PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - Did Diamondbacks COOK This Offseason? Corbin Burnes Addition Sets Stage for Contention

Episode Date: January 10, 2025

Become a PHNX Diehard for just $4 a month! http://gophnx.com/intro-offer-youtube The PHNX Diamondbacks Show is back and we have so much to cover. We have more on the Diamondbacks moves this offseason that include acquiring Corbin Burnes via free agency and Josh Naylor via trade and if those moves are enough to make the Snakes a contender in 2025. We also discuss the loss of Christian Walker and Joc Pederson and the D-backs avoiding arbitration with all nine of their eligible players. Join Derek and Kevin for the PHNX Diamondbacks Show LIVE! An ALLCITY Network Production SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube: https://bit.ly/phnx_youtube ALL THINGS PHNX: http://linktr.ee/phnxsports MERCH https://store.allcitynetwork.com/collections/phnx-locker ALLCITY Network, Inc. aka PHNX and PHNX Sports is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by the City of Phoenix PHNX Events: Get your tickets to PHNX events and takeovers here: https://gophnx.com/events/ 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/ Gila River: Win a Lamborgini! Visit https://playatgila.com/promotion/350k-lamborghini-luxe-giveaway/ for details Branded Bills: Use code PHNX at https://www.brandedbills.com/ for 20% off your first order! Gametime: Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code PHNX for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. 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! Check out FOCO merch and collectibles and use promo code “PHNX10” for 10% off your order on all non Pre Order items. Rugged Road: Gear up for your next adventure with Rugged Road Coolers - Your ultimate outdoor companion! Head to http://ruggedroadoutdoors.pxf.io/ALLCITY and use code PHNX for 10% off! 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 https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Well, we're back. Well, I'm back, but we have some news to talk about and some people to honor. Thank you guys for being here. It's a PHNXD Back show. Don't you go anywhere. Well, Ski and welcome in to another edition of the PHNXDBacks podcast right here from Studio K presented by our friends at Circle Day. My name is Derek Montia, occasionally known as your mayor of PHOs.

I'm very happy to be back. I'm very happy to be here with you. Not happy to be here without a very important person. Let's just get these out right away, right? Jesse Friedman, obviously, not with me here today. And not without and where. Jesse should be here. And I'll say the only thing that Jesse should be held in poor light for is his takes on National Ampoens Christmas vacation.

Jesse Friedman is one of the brightest baseball minds I've ever met, had the pleasure of talking to working with doing the show for with um and obviously he is not here with me um there's a lot that i could say about jesse he is one of the brightest people i've ever met he is by far a person that loves baseball more i think than anybody else uh that that you could have host a baseball podcast like this uh and he will be missed greatly uh and i talk to him every day. I'm talking like he's, he's, you know, passed on or something. Jesse Friedman is alive and well, and I love him very much. I love him like family. He's my, my insufferable little brother, who taught me the importance of ex-Wobicon while I taught him what a conga line was.

This show is, is, was, and will be what it is because of Jesse. So again, let me, let me Let me dab this real fast, but I will miss this guy. Don't tell him I said any of this, by the way, because if you do, I'll deny it. But what I will say is this show obviously won't be the same going forward without Jesse, without his insight and without him reporting from Chase Field. But I will do my best to bring you guys the same kind of fun entertainment. And hopefully I'll try my best to bring some of the news that I can to you as best as I can. I have done this before in the past.

Excuse me, let me reintroduce myself. I am Derek Montia. I have been covering the Arizona Diamondbacks for 14 years and 13 seasons, or wait, reverse that, 14 seasons, 13 years. And I'm very happy to be back here hosting the show. This show means so much to me. So many of you guys here in the chat means so much to me. So I'm so thankful that we are able to get back together and do this show. Obviously, a lot has happened since the last time I was here, was around.

doing this show. This has not been an easy time for us here at PHNX. So again, I just wanted to give a shout out to my co-host. And again, I appreciate so many of the comments in regards to Jesse. And I will say this. The one comment that people have said time and time again about this show is that it won't be the same without him. Let me echo that again right away. This show absolutely will not be the same

without Jesse and uh again i i hope that you still enjoy it uh and i hope you guys stick around and and uh just remain a part of this community understandable if you do not stick around uh again i have told you many times i'm not a fan of one of the hosts on this show and that person is is it's not it's not the person that's gone so uh let's just say uh i understand if people don't feel the same about this show going forward however uh again i I am excited to cover the Arizona Diamondbacks. I'm excited to be here with you guys. We do love you, Jesse.

About the Arizona Diamondbacks, I guess it changes. I guess I can put these away and get this out because we're back. The show is back, but more importantly, the Diamondbacks are back. I haven't had a chance to really comment on it too much, but all the big news happened since we've been gone. The Arizona Diamondbacks signed Corbyn Burns to a huge deal. that. Let's just frankly, let me, let me react in the way I should, especially without Jesse here to stop me. What? Who? They did what with who? Why? In what world? They did what? There. There's

my reaction to hearing that Corbyn Burns was signed by the Arizona Diamondbacks four-time All-Star Right-Hander, six years, $210 million contract with an opt-out after the second season. And yeah, it's kind of unbelievable. We knew that the Arizona Diamondbacks had a lot of positions to fill. We knew what they were kind of addressing. Mike Hazen and Company have discussed it by looking at the losses of Jock Peterson and Christian Walker, as well as some of the issues with the bullpen. It didn't take, you know, somebody that

knew ball as well as this guy did to really understand what the diamondbacks needs were in regards to this team. However, Corbin Burns is not something that I think anybody really saw coming for this team. I think even if we brought Corbyn Burns's name up on this show, it was in jest, it was a joke. It was because Corbyn Burns was quite frankly the best, if not one of the best available starting pitchers on the market and is an absolute stud. You take a look at his numbers here from last season. Corbyn Burns put up some incredible stats, 194 and a third innings pitched, which by the way, since 2020, he ranks third innings pitched.

A lot of things that he ranks in the top five of over the last three or four seasons. Of course, he has a 2.92 whip, or ERA, excuse me, a 1.096 whip, 23.1 percent strikeout percentage, 6.1 percent walk percentage, and then four of 3.7. Since 2020, again, he ranks second in ERA amongst qualified pitchers with 500 innings pitched or more, second in strikeouts, third innings pitched, and sixth in home. runs allowed per nine innings. So this is crazy because the Arizona Diamondbacks obviously with the Jordan Montgomery situation with the emergence of Ryan Nelson, it did not appear that this team needed a

frontline starter like this. It was not necessarily in the cards that the Diamondbacks who seemed kind of strapped financially, especially next season, we're going to be out there to acquire one of the biggest available starting pitchers on the market. That's what's insane in regards to this. acquisition. It's a very good thing for this team. Corbyn Burns will be a part of this team after this season. So you have Corbyn Burns at least through 2025 and 2026. And at the end of the season, there's a good chance that Zach Gallen will no longer be a part of this franchise.

So you still have your ace going forward. That's in the future though. And I don't want to like be putting Zach Gallen out to pasture or moving on past gallon. This is a situation where the Diamondbacks really do have an elite starting rotation. and that starting rotation, at least right now, is seven pitchers deep. It's pretty crazy. Concerns in regards to Corbyn would be giving a 30-year-old, a six-year contract like this that's guaranteed money. Again, there's the opt-out after two years, but there's a possibility that you see a decline in Burns's performance so that suddenly this contract isn't looking as good.

What's wild is, is that in the grand scheme of things, in MLB contracts, six seasons doesn't seem that long anymore. Six seasons would have been a very long-term deal, I feel like, 20 years ago, and now it's absolutely kind of a mid-level deal. And I, let me apologize, because I got so caught up in sitting here and talking about Jesse not being on the show today that I did not introduce our producer and my guy, Kevin Thomas, who I'm going to be relying on a lot. You're going to have to do the stat stuff, Kev. You're like, I don't, I don't know how to tell you. I'm not going to sit here and I'm not going to talk about, you know, launch angle and exit velo. So I'm going to need you to pick up the slack here a little bit.

I'll be doing my best like in-depth analysis and analytics research to try to figure out how many ballparks each home run would have been a home run in, find out all the ex-Woba nuggets and things like that. You're just going to text Jesse. Yeah, no, yeah. Yeah, I was joking with Derek pre-show y'all that I should just have Jesse text. me smart things to say so that you know it sounds like me but you all know it's really jesse i think that might be the best way to do it derrick yeah no i hear you but am i right about that like six years

doesn't seem that long anymore when it it felt like it was long not too not too long ago i've said it was a long way too many times yeah no i think i think it's been a long time since long contracts like this felt long there i think i think nowadays like the money that's being dished out uh with the LA deferrals, you know, I think it makes contracts feel shorter. But I think contracts over time, like the length is not changing. I think when we look at length of contract, you need to look at how much faith you have in the player to be the player that they are when they sign it. Yeah.

As the same player they are when they leave. I think like with a Jordan Montgomery, you saw him sign and then underperform. And it really made the contract seem much longer than it really is. See, it's catchy. You can't stop it. You're infected now. Yeah. But I do think that Corbyn's, the contract won't feel as lengthy as it looks if he performs.

Well, and the thing here is obviously they opt out of two years. A lot of people seem to be focusing on that as far as like if Corbyn Burns doesn't love the situation he's in, that he might opt out. Now, living in Phoenix and being here in Phoenix was once again a big reason why he decided to sign with the Diamondbacks. And it just goes to show that Arizona does have some advantages that other teams don't have. It might not be monetary advantages the way the Dodgers or as he called them, the L.A. deferrals have. But I will say that the fact that you can live and be here in the Valley, which is a beautiful place to have a home, it's not that expensive to live here by comparison to other major cities. It's very close to L.A. It's very close to California and the coast. And it also has the fact that you have one home during spring training in the regular season.

And obviously with Corbyn Burns and his family, that played a role here, which, is interesting and something that honestly as a competitive advantage to acquire talent, the Diamondbacks need to lead them to more often. Yeah, I totally agree. And you know what? This signing made me think back to instantly when it happened. We had Archie Bradley on the show a couple months ago, and he spoke to how every time players sign in other places, he's thinking, why aren't you looking at Arizona?

Arizona's a great place to live. Most players live here year-round anyway when they're out of season. So if it's a question to Archie Bradley as to why more players don't come to Arizona, And it made me think that when Corbyn Burns out of nowhere says, you know what, I just want to live in Arizona and play for the debacks. It actually didn't come as much of a surprise to me because of what Archie said. I think it's in the minds of these players at a time. And I mean, there are things to that, like, especially when you consider how much money players are making, right? Like, players do make a ton of money.

And I know we often think, like, oh, what's the difference between another $3 million a year or whatever, right? that that might be the case money might be the most important thing in your life however if you're already making 210 million dollars over six years i think that even if you could have maybe made 225 230 that maybe you take that just because of the fact that you can stay here in arizona like i don't really know what exactly you know other teams we're offering necessarily i do know that there's a lot of talk about, you know, teams that missed out on Corbyn Burns and how big of a miss it was for those teams, teams like the Blue Jays, teams like the Giants. The Giants had to go out there and get Justin Burlander to kind of deal with their lack of moves at the trade or at

the, you know, free agency period of time. So again, there's, uh, there, there's some interesting things to this, but obviously the most interesting thing here is that Corbyn Burns gives the Diamondbacks arguably, once again, the best starting rotation in baseball, if guys perform. I guess that's the little asterisk, right? Like when you look at the seven starting pitchers, the Diamondbacks have available to them, you have to wonder what they're going to do with this rotation, right? You have Corbyn Burns at the top. You have Zach Gowan.

You have Merrill Kelly. You have, you know, Ryan Nelson, Brandon Fott. Then you have Eduardo Rodriguez and Jordan Montgomery. There's a lot of options there. but no team is going to go with a seven-man rotation. And most likely, I mean, before the acquisition of Corbyn Burns, the Diamondbacks weren't going to go with a six-man rotation. So I don't know how things play out for them.

I do think that this makes certain pitchers available, potentially to other teams, depending on what the return is. And it once again brings me back to a very important talking point that I'm still not going to give up on, which is, can I offer you one refurbished Jordan McComery? Can I offer you one slightly used? Can I walk with you one pre-loved Jordan Montgomery at a discount? That's what I have to offer.

I mean, I think the Arizona Diamondbacks have been moving Montgomery, but I think the acquisition of Burns makes it that much easier to move on from him without getting much in return, if anything at all. And I just, again, don't, who do you think you are, Arizona Diamondbacks? Where are you going out there getting Corbyn Burns while I'm busy wrapping Christmas presents? since it's crazy. What is happening in this world? Kevin, what do you think, though?

I mean, obviously Jordan Montgomery seems like the odd man out. Is that too easy? Is it too easy to say it might be Jordan Montgomery when you have two expiring contracts and Zach Gallen and Merrill Kelly sitting right there? I don't think it's too easy, Derek. I think sometimes a low-hanging fruit is just what is most likely to happen. And I think when you look at, you know, what Hazen's been saying about Montgomery as a player, has been big on the bounce back, I feel like, mentally.

I think that a lot of... I've been big on the bounce back. I think a lot of people in the DeBacks organization are, you know, fixing themselves towards Jordan and Montgomery having a bounce back season. And so I think, well, yes, it might be most likely. You might end up seeing like a Merrill Kelly or a gallon moved at a deadline or something. If Monty is balling, like, you got to win baseball games there. As much as I would like to say the deadline, I don't feel like they can afford to wait that long, right?

like they still have positions to fill. You know, we're going to talk about the players that they lost here shortly, but they still haven't really added all of the pieces that they are needing to add. We also have Gambo saying that there's a 50-50 chance that the Diamondbacks Closer either comes via trade or via free agency, which means that there's a 100% certainty there on that equation, that the closer is not going to come from an existing member of the Diamondbacks bullpen. See, we can still do math, y'all.

Yes, see, the numbers don't. The numbers still don't lie. Yeah, it's basic math, but we can do it. And I think, and I think, Derek, like, I was going to ask you earlier, like, where this puts the snakes in terms of, like, best bullpens in the league and things like that. But you're right. Like, there is yet a move to probably be made. What do you think about, like, a Ryan Helsley going off the board and no longer, like, being available?

Does that affect anything in terms of, like, targets for closers or something like that? Well, yeah, I still think that there's the likelihood that it's going to come from free agency, which is where I thought that this was going to happen, you know, since. since day one, right? Like there's something to be said about the fact that, you know, you have, you know, you have assets that you feel like could close, but they've always tried to shy away from, especially naming Justin Martinez any kind of closer. Now, I still felt like that was a pressure kind of situation where they didn't want to put that

label on him, which could add that pressure to him going out in those late innings and performing like the way that he did, right? But I still figure out or I still feel like that Justin Martinez could absolutely be a, you know, a closer for this team in the future. That's why someone like Kirby Yates who might be a little less expensive and fill that role temporarily for maybe a one to two your seat deal kind of makes a lot of sense. But, you know, Mark in the chat is saying, what if you include Scott Steiner. And for those of you that don't know, that's a wrestling reference, but they do say that all men are created equal.

But you look at, you know, AJ Puck and then you look at Justin Martinez, and you can see that statement is not true. See, normally if you go one-on-one with another closer, you got a 50-50 chance of wrestling. But someone like Kirby Yates is a genetic freak and he's not normal. So you got like a 25% chance at beating him and then goes on from there. But anyway, um, Yeah, it's going to be interesting to see what the Diamondbacks do because I feel like the biggest assets at one point were one of their outfielders. And now I feel like their biggest asset is going to be more than one starting pitcher.

And I really don't, I didn't foresee the Diamondbacks going out and making a move like this for Burns. So it's a good thing. I think it solidifies their future beyond Gowan and beyond Merrill Kelly, obviously. If those guys leave at the end of the season, they also have the fact that they're going to most likely off. offer, you know, qualifying offer to both Zach Gowan and Josh Naylor, who will also talk about here shortly. And most likely those guys will sign elsewhere. I'm not, obviously, I'm bad at telling the future else I would have known Corbyn Burns was going to come here. But I will say that like with that, with that situation developing the Diamondbacks future looks pretty bright as far as being able to get some extra draft picks,

compensatory draft picks. And, you know, again, this team looks very, very good for this season. You can't argue that. This season looks very bright for the Arizona Diamondbacks, and right now they still have some moves to make. And we're going to talk about if Mike Hazen already cooked this off season on the other side of this break. But we are going to take a brief moment.

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You know, we went through so much offseason without any news. And then the Diamondbacks just waited to do all of this. I have so much to talk about. And it's criminal. But they did acquire Josh Naylor as their new first baseman after losing Krista Walker and Free Agency to the Houston Astros. I would love to hear what you guys think about that. Obviously, CWalk is a huge loss to this team.

It's somebody that you can't quantify their value realistically based on how good he was defensively and what he offered in the clubhouse at times to this team as a leader. But again, Christian Walker, the Astros got themselves a real one. At the very least, you could say he gets out of the National League. So we don't have to see him as often, and that's not great. But what I will do is I will say this. the Arizona Diamondbacks got themselves a pretty good replacement in Josh Naylor.

He is a free agent after this season, which isn't ideal, but at least for the time being, the Diamondbacks have themselves a replacement for Christian Walker. Let's take a look at his stats from 2024. Josh Naylor had a 243 batting average with a 320 on base percentage and a 465 slug. He had 31 home runs, 108 RBI, and a 1.54. 776 OPS and again a guy that contributed offensively can really I think can really make up for the absence of Christian Walker this season with his offense. It's the exact power bat that the Diamondbacks were looking for. Unfortunately, it doesn't replace Christian Walker and Jock Peterson. Jock Peterson, another guy who the Diamondbacks lost to the state of Texas. He is now a Texas Ranger. And that one honestly, kudos to Jock Peterson because after having him, himself a career season. He got paid. And his contract was something that surprised me. But honestly, you got to take a look sometimes at and see like maybe, maybe you're happy. The

Diamondbacks didn't devote that much money to a DH in that same way that the Texas Rangers did. But again, kudos to Jock. He had himself an amazing season. He was amazing teammate while he was here. And again, when you take a look at that acquisition in 2024 for the Diamondbacks, that was an absolute, that was an absolute steal with the performance that he had. Lando in the chat says Naylor is a psycho. I love it. I'm hyped. I'm excited.

I think that he could bring a lot of energy to this team. Yeah, Michael says love Naylor's energy. Have you seen his clips? He gets fired up. Yeah, inject it directly into my veins. I need more of that. I know Kevin Ginkle always got me fired up with his energy. And I think that, yeah, Josh Nailer.

is going to bring something exciting to this team. I will agree. Like, I don't think that any first basement outside of maybe Carlos Santana was going to bring you the same defensive return that Christian Walker was going to bring you. And unfortunately, Santana is 39 years old. So I don't know how much you want to trust, you know, him next season. But, I mean, again, it's just Josh Naylor trade ended up costing the Diamondbacks

essentially, I think their competitive balance pick and a, and a one. Slade Sacconi. Overall, it wasn't a huge loss for this team in order to get someone of Nailer's caliber over here for the Arizona Diving Bag. So let me see. Handcrafted Zero says Walker is going to crush Homer's into the Crawford box. Yeah, he absolutely is. He's going to crush it. And Pisa Bioshi asked me, are you slandering people who are 39 and up? Look, I have to take on both roles here. So I guess I'm going to have to slander myself at times when it comes to that. Kevin's too nice to do it. That's the honest to God truth. KT. ain't going to jump in and slaughter me. But I will. I will jump in and say we will. We do have some breaking news, Derek. People in the chat

have already brought it up. I was doing some making sure it was all above board. But yeah, Renee Pinto has been claimed by the debacks off of waivers from the raise. Looks like a backup catcher situation. This is really good. This is good. The Diamondbacks are starting to fill in some of their other roles as well. So, I mean, this is a good thing. Connor says love Hazen reacting to video game Tori's obsession with Slate Cicone by trading him away. Yes, Connor. Yes, he ruined our fictional playoffs and I'll never forgive him for that. But again, Josh Naylor is a guy that has been doing it for Cleveland. And again, I mean, it's a short term kind of situation. However, it could at the end of the season if he doesn't come back to the Diamondbacks also lead to a qualifying offer, which

could lead to another draft pick for the Arizona Diamondbacks. And that's right now, it's a positive way to build towards the future while still adding a piece that can help your present. The Diamondbacks are at a crossroad at the end of 2025, right? They have a few of their key guys that are going to be most likely signing elsewhere. And that's going, you know, it's something that they have to very much plan for now. It's something that they have to start working towards the future for. And again, with a team like the Diamondbacks,

I feel like draft picks and, you know, again, young prospects is the only way that this team can really keep up in the National League West. Mike Hazen continues to cook this offseason. I think that when we took a, and there's still more work to be done. The meal is not yet finished, but you can't help but take a look at what Mike Hazen's done so far and feel like the Diamondbacks who won 89 games in 2024 aren't a better team right now, right? They still have some holes. They still have some problems to fix. But you can kind of see things working towards that goal of being a contender once again. 2025 is an important all-in season for this team.

They have to go out there with, you know, again, with Gowan and Merrill Kelly potentially coming to their final seasons with this team, they have to go out there and try. And Michael's right. Thank God for Ken Kendrick opening up his pocketbook. In a way that I don't think any of us expected, right? It doesn't make sense in a lot of ways. But if the Diamondbacks can find a way to make some trades and finish rounding out this team and making this a complete team from top to bottom, then maybe it does.

That's what the Pinto move can do for their catcher position because we know that they were looking for a catcher. Yeah, and Gabriel Moreno. Moreno, meanwhile, has been getting a lot of praise lately. We've seen them coming up on top 10 lists with an MLB as far as active catchers are concerned. I think they had them ranked at sixth or seventh. And I mean, again, just a lot of a lot of praise, I think, coming from the MLB network, Moreno's way as well. So a lot of people, I think, are expecting this to be a breakout season for young guys like Corbyn Carroll and Gabrielle Moreno.

Steve Gilbert wrote a piece about Corbyn Carroll having a breakout season. He being the most likely, you know, player to come out and kind of show out in 2025. I think that's obviously it's an easy pick because Corbyn Carroll, as you know, is very good at the game of baseball. However, you know, the way that he struggled at the beginning of 2024, made a lot of people question, you know, what, what he was going to be like, if he was going to be able to overcome what he was going through, and he absolutely did. If he can find a way to have that success from the second half of 2024 carryover,

I think we can see Corby and Carroll perhaps have his best season yet going on next season. But, yeah, there's a lot of things here in regards to the starting lineup. A lot of questions still to be answered for this team. Those questions directly tie to what Mike Hayes and, continue to do this off season. It feels with the money that they spent on Corbyn Burns that the rest of the moves most likely are going to need to come via trade. I feel like the credit card might be a little maxed out right now.

But again, that's something that you probably could have said prior to this. I mean, acquiring Josh Naylor through trade helps them out. But I do feel like there's some other players that, you know, or some other moves to be made. And at this point, it feels like the only way to get those done, especially for a quality player might be via trade. So that would rule out certain free agent closers like Kirby Yates. Michael in the chat asks, when is Corbyn's presser? It's next Wednesday on the 15th.

So that's an interesting thing in regards to that presser. It really did get pushed out in regards to when that announcement was made versus when the Diamondbacks are making an official. But I will be there for that. We will be there for that. So make sure to join us. We'll be doing a podcast. right after that press conference.

And I'll also have some news before the end of the episode on what our schedule will look like going forward. So you guys know when you can come back. Make sure to get your fill of this podcast and of me, dressed like Barney here in this big purple sweater. But I can't help but still be amazed by what the Diamondbacks have done so far. And to feel like this right now is still a period of time where we could see some, you know, some big moves made.

Like, you're right about Ryan Helsley. There's, there's some teams that, or some players that we thought might be available to trade that teams are making it fairly clear that aren't going to be available via trade. But this is, this, this definitely leaves the Diamondbacks with a lot of assets and, and pieces, quite frankly, that they have to move, right? I will say that I don't know if, if they trade one starting. pitcher. I don't know if they need to trade two. I don't know what they're going to do in regards to

their rotation, but obviously depth is important going forward. It would be an absolute shame to see Ryan Nelson after the season he had be sent down to AAA. But if that were to happen, it would be only for the purpose of keeping him stretched out so that he's available should something happen to one of the pitchers in the starting rotation. I almost can't foresee that happening. But when you look at the players, you look at the pitchers in the starting rotation, it's hard to imagine that it's going to be anybody else but Ryan Nelson should they end up with six starting pitchers on opening day. And it's not a demotion. It's not a thing that they would be doing the Ryan Nelson based on his performance because that wouldn't be

the case. It would just be a situation where it would be of need. And based on Ryan Nelson, you know, being, being the young guy who could still be put down. He said if I lose Ryan Nelson, someone will pay. Man, let's just take a moment to appreciate that, right? Like, that is not something you might have said in May of this year. And again, the player, the pitcher that Nelson became throughout the season, I mean, he was hands down the most improved player. And I guess that's while you're all,

also sitting here talking about what Gino and Corbyn did in the second half. So, I mean, this team really, the guys that struggled really found a way to get back on top. And it's going to make things very difficult in 2025 as far as decisions being made. But regardless, the decision that is made, it's, you know, it's going to be the wrong one. You know, that's the way that things happen to us. This is all going to end in disaster, right? No, I'm sorry. That was my pragmatic Arizona sports side speaking there briefly. I apologize for letting him out. But yeah, this, there's a lot of things here that are interesting. Michael asks, where do I think Sasaki will go. You know where I think he'll go. He's going to go to the Dodgers.

There's no doubt about it. That's we, that's why life sometimes is just unfair. But I don't know. We'll see what happens. Jerry Torres says press conference on the 15 with Burns and Sasaki. That I like. That I can get on board with. I like that. That's the right attitude to have. I'm not always the most positive guy. So I'll tell you that right now. That's why, again, I had to have somebody like Jesse to keep me balanced. So again, I can't wait to see what the Diamondbacks do next. And I don't even really have any idea what that's going to be. Right. Like sometimes in life, the predictable thing is the thing that happens. So in regards to the Diamondbacks going forward, I feel like the predictable thing here is, is that Jordan Montgomery gets moved. The

Diamondbacks do it for a very little return. And maybe at that point still pursue their close be a free agency. I don't know. I just can't foresee any team giving up too much for Jordan Montgomery based on his numbers from last year and what he still owed. So that part sucks.

But hey, the Diamondbacks are not afraid of eating money. The Diamondbacks are not afraid of doing whatever it takes in order to improve the team. We saw that with the entire Madison Bumgarner situation. We've talked about it quite a bit,

but this is a team that will eat money to try to not, not let things go to hell for them. And it worked. It definitely worked. Taz says, how does the debacks pitching rotation

compared to the Dodgers at this point? It's a great question. I mean, I sit here and say that the Diamondbacks with these seven pitchers, you could arguably say is the best starting rotation in baseball if they performed as well as

these guys all have within the last two to three seasons, right? But the Dodgers are the Dodgers and their pitching rotation is still strong. The addition of Blake Snell, does not hurt that team one bit. And it's the reason why the Diamondbacks have to make moves like this, right? I asked earlier how, what, why, why did they make a move for Corbyn Burns?

Simply to keep up. I mean, it really was a move to keep up with the other teams in the National League West. I believe it was Bob Nightingale that reported at one point that the San Francisco Giants were a favorite to land burns, right? So it's almost a defensive move for you to go out there and get a player. that one of your league division rivals was going to go out and acquire and keep that player from going to that team while improving your team. So it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. It's not exactly a need for a team that already had six starting pitchers,

but I still think in the end this is going to make the Diamondbacks a better team. And again, we'll see what happens going forward. Michael Dixon says this episode makes me so excited for pitchers and catchers to report. I think we're 32 days away from that happening. I am not 100% sure, but I got Kevin to fact check me, and he'll do his best, but he's no Jesse, right? Like we already said that. I'm not going to say that anymore, but you guys already get it.

What I will say, though, is I'm very excited for pitchers and catchers reporting as well. This is what do you got? 32 days, 7 hours, 22 minutes, and 13 seconds and counting, y'all. You know, I didn't even do the math on that. It was just in my head because baseball. because baseball. My heart is shaped like a baseball. It's got the little stitches in it and everything.

But I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I'm telling you, it's, it's, it's, it's an exciting time to be in Arizona Diamondback and the one, uh, a dime back fan and maybe even a player. But I will say that, uh, this, this team right now has a chance with one or two more moves to truly contend. And you're getting, you're getting, you're getting. I think they rank them in their MLB's first power rankings, eighth overall. And I think it was one spot above the Houston Astros. Sorry, Christian Walker. You made the wrong call. But yeah, and the reason why the Diamondbacks are there is because of this starting pitching rotation.

It's exciting that Corvin Burns is here. It's exciting what he does for this team. And again, it's one of those stay tuned situations. Hugo asks, so who is going to be our DH? We don't know right now. Like, we don't really know right now. May's Devil says Burns Seas, King, Snell, Glassnow,

Yamamoto, Sasaki, probably. Webb, gallon, half the time. NL. West is loaded. It's like Tori Lavallo once said famously, I really wish the best players would stop coming to the National League West. However, in this case, I'm very happy he did because he chose the right team.

Snakes alive, baby, snakes alive. Well, the Diamondbacks got all of their arbitration business done, and as you know, it's nasty business. So we're going to talk about that on the other side of this break of course don't you guys go anywhere we'll be right back well you can drive into the new year in a new ford from sanderson ford new year new vehicle makes for a new you in 2025 take the whole family in style and save 11 grand off a new expedition or hit the trails and make your own trails in a new

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Sanderson Ford. Well, I am new to this, but hello to the Carol Roy's team. Royce real estate team is family owned and locally operated with three generation of family members serving the Valley of the Sun. Carol and her team have an unbeatable track record having sold over 12,000 homes across the valley. Carol knows the Arizona real estate market and she can help you to sell your home. You can rest easy knowing you're not just making the right choice. You're making a guaranteed one. Your home sold for 100% of market value or Carol will pay you the difference. Carol, let's chat. I mean, Carol has deep pocket. So you tell you this much. Check out

Carol Royce has to offer if you're considering selling your home in 2025. The name to trust is Carol Royce, your home sold, guaranteed realty. Have questions, call today, or visit Carolonline at Carolroisteam.com. That's Carol Royce team.com. All right. Well, the Arizona Diamondbacks have settled with all nine eligible players to avoid that terrible, terrible process known as arbitration. Kevin, I was going to put you through arbitration on my first day back.

I was going to sit here and argue not against your worth, but on behalf of your worth, right? I was going to basically be your arbitration lawyer. As Archie said, it's not in a courthouse. It's in a ballroom, in a hotel across the street. And basically, I'm going to sit here and say nice things about you. And other people are going to tell me how terrible you were this year. But I'll say, don't miss this guy on the U of A podcast. And I just wanted to take a second to say, I'm very proud of you, very proud of Damon.

I love my producers. I love my guys. I'm so grateful and happy to see them on the programs, getting the shine and hosting. These guys know so much about U of A. so make sure to not miss out, checking out that show. But again, besides that, he's very cute, very handsome, very helpful, good with thumbnails,

took him to his first wrestling event and he behaved himself. That was awesome. It was great. We had a good time. But again, see, that's the good side of arbitration. Now I could argue against it. and all the stuff that he did wrong. You know, again, really?

Going to someone else for information when he can come for me? No, no, that's no good. But the Diamondbacks do avoid with all nine eligible players, including Zach Gallen and Josh Naylor. Both of those guys end up settling below MLB trade rumors projected amount. Zach Gallen ends up settling for 13.5 million in 2025. Josh Naylor ends up settling for 10.9 million. Gallen was estimated to make 14.1.

Josh Naylor estimated to make 12 million per MLB trade projection. So the Diamondbacks save a little money there in regards to the projections, the estimations. However, both of those guys are free agents at the end of the year. Both will most likely receive a qualifying offer. And should they turn down the qualifying offer and be signed by another team, Diamondbacks do get those bonus picks in the draft, which again could be very, very valuable for, you know, for this team. and the way this team is going to be built going forward.

A bunch of other guys settled as well. The namesake of my cat, Geraldo Perdomo, or in the cat's name, perdomo, he settles for $2.55 million. That's a steal, if you're asking me. You're not just getting Jerry P. as a player. You're getting him as an on-field general. So, I mean, that should be worth $5 million alone. But again, I'm not his agent, so I'm not arguing on his behalf.

A.J. Puck settles for $2.95. Ryan Thompson for 3 million. Joe Mantle for 1.7. Your favorite, 1.7, 1.5 million for Pavin Smith. And then Kyle Nelson for 825,000. Kevin Ginkle settles for 2.425 million. There's all the amounts of money those guys make, not that you needed to know those dollar amounts.

They're not lending you any money, so don't ask them. But I will say that Diamondbacks get through, like I said, a fairly nasty process that allows, you know, them to kind of move on and focus here on the future. Not a lot of guys going to arbitration. It was definitely that day yesterday of hearing every single player just about settled outside of going to arbitration. But again, it's just, it's interesting because when arbitration does come up,

the person who I think of, and we've spoken about this on the show, it's Corbyn Burns. Corbyn Burns was what seemed like a Milwaukee Brewer, through and through, right? And then you see Corbyn Burns go through the arbitration process with the brewers, and after that process was over, there were some definitely hurt feelings, you know, on Burns' behalf. And I think that that is part of a lot of things in life, right? When it comes to your dedication to a franchise, to an organization, right? You feel like you were completely all in with that team. And then you have a,

to go to, as Archie said, a hotel ballroom and hear people say very nasty things about your production and how much you don't deserve to be paid more money, especially when you're a pitcher that's the caliber of Corbyn Burns. And I recall being there when he kind of voiced his opinions. I think it was at spring, you know, a spring training game. And it really did. It's one of those things that you could just, you could hear it in his voice. You could see it that like it meant something to him. And at the end of the day, I think it's important to always remember that these players are people and they have feelings. And you know, you see it in other sports, but you see it in baseball, especially when it comes to these arbitration things where my God, like the relationships

that can be ruined just to save some money, you know. And again, it's part of the business. It's, you know it's coming. You shouldn't take it personally. It's just hard to not do so, right? So I guess it's not the biggest deal that the Diamondbacks avoid arbitration with these guys, but it prevents having that nasty kind of interaction, right? And it all depends on the person and how they react to it. Josh Rojas, when he went through arbitration with the debacks, had the most delightful, the most delightful reaction to the arbitration hearing and everything he went through. And he lost his.

So overall, it's funny how the person individually can react. and how it can be real. But yeah, when it comes to these guys, it's important, remember at the end of the day, I know that a lot of this arbitration stuff is about money and all of that, right? But the things that are said in an arbitration hearing sometimes cannot be unsaid, right?

And like the damage that's done to a relationship between a player and the organization is real, right? Sometimes that damage is what causes a player just to come in and do his job versus, being all in on that team like we've seen members of the Diamondbacks. Tori Lavolo deserves so much credit for the, I guess the culture that he's created with this team where it does seem like these guys are all in for this franchise

and that's how you do something magical like they did in 2023, right? This year is going to be important because it's kind of, you know, it is a all in, pushing your chips all into the middle a little bit. it, you know, for 2025. And I feel like the team probably appreciates that, you know, and I feel like even the players that might be leaving this organization at the end of the year appreciate that. We as fans appreciate that. It makes us all feel like this team is trying to be one of those teams that remains a contender

instead of, you know, making a special little run one season, then dropping right back into mediocrity, like, you know, teams like Tampa Bay and other teams can do with roster decisions. and things like that. So Groundhog Mama says, poor Josh, he's a white sock. Yeah, yeah, he's a white sock now. And King Snake Meister says, ha, Josh Rojas, equal psychopath, pure psychopath. And he's my psychopath. And I love him. I miss him so much. When he was available, I was, I was big on the diamondbacks going after him. But he got a decent amount of money from the Chicago White Sox. So congrats to Josh. But, yeah, Cam says he'll probably get traded away to a contender at the deadline. And, you know, Anyway, yeah, maybe that's the case. Maybe that's the case, but he gets traded to us. I don't know. Diamondbacks did make some moves. They did try their best to continue to find some backups.

We know, again, I talked earlier about Jock Peterson and Christian Walker, those losses. But I think another understated loss this year is Kevin Newman. I think Kevin Newman is going to be one of those guys that he really helped us team out with injuries and depth. and, you know, unfortunately, that you just can't find guys like that all the time. But the Diamondbacks did find a backup catcher. And they also traded for Great Kessinger from the Diamondbacks for right-handed pitching prospect, Matthew Linsky. So there's a great Kessinger as a guy that could absolutely add to the depth. I'm not that familiar with him, but we'll get you some more information on him here soon.

And, I mean, honestly, we'll see this season what kind of role he has. I didn't give Kevin Newman the credit, I think, last offseason that he absolutely deserved. And he came out in 2024 and balled out. So, you know, again, the Diamondbacks are very, very good at talent acquisition. And sometimes when Mike Hazen goes shopping and gets himself a new player, and I don't know much about him. I'm more interested in what he can become rather than what I'm going to go out there and try to find. from Michael Rokickey with a beautiful comment

but I'm not sure I'm allowed to say or not I forgot our what words I can and can't say. I don't know if that's on the list of bad words. I believe Michael Rokickey is referring to the French dish croak monsieur. Oh, okay. We can go there.

Big crook. Yeah, yeah. 50 shades of gray. I love it. I love it. I love you guys. I appreciate you guys. and of course

I said it at the beginning of the show but this show isn't going to be the same going forward I do openly admit that and I will talk a little bit more about what the schedule is going to be but I definitely hope to be able to bring you guys something that you still enjoy like I said

someone asked earlier if I was going to go back to a reporter role yeah I guess Mays Devil says are you getting the reporter gig going. I don't know. I like, yeah, see, these are the problems. There's a lot of problems. There's a lot of things that now I have to do. I'm not happy about how many responsibilities I have around here. But we will definitely talk about what the schedule is going to be going forward on the other side of this break. And again,

I love you. I appreciate you guys. You're watching the PHNX Dback show. And we'll be right back. When I talk about friends and I talk about partners with PHNX, those sometimes might be two different things. But in this case, it's the same because I love, I love our folks at Colt Cannabis. They treat me very, very well. And Colt Cannabis has some killer deals available now at your local True Leave. A new product dropped. Honestly, one of the best deals in the Valley is ever seen. Premium flower is hitting True Leave in 14 gram small bags. So for launch, they are doing an $80 a bag starting this Thursday on January 9th through the entire weekend. So of course we got, Yesterday was January 9th.

We got this all weekend long. Go out there and get yourself an $80 half ounce of the finest cannabis you can find in the valley. Premium flour, 14 grams, $80. Started yesterday through Sunday the 12th. Score this deal by getting over to truleve.com to find your local shop or place an order and tell them that the guys at PHNX sent you. And a real quick note, Derek. January 11th, tomorrow is the grand opening of the new Maricopa True Leave location.

So pop over there, get yourself some cult at the new Maricopa true leave location. And Monday, 8 p.m., PHNX, Puffs, me, Eric, Derek. Maybe. I don't know. Tap in. Last time I peered on your show, I disappeared in the streets of Phoenix to never be seen again. So I don't know if I want to come on that show anymore. But I will say, when I'm out on the streets of Phoenix, I do stop by my local Circle K

to not only get myself something to drink because it's America's third stop, but to fill up my gas. or fill my car with the cheapest gas I can find. Of course, get down on the Inner Circle membership for free by downloading the CircleK app today. Terms and conditions apply at participating locations. Visit CircleK.com for details. When you do, you'll save 25 cents per gallon on your first five fillups. You'll save three cents per gallon every day after that.

You'll get all sorts of wonderful snacks, treats in the app, all sorts of buy five, get a six one free. They'll give you bogos. They'll give you all sorts of things. So you get that Inner Circle app. Keep it downloaded. Keep it ready to go. anytime you're at Circle K, check out the deals to be had.

Of course, save yourself some money. Get yourself something to drink and stay hydrated out there. Even though it's cold outside, you can still be dehydrated in this desert we live in. Well, like I said earlier, appreciate you guys sticking around. And we will have a new schedule going forward. This show will be on air three days a week during the regular season. I will have you covered with a show per week leading up. up to when pitchers and catchers report,

and then once we get into the regular season, we'll be going three days a week. So I know it's not the normal amount of pH and X debacks that you're used to, but let's be honest. You can only take so much of me by myself. So they had to restrict the amount down. It's like, you know, it's like the pure syrup that makes soda. You know, you don't want to drink that all by itself.

It's got to be diluted. And I don't know. You don't want to do this too often with just me. But I do still have Jesse Jr. here with me. JJ will be doing the show. And I appreciate you guys so much for being here, for still supporting us, and for loving baseball as much as we do. Of course, we will be back to next Wednesday.

Like I said, we'll have the Corbyn Burns press conference on Wednesday. So the Diamondbacks Web Media Availability. Hopefully we will have some video from that. We are going to go over there and make sure we're there, ask some questions. And we will discuss more on the signing of Corbyn Burnton. and any other moves that the Arizona Diamondbacks might make between now and next Wednesday because, hey, they still have some work to be done, right? So, again, in regards to the show, like I said, we're going to try to bring you guys postgame shows.

I will do my best to still be around over at Chase Field, bring you guys post-game press conferences and post-game media availability with the players. So hopefully we won't lose too much. but you know you're going to be losing a lot of insight, and you know that I'm going to get a lot of names wrong. There's going to be a lot of mispronouncing of names on this show. So not much I can do to help that. Kevin will try to help me, but again, he's too nice to always correct me.

So we'll... And plus I can only do but so much, Derek. Yeah. I can only do but so much. You're absolutely right. But most importantly, and yes, Groundhog Mama comes in. I was going to say, let's get to some super chats, because I know we got some amazing super chats.

Hog Mama, thank you for yours. She says, if you want a free co-host, I know one young man who is available. He's no thunderstick, but we love him anyway. Welcome back. Thank you so much. And no, he tried to do his show at the same time as mine, so he's dead to me. Tell him. Tell your son, I said that. Michael, Michael Roakickey says, signing Burns makes the ballpark pass even more of a deal than it already is. You're absolutely right, sir. I mean, let's be honest, the ballpark pass was already the best deal in all of baseball. There's no doubting that. But, I mean, for the chance now to go see Corbyn Burns pinch every five or maybe six or maybe seven days. Let's get crazy.

I don't know. It might be a steal, right? Maybe that's why they have a seven-man pitching rotation. They don't want to give you too much Corbyn Burns with that $299 ballpark pass. Too much value there. Too much value. Ogre McFubin, thank you so much. He said so glad to have you back, Derek.

Honestly, it feels great to be back, guys. I will say that over the last three years this show has become. a huge part of my life. I've done this show five days a week for almost the entire time. I think I've missed 15 days total in the time that I've been doing the show. And for a thousand of those days, I did it with a person who I considered to be a little brother and a best friend. Right.

So again, like I said earlier, this show's not going to be the same. And I wish it was. But unfortunately, we all have a loss together here in regards to, you know, moving forward. I appreciate you guys because you guys help make this so much easier on me.

I know over the years, many of you have developed, I've developed a personal relationship with just through being die-hards, through being here all the time. And I mean, even those of you that only show up after a loss to tell us to fire Tori LaVallo, I appreciate even you guys. You guys are a big reason why I want to continue doing this. and you guys are a big reason why I'm here today. So I thank you. I appreciate all of the support you guys have given.

And I most importantly appreciate you guys for loving this Arizona Diamondbacks team that at times maybe hasn't deserved all of your love. But let me tell you, they do now. And they are trying to put a winning contender on the field. It's going to be a very fun year in 2025. And I'm very happy to be here to cover it and to be speaking. with all of you on this show. So again, I thank you guys so much for being here today,

and I appreciate you. I don't know what the Diamondbacks are going to do with the seven-man rotation. I'll know what they're going to do with the DH, but we'll take a look at some candidates, and we'll see if between now next Wednesday we have some clarity, especially with that press conference coming up. So a lot of interesting things happening over there at Chase Field. And again, I look forward to seeing you guys out there for spring training,

to seeing you guys during the regular season. We might have some more surprises for you in the future in regards to Arizona Diamondbacks coverage. So, of course, make sure to stay tuned at all times. You can follow us all on Twitter. I'm at Kapp underscore K-Man with a K, Kevin. He's at Kev-O posts. And that one's so much easier. I don't have to tell you to figure it out like I used to.

I will say that I appreciate everybody's support. And I want you to continue to support everybody from PHNX because I have some, family members here that I'm going to miss greatly and they're going to all go on to do great things so to Craig to Stephen Peters to Mike Luke Jesse Friedman Lindsay please make sure you support these guys and everything that they do they mean a lot to me and of course they're all all tremendous tremendous sports people they're all tremendous sports journalist and they're going to continue in some way to bring you the best coverage that you can find so of course much love to all of you again much love to everybody out there we appreciate

appreciate you guys stopping by. I think I said ours, but make sure to follow our show at PHNX underscore D-Backs, but of course all roads do lead to at PHNX underscore sports on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. We will see you guys next Wednesday after that Corbyn Burns press conference. And until then, we appreciate you. We thank you. We'll see you guys next time. Remember kids, baseball is fun, but it's so much more fun when your favorite podcast is back.