why? You don't have money for Gordon Ramsey? You know, that kind of said. He said, like I said, Brighman is going to an expensive steakhouse. house when your fridge is empty. Well, Diamondbacks might get screwed out of something else when it comes to this entire free agency season.

And that could be that compensatory draft pick that they were supposed to receive. According to John Morosi now, especially with the Chicago Cubs, trading for Edward Cabrera, the Cubs are now likely out of the Zat-Gallon sweepstakes, if you will. There were reports at different points of the season that Gallen and the Cubs were being linked. In fact, remember we had that false start situation where it was announced that Gallin had signed with the Cubs. And then he didn't sign with the Cubs. It seems likely to Morosi that Gallen is now heading elsewhere. There may still be clubs in on Gowan.

He said the two teams that we keep hearing are very much involved in the starting pitching conversation, broadly speaking, the Mets and the Orioles. Both of them are potential landing spots for Zach Gowan. It seems as though the other teams that were in. in on the starting pitching market, like the Giants, for example, they seem to satisfy their need for that elsewhere with other acquisitions. And so it's not the easiest scenario right now to project out where Gallin winds up. We discussed the potential of Gallen returning to the Diamondbacks. Kind of a split feeling on that amongst the fan base. It did feel like more people were in favor of it than those were against it. I also understand people not really wanting the Diamondbacks

to do the exact same thing they did last year, right? That's the point. That's the point. where it starts to feel crazy. That's the definition of insanity, right? Doing the same thing expecting different results. So we start to feel insane thinking that you're going to bring back the same pitching staff with the same pitching coach and have things somehow be different in 26 than they were in 25, right? But the bigger problem here is that as time goes on for Zach Gallen, the likelihood of him getting a long-term deal worth enough money for the Diamondbacks to receive that compensatory pick for offering him a qualified offer might not happen because Gallen needs to sign for at least 50 million somewhere else in order for the Diamondbacks to receive that

compensatory pick. Well now if Gallen does not do so, which Morosly seems to think, Marossi seemed to think it was a legitimate possibility that Gallen now signs a smaller, shorter term deal, that could easily impact the fact that the diamondbacks get that that draft pick. And again, in dealings and conversations with teams, not to say that Gowan is actively trying to screw the Diamondbacks out of receiving that pick, but I mean, the team trying to sign Gowan would be trying to do that because that draft pick doesn't come from nowhere. It comes from their draft picks, right? So, you know, having to sacrifice that draft pick in order to sign Gallen just adds to the overall cost. If they could really, like, if they could really want

to put the screws to the Diamondbacks, Gallen could literally sign for like $48 million somewhere, and the Diamondbacks get nothing. They get nothing. And that could definitely happen. So that part sucks. Morosi went on to said, even for one of the more accomplished free agents on the marketplace, it's entirely possible that he would sign either a two-year deal with an officer. out after year one or even a pure one-year deal just to bridge things, reenter the marketplace a year from now when things might be a little bit more favorable for him. I have a feeling that that might not be the case because of the uncertainty in 2027. You do not want to be a free agent in the offseason of 2027. You just don't want to be. The uncertainty is too big. The lockout

is going to happen. It's going to impact teams' abilities to negotiate with free agents. It's just an awful time to be a free agent. So I would predict that Zach Gallen at least sign a two-year deal. But again, that two-year deal could potentially be worth $40 to $48 million, $49 million, and then the Diamondbacks don't get that draft pick. So I'm hoping that's not the case, and I'm hoping that deep down inside Zach Gallen would try to be, you know, not only looking out for his own pocketbook, but also looking out for this franchise just a little bit. Still interesting, though, if he does come back here, that Diamondbacks also don't get that compensatory pick. So just I don't I don't love it. It doesn't make me feel great about this whole

situation. And what what's worse is when you look at the free agent starting pitching market, as we said earlier, it's not going anywhere. You still have too many big names. So it's like you you have a hard time imagining that Zach Gallen sign somewhere before Framber Valdez or Ranger Svarez do. So those chips need to fall first before his gallon can really, you know, you know, get in on this. I mean, again, maybe he does, maybe he does strike a deal. Maybe someone is interested in him. And perhaps, you know, he is affordable enough for them to not worry about how the market is going to be impacted by the Valdez signing or the Ranger Suarez signing.

There's a good chance that, you know, that you don't know. So they could receive high deals and then things for gallons suddenly get more expensive for another team. I just at this point feel like the Diamondbacks. have so much writing on their youth and their farm system and their draft picks. It's so important to this team. And I think it really is a huge reason why they didn't make any kind of bigger effort to bring Gallen back. They also knew, I think, based on the feedback that they got that that wasn't going to happen. But now again, just please, please, whoever signs that Gallen, please don't, please don't do this to the Diamondbacks. That's all we asked for. But I did. I did.

want to remind you guys, of course, that Alex Dagestino, even though he does write about the Cardinals, does a great job writing on the internet about the Diamondbacks as well. And he does a fantastic job with our newsletter. So shout out to Alex. And you can read that newsletter for free every single day by signing up over at go phnx.com slash newsletter. It's the biggest news in Arizona sports in your inbox daily at 6 a.m. Alex is doing a tremendous job at keeping everyone updated on the Arizona Cardinals coaching search. as well as all of the other breaking news here in the Valley. I'm sure he'll have a lot to say tomorrow about Catell.

Tomorrow, does he work on Saturdays? I don't think so. I don't know. But whenever he gets around the writing about Cotel Marte, I'm sure he'll have a lot of things to say. So again, be the smartest sports fan you know. Go ahead and check out the newsletter, Alex Degistino, doing a great job over there.

Damon. Derek. Offseason stuff, not really moving, right? We're not getting the Diamondbacks adding your Sir Anthony Dominguez or my Paul Goldschmidt just yet. I do wait for the Paul Goldschmidt signing to be happening here soon, right? But again, not a lot of action on the Diamondbacks part. They did sign to pitchers with Major League Baseball experience as minor league to minor league deals. So, I mean, again, they're trying their best to build their depth.

and make sure that they are in some sort of position in 2026 to have some major league experience in case anything does happen to their bullpen But man, I mean can you really imagine at this point running it back essentially with the exact same bullpen or I mean we're kind of on that already we are aren't we? I mean we really are Land granted the exact same bullpen is not really the bullpen that we had all season last year because it's a lot of guys that we traded for at the deadline, a lot of young pitchers, players that maybe haven't necessarily, like, we don't know exactly what they are yet. They're a bit of a mystery, right? It's like, uh, it's like the family guy clip where it's like, you could have a boat or

you could have a mystery box. It could even be a boat. And the diamond backs are, they have a lot of mystery boxes. They have a lot of mystery boxes. Could be a boat in there. Yeah, it could be a boat. Could also be a poop sandwich. Or it could be a five, one I mean.

Like this is, it's exactly. So, you know, we got to, we're investing in a lot of young players. Let's hope that a couple of them work out. And let's buy time and have an elite enough offense that this team is competitive for the first half of the season while we wait for puck. And maybe J. Mark, again, I'm going to keep saying, I'll believe J.Mart plays in 2026 when I see it. Because he's so young. Yeah.

He throws so hard. And it's, you know, I just think you have to be cautious with a guy like that. And they extended him on top of them, right? Yeah, exactly. You're definitely, you definitely do not want to risk his future or your future bringing him back too soon. But what's interesting, once again, is, again, that's a great thing for those young guys. Because in baseball, it's hard to not be blocked by a team going out there and adding free agent players, bringing guys in via trade, all of that stuff. Like just having guys with more experience than you have.

So all of those guys have an option. but the two major league, I guess guys with major league experience Diamondback signed a minor league deals, they also have a great opportunity coming into spring training and impressing or earning a role in the bullpen. Like nothing is off the table for anybody

kind of trying out for certain positions on the Diamondbacks this spring. That's the biggest thing about being a member of this team is the opportunity is wide open. And like sports are just fun like that where a guy that you didn't even know his name at the start of the season suddenly becomes your favorite player. I could say that about almost every team here in the valley has a guy like that.

So it's exciting. I'm looking at a guy with like a 196 average. And I'm like, I kind of like this. And who does he become? No other than Geraldo Obridomo. Sometimes you just find a random player and you just get drawn to him. You know what I mean?

And then you're kind of rewarded with that player playing well. I mean, that's kind of the opportunity thing. thing. Again, just because I love the sons and love watching them so much, it's that team too, right? There's no, like, yes, Devin Booker is out there. Yes, certain guys like Mark Williams are going to be on the floor and starting. But the opportunity to go out there and shine and earn more playing time and become a starter is wide open for so many young players on that team. It's the same thing with the Diamondbacks, right? You have these young minor league prospects that have an opportunity. You have these young guys that were given an opportunity last year that are going to be given a

chance this year to kind of shine again and see if they can take a step forward. And then the Diamondbacks also added pitchers Thomas Hatch and Sean Dubin to their roster. Hatch was previously with the Minnesota Twins. He's a right-handed reliever. He was primarily utilized in long relief for the twins. Ring us, Derek. Yeah, let's give it. We got the guys that we needed. We're done. He did have a 5.45 ERA in 33 innings. But overall, he, he, he, he, you know, has kind of struggled in the majors. He was initially taken by the Cubs back in 2016 in the third round of that year's draft,

and now he's kind of made his way around. He's an older guy, but still sign on a minor league deal. He pitched for the Blue Jays for small portions of the seasons between 2020 and 2020-23. He was DFAed and eventually picked up by the Pittsburgh Pirates. So this is a guy that's kind of been around, but just kind of reminiscent a little bit of like Nabil Krizmot from last year, who, you know, again, was a bit of a journeyman played

for a lot of teams and then somehow came to the Diamondbacks and became the best version of himself. We speak too often about the disappointment of guys like Eduardo Rodriguez and Brandon fought and how their season went. But you got to like give flowers to those guys that specifically stepped up for this team last year. Taylor Rashi for a period of time was that even though he kind of came back down to earth later in the season. And the Bill Khrzmont was that as well. So you just never know when these guys come up and have numbers like this. what they're able to do, what adjustments they've been able to make, how they've been able to improve themselves. Sean Dubin, he's a former Houston Astro and Baltimore Orioles right-handed reliever.

He is a 30-year-old righty. He was selected 13th in the 2018 MLB draft by the Astros. He reached AAA in 2021, and then he's been up and down between MLB and AAA ever since. So these are the kind of guys that, like, again, this is a minor league deal, so I'm not going to I'm not going to dwell too much on this or be like, this is what I knew we were going to get. But, like, again, these are the kind of guys that the Diamondbacks can take a chance on, especially on a smaller minor league deal, but still adding guys that have major league experience, rather than just having a minor league system right now fully comprised of young players, you know, young guys that have come up from AA and made it up to AAA.

Like, they need these guys for depth. They need these guys to go out there and try to win a position, quite frankly. they need one of these guys potentially to try to impress in camp and maybe be in the bullpen come opening day. That's, I guess, the exciting part about this team is that's the opportunity, once again, like I said earlier, that presents itself. Damon, you can win yourself a spot and not to say it's easy to do so, but if you figure out a way to start getting outs and start looking, you know, again, like you can help this team win, there's a good chance that you are going to find yourself not only in the bullpen, but in high leverage innings

in regular season games very soon. The Reno Aces average age this season is going to be through the roof because of this bullpen that we have established. Like the Taylor Rashies, the John Curtis's, the Thomas Hatches, the Sean Dubin's. Tommy Henry came back on a minor league deal as well. Nice, nice. I mean, it's just there's, we have a bunch of like quadruple A players in that bullpen that are just going to be sitting there waiting for arm injuries to be called up.

But hopefully these young guys that have potential are the ones that really kind of, I think, grab the reins of this bullpen and, you know, kind of force the issue. Because it makes sense. Obviously, this isn't rocket science. But, like, it's way more ideal for the Diamondbacks for guys like Juan Burgos and Brandon Garcia and Philip Abner to be the ones that are driving this bullpen to being average. rather than us trying to, again, flex seal John Curtis onto our late reliever, you know, tag and be like, hey, hey, sweet John, go out there and give us a good outing.

And you're like, he can only do that one out of every two times. So, yeah, I just think that ideally I want these young players to go out there and develop and hopefully, you know, be the ones that take control. I don't disagree with you at all. I just think that you can't expect. guys to develop entirely based on the coaching, right? I mean, we have no reason to believe that Diamondbacks can develop young pitchers. That's definitely true.

But my point being is that you also do want a mix of guys with major league experience sharing that major league experience with young guys, even if they suck. Even if that experience is to tell them about, oh, one time I pitched on the mound in Houston and it was like this or, you know, one time I made this mistake or one time I made this mistake, Sometimes I'll tell you, man, the amount that a pitcher that's been through more bad than good can be just as can be just as exciting for the future of a team and can help those young guys, right? So I don't hate the mix. I also think, again, it's about competition. You want to create competition.

You want guys wanting to fight for a spot. You want to do everything you can to bring the best out of those guys. Mark in the chat a little while ago brought up Damon that our, guy Rob Manfred said that he would like to do some sort of split season with an in-season tournament similar to what we're seeing in the NBA. And I can't wait for this man to not be commissioner. That day can't come fast enough, Damon. I hate this idea. We already have one of the coolest tournaments in baseball. It's called the World Baseball Classic. Maybe having the World Baseball Classic happen in season might not be the worst idea. Maybe you could get me on board

with that, but I don't really need an in-season tournament in baseball. I still like John Boy's way of fixing the seating and giving the first half-winners a playoff spot and the second-half winners of the playoff spot. A lot of that makes far more sense to me than doing an in-season tournament. And also we got our guy, John in the chat, saying, I'm excited for a healthy drill. There's John Curtis. John, good to see you. Always there.

He's in Reno, but he's always there. He's always lurking. And speaking of lurking, John says I'm excited for a healthy Dre. I have a fun announcement to make Damon. I probably jump in the gun a little bit, but I'm very excited to announce. At the very least, Dre Jameson is going to be pitching for this podcast next Wednesday. So very excited to announce the next Wednesday. We're going to have Dre Jameson here in studio.

I hope he brings the chain. I might have to pop chain out on that day. Do I have time to get a chain? if I get one of the ones that turned your neck green. Do you think he'll know? I'll have to figure it out between now and then. But I'm pumped, pumped to have Dre here. Did we plan this, Dre?

What? Trip to Happy Jewelers just for the boys? You know, that kind of thing. So cannot wait to have Dre Jameson in studio next week. Thrill for that. Fire in our blood, Derek. I can't wait to get it. That's what I need.

I have not had enough fire in my blood in 2026. So make sure to stop by for that. And of course, we appreciate you guys stopping by today. We hope you guys all have yourselves. wonderful weekend. We will be back on Monday with another 12 p.m. show. It's another edition of Mailbag Monday. So make sure to send your questions for that. You can also follow us on Twitter. I am at K-Man with the K. Not just on Twitter. I'm also on Instagram. And I'm almost at 1,000 followers there. So I don't post much very, very much there. But follow me anywhere. Follow

me. We're going. We need Derek to post more, guys, right? I mean, like, can we get the chat? Let's get it going. Derek does not post enough on X. He slash Twitter. He's, he's, He's the funniest guy. Everyone wants to hear his freaking jokes and his comedy. Yeah, he's so mean lately, David. I get it. They're mean to me. I get it.

Brother, you think I don't deal with it every day? I'm still making my jokes up there because I cannot let these losers win. Yeah. I will not let them muzzle me. I will not. Well, I'm, I'm pro wrestling managing tonight for IZW. I'm going to guide this man, Ocean Avery, to his first championship. Not first championships.

He's won lots of championships. First IZW Championship. I'm excited for that. And I promise, Damon, I will not get kicked in the face this time. I don't know how I can promise that. I didn't allow myself to get kicked in the face last time, but that's a whole other thing. We love you guys. We appreciate you stopping by.

I will post more. Yes, follow me on cap underscore K-man with a K. We need the funnies back. Shout out to Cool, bro. He said the fire has been in your gut instead of your blood. Thank you for the super chat. And you're right. We need the fire back in our blood.

That puts fire in my blood. blood that puts fire in my blood. We just need that on a loop. I forgot how quick it was. That's a quick one. Candice celebrates four months of membership. When are we getting new merch? We got it coming.

We got some stuff coming for opening day. So make sure you keep it locked. God, we need a frog domo shirt. Yeah, we really do need a frog domo shirt. You know how much that would sell? Oh, yeah. Oh, it would sell like hotcakes.

It would sell like hot cakes. I don't even know if hotcakes would sell as well as. this t-shirt. I feel like I did my job with this turnover sword redline shirt that we did for the AZ Wilde podcast. It's a beautiful shirt and it's a great I hate you of a so much. It's a great shirt. Yeah. If you guys haven't checked it out, go look at it on our store.orgat all seed network. It's the little sun devils doll at the top that really puts it over the top. Yeah. That's my favorite part. Well, that's what they did in real life. But but it's so I mean, great shirt. We really, really had to work hard for that. Like like tooth and nail, Kevin and I go into battle,

bugging Espo and Leah every day. Please, please, please make this happen. Proof of concept. Proof of concept. It did great. Let's get a freaking Frogdomo shirt. The chat would be fired up. We also need another Jesse Jr. shirt by popular demand. But these are just some of the ideas we have around here.

The one Jesse Jr. shirt isn't going to cut it. Yeah. He is our true star of the show. Of course, the real star here is Damon Dog. You can follow him at Damon Dog with a DAWG at the end. And we are all Damon's dogs. Bark, Bark. Our show is at PHNX underscore Dbacks, but as always all roads lead to at PHNX underscore sports on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Thank you, cool bro, for another super chat. He says in reference to Coach G, you got fire in your gut for JG. You take the bus today? See you, bud. Derek, you take the bus to work today? I did not take the bus today. You drive yourself? Yeah, I drove myself.

Yeah. You got fire in your gut? I got fire in my gut. Yeah, that's for sure. Well, I hope you guys keep fire in your gut all weekend long. We thank you guys for showing up. and being here, and more importantly, we thank the Arizona Diamondbacks for keeping Catelle Marte in Arizona. We'll see you on Monday at 12 p.m. until then, I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Behave yourself, bees, and remember kids, baseball is fun, but it's so much more fun when you recognize that you already have a superstar on your team and you keep him here.