PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - D-backs Not Done? Mike Hazen Signals Another Move on Day 1 of Spring Training

Episode Date: February 11, 2026

The baseball offseason is FINALLY over as pitchers and catchers reported to Spring Training in Scottsdale on Tuesday. We’re on the ground at Salt River Fields breaking down how the Diamondbacks’ biggest stars looked on Day 1 and how Torey Lovullo plans to get this team up to speed quicker than in past camps without overworking his players. We also hear from Mike Hazen on Andrew Saalfrank’s injury and what it means for the D-backs’ bullpen plans heading into 2026. More importantly, we discuss his comments on the Snakes still adding to this pitching staff via free agency. Plus, Arizona makes the Carlos Santana signing official, and we dive into why the front office believed he was the right fit over other available options.LIMITED-TIME 60% off Diehard Offer: https://gophnx.com/intro-offer-youtubeJOIN THE SUPPORTERS CLUB ➡️ https://tinyurl.com/yc6km2r4An ALLCITY Network ProductionSUBSCRIBE to our YouTube: https://bit.ly/phnx_youtubeALL THINGS PHNX: http://linktr.ee/phnxsportsMERCH https://store.allcitynetwork.com/collections/phnx-lockerALLCITY Network, Inc. aka PHNX and PHNX Sports is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by the City of PhoenixPHNX Events: Get your tickets to PHNX events and takeovers here: https://gophnx.com/events/Phoenix Raceway: Get your tickets now for March 5-8! https://www.phoenixraceway.com/march-cup-weekend/?CID=PIR_DI_TP_BA_PHNX26Spring_251120ALLCITY — including us here at PHNX — is teaming up with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America for an exciting three-year partnership. To learn more, visit https://www.bbbs.org/allcity/Branded Bills: Use code BBPHNX at https://www.brandedbills.com/ for 15% off your first order!Husband & Wife Law Team: If you’ve had a serious injury, Call The Husband & Wife Law Team first at 602-783-8841 or visithttps://husbandandwifelawteam.com/?utm_source=allcity-padcasts&utm_medium=digital-phx&utm_campaign=allcityShowNotesbet365: https://www.bet365.com/hub/en-us/app-hero-banner-1?utm_source=affiliate&utm_campaign=usapp&utm_medium=affiliate&affiliate=365_03485317 Use the code PHNX365 to sign up, deposit $10 and bet $5 to get $150 in bonus bets!Disclaimer: Must be 21+ and physically located in AZ.  If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-NEXT-STEP, text NEXTSTEP to 53342 or visit https://problemgambling.az.gov/Gametime: Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code PHNX for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply.Shady Rays: Head to https://shadyrays.com and use code: PHNX for 35% off polarized sunglasses. Try for yourself the shades rated 5 stars by over 300,000 people.Circle K: Join Inner Circle for free by downloading the Circle K app today! Head to https://www.circlek.com/store-locator to find Circle Ks near you!When you shop through links in the description, we may earn affiliate commissions. Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Pitchers and catchers have reported, and we have so much more from Salt River Fields. Don't you go anywhere. We are starting right now. And welcome in to another edition of the PHNX Diamondbacks podcast, Love to be okay, presented by our friends at Circle K. It is I, your mayor, PHNX, occasionally known as Derek Mottia, thrilled to have you guys joining us and thrilled to be back to baseball. That's right.

I got to be out in Salt River Fields today. I got to see dudes hitting balls with bats and throwing balls very hard. And let me tell you, it was a sight for sore eyes. I am not alone. I'm never alone. But I got my number two with me here. Actually, he's the number one on this program. I'm the number two.

It is the one the only Damon Dog, aka Damon Farrell on the ones and twos. Damon, happy pitiful. Your Padawan, Derek. My, by Padawan. I've learned more from you than I've ever taught you. But anyway, happy pitchers and catchers reporting day, buddy. baseball's back. We've never been more back. It's a national holiday, Derek. It should be. We should all

have this day off and everybody should be allowed to play hooky and go out there and see these guys stretch and do the fundamentals and take grounders over at first base, like we saw Paven Smith doing today. We also saw Carlos Santana doing that as well, and that's

a lot of fun. The Diamondbacks made his signing official today. We will talk about that, but we have so much to talk about Damon because everybody is here. The gang's all here. The Diamondbacks pretty much, and I don't even know if pretty much is an accurate term, the Diamondbacks felt like everybody was in camp.

And the only reason why that's rare is because today was the day that only pitchers and catchers needed to report these other position player guys. They have a couple more days. They could relax. They could hang out. They could be with their families. But they're not. You know why?

Because they're at Salt River Fields getting their S-H-I-T together. to win themselves a World Series title. And I am pumped about that. Full squad workouts do not start until Sunday. But again, that doesn't mean that guys can't be out there. And in fact, they discussed that players have been out at Salt Riverfields getting into shape and everything like that for a while now. In fact, I was told that some players have been out there, Damon, for a month and a half. So this didn't really feel like anything new to some of the folks that go out to some of the folks that go out to

Salt River Fields every day and call that wonderful facility their home during spring training. But we are pumped. We cannot wait to see guys doing their thing here and actually playing live baseball games, but we have to go through camp first. And we have, of course, our guy, Tori LaVallo here making his opening remarks about spring training. This is what Tori had to say about what today is all about and how good it was to see everybody in camp. It's always a good day to get out here. get in front of the pitchers and catchers. The whole team's not here. Practically all the position players are,

so it's not a full camp, but for the players that are required to be here today, the pitchers and catchers, just nice to see them come out and get some formal work. We've been out here for the past several weeks, doing a lot of the same things that we did today. But it's day one of spring training. It's just a little bit different.

It has a different scent to it. It feels different. It looks different. And I think we're all excited to get this thing, this thing cranked up. So not a lot to report on. other than bullpans, a live that we all just probably watch together and watching some hitters take some live at-bats.

Everything for day one went very, very well. I've been very pleased with how the guys came in from their off-season routines. We asked them to do something through the course of the off-season, which they have. Several, as I mentioned, have been here through the course of the off-season. So everybody's in a really good spot. The players that are healthy, you know the ones that are not, they're here and ready to go, and it's been very encouraging so far.

I mean, again, this is very early on, but from all indications, everybody seems very pleased about the players being out there, about the participation levels, and most importantly, just the excitement about this team. I can understand some fans' lack of excitement about the 2026 season, and I can understand some people not feeling like this is a different team than it was last year. But the one thing I will say is that they did a very creative and good, not great, but good job at filling so many of the roster holes that they have. It doesn't make it any easier that when you have a guy like Andrew Salfrank who had a one point, you know, sub two ERA, 1.24 ERA from last year not available now due to injury for the entire season. and it does make things considerably more difficult on you, of course. But I will say that from what we saw, things looked to be good. Heraldo Pardomo looked strong and big. Cotel Marte looked to be an amazing shape.

And the thing I'm most excited to report is that Gabriel Moreno is in the best shape of his life. I haven't known him his whole life, so I don't know if that's true. I don't know how much weight my opinion. holds but as far as me seeing gabriel moreno as a member of the arizona diamondbacks and even in his initial you know uh where when he was with the toronto blue jays i will say that he looks great and i think that we have an breakout season incoming for gabby something we've talked about time and time again we we felt like that is right around the corner i mean you could still probably say that it's 2023 season where he helped this team reach the world series was his breakout year

it does feel like he is poised to be back next year or this year. Ryan says, Meady Men, yes, Geraldo Perdomo definitely put on some muscle. He looked pretty big out there. And again, it just is exciting to think about how good the Diamondbacks trio of stars and Corbyn Carolo,

Haraldo, and Cotel Marte already have been and how much better they could be. I got the biggest hug from Cotel and Geraldo, and I just have to say. And you won't stop talking about it either. I will never stop talking about it. It felt it was amazing.

It was the best hug I've ever had. He keeps throwing it in my face. Especially the Jerry hug. It's making you really sad. I know. I know. Like all, all Damon needs is a Dapap up from Peraldo Pardomo and for him to call him

Damon dog, maybe even give him a little bark bark, and he loses mind. I mean, he doesn't really, and Damon knows it. Damon knows that I'm throwing this in his face on purpose. Yeah,

no, this is nasty is what it is. Yeah. But speaking of nastiness, the Diamondbacks do have a lot of, I guess, changes to make. I know one of the main topics that they discussed both at the end of the year press conference with Mike and Torrey, as well as throughout the spring. It's been that the Diamondbacks want to get off to a faster start. They felt like maybe they didn't put the importance on spring training, put the importance on being ready. You know, maybe it's just taking your foot off the pedal a little bit, foot off the gas during spring.

spring training because of the nature of this time of year. However, it very much felt like they got to off to a slow start the past couple of seasons. And that is something that Tori does not want to replicate. However, there is a balance to achieve between pushing your guys harder during spring training and ensuring that you don't push them too hard and that you don't have additional injuries, something this team absolutely cannot withstand at this point. So, but this is what Tori had to say about achieving that balance during spring training. Yeah, I think we're going to create some higher intensity practice.

You know, I don't want to, I don't want to be misleading. We always try to do that. But I think things maybe got away from us last year and we played sloppy baseball defensively in the first half, first month and a month and a half of the season. And we were playing catch up. I don't like that. I want to get out in front and be a pace center and do things the right way at the right pace. So, yeah, I think we're going to ramp up some of the intensity. with some of the drill work from a defensive standpoint specifically.

I can't ask the pitchers to do anymore. I'm watching. Things are coming out hot. Things are looking really, really good. But from a defensive standpoint, I want us to be a little bit more ready than we were last year. How do you balance that from like, you want to ease them in, right? It's a marathon, not a sprint. Yeah.

At the same time, you want to be crisp. Yeah, great question. We're going to have delode days. We're going to have heavy work days and we have days where we just absolutely back off of them. on the days where we are, there's a strategy to it, and we're not yet into that phase of the camp because the position players aren't here, but when they get here, we're going to have days

where it's full throttle, and they're going to know, and I'm going to ask for that. And then there's going to be days where we back off and ask to just kind of go through more of a walkthrough, you know, football traditional walkthrough. But when it's hot, we're going to do some hit. And I'm going to ask for those guys to go out there and do it full speed.

Did you get that from a football coach? Sounds? I kind of overlap different sports and throughout different terminologies. but yeah, I think as I talk to certain friends of mine in different industries, yeah, they have days where they get after it during the week, and it's a little bit different. Like we do it every single day in spring training, I know,

and so we have the potential because the games don't count. We have the potential to do it every day, but I feel very strongly that we've got to get off their bodies and let them relax every once in a while. So yeah, I have asked a lot of questions in that area. I mean, it really does feel like they have a game. plan and it's one of those things that Tori, who is now one of the longest tenured managers in MLB, has had time to figure out. This is his 10th year managing this Diamondbacks team.

So again, there's obviously tweaks and experiments and changes that need to be made along the way, but it also makes it, you know, a difficult balance once again, like I said earlier, to achieve where you want to try to get out to a hotter, faster start. But you also have the fact that you know you got to take it easy with guys you got to get them ramped up at the proper speed so that you don't push them too hard and you don't then become worried about injuries or you don't worry that you are perhaps putting them in a difficult position where they could get injured right but another thing that tory does have to deal with here is the world baseball classic uh with missing guys i mean obviously it's it's a difficult situation to manage uh

He gave his response here about the World Baseball Classic, but again, when it comes to the flip side of this, you know, guys are going to be playing competitive baseball games, as Damon and I have discussed. We don't hate that. We do not hate the Diamondbacks players getting a faster start this year. We know that in the year when they went to the World Series, right? Merrill Kelly instrumental in that, he was part of the Team USA. He said that World Baseball Classic is unlike anything he's experienced as far as, you know, games this early. Tori discussed the World Baseball Classic and how difficult it is for him to manage here with those players not being available to him and also kind of the worry about them going somewhere else and playing, you know, competitive baseball games. It does be from a continuity standpoint.

We believe in creating a culture here, which we have already, and then building upon that day by day and letting it grow and watching a breathe in there. So when the core part of your team is stepping out to go participate in the WBC, you know, you're going to miss a little bit of. time with that group. But as I told Nolan Aeronado today, everybody that asked to play in the WBC, I always encourage them to do that. Go and represent your country. Go and make us proud. And we're going to be watching some really intense baseball games. So spring training, spring training. There is a certain degree of intensity there. But as Merrill said, when he came back from the last WBC, he said, it was unlike any other thing that I've ever competed in. And it got me ready for this baseball season. So we feel like there's a positive to it.

but we'll miss time with those guys. It's going to create a little bit of a challenge for me to continue the team building aspect of it, but these guys will figure it out. Well, again, the advantage there is that they will be playing competitive games at art spring training games. So the guys, the 13 players that are participating in the WBC, they're going to have a bit of a hotter, faster start.

And again, it's not something exclusive to the Diamondbacks, considering how many players around MLB. are participating in the World Baseball Classic, but still it's something that if the feeling internally is that they have not been getting off to a fast enough start, this should help with that. This definitely should. Not to mention the at-bats that younger players,

minor leaguers, prospects are going to get during spring training. They are going to get like some really good face time with Tori. They're going to get some exclusive, you know, playing time that they might not have received had the World Baseball Classic not been going on. For a team like the Diamondbacks that needs these young prospects to not only develop and flourish and thrive, but they also need them to, you know, need to see which guys might be ready right now, considering the circumstance they're in. This is not a bad situation for this particular team to be in.

Of course, though, the big thing about today is seeing with our own eyes, guys taking at bats, guys hitting the ball. And, of course, part of that was our favorite players for all. Aldo Pertomo and Cotel Marte. I think Damon, we have some footage of the guys just out there, just taking hacks. What do you want to watch? Let's watch a little Jerry action. I mean, you deserve that.

You worked hard this week. So here's Pardomo in his favorite place in the world, which is being down O2 in the count. And he just battled back. This at bat, I think Damon lasted for three and a half minutes, even though this wasn't a baseball game. And there was no, you know, no actual action going. on, but again, Perdomo, he's not going to acquiesce even in a practice at bat. He's out there, he's taking live pitching. He is going to make sure that Tommy Henry. Tommy Henry was on the mound, by the way. Tommy Henry, a guy that the Diamondbacks thought they were going to lose

for a longer period of time. So that was interesting. But also, Perdomo, again, he just stuck around in it, long enough Damon to rip one to center field as Perdomo tends to do. There goes. Love it. What a good feeling it is just to see that, right? What a great feeling it is. And then here's Catelle, just being Catell. He had some new leg tattoos. That was exciting.

And it doesn't look like these guys have missed the beat. I mean, we also had Carlos Santana out there taking at bats and also getting reps at first base on the practice field with Jerry, with Catell, and most importantly with who might end up being the next biggest addition. to this Arizona Diamondbacks team, Cattell's son, Amen, who was taking some reps, getting some reps in.

Here he is right here. Caden Marte. Caden Marte, the future. Learning, sitting under the learning tree from one of the best, one of the best to ever do it. You know they probably call Jerry Theo. You know? Yeah, Tio Jerry.

For sure. Oh, 100%. 100%. But all of that was great to see. But again, the Catele Marta trade rumors, which Damon and I single handedly helped defeat, those won't go away, no matter how much we try to beat them up. But we think for the most part they've been vanquished and we've moved on.

Tori talked about Cotel being the best player he has ever coached as a manager. And Mike Hazen had his thoughts because Mike had a conversation with Cattel and he had to have, you know, kind of get past what's happened this off season, especially considering how big of a story the Marte trade rumors became. This is what Mike had to say about those conversations about and about how much could tell Marte means to this organization. Yeah, I mean, it wasn't really a decision not to trade him. I feel like us exploring something like that as part of my job and having to do it.

And unfortunately, I think with the injuries we took on last year, if none of those injuries had taken place and the roster was very well built out, maybe I'm taking a much different tact on the season. I felt like given the injuries to our pitching staff and where we're walking into this season and trying to be able to fill all of these holes that are on the roster from the free agents we walked away from last year at the end of the year.

We knew last year with the five free agents, six free agents that we were going to be creating a lot of holes that we were going to then have to fill. And, you know, it was something that I just felt a responsibility to explore, but we never really came close to doing it. And I walked through all that with him. You know, he and I've had a number of conversations. We had dinner together and, you know, I think I don't ever expect the player to fully understand it because they don't want to, and that's the way they're wired and I appreciate that.

I also, you know, I told them I was, I apologize, not for doing my job or the things that I felt like I had to do, but more so that his name was so out there in public. Unfortunately, a player of his caliber, that's what happens during a baseball off season. It's a very interesting subject. And I don't take that lightly that I was putting or not taking off, you know, taking his name out of the marketplace. And so we kind of talk through those things. But he is very much committed to being here and being an elite baseball player for us. And we haven't hit the highs as a baseball team in this organization since I've been here without him being here. It's got to be a terrible situation for Mike Hazen.

to be in overall. I felt like I have seen him have to kind of explain exactly what their position on Catele Marte was entirely too much this offseason. And the reason why is because it became the huge story it is. It should be no surprise that it did, considering how good Cotel Marte is the minute that any kind of trade rumor popped up that essentially any team could potentially get him, every fan base,

29 other fan bases, all wanted their team to be in on Marte. That's how important of a player he is. And there was not a single, there was not a single person I saw that felt like any of the alleged clubhouse issues or what happened with him missing time

impacted their decision to add them to their roster in any way, shape, or form. That's because that's how good could tell us, right? But it goes on beyond that, right? Mike said that his biggest regret isn't, you know, take hearing, hearing teams out on what they would offer for, Cattel. His biggest regret was it turning into the story it did and it leaking like it did.

Mike Hazen and the D-backs do an excellent job at keeping information like this in-house. The reason? This. This is the reason, right? Like, I one time heard Mike Hazen say it serves him no good. There's no advantage. There's nothing that it does for a GM. for us as a public to know that he missed out on a player he was going after in free agency.

It does us no good. It does him no good, actually, for us to know that he missed out on a trade he was attempting to make. None of that makes a GM look good at their job when they were attempting to do something that they failed to accomplish. But in this case, it's more of the opposite. It was like, as Mike said, he wasn't really shopping to tell around. He was hearing out offers. and at the end of the day, that became the Diamondbacks

were shopping Cattel around, right? But Cotel looked very happy to be out there, and based on what Mike said and what Tory said, they are extremely happy to have them as a member of this team still, right? Mike, in fact, said that no team even got close on offering the Diamondbacks enough to trade for Cattel. So I feel like that should hopefully put this entire issue to bed that Damon and I have been attempting to defeat for entirely too long.

I doubt it will. I'm sure that Cotel Marte trade rumors will probably exist until the end of his time with this team, this franchise, maybe even with baseball. But we have more updates and we have some good news and we have some bad news to go over when it comes to this pitching staff on the other side of this break. Don't you guys go anywhere at all. You're watching the pH next time and back show. Well, the boys are out there getting ready for the season and you should be getting ready for the season at your home by accomplishing whatever project, whatever home improvement thing you are looking to get done,

and you can do that with the help of the fine folks at the Window Depot. They have far more of the windows. Of course, they can get you fitted for windows. They've been doing that for a long time since 2002 right here in Valley, but they can also get you fitted for anything else you're looking to accomplish, including countertops, cabinets, sinks, it doesn't matter. They have everything that you're looking for at the Window Depot. Contractors love the Window Depot because of, of course, their job site-ready quantities and their unbeatable prices. also no membership is required for contractors or for us. So make sure you stop by and get whatever you need to get your home improvement project accomplished today.

They have in-house designers that can help you. And those in-house designers are absolutely free of charge. So if you need help with your project, let the Window Depot get you started. The Window Depot, more than just a Windows store, check out their website right now at thewindowdepot.com to get started on your next project today. And of course, everyone needs a checking account. You also want to make sure that you get a checking account that gives back to you. And Mountain America Credit Union has a checking account with built-in benefits that does exactly that.

The My Style Checking Account for Mountain America Credit Union has perks just for you, which feature things like restaurant deals, mobile phone protection, telehealth access, identity protection, and so much more. You can get discounts on loans. You can get offers on travel and events. And there are new offers being added all the time. So, of course, get yourself a checking an account that gives back to you. Make MyStyle your lifestyle at Mountain America Credit Union.

Visit MACU.com slash my style to apply today. Insured by NCA membership is required based on eligibility. Some benefits require no cost registration activation, terms, conditions, and exclusions to apply. Well, we have so much here from Mike Hazen, but I did want to point out that that is, in fact, a new picture of Mike Hazen on our thumbnail today. And I was present when that was taken. I was encouraging it, Damon, for your business. benefit. So you had plenty of pictures of Mike. I need more, Derek. It doesn't, job's not finished. It doesn't stop at one picture or two pictures. I pointed out that we needed

one on his phone and Mike did whip his phone out and made a pretend phone call just so a picture if it could be taken. So I need you to be telling the great photographers out there every single day that they need to take a picture of Mike Hayson. Just like in different outfits and stuff maybe. Correct. We just need a variety. But the Diamondbacks need a variety of pitching arms. That's what they need. In fact, they need so much more than just a variety. With the loss of Andrew Saul-Frank, it would appear. The Diamondbacks are just once again in a position for their bullpen to be incomplete. Now, nothing is guaranteed.

Tori said that all of these guys, especially the bullpen arms when he was asked about it, are coming into this season with a clean slate, which means essentially, no matter how bad you were last year, they're looking at you, you know, new. But that goes for the guys that did well. And one thing I will say about Andrew Saul-Frank was when you look at his expected ERA, it was like in the fours. So there is a good chance that he might have had a substantial amount of luck behind him last year or at least good defense, which is something the Diamondbacks definitely started playing better defense in the second half. But more importantly, we need to get some updates on these other guys that are injured.

You know, the big three that we can't wait for them to return. AJ Puck, Corbyn Burns, and Justin Martinez. Now, you want the good news or the bad news first, Damon? What do you want to start with? Let's go bad news. You want to go bad news, right? Right away? Yeah.

All right. Justin Martinez, who had the more complicated procedure, said he expects to be back maybe in August. And I think that checks out from what I've been saying on this podcast, Eric, which is that injury happened later in the year. And I think Justin Martinez is a guy that, given his extension, given his age, they're probably going to slow play him a little bit more so than maybe an AJ Puck, who they'll rush back a little bit faster.

J. Mart also signed an extension with this team, and I think like what you're saying, that might play into it. It also would be the fact that he had a different procedure done than A.J. Puck. Meanwhile, A.J. Puck, good news for A.J. Puck told reporters today, Damon, that he is ready to return by May. I'll say that again. He said he is ready to return by May. But then he also added the caveat.

He doesn't think the team will let him. And there it is. And there it is. I mean, how massive would that be, man? Here's good news. This is the part that I did like. When asked for a clarification kind of on that, he basically was asked,

would it actually still be more closer to July and the All-Star break? And he said, no, that it would probably be closer to the beginning of June. So again, as far as reinforcements coming, it would feel like at the very least, AJ Puck may be available to the Diamondbacks far sooner than at least we were expecting to him to.

I mean, all of these injuries, all of these surgeries have fairly complicated timelines. And I think that when we hear a timeline of, let's say, eight to 16 months or something like that, what do you tend to do? Do you go on the eight months? Do you go worst case scenario, 16 months? or do you typically find like 12 months right in the middle? Like do you find like that? What do you do when you hear a range like that?

I tend to lean towards the front end. Right, right. I'm a little bit more of a consciously optimistic kind of guy. I've always been a healthy guy. And typically when it comes to recovering from things, I'm not going to be the person that is, you know, letting it kind of play out over an extended period of time. I'm trying to get back faster.

Yeah. And I mean, again, with the advancements and health and technology, and rehab, guys are able to get back faster. Lordus Gurriel Jr. is still like, I don't know. I think he's a robot. I don't think he's actually a human being. I think he's an early version of The Terminator and that that's what we're expecting. The bionic man.

He really is, man. I mean, but again, another bionic man is Corbyn Burns. Corbyn Burns said today that he keeps saying he will be ready by March as a joke and it sounds like the training staff is fed up with the joke they're like you're not going to be back by March

but I literally looked at him I told him I couldn't wait to see him back on the mound and he's like I'm working every day to get there brother and I was like all right man I cannot wait to see Corbyn Burns throw again but I also understand with how important he is to this team and honestly

how important it is for his future right like you have to listen to the medical professionals, and especially with a procedure like this, you have to give it time. Even when you feel good, that's probably the dangerous period of time because you feel good physically, but then you can go out there and let it rip and do further damage to the surgery that they did and possibly reset your entire timeline to miss, you know, the entire 2026 season. Yeah, I mean, Corbyn Burns is, you know, I know that he has the opt out, but I think you've got to be thinking long term about Corbyn Burns because we want him to be here long term in this organization.

So whatever is best for his long term health and his arm, I think, is what you roll with. But it does seem like he's one of these upper echelon athletes that maybe he's just built a little bit different than what a typical rundown of time would be and recovery time would be. So who knows? Maybe we get Corbyn Burns back faster than we thought. But yeah, I mean, certainly, you know, I think decently encouraging updates, the fact that all of them are, remain on schedule slash ahead of schedule, you know? Yeah. Well, we know one guy that's still out there potentially, um, looking for a team. And, uh, Tori Lobolo was asked if he is keeping a locker open, Damon, for Zach Galen to return

to the Diamondbacks. This is what Tori had to say about Zach possibly coming back. Um, Zach's, Zach's an incredible pitcher. And, you know, I don't know exactly what's going on. I don't know why he's still out there. But, you know, if something happens and he walks back into this clubhouse, we would welcome him with open arms, certainly. Is there an open locker for him?

No. I know where his locker was, and I saw that it was not open. But I can't understand exactly what's going on. I'm not so well versed on all of that right now. but I'm a little surprised that somebody hasn't gone after him with the sport. This is coming after, Derek, a report today from the Bob Nightingale. The Bob Nightingale. Goat who said, talks are heating up for starters, Zach Allen, the best remaining free agent on the market.

Teams showing the most interest. San Diego Padres, Baltimore Orioles, Chicago Cubs, Arizona Diamondbacks. Well, that's funny because two of those teams have already had false reporting made about Zach Gallagher signing, those teams of course it was the cubs early on and now yesterday we got some false news coming out that he had signed with the Padres but yeah very well could with the losses the Padres have experienced and everything that that team is is going through currently right I mean they need they need arms no I know I know please don't I'm not I'm not asking why does everybody sign in the NL West man why do the best players keep coming to the National League West we want Zach as far away from us as possible if he's not going to be on this team but Mike Hayes had a lot of lot to say about the Andrew Saul Frank injury and he also made a comment about the Diamondbacks not only

still being in the marketplace for a closer but also still being in the marketplace for starting pitching and he did not really hold back about those comments when asked he was very firm that this team is still out there shopping in the market and still need to add arms

now the first thing of course here is that we were curious as to what the injury to Andrew Saul Frank was. Tori had made a comment that it was a lingering injury. This wasn't something that came up suddenly. In fact, this was something that apparently went back to last season. So that is, I hope that answers some people's questions about how all of a sudden we went

from not knowing anything about Saul Frank being injured to seeing him in a hospital bed post shoulder surgery. But this is what Mike, and Mike's not a medical professional. I'll preface this with that, but he did his best on explaining what this injury is to Andrew Saul Frank. And then I asked him as a follow-up if Saul Frank was in line to be the closer, and this is what Mike had to say.

Labrum. It was, yeah. So it was, there was, there was, there was some, it's called a Bennett's lesion in there that they cleaned out and beveled out. I'm way above my skill set here, okay? So just bear with me.

I do believe they did some, some minor things to the Labrum and the rotator cuff. just trimming up or tacking down, not in a significant way, but all of those things are what's costing the time frame. The Solfranc in line to potentially do a closer? I don't know. I don't know. I know he was closing games at various points of time last year.

I don't know that we would have, I don't think he was stamped into doing something like that. Yeah. Could he have closed games, possibly? You know, could you have seen some form of what was going on last year in September? I'd be more hopeful that we kind of solidify somebody down into that spot rather than kind of managing it how we had to in September of last year. And see, one of the things that kind of popped up here recently was the idea that the Sol Frank injury, as they alluded to, wasn't something that came up suddenly if this was something the team had known about. I asked Mike if that was the reason why they made the trade moving Blaze Alexander in exchange for, for Kate Stroud, this is what Mike had to say about that move and about more moves to come.

No. No, I think we're still very much invested in building the bullpen out any way we can. I feel like we have a good collection of arms. A lot of them are on the younger side. Experience does matter in some of these roles and situations. And we have some good veterans, but there's just a handful of them now. You know, the guys that we have acquired, over the last 365 days. Most of them are younger and just breaking in. They've gotten some experience, but maybe not the experience we're willing to just hand jobs to.

And Cade is in that boat as well, but we're trying to build out as much depth and volume, especially in this area, because these good bullpen guys come from all over the place. There's no pedigree background necessarily that you could just say, hey, this is where good relievers come from. from. And sometimes it happens in a season, sometimes it happens in an off season, that they show up the next year, and they're that much better than they were the year before. And capturing as many opportunities to get good bullpen guys is what we're after. I mean, I'm sure that all of this stuff is ongoing, and I doubt that a sudden injury is going to drastically impact what Mike Hazen is doing, unless it's to like a position player during spring that he just simply has to replace. But at this point, it does.

does feel like the Diamondbacks have been trying to add to the bullpen in any way they can and also still interested in adding to the starting pitching. Now Mike was asked about how the soft rank injury impacts the bullpen overall and he kind of clarified both of those things. This is what Mike had to say. It certainly thins out the left side going into the season. It's something we're cognizant of and still in the market to continue to improve and enhance. I mean, there'll be opportunity for some of the younger left.

but we're in the market still to not ideal given what he did last year. Don't think where he was at physically it was going to last successfully, obviously. He was having some shoulder soreness and, you know, he dealt with a little bit of that at the end of the year last year, but pitched through it. I think the, you know, the thought that he was going to get through another 162 days was probably too much, and that's why we kind of went in this direction. but we you know there's certainly bullpens that don't have lefties as long as our righties are platoon neutral we don't have a ton of those guys so we're probably build back into the left side of things as we continue moving forward there's still a lot of opportunity on the market right now there's a lot of opportunity in the market quote unquote a lot huh go get danny kalum already and stop wasting our time is what i have to say because i don't know what this lot lot in the market he's talking about

talking about, Damon. When I look at the available free agent relievers, I have Danny Cullough, none are, there's one guy under the age of 35, by the way. The rest of them are all older. We do have some old friends still available. Jalen Beeks, still available, lefty, Andrew Chaffin, also still available. Disaster. Outside of Danny Coulomb, you have Evan Phillips, Justin Williams, the two I just named, Joe Ross, Jose LeClerk, Shelby Miller, who's going to miss the entirety of the season, Joe Ross, Jorge Lopez, and Michael Copec. Paul Sewell also still a bit.

I wouldn't mind Copeck, but that's not a lefty, is it? Yeah. He's a righty. Wow. I'm pretty sure. I don't know what he's talking about with the market opportunities. I don't know either. But, yeah.

I mean, unless he's talking about trading for Jojo Romero from the St. Louis Cardinal. or another reliever from a different team, I can't see it. And again, there's some, I think the biggest opportunity for this team is still already here in the minor league system. Seeing so many of those young guys out there again, seeing John Curtis and Taylor Rashi out there.

Like, there are a lot of options for this team, and Damon has said it, but it's like, you just need, like, two guys to take a step forward. You know, that's what you need. You don't really. need this to be everybody in the bullpen is excellent and great. I mean, some of them were fine. And if they can do what they did last year, their efforts and their production would be enough to help this team win baseball games. The one thing that both Tori and Mike said today is that the losses

that this team experienced last year, the heartbreaking losses, all of those blown leads that they had in 2025, they are not all on the pitching staff, even though at the end of the day, that's who we blame, and that's who usually gets hit with the negative numbers on their stats to make it look like they're to blame. But the talk about defense being bad last year was a big subject today, and improving that defense seemed to be one of the main focuses of the offseason. It's why they targeted Nolan Aronado, and it's why they bring in Carlos Santana at nearly 40 years old. Both of those guys have declining offensive numbers, and neither one would really tell you that they're exactly the most. desirable player to add to your team. But what it comes down to is pairing that with an infield of Cotell Marte, of Geraldo

Perdomo, pairing that with an outfield of Alec Thomas and Corbyn Carroll, both guys who are incredible defenders, right? It feels like they are trying their best to lock down defense and they feel like the offense they're going to get is enough. And they're probably right about that. This was a top five offense last year. And that was even with the streakiness of guys like Lourdes and, you know, you know, Gino who were, you know, not playing for this team later in the second half of the season.

Yet the second half of the season is when this roster somehow found the most, you know, the biggest amount of success. But the most success this team has experienced was when a guy named Paul Seawald came around and became the closer for this team. And Mike and Torrey both discussed this team either adding a closer or naming a closer, but that definitely seems to be a priority. and it should be, God damn it. So let's hear first from Mike,

because this is what Mike had to say, more importantly about adding a closer once again from the market. I'll let, you know, I'll let Tori kind of talk through more of how we're going to deploy. We're still out in the marketplace looking to enhance our bullpen any way that we can. I know that he's going to probably want to have a closer

by the end of spring training. We've kind of said that seems to be when we've had our best runs from a bullpen standpoint, so I'm sure that's still going to hold. That's true. Wow. What do you think about that, Damon? It's interesting that they know that that's when they've had their best runs is when they have a designated closer.

And yet you know it, right? And yet we still roll out closers by committee with Taylor Rashy and, you know, Woodford and whatnot at the all season. It's pretty baffling. Jake Woodford. Oh, my God. That's a name that I haven't heard. You're going to remember that one. It's been like D-BACs trivia and which DBAX relievers.

Which 17 relievers got saved last year. Last season for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Every one of them got it. Oh, yeah. Michael in the chat is right. Closer by committee does not work. I still feel like this moves us one step closer to Dre Jameson, eventually being the closer for this team.

But we'll see what happens. I mean, why do we not bring in a bridge closer for when we wait for Jay Martin Puck to get back? Why did we not bring in another lefty in general, Damon? do we not have enough lefty pitchers we have philip abner is a lefty uh we have brandon garcia is a lefty those are your two lefties right now that you can maybe count on because both of those guys were kind of good last season for this team despite the stats not backing that up you had andrew saw frank and that's it and puck well you have puck as far as injured guys go you have saul frank you have puck you have blake walston he's not a reliever though you know it's like as far as starting

pitchers go. I think we have more lefty starters with the addition of Cole Drake and Mitch Bratt in our system than we have lefty relievers. That's insane. That's insane. That shouldn't probably be how things are. Do we bring Banda home as R.A. puts in the shot? Oh my God. Please, let's bring Anthony Banda home. What are we doing? He was the Dodgers best reliever last year. He was better than Tanner Scott. That's for sure. Man, had a 3.19 ERA in 2025. Come on. Is it 3.18? Yeah, 3.18.

71 games. Bring my guy home. Bring my guy home. Bring Anthony Banda back to this team. Well, we have more from Tori here. This is what Tori Lovolo had to say about the Tori Lovolo, like it's a different story. Here's what he had to say about the closer situation himself.

No opening day starter. I'm sure if things stay the same, I'm sure you could probably figure out the right name. that I'm thinking about. But as far as a closer, I know that's always a big question that's asked throughout the spring. And it's known,

because I've said it to you, I've said it to Mike and inside of my office. Like, I work the game backwards. I go from the ninth inning and start piecing together backwards. And, you know, I know some of the moves I make don't work out, but I feel like I'm trying to,

I have a strategy in the third inning, how the fifth inning is going to happen. And in the fifth inning, how the ninth inning is going to happen. So I'm projecting the game in advance, and it's just nice to know that you have somebody that can lock down the ninth inning. So they know that.

And I think Mike maybe he's even made comments that he knows that's important to me. So I appreciate that. Where that goes and how we take that, I'm not sure. But it would be nice to have a closer because that's just how my mind works right now. I hate how he says it would be nice to have a closer. I really do. I mean, I get it from the same perspective that we've talked about probably a million times. in the four and a half years we've been doing this podcast.

For me, as a baseball fan and as someone that's been covering this team for entirely too long, it makes all the sense in the world to go with closer by committee, doesn't it? Yeah. Like, doesn't it? Because you have no idea who's going to be hitting in the ninth? You have no idea which of your pitchers actually, like, does well against that particular group of hitters. You don't know if it's going to be lefties or righties.

Like, it feels like having the flexibility of being able to go to multiple relievers in high-end or high-leverage back-end situations like that make sense. But for some reason in baseball, it doesn't work. It doesn't work. And it's getting harder. I mean, baseball overall is getting harder. It feels like closers are not nearly as dominant as they once were. It felt like almost every team in the late 90s and early 2000s had a badass closer

with a cool theme song that they walked out to. And everybody was, you know, basically like incredible, right? That doesn't seem to be the case anymore. And the, like, true lights out closers are fewer and farther between the network. So that's part of baseball and the direction that we're going. And it's the reason why Tori is still saying it would be nice to have, but not a necessity. The feeling still, like I said, was that the defense cost this team more games last year than the pitching. and while that might be true,

I'll say that again, it doesn't necessarily feel that way. The only thing that makes you think that is when you look at the poor performance from the pitchers both starting and in the bullpen, that kind of tracks, because everybody had like a four ERA or a five ERA. So either everybody's bad or the defense made them bad.

In cases with like Zach Gowan, I discussed visually seeing, gallon be frustrated on the mound after his defense out there made a mistake. And he didn't come back out looking as sharp. He didn't come back out with the same stuff he had all the game. He's throwing meatballs all of a sudden and giving up three or four extra runs at that point. It's all because with two outs per domo or Catell made a mistake and it extended the inning. And then, you know, you could see shoulders droop and kind of sadness in the face, right? So again, that frustration could have resonated with the entire pitching staff

with how the defense was, especially early on. The Diamondbacks made a lot of changes throughout the year in an attempt to fix that. And maybe their success in the second half was a direct result of that. But the big thing here overall is that Mike made several comments about still being in the market for a closer and also still being in the market for a starting pitcher.

I don't know if that Like if those two things could basically Help each other out Like if the addition of Zach Allen means that Michael Soroka gets moved to the pen And now you have a long reliever in him So maybe other things can work out after that Not exactly sure But Robert in the chat says the pitching was bad

Defense didn't help and that is probably something that's very true It's probably a little column A And a whole lot more of column B But I think both of those things impacted this team and caused them to have as many blown leads as they had in 2025. But they hope to change that and they hope to change that with a new first baseman. Carlos Santana has officially become a member of this team and I can start making all of the jokes about Carlos Santana and his songs and his music and all of that.

That's going to be a lot of fun. We're going to have some fun with the thumbnails around here on this podcast with Carlos Santana being here. But the 39-year-old brings tremendous defense. Oh, yeah, how-va, Derek? Hey, how do you go? But Damon, 2024-A-L gold glove winner, 2019 Silver Slugger, 2019 All-Star Star Starter, 2017 Wilson defensive player of the year. That's who the Diamondbacks are getting here.

Carlos Santana, number 41 in your heart, but still only 39, even though you might think he's 41. It might get confusing. One thing I noticed about Sir Carlos Santana Damon, not as big as I thought he was. In pictures, he looks much bigger than he is. 5'10. Me and him, same height. But overall, among MLB, active MLB players, he ranks top 10 in walks, games play, doubles, hits, RBI, and

homers. The man brings a tremendous amount of experience to this team, something, once again that the Diamondback were light on before the addition of Aeronado and before the addition of Santana. He's recorded 25 plus doubles and 20 plus home runs in two of his last three seasons and nine times over his career. He's one of just three switch hitters in MLB history to record 300 plus home runs, 400 doubles of 1,300 walks. He does, he is a switch hitter. He does bring that versatility to this lineup. And overall, his 32 defensive runs saved since 2023 ranks,

ranks second most in Major League Baseball behind Matt Olson. He's ahead of Christian Walker. He's ahead of Paul Goldschmidt and he's ahead of Nick Kurtz. That's your reasons why the Diamondback signed Carlos Santana. Not to mention the fact that the money they saved on signing Santana to this deal versus what they would have signed someone like Goldschmidt or a Thai France for would actually be enough money for them to add another bullpen arm to this roster. and that's probably another big reason why they went after Santana, right?

He's appeared in 30 postseason games, and he's played in seven games in the 2016 World Series versus the Cubs. So, again, he is just a guy that has a tremendous amount of experience in baseball, something, again, the Diamondbacks tend to be light on with how youthful their roster is. And again, this is just a guy that is going to help solidify things over there. we have no idea how this platoon is going to play out because, you know, this is not exactly the split with Pavin Smith that we thought we were going to get. But, of course, Mike did make his comments on that. This is what Mike had to say about the addition of Carlos Santana over there at first base and what he's going to bring to this team. I think one of the things that we set off into this off season, you know, coming off of last year, year was a commitment to really fortifying our defense in a lot of the moves that we were trying

to make. And I feel like we've tried to stay somewhat stubborn to that. I know the offense over the last couple of years has performed admirably up in the top of the league two years in a row. And that's great. And we still have a lot of firepower at the top of our lineup. We'll continue to round out and build the bottom part of our lineup. Wanted to make sure that our defense was where it needed to be.

and he's an elite defender at that position. And, you know, there's certainly going to be some days with him, Pavin, mixing in and around there. Still, you know, not 100% certain where the DH and all those days are going to be. It seems like Gurriel's a little bit ahead of schedule. So fitting him back onto the club. When he comes back will be important. I'm sure there'll be DH days for him needing to be baked in.

Catell's going to do some D-Hing on days that he doesn't play second. And so, you know, in and around putting all those pieces together, we really wanted to solidify the corners for this team moving forward and for the defense to really, from a run prevention standpoint, that's been the reason the last two years we haven't made the playoffs. We wanted to make sure that that wasn't the case going into this year. Fun fact, Okam in the chat says we should have brought back Josh Bell on his beautiful navy blue arm sleeve.

The reason why we didn't bring back Josh Bell was because he refused to update the color of his arms left. We were like, you need to go teal. He said, no, we said, good day, sir. But yeah, no, when it comes to what some of these other guys were going to cost and stuff, yeah, there's going to be a lot of money probably still being thrown around. As we get closer to opening day of actual spring training games and the real opening day itself, though, those costs for some of these players have to come down.

There's a good chance that that could be what Mike is waiting for. He's done a pretty good job in the last few seasons of adding some big names or at least, you know, what we thought were big names until they ended up really screwing us over being part of this team. And no, I shouldn't say that. That's probably wrong to say. Corvin Burns didn't screw us over. He just got hurt and nobody can stop that from happening. But it's that other guy and you know who I'm talking about. But Tori or excuse me, Mike also discussed what this team is going to do with their first base platoon with the addition of Carlos Santana.

He doesn't necessarily fit in as well or slot in as well offensively as someone like Paul Goldschmidt would have. But again, Mike Hazen pointed out that he is very, very versatile and still will probably play a similar role as Goldie or anybody else they would have added to a first base platoon. Here's what he had to say. Yeah, I'm not sure exactly. You know, Carlos is certainly stronger versus lefties, paving stronger versus righties. So there is still some of that, you know, from a defensive standpoint. we expect Pavin to grow and improve from a defensive standpoint. So we'll see where the year takes us.

We've bounced Paving around quite a bit. We've never really given him a spot to sort of solidify himself defensively. We'll be doing that this year. So he's going to continue to improve. I think that position more than any other experience in reps and hard work can yield significant improvements at that position. But Carlos comes now as an elite defensive player, and he's going to see times there.

And I'm sure there's going to be early in the season, opportunities to defensive replace if we're ahead and things like that. But that'll be up to worry how it gets deployed. The biggest thing I love about this is if Tyler is supposed to be the future at first base for this team, right? Then being under one of the best defensive first baseman in MLB is not a bad place for someone like young Mr. Locklear to be here, right? Paven saw Paven taking reps over there at first base, and Paven could absolutely surprise us all, right?

And I think Paven is a guy that many people have written off as not necessarily being a complete failure, but not living up to the potential of the draft pick he was and what people viewed him to be. I'll still never forget when I think it was JJ Reddick told me that he is the best, he knows the strike zone better than anybody he's ever seen. No, not JJ Redick. I'm sorry. I'm completely sorry. Definitely not JJ Reddick,

but that he was at the best knowledge of the strike zone he'd ever seen. So there were a lot of positives about Pavin Smith, and I still think that he could be what so many people thought he was going to be. But again, the Diamondbacks kind of need to figure out what they're going to do going forward as far as first base. and all of that kind of stuff, right? The future of first base is unknown for this team. When you look at the farm system,

when you look at who was going to be a, you know, contributor to this team at first base, who's going to be the future. It didn't appear that Diamondbacks had a very good candidate in their farm system or anything like that, right? It's one of the most uninspiring groups, probably in all of baseball. Considering how good their depth is in the minor league system

at other infield positions, it's shocking how much that gap, how big that gap is for first base, right? Damon's already talked about it. The Diamondbacks were poised, it might still be poised, to have one of the worst OPS productions. It'll be bottom five. There's a zero percent, you know, doubt in my mind that it will not be a bottom five OPS unit as a first base unit, no doubt.

But at the same time, you also have the fact that, uh, again Tyler Locklear could be that person right could he I don't know I don't know man I'm I also like you're more positive than me Derek I don't think just being around Carlos Santana is going to make Tyler Locklear I don't mean that I don't know what I mean it's like when you are on a team with it's not like Tyler Locklear isn't going to be part of that platoon when he returns from injury so it does feel like it's far more beneficial to have Carlos Santana over there playing first even if Tyler Locklear is just absorbing by

watching and by osmosis rather than just kind of trying to figure it out also with Paven Smith also trying to figure it out I have no hope I have no hope for that position I hope my hope is that the diamondbacks get off to a hot enough start that we can trade for

a power hitting first basement give me give me Ryan Mountcastle at the trade deadline that's what I'm all in on I still love that man when I heard we a trade with the Baltimore Orioles. Yeah, that was exactly where I first went. That is exactly where I went. And it was not the case.

I mean, we got an Ivan Melinda shout in the comments. I don't see it. I don't see it. And I don't really see it with any of the first baseman that are in this organization right now. I'd be completely honest with you. I hope, I hope Pavin Smith and Tyler Locklear proved me wrong because they're going to have the best opportunity to do so. this season. And, uh, and yeah, haven't seen consistency from either one of those guys that you want to see at that position in particular. So big, big, uh, big steps ahead. Big, big, uh, you know,

responsibility on the plate of, of Paveyman Smith in particular, who's going to get a ton of at bats. He is. And just has to prove that he belongs as a key cog of this organization, or else we're probably talking about finding a replacement for him next season. Big Jake Franklin in the chat says Lou James Groover maybe over at first. That seems kind of like a waste of his arm though just a little bit. I mean, listen, I like Lou James Groover. I think that that could be a guy that also could potentially maybe be a call-up this season if things go to plan with his development.

Maybe he's the third basement of the future. Wouldn't you say, though, that you've said this in the past. If Lou James Gruver gets added to this roster, as much as it means he's doing things right, it might be. something went terribly wrong for the Diamondbacks as far as needing. Oh, if it's bad injury probably, right? Yeah. Where something real bad happened.

But yeah, I mean, you know, you get late call-ups throughout the year and there's injuries and whatnot. I'd rather see Lou James Gruver get a chance than, you know, bringing in another like dude off of waivers that bringing in a manual or Vera. Yeah. You know what I mean. Hey, hey, hey, watch it. Watch it.

By the way, it was Josh Reddick. That was the player I was looking for. not J.J. Reddick. I was close. There was a J and a Reddick and all that in there, but Josh Reddick was the guy who said Pavin Smith knew the strike zone better than anybody he's ever seen. By the way, wanted to thank you guys. We accomplished a big goal.

We got to 50,000 subscribers on YouTube and we couldn't have done it without each and every single one of you that has already subscribed that has told a friend about us or has simply just joined us as part of our family. It really does mean a lot. We came

we were supposed to do it before the Super Bowl and then we didn't and then Damon was going to be deprived of pizza or ever eating again but Espo showed his benevolence he did say I have to bring my own pizza which I don't find it to be fair

but nonetheless as long as Damon's eating I'm happy so thank you guys so much for subscribing for joining us and for feeding Damon dog for sure Jacob Franklin the chat says heard at 100K Derek will take his dirt off again. At 100K, Derek will drink an entire bottle of champagne out of the baseball bat

again, and Derek will take a lift home shirtless. 100K. 100K. Going into the World Series. Those are the two things that make Derek take a shirt off on these streams, and that's what you get what you get. That's right. I mean, there's other things that make me take my shirts off, but we don't get in.

We don't live stream. We don't live stream those. But speaking of live streaming or at least watching games, shout out to our friends from Channel 12, just down the street. Where are they? They're that way. But our friends at Tegna, Channel 12, will broadcast 11 over the air games in 2026 for the Diamondbacks once again.

So our guy, Cam Cox and Lena and everybody will be down there on the field doing pregame stuff. Great coverage from our guys over at Channel 12. They do an absolute outstanding job. I love the fact that they go. And Jake, right? What's that? And Jake?

Yeah, Jake. Oh, we love ourselves from Jake Garcia around here. Garcia. He is a hero amongst media members, right? Derek loves him. Oh, I love Jake. I love Jake Garcia so much. But I have to say one of the reasons why one day was it Merrill?

I think it was Merrill. It might have been Michael Soroka, but Jake was brave enough to ask him to turn. I think it was Merrill. It was Merrill. Which is that one's testier than Soroka. Yeah, that's, yeah. You're walking in. You're talking about a Valley legend.

You're going, hey, Merrill, you mind maybe just flipping that landscape mode? Sideways, yeah. I mean, a hero to the rest of the media. A hero among media members, for sure. That's something that, like, if you've ever asked a question in, like, a scrum or something, and you're, I mean, having to ask the athlete to change his technology to make it better for everybody else, horrifying experience. Go back and watch our interview with Alec Thomas.

He did the entire thing in front of the window. Yeah, Alec, this is really good. We don't even know if it was really Alec or not. We can't confirm it was him or not. It might have been a... Dude, this shot rules. Sweet. This is great.

But, again, 11 over-the-air games. I think people here in the Valley love local broadcast doing it. And not to say that the MLB thing over there isn't local. It is totally local. We still got Jody on there. We still got, you know, the entire cast of characters. And nothing's really changed with the Diamondbacks broadcast. In fact, you could maybe argue that some of the graphics, some of the cry-on stuff like that is even better.

So I haven't hated MLB broadcasting Diamondbacks games. But it does, I think, in general, with what the Sons are doing, on Channel 3 and Channel 5, I think that it's just great to have more local coverage of our teams with the reporters that are there in the clubhouse every day. And again, the guys over at Channel 12 do a great job. Lando in the chat says get all games on local TV, and I know people would love that,

especially with the news that we discussed yesterday about MLB.tv being behind a double paywall and ESPN requiring you to have an unlimited subscription on top of an MLB.tv subscription to get out-of-market games. So, yeah, it's definitely something that, you know, you want to see more of. Baseball is 162 game season, and in general, people don't really want to, I don't know, deal with all of this external, national kind of coverage of their teams. It's one of the reasons why people like me and this guy over here.

They know we're here. We're rooting for this team every day. we're out there getting hugs from Cattel and Jerry. Well, at least one of us is. And, you know, we're doing the thing, right? No favoritism at all. There's no way. There is no way them hugging me is going to impact how critical I am of their play this season or befriending me.

So, I mean, I was just- The second that Perdomo acknowledges my existence, Derek, you will not hear the end of this podcast. You're going to melt into a puddle. It's going to be amazing. I can't wait for it. You said that he told you thank you. Yeah. What do you think that's about?

spreading the gospel of Geraldo Perdomo? I don't know. Was that for me? He goes, tell Damon Dogg. I said thank you. Tell Damon dog. For everything he's done for my career.

Yeah, for sure. For sure. Listen, I don't know. That to me at least sounds like he, Geraldo Perdomo is, we're on the radar of what he's got going on.

And if he is thanking us for our coverage of the diamond backs, then he must know, right? Oh, that I am just leading the, army into war for this man. I would venture to say that he also knows about Pardomo's biggest fan on Twitter and probably has an opinion on who is actually his biggest fan.

I'm just saying he might be the true one to ask about that. Hopefully, we'll be joined by Jerry on this podcast some point soon. Oh, that'd be a lecture. And yeah, if we do, it's going to be the greatest interview we've ever done. But we thank you guys so much for joining us. This is just day one. We will have so much more for you throughout the week. I will be out there both being cold and hot at the same time throughout the day.

Just like we love to do. Classic Arizona spring. Classic Arizona spring. You bring a hoodie for the morning. Freezing in the morning. Because it's cold as hell. And then by the time it hits about 11 o'clock, you're like, wow, I can't believe I. I can't believe I even brought a sweatshirt out here.

The very idea that it was not left in my car seemed insane to me. Yeah. Also, while they were doing. fundamental throwing drills, Damon. I did get hit by an errand, a ball that got away. So I don't know who to blame. Who tried to kill you? I think it was Ketel.

Maybe that's why he hugged me. I don't know. But maybe it was Carlos. Katel said I saw all those freaking Ketel trade podcasts. You guys were doing this offseason. You guys think you're going to get away with getting 1.5K on every episode without me getting a little retribution? Guess what? I guess me and Derek are just going to have to take Ketel out to dinner. like Mike did and kind of squash things over.

Oh, by the way. Tori says Sunday dinner is canceled this week. What? Yeah, we'll have to catch up with them next Sunday for sure. It's a full squad workout. So I think he really wants to get in there, give it that extra effort. And the marinara sauce, Damon, it needs all day to- Can Mrs. Lovolo just maybe just throw something in some Tupperware and I can stop by and heat it up?

That's different. That's different. Well, there's definitely some leftovers for sure. So we'll talk about that. We'll maybe get to that tomorrow. but of course. Could you imagine if that was like actually, like we talked our way into that being real content that happens?

Oh, yeah. Yeah, if Tori brings me a Tupperware container at Salt Riverfield tomorrow, or just genuinely, it's Derek. Derek and Damon get invited to the Lavolo's house for Italian dinner. Oh, and Shane's going to record it.

Yeah. Yeah. Bring, we'll have mics on the table. It'll be great. No question about it. Cooking lesson from Tori himself. But that's,

this is the best Gabagool I've ever had in my life, Tori. He's like, everything has to meet in the pot. That's the secret to the recipe. It's everything meat and in the pot. Well, we will be back tomorrow with another 4 p.m. show. Don't know how long we will be doing these four. Hopefully just the rest of this week,

but we might have Tori still taking over our time slot next week. So we will see. But make sure you join us tomorrow here at 4. We will be back with more from day two of pitchers and catchers and camp and spring training and all that. Until then, you can follow us on Twitter. I am at Kapp underscore K-B-B-B-A-B-B-G-at-the-K. Damon is at Damon dog with a D-A-W-G at the end. And we are all Damon's dog.

Bark Bark. Our show is at PHNX underscore D-Backs, but as always, all roads lead to at PHNX underscore sports on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. We thank you, we love you. We appreciate your time so much. We will see you back here tomorrow with another 4 p.m. show.

Until then, hope you guys all have a wonderful evening and hope you're all as excited as we are that baseball is back. So again, until tomorrow, hope you have a wonderful evening. And remember, kids, baseball is fun, but it's so much more fun when you finally name a closer!

Thank you.