PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - D-backs Sign Former All-Star Carlos Santana, Closing the Door on Paul Goldschmidt Return

Episode Date: February 5, 2026

The Arizona Diamondbacks have made their long-anticipated move at the first base position by signing a former All-Star! No, not that former All-Star… 16-year veteran Carlos Santana has agreed to a one-year, $2 million deal with the D-backs in what will effectively close the door on every Snakes fans’ dream: Paul Goldschmidt. What are the pros and cons of the Santana signing and should Mike Hazen have targeted Goldy instead? PLUS, Zac Gallen is at the Waste Management Phoenix Open discussing returning to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Would bringing back the former ace make sense for this organization? Jacob “Big Jake” Franklin is makes his return to the podcast as we discuss the D-backs offseason thus far and what move could come next. 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.#dbacks #diamondbacks #arizonadiamondbacks #mlb #zacgallen #corbincarroll #ketelmarte #mlbtheshow #mlbtraderumors #tradedeadline #traderumors #allstargame  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

We got our new first baseman, and it's not Paul Goldschmidt. Welcome on into the PHNXDBACs podcast live from Studio K, presented by our friends over at CircleK. I am your host for today, and I guess the last day only, they're going to take me off the airwaves here, never let me speak on this show again. But I'm Damon Farrell. I'm Damon Dogg. We are still waiting on the return of Derek Montia. That will happen on tomorrow's PhNXDBAC show.

but before we get started on in here, ski to you all. It's good to see all of you in here. Excited to be talking with my buddy, big Jake Franklin about some Diamondbacks baseball, getting him in here in a second. We got Kevin Thomas on the ones in twos today because Kevin and I are inseparable. Anywhere that I go, I tell Kevin that he has to join me on said adventure

and he does not have a choice in the matter because I hold a gun up to his head and make him do it. But we appreciate Kevin for holding the down. all week here on the PHNXD backs podcast. Thank you so much to the people here in the chat. Please drop a like on this video. Let's get this thing rolling as we get on in here. And we discussed the Arizona Diamondbacks

and their new first baseman signing in Carlos Santana, former All-Star 16-year MLB veteran. We're going to break down the pros and cons of his game, and then the pros and cons of potentially not going after other targets, such as maybe one franchise legend in Paul Goldschmidt. But we do have Jacob Franklin here. We do have him ready to go. and we do have his triumvirate return to the PHNXD Backs podcast.

Good to hear from you, Jacob. And how are you doing? How excited are you to be on your favorite show? I mean, this is clearly my favorite show, has been since day one. But, you know, since I've left, it feels like maybe Derek has something against bringing me back. I don't know. Like, Damon, you're my guy here. You brought me back on and excited to talk some snakes, fall.

Absolutely. Always excited to talk some snakes with you, Jacob. and we make a big move in the way of Carlos Santana yesterday. The Arizona Diamondbacks were kind of, it felt like waiting for that first baseman move to come for a long time here in the offseason. It felt like that was the one that was bound to happen, right? You hear Derek Hall saying that the Diamondbacks were not done yet. And in that quote, he goes on later to say that we still are going to sign a complimentary first basement.

We might sign starting pitching help. we might sign more bullpen help. But one thing he did say is that they were going to sign a complimentary first basement. So it seemed clear the priority at this point in the offseason was getting a guy to platoon with Pavin Smith. How do you feel about Carlos Santana being brought into this organization? You know, I think a lot of fans have gotten used to some of the splashy additions that the front office has made over the last couple years. And so I think people are just looking for a little bit more. you saw Cody Bellinger being floated by the fan base a lot as, hey, if we're going to go spend, might as well spend on one of the biggest names on the market.

But if you take a look at what Hazen's track record is here, they pride themselves on defense in this organization. And as much as the reunion with Paul would have made a lot of sense, would have made a lot of fans happy. I also think that there's a lot of, to be said, about putting butts in seats. and in a season where you don't necessarily know if your team is really going to shine or just be mediocre, I don't think they're going to be bad. I think the floor is probably just a competitive baseball team

that could go either way, a lot like last season. I think that they had to prioritize getting somebody that matched what they were looking for. And you mentioned it yesterday, the baseball savant shows that Santana was a better defender than Paul was last year. by leaps and bounds. They're both 40 years old.

And if you're looking for a little bit of pop and some defense, that's what they were looking for. Yeah, you can see the Carlos Santana baseball savant here on screen. And obviously what sticks out to you is that defense, right? He might be 41 years old. He might be a 16-year MLB veteran with maybe not his best baseball ahead of him, right? Because the dude used to be a fantastic hitter. used to be a really, really good Major League Baseball player. There's a reason he's been in the league for so long,

but he still brings it on the defensive side of the field. And that's one thing that Pavin Smith necessarily doesn't, right? Paving Smith is not the big-time defender. He's not Paul Goldschmidt in his prime, you know, on defense. And while Paul Goldschmidt definitely has taken a step back on defense, he used to be that guy. Paving Smith is, I'm looking here. He had negative two outs above average.

according to baseball, Savant, and didn't qualify, but it looks like he'd be somewhere around the 40th, 38th percentile in that range of fielding first baseman. So you're getting a big upgrade over Pavin Smith and the defensive side of things. And I think that part of the thought process here has to be that if you're in a late game situation and you need a defensive sub, that Carlos Santana can be a guy that goes in for Pavin Smith, now? Yeah, I absolutely agree there. I also think that maybe Hazen took a look at his lineup and he said,

we've got Jerry, we've got Corby, we've got Catell, we've got Gabby. Are we really bringing in Paul for his bat? I mean, like, yes, Paul is a better hitter than Carlos is, right? Paul is objectively a better hitter? But is that really what this team needed at this point in time? Obviously, you take as many bats as you can get, I think they had to take a step back and really evaluate what they were looking for here. They added Aeronado in, who I think can get you 260, 15 homers, right?

So now you've got an anchor there. You're hoping the ADC takes a step forward, actually a little bit more concerned about that DH spot than I was about the first base spot. But I don't think when you're looking at this move for a platoon first baseman, you're not necessarily looking for somebody that's going to step in and be your five spot hitter. And I think that's kind of what fans are looking at here. They're like, hey, why didn't we go up to the guy that hit 270? But if you take a look at some of the deeper numbers, obviously he's got a bunch of, you know, a lot more red on the hitting side there on the savant page. But I think that they needed somebody to come in and be a veteran, which is great. We know that Goldie was not an outspoken number of the clubhouse, even when he was here in his prime.

That wasn't what he was known for. So, you know, there's a lot of different factors here that I think that they had to take into account. As much as I love Paul Gwitzfitt, you know, I'm one of those guys that grew up watching Paul play. I think that there is inherently a decision that was made here to seek after somebody that was going to play defense and was going to stand in the clubhouse and be a leader. And I'll even add another, you know, kind of accolade and superlative into Carlos Santana's belt here. he's the MLB active leader in walks, Jacob. The MLB active leader in bases on ball. And I think that that is something that is extremely impressive.

I mean, that's a statistic that is really impactful on baseball games. And if that's a guy that even if he's not going to swing it like he used to, if he can just get on base, I think that that, you know, provides value that, you know, a lot of the other players that are going to be playing around our big things. of Catea Geraldo Perdomo and Corbyn Carroll, you almost just need guys who are floor raisers. That's what I kept saying with our guy, Alex Dagostino yesterday is,

you know, when you're talking about Gabby Moreno, when you're talking about Lordus Gurriel Jr. And his return from his ACL injury, those guys become so important because they just raise the floor of the rest of your offense. You don't need them to be superstars. You need them to be above average hitters on a majorly baseball field. And I think that Carlos,

Santana, he might, again, he might not have the numbers that strike out at you. And you probably look at his season last year and go, well, that was fairly disappointing. But the guy can at least get on base. And that is more than for most of the people on this roster that are probably going to be making the back end of this team from a position player standpoint, really can even hang their hat on, I think. Yeah. Yeah, I would agree with that. I mean, they want ballplayers that come in and grind it out. Case in point.

Jerry. I mean, that's what they want up and down this lineup. I think there's also something to be said about, can we put you in late in the game? You're not going to make an error and you're going to give us the best at bat in a big situation if we need to make an adjustment there at first base. If we need to put you in as a pinch hitter, are you going to come in? Are you going to give us the best result we can possibly get? What is the odds of that? Right. And can we trust you when we put you in to also. play defense. So yeah, I mean, I think for $2 million, I don't have a lot to complain about here other than would have been nice to see Goldie and a D-Backs unit unit farm, but who knows? You never know. I don't think it's been rolled out entirely. I think I've seen Gambo say that it would take a lot to figure that out, but, you know, there's still possibly something on the table. Correct me if I'm wrong there, but I'm pretty sure that that is, that was the the most recent statement that I had seen about the situation. I'm not losing sleep over it.

I think this team still has a pretty strong lineup. I think it's one of the better ones in the National League. At this point, I'd rather dedicate more resources over to the bullpen. And if Paul was asking for more money so that he could start every day, I'm good with this. Yeah, I know I mentioned that stat there of him being the active leader and bases on balls, but I guess I wasn't so sure as to how much more he had than the rest of the field, Jacob. I'm looking here. He's at 1330.

He has 1,330 career walks in his Major League Baseball career in 16 seasons. How many strikeouts? Looking here. Great podcasting. He has, where's the case? 1,500. 1540.

1,500 career strikeouts. That's a pretty good ratio. That's one to one right there. Yeah. And so the next, the next guy, the guy who is second place in active leaders of walks, Jacob, Andrew McCutcheon with 1183. So he has over 1,500 more or about 1,500 more than Andrew McCutcheon, who's in second place,

Bryce Harper's in third place, Paul Goldschmidt's in fourth place, Freddie Freeman's in fifth, Mike Trouton, 6th, Juan Soto's 7th, which that's ridiculous that Juan Soto is 26 years old, and he's seventh in active leaders in walks. But it just goes to show how much this guy is getting on base. And even in a season where, you know, he has a down year last year, you know, he still has a 308 on base percentage and he hit like absolute crap. And so like he's he's still beating out his batting average by 90 points. And if he hits a little bit better around a team that has a, you know,

the bones of a really good offense, which I think is just a kind of a, somewhat of a level raiser for everybody, right? It's part of the reason that I think Nolan Aeronado is going to be a lot better in 26 than he was in 2025 because now he's around elite baseball players in Geraldo Perdomo, Corbyn, and Cotel Marte. And I just think that that should help the rest of the offense be successful. So I don't mind this just in terms of you get him on a one year, $2 million deal.

He provides defensive, you know, presence that you didn't really have at that position before and more than you would expect from a Paul Goldschmidt. And then also he's at least a guy that you've seen be a good offensive player in the past. And he has attributes of his game that I don't think are just going to go away overnight, even if he's going to hit 219 like he did last season. He, you know, factors in with 11 home runs, 54 RBI, you know, a 308 on base percentage. Like he needs to be better than he was last season.

But he needs to, I do think that this is still a guy that could maybe help this team win some baseball games. We'll see. I mean, I think it's pretty apparent. What's the one thing that teams hate about playing the Dodgers? They take good at bats. Like, obviously they have, you know, a million dollars. The fact that they're cheating scumbags. They do every, they do.

Oh, my bad. They take good at bats. Yeah, that is the one thing. Yeah, no, they, I mean, they do everything well. It's always something I've wanted this team to do, but it feels like, as we've watched this team in the past, go through certain periods of time where they've struggled, it seems like they get themselves out a lot,

trying to swing early, trying to force something, trying to hit for power. I think that this team needs an identity shift a little bit in adding somebody that's going to take a few more pitches, get a little deeper into it at bat. That never hurts. It certainly never hurts in the game of baseball.

Yeah, no doubt about it. Kevin, if you wouldn't mind showing us the Paul Goldschmidt, maybe baseball savant here, and we can take a peek at it in reference to the Carlos Santana baseball savant. Obviously a lot more red on the hitting side of things here. Paul Goldschmidt, you know, not the fielder that he once was, but definitely a guy that can mash against lefty pitching when given the opportunity and when put in a little bit more of a platoon role. And then Carlos Santana, you know, a lot more blue.

especially at the top of that hitting side of things, but definitely an above-average fielder, one of the elite fielders, I'd say, in all of Major League Baseball here at this first base position. And so, yeah, I mean, not probably the level of hitter that you would have hoped for going into the season. Obviously, last year, you know, we're talking about having Josh Naler as the team's first baseman.

And the year before that, it's Christian Walker and all those years before that. But before that, it was Paul Goldschmidt. this team has had consistent production at the first base position for a very, very long time. And now we're going into the year with Paven Smith and 41-year-old Carlos Santana. It's a little bit of unknown territory, uncharted waters for this team and this fan base from what we were used to to what we now have at this position. I will say the disrespect for Tyler Locklear that's happening right now is unfounded.

Tyler Lockler disrespected us. when he had that performance that he did last season. That's what I would argue. He got like 15 games and everybody's like, this guy's the worst person I've ever seen. Jacob, he had a negative 1.1 war in 103 played appearances. Give him a chance, Damon.

Give him a chance. I feel like he, I mean, sorry, 116 played appearances, 103 at bats, a negative 1.1 war, 175, 267. and 262 slashing. I mean, like, I'm not saying that he can't turn it around, but what I am saying is that's a bad enough performance

where I'm not giving you any ABs unless you go out there and earn him. Like, that's not a situation where I'm feeling comfortable putting him in any sort of starting lineup. He was so bad that he needs to prove that he belongs in the starting lineup, in my opinion. No, I agree with that. I mean, it's the same logic as Jordan Lawler.

Everybody wants him to play every day, but it's like, hey, at some point you're going to, you play the same position as Catelle-Marte and Geraldo Perdomo. Please tell me how we are supposed to get you at Bats every day. Like, at least in Locklear's case, he's going up against Pavin Smith and Carlos Santana, I guess. Yeah. I mean, there's a little bit more in the way of, or less in the way of competition there, where, where Tyler Locklear can definitely carve out a role for himself and be undeniable. Whereas Jordan Lawler, yeah, he's in a difficult,

situation, but like we're not, this is not a charity case organization. You know what I mean? Like this team is still as much as maybe they don't have the ceiling that they maybe had last season with how complete the roster looked on paper going into last season. This team is still a team that is trying to compete. They're trying to make a wild card. They're trying to make a run with the star players that they already have in the building. And so we can't just be sitting there in the way of development giving at bat after at bat to guys that have proved. proven that so far they've been black holes in their spots in the lineup, whether it's Jordan Lawler or Tyler Locklear.

But ideally, I think both those guys show you something next season and prove that they do belong on this team. And listen, Carlos Santana, he's 41. I don't think that he's getting in the way of Tyler Locklear, if Tyler Locklear starts showing some signs of life. I think that the debacks would very happily be like, okay, then Carlos Santana becomes, you know, the Evan Longoria of the team where he's DH and a lot. little bit, but he's mostly a, you know, clubhouse guy and or maybe he gets cut or maybe he

gets traded. Like I could see those scenarios happening, but it's going to have to be earned from one Tyler Locklear. Do you still have belief in Tyler Locklear then? I mean, I feel like I have to have belief in a lot of these guys just for the fact that you know me. I have to have hope going into the season here that at least something is going to pan out. You know, I think baseball is such a weird sport when you try and gear up for 162 game season. You have to figure out like, okay, what's important? And obviously winning is always the most important thing. We want to go. We want to win the World Series. But in a world where the Dodgers are pretty much penciled in for the World Series every single year, it's like, all right, what's the next step to beating the Dodgers? And that's having some of

this young talent start to pan out. I mean, you just, you need it. The first time we beat him, you saw it. Corby, Gabby, Jerry's starting to poke his head out as what he is now. Like that was the first time that we wiped the floor with them. Those guys, they were figuring it out. So what's the next step? You're going to have to have Jordan Lawler, Ryan Waldschmidt, Tommy Troy, Tyler Locklear. I mean, really, I need to see Gabby stay healthy for a full year. Like, you're going to need some guys like that to step up because you're not competing with payroll. You're not going to go sign five starting pitchers at a nine-figure deal. You're just not. That's not how you're going to operate. And as much as their fans want to sit there on their pedestal and say, well, everybody could spend like this.

It's not happening. It will never happen. Like, it's just, that's not the nature of the way that most of baseball operates. And so how are you going to beat them? It's through the draft. It's through having young talent pan out. And we've seen it happen before. So I'm not saying it can't happen again here.

I mean, it seems a little more bleak. We had some consensus top 50 guys in the system at that point. But, I mean, Jerry was not even a top 100 player in baseball prospect rankings. And so I think it's doable here. And I think that they have some pieces that could really turn out. But going into the season, I'm not going to give up hope on a guy that I've seen at the plate a hundred times. Yeah, I hear you on that. And I, you know, I definitely think that your thought process is in the right place.

And that's 100% true. The debacks are never going to be a team that's going to go out there and, you know, even be the fill. or the Mets or teams that maybe don't spend quite to the level of the Dodgers but are right below that and still are involved with all of the big name free agents and trade acquisitions and whatnot because they can just frankly afford that kind of thing whereas the debacks are are you know playing with a little bit more constraints on them financially i i do think that there is hope for some of those guys and that the current you know roster construction does afford them and a chance to go make a name for themselves,

a chance for Jordan Lawler to go out there and say, you know what, I belong, I belong getting everyday A-Bs in the lineup because we don't have a DH set in stone. We have Adrian Del Castillo, if the season started today. Who's to say that Jordan Lawler can't say that that's,

I'm a good enough hitter where I belong in that position. Sure. One thing I will say that, like, I definitely don't have as much optimism in is that, and you highlighted it, it's not saying that, you know, you don't feel this way as well. But Mike Hazen, it's been a minute, man.

It's been a minute. It's been a minute since we've had a player that you drafted, that you have brought up through this organization that has made a legit impact really on this roster. And you could say, like, a guy like Ryan Nelson in the last two years, year and a half, has really developed and proven that that was a great draft pick by Mike Hayson. But that being said, this is a guy that was on the roster for quite a while.

I mean, it's taken, you know, he made his debut, what, four years ago at this point, five years ago. So it's not like, you know, I'm looking for a what have you done for me lately type of guy. And it's been a lot of Jordan Lawlers and, you know, Drew Jones that can't seemingly get out of, you know, high A. And, you know, even Tommy Troy, I think he's been, he's kind of figured it out. But there was a time where people were very low on Tommy Troy and maybe his prospects of becoming an impact player. So I need to see a Mike Hazen draft pick come up and really make a positive impact on this organization. And I think I need to see it pretty soon. Look, I'm going to get visibility on Drew Jones in person this year.

We're going to figure out the issues. I've got it. He had 10 minutes from the ballpark. Put Big Jake on the scene. Yeah, yeah. We're going to get some eyeballs for sure. If you guys want reports on Drew Jones throughout the season, please let me know. Hopefully it's only for like a month.

and then he's up in double A because that means he's done something right. But, you know, it's, look, Drew Jones is still young. I don't think that, because he does it, I think you mentioned it yesterday, does it every year. The first two months of the season, he hits like 150. And then the second, like the last three or four months, he hits like 370. Yeah. And it all kind of levels out somewhere. I will wager to say if you put Drew Jones on the Major League roster today, he's the best defender on that baseball team.

Like, I think he's a gold glove center fielder today. I mean, that's, I don't, I think that that's what the consensus seems to be around Drew Jones. He just needs to be a below average offensive player and he'll make the major league roster. Yeah. No, I mean, he won minor league defensive player of the year. Yeah. I mean, that's, in high A, that's saying something.

That is pretty crazy. I mean, his dad, I'm sure his dad's reputation, you know, precedes him. a little bit and helps him in that aspect because his dad is, you know, quite possibly the greatest center fielder we've ever seen. But, you know, Drew Jones, the name of the game on him or the, the story on him has always been that he's, you know, ready for the major league level at like 18 on the defensive side of the game. And it's just his hitting has to make its way up to snuff. And you're right. Like, he's not, he's not cooked. He's still a very young prospect. It's just not what you would necessarily expect out of the number two overall pick, especially when, you're

the Diamondbacks, it's become reported and known that if they had the number one overall pick, they would have picked Drew Jones. Like Drew Jones. I think most teams would have, honestly. Yeah, I mean, Drew Jones was considered maybe the prize of that draft. And the Diamondbacks, you know, he was supposed to be a, you know, almost a better version of Alec Thomas, I feel like. And it just hasn't necessarily worked out for both of those guys, which is really unfortunate. But we need, we need those type of players, the Alec Thomas is, the Drew Jones, the, you know, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the.

Walsh Smith, the even Pavin Smith, I'll throw, I'll group him in, even though it was one of Hayeson's first draft. It might have been his first draft. It was literally his first draft. Yeah, I mean, like, number seven overall. Yeah, just give me the, the Hazen draft pick guys, I want to see those guys show signs of life this season because I think a lot of them are going to be given a ton of opportunity and played appearances to make an impact. And we haven't necessarily seen that impact happen consistently outside of Corby and Carroll. So it's time for these other guys to step up. around Corbyn Carroll and provide some positive baseball impact.

But we're going to get into a little bit more of this offseason. I got to ask Jacob Franklin about Zach Gallen. Is it starting to kind of warm up? The DBAX and Zach Gallen? Could a reunion be in the works here between the DBAX former Ace and the team itself? But we'll get into that right after our first ad break here on the PhNXDBACs podcast. Please drop a like on this video and subscribe to the channel if you haven't done so on our race to 50K or less than 300.

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The effects are clearly listed on each 10. So you're not shocked by what you're getting into when you take one of these pure edibles and their overall quality is just the best above the rest. Go find yourself some pure edibles products at one of the over 130 dispensaries across the great state of Arizona. Welcome back on into the PHNX Devax podcast. Getting a nice little close up there from our guy, Big Jake Franklin. I think you just, you had to, you had to put the Big Jake in Big Jake Franklin there because you just had to kind of just eclipse the entire screen.

That's a that's a Big Jake eclipse, we call it. Yeah, I had to make sure that I had nothing in my teeth for this next thing. Yeah, well, we caught Jacob Franklin a bit off guard there on the return shot back on screen. But we are here, of course, with our guy Jacob Franklin making his return to the PHNXD Backs podcast. Derek, I think we've gone over it, has banned Jacob. I have benevolently, you know, benevolently welcomed him back to this fine program. And so, yeah, we're excited to have him. back on and we're excited to maybe hear what he has to say on one Zach

Gallen who I know Jacob you probably have a lot of opinions on and I'm sure are a bit conflicted on it as well in terms of how you should feel about a Zach Gallen maybe potential reunion being in the works there's been some some some rumors and in rumblings that the diamondbacks have been just kind of sniffing around the Zach Allen sweepstakes and not that they've necessarily been at the forefront of it but whenever there's a situation where they're naming teams that are involved with Zach Allen, it feels like it's like Phillies, Mets, Cubs, Orioles, Tigers,

and the D-backs have checked in, right? It's all the teams that have been in on the big starting pitchers this off-season, and the D-backs are just kind of lurking, right? Do you think there's anything to this? Do you think that Zach Allen potentially could be brought back to the Diamondbacks? I'll say, I think that Zach Allen, once to be back. I think that's a fair way to put that.

I don't think anybody wants to move. I don't think that's fun at all. I think it's an interesting situation. I mean, I want to believe that he's the pitcher that we saw in the second half of the season. I think it did indeed, I think Derek's talked about this before. I think it did indeed piss him off a little bit that he didn't pitch well enough to be traded at the deadline.

He was like mad that he didn't get anything back for this organization. But I do think he really likes it in Arizona. I don't think he's opposed to coming back. Now, I can't stand here and tell you I know that they're in conversations with him. I actually don't know anything. I would love to see Zach back. I think that this rotation has a weak spot for sure while we wait for Corbyn Burns to come back. And I think you'd be hard pressed to say that Zach Allen wouldn't be better than Mike Soroka.

I mean, clearly that I think that that is a better option. But I don't know. I don't know how willing he is to come down on his price tag. Right. Like I still think that he probably feels like he's worth nine figures. Four or five years, nine figure deal. As bad as he was for the first half of last year, I mean, the splits are there. The last two months of the season, he was back to being Zach Allen.

And I think it was visible watching him play that he was pretty much locked in again. and who knows, I think that the fastball started to play a little bit better. I think that he started to mix his pitches a little bit better. The curve ball wasn't getting hit as hard. I think he had some really bad ball put in play luck for the first half of that last season, which of course sucks because in turn, it had a lot to do with our misfortune last year. I think that this was a playoff team that had some really bad performances and or injuries out of some key pieces. is. But here we are. I think the later, and this is where I'll go on record saying, I think the later that this gets, the more likely than it is that he's back.

I agree. But we did, we did mention it in the first segment that this team needs to be building through the draft. And if he doesn't sign here, the comp pick, I think holds a lot of value for Hayeson and his team. So I think that they're just weighing. hey do we do we want a late first round pick or do we want to sign a guy that we don't know whether or not we're going to get first half or second half for more money than we're willing to shell out right now yeah the the the difficulty in that is is that you know he needs to sign over a 50 million dollar contract right for that pick to come about and you're almost encroaching upon a difficult scenario where he could potentially sign a one or two your deal that's just under that threshold and screw the debacks out of that first round pick. I think you still would get a second round competitive balance pick if I'm not mistaken,

but it wouldn't be as high of a pick as that first round pick would be in essentially, you know, an extension of that first round. So that's what makes it a little bit difficult. And I think that almost incentivizes the debacks to get involved if it's a shorter term deal because you're not missing out on that first round pick all of a sudden. And so does it just make more sense to try to bring back the guy who's been the ace of your team for, you know, about half a decade here? But you have a tweet here from from Gambo as of, I believe this was actually after afternoon today. Yeah, this was about 20 minutes ago, Jacob from Gambo.

And he wrote on his Twitter account, the exact gallon situation is one of the most interesting I have seen in quite some time. He entered free agency with his representation, believing he could get a five. year deal for big money. He remains unsigned. All indications are that he wants to be with the team by spring training. If he has truly run out of options, could see Arizona come in with a Jordan Montgomery type of deal two years with a second being a player option, probably not at a straight $20 million value, would likely have to be for less or with a lot of deferred money. Arizona is already at or near at the top of their payroll for 2026, but Gallin is well liked by the Diamondbacks. So we will see. Lots of information there from John Gamador of Arizona Sports 987 and good stuff there.

Basically just highlighting that the debacks are somewhat interested that a potential Jordan Montgomery short-term deal with maybe a player option could be somewhat on the table for this team, but that it would have to be in a very unique and flexible way because the diamondbacks aren't necessarily in a place where they can just go out and spend right now. You heard Derek Hall's comments from, I believe, last week where he mentioned that the debacks lost a lot of money last season and that that was not great for the organization. So I don't think that they want to repeat that in 2026, but I do think that there is almost a threshold of money here that we're talking about where they might just say we have to get involved. We feel like we cannot let that opportunity slip because

we think Zach Allen is worth whatever contract might be placed in front of him. Yeah, I mean, I actually was curious while you were talking because that was my belief as well that his crew, I mean, Boris, so of course, just makes a lot of sense. His crew felt like they could get a big contract. And everything that I had really heard about the situation was that before even last season, the price tag. Because, I mean, there was always talk that they were trying to ink an extension before the price tag. season started. I mean, this has been in process for two or three years, right? When Zach was at his peak, this team wanted to lock him in. They wanted to, but the number was always too high. It was always too high. And so I think that when he saw Dylan Cs go out and get what he got on the

open market for really, really similar numbers, true. I think I think that's kind of what the holdup is. is just he feels like he can get some money out there but the later that this gets I think we're seeing the trade deadline play out just again in pre-agency where it's like hey we want you but what world do you think you're going to get

nine figures and so I looked up Dylan Cesar's baseball savant and I looked up Zach Allen's baseball savant and there's the difference in money Dylan sees his baseball savant is about as red as red can get. And Zach Allen's baseball savant is about as blue as blue can get. And so I think you're looking at the expected stats and saying, okay, no, he really did get shelled.

There was nothing there to tell me that it was some bad ball luck. There's nothing there to tell me. And did he play better in the second half of the year? He absolutely did. Like there's no denying that. But I think that there's some hesitation by some. front offices when they say, hey, this didn't necessarily work out for us last year. And it, you know, the writing is kind of on the wall there.

So I think he needs to go out and prove himself. And I think Katie was the one. I think there was a couple people in the chat that said it. But he's certainly better than E. Rod for sure. Yeah. That's not really much of a competition. But there's no doubt about it. I mean, I think Zach Allen, I'd love to see if there was a way that we could see

the baseball savant and just the post-trade deadline side of things. Because I would venture to guess that it looks a lot better than what it does over the course of the entire season. But there were also some cracks in 2024 as well of Gowan, not necessarily being the elite pitcher that we had become accustomed to seeing. I know Jesse Friedman, when we had him on the show, we had talked to him about Zach Gallen and just essentially should he be brought back with the diamondbacks, you know, given the back end of the season that he had last year. And Jesse kind of outlined for us that that bat bip, the batting average of balls in play, was honestly extremely low and that he didn't think that it was necessarily sustainable for what Zach Gallen has shown at different points of his

career. So, you know, maybe it was a bit of Fool's goal, a bit of him getting lucky in the second half of the season with rather than being unlucky in this first half of the season. But yeah, I mean, I certainly would be interested for Zach Gallant to come back if it was short term, if it was pretty low risk. And I do think that he is better than a lot of the pitchers that we have in this rotation. Like I certainly, you know, I'm not sitting there going Zach, Merrill, Brandon Fott, Ryan Nelson, and then Erod is nuts. But it's definitely better than, you know, what you look at when you have Soroka instead of Zach Gallen. So, I'm interested in bringing back Zach Gowan.

I know Katie put up there in the chat way earlier, Kevin, basically saying, you know, did Zach Gowan, did anyone catch Zach Gowen's comments out there at the waste management and how much the Valley means to him? We actually have those comments here provided by Blake Neiman, of course, and doing great work, Kevin's guy. And Blake Neiman got this video of Zach Gowan out of the waste management. It's very humbling.

That's kind of been the constant thing over the last couple weeks People have been like, hey, we'd really love you to come back And, you know, I think people understand, you know, what Phoenix means to me And, you know, it's, we're calling, my wife is from here. I'm calling this home base now. So for us to be here would be, would be awesome. And I think it's just, it's been really humbling that people have come up and, you know, for like me to come back, especially because I knew how the first half of last year went.

We didn't make the playoffs and things like that. So it's, it gives you chills that people still waiting to come back and be a part of the organization and the franchise. So there you have it. Zach Gowen speaking on just kind of his situation with the contract and potentially a return to the valley if that could be something that happens. You hear that and what do you think, Jacob? Oh, I mean, I love it.

You want guys that want to be here. I think there was a similar clip. Not saying that they're the same echelon of player. Maybe at one point everybody thought that that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, Allen was maybe on part. But Booker, you know, the other day made the comment about he's trying to pay a legacy in Phoenix, just like Diana did, just like Larry did. And obviously, they're not the same caliber player. But you always want people that want to be here. I think that, I mean, has a lot of impact on a team that makes a run like 2023. If you have a team that's bought in

of guys that want to be here, that want to be snakes, then I'm all for it. I mean, if Zach wants to come in as long as he knows that on opening day, if Merrill Kelly doesn't walk up out of the dugout first, we're going to have some words with Tori Lavello. We're all good. If he wants to be here and he's willing to make the sacrifice pay wise to come back, then yeah, that's what we're here for. You know Tori would make him opening day starter, right? He made an opening day starter over Corbyn Burns, brother. Merrill Kelly was still on that roster. I actually think Merrill would get the nod. I don't.

I think Tori is just, he's an optics guy. He doesn't want to like demote Zach out of the opening day role because it would like, he'd be like, oh, it's going to kill his confidence. No, no. I don't think, I don't think Zach, Zach. I actually think Zach is such a nerd that he's like, he's just like, give me the ball and I'm going to go out and pitch. Like, I think he's so focused on his thing that I don't think that would bother him.

well i i would be a a good problem to have to have to have to debate who should be the opening day starter because as of right now it's not really much of a debate whatsoever you could i guess you could argue that maybe ryan nelson would be the guy that actually deserves to be the opening day starter uh just given based off of performance the last one and a half seasons but um i i don't think that from a a like overall body of work standpoint that he's earned that No, no, no, I would agree. I think at this point in time, it's Merrill. He's beloved in the valley.

He's probably the best pitcher on your roster. I mean, do I think Ryan could be better than him? And maybe, heck, I actually believe fully in Brandon Fott making a resurrection after whatever the heck we just witnessed last year. But I think as it stands right now, Merrill's going to go out there on opening night and shove against the Dodgers on their banner night. on national television. I just think that if I had to choose between him and Zach going out there and doing that,

I have much more confidence that Merrill is going to give me six shutout innings than Zach in L.A. Banner Night on national television. Yeah, I agree with that. I agree. Listen, I agree with that. I also think Corbyn Burns should have started on opening day last year over Zach Allen. I'm sitting here trying to get into the mind of one Tori Lavolo.

And, you know, sometimes you don't even know how that guy is necessarily thinking. I know that me and Jacob are big time Tori guys. I'm just making sure. Yeah, you have to remember, nobody knew what Zach was going to be in the first half of last year. Obviously, Corbyn Burns is a better pitcher. But at the moment in time, you really thought that you had a 1A, 1B type situation. Yeah. Like you thought that like Zach was the guy.

You thought he was on par with Corbin Burns. And so I had less of a problem with that decision. And so, I mean, obviously we're not going to go back and rehash. that out. But I certainly think that I would have more of a visceral reaction if Merrill is not the opening day starter this year. Yeah, I do think we're probably going to get Merrill opening day starter. And we're probably not going to get Zach Gallen back in an Arizona Diamondbacks uniform. But it remains a possibility. The door has been kind of creaked open, whether it's by the Diamondback side of things, Zach Gallen side of things. You're now hearing

both sides just kind of hinting at the possibility of Zach Gowan may be returning here in the Valley and just kind of setting up shop. It would be something that I think that, you know, if you could get it at the right price, could really benefit this organization and this starting rotation in general. But we're going to keep you updated on anything regarding Zach Gowan here on the pH and XD Backs podcast. We're also going to hit our second break here. And on the other side of this break, we'll be talking a little bit more about this offseason,

kind of getting Jacob Franklin's take on the matter. Do not go anywhere. Leave a like. Subscribe to the channel. Drink your water. We are in the great studio K sponsored by our friends at Circle K. And of course Circle K is a staple of PHNX sports here and just the state of Arizona in general, right? Because Circle K, I think, Kevin, is the one business that I would say is most synonymous with this state.

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I'm always rocking branded bills on set, whether it's the D-Back show, the Wildcatch Show, you name it. I got Brandon Bills on my noggin and for good reason. It's the premium headwear and apparel in the game. And branded Bills is giving you a promo code of BBPHNX to help you get 15% off your first order. That's in sponsorship with us here at PHNX Sports. You can get the premium headwear and apparel, whether it's custom stuff that you want, whether you want the campus collection where you can get Arizona Wildcats,

Arizona State Sun Devils, Grand Canyon, Lopes, maybe even some Northern Arizona Lumberjacks. They got it all as a part of the campus collection. the best college hats in the game. Check it out for yourself at brandybills.com. Also have a partnership with the Phoenix Sons. They're going to want to go check out. And we're hoping we can get some more collabs for the debacks, just like this special edition Brandon Bills, Dbacks hat that they gave out last season during the regular season to season ticket holders.

And you know I had to get my hands on one of those. So appreciate our friends at branded bills. Head on over to brandedbills.com and use promo code BBPNX for 15% off your first order. Welcome back into the PHNNX. X-D-Vax podcast. This time, Jacob Franklin was ready for the transition back, not checking the teeth in the camera there.

But Jacob, you brought something to my attention earlier in regards to the Los Angeles Dodgers. And also, I want to shout out Cesar's comment here in the chat because I 100% agree in regards to opening day with Merrill versus Zach.

We got to play them both, Jacob. This is game seven of the world series. I mean, it's, this is Randy Johnson coming out of the pen with with a little bit of gas in the tank. Like Zach Allen, welcome to the closing roll, brother. We're starting with Merrill and we're throwing you out there in the sixth.

They actually think that Justin Martinez is going to end his rehab stint early and come out and throw the last four innings of that baseball game. Wow. Wow, that would be special. Just, my God, is that Justin Martinez's music as he's running out of the out of the Dodgers bullpen there. But yeah, that's, that game really does mean everything to me in this fan base. And, and this means everything as well, Jacob, because look at the fraud that Shohay Otani is.

Oh, yeah, I found this tweet yesterday and I thought you'd get a kick out of this. But truly, so there were people apparently clowning on Paxitani Phil, who, by the way, for the last 130 years has batted almost 400 at predicting whether or not winter is here or not. I think that everybody needs to understand that that is an applaud worthy moment. Like for a for a groundhog to be able to tell us at a 40% clip, whether or not whether was going to be extended for 130 years, that's pretty crazy. And the fact that we're calling Shohei the greatest of all time,

but we're going to be out here clowning Puxitani Phil. I actually think Shohei should vacate not for gambling purposes, all of his MVP's and all of his World Series rings and give them to Pucks Tani Phil. I mean, that's a, that is a movement that I can get behind and that I honestly want to become one of the leaders of. But Kevin, I'm going to go ahead and read this one for our audio listeners because we do have a lot of audio listeners that we love on the PHNXD Beck's podcast. Show Hey, Otani, 282, greatest of all time. No one like him. Best to ever do it. Puncts of Tani, Phil, 390, fraud, wash. No one believes.

him anyways. I mean, it's a fair point. We're getting goat talk for a guy hitting 280, but when a guy hits 390, he's a scrub. Yeah. I mean, like, you tell me if it's going to be six more weeks of winter. You probably couldn't. I couldn't.

I couldn't look at my shadow and tell you that there was going to be six more weeks of winter. Like, that's impressive. At a 40% rate, I don't know, man. I feel like we're missing one of the goats of our generation here. No doubt. about it. One of the goats of this generation is Jacob Franklin, of course, who is just, you know,

doing all sorts of work for all city network, holding it down. And of course, just waiting on his call for his number to be called on the Ph.NXDBax podcast. And you know what? I'll have to, I'll have to get our guy Derek Montia to, to open up the floodgates to you, Jacob, because this has been a lot of fun. You can follow Jacob underscore Franklin 4 on Twitter. If you want a once a month, D-BAC's tweet that might piss off all the Toro-Volo H haters. That's pretty much what Jacob uses his Twitter for these days. And of course, we have the mayor himself here in the chat thanking us for holding it down, thanking Jacob for his great work here on the podcast.

Jacob, we appreciate you, man. But somehow it's still banned, still banned by the mayor. I don't really understand. And if this people knew everything I did behind the scenes, if they knew everything I did for this show, for me to be banned, it's crazy. We have, and Derek says, Jacob will never be on this show as long as I'm alive. Wow. That's crazy.

That is crazy. It's crazy. The, I mean, if only I could peel back the curtain, Damon. If only I could feel it back. And then, of course, we have Katia from DLS saying that Jacob needs to be on more often. Hey, if it was up to me, but it's not, Derek makes the rules around here. I simply just, you know, carry out his will unless it's regarding to Shohei and the Dodgers. And then I make the rules around here.

And Derek, I'm sure, has a lot of Dodgers stuff that he's going to want to talk about on tomorrow's podcast because Derek is back from L.A. And he has been posting my nightmare all over his social media. And that being, Show Hey, Otani at the hotel. Show Hey, Otani at the gift shop at the airport. Showing Otani on murals on the side of buildings in downtown Los Angeles. enough of this criminal. We'll be talking about that on Thursday's show

of the P HNX D-Backs podcast, but in the meantime, follow me at Damon Dogg, that's C-A-W-G, follow my guy, Kevin, at Kev-O-P-O-S-T-S, and follow my guy, Jacob, underscore Franklin, 4 on Twitter, follow my guy Derek at K-U-N-X-D-Backs with a K. Follow us at P-HNX underscore D-Backs on Twitter, and we will be back on a Thursday edition

of the P-HNX-D-Bax podcast right here on this channel at noon. So be there for that one. turn of Derek Montia back from California. Can't wait to talk to him about his experience at the Grammys and his thoughts on new Arizona Diamondbacks first baseman Carlos Santana. I appreciate everybody for watching and remember kids. Baseball is fun, but it's so much more fun when a franchise legend actually returns home.