PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - D-backs Must Make KEY Decisions as Rule 5 Draft Deadline Approaches

Episode Date: November 17, 2025

The Diamondbacks have two looming deadlines on Tuesday that could completely change 2026 and beyond. As they await Zac Gallen’s decision on the qualifying offer, the D-backs also have to decide which of their young prospects they need to add to their 40-man roster to protect them from the Rule 5 Draft. We discuss who we think they will add and what changes to the roster we could see. Plus, it’s another edition of Mailbag Monday and we are tackling your offseason questions once again!JOIN THE SUPPORTERS CLUB ➡️ https://tinyurl.com/yc6km2r4An ALLCITY Network ProductionSUBSCRIBE to our YouTube: https://bit.ly/phnx_youtubeALL THINGS PHNX: http://linktr.ee/phnxsportsMERCH https://store.allcitynetwork.com/collections/phnx-lockerALLCITY Network, Inc. aka PHNX and PHNX Sports is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by the City of PhoenixPHNX Events: Get your tickets to PHNX events and takeovers here: https://gophnx.com/events/ALLCITY — including us here at PHNX — is teaming up with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America for an exciting three-year partnership. To learn more, visit https://www.bbbs.org/allcity/APS:  Find instant rebates, discounts and special offers on smart thermostats, energy-efficient appliances and more at https://marketplace.aps.com/default/heating-cooling/smart-thermostatsBranded Bills: Use code BBPHNX at https://www.brandedbills.com/ for 15% off your first order!Husband & Wife Law Team: If you’ve had a serious injury, Call The Husband & Wife Law Team first at 602-783-8841 or visithttps://husbandandwifelawteam.com/?utm_source=allcity-padcasts&utm_medium=digital-phx&utm_campaign=allcityShowNotesChicken N’ Pickle: Family friendly fun awaits! Visit chickennpickle.com to plan your visit today!Access Auto Insurance Agency of Arizona, LLC (Access Auto) is a renowned agency offering personal and commercial auto insurance options to Arizona residents. If you’re on the hunt for a new policy, call Access Auto today at 1-480-400-0546 or get a free insurance quote by visiting our website www.access-insurance.com.Visit https://www.macu.com/accounts/checking/mystyle-checking?cid=ea-PHNX-AZ-mystyleAugust2025-checking to learn more about their MyStyle Checking Accounts!bet365: https://www.bet365.com/hub/en-us/app-hero-banner-1?utm_source=affiliate&utm_campaign=usapp&utm_medium=affiliate&affiliate=365_03485317 Use the code PHNX365 to sign up, deposit $10 and bet $5 to get $150 in bonus bets!Disclaimer: Must be 21+ and physically located in AZ.  If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-NEXT-STEP, text NEXTSTEP to 53342 or visit https://problemgambling.az.gov/Gametime: Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code PHNX for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply.Shady Rays: Head to https://shadyrays.com and use code: PHNX for 35% off polarized sunglasses. Try for yourself the shades rated 5 stars by over 300,000 people.Circle K: Join Inner Circle for free by downloading the Circle K app today! Head to https://www.circlek.com/store-locator to find Circle Ks near you!Monarch: Use Monarch to get control of your overall finances with 50% off your first year at https://www.monarchmoney.com/phnxWhen 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.

On today's show, we are not discussing my naked face, but we are discussing which players the Diamondbacks will have to protect to keep them away from that Rule 5 draft. Also, how Zach Gallen's qualifying offer plays in all of this. Don't you go anywhere? We're starting in 30 seconds. And welcome in to another edition of the PHNX Diamondbacks podcast live from Studio K, presented by our friends at Circle K.

It is me, believe it or not. It is Derek Montia, occasionally known as a man. that used to have a beard and made some mistakes shaving this morning. However, I'm fine with it. We just roll with it around here. That's what we do. We're glad to have you guys here. Welcome in to another edition of this show.

We got our guy Damon Dog, aka Damon Farrell on the ones Tuesdays today, holding it down for us. And very, very thankful to have all of you guys here today in the chat. Of course, this show is brought to you by the GameTime app. Go download the GameTime app right now. Create an account in use code P-HNX for $20 off your first purchase, terms do apply.

Jason says this episode brought to you by Jolet. Yeah, that's a free ad right there. But yeah, no, I mean, she's not wrong. Zabe comes in with Damon needing a matching stash. Damon, I mean, I don't hate that idea. There's a lot of mustache is happening around pH and X right now. Like, yeah, see, that's a good look. That's a good look.

Damon complimented me. He said I look like I'm 32. It was very specific age, but I'll take it. I will take it. Derek, I think you look like a young buck right now. I know you're freaking out a little. bit about the, I'm terrified, about what's going on with the facial hair situation. But when you walked in, I genuinely thought, Derek Montia walked into a time machine and walked out about,

you know, 12 years younger, 10 years younger. I need it. I need it. I need it in my life because every single day, I feel like I'm getting a hundred years older. But, Damon, I think we officially lost Josh Naylor forever. And that's no surprise, right? Did you ever buy into the Josh Naylor wasn't having a good time in Arizona vibe when he was here. Not really. Not really. Post game, you know, interview and stuff that happened. I have it on good authority that Josh Naylor was in fact not the person that complained

about Cattel, even though that was what people suspected that it was, right? Because he was traded one week before that whole report came out. There was a lot of talk about it was potentially Naylor and how unhappy he was with the team and the organization. I just think Josh Naylor likes to win. I think Josh Naylor likes to win, and the team had expectations that they were going to do that, and they were playing good offense,

and they couldn't get anything going from a bullpen standpoint, from a defensive standpoint, and it just felt like all the little things were going wrong, you know, with Sean Larkin, and you're just making mistakes here and there that are costing you games. I think Josh Naylor was just pissed that his team was not a playoff caliber team when he was in Arizona because of what the expectations.

expectation was going into the year. So I don't buy into that. Do I think he would have resigned here? Maybe not. Maybe he wanted to be closer to up north, you know, given that he is Canadian. He wanted a team, he wanted a city with a hockey team, exactly. And he had to be as close to Canada as possible. This works out in every conceivable way. In fact, I have it on good authority that the only reason why the cracken exist was to lure Josh Naylor to the city of Seattle. And it seems to have worked Hashtag sources. According to sources, yeah. According to a report from MLB.com,

Josh Naylor is nearing a five-year deal to return to the Seattle Mariners. And I don't think we have any surprise about that, right? Like, I don't know what to say other than if given the circumstance, I absolutely would have thought that Gino would have been the one that was completely embraced by the Mariners fan base and everything like that. And it's not to say he wasn't. They were very glad to have Gino return to that organization, but it just felt like a big part of it was Nailer's production. What he was able to do for that team.

Gino was arguably a bit of a disappointment during the regular season. He did hit one of their biggest home runs during the postseason, but during the regular season run, he didn't have a very good stretch there with Seattle, right? But meanwhile, Josh was getting hits and stealing bags and was a big part of the reason why the Mariners went on that wind streak and were able to overtake all of those other teams. teams in the AL West and take that division. Well, and Naylor's 28 and Gino's not. Like giving a five-year deal to a guy who's 28 years old, who's, you know, a power hitter. I know he's not like a conventional power bat at first base like you would expect, but he does

have a lot of power in his game and power ability. You know, I think that's a guy who it will be good into his age 33 season. Whereas Gino, if you're giving him, you know, a three-year deal, you're worried about that back end, I think. Yeah. You have to be. Yeah, absolutely. So that's why part of the reason, I don't know if you remember, I'm sure you could go back to

podcast from about, you know, nine months ago from right now. I was saying I want to resign Josh Naylor because of his age, because of that profile and the lack of first base options that we seemingly had outside of Josh Naylor at the time. But yeah, I mean, I think that that's a good signing for the Mariners. It makes a lot of sense. And shout out Josh Naylor for getting paid, man. now we get to see where Gino ends up. Jason made a good point.

If you scroll up there in the chat a little bit, Jason, it said, Naylor loved it here. He had a custom D-backs hockey jersey made. I mean, I know that's looking into stuff far too deep, most likely, but you don't have custom gear made necessarily for a team that you aren't enjoying being a part of and that you fully intend on leaving as soon as the season is up, right? And I'll take it a step further.

Josh Naylor had a child in the playoffs, and he had to come back to Arizona when his wife went in labor because she was still here in Arizona. If they hated Arizona and hated playing for the Diamondbacks, don't you think that they would have packed up their things and left their new house in Arizona immediately after that? Like I think that if clearly not to read into it too much, but I think Josh Naylor's wife was comfortable in Arizona or else she would have been in Seattle. you know so uh i i i think it's all kind of made up people trying to read too much into things it was i think it was one incident right one incident where josh nailer was giving a postgame interview and he looked very annoyed by heralded perdomo's antics of pouring water on him and it just looked very big brother little brother yeah i think that's how i think it was just like a funny vibe i think he was trying to be funny with the way that he was like handling it yeah exactly yeah rolling his eyes

yeah also josh nailer is who josh nailer is right he tends to be a very intriguing person that is a hard read. I really enjoyed his interviews because I think Josh Naylor kind of had the rep that he didn't like speaking to media or something of that sort. At least I had heard that. And then when he was here, he was delightful. I loved listening to Josh Naylor explained things about baseball to us because I feel like he took the time to go far deeper into the why things happen and, you know, even though he's not a very personal person, he would go on to explain a lot of things about his family, his brother, his upbringing. Like, he was just a very, very fun interview.

He was great to talk to, and I missed him when the Diamondbacks traded him away. I really did. He also had an amazing hockey jersey collection, unlike I've ever seen. And I barely saw that man ever wear. the same hockey jersey twice. And then he said the same thing about my shirts one time. And then I was like, we are kindred spirits. He is me and I am him.

You said, are you feeling this right now? Is that, is that just me or is that? Did we just become best friends, right? But again, according to this report, the Mariners are finalizing a five-year free agent contract, according to sources telling MLB.com. And though the financial figures weren't immediately cleared, it looks like it's going to be a lot of money.

Right. The club has not confirmed the deal, which is pending a physical that Naylor is expected to complete today. So, again, they should make things final after that physical, and we will know the numbers. But, excuse me, once official, it is expected to be, quote, the richest free agent contract for a position player in Seattle since Mariners President of Baseball Operations Jerry DePoto took over after the 2015 season. and to be fair, they have not given out very many free agent contracts. So that is a big part of this. Obviously, Naylor didn't sign an extension. So this is almost more of an extension with Seattle rather than being a free agent contract. But it does look like this is going to be a hefty payday for Josh Naylor,

and it's going to allow him to stay here. And yes, apparently, I promise I'm not AI, but also that's exactly what AI would say. I have no way to convince you otherwise. But what I will say here is that this does impact the diamondbacks, believe it or not. Not only does it take Josh Naylor off the market, not to say he was necessarily someone the debacks were interested in bringing back or were pursuing. But again, one more first baseman is off the market. And should they decide to fill that first base position that they kind of need to fill,

it might be a little bit more expensive now because of the market and because of what the mariners are going to pay. Josh Naylor. Essentially, Alonzo and Bellinger are both expected to receive far more than Naylor was getting. So aside from taking the Mariners out of the market for our first baseman, this does have a pretty big impact on what those guys will receive. And then again, if anything, Naylor's deal does take one more option off the table for clubs that are not looking to sign those big names. So now, again, the market for the, I guess, next tier. A first baseman gets a little smaller and a little bit more expensive. And that would be guys like Ryan O'Hern, Luis Rice Hoskins.

It would seem as Michael Dixon is demanding in the chat, that a reunion with Paul Goldschmidt is seeming more and more likely. For sure. Who hates that? I don't think I hate that. Maybe. Hmm. Maybe you?

No, Damon, we're not doing that today. We're not doing that. Well, I mean, you ask the question. you said who hates that and who better than the guy who hates Paul Goldschmidt more than any deep back span of existence. I should have expected that. I don't hate Paul Goldschmidt. In fact, I love him quite a bit. This all stems from me saying that Paul Goldschmidt wasn't clutch, which I believe there's like statistics.

I think overrated might have been used at one point. Maybe I said you people want to build the statue and that right there put me on the other side. Yeah, that'll do it. It's with Paul Goldschmidt. I got a question for you, though, Derek. Yeah. Do you think that you just talked about the first base market. You talk about Josh Naler, what a big contract he signed, right? And how in a way, even though it just takes out the Mariners who needed a first basement. And we knew that Josh Nailer was going to go back there anyway. Yeah. I feel like this was a thing where you were hearing the Mariners pursue Pete Alonzo or somebody else, right? For sure. They just felt like for the, for sure. They weren't going to go for the Bellinger's and the Alonzos. As you said that those guys are going to make so much more money. Do you think that Mike Hazen look at.

at the first base market and read it correctly, forecasted it correctly by saying, you know what, Josh Naylor's going to get a five year, how much money was it? They don't know yet. Oh, okay. They haven't even rejected it.

Yeah, he's probably, yeah, he's probably getting a five year, you know, what, $100 million deal somewhere in that range. Yeah. Right. So that's a ton of money. Bellinger's going to get more.

And Pete Alonzo is going to get around the same as that. And I wonder if Mike Hazen looked at that and said, we're going to have to cut corners somewhere this off season. I think the first base. market is going to be too much money for us to get in on. That's why we're going to go with Pavin, Locklear, maybe some gold schmitt, if we get them on that one-year deal that everyone seems to think is going to happen, and then put the actual resources that the Diamondbacks do have elsewhere.

Because that's kind of the read that I'm getting on it is that, you know, obviously we all made sense of it that, like, you got to probably trust internally at some point. I wonder if Mike Hazen specifically looked at this position and said to himself, Well, that's not the one that we're going to invest in in the in the external market. Right. Well, coming off the last off season, they lost Christian Walker to free agency and they bring in essentially Corbyn Burns on a deal that disintegrated their available budget. An unexpected deal, right? We've talked about that.

Like they did not expect to sign Corbyn Burns. They expected Jordan Montgomery to be in their starting rotation. They expected that to be their five-man rotation with Gowan, Merrill Kelly, Brandon Fott, and Erod, right? Not even Ryan Nelson, a part of that equation at the time. And instead, they go out, they unexpectedly land Corbyn Burns. And I think that kind of is a big reason why they decided they had to go to trade to fill that first base position and bring Josh Naylor here. And you're right. I mean, Josh Naylor was on an expiring contract.

He was a rental. There is no bigger indication that the Diamondbacks fully intended on last year being a huge success than bringing in Josh Naylor on an expiring contract, trading a young starting pitcher away for him. and essentially, you know, not getting much more than half a year of service out of Josh Naylor for trading that young arm. I'm sure that there's some regrets on, you know, on Mike Hazen's part about that. Not to say it didn't work, but overall, right, it definitely, you could say that the rental of Josh Naylor didn't have the impact because the Diamondbacks could not capitalize on his time here, right? And that's similar to what might be going on here with Corbyn Burns. The Diamondbacks have to be all in on 2026. And then whatever the hell goes on with 2027,

they have to be all in on that season too because they cannot squander this opportunity with Corbin Burns on this team and let it go to waste. Right. So these years are imperative and these years are years where they're not rebuilding. They're not retooling. They have to do everything they can to fill the roster and get better. But yeah, I mean, overall, I could say that trading away certain guys that they traded away, Gino is another perfect example with the season he was having.

You know, Mike Hazen had to know that he wasn't going to afford to bring Gino back after this season. Not to say that they wouldn't have made an attempt, had this team done special things and had maybe a bigger budget this offseason in order to compete, right? You make the playoffs. Not only do you get that share of revenue from the playoffs, but you also make the front or ownership. group believe a little bit more than a team that fell flat and had to trade away major assets on expiring contracts at the trade deadline. But overall, congrats to Josh Naylor. And I do think that Damon, you're not wrong. I do think that there is a chance that the Diamondbacks won't do anything at all just due to the cost of a first baseman. And they might just roll with Pavin Smith and Tyler Locklear

when he returns. Not to say that that makes me actually gag, but it kind of makes me gag a little bit. I don't love that option. You got to be a little bit more professional, Derek. I'm sorry. I actually like I tweeted it when Gambo tweeted that they're going to roll with Pavin Smith and Tyler Locklear Get ready for the 30th ranked OPS among first basemen and all of Major League Baseball next year. I mean that

serious. Yeah, no, I know. It might not be 30th. Yeah. But it's going to be like 27th. Like, it's going to be bottom five in baseball. And we all know that going into it. So now you've got to supplement that in other ways, right? You've got to be better at other positions. And thankfully, we have Geraldo Predomo and Catelle Marte up the middle. who are two of the best offensive players at their positions in all of baseball.

So not all hope is lost. But for how long? How long do we have Catele-Marté, Damon? I just need to know. Don't do that again. I am so sick of these articles, as I'm sure many fans are, right? Every time an article comes out, I feel like it's, you know, just one more piece trying to convince me to the good idea. So it softens the blow and it inevitably happens.

I mean, even our good pal, Jesse Friedman is saying stuff like that from time to time. It's sickening, Derek. It feels like the call has been made internally. And apparently, Jesse's on the industry plant list that we didn't know about it. He's part of it. I thought I would be part of it. I'm easily manipulated. You can buy me with some shirts and some team merch.

I'm easily bought. Derek can be bought 1,000 percent. But how do you think that went out? You think that was a league-wide text message to all the baseball writers Association of America? No, they're on a group chat. It's on WhatsApp. And it was like, and it was like, hey, guys, everyone talk about Cattel-Mart. getting traded. We're trying to push this

into existence. I hate it, bud. Sickening. We did have some news today from the MLB that doesn't really bother the Diamondbacks at all, but it bothers me. Some more first year ballot members were added to the Hall of Fame class, aka possibly the Hall of Lame

class. I know this is very small, but there's just a lot of guys on this list, including now Ryan Braun that could make the Hall of Fame, but I don't know. Like, I always hear people talk about the Hall of Good. And this is, this is the Hall of Good to me. There are some names on this list overall, I do feel. The new additions to the 2026 ballot are Ryan Braun, Sin Suu, Edwin

Incarnacion, Gio Gonzalez, Alex Gordon, Cole Hamils, Matt Kemp, Howie Kendrick, Nick Marquesis, Daniel Murphy, Hunter Pence, Rick Porcelo, and that's it for the new members. Meanwhile, the old, I, the new member, I can't even imagine these guys making the Hall of Fame, maybe Cole Hamels. Yeah, I mean, I'm looking at these new guys. These new guys are insane, Derek. Like, I'm looking at these. I know that they have to add them to the list because that's like they have, they meet a threshold.

But like, right. Let's just, let's just mark some of them off as we go. I don't know what to think about Ryan Braun. We can put him to the side because of his steroid usage and how people feel about that. There is no way I could. I just can't even have that discussion. No, I'm saying he's not going to make it, but I'm saying he's almost in it of itself, like a different discussion to be had.

For sure. Now, looking at the rest of these guys, Sin Suu not going to get enough votes to be on the next year's ballot. No. Edwin Carnacion was a DH, no chance. He wasn't even that great. I mean, he was really good, but he wasn't like, he wasn't David Ortiz level DH. Now, who's the only DH basically in the Hall of Fame? Edgar Martinez may be as well.

But again, those are the top of the top guys. Gio Gonzalez is like, all right, no chance that guy is on the list next year. Alex Gordon, did he have two good seasons in Major League Baseball? It's crazy. Like, he will not be on it next year. Cole Hamels will be on it next year. He has a shot, as you said, maybe Cole Hamels. Matt Kemp had some really, really good years.

His peak was extremely high. I don't know what that does for him. but I don't think he had a long enough prime whatsoever to be on here. Howie Kendrick, we'll see you next year, bud. Thanks for coming out. Nick Marcakechis, same thing. What the hell are we talking about? Daniel Murphy, you had one good postseason.

You are nowhere near a Hall of Fame level player. Hunter Pence, you were a wacky homeless man in a baseball uniform. It was fun, I'm sure, but what are we talking about? Rick Porcelo is the craziest thing I think I've ever seen in my whole life. Like, what? See, and I get it. the hall of mid. I understand why people get angry sometimes about the guys that get in because like there are so

many guys omitted that should be in. And I really do not give a damn about what like I'm sorry, but a player making history, regardless of steroid use, should be in the Hall of Fame, right? And I know people hate that. I know they want to hate that. I'm sure at one time I've probably even said things that contradicted. but it's the truth. Like to have somebody like Barry Bonds not be in the Hall of Fame is kind of broken

the Hall of Fame in a certain way. A thousand percent. You know, because it's like you just can't omit those guys, those guys that made history, those guys that literally changed Major League Baseball in the 90s, and quite frankly caused Major League Baseball to change forever based on how good they were and how out of control things got, right?

Derek, he has seven MVP's, seven MVP's. You know what I mean? Like, I mean, it's just insane to me. There was a period of time where the only two options for Barry Bonds was to walk him or watch him hit a home run and do that cute little twist walkoff thing that he did where he would hit the ball and like smile while he beat you mercifully. But this is, this is a situation where you look at this class and you just think of so many guys that have been left off over the years that have been such a big part of baseball's history. controversial or not, that should be in the Hall of Fame, right? I think that's the thing.

We are getting to this point, and I might get on my soapbox here and be making a grander statement about society as a whole, but we're trying to forget bad parts of history, like trying to pretend it didn't happen. And I think that's the craziest thing about this with the Hall of Fame is that there is nothing saying that you cannot tell the full story of these individuals in the Hall of Fame, including any kind of allegations, accusations,

congressional hearings they were a part of, anything like that can be included and there's no reason not to. And that includes everybody that was controversial and everybody that was an awful human being that's in the Hall of Fame. Like, just because you're an awful human being doesn't mean you don't deserve to have your place in history if you were one of the greatest athletes of all time.

Ty Cobb. Perfect example. It's exactly who I'm thinking of in my head, especially the way he was portrayed in that movie. Dude, he's cleating people. in the in like the groin and like beating up old men in the stands like tie cobb was despicable i'm pretty sure there's and maybe i'm just falsely accusing him of something crazy no you were absolutely tie cobb has been uh he's he's been uh dead for a while so he can come after me i guess but i'm pretty sure tie cop hit a guy with his vehicle and like there's like a story about it like i'm pretty sure he killed

a guy manslaughter vehicular manslaughter him in the hall and he and he got away with it because at the time he's Ty Cobb and it's the 1920s and he's the biggest star in Michigan. So it's like, what are you going to do? Arrest him? And it's like, no, probably not. No, but... Just got to let's let's let's let's some of the names who do potentially belong on this list because we named all the guys who don't.

Sure. Of which there are a lot of them. Felix Hernandez. King Felix? Yeah, I think Felix Hernandez is a Hall of Famer, for me at least. I mean, that guy was so unbelievable and he did so with an organization that was terrible. basically his whole tenure. Who do you got?

I think Carlos Beltron has a decent shout. Okay. If you look at, you know how much counting statistics are important in baseball? And if you look at all of his statistics all time, he has 70 career war. He has 2,700 hits, 435 home runs. So, yeah, I mean, I think he's got a good opportunity potentially. He also played for 20 years, which is a big threshold in the, in the Hall of fame. So I could see Beltron potentially.

What do you think about Dustin Padreira? I saw Jordan earlier talking about Padroia. Maybe. Maybe. Yes, you got to represent ASU guys. Pedroia has 1,800 hits and 140 RBI, our home runs. Yeah, I find it hard to believe that he would get in. But he's like the quintessential hall of very good guy, like a step right below that, I would say. Right. Alex Rodriguez. Obviously, A. Rod is like, what do we? A. Rod's a top five player of all time. It's like, what are we doing? Get him in the Hall of Fame. Stop playing games. What are we talking about? The crazy thing is that he represents baseball at such a high level, given that they have him on their postseason broadcast team. Right. And I know baseball isn't,

and that's all okay. I know that they don't own Turner, but you're kidding yourself if you think that baseball isn't in those discussions with Turner being like, who should be on our post, our postseason panel. Like if they, if MLB came down on Turner and was like, we don't want this guy to be a part of your panel. Yeah. It's bad for baseball. Yeah. I mean, but they don't do that. It can't be both.

You can't keep them out of the hall because of those stupid ass reasons. And then also be okay with him being a broadcaster. Well, it's just on the, on the biggest stage during the World Series. It's, it's as you were saying, like baseball encouraged these guys to take steroids. They did. They, but Bud Seelig was fully like, he might have been shooting up Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa himself for how good it was. was for baseball. And then they want to turn around and say, actually, this is disgusting. And if you do this, you're banned from the Hall of Fame. It's like, which what is it? Was it good for baseball and

marketable at the time? So you guys used it to make money. And then you turn around and say, ah, that's so nasty. Who would do such a thing? It's like, you guys are the ultimate scumbags. If that's, if you're, if you're doing it in that regard, obviously A. Rod should make it 3, 3,100 hits, 696 home runs. There's no doubt. Sorry that he didn't get to 7. 100, honestly. Chase Utley, we were talking about. I think he's a POS, but he's most likely going to make it because he plays second base, Eric, and his war is crazy.

He has 64.6 war. That's crazy. That's crazy. 275 career batting average. How many seasons did he play? He played 16 seasons. And he got negative war a couple times at the end of his career. He had a nine war season at second base, which is just unreal.

I hate him, but if he, because he played for the frickin' Phillies and the Dodgers, could you pick a worse human being alive? But yeah, I could see him being in. And then here's one more I want to talk about that has a little bit of a D-Bax connection. How about Andrew Jones, Derek? How about Andrew Jones? What do you think about this? So I think on paper you would say Andrew Jones, probably not a Hall of Famer, right? But when you look at what he's done, he has 434 career bombs and 10 goals.

and 10 gold gloves. How many players have 400 plus home runs and 10 gold gloves and don't make the Hall of Fame? I mean, that's power hitting. That's somewhat contact hitting. That's, you know, like just being the best defensive outfield or potentially in the history of Major League Baseball. I think Andrew Jones has like a, I don't think he'll make it, but I think he does have a good like case, if you will, if you were just. just lining up cases for people. Somebody has to make it in.

They just can't go like, hey, nobody made it this year, right? I mean, I guess they could. Has that been done before? I don't know, but I don't think they would allow it, right? No, they wouldn't do that. They have to make sure that they have a ceremony and do all of that. So I think some of the, I think those guys, all that we listed are have a good chance, but we'll see.

This particular class, not that strong, but. No, it's not. Apparently next year's is pretty good, they said. It looks like it's going to be. Yeah, for sure, for sure. So that's sometimes how. happens in baseball, bounce around based on those years that guys can be eligible, but next year should be a burner. On the other side of this break, we are going to talk about some looming

deadlines tomorrow, including players needing to be added to the 40-man roster prior to the Rule 5 draft as well as Zach Gowman's qualifying offer. We're going to do that on the other side of this break. Don't you go anywhere? You're watching the P.H. Next Time and Back Show. Well, it is the season for over $80 million in prizes over at Arizona Lottery. You can play holiday tickets from Arizona Lottery for the chance to fill your stocking with cash or again, it's an excellent time to grab some scratchers and give away this holiday season. It makes for the perfect holiday gift. It's easy. You can get it last minute. And again, as much as much as much as as much work as I put into getting gifts, you'll still be the star of the party if you're giving out Arizona Lottery Scratchers.

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Join a credit union that is committed to giving back to the community and sharing success with their members. When you open a free checking account online, get $200 in bonuses. Get started by visiting desertfinancial.com slash 200 today. Well, November 18th is tomorrow, and there are some looming deadlines for the Arizona Diamondbacks, including it's the deadline. to add Rule 5 eligible players to their 40-man roster to protect them from the Rule 5 draft. Now, if you don't know what a Rule 5 draft eligible player is, it is a player who's signed at the age of 18 or younger. They would need to be added to the 40-man roster within five seasons, or they become eligible

for the Rule 5 draft. Players who signed at 19 or older need to be protected within four years. So there are a number of players right now that are technically. eligible to be taken from the Arizona Diamondbacks roster in the Rule 5 draft. Now, one caveat, as we've discussed in the past, is that in order for a team to keep a player, they must add them to their active roster for the entire season. That's really what makes the Rule 5 draft so difficult. And that's why I think when you see the Rule 5 draft come and go, you see teams not lose

any players. In some cases, you see teams not take any players. it's simply based on the fact that in some cases there is a very small pool of Rule 5 draft eligible players that one will not get protected by the teams that they are part of due to their value and two will be able to stay on another team's roster for the entire season right that's the catch is being able to stay on the roster if you don't remember De Los Santos was taken from the Diamondbacks by the Guardians I believe but he was not able, they were not able to keep him on the roster, so he eventually came back to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Now, the Diamondbacks 40-man roster is currently at 38, and that is impacted by Zach Gallen and his acceptance or non-acceptance of the Diamondbacks qualifying offer. That is another deadline that looms tomorrow as well. Zach Gallen has to make his decision on accepting that qualifying offer. Most people feel like he will not accept it. However, there is a good chance. There's a good chance, I think.

Maybe not a favorable percentage, but I still think there's a decent chance that Zach does accept a qualifying offer. That changes the Diamondbacks offseason considerably, right? Suddenly, they don't need to go out and frantically look for starting pitching as is a priority. Not to say that they won't add to Zach Gallen if he does come back on a qualifying offer. But, again, they have to still have to find another starting pitcher. It just makes that search obviously much different, and it lowers, I guess, the impact of if they can find a starting pitcher. Right now, it's not if, it's that they have to.

But if that Gallant comes back and that starting rotation is fairly strong at four men, then I feel like they could find a fifth starter to round out that rotation a bit easier than needing to find two guys, including one that's most likely going to be in the starting rotation for the entire year. and one guy who presumably will be moved to the bullpen once, you know, Corbyn's returns at the midway point, right? So, but a lot of people feel like Zach Gallen won't accept that qualifying offer. And again, that also changes things dramatically.

It also impacts the number of roster spots the Diamondbacks have as far as their 40-man roster. There are some guys here that are eligible for the Rule 5 draft, and we've discussed them a little bit. But there's six guys, six guys. six guys that I am fairly concerned about that I think could actually be taken by another team, and most of them are starting pitchers. It's something the diamond backs desperately need. It's something the debacks cannot lose in the Rule 5 draft, and I think that's what makes it such a priority here overall for the debacks.

Now, the two biggest names are guys that we actually have recently done diamond mines on. One is Cole Drake. That diamond mind is out. there right now. You can go check that out. He is an exceptional pitching talent that the Diamondbacks got in that trade for Merrill Kelly. They also received Mitch Bratt in that trade. That is another diamond mine that we will have coming out this week. So make sure to keep your eyes peeled for that. But obviously what the Diamondbacks do with the 40-man roster and how those players are impacted by that is huge, right? Because those are guys that are at a

triple A level. They are guys that they traded Merrill Kelly for and they quite frankly got a steal from the Texas Rangers who traded for, you know, two months of Kelly and still ended up missing the playoffs. But those are guys that could end up being major league ready talent that a team, especially a young team that has those starting pitching, you know, needs right now could take and let those guys develop as a fourth or fifth man on their starting rotation. So those guys are two guys that I'm concerned about. Also, U-Men Lynn.

And I'm glad Jason Armstrong is here because Jason always monitors how rioty we get on this show. And if the Diamondbacks lose U-Men-Lin, it's riot time. It's pitchfork time. It is torch time, Damon. We can't lose corn.

We can't lose our baby boy, Yumen Lin. Again, another... I mean, it would be a devastating blow to this company. It would be the end of this show. We talked about them trading Ketalm being the end of the show. You get rid of...

of, you get rid of human lin. It's absolutely right time. Yeah, I mean, I think Espos has brought me and Derek into his office before and said that this is your guys' cash cow. This is your guys' ticket to another contract extension. And if human Lynn goes, then so is the entire Taiwanese population that watches this fine podcast. So, yeah, I mean, it means everything. Opset.

All right. And then there's some other pictures, too, as well, Spencer Geisting. He's another name that we've talked about on this show. Do not love the idea of losing him and Dylan Ray. And then there's, again, one of the Diamondbacks top 30 prospects, Gavin Conticello, another outfield prospect. Again, a top, top 30 guy there. So, Ryoma asks, is Mena safe from Rule 5? I do believe Mena is on the Diamondbacks 40-man roster.

I'll double-check that just to make sure. Yeah, he is currently on the 40-man roster. So Christiane Mana is safe from that. But, I mean, you know, there's a good reason why these deadlines tomorrow are very important for the Diamondbacks. They have a lot of decisions to make, and it's a lot of stuff that comes together all on November 18th, around 4 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. Once those decisions are made, the Diamondbacks then have to go forward and figure out how they're going to approach this offseason. And whatever happens tomorrow kind of dictates what they're going to do next. Pitching

is still the priority. And for very, very good reason, Damon went ahead and pulled, I believe, from fan graphs. This is the war, the war projections for next year for every single team. Offensively and defensively, you got batting and pitching here and you got total war. The Arizona Diamondbacks are projected to have, once again, a very good offense. As you can see there, their projected war 26.2. That would put them right up there with the Toronto Blue Jays and the Houston Astros and the Padres. It would actually put them above those two teams as far as top offenses.

the league. However, their projected war currently is 8.9.8.9 projected war for the 2026 season from pitching. That would put the Diamondbacks as a bottom three team in baseball right above the White Sox and then still considerably above the Colorado Rockies who do play at Coorsfield. It's despicable, Derek, to put it in the nicest way possible. 26.2 batting war, if you look at the teams that Arizona's in company with with a you know 26 and above we're talking Dodgers we're talking Yankees we're talking Mariners we're talking Braves we're talking meds we're talking blue jays we're talking even Orioles apparently Padres Cubs all the best teams and then it's dying backs with 8.9 pitching war they rank 20th and it's all because of how bad their

pitching war is if once again they had average average pitching war they would be um top 10 team probably. I mean, even look at the war that like the Astros are expected to get 12.9. Like not a ton higher than. And that's without Framber. That's similar. Like they're in a similar spot as the D-Backs like we don't have Merrill or or Zach under contract for that, right?

They don't have Framber Valdez, but they still have a higher pitching more than we do. It's disgusting. It is. But the young guys. I'm worried about that because again, these young names that I brought up, these are the guys that we are going to see in 2026 at some point, inevitably. this is the pitching depth for this team. And these are the guys that are ready to be called up.

Cole Drake suffered an injury. Meanwhile, Mitch Bratt, I think he's fine, and he will probably be ready to go here very soon. And those guys, again, they were valuable pieces of that Merrill Kelly trade. You can't let them get scooped up now by another team in the Roll 5 draft. And the Diamondbacks have a lot of decisions to make with the rest of their roster, too, as far as guys they're going to keep, guys are going to DFA, things like that. So again, tomorrow is a very important day.

we will cover that tomorrow for sure and on Wednesday. So we will be bringing you more, of course, on the aftermath of their decisions for the Rule 5 draft and what Gallen does with that qualifying offer. On the other side of this break, you know what day it is and you know what day, what day, you know what day it is and you know what we do on this day. Every single day of one of these days. We do the same thing. It's music and it's the questions and it's the stuff.

So don't you go anywhere. We're going to do that on the other side of this break. You're watching the P.H. Next time and Beck Show. I need some more Circle K. in my life, Damon. I need it more life in my life. We always do. I was kind of late to the office today, so I drove by a Circle K and I looked at it lovingly.

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for more details. Well, Damon, we, we now are, I think we are now a Grammy nominated podcast. Is that right? I think that's how that works. I don't know. That does work. It does work exactly like that. Is that how it works?

Okay, so because like, yeah, like Felix was explaining this to me, that is the producer for our friend Megaran. Our guy Felix told me that he can't say he's a Grammy nominated producer, but he can say he worked on a Grammy nominated album. So I guess we have to be careful how we say things around here. But I mean, here's the deal. Megaran would not be in the position that he is in today being nominated for a Grammy if it wasn't for this fine original piece that he produced for this show. You said it. I didn't.

Let's hit the music because you know what day it is and it's time to do it. Damon, let's go to the mailbag. 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. Grammy nominated adjacent baseball podcast. How about that? That's like.

Love my guys so happy for him. And I, again, it's one of those moments where not only is it surreal for me that a friend of mine has been nominated for a Grammy, but quite frankly, it's one of those things where you also find yourself saying it's about damn time. That man is one of the best musicians. I know I'm lucky enough to be his friend, but I'm also a huge fan of everything he does. So really glad that he got that nomination. Shout out to our guy, Megaran. Derek, I was going to say that this last week was all about gassing up Megarin. And this week is about taking credit for his successes.

But then you kind of. He has like 10 Instagram posts that are like what it's like to be a Grammy nominated. I'm like, get over yourself, brother. All right. All right. We got to do everything in our power to get you nominated for an Emmy. Yeah. Like a local Emmy.

We got to get him the EGOT. We got to get him the EGOT. We got to get you. nominated for like a best of Phoenix. I like a Rocky Mountain Emmy. At least a Rocky Mountain Emmy. Exactly. The fine folks at Rocky Mountain.

You could treat it as if it means exactly the same. I'll put it on this table right next to Jesse Jr. Every single episode. What we got in the mail bag today, Daman? Our first question comes from lead off editor, Travis Moore, who asks, Ryan Nelson is my favorite player on the team. In your opinion, does he have ace slash starting pitcher one upside? If so, what needs to develop?

If not why, by the way, Travis Moore. How about those dolphins? Hey, keep that for another show, all right? No, I don't care. Football makes me sad, and I told you that before this episode. He did. It does nothing but bring me sadness. But he is not wrong, right?

Ryan Nelson is a guy that should be a lot of people's favorite pitcher on this team, because quite frankly, he was excellent for the Arizona Diamondbacks this year. And he's been excellent ever since he's been called up. He's been asked to do whatever has been asked of him, or he's done whatever's been asked of him. He has always delivered, whether, it was out of the bullpen or in the starting rotation, and last year he was the Diamondback's best starting pitcher, flat out. I think developing some secondary pitches would help him quite a bit. Not to say that he doesn't have any secondary pitches, but he just relies on his fastball

entirely too much. Now, his fastball is very good. It's very, very good. But I feel like the elite pitchers have a lot in their bag that they can go to. And I think that's what's holding Ryan Nelson back because essentially if you are facing a fastball hitter or pitcher and you know that's coming, it's still something you can sit on. It's still something that some days he might not have the best command of. And again, those are those situations where you see him giving up, you know, five runs instead of two or less. So I just, I do think that is, you know, again, the game plan is out for what Ryan Nelson is going to do. I don't think it's a surprise. It's still one of those situations where that fastball is so damn good that it's like come come and get it right but i think

he needs complimentary pitches things that tunnel similar to the fastball that look like the fastball that just keep batters off balance enough uh and i know he's been working on on change up slider i know he's been working on some stuff uh i know he has been very effective sometimes with the secondary pitches i think he just needs consistency with those but if he could if he had one pitch in his arsenal that was essentially as good as his fastball, that was a changeup that came from the same arm angle and tunneled similarly, I think he would have ace stuff. And I think, again, that's something that honestly, with his age and the fact that he's still kind of developing could, you know, could be here as soon as next season. I just also very much miss Brent Strom in these

instances. And that's no, that's no attack on Brian Kaplan. I just feel like Brent Strom is the kind of guy that had the years of experience and the knowledge to kind of teach a young pitcher like this the importance of, you know, not only throwing that pitch, but all of the aforementioned things that would make that secondary pitch so effective along with his fastball. So, um, and Rai almost says, I love Ryan. He's done everything the team asked of him, no matter how crappy. No kidding, man. For sure. I mean, that is a guy. The anti-Rofile Devers. I like it. Put it on a shirt. What else we got? I agree with you though, Derek. I don't think that he's like an a starting pitcher one quality guy because of those lack of

of like secondary stuff, but I do think he could be one of the best middle rotation guys in all of baseball. Like if he's your three, you're in good shape if Ryan Nelson is your three. Yeah, I agree. I agree. I'm more concerned about Brandon Fott and his development and what he needs to do to get back on track than I am about Ryan Nelson. I think Ryan Nelson, again, that that game plan, what Ryan Nelson is going to attack you with, that's been out for a while. That's not news. It's just his fastball is so goddamn good that you can't hit it, even though you know it's coming. So it just goes to show how good Ryan Nelson's fastball usage is. When it's up there in the 70% 60 to 70% usage, he's throwing it like almost every other pitch,

plus maybe sometimes twice, three times in a row. And he's still been as effective as he has. So he is a great pitcher. And I think he is just kind of one step away from potentially reaching. that status is at least being a top, a top guy. But for the Diamondbacks, as far as they're concerned, right now, he is their ace. Right now, as far as active pitchers who are in the starting rotation for the Diamondbacks and healthy, Ryan Nelson is your ace.

So there it is. That just kind of scary to say. What else we got? Next question here comes from Adam Fox, who wants to know who's more likely to be traded, Alec Thomas or Jake McCarthy. I hate this question, Adam, because it's like, I feel like it's obvious, but it's not, right? Like, on one hand, Alec Thomas still has a tremendous amount of upside and value, right? And I would rather keep Alec Thomas than Jake McCarthy.

I think Jake McCarthy may have kind of peaked. However, I think we just saw a lot of sloppy play out of Jake McCarthy last year. I think one of the things I saw out of him was him playing desperately, right? And desperation never is a good thing. It's not good when you're trying to desperately make plays instead of just using your fundamentals and what you've learned over the years and playing the best fundamental baseball that you can play. I also think Alec Thomas's bat is much better

and still has a lot of upside compared to Jake McCarthy's. But as far as who I feel is likely to be traded, I do feel like it might be more likely that Alec Thomas gets traded just because of his value, right? Just because of what the offers for Alec Thomas might be or a package involving Alec Thomas rather than Jake McCarthy. Neither one of these guys are going to get you the starting pitching help you need. I think the best you could do is maybe packaging with, you know, a prospect and trading for another outfielder or perhaps a first baseman. but again, I don't believe you're going to get the starting pitching. And meanwhile, if you trade Alec Thomas for a reliever,

then I don't know if people are going to feel like you got enough in return for Thomas. So I think it's a difficult situation. I do think that Alec Thomas is still progressing, still developing, and I could probably say the same about Jake McCarthy. I just feel like the value for those two players are in completely different places, even though their numbers aren't off. I mean, Alec Thomas was not performing that well last year, but his final numbers look far more attractive to a team looking for an outfielder.

Plus, you could put together a highlight reel of Alec Thomas' defense, and it would probably be close to two and a half hours long, right? So it's defensively, he's just got a tremendous amount of value for, you know, any team. I still think that we need to fleece the Chicago White Sox because you know they want him better than any other team in baseball. So let's just make that happen. Let's figure it out. What do we got next, Damon?

Our next question comes from Mo Wood, who looks to have a Phillies, Philly's gear on in his avatar here. I do appreciate you being here. Who's getting 40 man protected, Derek? It's got to be the guys I discussed, right? It's got to be Col Drake. It's got to be Mitch Brett. Makes sense, given the level of minor league baseball that they're at, because those guys seem like guys that maybe if you're like a Rockies or a White Sox, why wouldn't you?

Why wouldn't you? Why wouldn't you? Give those guys a chance. Right. Yeah. Especially considering how highly touted both of those individuals are. I also think, again, you know, the Diamondbacks have an outfield situation. They probably don't want to lose pitching, but they also don't want to lose outfielders. I think Gavin Conticello might be a guy that they need to protect as well.

The problem with those three individuals is they are all ranked in the Diamondbacks top 30 prospects list, right? So I'm not going to say that MLB teams are as lazy as I am doing this show at times, right? I'm not going to say they're just looking at prospects in the top 30 list and being like, these are the guys we're going after. But how can they not, right? Assessments have been done, experts, scouts, everybody has given their input in regards to things like the top 30 prospects list for each team, right? So it's, there's a lot of stock put into that.

and I think MLB teams value trying to acquire a player from a team's top 30 prospect list, especially if that player is already at a AAA level. Like Damon said, what's to keep a White Sox team or a Rockies team that's already going to be terrible next year from adding to that roster and just keeping them here, especially if he can maintain an ERA below four and a half and can somehow still win you baseball games, right? I don't think it's that out of the question with Cole Drake or Mitch Bratt. Drake might be a little less likely coming off of that injury that he's coming off of. But again, I still feel like a team would have no problem stashing him

and then adding him to their roster. So I still feel like those two guys considering the importance to the team, the importance to pitching depth that they are. And the situation the Diamondbacks found themselves in in 2025, they just can't lose guys that are that close to being Major League Ready, especially considering that they just got those guys in a trade. So, yeah, that's who I feel like will most likely be protected. But I also hope that every single diehard out there is protected.

Maybe on the Rule 5 draft, maybe from, you know, whatever dangers lurk. But we appreciate our diehard. You guys are the best. If you're not a diehard, we implore you to check out becoming one. You get exclusive content. You get access to our PHNX lounge on the Discord, which is the exclusive place to talk Arizona sports with PHNX personalities and fans. You get a free t-shirt. You get 20% off merch and 20% percent.

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So make sure to sign up for that if you haven't done so already. All right, Damon, what else we got in the mailbag today? Our next question here comes from flea ball. and flea ball as always a staple of the mailback mondays derrick says i have the solution resign mccann gabby at first base kattel at d h laller at second base spend all your money on pitching easy right yes i don't hate that i don't hate that i hate it full time yeah no i mean i do kind of hate it i hate gabby at first base specifically don't it's like it's like it's like it's that meme of that woman being like yeah so here's where here's where i'm at with this resigned

McCann, absolutely. Thumbs up all the way. Backup catcher next season. Gabby at first base. Nope. I understand what you're saying because of Gabby's injury history, but Gabby does not have the power to be an MLB caliber first baseman. He would be one of the worst power hitting first baseman in the sport.

I just don't think it fits all that well there. Plus, he's really short. He's still a good catcher. And he's a great catcher. Yeah. He's really short too, which is not ideal for first base. Cattel, D.H, I'm all from preserving Cotel and playing him at D. more as he rounds out the older years of his career.

I want to tell Marte to go, like, laying a hyperbaric chamber in between at bats. Like, that's what I want. I want him protected at all cost. I want him wrapped in bubble wrap and kept in a protective container in between at bat. So, yes, I'm all for him at DH. Jordan Lawler at second, I don't hate.

But, again, this doesn't fix all the Diamondbacks problems. I do love the idea, though, that the fix is here. And I think that there is a certain combination. of internal players that can fix a lot of the problems Diamondbacks have. I don't think Gabby at first is it, but I do think that there are other options for this team. I know Adrian Del Castillo is a guy that they want to figure out

somewhere that he can play. I wouldn't mind him working very hard at becoming a first baseman. Also, yes, I did watch Moneyball three times already since the season ended, and I am convinced that you can convert a catcher over to a first basement, so I don't think flea ball's idea here is all that crazy. Maybe re-sign McCann and have him be over there at first base. No, I can't. But overall, I do think that the most important part of his tweet or his question there is signing pitching.

Like, that's it. Honestly, everything else will find a way to work itself out or it won't and it won't be great, like their first base situation. But I think they have remedies right here on this team. I do think that they have to go out and add perhaps one or two position players, but not the marquee names that are available on the free agent market, not the names that will most likely continue to highlight on this show, just due to money. And again, like I said earlier, that Zach Gallen qualifying offer,

I know most people think he's going to reject it, and I understand why. But if he doesn't, that creates a, guess, a happy problem for this team where we have to discuss if, you know, again, if, you know, that money was well spent and what they can do with their remaining budget. Should Zach Gowland, you know, accept that, the Diamondbacks are definitely going to have less than $20 million left to spend,

probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 13 to 15. And I just don't know how far that's going to get you as far as getting more relief pitching, another starter, and any position players. So I do feel strongly that the Diamondbacks will have to focus here on relief pitching, and that's just the way it is. Or, excuse me, pitching overall. That's just the way it is. All right, what else we got, Damon?

Our next question here comes from, da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da. Nick, uh, real native Nick who asks, if D-BACs start to trade high-end prospects, how many would we be in the most comfortable moving? Ooh.

I don't know. I think that it's, it's kind of like a tel Marte, right? Like, the return for prospects has to be big. In fact, Mike Hazen was just quoted in a Nick Picoro article as saying that he is, cautiously optimistic that he could potentially pull off a prospect for prospect trade,

which really doesn't happen very often in Major League Baseball. So it's interesting to see if that happens. Overall, I don't know. I don't love the idea of moving prospects for this organization. I don't. I think that the Diamondbacks, quite frankly, are a team that has no choice but to build from their farm system, like many smaller teams in Major League Baseball. It's the way that they're going to find.

their next level of stars. It's the way that they're going to, of course, keep them under team control for a number of years without it being too costly. And unfortunately, the Diamondbacks might start to become one of those teams that, you know, young players come up, play their time here, and then go get that big contract elsewhere. Right now, they have a couple simmering on the stove that that could be their future potentially. And that's going to hurt to see, right? But, you know, again, that's kind of the only choice of this particular franchise. It's not to say that the ownership group won't open up their wallet and supplement this team when they feel like they have a winner on their hands. They've done that the last two off seasons.

It just, again, the core of this team going forward still has to continue to come from their farm system. And I think if you start trading too many of these prospects, you're going to leave yourself in a difficult position. Meanwhile, I mean, there's some prospects that I just don't even know what their future holds, right? Like Drew Jones. Some of the, of the guys that are like infielders uh uh yianza louise right like some of their top prospects that might be ready soon but quite frankly right now are blocked by stars on the you know major league roster that are going to prevent them for a while from from being added to the roster right i don't know when another young shortstop is going to get an opportunity to play shortstop with her aldo prodomo

over there same could be said about second base for kettel marty for the foreseeable future so uh outside of that trade rumors and all of that, which I won't get into thanks to many of you telling me not to. But I will say that, again, it's maybe at the most two prospects to answer the question. It's the most that I'm comfortable with them moving. But I mean, again, I hope very much that it's not pitching prospects because if you look at their top 30, there's not a lot. There's not a lot in there. And Mighty Schumann in the chat says, Loller has not been good in a winter ball. He sure hasn't been.

He sure has not been. Meanwhile, Catelle Marte, I don't know if he has joined the Tigre's del Lise, but it looked like according to a Instagram post of his that he was going to be joining them soon. So interesting to see how Marte fares in Winterball. But hope that answer your question. I don't know who I would want to see traded away. I think the other day we mentioned like a Slade Caldwell.

I think Yonsea Louise, I think these are guys that, again, could, based on how high they are ranked in the Diamondbacks farm system, could be very coveted by another team, highly coveted by another team. So perhaps some names like that get moved. I still sincerely hope it's not our guy, Ryan Walshmidt, who we just had on the show last week and would be a shame and would ruin that interview for me. Also, make sure to check out the full interview. If you haven't done so, that's available on our YouTube channel.

We posted that this weekend. What else we got, Damon? Let's get one more in and then let's get out of here. Our last question comes from Jarmy, who asks expectations were set far too high in 2025 if PHNX ran the 2026 front office what would the message be to get bums in seats every Friday is dollar beer night at

Love it I'm in every Friday And I just figured out my Friday plans Beer night at Chase Field Huh? What's that you say? You'll be there every single Friday I thought you would I thought you would Yeah tickets are going to be pretty ridiculous It's going to be hard to get a ticket but

We'll definitely make sure you get it No I don't know I mean I want to say if you're not talking about the performance of the team, let's say the team sucks again. Let's say we're saddled with like a white socks year or a Rockies year, right? How do you get people in there? Like, I mean, I'm uping giveaway nights immediately, right? Are you fully leaning into the opposing fan base when you're that terrible?

Because I feel like that is the biggest white flag on running a franchise as a whole when you're just like, and that's what people thought the Diamondbacks were doing with the versus dogs. They thought that they were just kind of kicking, punting on the season or punting on the idea of bringing in home fans. So why not bring in away fans? The versus dogs, those are for the season ticket holders. And any season ticket holder will tell you that that that's who the versus dogs were for. But I don't know. I mean, I think that's the big thing.

It's like, how do you attract more people if your team is awful, right? This is a city where we do not. not love a loser. We're used to it, but we have too much better stuff going on to come out and watch your crappy team, right? We did it with the Sons. And look, Sons are back. That building across the street is full, right? So, I mean, performance is the number one thing, and it's the reason why you got to get a good product out on the field. I can only imagine how difficult it is to get those bums in seats when the bums on the field are not performing, right? And that's probably again a very difficult task for a lot of teams to do one thing i would suggest especially

considering that we were just talking about him a little earlier maybe bring in local grammy nominated artists to perform concerts i don't know that would be a way to get me in there if i'm getting if i'm double dipping and i get to go watch a concert and a baseball game i don't care who's winning or losing i'm having a great time either way having a great time either way so um rioma says arizona lottery scratchers give away at the door look i hate you the idea of having the the police that because it is 21 and over only to play but i do love the spirit of it also just a reminder that when they gave away those adorable little gonzo's all those years ago where it was gonzo the muppet wearing gonzo's jersey uh you got a scratcher for that and i think that

that was a much better way i mean i know people don't love it because it just makes it a random chance but if you got a scratcher and you scratched it it would tell you if you want a little gonzo or not right i love bringing that idea back we live in arizona it is far too hot to make people for five 10 games on saturday come out and stand in that godforsaken quad for for three hours waiting in line so that they get their bobbleheads or their stuff i know again people don't love it i know people don't love it i know it's a chance i know it but when you love it more if you could just get to the baseball game 10 minutes before the game starts be given a little scratcher ticket ticket and hope that maybe you get a bobblehead based on scratching it rather than spending

your afternoon standing in the sun? I don't know. Maybe put me in charge of things. I'm pretty good at it. Give me a call, Stephanie. I'll get everything figured out with the promotions. But we love you guys so much. We thank you guys for not being too brutal on my mustache slash facial hair situation.

You guys are the best. We will be back tomorrow with another 12 p.m. show. Also, we are going to have Jesse Friedman joining us every Wednesday for the rest of the Hell yeah. We are thrilled by that. Can't wait for Jesse to be here. We'll be breaking down all sorts of obviously information here about the Rule 5 draft and the fallout of that and what Diamondbacks are going to do in free agency this offseason. So make sure to join us on Wednesday again for another 12 p.m. show.

But until then, we implore you guys to follow us on Twitter. I'm at Cap underscore Kman with a K. Damon Dog is at Damon Dog with a D-A-W-W-G at the end. We're all Damon's dogs. Bark, bark. Our show is at B-H-N-X underscore D-B. but as always all roads lead to at p hnx underscore sports on twitter instagram and facebook we love you guys we thank you so much for your time it's your most valuable commodity thank you for sharing it with this

mustache we'll see tomorrow until then have a wonderful evening behave yourselves max good luck growing that mustache and remember kids baseball is fun but it's so much more fun which you when you decide which young player you are going to protect from the rule 5 draft