PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - D-backs Offseason HEATS UP as Ketel Marte & Lucas Giolito Rumors Intensify

Episode Date: November 26, 2025

Rumors about the Arizona Diamondbacks potentially trading Ketel Marte just won’t die, so we break down whether there’s any real legitimacy to Mike Hazen “actively listening” to offers. We also... dive into whether free-agent starter Lucas Giolito would truly fit the Snakes’ needs and why bringing back Merrill Kelly might make more sense. Plus, we spotlight a very suspicious D-backs vs Padres series in April that sure looks like it’s headed to Mexico City. Jesse Friedman from Snakes Territory joins us in studio to unpack all of this, along with what we’re thankful for this holiday season.Join Derek, Damon & Jesse on the PHNX D-backs Podcast!!!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.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 We got the band back together in studio, and we are very thankful for that. We are also thankful for the Arizona Diamondbacks allegedly being active here in the free agent market. But we are going to discuss the Cotelmarté rumors once again and why they keep coming up. We're going to do all of this in 30 seconds. Don't you go anywhere. And welcome in to another edition of the PHNXDbacks podcast live from Studio K, presented by our friends in Circle K. I am your mayor of P. HNX, occasionally known as Derek Montia. Dilled to have this man sitting next to me once again.
Starting point is 00:00:47 He is occasionally known as the Thunderstick, but always known as Jesse Friedman. And of course, we couldn't do this without the triumphant trio here. So the cafe to my Leche is here behind the ones and twos. It's the one, the only the incomparable Damon Farrell, aka Bark Bark, Bark, Damon Dog. And again, thrilled to have you guys here with us. Happy Thanksgiving week. Fun week, fun time to get back together with friends and family. You're in town for that exact thing, I imagine.
Starting point is 00:01:17 I'm in town just so that I can be here with you. I love it. I know it. I know it. This show is brought to you by our friends at GameTime. Make sure to download that GameTime app. Create an account and use our code of PHNX for $20 off your first purchase terms do apply. Just bought some shangulous tickets on GameTime, Derek.
Starting point is 00:01:35 Nice. Fired up. Nice. I could use a good laugh. Always could use a good laugh. Cool bro wants to know when the beard is coming back. Apparently people have had it already with the mustache. They're like, oh, this was cute.
Starting point is 00:01:47 But seriously, bro, once that beard coming back, we need that back. But something that I am tired of hearing. I'm never tired of hearing about this mustache, but I am tired of hearing about the Cotel Marte rumors. It feels, Jesse, like they come up once a week, once every two weeks. More rumors are generated. And I'm not trying to discount the people that are addressing these rumors, right? It's some of the biggest names in journalism for baseball.
Starting point is 00:02:18 It's Ken Rosenthal. It's Bob Nightingale. It's people that are highly respected and know a lot about the inner workings of teams. And they have a lot of information more than most of us, right? However, when I'm hearing these rumors, when they're talking about Cotel Marte, it feels like everything is just very circumstantial, right? It feels like, oh, well, they have a lot of needs, and he would get a big return, and his contract,
Starting point is 00:02:45 and the 10 and 5 rules and all that kind of stuff, right? So, like, there's, or 10 and 5 rights, but like overall here, when they are reiterating this, John Marosi was on the MLB network yesterday, he once again just said that the Diamondbacks are listening to offers for Cotel Marte, which is literally nothing new since, the entire
Starting point is 00:03:07 I mean, ever since the Cotel Marte rumors started coming up, all Mike Hazen has said is that they have been listening. So it doesn't feel like anything's changed, yet these rumors kind of get reinvigorated every once or twice a week or every two weeks to
Starting point is 00:03:23 make Diamondbacks fans sad again and make them think that Cotel Marte is indeed getting traded. I guess the maybe new elements of the report from Morosi was that he actually said that the chances of this happening are, I think he's 50, 50, 50 or above, something like that, which is, I mean, that's a lot higher than, than I thought at least. I don't know what you've been thinking about this.
Starting point is 00:03:46 That's why I don't like it. And again, we know, we know that where there is smoke, there is fire, right? But I feel like people like Rosenthal and Nightingale and Marisci, they would all say, like, I have sources that are telling me this, right? Or I've heard or whatever. And when you listen carefully to their, you know, to their discussions about Coteau-Marté, it's never really that. It's just, once again, it feels very circumstantial. Yeah, I don't know exactly what to make of it.
Starting point is 00:04:18 I mean, certainly nobody has said what Morosi said about it being, you know, 50% or above. I still have a hard time imagining how it comes together. I mean, I have no, there's no surprise, as you said, that the debacks are listening. I think actively listening is the phrase that Marosi used as opposed to passively listening. I don't know. Actively listening is what I tell my wife I do when I'm setting my fantasy football lineup. She's talking to me. And she's like, you weren't listening to me.
Starting point is 00:04:46 I was like, I was actively listening. Doing two things at once, multitasking. Yeah, well, you know how bad I am at that. And it doesn't go well for me when I told my wife that either. So trust me, it's not an excuse. And I don't know what it really means, but actively listening, I guess, means that, you know, you're going to call a team on, let's say, Shohei Otani and you're going to talk to the Dodgers about trading him.
Starting point is 00:05:11 Are the Dodgers actively listing the deals on Shoayotani? No, right? They're actively hanging up the phone on you. They're actively rejecting your phone call, not even speaking to you, right? So there's like, there are players in the league that just would be off limits. And even if a team were to call them, they would say that they're crazy. And I'm not, I'm not even going to have a discussion with you about this. Obviously, Hazen is having discussions.
Starting point is 00:05:31 He is talking to people. He is hearing them out. In fact, they named names. Damon and I, we tried to figure out in docs which teams were actually calling them about Catelle-Marté. We did nail its Ronald Blue Jays, but right at the end, we disqualified the Phillies. We thought maybe the Phillies wouldn't have done it. But apparently, those are the two teams so far that have been named that have called and checked in on Cotel-Marté. I think our Phillies cross-off had more to do with being like, we're laughing them off the phone when they
Starting point is 00:06:01 Yeah, that's what it was. Ha, ha, the guy who's the NLCS MVP over, you guys, you're going to trade him to you. Yeah, no, you guys keep Bryce and stop. We don't want any of that in a trade, right? But apparently it was the Phillies and apparently it was the Blue Jays. The Blue Jays make a lot of sense because they are right now in that mode of we were this close to winning a World Series and we want to do everything we can to make this team even better and actually get the job done next year. They have that situation with Boba Chet potentially leaving, so they could have,
Starting point is 00:06:31 an opening there if they move Andres Jimenez and put Catele-Marté there at second base. So all overall makes sense. And again, a team like the Toronto Blue Jays might have the assets. However, is Trey I Savage on the table? That's what I want to know because if we're talking Cotel-Marty, right? Like I feel like no matter what, the value is going to be too low for us unless it's astronomical. And then you would just laugh off a trade for someone like Trey is Savage. because why would they give us that kind of youthful, you know,
Starting point is 00:07:07 youthful pitcher that has an amazing potential career ahead of them? Yeah, I mean, I don't think there's any way the Blue Jays entertain you Savage at this point. Although I don't think it'd be an unreasonable ass from the Diamondbacks perspective. But, I mean, you sort of already know the Blue Jays are going to say now. But when you talk about Marte's contract, how many years of control he has, what the Diamondbacks have to pay him. Like, yeah, I mean, honestly, like, it is not.
Starting point is 00:07:31 that outrageous, but the Blue Jays once again would probably hang up the phone on us. Also, that World Series run is going to endure a lot of guys there on that Blue Jays team to the fans and the organization. So it's hard to imagine them offering up some of the players that they could offer up. Maybe we get a Dalton Varshow back? Maybe he may. Donald Varshow would sort of meet a need for the diamond facts, funny enough at this point. There's only one year of control left with Varshow at this point.
Starting point is 00:08:01 So I doubt that would make a ton of sense. I will say, like, don't tell me you didn't fall in love with Ernie Clement in the postseason. I mean, the man hit, he hit 411, if I'm not mistaken, in the playoffs. And he was a pretty good player in the regular season, too. Just not that. Just he wasn't what he was in the playoffs. That's what made his run so amazing. He hit 277 in the regular season.
Starting point is 00:08:27 Really, really good defender can play a variety of infield positions, was worth 4.3 wins above replacement over a baseball reference, which is a pretty big number. Sure. Sure. The Blue Jays might be willing to trade Ernie Clement for Citellmante. Clement is the type of player the debacks could use, but I don't think you're content with that if you're the Diamondbacks.
Starting point is 00:08:48 No, not at all. And not only that, but it's, again, it comes back to my thing of the return is going to be too small unless it's to the point where I feel like if Diamondbacks fans, if we are satisfied with it, it is most likely asking too much of the team that's involved in the trade. However, we've already seen some weird trades go down.
Starting point is 00:09:08 We've kind of talked a little bit about them, but I wanted to get your thoughts because I can't make a whole heck of a lot of sense about it. Like, don't get me wrong. There's some good players being swapped in these deals, but Marcus Simeon for Brandon Nimmo, that one leaves me so bewildered, especially considering what Mark is.
Starting point is 00:09:29 Marcus Simeon meant to that Rangers team. I understand why the Mets kind of would want to bring him in, even though his numbers kind of declined. And again, Brandon Nimmo, he was doing pretty good. So I don't know exactly why you would want to trade him away. Like these kind of trades are weird to me because they don't happen often in baseball. Usually you can get a sense of what one team is doing versus another. Feels like the Rangers are trying to dump some salary,
Starting point is 00:09:58 but not like a lot of it. And I mean, that's overall with all of their moves. But this move particularly just seems kind of odd. Yeah, it really was. I mean, both of these guys are in their 30s. They're clearly on the downturn of their very short. I'm not sure. Sorry, I had to just my chair because I'm realizing how short I already am.
Starting point is 00:10:17 Go ahead. You're not used to having someone next to you anymore. Yeah, I mean, Semino is 35, Nimmo is 32. I guess the Rangers, you know, the Semen contract had less total money on it, but it did have more on an annual basis. So the Rangers just on a year to year basis, I guess the luxury tax hit will reduce for them with Brandon Nimmo. I, yeah, weird, weird trade. I mean, I think I would rather have Brandon Nimmo of the two players at this point. Right.
Starting point is 00:10:51 Semyon was not. He had an 89 WRC plus this past season. So he's still okayish offensively, but really all the value there is coming from his defense. And you kind of wonder what that's going to look like. He's, you know, 35 years old with three more years on the contract. I don't know that he's going to age too well. So very strange. Here's the thing with the Mets, right?
Starting point is 00:11:15 They had this collapse this year. And one of the theories I saw about this had to do with, Marcus Simeon being that captain, right? And like, again, you're right about that. In the grand scheme of things, it does feel like this is actually in the Rangers' favor a little bit, except for the fact that Simeon meant so much to that team. And, I mean, the idea of bringing a guy like that into your clubhouse
Starting point is 00:11:38 that is a leader and holds others accountable feels like maybe more important to a very talented Mets team than necessarily what he did on the field. It's almost like they're missing that. kind of quality out of their locker room, their clubhouse right now, and they want to bring in a guy that can help that. We know that veterans can definitely have that presence. It's one of the reasons why
Starting point is 00:12:00 Evan Longoria was so important to that 2023 team. And you heard time and time again, guys talk about Evan. I mean, a lot of the players in that clubhouse with Longoria grew up watching him. Like they were kids when he was doing what he was doing in baseball. So
Starting point is 00:12:16 even though he might not have been producing at the level he won. did, he still had a tremendous amount of value. I think that might be at least similar here to Marcus Simeon, bringing him in. However, the Mets are going to met, man. And sometimes it just feels like they make moves and they're active and they're, they create news. But you're just kind of like left wondering what the hell they're doing.
Starting point is 00:12:43 You know what I mean? It's the Mets. It is the Mets. Yeah. You mentioned Evalongoria. It made me think of the video. that the D-Bax video crew put out recently. I don't know if you saw this.
Starting point is 00:12:54 It was like, it was cool. It was about some of the players that they drafted in the recent draft and kind of the beginnings of their journeys with the Diamondbacks organization. There was an Evan Longoria sighting in that video for, I believe, about a quarter of a second. It was like they were just trying to like show that he was there. Like, wait, was that Evan Longoria? I think it was. So apparently Evan Longoria is like still around.
Starting point is 00:13:19 And I don't know, maybe he's some sort of a mental something or other coach with the feedback. Maybe he was like that last year too, right? Miguel Montero was around quite a bit and you could tell that he was helping in a coaching capacity. He wasn't just hanging out just to be there, right? Like he was there for something. But again, another back to the trade talk, another weird trade that happened is the Red Sox going after Sunny Gray. Yeah. I've always been a fan of Sunny Gray, but they gave up two pretty high pitching prospects in their organization.
Starting point is 00:13:53 By the way, yesterday I messed up one of their names, Jesse. I said that his name was Brian Fitz when his name is actually Richard Fitz. And just to embarrass you being on the set, that means his name is Dick Fitz. And I can't believe that I did not take an opportunity to address that. So my apologies to Dick Fitz. But what I will say is that Sunny Gray here added to the Boston Red Sox, you know, what he's done in his career, especially last year. He was actually in the top five for that strikeout to walk ratio,
Starting point is 00:14:22 which is very impressive at this point in his career for him to still be getting whiffs at that rate. But again, a guy that Boston adds to their starting rotation behind Garrett Crochet that a lot of people thought was going to be more, I guess, active in the free agent market and go after a bigger name rather than Sunny Gray. What are your thoughts on that one? Yeah, I mean, apparently. if you're like sort of overpaid and like in your mid 30s you're a really hot commodity on the trade
Starting point is 00:14:51 market right now. That's definitely true. But I mean, the old guys. I think it also is telling about just what the free agent market might ultimately look like that, you know, maybe going out and trading for a player that's a little bit overpaid, getting the team dealing him away to kick some money into the into the deal. I mean, maybe that's going to be the most effective strategy to,
Starting point is 00:15:15 to improve your roster. And I like Sunny Gray. I mean, I know he had a 4.28 ERA this past season, but he posted, he made 32 starts just over 180 innings. He had a 339 FIP, which you know how big of a FIPP fan I am. I mean, that's that. We've talked about that though, right? Like league average for FIP is around four, right?
Starting point is 00:15:36 It's like four? It would be, yeah, similar to pretty much the same as what the league average ERA is. So in the low, yeah, 4-2 maybe something like that. So again, here, you're talking about a guy who, you know, the actual numbers show that he is better than the results, right? And that's one of those things that when you see a guy with a high ERA or a guy that had a bad season, there are these kind of metrics that you can take a look at that do show you, you know, again, that his season wasn't as bad. The strikeout to walk ratio is incredible, but the FIPP's very good. Yeah, I mean, and the FIP is kind of a direct result of the strikeouts and the walks. I mean, 201 strikeouts to 38 walks and 180 and two-thirds innings.
Starting point is 00:16:17 Like, I don't think, I don't think Sunny Gray is washed by any means, even though he's entering his age 36 seasons. So I like the move for the Red Sox. I think despite the fact that they don't spend money as much as a lot of people, including myself, sort of wish they did. They, I think they're a smart organization and they're identifying that Sunny Gray, I think still has a lot left to, a lot left to offer. And they're probably not wrong about that.
Starting point is 00:16:44 Plus, again, it's like, you don't need an ace, right? You don't really need an ace. But what you need is that guy that can compliment Garrett Crochet and make you formidable in the playoffs. That's what the Boston Red Sox should be looking to do right now. That's what their plan is. The Cardinals also paid about $20 million to help cover Gray's salary there. That's huge in that deal as well. But, again, not a bad deal overall for the Boston Red.
Starting point is 00:17:12 talks, but just kind of weird. And like, again, I think it's because, you know, a guy like Sunny Gray didn't really feel like he was going to be moved. I think that's probably more of it. Like the Cardinals had him there to kind of anchor down their rotation. They probably weren't going to be anything special once again this year. And this like kind of signals that the Cardinals are just in somewhat of a full-on rebuild now, which is probably about time for them.
Starting point is 00:17:38 I think so. I mean, they've just been stuck in the middle for so long now. We actually just recorded an episode of Snake's Territory that we'll release later today about one Nolan Aronado and the possibility of him maybe making sense for the Diamondbacks. It feels like Sunny Gray is sort of the beginning here that the Cardinals are going to be offloading some of these veteran players and trying to make more room for their young guys. Noon Aronado is another guy. You know, he fits right in there with all these other players we've been talking about. he makes more money than what he's probably going to produce at this point, but it seems like the Cardinals are willing to eat some of that in order to facilitate these traits.
Starting point is 00:18:18 Especially if they're getting prospects in return. And right now the Diamondbacks kind of reloaded on prospects. That's one commodity that they definitely have that they can trade. It's going to break our hearts when it requires them to trade, you know, once again, empty out their farm system in order to improve this major league squad. But that might be what they need to do, right? Who would break your heart the most? Like who's the prospect that you're just in love with right now?
Starting point is 00:18:43 You and I both have talked to Daniel Egan. I'm very excited to have our interview with Daniel Egan here up shortly, but I know you did a tremendous job of talking to Daniel as well. And I don't know. Over the course of that interview, I was like, if anything happens to this guy where he's not in our organization, Jason, I'm going to riot. Jason monitors how rioty I get. And like, again, I had Ryan Waldschmidt on. We had, you know, Daniel. These are great guys.
Starting point is 00:19:08 And like, it's hard to look at what they're doing. Both of those guys were essentially the position player of the year for the Diamondbacks in the minor league system and the pitcher of the year. And those guys are the future of this team. You can't help but look at Catele-Marté or excuse me, not Cotel-Marty, he was acquired to be a trade. But Geraldo and Corbyn and guys like Ryan Nelson and see that the Diamondbacks can create their own stars here, guys that can help them win from within their farm system. It's what they're going to have to do in order to put together a couple of. competitive team that they supplement with a signing of someone like Corbyn Burns or whatever, you know, whatever big name that they go after.
Starting point is 00:19:44 But yeah, that's the reason why yesterday when we talked about Terrick Scouble, it's nice to dream. But like, is it realistic to add a guy like that to a team that has so many other things to fix and that still couldn't be deemed competitive even with adding an ace like that to the rotation? That's the true problem. And that's where the Diamondbacks are at right now. Not to say that they don't have a solid core, but they kind of need to figure.
Starting point is 00:20:07 out the rest of their pieces right now before they can go off and spend a bunch of money in free agency and try to land one of the top guys. But I'm sure they'll still shock us and surprise us and do something that we don't see coming at all when it comes to that kind of thing. But we're going to take a quick break. And on the other side of this break, we are going to talk about the rumors involving Lucas Gialito coming to the Arizona Diamondbacks. And if he would, in fact, be a good fit for this starting pitching rotation, we're going to do that here in a few minutes. Don't you go anywhere? You're watching the P. H.N. X. Diamondback show. Well, of course, you know, nobody does it better than Heel of River Resorts and casinos. And again, I know this time of the year is stressful for all of us. We have family in town. We have Thanksgiving dinners to make. And I'll tell you, nothing can help you relax more than a quick staycation here. Maybe forget shopping on Black Friday weekend and take yourself over to Heila River Resorts and casinos and have yourself a relaxing time. Also, if you're looking to have a great night out in the town with your friends and family that are here in Arizona, take them out to Heila River Resorts and Casinos. Check out their gaming floor. They have over 4,500 live,
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Starting point is 00:22:23 Again, create an account and redeem code PHNX for $20 off. Swipe, tap, ticket, go, download the GameTime app today. Well, again, when we talk about there being fire when there's smoke, we know that, of course, course we've heard a lot about these rumors involving Lucas Gialito and it feels like it kind of just went from I don't know podcasts or websites similar to ours talking about it as a possibility to it sounding like there's actual active talks going on reports state that the diamondbacks are very interested in Lucas Gialito and overall this is a guy that returned from elbow surgery in 2025 and had himself a very successful year strong bounceback season posted a low three
Starting point is 00:23:08 ERA made over 25 starts there and showed that he can handle a full workload for a team right now that needs reliable innings and a guy that's again comparatively to some of the other options like an experienced starter in major league baseball that might not cost nearly as much as somebody that has an equal amount of experience or posted a similar ERA last year I don't think Gioido is a terrible fit yeah I mean you look at the surface numbers for Gialito oh my gosh we We got Danielle out here. The entire band is back together. We have everyone back together.
Starting point is 00:23:43 I've no idea what's happening. Is Jacob Franklin about the movie starts? Oh, I hope he is. I hope he is. Jacob, where are you? Anyway. You look at the surface stumbers with Gialito, and they're really impressive.
Starting point is 00:23:54 We have this beautiful graphic here. 145 innings, a 3.41 ERA, a 129 whip. You know, 2.9 baseball reference wins above replacement. It's really impressive stuff. And as you mentioned, he's coming off elbows. surgery. So you never really know what it's going to look like when a guy first returns from a surgery like that. I will say at the same time, the underlying stuff paints a pretty different picture with Gialito. He really does. His strikeout rate was 19.7%, which is by far the lowest of his
Starting point is 00:24:28 established career. It was up in the mid-20s before the injury. Home runs have always been an issue for him. He didn't allow as many in 2025, but he's still. really did not generate many ground balls. I think you'd sort of expect that to regress and he probably allows more home runs in the future. His expected ERA was five. So I don't know. I mean, it depends on the cost, right?
Starting point is 00:24:53 Right. You probably do want Lucas Gialito if it's at a reasonable price. My guess is that the price tag is going to be a little higher than where it would make sense for the debacks to go. That's the problem. It feels like it was a mutual
Starting point is 00:25:08 option. So we know that those don't ever get accepted by both sides. It's just the way it works in baseball. However, you know, it does feel like he's seeking a higher contract than he was getting paid. Overall, you could say that even though he did come back from that elbow surgery successfully, durability would definitely be a question when it comes to him because, yeah, that's a major surgery. He missed an entire, he missed the entire 20-24 season due to it. And just because he had a 20-25 season that looked pretty good does not mean that durability is. is secured there. I mean, you're looking for a guy that can handle, you know, 150 innings.
Starting point is 00:25:44 I don't know if he's that guy anymore. He's also definitely not the ace. So, I mean, from that perspective, he might not be, you know, somebody that the Diamondbacks want to pay as much as he's going to cost. However, he could very much, quite honestly, be that hybrid starter, maybe reliever in law, you know, later at a later time. Not to say that he would want to do that. But again, if you were talking about what the Diamondbacks need, we don't know if Corbyn Burns is going to come back in 2026.
Starting point is 00:26:15 There's no guarantee that that's the case. However, I got to imagine that, you know, again, the Diamondbacks are looking for a guy that could be their everyday starter for the entire season, as well as a guy that might be able to adapt and change to that, you know, high leverage role or long reliever role later on, which could still be just as valuable to this team if they do make the playoffs and need that kind of arm in the postseason. It just really comes down to, would Lucas Gialito be that guy? Would he be a guy that would adapt to that role? Would he want to? Would it cost far too much?
Starting point is 00:26:45 Would you essentially be once again paying a guy to be the highest paid reliever in baseball like we were at one time with Jordan Montgomery? And that's probably not the best idea. But, I mean, again, there are some things about, you know, Gialito when it comes to a veteran who has that experience in the postseason, a veteran who can handle pressure and has been there before. Plus, again, if you do go after him, maybe as that adaptable starter, maybe he becomes that starter that you don't move out of the rotation. Right now, the opportunities are wide open for any player that gets that chance to be in the starting rotation.
Starting point is 00:27:22 Like the Diamondbacks, I think, might completely manage this team differently next year than they did in the beginning of 2025. They might still be in that, like, hey, if you pitch better than this guy, you're going to be that guy. you're going to move into that role. That's not something that they were doing early on. That's not something that Tori Lavallo has always done throughout his tenure as manager. He tends to, you know, hey, you stepped in, but now that that guy's back, that guy gets his roleback. Or, hey, you know, I believe in this guy. So even though he's struggling right now, we're going to let him work through his struggles.
Starting point is 00:27:53 And we're going to try to get him out on the other side of this, you know, that this slump that he's in, right? it just feels like there is a sense of urgency to the 2026 season. Mike Hazen has said that. Tori LaBello has said that. And I don't feel like they are going to be as friendly to players as we've seen them in the past. That's something that fans have wanted, right? But again, that's why this could be good for Lucas Gialito. It could be a situation that he comes into.
Starting point is 00:28:23 And again, just earns that spot in the starting rotation and can be that solidified. I don't know, like maybe even their ace or second. I mean, at least for the first half of the season, you never know. He could absolutely be their number one starter. It would be fascinating if they went and signed Lucas G. Leto, and he put up the numbers that he did last year with the Red Sox. Like, who would your opening day starter be? Would you give it to Brian Nelson,
Starting point is 00:28:52 given that he's clearly been the best starter on the scene for the past year and a half? Or if you bring in a veteran like Lucas, Gialito who does have a lot of major league experiences you said maybe maybe he would be your guy I will say like I think if Gialito winds up in your bullpen something is gone wrong that's true I know Dback's fans are sort of conditioned to like yeah the big name starter that you sign there's a decent chance it's going to wind up with the bullpen because it's you know he's going to have a six and a half ERA or whatever it is you would certainly hope that wouldn't happen with Gialito right Looking at some of the estimates, I think MLB trade rumors had two years, $32 million.
Starting point is 00:29:34 The roster resource, crowdsource averaged out to two years, 36 million. Spot tracks at 3 and 61, which I think is kind of crazy. I don't hate that. I mean, I don't think that that's out of their budget. And they could also structure the contract where just for 2026, perhaps he gets paid a little less for 2026, a little more for 27, just to give them more financial flexibility this year. I don't know, but again, it's definitely an option. And when you look at the other options on the free agent market and, you know,
Starting point is 00:30:05 what some of those guys are expected to get, I mean, in some cases, some of these pitchers' annual value is that two-year contract for just one year. So again, it's going to be one of those things that the Diamondbacks do have to look for guys like this. We've discussed looking at guys that kind of had a bad year last year that could bounce back. but this is more of a guy that already bounced back and proved that he's pitching much better after that elbow surgery. I do think Adam in the chat makes a good point. The pitchers do not tend to outperform their underlying numbers with the diamond backs. And that's very true.
Starting point is 00:30:42 That's maybe an understatement. Every single one of them, except maybe Merrill Kelly, you know, that's been kind of an issue where the underlying numbers look like, oh, this guy probably had a four, two ERA or whatever. And then it's like, no, he had a 5-25 ERA and almost lost his rotation spot or whatever. We've seen those kinds of narratives play out here. It's interesting. I guess the question that I come back to with really any free agent starting pitcher is, would you rather have Merrill Kelly instead?
Starting point is 00:31:14 Because you probably can't afford both of these guys. And the numbers are pretty, the estimates at least are pretty similar, like two and 32, two and 36. I think that's roughly where Merrill Kelly's market is probably going to land. So I'll pitch it back over to you. Who would you rather have on your team the next couple of years, Merrill Kelly or someone a little younger like Lucas Gialito? I want Merrill Kelly back.
Starting point is 00:31:41 I want Merrill because Merrill loves it here. And Merrill has a different fire, I think. I think like you bring in an athlete, you bring in a free agent to a town. They're there to do a job, but they're not emotionally connected to the city. And I think Merrill Kelly is. I think Merrill is one of those guys that would want to come here.
Starting point is 00:31:57 And he would want to win a World Series for Arizona, for Phoenix. So I just feel like that right there, that connection is enough for me. Not to mention the fact that, you know, Merrill, like you said, Merrill knows the Diamondback system when we know what Merrill is in this Diamondback system. We have no idea what Lucas Gialito is. And he could absolutely be as bad as those expected numbers are here, right? So, I mean, again, it's not to say that Fenway is a better ballpark to pitch it. It's absolutely not.
Starting point is 00:32:31 I don't know if you've noticed, but you can hit a home run going 200 feet down the line. But still, overall, it feels like Merrill Kelly is just our guy, you know, and I would love to have him back, especially if you're talking about an equal deal. The only difference there is this kind of takes me back to the Zach Gallen situation. I don't know how it's. excited people are going to be about Merrill Kelly coming back because you already know what you're going to get out of him. There is a sense of excitement. I mean, they'd be excited, though, right?
Starting point is 00:33:03 No, no, no, they would be. They would be. No, but what I'm talking about is not the splash that like a free agent. Sure. Big name pitcher, and not to say Lucas Gialito is that. But when you bring in a guy that's never been on your team, instead of you looking at the bad stats, you focus on the good ones. And you're like, maybe he can be even better than that with us. right and then that's and that always winds up it always it always totally it always goes exactly that way right
Starting point is 00:33:30 but i'm saying like again it's similar with zach gallen right zach gallon you know kind of what you're going to get out of him even when zack gallon is at his best even when he was what very good in the second half of the season for the diamond backs quite frankly but he is uh i don't know he's if you brought in a guy that's probably going to receive a similar contract as that gallon but it's a different name the excitement level would be bigger because there's this unknown factor. Like, oh, man, how is he going to make us better? And are we going to have one of the best starting rotations now, you know, in baseball? Like, you're just, I don't know if if you brought back Zach Gallon and Merrill Kelly,
Starting point is 00:34:05 I don't know if fans would have that same level of excitement because we've already seen this before and it didn't work out last year. Why would it work out again in 2026? Right. But I still think back to a mailbag question that we had not too long ago, Jesse. And that is like, why is this team? so bad at developing pitching. Why is, what is wrong?
Starting point is 00:34:25 Like, it feels like, obviously, we blame a lot on the ballpark conditions and ballpark factors for Reno and Amarillo when they're coming up. So we can discount high at ERAs and such and look at their expected stats and be like, oh, if they pitched at a normal ballpark, this is what it would be. But it just feels like even at a minor league level, we have issues with developing pitchers and then at a major league level. We also have very similar problems. And honestly, that goes back to before Brian Kaplan was the pitching coach.
Starting point is 00:34:55 This isn't all on Brian Kaplan. We brought in one of the best, most experienced pitching coaches in all of the league. And for some reason, it didn't work out. So, like, I just, I can't wrap my mind around what is wrong with pitching development in this organization. It's a big problem. There's no question. I think I referenced recently on this show, the story that Nick Picoro over at the Arizona Republic wrote on this topic. and there's a lot of interesting information in there
Starting point is 00:35:22 about how the D-BACs are trying to attack this. I guess the first thing that maybe is encouraging for D-BACs fans is the organization is aware. Like they are, it sounds like especially this off-season, trying out some new things, trying to change their approach a little bit when it comes to pitching development. Because if you just keep doing what you've always done,
Starting point is 00:35:44 you'll always get what you've always got, right? And that's sort of what it's felt like for the Diamondbacks here in recent. recent years. One nugget from that story that really stood out to me is apparently the team did an internal sort of investigation on this recently, and they found that prospects from the time they entered the organization to a number of years after that. I'm forgetting the exact time interval, but it was when they entered the organization and then some time down the line from that, they averaged a two mile per hour drop in fastball velocity.
Starting point is 00:36:19 What? Which is not the direction you want to be going. Generally, at least in this edition, in this era of Major League Baseball, you want to see the stuff tick up over time, not tick down. I understand that in the case of Justin Martinez when he was a prospect, because we talked about how wild he was. He's throwing 115 miles an hour, but he can't hit the broadside of a barn, right? I think his VILO ticked up, though.
Starting point is 00:36:47 I mean, I don't think he was throwing 100. or 102 when he first came up. I do remember him and another guy that whose name escapes me right now pitching and hitting like 102 103. But yes, if the strike zone was here, that ball was here, right? Like it couldn't have been more outside the zone. So again, there's times where part of the pitching development does require you to dial it back so that you can control your stuff more.
Starting point is 00:37:12 And that control and command is far more important sometimes than how hard you're throwing the ball. but that as an overall assessment as an overall assessment as an average that your pitching prospects have dropped two miles per hour in their fastball the hell is going on down there where do we got to go where do we got to drive amarillo freaking reno where we got to go to figure this out and i think the the solution that the or at least the direction the team is going to go with this is you have you just have to do more with some of the of these pitching prospects in trying to get them to develop strength, even if it means risking injury. It sounds like the debacks have been, they've leaned a little more conservative as an organization when it comes to, which has not worked. And especially this past year when you've still got everybody's elbows falling off anyway,
Starting point is 00:38:06 right? Right. So I think especially with those pitching prospects who don't have the stuff, or at least you have some concerns over whether their stuff is going to play in the majors. let's try to push those guys. Let's see if we can turn the 89 and do a 92, you know, the 91 into a 94. That can be the difference between a guy not being able to make it to the majors and actually being able to stick at least for a while.
Starting point is 00:38:33 So I think that makes a lot of sense. We'll see how it works for them. It very well might result in in a few more elbow injuries. But I think that can be a fair tradeoff. Like even though it sucks to see guys go down with those kinds of. major injuries. I mean, you want that player in the first place to just be in a position where they can stick in the major leagues as opposed to just not having the stuff to get there at all. I, again, referencing back to that conversation with Daniel Egan, I had yesterday that we're
Starting point is 00:39:03 going to be posting to our website. Such a good guy. Such a great guy. And I asked him about increasing his velocity. And I honestly joked off. I joked it off that like, oh, hey, did we, you don't just go into the weight room and pump some iron in order to add velocity. And he was basically like, actually, yeah? Like, I added mass and I hit the gym and I bulked up. And that's how I was able to increase my velocity. So I was kind of surprised by that. We've joked about that when it comes to Corbyn Carroll and his arm strength in the outfield, right?
Starting point is 00:39:38 We're like, oh, Corbyn didn't go and like curl, do a bunch of curls. and now he can throw the ball harder. However, you see Corbyn Carroll, and he has added mass, and he has gotten bigger, and he has gotten more muscular and stronger. So that is part of it. Technique, I'm sure, is also a big part of why Corbyn has, you know, improved in the outfield as far as getting the ball back in. But overall, it's like, yeah, believe it or not,
Starting point is 00:40:01 even though I make a joke about it or I kind of dismiss it, yes, hitting the weight room, adding mass is one of those ways that both pitchers and position players can not only get stronger and better at some of those things, but they can also, you know, again, like, I guess add to their durability, right? Like, you're, your strength, you're conditioning yourself. I think that some athletes, especially like Corby and Carroll, like you're known for being a fast guy, so you don't want to add on too much mass. You don't want to make that a big thing. But again, when you're playing at a major league level, you tend to find out how important that is. So I was just kind of fascinated
Starting point is 00:40:37 by that because I don't tend to think that. I think. Like, you get an increase in your velocity because of, like, your arm slot or, like, something that you're doing or something your pitching coach teaches you or, you know, you change this or that, right? Not like, nope, I really did eat a bunch of cheeseburgers and curls during the off season. Curles was where it was. So what you're saying is that there is a number of cheeseburgers and that I could eat and a number of curls that I could do to increase my fastball velocity to any numbers. I'm saying that. I'm saying that. Let's get ourselves out there and get some lunch, buddy, is what I'm saying. Well, we're going to take a quick break, but on the other side of this break,
Starting point is 00:41:19 we are going to talk about the Arizona Diamondbacks 2026 schedule. We have home times now attached to these games, and David and I are once again going to get into our conspiracy theories about the Mexico City trip that we know is happening. You can't hide it from us. We know it's happening. We're going to talk about that on the other side of this break. Don't you go anywhere?
Starting point is 00:41:40 Tis the season for $80 million in prizes over at Arizona Lottery. And as you know, Arizona Lottery Scratchers make a delightful gift this holiday season. It doesn't matter if you are looking to shop for a white elephant party, office party, your loved one stocking stuffers, Arizona Lottery Scratchers, make an excellent gift this holiday season. There are six festive scratchers to choose from, including cash countdown, which has prizes up to $250,000. dollars and candy cane cash which smells delightfully like peppermint so get yourself some scratchers get your loved one some scratchers and be the best gift giver at the party love to play and spread holiday cheer with holiday scratchers from arizona lottery play and gift today must be 21 or over to play and of course you know whatever the moment is never ordinary over at bet 365
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Starting point is 00:43:25 Whatever the moment, it's never ordinary bet 365. Must be 21 or over and physically located in Arizona. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 100 next step. Text next step to 533442 or visit problemgambling.az.gov. Well, the Diamondbacks, like I said, they released, I guess, an update to their schedule. They had already released their 20-26 season schedule. But they gave us times, Jesse. Now times have been added for all of the home games.
Starting point is 00:43:57 The away games are still a mystery, but I think we do have... I think there's a few home games that are oddly still a mystery. Are still oddly still a mystery. And that is where the conspiracies start for me. I know not every series has a time yet, but there is one particular series that we have been very, I guess, very focused on, very concerned about, very skeptical, right? First of all, next year is weird when it comes to scheduling, and I hate it. Every team across Major League Baseball has inconsistent schedules, inconsistent series, all sorts of create, like, like, it's not that hard to me here when it comes to the schedule, Jesse. Like I feel like for the most part, you put, you have two games at home or two series at home, two series away.
Starting point is 00:44:47 Two series at home, two series away. Not hard. But yet twice during the year, the Diamondbacks go on three city road trips, which I know they're like this one in March where it's the Mets, the Phillies, and then Baltimore. They're all relatively close. It's not that much of a travel. But still, I don't love it. I don't think it's necessary. I think baseball needs to be much better and more consistent about their scheduling on these things.
Starting point is 00:45:09 But it's this series that we have up on the screen, Jesse. It is the weekend of, I believe, what is this, April 25th and 26th. Most of the series, if not all of the series across the Diamondbacks home schedule, now have home times. And they are our very familiar home times, 640 during the week, 1240 on getaway days, 510 on Saturday, 710 later in the season on Saturday, 110 on Sunday. Saturday, 110 on Sunday. But this series, this two-game series, happening on Saturday the 25th and Sunday the 26th. Takes, we've already been suspicious that this is the long-rumored Mexico City series
Starting point is 00:45:52 that was supposed to happen way back in 2020, got canceled, obviously due to the COVID shortened season. But it feels like rumors have always said that they were going to make up this series, that they were going to do it. And this is a series against the San Diego Padres. Very much, very much looks like this could be the Mexico City series. Yeah, I mean, the fact that there's a day off on a Friday. And then a day off on the Monday after.
Starting point is 00:46:18 And then a day off on the Monday. It smells like time zone adjustment to me. Although I should know, like, what, what's the time difference in Mexico City? I feel like I should know that. It's not. Maybe it's not all that different. Oh, it's one hour ahead. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:46:34 Okay. All right. Forget I said anything about time zones. Right. But it's still a lot of travel. And I mean, I imagine that it's going to be. It's a long trip.
Starting point is 00:46:42 It's going to be a long trip and it's going to be like an event. Like they're going to go down there in major league baseball like we've seen when they gets played in other cities internationally. It's going to be a celebration of baseball down there. And that's the intention is to try to expand the game to all sorts of international markets and bring in more major league baseball fans. For us, more importantly, this is to bring in more snakes fans. This is what this is.
Starting point is 00:47:04 This is a mission to go back and to make as many people in Mexico City fans of Geraldo Pardomo as humanly possible. That's not hard. He'll do it on his own. But more importantly, are we going to this series? That's the question. My passport says, yes, 100%. My wallet, meanwhile, tells a completely different story. Those two things in my pocket are very much arguing and fighting.
Starting point is 00:47:28 But it, again, would be an amazing thing. I don't know if I love, though. like the team I root for going on any kind of like trips like this. I just feel like ever since the Australia series way back when that completely wrecked the Diamondback season. I don't want to see them ever do another international series. How long do you think it takes to drive to Mexico City? If you were just going to hop in the car and just drive yourself out there.
Starting point is 00:48:00 See, we go to Rob. Rocky Point in other places. So that feels like it's a trap. I feel like it's much farther away. It's kind of a trap. Mexico is a very big country, believe it or not. And there is a lot of it there. So I'm going to say like 12 hours. It is a 29 hour drive. It is actually wild how far than Mexico. All right. Well, we're we're going to have to leave on Thursday, I think, in order to get there. Hence the travel days on Friday and Monday. I mean like, you. Yeah, that wouldn't make any sense at all if these were legitimately just home games because the series before, so you might have already mentioned, is against the White Sox also at home. Right. Like I don't think they need just sort of like the buffer day to just chill at home on Friday before the Padres come into town.
Starting point is 00:48:50 Why wouldn't they make this known though? Like I don't, I mean, is it maybe, I know, I know Major League Baseball does this all the time. They are bad at announcements. They are bad at things like exciting people. people. I always feel like with their jerseys, the jerseys leak before we actually see them. I don't know if other sports are as bad about this as baseball, but it always feels like baseball does a lackluster job of making big announcements and getting people excited about things, you know? Yeah. I mean, like, I think there's already been some pretty good reporting that this is exactly
Starting point is 00:49:24 what we think it is. Well, no, I'm not talking about the reporting. Reporting requires a reporting. requires smart individuals like yourself to actually like ask people questions and figure these things out, Jesse. Right. I am not saying that. What I'm saying is is that like, I don't know. Before I would even show the schedule, I would make an announcement that the Diamondbacks are going to participate in an international game of Mexico City. And then when the schedule drops, I'm like, boom, there it is, right there in April. This feels like, again, they're being coy about it, but you're like, what's the deal with this two-game series?
Starting point is 00:49:55 It's oddly. Like everybody's already figured it out. And again, they're going to make the announcement if it is that series. And then we're all going to go like, yeah, of course. Like the reaction I don't think is going to be as exciting because they kind of botched the announcement here. That's a good. Yeah, that's a very fair point. Yeah, I mean, I guess it is you're sort of trying to make that moment as big as possible where you make the announcement.
Starting point is 00:50:23 And it does feel like by doing it this way, where everybody knows what's actually happening, but you're not saying it. You're making that moment very small because everybody, everybody already knows. So yeah, I'm right there with you,
Starting point is 00:50:37 Derek. I don't know why Major League Baseball does this, just like I don't know why Major League Baseball does sort of a lot of things. I bet there's already like banners and stuff up in Mexico City announcing the team and that those teams will be there. And they're still not telling us, but I don't know. Well,
Starting point is 00:50:52 of course, we did want to tell you guys about a fun event coming up. Make sure you guys all know that we are going to be out there for the Territorial Cup this Friday. We're going to fill our bellies and then we're going to go fight each other. We're going to get really, really nasty out there. It's empty. And I can't wait for it. Our Sun Devils crew is going to be doing a live post game show out at the legendary local patron.
Starting point is 00:51:11 And before that, we're going to be hanging out on a pirate ship, apparently. I have no idea where that's going to be. But this is all courtesy of our friends, Captain Morgan, my friend Captain Morgan, who I went to college with. But you can join our PHN X Sun Devils crew for that live post game show. show at Local Patron on Mill Avenue following the Territorial Cup. That is on November 28th, Totry, Shane, Eric, myself. I'm not going to be on the show. I'm going to be drinking, but I will be out there. We'll be watching the game with my friend Tim who is bringing me. He's bringing me as his date to the game. I couldn't be more excited. But they'll be hosting a postgame
Starting point is 00:51:44 show following the game. Come join them approximately 30 minutes following the final whistle for the special opportunity to witness your favorite Sun Devils show in person. And of course, If you are a diehard, come say hi. Everybody come say hi. But if you're diehard, you know, we love our diehards. And I know our diehards have had a special week. They've had early access to our Black Friday sale. But now everyone gets access to our Black Friday sales.
Starting point is 00:52:08 So do not miss out running Thursday through Monday. Get down on all of the fun deals over at our shop. You can access it through. Go phtonx.com. Click on our merch store. I believe it's allcity. murch. for the direct website, but save up to 90% off, and you'll save 30% off everything. So make sure to go
Starting point is 00:52:30 load up, get yourself some gifts, and, you know, maybe shop for other people as well, because, you know, that's kind of what this time of year is all about. So get your shopping done early and enjoy the month of December for yourself, not stressing out about holiday shopping. This man's not going to do that. He is going to wait until the adventure that is right before the holidays. He can't wait. I knew you were going to lecture my audience today. No, I'm not lecturing you. You love it and I love it for you. It's like when I used to do Black Friday shopping when Black Friday was a real thing. When you had to out go to a physical store and wait in a line to get those 50 inch flat screen TV on sale. Did you ever like push anyone over? No, no. And as a matter of fact, I used to just come back and
Starting point is 00:53:11 regale people with tales of how nice Black Friday was. Like I was like everybody was cordial. Starbucks stopped by with like little sample like hot chocolates for us all to have and stuff. It was, amazing, right? But no, there was one year at Walmart. There was one year at Walmart where I witnessed humanity at an all new low, and it was all because of like one person. They have their stuff that is like going to be on Black Friday sale in the middle of the aisles and it's all wrapped in plastic. And typically what happens is people kind of go around, they surround the things they want. And then at midnight, an employee comes over with a box cutter and opens it up and lets the animals go loose, right? But one year, one person decided that
Starting point is 00:53:51 they were going to dive into the video games thing before midnight. And instead of seeing the rest of the group just shamed that person and tell them grow up, everybody was just like, well, hey, let's dive in. And I just watched the worst, like huddle scrum of people throwing stuff and grabbing Xbox games and stuff.
Starting point is 00:54:11 And it was wild. It was wild. But that was enough to make me not want to go out and do Black Friday shopping, at least in person, anymore. But I am thankful for a lot of things. and I know you are as well, and I thought since tomorrow is Thanksgiving, that we could just take these last couple of minutes to discuss some of the things we're thankful for.
Starting point is 00:54:28 And I do 100% want to start with how thankful I am that you are here right now. I've missed doing this show with you. I miss doing the show with you and Damon specifically. So I'm thankful to get this opportunity, even though it's not as much as either one of us would like it to be. I'm thankful to have you in town and thankful to have you sitting here. I'm also thankful to have this Arizona Diamondbacks team still kind of trying because it's very important to the both of us. We kind of, our livelihoods are like are kind of invested here. And I mean, again, we talk about earlier what the Cardinals are doing and things could be pretty bleak for us right now if the Cardinal or if the Diamondbacks were kind of in a similar rebuilding situation where they were just punting on 2026 and most likely not going to be competitive.
Starting point is 00:55:17 If we already feel like that could be the case, but I'm thankful for Mike Azen having this sense of urgency and trying to turn things around, especially with Corbin Burns on the roster. You probably only have him for a short period of time. You've got to try to make this team as competitive as possible around him and not waste his time in Arizona. So thankful for that.
Starting point is 00:55:36 You got anything? I know I'm putting you on the spot. Yeah, I mean, I guess I'll just chime in real quick and say that, you know, with Mike Hazen as your general manager, you're pretty much always going to be trying. Like, I don't think, I don't think there will ever be a year in Mike Hazen's tenure running a front office where... He retools. He doesn't rebuild. Yeah, rebuild is not like in his vocabulary at all.
Starting point is 00:55:57 So he feels pretty safe on that front if you're a devax fan. They might not actually do well, but they're at least going to try or whatever. That's worth. In terms of me personally, though, I still think back to 2023 as we often do. and remember being able to cover a World Series around here, just the incredible run that that was with all of you, not sleeping for an entire month. I think that probably took like three or four years off my life.
Starting point is 00:56:27 Worth it. But it was worth it. It was 100% worth it. It was memories that all cherish forever. And shout out to the many familiar names in the chat today as well. It's great seeing Elizabeth and Coggs. and Nicholas, Groundhog Mama, the whole crew, Ryan, I know there's other people that I'm leaving out.
Starting point is 00:56:48 Great to see all of you as always. And that's probably the thing I'm most thankful for is that I know we have been through so much here at PHNX, and I am thankful for so many of you that have become like family members to us, that have become such familiar names. You guys have supported us. You've been here the whole time. And again, it really is the reason why,
Starting point is 00:57:11 here four years later, this place is still standing. So I'm very thankful for that. And again, I appreciate every single one of you for all of your super chats, everyone that has become part of our supporters club, all of our diehards. I mean, hell, if you just stop by every once in a while to tell me I suck in the chats, Albert, Albert, right? Albert, who comes to tell us the Diamondback sucks every single episode. Just like the video, Albert. He is relentless, and I am even thankful for him. So again, you guys are the best. I'm thankful for Kill a Red. and all of his hate towards Tori LaVallo, and I'm thankful. Most importantly, for Scotty Mack looking like a buffer, more chiseled, more handsome Johnny Damon.
Starting point is 00:57:49 But you guys are all the best. Most importantly, again, more than everything, thankful for Damon. Damon does so much around here. Damon, thank you for all of your contributions to PH&X, dude. You work really hard. You literally do two shows back to back, and I know that you are my co-host on this show, as well as the lead over there on U of A. So thank you, buddy.
Starting point is 00:58:10 Thank you for all your heart. I appreciate it, Derek. I would not be possible me being in this position if it wasn't for, and this is the honest truth, both of you guys, when I joined on at PH&X, making me such a big part of the show from the jump. And I'm forever grateful for that. I know it's just a love fest right now. Oh, yeah. That's what we do. That's what we get together.
Starting point is 00:58:29 We got to get mushy. That is the facts. Like, you, I mean, I came in with Damon Dog already, you know, as my handle and everything. But you were like, all right, let's run with it. We made Damon Dog. Exactly. We created Damon's dog. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:58:40 Yeah. This wasn't here before. You see this? You see all of this? We created this. We made this. But yeah, I mean, like it literally none of that, me getting the Cardinals beat job wouldn't have been possible without this podcast, which made it where I can get the Wildcats job.
Starting point is 00:58:58 Like all of it starts right here at D-Backs. I appreciate you, man. I appreciate everybody again in the chat. I hope you guys all have yourselves a wonderful Thanksgiving. Enjoy the time. Don't let any remember what I've said this time and time again. I've told you about your time. This is important to me. It's important to you. Your time is very valuable, extremely valuable. We are
Starting point is 00:59:14 honored that you share it with us at all, let alone so many of you that are here every single day. But value your time and do not give it to people that don't deserve it. And you know exactly which members of your family that I'm talking about. You know exactly which one of your family members, boyfriends that you hate, that you don't want at dinner. Don't give them your time. They don't deserve it. Protect yourself. Have yourself a wonderful day off. Eat, drink, and be merry. course, make sure you follow all of us here on Twitter. I'm at Cap underscore Caveman with a K. This man is at Jesse and Friedman. He does a wonderful job with our friend Jack Summers over at Snake's Territory. Jack is another man who I'm extremely thankful for to have in my life. I feel like Jack
Starting point is 00:59:56 has made me better at doing all of this. And Jack has a love for baseball that I think even me and this guy can't say we have. It's terrifying. How much he loves baseball. But again, Jack is the man. make sure to check those guys out over there at snakes territory wherever you get your podcast follow them at snakes territory uh follow damondog at damondog with a d a wg we are all damon's dogs bark bark bark like got to get that guy in our shows at b h and x underscore dbacks but as always all roads leads to at phnx underscore sports on twitter instagram and facebook thank you guys again for your time we appreciate you we love you have yourselves a wonderful thanksgiving we will see you back here on friday at 12 p.m. noon uh with another show so until then get
Starting point is 01:00:39 those deals fill your belly and remember kids baseball is fun but it's so much more fun when you are thankful for the ones you get to share it with

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