PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - Can D-backs STRIKE as Padres COLLAPSE & SEIZE the Final NL Wild Card Spot?

Episode Date: September 3, 2026

Despite dropping the series to the Philadelphia Phillies, the Arizona Diamondbacks remain in a strong position as they currently control the final NL Wild Card spot. But with a huge series against the Houston Astros coming up in Texas, the D-backs have a golden opportunity to take advantage of a reeling San Diego Padres team that has gone just 3-7 over its last 10 games and create some much-needed separation in the Wild Card race. We preview the upcoming Astros series, look at how Arizona’s starting rotation could line up on the other side, and discuss what the D-backs need to do to capitalize on this critical stretch of the season. Plus, a new report says lease extension talks between the Diamondbacks and the public entity that owns Chase Field have been “non-productive to date.” Should fans actually be worried about the team moving again, or is it way too early to panic? And it’s Throwback Thursday! We take a trip down memory lane to revisit J.D. Martinez’s unforgettable four-home run game against the Los Angeles Dodgers.BECOME A DIEHARD: gophnx.com/join JOIN THE SUPPORTERS CLUB ➡️ https://tinyurl.com/yc6km2r4An ALLCITY Network ProductionSUBSCRIBE to our YouTube: https://bit.ly/phnx_youtubeALL THINGS PHNX: http://linktr.ee/phnxsports MERCH 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/Branded Bills: Use code BBPHNX15 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=allcityShowNotesGametime: 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 40% 2+ pairs of 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.

The Arizona Diamondback somehow, some way, have current control of the final NL wildcard spot. But can they take advantage of a struggling Padres team right now to create some distance? We're talking about this and previewing the upcoming series with the Astros. Don't you go anywhere. We are starting right now. XNXD Back. Presented by our friends at Circle K. Hello, y'all.

It's your mayor of HNX. Occasionally known as Derek Montea. Dilled to have you guys here. We're still able to be joined by one of my best friends in the whole wide world. Michael over here as one of our favorite Barkeeps likes to call him, aka Rock Knowledge, AKA Rock, with us. And, of course, on the ones and twos, we got the one, the only Damon Dog, aka Damon Farrell.

Bark, Bart, to you back there, Damon. What's going on? I didn't know we were using government names. I know, right? Yeah, he doesn't like when I do that at all. Especially, like, I'll try to use it when we get reservations and it gets them really mad. But welcome in to you guys. Of course, this show is brought to you by our friends.

at game time. Go download that game time app right now. If you haven't done so, create an account and use our code of PHNX. You'll get $20 off your first purchase to come watch this Arizona Diamondbacks team down the final stretch. Hopefully keep this playoff spot that they have. Terms do apply there, of course, but the Diamondbacks did win that big finale yesterday against the Phillies. We talked about that in the postgame show. James McCann, sexy arms, James McCann. Big body. Big body, James McCannel. The McAnimal. Mechanimal.

I like that. Yeah, that's a good one. Derek, I mean, what a moment. I know I wasn't on the show yesterday, but seriously, I was watching from home. I mean, there's nothing better than a day game when in the middle of the week. You're not working. You're watching ball and your team gets a big time W. And it's a two hour and three minute game.

And James McCann puts the ball over the fence. Not just that, but again, I don't even know if we stressed this enough yesterday. Like James McCann had to handle that entire pitch. staff for a bullpen. Correct. He was truly the MVP in every sense. Yeah, just out there leading the troops. And the bullpen deserves their credit as well.

They were amazing. Just absolutely phenomenal. The first time the Diamondbacks have ever used seven pitchers for a shutout in a nine-inning game. I got a little confused yesterday myself about the press release because they have done it before, just never in a nine-inning game. So this is the first time they've used seven pitchers in a nine-inning game that resulted in a shutout.

the other games were all extra innings games. So this one was a planned bullpen game, and that plan came together exactly as Tori Lavello intended for it to do. But the offense was still ugly. And scoring three runs in this series against the Phillies is about as ugly as you could do offensively. I don't know what they can do to fix it. Yeah, I mean, swinging better pitches is the easy thing for us to say

sitting behind a desk. Of course. I love to say that. You know, timely hitting is what it boils down to, and you just got to figure if these guys are getting quality at bat. It's like something's got to give, right? Timely hitting is the key word there. Oh, for 17 with runners in scoring position, man.

I mean, it's just this idea that, you know, you get so excited, you know, that there's a runner on. And you're just a different hitter. And in all actuality, like making a pitcher pitch out of the stretch due to a runner being on should make it harder for a pitcher. Like they should have some more success, but it feels

like the pressure instead is on debacks hitters. It feels like the worst this situation gets, the worst they get in these scoring situations. And they didn't have many scoring situations against Andrew Painter yesterday. So it's not even a matter of like, oh, they squandered

17 runners and scoring opportunity in one game. Yeah. They only had four. They were 0 for 4 yesterday. Oh for 4 the previous game 0 for 9 in game 1 yeah was not the best series for the offensive side of the baseball so thank god for that bullpen yesterday man i know but it's fun to watch the the thing about what tory said after yesterday's game was that they are struggling and missing the fastball when when when the fastball misses when the when the opposing pitcher misses with the fastball they're not catching up to it and they're not making them pay specifically he's not wrong because

Because like that first pitch swing that James McCann had yesterday, was not a fastball. It was an 82 mile an hour sweeper, low in the zone that landed like right on the bottom of the zone. Like it wasn't even a bad pitch. But McCann was looking for that versus looking for a fastball, and he did not miss. He swept it.

He swept it right on out of the ballpark. And again, it's exciting because they did win, right? And we're not the only team that's struggling. And that's what's so ridiculous about this San Diego Padres team. It's like we just, What we do, they do. When we win, when we're winning a bunch of games, they're winning a bunch of games.

When we're struggling, they're struggling. It feels like we're destined to do this forever, right? And that's where we are at right now with this Padre's team. But they are struggling worse than we are. Yes. And they are in a position right now where this Diamondbacks team has to take advantage of those struggles that they're currently going through. Our guy, Coach Henry, who I got to see at Chase Field yesterday.

I mean, what a meeting of my world. Yeah, it's basically Damon's uncles, you know, get together. My deos. Formidable Tios in his life. Everybody needs those. Coach Henry says, how about don't swing at the first pitch when the pitcher is struggling to throw strikes? Can we get Coach Henry out there to help this team? Because I think that that seems simple, but it very much was not what this team was doing.

I don't know if the game plan against Painter, for instance, was to be aggressive. But my God, it did not work because they did not make him work. I mean, we were watching him go through 12 pitch, 11 pitch, nine pitch innings against this team yesterday. At the very least, when you're struggling, I would think that you could take pitches. Like, things aren't going your way, but maybe foul some stuff off,

maybe not swing at first pitches, maybe at least just make him work so that you can drive that pitch count up and knock him out of the game. Yeah, we needed like three of those Jerry Perdomo, like 12 pitch at best. Exactly. We needed those bad.

By the way, that's still one of the things that sticks in my head the most when Jerry has a shortage. bat is that Tori basically told us that at times perdomo can look at them before he goes out there and be like what you want like do you want a 12 pitch of bat do you want a 15 pitch of bat like what do you pro so if you can like kind of do it at will like that why isn't he doing it more we need at least one guy in the line of doing that that's a really impressive thing to like offer up to your manager you need you get you got you to say less say let's story but yeah no this is one of those um slumps that

they're going through collectively as a team, which is also just very frustrating. But like I said, the Padres are also experiencing their fair share of struggles as well. So that is why the door right now is wide open for Arizona to do what essentially the Phillies and the Cubs are doing right now, which is kind of walking away with those first two spots. The Phillies have even passed the Cubs. But there's a five game and four game lead right now over the final wild card spot. And those two teams are at least creating enough distance that you feel like they are secure in their you know, in making the postseason, right? You cannot say that about the Diamondbacks or the Padres right now

because not only are we battling each other, but looking in our goddamn rearview mirrors, the Miami Marlins, who are not a bad team and can go on a streak at any time. Plus, they still play us and they still play the Padres before the end of the season. They're going to be here in two weeks. I don't, I'm not looking forward to that. I'm very much not looking forward to that.

Based on the way that they played against this Marlins team in Florida so far, I'm not looking forward to that. Yeah, they're sneaky good. But here we sit, 74 and 67, a half game lead on the Padres, and that was a massive win yesterday. But again, Padres are three and seven in the last 10. They're coming off a loss to Cincinnati. They're half a game behind us,

and they're just dealing with rotation uncertainty right now. They have another setback for Joe Musgrove, which had to feel like a blow. Like they're going through, like everything we're going through too. Yeah. The starting pitchers just being on the cusp of returning and then suffering a setback. And then, you know, again, they have just a slightly tougher schedule ahead, though a very similar schedule. The Diamondbacks and the Padres both play the Yankees.

Yep. They both play the Marlins and they play the Rockies and each other. But the Diamondbacks have the Royals. They have the Astros coming up. And they have just a little bit easier of a stretch versus the Padres also having to face off against the Dodgers right before they play the Diamondbacks. which again, we decided collectively we're not going to root for the Dodgers. We're just going to root against the Padres in that game or in that series. And then again, they have a couple of other tougher teams still left ahead of them.

So their road is not easy, though they do have a couple of easy, you know, series as well. You could say, like they have a series with the nationals. But I don't know. Overall, it just feels like that the Diamondbacks don't necessarily need to go on a massive winning streak right now. they just need to, you know, get some wins. Win a couple of series. Win series. Don't lose series.

That's it. Yeah. That's all they can do. Win series and then whatever happens is going to happen. They have seven series left. Astros. Who knows what happens with the Astros? That team is so weird.

Their starting pitching has been atrocious. Yes. Their bullpen is incredible lately. And again, that means the Diamondbacks are going to have to strike early in that series against that team. They really got to avoid throwing darts at. Yordon because Yordon hits nukes and geez let's not do that guys we're gonna we're gonna we're gonna preview that series here momentarily but again I mean this feels like oh this feels like

so many seasons that we've gone through here we are in the final stretch you could call it 21 games left seven series left on the schedule and who is it in the other side of the alley the podres and we end the season against the Padres again and you feel like once again you kind of feel good that the Diamondbacks have control of their own destiny from this point going forward, but you also have seen this exact movie,

this story play out now the past three seasons. The first time it happened, we got in thanks to a dropped fly ball by the Cubs. Then the last two years, shenanigans. Don't even get me started. Shenanigans left and right.

Playing hopscotch, the Mets and the Braves on the field mid-game. so that we don't make playoffs. Yeah. Like this is the time for the Diamondbacks to learn from their mistakes and try to push hard. And, you know,

that Tori kind of basically told us that going ahead, we're going to have some guys returning and they're going to be as near 100% as they've been all season long, probably starting that series back at home with the Texas Rangers after that. He pointed specifically to the upcoming series

with the Royals as being when it would appear, perhaps both, Corbin Burns and Zach Gallen are returning, though it feels like it's a bit more about Corbyn Burns. Tori also mentioned that they might need another bullpen start like they got yesterday one more time before they're back to 100%, meaning that before that spot comes up in the rotation again, that Zach Gallen would probably take back. Yeah, I mean, all we can hope is that Zach went down there and got himself right and he can give us,

you know, a couple quality starts when it matters most for us. Do the Brandon Fott thing. For real. Do the Brandon fought Tim Tawa thing. Can we have that happen? My God. Got to. It just, again, this is, this reminds us how important yesterday's win was.

And I will, I, we talked about it on D-Backs after dark, but that dropped home run ball in the race series where it was carried over the outfield wall. I might frame, if we make the postseason, I might frame that picture and put it up on the wall. And that's Jose Canseco level blunder, so. It's, I mean, it's not, but it's. is but it is but it's not it kind of is yeah it's not as embarrassing as getting it's not as it's not as embarrassing pop over the fence but what I will say is it's uh it's like you know we we have these moments as Diamondbacks fans where we're just it's unbelievable how bad the things are that happened to us yeah you know and it's only because we live in this world like

I said when you look over what's happening to the Padres they've they've had some bad like luck and let's just hope that bad luck continues because they they need it. It's true because the last thing we want is for us to get to that last season, or last series of the season, and it really matters because nobody wants to go into Petco, because that place is going to be rocking. They need to go into that series knowing that they're in,

because I don't want to leave it up the chance. I don't want to point to this, but I do have to ask the question. Does a new owner coming in and holding a press conference where she's introduced like it's Starcade, 1997, and she's Sting coming. out to entrance music and the whole bit. I'm surprised there was no pyro.

I'm surprised there was no pyro. And claiming that the team was going to win it all, like when there's like a month and a half left in this particular, you're not like an off-season thing like that. That would be completely, I think, acceptable and not even thought of in the off-season, but when you come in and there's like two months left in the season and you proclaim stuff like that, are you really just testing the baseball gods? There are baseball fans of other teams who have that clipped up ready to go as soon as the Padres do not win anything. So trust me, it's coming.

I'm like, I know this man right here. I know this man right here very well. You know it. It's clipped up. Oh, I can't wait. It's ready. I can't wait. I'm going to shut my mouth for the time being, but just no, I got that on, I got that on lock, you know.

But yeah, I mean, again, it's, we got our own stuff going on here. We have a lot, our own distractions. We have our own bad luck. but I mean, it definitely feels like right now is the time to put all of that behind us, right? Seven series left, 21 games left.

How many do you think it takes to win it? Man. I mean, they're at 73 right now. That's a tough thing. That's a tough thing because you could, man. I mean, I would say if they, obviously they got to win better than 500,

but I'm like, I don't know. Does it going to take 16? Is it going to take 90 wins to secure it? Because that 16 seems like a lot. It does seem like a lot, but. I mean, you can win a series against the Rockies. There's two.

You can win a series against the Royals. Like, you got to feel confident. At this point of the season, we can also lose a series against the Rockies. What's that? We could. No, we could lose a series of the Rockies, considering we just lost to them.

I know. And what I'm saying is like that you have to kind of beat those teams at this point, right? For sure. Like, you can let those. wins throughout 162 game season slide. But when you're talking about your final 20 games of the year, you can't lose to the Royals. You can't lose a series to the Rockies when you're in it for the race.

And you know the Rockies are going to want to. You know Jake McCarthy is going to want to hit six home runs in that series. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. That would be very satisfying for Big Jake. I'm forgetting exactly what it was, but I'm pretty sure two seasons ago when we missed playoffs, there was something that Jake did that very much. contributed to us not making playoffs if he was the reason that we didn't again because he was playing

good right i forgot what it was but i think you're right oh god yeah this is like what 24 i think 24 yeah i think so god oh god if i'm not mistaken remind us chat if you remember yeah that's always good uh ken burns breakfast says the podres will collapse under the weight of their own egos as they always do love that about those ringless bums in san diego and my life in the phoenix sunshine says we could pass phillies if we play this right i mean the phillies actually have a harder or a more difficult schedule ahead and the the beauty of yesterday's win once again the importance the most important thing of yesterday's win is that we end up splitting the season series with the phillies and you know we're going to have a

better divisional record than them oh for sure we end up time because of how hard that nl east is right there's no way that they're going to end up with a better divisional record than us at least i think that's what we're talking about yet on the uh tuesday episode derrick is like you You know, it's really unfortunate that you lose this series, but at the same time, like, you found a way, you got to find a way to win this last game or else. Because it would be doomsday potentially if that didn't happen. But keeping the tiebreaker is pretty huge.

It's just, it's just one other way for you to like, at least perhaps sneak in if the Phillies collapse over the final month here, which they're totally capable of doing. So let's not pretend that they're not. But I should shut my mouth. I should shut my mouth about talking about the Phillies. Did you know that rock? Derek made them a good baseball game.

baseball team. He predicted that they were not going to make playoffs that that someone asked like about the Padres or which of the three teams is going to not make it. I was like the Phillies are going to slide. They're going to just drop out of this. He was like, see you Phillies. And then I'm not sure that they've lost a series since he said that. I mean, they've barely lost any games. I think they've lost two games since them. So anyway, well, we're going to take a quick break on the other side of this break. We're going to preview the upcoming series with the Houston Astros, talk about Yordon Alvarez, possibly needing to be walked every single time he comes up to the play. plate. And the Diamondbacks need

neednian to take advantage of a pretty bad pitching staff over there as far as their starting rotation is concerned. Don't you go anywhere? You're watching the PHNX Diamondback show. Well, the weight is over. Football is here. Draft Kings is on. And this September, Draft Kings is giving all customers

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no cost registration and activation, terms, conditions, and exclusions to apply. Well, we got the Astros on deck, and they are in a weird AL West division where it feels like whoever finishes one game above 500 is going to win that division. basically. The division is abysmal. They currently have the lead in that division over Shane's Mariners.

They currently have a record of 71 and 69 this season. And let's take a look how they line up here with the Diamondbacks. Oh, to be in the A.L. West. Oh, my God. It's great, right? Not only are they in the mix for the A.L. West, they're also in the mix for the Wildcard. They might not make that. And guess what? One game might make a one game of a 500 might win a wild card.

It's about due. Yeah. Their OPS is very good. thanks to Yordon Alvarez essentially leading in every statistical category, it feels like. Yep. They have a 723 team OPS to the Diamondback 710, which is dropping like a rock. I mean, weren't they like 15th a week ago, Damon? I feel like when we were doing one of these. And now here they sit at 710, 22nd in Major League Baseball.

They have a 4.116 ERA, the Diamondbacks do. The Astros have a 4.58 team ERA. Diamondbacks are 15th. Astros 24th. And the reason why they're 24th is their starting pitching ERA is atrocious. They have a 5.01 starting pitching ERA, which is 28th in Major League Baseball. And then they also have a 4.09 bullpen ERA, which is pretty good. 16th. Diamondbacks are right there as well. I think just a spot behind them as far as the relief ERA is concerned. They have minus four outs above average, which is 18th. And Diamondbacks, meanwhile, have 37 ounce above average, which is

is second in all of Major League Baseball. The Astros did win the 2025 series 3-0, so it's time to get a little revenge for that, I would say. And yeah, Ernesto in the chat says, don't let Yordon do Yordon things. And that has to be, that has to be the biggest key here to the series, right? Yordaun is raking. He enters September as a triple crown threat right now

with 37 home runs, 94 RBI, and a 317 batting average. I like Ken Burns' breakfast comment right there. That's perfect. That is so perfect. Make eight outs. Walk your don't. Walk your own. Make eight outs. Walk your it on.

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's almost safer. You cannot make a mistake against that guy. I mean, yeah. You know, like... Let the rest of the guys beat you. Yeah.

And I'm not intentionally walking him either because I know he wants to swing at something, so I'm going to throw balls four feet out of the zone and see if I can just tempt him. You got to be careful, though. I know. He might hit one. Because he might get it in the crock of boxes there. You're like, damn. By the way, that's one of the reasons why I hate intentional walks,

because there used to be back in my day. There used to be a thing about having to still throw those four pitches to your catcher and not having them go wild or anything else. So you with your intentional walks, you guys are cowards. But anyway, the bullpen, again, for the Astros, a major strength for this team. A.J. Bluebaugh has been a legitimate weapon and they can use it any time. And he is a hired gun like that. Josh Hader has been incredible.

Brian Abrayu has been incredible. Those guys are available late. And if you get into the eighth and ninth inning, it's very hard to come back against that team, considering even with how many comeback wins the Diamondbacks have. But they just desperately need to get their offense going in Houston. That's what needs to happen. O for 17 with runners in scoring position in the series with the Phillies

is just a pathetic, abysmal showing. And it can't happen if they expect to win. baseball games. That, that, that, that, that, that goes without saying. Yeah. Yeah. You got to score some runs and hit with runners and scoring position to win some baseball games. I mean, it's one of the things you're on that diamond to do.

You're in the big leagues, but you know, timely hitting, man. Corbyn. I mean, it's been frustrating to watch Corbyn lately, right? I mean, Tori said he's just swing, he's not swinging at, he's not swinging at great pitches right now, which is kind of a common thing for this team, unfortunately. Um, I got to believe these guys are going to get locked in. And I think they all know what's, what's at stake. Yeah.

And I mean, they're literally playing for their collective season, end of the postseason. And who knows, man. Well, when Damon ran down Pergomo's numbers from August, even I didn't think that they were as good as they actually were. So despite Jerry struggling for the majority of the first half, he's really come on lately. And I feel like he could be a difference maker here. I feel like Gabby could be a difference maker here. And that's it, man. Plus, again, we just need this team.

to continue to do what they've done when they've been successful, which is just hand that baton off to the next guy. They need to figure out a way to get back to that. Stop trying to do so much. Just try to get on base. If everybody could have the, you know, approach that Gabby has had at the plate, not necessarily the success.

And I know this is, again, big brain stuff here that I'm saying, right? But Gabby's just been so patient at the plate. So he's not only been taking a lot of pitches and seeing a lot of pitches, He fouls a lot of stuff off and then he takes what's given to him. And again, he's not necessarily doing it for a ton of power, a ton of slug, a ton of home runs. He's doing it for singles and doubles. And he's doing it quite a bit because, again, he's being patient and he's taking what's given to him. It feels like you're seeing that out of Prudomo a bit more.

But there's other guys that you feel like are the complete opposite, including Corbin. Nolan Arnottos looked, you know, pretty frustrated at the plate lately and pretty impatient. Yeah. And I mean, even Tim Tawa has kind of gone a little bit to that side over, at least on the Philly series. I was, I don't know if it was just, I was constantly waiting for that big Tim Tawa hit that we always unexpectedly get. But yeah, that's the problem. I was expecting it. You can never expect a Tim Tawa hit.

It's got to come out of nowhere. It does. It does. And, I mean, we just got a hope because that guy's got pop. Yeah. So, you know. But Ryan Walshmidt, Jordan Lawler, those young outfielders, they've continued to deliver for this team. And again, they just, they need a little bit of help, right?

Again, we talked about, like, the top three guys, including Gabby, going 04 in a lot of these games against the Phillies. And that just can't happen. Right now, we hold that third NL wildcard spot. And the Astros also hold a two-game lead in the ALE West over the Rangers right now. So, like, both teams have a lot to fight for in this series. It's not going to be an easy series against the Astros. Absolutely not. And we got those Rangers coming in town, too.

we're going to see them again. Jerks. Well, like, maybe we, like, let's make it. I don't know what kind of an agreement we can make here, but like, let us take this one and then we'll sweep the Rangers, huh? How's that? You like that? You like that?

That's something you can get behind. I do like that. Yeah. I love that. Well, of course, we will be starting that three game series with the Houston Astros tomorrow. We'll be doing a post-game show tomorrow night after that. So make sure to join us for that. In the meantime, we're going to take a quick break.

And on the other side of this break, we have more to talk about. And it's stuff, let's just, let's just say it. It's stuff that we don't want to talk about. Once again, just like, could tell drama, I thought we were done with Chase Field Lease Drama. Oh, no. But apparently we're not. Apparently, we are not done with Chase Field Lease Drama.

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Arizona Lottery, love to play. Must be 21 or over to play. All right. Well, if you get pumped before, you know, city lease negotiation agreement talks, but I hope you're wearing two pairs of socks because I'm about to knock one of them off. That's how excited you're about to be. For the rest of you, I apologize that we once again need to talk about Chase Field Leach drama. How soon until we start hearing threats about the Diamondbacks moving again? Is that going to start happening?

I thought we were past this, just like many fans did. But according to a new article from our guy, Zach Buchanan, a former Diamondbacks reporter who now works for, for Axios Phoenix. He talked to Derrick Hall, and apparently, according to this report, lease extension talks between the debacks and the public entity that owns Chase Field have been, quote, nonproductive to date and are holding up millions of dollars in necessary repairs. This, obviously, we know about the state law that passed that set aside $500 million in tax dollars to fund fixes to the nearly 30, year old Chase Field. But so far, none of those repairs are being made until the team agrees to a new

lease with the Maricopa County Stadium District. What? Brother. What? Why, and why aren't we, why aren't we signing this new lease? Why aren't we getting on to this? According to Derek Hall, they are missing critical time right now when it comes to this situation. And it appears that due to the holdup, the Diamondbacks are not going to be able to make repairs a Chase Field this winter like they had planned to. And this is when they were supposed to start the major upgrades. We know that the team has already invested a lot of money into the new board, into the new ribbon boards,

into everything that they've done so far this season. They've tried to make improvements, obviously, to the air conditioning system that is minor, but still feels like there's been some improvements there. They added the safety system that allowed them to open up the roof when fans are in the stadium, none of the money from the, you know, from the vote that passed has apparently gone to the Diamondbacks repairs for Chasefield. I mean, is the Maricopa County Stadium District like a slum lord?

Is that what we're starting to see? Like, what are we doing here? Well, I thought this was all, this is all crazy. So just to catch you up, obviously, we know about the bill was signed and that a variety of tax revenue would be captured to fund the stadium improvements and keep the team in Arizona. We know that those taxes are going to be paid based on revenue generated at the stadium itself. So money spent on the Diamondbacks is where the tax revenue is coming from, right? But again, this is basically, according to the board that controls that, this is the board for the Maricopa County Stadium District. This is board executive director Mark Winkleman in this article said that the negotiations are, quote, still in its early state.

and that quote drafts of agreements have been exchanged. But Derek Hall said that the lease negotiations have by far been the steepest hurdle and they have been at it for 14 months. Man. Red tape, bureaucracy. Yeah, I mean, you're nailing it right there. What is going on? Just a bunch of suits that can't suit it up and get the suit stuff done, you know.

So here's one thing that's interesting about it. since 2018, the Diamondbacks have not been actually under lease at Chasefield. They've been operating under something called a memorandum of understanding, which expires after the 2027 season. A memorandum of understanding, which resolved the court battle over stadium fixes back in 2018 and allowed the Diamondbacks to book non-baseball events in the stadium. That's why we get all of those concerts and why we didn't get concerts.

and why we didn't get concerts prior to 2018 at Chase Field. And that was done to generate revenue so that that revenue could be set aside for repairs. And prior to that, the revenue generated in Chase Field, if it was generated by events like this, went to the Maricopa County state board instead of going to fix Chase Field. Right. And that ruling is kind of what caused some of this contention between the Diamondbacks and Maricopa County. right? But basically what is happening now is that there is, you know, there, there's a lot of complications to this lease and that basically Derek Hall feels like they need language that is not, quote, draconian in nature and reflects the spirit of that legislation without renegotiating it, meaning the spirit of the legislation passed for those tax dollars to be put towards making fixes at Chase Field. and Ken Burns' breakfast says highly paid negotiators are engaged in negotiations to continue the negotiation process.

That sums it up. Yeah. The troublesome part of this is that Derek Hall, who by all accounts is an extremely smart person, very reasonable, very good when it comes to like public relation stuff, is kind of sounding the alarm on this as we approach the end of the 2020. season. And I think for good reason, I don't think that this should be left up to an 11th hour thing right at the end of the 2027 season to get this lease figured out. I think the franchise, the organization would very much like to have this resolve, especially considering what we're heading into in 2027 with the potential lockout. Don't you think that their focus is going to be elsewhere when that lockout happens to be also negotiating with on this? Yeah, because you're

talking about revenue. There ain't no revenue there's a lockout. So they need to get this figured out. Well, and it's not just the revenue, right? It's the fact that there is going to be just more literal manpower and focus in general on what they're doing during the lockout rather than needing to negotiate those. Maybe they'll have time if it's locked out. Like, hey, they're not doing anything else. So they might as well just get this lease situation fixed. But I mean, at this point, according to this report, they are beyond deadlines and they're staring down, you know, not making repairs that they should have made months ago. And again, that right now it's making repairs this winter unlikely.

This winter, especially considering that there might be a lockout, was probably going to be the most productive amount of time for them in order to be able to do this stuff at Chase Field. You are correct. If the season is postponed in any way, then they would have had that additional time without fans in that building to make those repairs. That hopefully never happens again. Like hopefully they'll never have this kind of time ever again. Yeah.

Hopefully we'll never have a lockout in baseball ever again. And that's naive of me to say. But let's be honest. This is not something that they shouldn't get rectified right now. And again, 2027 is a good time for them to do repairs on that building with the extra time that they might have with them, you know, with this situation. But I think the biggest thing is,

is that this is what's going on. How long does it take before they have to start threatening to move again? And with the legislation being passed, considering that the Diamondbacks had to commit to staying here, does this actually commit them to staying here? Or can they make those kind of threats? I don't think they're moving this team anywhere, but I feel like there might come that time, you know,

where an ultimatum kind of has to be given in order to actually get people to start getting this actually done. Yeah, and I mean, and that might be part of why he said what he said now just to kind of start that, you know, sound the alarm a little bit, you know. It's not a dire situation,

but it kind of is because this is a pretty big thing that's going to hold this team back from making Chase Field better. Well, I think everybody thought this was resolved because of the legislation, right? I had no idea you were going to bring us up. So to hear that they're still talking about this, I'm like,

oh, because I was in the realm of thought that this is done deal, repairs were going to happen, things were good. So I'm just like, whoa. They're estimating that the stadium needs $600 million in repairs, including $8 million,

$80 million in immediate fixes. Immediate fixes, including like concrete, fixing the roof, fixing mechanical, electrical, and plumbing system upgrades. That building is behind the time.

Sure. I say that based on being there a lot. I think that if you're a Diamondbacks fan, you kind of get used to everything at Chasefield. You do. No, yeah, of course. But don't you have times where you go into the bathrooms and stuff and you're just kind of like, ugh, I wish, like, think about how many facilities you go to that simply have like, you know, motion controlled sinks. And I know, like I sound like I'm being the biggest prima donna, but just that, like, going in and still have the. to hit a button to make the sink works definitely feels like I'm like in high school again. Oh yeah, especially because there's 300 other jabronies that just touched that same button and now you got their stuff on. And the water comes on for three seconds before it shuts off. Don't even get me started on the sinks in the bathroom. I avoid the bathroom to chase fuel off the cost.

Oh my God. And they feel the same way, right? It's not like if you talk to Diamondbacks employees or even the front office or people like they know how badly the repairs need to be done to this building. And it's a, it's almost like a weird death spiral because the more you don't make the repairs, the less people want to come there. And the less people want to come there, the less revenue you're making. And the less you're able to tax, less you're able to generate off that, and the less you're able to actually do in repairs based on that legislation. Yeah.

Oh, yeah. I was there yesterday and I was walking around the 200 level, the club level. And I hadn't been up there since my dad had tickets in the early 2000s. It looked the same. Yeah. I'm like dog, that was like 20 years ago it looks the same. He's got a little bit of a ribbon board in front of you now.

I'm like, what is going on? I mean, it's fine, but then you're like, you go to other stadiums that are newer and you're like, Jesus, man. It's that. It's that aspect of it, right? Like, because now we're just doing stuff in different stadiums where you're actually seeing the,

you know, the difference. And it's not even just, you know, it's not just in other cities, right? What they've done with the mortgage matchup center, they've made that place beautiful, honestly, right?

They have made great improvements to make that more enjoyable experience when you go in that building. And that building is older, right? Much older. I remember when you'd walk in and the first thing you would see is like the concrete, you know, going to left or right for which section you're going to, right? You got a long bar that just... Oh, I love that bar. I love that bar.

Yeah, it's great. It's great how they've been able to upgrade that place. Meanwhile, Coach Henry in the chat wants separators for the urinals at Chase Field. Oh, I'm sorry. We got ourselves a, we got ourselves a prima don't know over here. You want separators for the urals. Back in my day, it was just the big trough. I mean, that is a little bit outdated.

If we're being honest. Like, what year are we in right now? I'm not trying to be a Schlaas brother with somebody. I mean, come on, man. The troughs are crazy. I know that we don't have those at Chase Field, but they still have those at like Casino Del Sol Stadium. I was going to say, like, minor league stadiums, a couple of them still have them.

Arizona football stadium is still like that. It's crazy. Pee and a trough, I'm just going to walk out. Yeah. I'm just not doing it. I'm just not a new friend. Leaving and going to a new building is not going. I will go outside.

Let's see. My life in Phoenix Sunshine says if a lockout is necessary for a legit salary cap, let it be. I mean, again, I still think the most valuable part of that is the floor more than the cap. I agree too. Because. Make these teams spend money. It's not exactly. it's not just make these teams spend money

if they have to spend money in order to reach a certain threshold then they have no choice but to sign their star players to a long-term deal, you know? Look at what's happening right now in basketball, by the way. The Clippers just got penalized

until eternity, right? Dodgers soon. What they say, the Clippers next first round draft pick is in fourth grade right now, I believe, is what the estimates have said. Dodgers next. Eric. Yeah, and let's do the Dodgers next.

Well, they're on the docket for their little financial crime. This is genuinely what Mark Walton did is a crime against the sport of baseball. Yeah. And they should be punished. Maybe not just as drastically as the Clippers, but they might need to delete the franchise off the face of the earth. Let's be honest. It's only fair. Like, if I got out of here, this would be an hour of bashing of the Dodgers.

And I would love to watch that. I love that pod. We should do that podcast here. It all goes back to 88 for me. Yeah, I know. I know it does for you. But I will say when it comes to, you know, that situation for the Clippers, right?

That's, it's kind of funny because the reason why that happened is NBA, you can only, there's max deals, right? Yep. There's only so much you can pay a player. That evens the playing field. That makes it so that players either want to stay with a franchise that they're with so that they just can be a franchise player. Or it makes them pick a desiccings.

based on other factors, not just money. How are you supposed to turn down a team paying you double of what the next closest team is going to pay you? You would be a fool to do that. You would. Right? So just baseball needs to be fixed in a lot of different ways, right? But I still feel like what the floor will do is it will make those teams spend,

like Rock said, and they will have to spend on star players that they keep in the organization and don't let go to teams like the Yankees and the Dodgers. Just fixing the floor would fix so much in baseball. And honestly, the range that they are suggesting that the owners are suggesting is pretty big. Like, I mean, it's a lot of money being spent. So I feel like it's just good overall for baseball, but you're going to still have players and the MLBPA and everybody in Los Angeles telling you that a salary cap is the death of the game. Don't believe them.

Don't believe them. But when it comes to this lease situation for the Diamondbacks, this is, again, it heavily impacts their ability to spend money overall here. It impacts their financial future overall. I don't think that there is going to come a point where they start threatening to move again or anything like that. I do think that the legislation kind of ties them here to stay here, but they still need a lease to get done. and it still doesn't mean that if Elise doesn't get done that they might not move from Chase Field, which is going to be a whole other ridiculous catastrophe

should that happen. When's the last time a baseball team relocated? Do you mean like when the Oakland A's went to second? I don't count them. I don't count them. Am I missed some obvious ones? I'm like, what did this happen? No, I mean.

Was the A's don't count because that's bad ownership. Okay. Okay. That's what 94? Or in the 8, 90, or 2000. Yeah. Okay, so 27 years. Yeah.

It's been a long time. And they don't like to move teams because obviously that upsets a lot of people. And the folks in Oakland will never forget what Major League Baseball and the ownership team for the athletic stole from them in Oakland, right? So terrible. So terrible. Yeah. But anyway, we're, we, let's just hope that this is, this is it. Because the stadium bill doesn't pose relatively meager penalties on the Diamondbacks.

if they leave Chase Field before 2050, which means that they might just be willing to take those penalties. We'll see. Let's hope that this does not get to that point. Yes. And let's just hope that this article, this report is the beginning of them, just trying to get this fixed as soon as possible. That seems to be what Derek Hall wants to do.

Derek Hall wants them to provide them with a lease that's fair and that accounts for all of the repairs that, repairs that need to be done with the money coming from the sources that the legislation patch dictated those financial sources would come from. But for some reason, it feels like the Maricopa County Stadium District does not want to give them a lease that reads that way, which, what are we doing here? What are we doing? So anyway, let's take a quick break.

And on the other side of this break, we're going to take a little trip down Memory Lane with Throwback Thursday. And we got a special happy birthday message to one of our first. of our guys. Maybe the guy that provides us with that mailbag Monday song. We're sick of him, but I know you guys are. Don't you go anywhere. You're watching the PH&X Diamondback Show. Well, game time helps you get to all sorts of fun baseball games, including this series of Phillies, which I don't know, is that fun, but the finale was definitely a lot of fun. Two hour and three minute baseball game, sign me up. Give me tickets for that one. And of course, those tickets come

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Terms to apply. Again, create an account and redeem code PHNX for $20 off. Download the GameTime app today. And we are going to be out at Heila River Resorts and Casinos tonight. Cannot wait for that. Our big draft is happening tonight. but if you're looking for the ultimate spot to watch the game, maybe hold your draft,

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at 6 p.m it starts at 4 30 p.m. with the PHNX Cardinals, guys going live with their podcast from Heel River, and they got a big announcement to make tonight. Then the draft starts, and we will be joined by the incomparable Leah Merrill and the one and only Stephen Peters, aka PD, to watch us make our fantasy picks and watch me dominate this league once again and become the first ever two-time winner of the PHNX fantasy football league. I'm excited to make that happen in honor of my eventual second.

championship. All of you diehards, drinks are on me. And when I say me, I mean ESPO is what I really mean. So, uh, and if you want to stay the night, you can use code Cards FF to get 25% off rooms out there at Heala River. And diehards, you get 10% off your Heila fantasy football draft packages. So RSB for free, RSB for free, uh, in our show notes or head on over to go phnx.com slash events to do so. But it is Thursday. And, You know what we do here every Thursday. Damon, if you wouldn't mind, I need some Thursday colors. I need the good colors.

I need not to say that the teal and and Sedona red isn't, isn't good. Arguably, these are better. Arguably? I mean, is that what you're going to do right now? There's no arguing on my VM, David. Let me tell you. But anyway, let's get to throwback Thursday. On September 4th, 1998, the Diamondbacks achieved a three.

three one win over the Houston Astros to give them their seventh win in a row equaling the longest winning streak by any expansion team in MLB history. What a group of guys. We were pretty good. We were pretty good. We were pretty good. We didn't win a lot of games that year. But we did win seven in a row at that point.

So that was pretty good. On September 5th in 2001, Kurt Schilling became the first D-back pitcher ever to win 20 games. What a team that was, not what a guy he is. Well said. Well said. He continues to find ways to make me dislike him, by the way. He does. He does. That's so hard to do with how much I want.

I mean, he's tied to bringing this team, like, their first ever world championship, and he's a scumbag. Oh, right, right. Moving on. September 2nd, 2002, this leans in the opposite direction. The Diamondbacks suffered their worst defeat. in history up until that point might still be up there with one of the worst losses ever

was a 19 to 1 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. It had to be the damn Dodgers. Yeah, it did. God. If it brings you any solace, Mark Grace did pitch in the ninth inning of this game. Is that the Mark, were that we did the Mike Fedders like?

That's that game. That's that game. That's that game. That's that game. So historically important for that clip reason, for that reason. Okay. On September 6th, 2006, team president, Rich Dozer, announced his intention to resign at season's end, and he would be replaced by executive vice president, Derek Hall, who's been doing the thing for a while now, and really happy for him to be a part of this organization. For sure. Great job.

Still doesn't spell his first name correctly, but that's not his fault. But on September 9th, just a few days later... I mean, he could change it. Like, he could go to this. the courthouse and legally change his name to the proper spelling of Derek. We can make that happen, Mr. Hall. You might need to float that to him. I mean, I'm just saying. I just throw that out there. Look, if you're in the efficiency, right, it's two letters less.

And I think that alone is worth changing it for. Sure. Think about how much time, Derek, you could save in your lifetime by not having to continue to write those two letters every time you write your name down somewhere. Just a thought. Brandon Webb through his first career one hitter on September 9th, 2006. It was a complete game.

It was a 3-0 win over the Cardinals. And it was also the shortest game in Chase Field history at one hour in 54 minutes, which is coincidental considering we just played the shortest game of the year yesterday at two hours and three minutes. Pretty. That was a quick game.

That was a quick game. Considering that you had, imagine if we had a starter show, And you didn't have to be bringing in a bullpen arm to warm up in between. If that game would have gone that same way with the starter, we might be rivaling. Yeah, rivaling. Words are hard for me. All right, but don't forget, English is my second language.

So if you say anything about it, it's a hate crime. Cool bro says, speaking of Spanish, says, guys, I wish I was still at the Carol G concert with this super chat. Thank you, cool, bro. And, like, yeah. I wish I would have been there. I wish we were at a Carol G concert right now, brother. That's pretty fun.

All four of us. Damon, you, me, rock. Let's go. And let's get next Carol G concert. We'll make that happen. We'll make that happen. Group outing. All right.

We got some good things, though, that have happened this week. And we've got to speed run those a little bit. Well, not speed run. We have plenty of time. But September 1st, 2008, Stephen Drew, hit for the cycle. It was the third in franchise history and the first ever at Chase Field. That was nice thing to do that on my birthday in 2008. Yeah.

Thanks, Stephen Drew. Yeah. I didn't know that. Nice little present. pretty well be laid a gift were you present for that perhaps no i wasn't at that one all right well maybe you were present uh on this one september 4 2017 remember that day oh yeah you i know you remember that i do it's on a shirt that i still wear when i when i sleep at my house sometimes um j d martina set a franchise record if you don't remember four four home runs on september fourth

uh against the dodgers that was at uh in l a he was the eight 18th player in MLB history to accomplish the feat. Just dingers, baby. If we get, man, can we get that in a bottle for like someone right now? Imagine at the trade deadline adding what J.D. Martinez did in 2017. Prime. Prime J.D. Martinez to this team. That would fix so many of our problems.

I'm not even lying. Where is the infinity gaunt when I needed? Yeah. I would use it for good. The time's up. Time stone? Yeah. Thank you.

Thank you. Let's figure that one out. By the way, I still am not over watching that game. Like, I still, when I close my eyes at night, sometimes, I see the four home run game in the darkness. It's great. Unreal. September 6th, 2017, same year, a few days later, the Diamondbacks earned. This was in the same series against the Dodgers.

Their franchise record 13th win in a row, besting their previous streak of 12 in a row from June 18th through June 30th, 2003, I believe that record still stands to this day, if I'm not mistaken. And I mean, man, imagine rattling off 13 games, 13 wins in a row. This would be the time to do it. Yeah. Just going to throw that out in the universe. This will be the time to do it. Manifest it.

Manifest it. Make it happen. And then on September 2nd, 2020, Zach Gallen set the record for most starts to open a career with three or three runs or fewer allowed. We need that, Zach Gallen back. Milkman was delivering them in them days. And he also loves Michael Jordan and he delivered 23 in a row. Yeah.

Yeah. There's a, like, you think things are random in life? Things are not random. These aren't coincidences. These are all things that happen because baseball is magical is really what it's all about. Anyway, I'll say that this is a great time, like Rock said, to rattle off 13 wins in a row because they got to do something to create.

create some space here between them and those pesky Padres. And they can start doing that tomorrow in their series with the Houston Astros, which is going to be a tough series. But like I said, you're going to need to jump all over their starting pitchers, and they're going to need to walk the Rodon Alvarez every time it comes to the plate. Yep. That seems like a solid game playing. I want your ad on to have 12 walks in the whole series, just walking 12 times.

And zero RBIs and zero home runs. Nope. I'm good with it. I'm fine with it as well. But we thank you guys so much for joining us. We'll be back tomorrow with a post game show after game one. of that series. So make sure to join us for that. In the meantime, you can follow all of us on social media. I am at Cap underscore Caveman with a K. My Man Rock, which it's been a pleasure

to have you here in studio this week, brother. Happy birthday to you. He is at RO Knowledge on Twitter. Of course, Damon is at Damon Dog with a D-A-W-G. And as always, we're all Damon's dogs. Bark, bark, bark. I'm getting that dog fixed. Don't you worry. Over this weekend, I'm going to get that dog fixed. What did I miss? The dog doesn't work anymore. And it was a really bad omen and a really bad sign. We worked three days ago. I put batteries in it. The new batteries don't work. And I'm going to actually have to like open him up and do surgery to make sure he works again. Sorry, brother. Shout out to our guy cool bro though. Love you, cool bro. Thank you so much. He celebrates three months of supporters club membership. Thank you so much for being a supporters club member. And he says, I think angels getting sold is good for

baseball because it's another team that is going to try to spend. Well said. Yeah. Well said. We want everybody competing because everybody competing creates parity. And, it allows the Dodgers not to gobble up every superstar, all star out there. I've said it before. I'll say it again, Derek. If the angels want to make some waves here in Major League Baseball, they need to hire me to start running some other business operations. Because I'm sick of the way that that franchise acts, pretends like they're, you know, is cool with being a little bro, cool with being the other L.A. team. I got a move for you.

Guys. I got a move for you, Damon, that you're going to love. Go back to being the California Angels. Go back to being the California angels. Right. Rock the old halos. That says, I'm your big brother.

You own, you're about, you're over city. You're in my state. I am the owner of this city. This is my state. Not yours? Yeah.

And we're not selling any Otani merch in the freaking team shop anymore. I don't care if it hurts the bottom line. We're selling anti-otani merch. Correct. Just shirts with his face and a big old like X through it. Correct. Yeah. Do you guys,

want something special or do you want to continue same old same old that's my that's my pitch jay i'm out for the angels let's go that's my pitch to stand crocky right now yeah i'm i'm i'm a damean change hope make make hope posters with my face on him he's going to be the youngest gm in baseball you know i want to be president hey aim high yeah that's if you want to be successful hire damon that's why we did it all right so i'm just saying that but uh again we love you guys so much. Appreciate you, of course, being here. Our shows at PHNX underscore DVax, but it's always all roads lead to at PHNX underscore sports. So thank you guys again so much. We'll be back tomorrow with another postgame show. But until then, love you. Enjoy the rest of

your Thursday, your day off without baseball, because after this, we got ourselves a pretty significant stretch. And remember, kids, baseball is fun, but it's so much more fun when we don't have to talk about stadium lease financing drama. Thank you.