PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - Could the Diamondbacks LEAVE Arizona after their current lease at Chase Field expires?

Episode Date: February 19, 2024

The Diamondbacks had their first full squad workout of spring training, but the focus was more on both where will the D-backs be playing baseball in the near future and how fans can watch their games. We spoke to Ken Kendrick and Derrick Hall about their current lease at Chase Field and the very real possibility of the Diamondbacks moving if time runs out on getting a deal done. We also discuss the D-backs till pursuing a new TV deal, which may be happening before spring training games are played. An ALLCITY Network ProductionSUBSCRIBE to our YouTube: https://bit.ly/phnx_youtubeALL THINGS PHNX: http://linktr.ee/phnxsports PHNX Events: Get your tickets to Suns Takeovers, Coyotes & Suns Watch Parties at BetMGM, and MORE here: https://gophnx.com/events/Arizona Lottery: Visit AZAdventure.com for more information on how you can take an adventure with the Arizona Lottery and for a chance to win $1 million in cash and Arizona travel prizes! PrizePicks - Download the PrizePicks app today and use code PHNX for a first deposit match up to $100! Pick more. Pick less. It’s that Easy!NASCAR Weekend at Phoenix Raceway: March 8-10! Find more information at https://www.phoenixraceway.com/spring/ on the Shriners Children's 500, and be on the lookout for racing content from PHNX!Desert Financial Credit Union: Open a free checking account online with Desert Financial Credit Union and get $200 in bonuses https://www.desertfinancial.com/200Empire: Schedule a free in-home estimate with Empire Today! Receive a $350 OFF discount when you use the promo code PHNX. Restrictions apply. See https://empiretoday.com/phnx for details.Sign up for Gila River Resorts & Casinos $1,000,000 Big Red’s Showdown! Stay in the game and get rewards; it’s that easy! https://www.gilamilliondollarshowdown.com/Gametime: Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code PHNX for $20 off your first purchase.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!OGeez!: OGeez! is not your average cannabis-infused gummy. Head over to https://www.ogeezbrands.com to find where you can purchase. Must be 21+. Enjoy responsibly. Four Peaks: Follow on social @fourpeaksbrew & @fourpeakspub! Must be 21+. Enjoy responsibly. Let Someburros cater your next meal big or small! Order online or find one near you by visiting someburros.comWhen 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Well, hello and welcome in to another edition of the PHNX DBAX podcast right here on PHNX. My name is Derek Montia. Of course, I'm occasionally known as your mayor of PHNX, and I am not taking any responsibility at all for being the mayor of Chase Field at this time. Joining me, of course, is my vice mayor of PHNX and your thunderstick, the one and only Jesse Friedman. Derek, it's been an eventful day, which I think we expected coming in. I mean, it's the first, it's the first day of full squad workouts. But we wound up talking with Derek Hall and Ken Kendrick about stadium and TV situations. There were some interesting, interesting things to talk about there.

So, yeah, just a crazy day. It's Salt River Fields all the way around. Was not expecting the news that we got today. We knew when we were going to get to talk to Ken Kendrick and Derek Hall, we would get an update about Chase Field and about the TV deal, but I don't think we were prepared to hear what we heard today. I know it's going to upset some fans, and I know hopefully we can shed some light on it,

at least shed at least how we feel about it. We don't really feel at the end of the day like this is as dramatic as maybe the situation might sound like it's getting to. But before we get there, I want to make you guys happy because of course we're going to upset you. So before we get to that, I was going to do like just puppies playing, you know, with little kittens or something,

but I do have something better. And that's Corbyn Carroll talking about collecting baseball cards. Damon, can you show that clip? The fan yesterday at Fanfest gave me Gabby Marino, out of 25, so I auto too. So that was sweet. I put that right in my little display. And it's funny, like when you put that out there that, you know,

people will start probably bringing you cards all the time now, right? Yeah, it's just, it's cool. It's another cool thing to be able to connect with some of the fans on. And, you know, hopefully makes, you know, the interaction is a little more personable. And I like always hearing what other guys and our fans are collecting. Do you have a favorite, like in the book? Yeah. Yeah, but secret.

Have you opened up any tops of 2024s yet? Yeah, actually, I did a little kids camp yesterday, and we gave out 370 boxes. So that was awesome with little kids. I mean, I don't even know if half of them knew what they were getting, but when it was announced, like, you're getting trading cards, they went nuts. So that was really fun, and then, you know, opened them on the field out there. And, you know, the little kid that I was with,

the second card he opened up happened to be mine, and, you know, sign that for him, sign him a couple for the other kids who pulled a couple of mine, and, yeah, it's just fun to be able to share it with those kids. I know you mentioned long ago to get you into that, but, like, was that you as a kid? Like, did you collect those growing up or not? I mean, I'd get, like, the, when I go to Mariners games, Growing up, they'd like hand them out.

And so I had to get a little bucket there. But digging through there, maybe like a year ago, I found like a Grady Size Moore in there who was around last year. Found a long ago in there. And just fun to be able to look back on, you know, cards I collected growing up and playing with those guys now. And being around those guys now, it's just, you know, very kind of full circle. See, we wanted, someone asked, like,

shouldn't you start with the bad news first? No, I want to soften the blow. I want Corbyn Carroll on the first day of the full squad reporting talking about collecting baseball cards and opening them with kids at a kids camp. How wholesome is that? By the way, imagine, Jesse, just for a moment, being a young child who is hanging out with Corbyn Carroll at a baseball camp and then you get free baseball cards. And then when you open those cards, the second card you pull is Corbyn Carroll and then

he just autographs it for you? What kind of dream life are you living as a small child at that point? That's a spiritual experience, Derek. I can't even imagine. Yeah, we did hear that Corbyn, this is something that Tori Lavello unveiled in his press conference today. Apparently after the Diamondbacks MVP event for season ticket holders over the weekend, Corbin went out and held a camp for kids for like two and a half hours. that was all his own doing.

Tori, of course, had a lot of praise there. And yeah, it sounds like those kids had a great time. Well, speaking of spiritual experiences, we have one more clip of Corvin Carroll who got to fly in a fighter jet in Tucson. And here's what he had to say about his experience flying in a fighter jet. I think you're going to have to cue this one up, Derek.

Oh, did we lose, David? Oh, no, all right. Yeah, I think, let me just add on that. I think the most important The fighter jet Badass I mean Those guys are

Insane You know They were like yep We're going up again tomorrow After we were done And it was like okay I was like yeah I'd do that too And then I woke up the next morning

And I was nope Nope no good So Yeah just huge thanks to You know that crew out there In Tucson for having us out You know the International Guard.

We were with Mojo specifically, and then the guy I flew with was, his name was also Corbyn. So that was fun. So yeah, shout out. Shout out to Joker. Again, Corbin, getting a fly with a guy named Corbyn.

Like everything lined up for him, for the kid that got to hang out with him. This is all wonderful, wholesome content that we hope is making your day a little better before we absolutely ruin it with the next thing we talk about. But Jesse, this, this was the positive.

side of the first day of full camp and getting to see these guys out there taking live bps against each other fielding practice great day to be out at salt river fields and there was a lot of people out there today there absolutely was yeah i mean today being a holiday i'm i'm sure uh helps with that but yeah there was a solid showing out here at salt river today and it's fun seeing a little bit more action you know it's not it's not just like bullpns and pfps uh you know seeing a little bit more live live BP, you know, some of the D-backed hitters against against pitchers. So yeah, a lot more, a lot more action to see out here. If you haven't been out to Salt River and gotten a chance to witness all this in person,

this is these next few days are about as good a time as any, you know, this window where everyone is here, but the games haven't started yet. And that chaos isn't, isn't there yet. This is a really, really good time to come out for sure. All right. Well, we got the good out of the way. And yes, we were out there to see all of that. but we were also out there to talk to both Ken Kendrick and Derek Hall,

who expressed disappointment over the Diamondbacks not having a stadium, a new stadium deal complete to keep them at Chase Field. And I'll preface this with, and I'm sure Jesse will agree with me because we discuss this. We're going to preface this by saying, we don't think the Diamondbacks are going anywhere. When it comes to all of the potential options, it truly feels like Chase Field makes the most sense for the Diamondbacks to stay and renovate and not go anywhere, not go anywhere else here in the state and definitely not leave the great state of Arizona. But it doesn't mean that Kendrick's comments today weren't a little concerning. Am I right?

Yeah, I mean, should we just, should we just jump into it? Should we just play the, play the video? Yeah, let's do that. But here's what Kendrick and Derek Hall had to say about moving away from Chase Field potentially in their current situation with the negotiations. Well, we aren't having those conversations. There are opportunities available. You know, there are other cities that would covet having Major League Baseball. I mean, it's not like I'm, you know, speaking out of school to say that.

And those names are, they're prominent cities that would love to have a Major League team. We're not in dialogue with those communities, but we are aware of what is going on. There is likely to be in time an expansion of our sport to a couple of additional cities. Cities are letting MLB know their interest. Their interest in getting a team is specific. They would be happy with a brand new franchise, but they would certainly be very happy, you know, with frankly a successful existing franchise. It's not where we are spending time or energy.

We may run out of time in Phoenix. We hope that won't happen. You know, we're hard at it. We're continuing to have meetings. We've ramped up the dialogue in every way that we know how, and we'll continue to do that. We do still have conversations with local interested parties. It's just a, you know, it's a math problem with anything, right? But we still do take the phone calls and take the meetings,

but we have been focused on Chase. And again, the big takeaway here is that it's a reality of the situation. If the Diamondbacks do not get a new stadium deal done to stay at Chase Field and get what they feel like they want in return, which is a massive renovation of Chase Field to provide a better fan experience, then they could potentially explore these options outside of Arizona. it's it's not what you want to hear out of the owner but I just think it's it it is a fact it's not a threat I don't think that I think he clarified they're saying that they haven't had

those conversations that they're not pursuing that that they're not putting energy into that but it is one of the routes that that this franchise could potentially go and if they don't get a deal done it's something they actually do have to explore yeah a couple things on this First of all, I was the one who asked this question. And I actually, my question was actually about, is there a possibility of the Diamondbacks not staying at Chase Field, but exploring other options in Maricopa County? It's something we've heard in the past. I'm not sure if maybe Ken just didn't hear the question or whatnot.

But his answer was not about, was clearly not about staying within Maricopa County. He was talking about expansion sites. He was talking about the Diamondbacks leaving the state of Arizona, which is something that when we talked to Ken Kendrick a couple of months ago, this was right after the Eduardo Rodriguez press conference out at Chase Field. He said that's not going to happen, talking about the Diamondbacks leaving the state of Arizona entirely. His message today was different.

And again, neither you nor I believe the Diamondbacks are leaving the state of Arizona. I don't think that is going to happen. But any time a Major League owner comes out and makes comments like the ones that Ken made today, it's a story. It is absolutely a story. And I don't think as much as we don't expect the Diamondbacks to leave Chase Field, I don't think that it is absolutely outlandish to be at least having a conversation about that, given that the Diamondbacks owner just went on the record and said,

we might run out of time in Phoenix, right? That is exactly what he said. We hope that doesn't happen. And a lot of people have been speculating, you know, this is good negotiation tactic. Right. You're not getting what you want. The Diamondbacks are trying to negotiate a deal with the county. Chasefield is county-owned.

The Diamondbacks are trying to, you know, arrange a partnership with the county to stay at Chasefield and get some help on all of these renovation costs that they want to do. And to this point, they're not getting the assistance from the county that they need. And that's why we're at this point. That's why Ken Kendrick said a year ago, basically today, that he wanted to have this figured out by the summer, or I'm not sure if it was Derek Hall, one of them last year around this time.

I believe it was Darry Call. Yeah. Yeah, it might have been, might have been Derek Hall. And we're a year later and it still hasn't happened. And the clear reason for that and what they said is there is no deal, right? At this point, the Diamondbacks have not had, they've not been able to figure out a satisfactory arrangement with the county to stay at Chase Field and cover the renovation costs that they need. And Ken went further. They kind of outlined a little bit of what those renovations would look like.

We have a clip on that that will show in a second. they're looking at between $400 and $500 million to fund the Chasefield renovations, which Ken pointed out to today, is actually more than the original cost of Chase Field, of Bank One Ballpark, I guess, back in the day. Granted, there's been considerable inflation in that amount of time, but this is not a small amount of money. I mean, you're talking, this isn't the amount of money it would take to build a brand

new stadium. I think in that case, you're in the billions, especially needing air conditioning and whatnot. But this is a lot of money. This is a lot of money, not just to improve the stadiums, stadium and making a more fan-friendly, fun experience, adding new things around the ballpark, but, you know, fixing the guts at Chase Field, which is, which is something that we've talked about for a long time. So yeah, I don't think the Diamondbacks are going to move. To me, this looks like a negotiation tactic and honestly a pretty smart one that if I were you, I wouldn't,

I wouldn't necessarily be faulting Ken Kendrick for this. I think this is just sort of, you know, a good businessman tactic. But it is, it is a story. And it is some, it is a conversation we absolutely have to have, even though in the long run, we still have, we still are fairly confident we know how this is going to turn out. Don't get it twisted. I completely agree with you. There are some people in the chat blaming you for starting all of this drama because you asked the question. I will say, Ken started the drama with the answer.

And like you said, I think he very much knows what he was doing with that. Is it the answer you want to hear? Absolutely not. Is this something we should be talking about after a team made the world. series and built their roster to be competitive again this season? No, I'm very much not wanting to talk about this on the first day of position players reporting for camp. I'm dying here because of it. But the point is that you are right. The Diamondbacks are in an advantageous position, especially due to the success from the postseason run. So you cannot blame them for at this point,

venting their frustrations a little bit, or at least their disappointment, like he said. He clarified it wasn't frustration on his part, as much as it was disappointment that they were standing here a year later from when they said that they probably will have a new stadium deal here and play shortly without a stadium deal in place. And Ken Kendrick expanded on what the Diamondbacks desires for a public, private partnership are, and this is what he had to say about that. We need to keep our fans enthusiastic and growing in numbers and willing to invest in premium seating, but we can't do that without capital investment.

Our public partners understand it. We just haven't been willing to come, they've been willing to come to the table and reach an agreement with us. When you look across the landscape of professional sports, all across the world, all across the country, stadiums that have been around in the timeline that our stadium has been around are being repriezed and being upgraded in cities that frankly are not as economically vibrant as our city is, our community is, and places like Baltimore and Cleveland and Milwaukee. And I don't want to go on and on, but there are many others where public-private partnership

is coming together to take the fan experience, take the stadiums to state of the art levels. And we're frankly disappointed. We haven't been able to do it. And we're going to keep working. You know, we're not ever going to stop working to get this problem taken care of. But it's taken longer and it's not been as easy to get done

as we would have hoped. But we would have liked to have been standing here today, having reached a plan, being able to have announced it perhaps before now, and to have had you all know what our intentions are going forward. But right now we can't give you a plan on what we're going to do because we don't have an agreement. Now, they did say that they have reinvested some of the money that they made during the postseason run already back into Chase Field, a substantial amount.

In fact, they did install a new sound system that we have discussed before. They also installed new lights, the LED lights that do the multicolored lights. I saw them with purple lights on the other day. It looks great. So again, all signs point to the Diamondbacks staying at Chase Field. And that's truly what Kendrick and Hall both expressed today as far as their desire is to stay at Chase Field to renovate it and to just make that fan experience something that is on par with other franchises across baseball. Yeah, it was interesting. Derek, when he talked about,

not you, Derek, the other, the other Derek, just so we're just so clear. The one that spells it wrong. Yeah, the one who's spelled, yeah, with two R's and a CK, it's ridiculous. Pick a C or okay, one or the other. He also talked about how the Diamondbacks prioritize those changes you talked about, the LED lights, and the sound system over fixing the roof.

So as of now, the roof at Chase Field has not been fixed, And it didn't really sound like that was something the team was planning on doing. We're obviously getting close to, you know, games being played at Chase Field. And I don't think from what Derek said, it did not sound like that was something that was on their radar, you know, to be done before the season or anything. What he did say was that they have an understanding of when they can open it and how they can utilize. Basically, there's just no more opening in the middle of a game like they were able to at one point, right? It's kind of got to be an all-in decision now that they make before the game.

But aside from that, that doesn't really prevent them from having the roof open. It just means that they might have to open it earlier and make it a little more uncomfortable in there than they would like considering they can't do it while fans are in the building. But they do have some other, they have prioritized other things that they want to get done. And like you said, they are looking to somewhere in the neighborhood of $400 to $500 million, which is, a significant renovation. And they talked a lot. They talked on the TV deal side about the Sons, but they also talked about comparing Chase Field to what they did at the footprint

center. I've spoken in the past about how much I am a fan of what they've done there. I've been going to that building since I was a small child. And, you know, it's it's completely different vibe now. I kind of love going to events at Footprint Center, which I couldn't say the same about for about a 10-year span there prior to the renovations they made. Chase Field is still great, but I understand the desire to continue to improve it and to bring it up to an experience that, you know, will make people want to come out more often and want to be at the ballpark more.

Yeah, one other thing I want to point out going back to that first video we showed with Ken talking about the Diamondbacks, you know, potentially, oh, are zoomed in now. We're bigger. We're bigger. There we go. There was a follow-up question after Ken. made some comments about, you know, hoping it doesn't get to the point of, you know, looking elsewhere. There was a follow-up question about, you know, is that a threat?

Like, are you kind of threatening to go elsewhere if you don't get the deal that you want? And, you know, Ken said, no, it's not a threat. That's not the way that we want to do business. You know, he talked about how Derek has raised his family in Arizona and Ken's been in Arizona. And, you know, they're very much committed to Arizona. But at the same time, like if, I don't know, like, there's an element. of if you are issuing a threat, you wouldn't want to call it that? Like, you would want to come out and say that.

So, I don't know if threat is the right. It's just facts. These are just facts. I'm presenting to you. I don't know if it's, I don't know if threat is the right word, but going back to what we said before of like a negotiation tactic. And this is,

this is something that we've seen in baseball over and over and over again, where a team is having stadium issues. If a team wants a new stadium or renovations or whatnot, a route that we have often. seen in the past is you threaten to go elsewhere and suddenly you tend to get what you want because Maricopa County does not want the Diamondbacks going anywhere else, of course. And both Ken and Derek said that that's been made clear throughout the process that Maricopa County very much wants the Diamondbacks to stay here in Arizona.

But it's just a matter of the financials working. And, you know, as Ken pointed out in that other video we showed, we've seen this in other markets, you know, in Milwaukee and Baltimore and so forth, where there were partnerships. public-private partnerships in order to fund renovations and keep ballparks in good condition to continue to be enjoyed by fans. And that's what the Diamondbacks want here. I don't think they're going anywhere.

But I do think that, you know, Ken, going from saying that it's not going to happen for the team to go elsewhere to now today, kind of changing the messaging and saying, there is opportunity out there, and we hope it doesn't come to that, but, you know, kind of leaving it open a little bit, that shift to me signals that the Diamondbacks are trying to,

They're trying to make it clear to the county, like, where they stand and, you know, how important it is to them to form some kind of partnership along these lines in order to continue forward at Chase Field. So it's a complicated, it's a complicated issue for sure. And hopefully the Diamondbacks have a solution soon because their lease expires at the end of 2027. So we've got this season and then three more seasons after this before the Diamondbacks very much need to know where they're playing baseball games. And that's that thing about what Ken Kendrick was saying in the first place that caused all of this concern is that realistically the time is running out. And if time permits them or keeps them from getting a deal done, then where do the Diamondbacks play baseball? Right. So that's that's a fact.

But then it does come out like a threat. Josh Hunt in the chat said someone else is reporting. There was a follow up question asking if his response was a threat. And he said, no. Can you confirm that? Yeah, that exact. That wording was asked. I think it was Craig Fooey said that specifically.

But again, I mean, if someone, in any life scenario, if you are representing an organization and someone asks you is blank a threat, your answer is universally going to be no. It does you no good in that situation to say, yes, it was a threat. Even if, again, threat isn't the word I would use, but I do think it's sort of along those lines of like a negotiation tactic. The Diamondbacks have leverage, right? They could theoretically go elsewhere. There's not a shortage of interest out there.

And so, yeah, it's leverage. The Diamondbacks have leverage as a team that would be coveted in other markets, as Ken said. Jesse, there's also the fact that like there's not a week that goes by that someone doesn't have to ask me if I threatened you. Do I ever say yes? They were like, did you tell Jesse you would murder him if he didn't put something on the run? down and I would say no, I would never threaten Jesse like that. Right. So you have to say no when someone asks you if it's a threat.

But when asked about what renovations would consist of, the one thing I'm still interested in is how they would potentially fit some sort of other businesses, some sort of entertainment district, if you will, in that vicinity. Like if that would involve them, you know, doing some major construction on the building to maybe have like businesses that would be attached to Chase Field. itself or what that would consist of because there isn't a lot of space and they don't have much space in that area to expand at all between 7th Street and Phoenix Convention Center and the railroad behind them. There's just nowhere for them to go. So that's interesting to me, but Derek Hall

did comment on what those $400 plus million renovations would consist of at Chasefield. We've started that work probably about seven years ago. So there's a lot of things we would like to do. We would, I think people often ask, are you going to limit the capacity or take some seats out? That's not the plan. But really upgrade the amenities, upgrade the clubs that we can. And for all families, we're going to have areas where it's not a cost, you know, it's a fan. So whether you're talking about areas for children, redoing what we have upstairs for kids to play in, there's a big need. But if you look at some of the newer ballparks, we talked about this a year ago, if you look at anything from the battery in Atlanta to some of the newer ballparks or their ballpark villages.

You want to have activation around the ballpark as well. So we look at what development opportunities there are around the building. But then when you look inside these new facilities, clubs are really important, right? Those are amenities that people want, the all inclusive, especially our companies in town that want to want to be able to host and, you know, take clients to the game and be able to have dinner already paid for where the guest doesn't have to worry about that. So there's a lot that we need to do. And we're excited to do it. We'll get there, we hope.

But I think more we're encouraged is in those conversations that we're still having today, you hear the willingness, from all the municipalities. They don't want us going anywhere. So that's encouraging. And again, I hope there's light at the end of the tunnel because we're ready to get started. We want to get started.

And it does have to be phased out probably over three or four off seasons because of the bowl games and the concerts and the fact that you can't shut down before the opening day of the next year. Gabriel Ferrer has the most important comment. He says if the upgrades don't include Panda Express, we don't want it. We don't want it. Get me a Dutch Bros.

and a Panda Express. And if not, I'm not interested. I don't care what businesses come in. But Jesse, yeah, definitely. Who cares about the plumbing or the insulation or, you know,

any of that nonsense? Yeah, just give us Panda Express. That's all we ask for, right? Connor makes a great point as well. Connor says if they are planning to build a new stadium, I would think it should happen soon because ballparks aren't built overnight. And that's definitely true.

Yeah. And on and on that, that is a big, at least one takeaway for me today is that the possibility of building another stadium within Maricopa County does not seem, that does not seem like a likely outcome to me. You know, you saw in that first clip that we showed, Derek kind of gave a footnote at the end saying that they have continued to engage with, you know, local people who are interested in maybe facilitating something like that. But there was very little time spent today on the possibility of building another stadium within Maricopa County. It sounds to me like the debacks really just wanted to stay at Chase Field. They haven't really found anything else.

And, you know, they're perhaps using the idea of going to another state as leverage in order to get that. Christopher said no mention of the roof. Interestingly enough, they did. They just, we didn't show that clip, but he did bring up, you know, again, that they feel like they have control of the roof right now. But it, like the roof.

They would do that, I'm sure. I'm sure they would fix the roof at some point. It's definitely going to be part of the renovation, fixing the roof. It's just, it's not something they've done yet. And it's not very high on their priority list,

considering, you know, that they had other things they wanted to do that impacted the, the experience, the television experience of watching a game at Chase Field. The experience of being at Chase Field, the sound system was important. And the new sound system sounds great.

The LED lights, I think, are going to add something spectacular that we have been missing out on. So I feel like they're on the right path. Like he said, they've been renovating that building for seven years now. So they're going to continue to do so. And I don't feel like they would be putting any money into it if their plan wasn't essentially at the end of the day to stay there. So we'll have to see how that develops. But we definitely have more on the TV situation. Of course, we thank you guys for being here in the Ph.

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Leave us a review. We appreciate those five-star reviews. They definitely help us out substantially. Jesse is out at Salt River Fields, of course, with the most beautiful background that any baseball podcaster could have. I am here at my house and all I can do is think about upgrading my floors, Jesse, especially in this room that you see. This room has regular carpeting in it, but it needs something better than that.

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See Empire Today.com slash PHNX for details. Jesse, I know you're going to stop at Circle K on your way home, of course, because neither one of us have enough time in our lives anymore to stop and actually. actually eat a meal with all of this spring training. I literally have not. I guess I had like a like a pastry that I bought I brought from home today. But yeah, I haven't eaten anything else. And that's pretty much part for the course.

So circle okay comes in clutch very often. It does. It does. Jesse kind of scolds me for my pocket sandwiches. But then when I'm enjoying a pocket sandwich out at the clover field, fields, clover leaf fields. I got that all mixed up. He's, he's a little envious of the.

pocket sandwich. But of course, you can stop by and get yourself snacks, fill up your pockets with snacks. Make sure pay for them. Don't steal them, but they're cheap at CircleK, so you don't have to steal. Make sure you get down on the Inner Circle Program for free also as well by downloading the CircleK app today. Terms and conditions apply, participating locations. Visit CircleK.com for details. But if you do, you'll get some of those snacks for free and even cheaper than you normally would. You also save 25 cents off per gallon on your first five fillups with the Inner Circle program. So sign up today. Jesse, of course, now the future is uncertain about where Diamondbacks will even be playing their games.

But the future of now, including spring training games, and where we're going to watch those, is still up in the air in regards to the Diamondbacks TV deal. Yeah, yeah. Man, there was a lot to get into in this press conference today. We talked with Ken and Derek for almost 40 minutes. Yeah, I do not envy them having to deal with all of these various things kind of happening at once right now. especially when this should be a happy time, right? Like we shouldn't be talking about anything negative. We didn't have to go in there and ask who the closer is going to be.

We didn't have to ask what they're going to do with Madison Bumgardner. Like these are, the outlook is positive. There should be good vibes out at Salt River Fields. There have been so far at spring training camp. But today, you know, Hall and Kendrick definitely had to deal with the tough questions. And the fact is that both of these situations, they're just kind of taking a long time to get resolved. Right. Absolutely. Yeah, I mean the Diamondbacks start playing spring training games four days from now. And presumably they would like to televise some of those spring training games.

And yet they don't actually have a TV partner at this point, which is something that Derek pointed out himself. So yeah, I think we're going to get a resolution here soon. We had heard a report from the athletic a couple weeks ago that mentioned kind of in passing that the Diamondbacks would be using MLB to broadcast their games this season. That does seem like a possibility, but it does not, from what we heard today, that is not the case. At least that has not been finalized. You know, Derek said the Diamondbacks are still talking with Major League Baseball.

That still seems like an option that is certainly on the table, but they're having conversations with other people as well and hope to have, you know, a final solution here pretty soon. This is what Derek Hall had to say in regards to their current situation with the TV deal. No, we are, we're still talking to those interests at other parties where we could look at options. And we have considered over the air. We've looked at a possibility of a hybrid if that would work. But we're still talking to Major League Baseball who did a really nice job,

jumping in last year, making sure that our fans could still see the games. They did a really nice job with, I think, with production. And technically, they upgraded our product on TV. So, you know, obviously they are a possible partner. OTA is a possible partner. And we're looking at any and all options at this point. But I think, again, wanting to have a decision, we probably want to have a decision by the end of this week as we're in spring training.

But we continue to talk as well. And I don't think there's a great sense of urgency other than we would like to televise some spring games. So we need to know how we're going to televise and where we can watch it. But I'm convinced we'll have something to announce here soon, very soon. Oh, those Bluetooth mics, they'll get you every time. Yeah, the Diamondbacks are also in an advantageous position here when it comes to this TV deal, right? I mean, this is a team that the future is very bright. They just come off of an incredible postseason run.

Like now couldn't be a better time as far as the Diamondbacks having that power in negotiations that you discussed earlier in both of these situations. So, I mean, maybe part of that is the fact that the Diamondbacks are, are the ones that are in the driver's seat here for this stuff. Absolutely. I mean, with regard to the stadium situation and the TV situation, it sure doesn't hurt that the Diamondbacks were in the World Series just like three or four months ago, right?

That came at a pretty good time. This organization is about as attractive from a business standpoint right now as it's been in a very long time. So that is definitely a factor. I think, you know, in another sense, the debacks are in a tough situation. You know, Ken talked about how the bankruptcy proceedings with, you know, the whole Diamond Sports Group situation, you know, when when you're in business with an entity that goes bankrupt, that tends to be, you tend to be in a pretty difficult situation. The Diamondbacks do not expect to get, you know, the amount of money that they had previously under their old TV deal. I think that was always going to be the case. And, you know, they've been factoring that in for a while. But, yeah, it's, it's tough, you know, losing one TV partner and having to find another.

They're still in a kind of a difficult situation here. Well, here's what Kendrick had to say about that TV deal and also about how they also have to still deal with this bankruptcy that they're going through with Diamond Sports Group. Yeah, I think, let me just add on that. I think the most important thing for a fan is, are games going to be available on TV like they have been? And the answer is absolutely.

It's not whether they will be. It's kind of what the delivery mechanism behind the scene. will be and whom it will be with. I mean, we moved within the season last year to a change. And I think if you're a fan of the Diamondbacks, it was pretty seamless. And what we end up doing this year, I think will be the same for the fans. The challenges on our side of the table, the economics of what the revenue streams that the television will create for us, you know, which is a, not an insignificant part of our revenue. And there are multiple options and we're continuing to work them. We're unfortunately,

in the category of being, I'll use the phrase, being victimized by the bankruptcy courts. If you've ever been in that situation where your business partner went bankrupt, it's a very challenging place to be. And it's like, I use the example, it's like being in a soap proper, and we all know how soap proper's work. You tune in today and something is happening, and you do it tomorrow, and something brand new is happening. And that's what goes on in bankruptcy court.

and we've been since March of last year. Our activity has been a part of what we've been doing in the TV. The local TV RSN landscape has been bankruptcy court driven. I can assure you it's not a place we would wish to be. And, you know, yet our job is to make sure we take care of our fans. I mean, at the end of the day, we will. I think that's important because, again, there is some concern. I mean, when you hear this, you know, this, this, this,

kind of negotiation is going on, you do wonder how it's going to impact our ability to watch games and where we're going to be able to watch games. Last year, that was a concern for us. And when they did make that transition, like Ken said, it was fairly seamless, especially if you were like a direct TV user, you had to just go up one channel. You know what I mean? Like there really didn't seem to be a lot that impacted a fan's ability to get these games. And that seems to be the case. But we just, we don't know when this situation is going to resolve itself. And spring training games are supposed to be played this Friday. They talked about wanting to, you know, play these games on television and they still don't

know where that's going to be or how those games are going to be televised. One of my favorite things about talking to Ken Kendrick is, you know, when he tries to explain something that happens in business as if like people in the room can actually relate. Like if you've ever been in business with an entity that goes bankrupt, you know how this goes. Yeah. Yeah. And all of us.

We totally there. Oh, yeah. Who hasn't been in business with an entity that went bankrupt? We know exactly what you're talking about. Just last week I was dealing with that shit. I totally get where you're coming from. We get it.

You're rich, you know? Yeah. It's a different. Yeah, definitely different problems than what many of us are dealing with on a day-to-day basis. But yeah, it's not,

there's no, you know, concerns here about. Diamondbacks games not being available to the masses. I, you know, get the sense that it will still be fairly seamless as it was last year, whatever this new system is. It still feels to me that Major League Baseball is probably the most likely option here. That's kind of the safety net.

That's the fallback. That's in place. You know, we've already seen what that looks like. It was pretty easy for fans. The product, as Derek alluded to, was better. You know, I think Valley Sports did a good job as well. but once MLB stepped in, there was just another level of quality there that I think a lot of people enjoyed.

So yeah, we'll see how it turns out, you know, over the air has still been floated out as an idea along with a number of other options, you know, the idea of maybe merging an MLB arrangement with another partner as well. Is that possible? There's still a lot on the table from, you know, at least from what they said publicly today. So yeah, hopefully we get some real clarity on this. soon. Of course, the fans all want the Diamondbacks to go the same route as the Sons did and go with that over-the-air option. Of course, we know that not everybody is benevolent as Matt Isbia,

and he should be the owner of every sports team in the Valley. We know that. But, Derek Hall did talk about kind of pursuing something similar and that they actually have discussed some of this TV deal stuff with the Sons. Here's what he had to say. Oh, yeah. Yeah. And we did, you know we we expected it we knew it was coming even last year looking at our projections for go forward and bringing up the suns we've talked to the sons a lot too is there a way for us to partner in the future together and i hope we can we're starting to have more and more conversations about partnerships with with the sons and the relationships have been great so i can envision something down the road where we can do something together too is lb network the backstop

in all this yeah MLB network we know we can go on MLB you know today if we decide to so and they've been patient. We've told them we're continuing to explore other options. They know we have other options and offers on the table. So again, we're just trying to hammer down what it would look like if we're on an MLB versus one of those other options or if there's a way to do both. And I think we'll have an announcement very soon. He seems very, and he said that a few times where he sounded very positive that this TV deal situation will will be complete soon. And he used that word soon. He said, you know, very soon a couple of times. Yeah, yeah.

I don't, I mean, they're running out of time, frankly, with this one, right? I mean, the stadium situation, they've got, you know, theoretically they don't need another place to play for, yeah, multiple years. That's not the case with the, with the broadcast situation. The very beginning of that clip, just so people know, that was a question about revenue. And if the Diamondbacks expect to, you know, take a bit of a hit revenue-wise with their new TV arrangement. And you heard Derek at the beginning. there say yes we've been factoring that in that's been in our projections so no surprise there we don't know exactly how big of a hit that is but one of the bigger takeaways for me today was that the

diamondbacks went out and they invested quite a bit of money in this team over the off season despite quite a bit of uncertainty and two major areas right the stadium situation there's a lot of uncertainty there the team potentially having to invest more in renovations than than they were planning to or or wanted to. There's also this TV situation where the team is certainly taking a hit financially. So, you know, it'll be interesting to see if this new higher payroll that the Diamondbacks have, if it's sustainable, if it lasts, you know, for a number of years or if this is kind of a one-year thing after the World Series.

But, yeah, you know, I think you have to give, you have to give ownership here some credit for, you know, making those investments despite some of the uncertainties around this team. Brett Johnson asked in the chat, did I hear Derek just say pocket sand? Shishisha. Yeah, no. I said pocket sandwich. Pocket sand is different. That's what I throw in Jesse's eyes or at least threaten to throw in Jesse's eyes.

And then I say that's not a threat, like I said earlier. Of course, a great way for you guys to watch spring training games and not worry about whether or not they'll be televised is to just go see them in person. And a great way to get those tickets is through game time, especially if you're getting those tickets last minute. Game time is the place for last minute ticket deals. It's the fastest growing ticketing app in the country for a reason. You can snag the tickets without the stress with GameTime. Download their app right now, which is an aesthetically pleasing app, as Jesse will tell you. Create an account and use code PHNX for $20 off your first purchase.

Terms to apply. Again, create an account and redeem code PHNX for $20 off. Download game time today. Last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. Of course, if you are a diehard, we appreciate you being here in the chat right now. Of course, if you are not a diehard, we also appreciate you being in chat. But if you aren't one, maybe check out what we have to offer over at go phtnx.com. Join the diehards, become a family, become part of our family,

and get yourself all sorts of exclusive benefits, including a free t-shirt from the PHNX Locker.com of your choosing, all of the wonderful content that we have exclusively for diehards on the website and Discord. Jesse's content, you get all of our content, get access to our Discord lounge, which is the best place to be in Arizona Sports fan, discounts with our partners, discounts on our events like our upcoming takeover this July at the Chasefield pool and so much more. So make sure to join us today. Shout out to Michael in the chat. He said being a diehard is worth it. Do it. Join us today. Of course, another great thing to do

is to grab that bet MGM sportsbook app because it makes watching sports better. And now is a great time to get down on maybe some of those future bets. Maybe Zach Allen, Sy Young again? Let's go. Let's ride with it. Of course, you can download. the sportsbook app right now. And of course, if you sign up using our code of PHNX and make your first deposit of $5 and a bet at that amount or more at a standard odds price, you will receive $150 in bonus bets regardless of the outcome of your wager. Sign up for bet MGM and use that bonus code of PHNX, the best letters in the entire alphabet. Place your first bet MGM sportsbook wager through the mobile application for at least $5. You will receive $150 instantly and

additional winnings regardless of your wager's outcome. Check out the show notes for full details. And now listen to Damon, talk about the disclaimer. Problem call 100, 800 gambler. Available in the U.S. Call 8778.678. 6769, New York. Call 1803-275-0-Massachusetts. 21 plus to wager.

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Where, Puerto Rico. There it is. That was terrible. That was bad on that one. Yeah, the guys are right. Of course, the best place for Jesse memes is in the Discord. So, of course, become a diehard to get that. Yeah, it's worth it just for the memes of my face.

It's worth it just for the Jesse. It really is. It pays for itself. Another thing that it's worth it for is that with all of this news happening, we're going to have to start moving some of our mailbag Monday over the Discord. So, of course, if you want to get down on Mailbag Monday, make sure it become a diehard so that you get all of our answers to all of these questions. But of course, Jesse, I gave it away.

You know what today is? I know it's the day that full squad is reporting, but it's also our year because every year is our year. Every month on this show is Black History Month. Every week on this show is Shark Week. Every day is Earth Day. But of course, today is Monday. And on Mondays, we go to the mailbag. Damon, shall we?

My mailbox. Always something interesting in my mailbox. I try to get to everything in my mailbox. And then once in a while there's a letter that makes me go out. All right. What do we got? First mailbox, or mailbag Monday question.

He got me with the mailbox. It comes from Travis Moore, more for me. And Travis asks, do we got that up? We don't. All right. He says,

from what I can add up with the Gritchick edition, that leaves, that really leaves two backup infield spots available, 13 pitchers, five outfielders, two catchers, and the four starting infielders.

Who gets those last two spots on the opening day roster? I'd love for Blaze to be one of them, but that seems unlikely from everything I've been reading. A lot of predicting there, Jesse, but what are your thoughts here in regards to the last two spots on the opening day roster? I know you've already done your roster predictions, but has anything changed for you?

Yeah, I mean, I think the team, you know, my last roster projection was pre-Jock Peterson, pre-Randle Grisich. I think those moves do change the dynamics of the roster, for sure. So, yeah, I'm going to probably take another stab at doing that here in the next few days. But, yeah, you probably, I think it's likely that those two guys will be infielders. I mean, you know, I don't want to rule out Jake McCarthy making the team entirely. You know, maybe there's a world in which Manuel Rivera or Jace Peterson, you know,

we heard yesterday that both of those guys are going to get a look at shortstop. And, yeah, I mean, you know, maybe there's a world in which, you know, one of those guys could give you everything you need defensively on the infield, but I don't really think that's likely. So, yeah, there's a few different scenarios that are possible. You know, I think most likely you're going to need one guy who's ready to go at shortstop and then another guy who can kind of cover a variety of positions. So, yeah, there's honestly a lot of different ways that that could shake out at this point.

I think Kevin Newman. Oh, I was you said, Kevin, yeah, Newman, Emmanuel Rivera, as I mentioned earlier, Jordan Lawler, you know, at least has a chance, although I know we talked about him the day. It sounds like it's maybe more likely for him to start at Reno. Jason, certainly in that mix as well. Tori mentioned Pavin Smith, you know, backup first baseman, although that's something Emmanuel Rivera could cover as well. So there's a lot of different ways that the, that the team could go, you know, for those, for those last couple spots. All right. Next question, Damon. Next question comes from our guy, Ryan Hanley. And Ryan wants to know

what are the top three can't miss promo slash giveaway games for each of you? Oh, man, this is a great question because the Diamondbacks did reveal all of their promo giveaways for the season at their most valuable party. And they are pretty incredible. They, as far as I'm concerned, they hit on everything that I particularly wanted to see them provide. We have multiple bobbleheads. I think there was four total. I think we have some replica alt jerseys. We have NL championship replica rings, Jesse, which I need one of those for myself. But if I'm being honest, there's a couple of things that stand out for me. The number one promo

item for me is that Alec Thomas T-shirt because it is fire. It is incredible. It looks like something we would make if we got a deal done with Alec Thomas to be a partner with PHNX. And I love it so much. I think Saul and I were talking about it. And Saul said he would he would pay for that shirt. He's like, that shirt should just be available in the team shop because I don't want to have to go just get it on one particular night. I want to go buy it. And I want to buy it in my size. I want it to fit me and I want it to be a quality shirt because it's an incredible shirt. There's some there's some pretty cool stuff just that that opening weekend against the Rockies. I mean, there's NL Champions rally towels being given away to the first 40,000 fans on opening day.

That's that's going to be fun. It's going to kind of feel like the playoffs all over again. They're doing an NL Champions tea the day after that. I believe that's Friday, the 29th. And then you've got a Corbyn Carroll rookie of the year, Bobblehead that Saturday to the first 20,000 fans. So yeah, and there's a Gabby Moreno gold glove bobblehead. That's up there for me. That's up there for me.

And a note that you missed, Derek, that I do have to point out, those NL champions replica rings, those are being given out strategically, we assume, against a very specific opponent, the Philadelphia Phillies. Yeah! About their NL champions ring. So that's probably my number one. I think that's funny. and I respect the Diamondbacks throwing some shade at the Phillies with doing that.

We love throwing shade. The pettiness is off the charts here, and I am here for it. The only way it would be better is if the ring had like a little image of Alec Thomas planting the flag made out of like jewels in it. That wouldn't be. Yeah, sure. Incredible. Just to create that on the side. Yeah, they have some great giveaway items this year, much better than last year.

That Gabby Moreno gold glove bobblehead is bad. ass. He's in the Serpientis jersey. He's gunning someone. He's got the gold glove on. It's really good. And they gave us as a Star Wars bobblehead. They did give us Lord as the Star Wars guy. I haven't seen it though.

So I don't know what that bubblehead's going to look like. I'm a little concerned at what lengths people will go to to get some of these giveaway items. Like are people going to be camped out in front of Chase Field like, you know, the night before the game or something? Like I think we're going to see some ludicrous things because some of these items are pretty desirable. And I do and also don't understand people wanting to do insane things in order to get them. Well, we will see. We will see how far people will go. What else we got,

Damon? What's our next question? This one comes from Slick. Slickzilla 12 on Twitter. And Slick asks, with all the complaints going around, what do you think are the odds that the New jerseys get changed? I already canceled my order after seeing how low quality they feel and how bad the names look. I will go, I will agree with you on how the names look, but I don't think the jerseys themselves feel that low quality. I actually saw a couple of fans wearing the replicas close up, and they looked really good, to be honest. We were talking about this in the clubhouse today, but now much like the TV deal, much like the stadium deal, now's a good time for the Diamondbacks to be doing some of the things they're doing, and that includes changing jerseys. You don't have to

look at this year's jersey and compare it to last year and see all of the little differences and how maybe it was better when Nike was producing it than fanatics or whatever. But I understand. I understand people's disappointment. These baseball jerseys are expensive, like, more expensive than other sports, it feels like. And I can understand people not wanting to spend $300 or $250 or whatever cost to get, you know, a jersey that's disappointing to you.

I will say, though, that the jersey themselves and the money, material and everything. They look great. I think the diamondbacks don't have the same concerns some of the other teams have. But I'm with you. There are some issues with the lettering and the numbers. I do think some of that stuff can be fixed. I just think there's not a lot of time for them to do that. The letters, that's kind of an easy fix, but changing the material of the jerseys themselves, that would be much harder. I think they're in a little different position with the pants because I feel like the pants are that that's a whole other situation where they've limited the number of options that they have to customize the pants.

But I don't know, man. I still really like the way these jerseys look and seeing the Diamondbacks players wear these black with the teal trim and the teal hat. They just, they don't look low quality in person to me. Yeah, they still look cool. I mean, I think maybe they could look better, but I still think they look really cool. I mean, it's a little hard for me to say much on, on whether a change will happen.

Again, I think the limited interaction we've had with players on this particular topic, I've heard positive things from players on the jerseys and they're like, wait, other people don't like how they look. And also Rob Manfred when he spoke with the media a few days ago, he said that his expectation was over time. People would start to actually like these jerseys. And there's always going to be some initial pushback when you make a big change like this. and he kind of expects that to dissipate over time.

So it doesn't sound from what we've heard that any changes are imminent. Just make the letters bigger. Make them look more quality. Like, what are we doing here? It's not that hard. You just look at what the jerseys looked like last year and try to replicate that when it comes to those small issues. The fabric itself and things like that that would be much more difficult for them to change at this point.

that's not that that's not something that I think is a bit as big of a concern as just making some small alterations to the fonts and how big the letters are and things like that outside of that I think I think especially with the diamond backs I think they look great so yeah it's it's it's at least a good time for them to change what else we got damon I know this one was about the the roof and it's from our friend michael rocicki uh michael ask is the situation with the roof the same last year I missed the roof opening music there was a lot of questions and a lot of discussion in our chat. I saw earlier when we were talking about this.

And it would appear the roof situation is not changing for 2024. It would appear they still are going to need to make some sort of permanent decision, if you will, on if they're going to open the roof or not, it can't be just kind of a midgame opening with fans in the building. I think they're still potentially the same danger that they had previously due to whatever is wrong with the roof with with people in the building but uh like i said earlier garik hall did make comments about how they feel like they have a much better understanding of the roof and when they can open it and and how they can kind of schedule uh to have it as

open as much as possible yeah i mean it's not awful right like the debacks can still have the roof open for you know the first month or so of the year we saw it open again in the playoffs it was you know, it's beautiful when, when it's open. I mean, I think Chase Field with the roof open as opposed to the roof closed, I think it makes a massive difference. So, yeah, you know, they found a way to get by and still make it so fans get a taste of, you know, what it's like to have the roof open for a while. But it's not the same.

I know a lot of people in the chat have been talking about the music and missing, missing the roof open music. Yeah. That was a fixture of my childhood back in the day as well. So, yeah, I totally understand that. on what Derek said today, you know, it doesn't sound like it's going to be done before the season starts. It's, I feel pretty confident saying it's not going to be done during the season. So you're maybe looking at next off season as the, you know, the next opportunity to do this,

which of course is contingent on, you know, the stadium situation and kind of more, more solutions on that front. I have a solution to the problem, though, Jesse. What is that? Corbyn Carroll should adopt the roof opening music. as his walk-up song. There we go. It'd be a good way to make up for it. Then we hear it four times a game,

maybe five? Come on. Maybe even better, right? I think that's a better solution than having it just before the roof. I think we figured it out. All right. Last question comes from Don's Bread,

and Don's Bread has a specific question for you, Jesse Friedman. And that is, can we get Jesse to recreate this exact photo of Jock Peterson, hoverboarding his way into Salt River Fields with a bright pink hoodie on and some beige sweatpants that look very comfortable. Those look very, very comfortable.

He looks, I mean, this is Jock. This is him. This is what we got. Jesse, can we get you to recreate this exact photo? If you purchased all the clothing items for me, then I'll match the fit, all right? I'll give you that much. But if you want me to ride around on a hoverboard,

I'm telling you it's not going to go well for me. I'm going to fall within like two seconds of getting on that thing. We actually talked to Jock Peterson in the clubhouse today. We don't have this clip to share, unfortunately, but we did talk to Jock today about the hoverboard. And he said he said he hasn't, like he started riding this thing like seven years ago or something. Oh my God. And he said, you know, knock on wood that he wouldn't, you know, he wouldn't fall or have any kind of accident anytime soon.

So I guess he's gotten pretty good at it. But I have never been on one of those, and it would be an utter disaster if I tried. So I have not had many interactions so far with Jock, but I will say that the man is as advertised. Like, he is definitely a unique personality. And as someone who also has a unique personality, I appreciate the hell out of him. I really appreciate a guy just so being himself, like on day one around his teammates that he is. I remember he came into the clubhouse on day one of pitchers and catchers reporting and was kind of shocked at how many media members there were there. There's a lot to enjoy about Jock already so far.

So I think this is going to be fun. And of course, this is just the beginning of the fits. This is just the beginning of reviewing Jock Peterson's fits. But we do appreciate you guys sending your questions. Of course, we love our Mailbag Monday questions. and we are going to take the rest of these over to the Discord. We will have a little video with me and Jesse breaking down some more Mailback Monday questions.

So if you are diehard, make sure to check that out. If you're not a diehard, make sure to get your membership today over at go phnx.com. Of course, we talked about where the Diamondbacks games are going to be, but we do know where the suns are playing and maybe a place where everyone would like to see the Diamondbacks end up. And that's over at Arizona Family Sports. The season continues for those sons.

as they take on the Mavericks this Thursday at 5.30 p.m. and watch the Rockets at 6 p.m. on Friday. And of course, you can see all of these games on Arizona's Family 3 TV and Arizona Family Sports Channel 44. The suns are coming in hot. They're heating up. Of course, this All-Star break. All-Star game definitely pales in comparison to baseball's All-Star Break. We don't even have to... It's so bad. It was terrible. The court was awesome. The court was about the only thing we're talking. talking about it all. That's it.

I'll tell you. Baseball once again remains king of All-Star weekend. But make sure to not miss out on watching these sons. Of course, you can watch them in a number of ways with Arizona's family. And that's what makes it so great to watch sports over at Arizona family. You can watch it with an antenna, Cox Cable, Channel 13, and Phoenix and Flagstaff, available on Dish Channel 44 and so many other ways. Of course, wherever you live in Arizona, visit azeefamily.com and click Suns games.

For listing information and for your area, AZ family is a great resource to help you find Phoenix Sun's games on Arizona Family Sports. And another great way to celebrate Arizona, of course, and to have some fun around the Valley. So check out Arizona Lottery's new unique ticket promotion called Arizona Adventure, where you can win in a variety of ways, three different ways you can win. Of course, one way is to just get the Arizona Adventure lottery tickets featuring some iconic Arizona landscapes. These tickets have prizes up to $50,000. But you can also check in at geolocated adventurer spots, 10 destinations across the state, from Flagstaff to Yuma. And that will give you an opportunity to win $1 million in cash in Arizona travel prizes. This promotion celebrates state pride and the uniqueness and beauty of this state.

Again, big happy birthday to Arizona. Arizona just celebrated their birthday in a great way for you to celebrate with the state is to check out this promotion. Arizona Lottery says proceeds from the ticket sales support environmental conservation, among other important initiatives across the state. Visit AZadventure.com for more information on how you can take an adventure with the Arizona lottery and for a chance to win $1 million in cash and Arizona travel prizes. Jesse, that's all we got. Of course, a very busy day out at Salt River Fields.

There are so many other things, honestly, that we didn't talk about because we talked with Tori Lavello. Yeah, Ivan Melendez was at third base. There were, you know, a lot of things happening on the backfield. Zach Gallin live BP session today facing hitters. Tori Lavello talked about, you know, Corbin going out and signing autographs and his character and some stuff about Heraldo Perdomo and his leadership. And there's all sorts of things we could have talked about today. But, oh my gosh, there's just so much, so much to get to. So stay with us throughout the week. We've got a, we've got a lot, a lot more to get to. And tomorrow's another big day because we have spring training. media day. So we'll have an opportunity to talk with Tori Lavello and Mike Hazen as well as managers and general managers from really the rest of the entire Cactus League. So I guess we're pushing. Are we pushing our show later tomorrow? Because that is at 3 p.m. tomorrow. So I'm guessing we'll probably go around 5 would probably be a safe bet. We'll have you updated in the morning over

there because of course these these times with these managers change all the time. So we want to make sure we have a chance to talk to everybody out there. But we will bring you updates from that media availability as well as any other updates from Salt River Fields in the morning. In the meantime, you can keep it locked to both of us on Twitter. I'm at K-Ur-Mad-Mad with the K. Jesse is at Jesse and Friedman. Our show is at PHNX underscore D-BACs.

But of course, all roads do lead to at PHNX underscore Sports on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. We thank you guys so much for stopping by. We were sorry. We had to talk about bad news. on such a positive happy day, but things are still good. It's not really like it's probably like it's not I would know how it characterizes as bad news.

Like everything is probably fine, but there were some things that were said that were that we were surprised by. I didn't expect to hear Ken Kendrick even as much as hint at the possibility of moving out of the state somewhere else in Maricopa County Shore. I didn't expect to ever hear anything about the Diamondbacks moving out of the state again. And we heard some things about that today. Doesn't mean it's going to happen. No, I very strongly believe that it will not happen.

But, you know, for the Diamondbacks, they've got some leverage, and it appears that they are using it. And they're in, you know, a critical point in these negotiations where they really want to push something across the finish line. And we'll see if it will see if it happens sometime soon. Well, we will be back with updates on that and so much more. So make sure to join us tomorrow. In the meantime, you guys have a wonderful afternoon.

We appreciate you stopping by. We thank you for your time. And remember, kids, baseball is fun. but it's so much more fun when you don't make vague threats about moving our baseball team.