PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - Do you want your MLB team to spend their way out of fourth place? Asking for the Texas Rangers

Episode Date: November 28, 2022

The Texas Rangers seem to be pursuing big names in free agency again, but we’re not exactly sure why. Also, is Arizona a desirable landing spot for free agents? And who from the D-backs do you want on your Zombie Survival crew?BUY D-BACKS TICKETS HERE: https://gametime.hnyj8s.net/c/3442941/1410622/10874 SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube: https://bit.ly/phnx_youtubeALL THINGS PHNX: http://linktr.ee/phnxsports PHNX: ICYM our Cyber Monday sale, we still have new hoodies and t-shirts including Diehard merch and even Phoe-Knux swag. Check it all out at https://phnxlocker.com/.DraftKings: Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app now (https://bit.ly/3Jl1dMX), use promo code PHNX and make your first deposit of FIVE DOLLARS and get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in FREE BETS INSTANTLY! For every leg you add you can boost your winnings up to ONE HUNDRED percent!If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisiscounseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800-GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537) (IL/IN/MI/NJ/PA/WV/WY), 1-800-NEXT STEP (AZ), 1-800-522-4700 (CO/NH), 888-789-7777/visit http://ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-BETS OFF (IA), 1-877-770-STOP (7867) (LA), 877-8-HOPENY/text HOPENY (467369) (NY), visitOPGR.org (OR), call/text TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN), or 1-888-532-3500 (VA).21+ (18+ WY). Physically present in AZ/CO/CT/IL/IN/IA/LA/MI/NJ/NY/PA/TN/VA/WV/WY only. Min. $5 deposit required. Eligibility restrictions apply. See http://draftkings.com/sportsbook for details.OGeez!: Enter the “Flavoring Life” sweepstakes. One winner will receive 3 bags of OGeez, an OGeez! Hat, a PHNX shirt of your choice, and a PHNX annual membership. Sign up at gophnx.com or visit https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfIplqDYsxYeiotn5Zc6hRahaX0a5qG99eHVzkhOlGZDRdgUA/viewform. Must be 21 years or older to purchase.Underdog Fantasy: Sign up for Underdog Fantasy today! Go to the link https://play.underdogfantasy.com/p-phnx and use promo code “PHNX” to receive a deposit match up to $100Four Peaks: We are teaming up with Four Peaks to host all US and Mexico World Cup matches at their 8th Street Pub. Enjoy beer specials, giveaways, guest appearances, and more while watching on their 22’ jumbo screen. Click here to register for free: https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/phnx-2022-world-cup-watch-parties-1329339Enter to win the “Toast of the Month” sweepstakes to win a $50 Four Peaks gift card, a PHNX shirt of your choice, and a PHNX annual membership. Go to goPHNX.Com or visit https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfOabxo8KQxOWwn9wTilMBuTMAJdrL0CaH9lzfuJqgKN9vfSg/viewform Must be 21 or older. Enjoy responsibly. Bad Birdie: Use code “PHNXBadBirdie” for 15% off your next order https://glnk.io/7qnq/phnx-sportsMor Furniture: Save up to 50% all through the holidays! Check out https://morfurniture.comLiquid Death: Get free shipping on all water and merch at https://LiquidDeath.com/PHNX FOCO: FOCO has you covered with the best Arizona Merchandise. Head on over to foco.com. For all non pre-sale items use the promo code “PHNX” for 10% offWhen you shop through links in the description, we may earn affiliate commissions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Welcome to another edition of the PHNX DBAX podcast right here on PHNX. My name is Derek Montia. Of course, I am your mayor of PHNX, and I am the mayor of Cyber Monday. Damn it. This guy next to me, he's the understick Jesse Friedman, my vice mayor. The deals go on, Derek. The deals never stop. The deals never stop, especially at the PHNX Locker.com, where you can get yourself up to 90% off.

Find T-shirts, such as this one I'm wearing. Look at that. Cyber Monday up to 90%. percent off. Let's go. Get yourself. Get yourself gifts. Get gifts for everybody. Get everybody ready for the Arizona sports season with our fine, fine gear. And of course, this show is brought to you by the fine folks at the Draft King Sportsbook app. America's top rated sportsbook app. Jesse, stuff is happening. And our friends at CHGO are not happy about it. Josea Brayu is reportedly signing with the Houston Astros. And once again,

the rich get richer. And when I say that, I mean that both by Jose Obrayu and the Houston Astros. Yeah, that's a fair point. Yeah, this is interesting. I think I at least personally expected Jose O'Brien to return to the White Sox. It just kind of seemed like, I mean, he's been a free agent in the past, and that's the choice that he's made in the past as well. It just seemed like something that was going to happen. But yeah, I'm surprised by this. I could certainly see from his perspective, why, you know, going to the team that, that, you know, they're the world champions for a reason. There's, there's a reason that Jose Abrae wants to be a Houston Astro, and that's certainly understandable. But he had a long run with the Chicago White Sox.

And this just seemed like the kind of situation where, you know, yes, he's going to listen to other teams. Maybe other teams drive up the price a little bit. But I certainly had him staying in Chicago for the long haul and probably just finishing out his career there. And like I was saying about the Houston Astros, right? This is a team that just won the World Series. And I feel like we are getting this with more and more teams. The Atlanta Braves, they seem to kind of re-up. And even though they lost some key pieces after they won their World Series,

they seemed to come back strong. Not only that, but they solidified their future by, you know, signing so many of their young guys to these contracts. Houston Astros, again, a team that seems to be on, on the verge of losing Justin Verlander and maybe some other key pieces. And instead, they, you know, bring in one of the, honestly, the hardest hitting first baseman that you can find. Yeah, Jose Abrae, I don't think he's quite what he once was, right? But he's still a, I mean, he's still a very, very good player.

This last year, his slug numbers decreased a little bit. I don't have the numbers in front of me. But I don't think he hit as many home runs or extra base hits. this year it was more about just getting on base, but he did that part of things very well. And he was still an above average offensive player, all things considered. So you can see why the Astros would be in on this. Yulee Gurriel is a free agent. So they have some opportunity over at first base.

And Jose Abraeu seems to be their guy. So it's a little scary in some ways, right? I mean, the Astros getting even richer offensively. that lineup was already incredible. And Jose Ibrahim seems to be one of those guys who just doesn't really age. He just keeps on hitting. Like I said, it's looked a little different for him this year maybe,

but he was still an outstanding offensive player, all things considered. So this is a big get for the Astros. And even more significantly, like you said earlier, there's a reason our friends at CHGO are not happy today. And at least from my perspective, it was kind of a given that Jose Abraeu was going to return.

At least that's how I've been thinking about this from the White Sox standpoint. And now not only do they have to, you know, fix a roster that was not nearly as good this last year as they were hoping it would be, but they also have to find a way, you know, to replace a guy who's been a staple of their lineup and really a staple of their franchise for a very long time. So this puts the White Sox in a very, very difficult position. most definitely and also as brett johnson pointed out in the comments justin verlander is meeting with the dodgers today no shocker there no shocker there

and of course that's that's just a terrifying thought because of course that's the last thing that we need in our division but uh at least you know the diamondbacks aren't the ones right now that are reaching for the expensive free agents we will leave that up to the texas rangers They are on the other side of things when it comes to Texas baseball because they are once again all in on free agency. They seem to be pursuing some of the most expensive pitchers available. They've been connected with Justin Verlander, also with Carlos Rodan and Jacob de Grom. And it just is kind of baffling considering that the Rangers spent half a billion with a B, half a billion dollars last year. They have the 12th highest payroll in MLB for 2023.

in 2022, they just won 68 games, not even 69. Yeah, things didn't quite go according to plan for the Texas Rangers this past year. But yeah, I mean, let's dig into this, right? So they signed Corey Seeger and Marcus Semmy in last offseason for, as you said, about a half a billion dollars. A lot of people thought they were kind of crazy at the time, which they probably were. looking at the numbers for those guys, they were fine, I guess. Corey Seger and Marcus Semyon both had roughly four win seasons,

about four wins above replacement for the year, which is pretty good. Maybe not necessarily what you're looking for, given how much money the Rangers put up for those guys. If you look at the offensive numbers in particular, they're not that great. Marcus Semyon hit 248 with a 304 on base percentage and a 429 slugging percentage.

He was basically, to give a Diamondbacks comp, he was basically Dalton Varsho offensively. That's essentially what Marcus Semyon was, but Marcus Semyon doesn't provide quite as much defensive value as Dalton Varsho does, of course. And then Corey Seeger had kind of a down year. He had 245, 317 on base 455 slugging percentage. Both guys were pretty durable, played a full season,

it wasn't an injury problem. It was just that neither of them were necessarily great. They were just kind of good. And I think it was always a long shot for the Texas Rangers to sign those two guys and instantly become a contender. I remember you and I talking about this last off season, we're like, okay, you know, you have semi and you have Seeger. So maybe you're a 75 win team.

And when all was said and done, they weren't even that. Right. Well, and they're in a similar position as the debacks when it comes to being in a tough division, right? And it's going to be not only dominated by the Houston Astros, but now the Seattle Mariners are very good. I just can't imagine the Diamondbacks trying to at this point spend their way out, right? Like there is no fix. There's no amount of money, really, that the Diamondbacks could spend on the free agency market that would immediately make this team a contender versus. the Dodgers for the NL West.

And honestly, the San Diego Padres are an example of that. They're trying to be that. They're trying to spend as much money as the Dodgers are. They're trying to acquire as many all-star caliber players as they can. Yet we saw how they finished this season and we saw how

I mean, they had a great off season. They're built to beat the Dodgers and that's what they did, but they still have a long way to go. Yeah. Yeah. As far, I mean, the Rangers, as far as like the road moving forward for them, I will say that their pitching is good in terms of what they have in the minor league system.

Right. They just got, they just got Kumar Rocker. Of course, that's a big name. A lot of people, a lot of people will know. They have one of the more well-regarded farm systems in baseball at this point. So I do think that there's maybe a light on the other side of the tunnel here. It's just weird to like spend all of this money before those guys have really made it up been proven themselves.

Like they don't really have, they don't have the young core that the diamond backs do, right? And so it's just, it's interesting. It's an interesting approach to really just try to spend and spend and spend. And I guess, I guess they're hoping that, you know,

maybe they have a core of veteran players who are, you know, in their prime in the case of Semian and Seeger. You could make a case those guys are still in their prime. And then, you know, maybe want some of those young pitchers that the Rangers having their system come up. Maybe, you know, Seger and Semen are still there and still able to

contribute at the highest level. But I'm curious, you know, we'll see what, what the Rangers are willing to spend further this offseason. It sounds like they might have, they might have a lot of work that they're hoping to get done this offseason in terms of continuing to improve the roster via free agency. Michael in the comment says there's a difference between spending wisely and spending like a drunken sailor. And I think that's exactly what it comes down to spending wisely is spending at the right time when you're ready to advance a young core maybe the rangers are just in a position where they want to feel the team that they think will be attractive to fans to come out and watch watch them play i don't know at times

you know what the purpose of adding a high priced free agent to your team is other than that when your team isn't really ready to compete see the colorado rockies and what they did right So anyway, Bleacher Report cited the Arizona Diamondbacks as the 20th most appealing destination in Major League Baseball for free agents. I think that's fair. I don't disagree with it too much. I thought it was weird that one of the reasons they cited, though, was because Arizona has the highest inflation rate in the country. And that wasn't a great fact to find out while I was in the middle of doing baseball research, Jesse. I didn't need that piled on top of me.

I didn't need that knowledge. Yeah, I can't say I'm surprised as someone who recently moved back to Phoenix. Things ain't the way they used to be around here, Derek. Back in my day, when I grew up in Phoenix all of, you know, five or six years ago, yeah, groceries were substantially cheaper back then. But, but yeah, I don't know. I kind of have a fundamental problem with like bleach your report making these lists. I don't know how you can possibly get down to like like that granular of a level,

you know, like where the Diamondbacks are exactly 20th. Like they're, you know, they're worse than 19th, but they're better than 21st. And like I, like you could maybe do tears.

If I were making a list like this, maybe I would do like tiers and kind of group teams together that are similarly, um, or that are similar to each other. But, uh, but, yeah, I mean, I don't know. I don't think that it matters that much in baseball, personally. I think that in terms of free agency, players often go to whichever team gives them the most money, and that's pretty much the end of the story. I just don't think that there's that much, there's just not that much more to it in my mind. I agree. I have a hard time believing that players who were making $13,000 a year five years ago and are now making $5 to $10 million a year.

maybe even significantly more than that, really care about how expensive it is to live in San Diego or in Arizona when making their free agency decisions. But yeah, what do I do? Well, and Arizona is still substantially cheaper than, you know, than San Diego or L.A. or San Francisco or like the cities in America that have a similar population to Phoenix, Arizona are by and large way more expensive. So, you know, inflation is one thing, but inflation has kind of gone crazy across the entire country.

So that's not just like a Phoenix only sort of a thing. There's too much salad and go chatter in our chat, by the way. I just want to say that. I blame Jesse for that. Also, Brett Johnson is asking us over or under 85 wines for the debacks in 2020. Oh, wins. Got it. Wines.

Wines was better. Wines was better because, of course, we know. Christian Walker is the king of having a bar next to his locker. And I would say over on 85 wines for this season. But right now, the most important thing to tell you guys about and the most important thing in your life is the Cyber Monday sale going on over at PHNX Locker.com. You guys need to get in on our big sale. Jesse and I dressed alike today, just in honor of this. We didn't even call each other.

We just mentally knew what hat and what shirt the other person would wear. And now here we are meeting on this show with, you know, the same outfit. You can join us too. Grab one of these shirts. Grab one of these hats. Grab all sorts of stuff over at the Cyber Monday sale. Up to 90% off. 99 cent Seth Servacer shirts.

You heard me right. Get over to the PHNX Locker.com. And also give yourself the gift of a PHNX membership. If you haven't done so already, become a PHNX diehard. And of course, we are all about that. Die Hard's get an adjunct. additional 20% off Black Friday and Cyber Weekend discounts. So if you jump on that discount now, you can get yourself an additional 20% off for whatever

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you got plus jesse bringing it to you with the diehards only newsletter p hn x diehards only newsletter with craiggen gerald morguez and jesse friedman full count i still love that name and jessey didn't come up with that so i'm i have to tell you guys that every single time uh but mail bags for diehards only an exclusive video and podcast content. So give yourself the gift of a diehard membership, get down over at go phtnx.com, and over at the PHNX Locker.com. We appreciate you guys being here in the chat.

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And leave us a review. We'd appreciate the feature. We always love you guys for doing so. If you didn't get a chance to check out our post Thanksgiving shows, make sure to go back and listen to those audio-only podcasts. I think we did a good job on breaking down Black Friday, some of the best Black Friday deals the D-Backs ever got and more. We didn't really scratch the surface, to be honest. Like that's a show that could last like at least two hours, like on its own. Yeah, like we didn't like we didn't even mention that the Diamondbacks acquired Luis.

Zalas for Kareem Garcia, I want to say, was his name. It was a hot dog and a handshake, Jesse is what it was. Yeah, like I don't even, I'm not even confident. I remember the player's name, which kind of speaks to how much of a steal that was. So we could have gone on for quite some time. So we very much scratched the surface there. But it was, it was still a fun show for sure. It was a great show.

So make sure to go back and check that out if you didn't do so. But of course, Black Friday is behind us. Today is Cyber Monday. check out those deals on p hnx locker.com every week on this show is shark week even during the holidays every day on this show is earth day and every monday even on sliber monday we go to the mailbag let's go i'm always something interesting in my mail box i'm trying to get to everything in my mailbox and then once in a while there's a letter that makes me go wow i got extra room for dancing without jessie so close to me and you know so talking out of weird. But all right. Our first question.

Let's go. Question number one comes from Jacob. And Jacob, I'm not Giacoma. I hope I didn't butcher that. Geocoma Jacob on Twitter. Ask, who are some minor leaguers that could have, that could become good Major League bullpen arms? I had thought Jameson could be a great closer and still think he could,

but if he keeps this up, he should stay in the rotation. That's a great question, to be honest, because Drey Jameson is one of the names. I know that we considered to be a potential future bullpen arm. And I agree with you now, based on his performance, I have a hard time putting him in that category. I also feel the same thing about Ryan Nelson. These are guys that just did not have impressive numbers

when we were looking at what they were doing in the minors. But like our friend Gil told us the other day, right? You can't trust the numbers when it comes to pitching, really because especially when it comes to these minor league ballparks, they're not trying to really discuss it too much or make too big of a deal about it. But these are hitter-friendly ballparks. And at times we don't really know what these guys are capable of until they get to a major league level. So I don't know.

Some of the names that I had thought of in the past have kind of faded away. I still think Luis Friess is going to be a big bullpen arm for them. But that remains to be seen if he can keep the ball in the strike zone. Yeah, I mean, that's the biggest variable for a lot of these guys, right? I think there's a few intriguing arms in the minors. Justin Martinez being one of them, who our friend Brett Johnson is obsessed with. Justin Martinez, as we saw in the fall league, I mean, this stuff is, this stuff is electric. And I think there's a lot of building excitement there based on how good he looked in the fall league,

the fact that the Diamondbacks had no choice, but to protect him from the Rule 5 draft by adding him to the 40-man roster, because he was just so good in the fall league against some really, really good competition. So he's a big name to watch going into 2023. I think you could see him, you know, play a significant role in the bullpen as soon as opening day. Beyond,

yes, and Brett does acknowledge that he's obsessed with Justin Martinez. So that's the first step, Fred. We're glad we're glad you made it there. The devax also acquired Carlos Vargas from the Cleveland Guardians. We talked about that trade that happened about two weeks ago now, two or three weeks ago. Vargas is another interesting arm that Debex acquired him because he throws over 100 miles an hour. He has a slider that sits in the low 90s, which is big time velocity for a slider.

Debex have for levers who don't throw fastballs that are in the low, you know, 92, 93 miles an hour like Carlos Vargas is slider. So, you know, the velocity there is legit. So I think he's a guy to watch. There are still some questions on the command front. So that's going to be the biggest thing for him. As far as some of the starters who could be converted, yeah, Dre Jameson and Ryan Nelson, I think I also viewed both of those guys as being candidates to move to the bullpen once they got to the big leagues. But yeah, I mean, with how good they were in their rotation last year, you're not going to just, you know, go into.

to 2023 and just turn him into relievers right away. You're going to give those guys more runway to see if they can prove themselves in the rotation. I think I like Dre Jameson's chances of being able to do that a little bit more at this point because of the development of his sinker and how big of a pitch that that was for him. I think he has a little more variety there. Ryan Nelson was still, he was effective. I don't want to take that away from him, but Ryan Nelson was still throwing 70% for seamers you know, when he got called up here.

And I just don't know how long he can be effective that way for. It's a change he's going to have to make at some point. So that's the biggest question there and why I do kind of feel like there's a pretty decent chance you see Ryan Nelson and the bullpen down the road. We raved a bit about Dre Jameson's pitch selection and back-to-back starts. And I think that's just something that shows a different level of stuff that he has, or at least game planning, you know, when it comes to being a starter versus what we've seen out of Ryan Nelson just a bit. I think another name that we could see is Blake Walston.

Blake Walston has a pretty good fastball and a pretty good curve ball. And I think he's a guy with the starting lineup being a bit crowded that we could potentially see. It feels like 2023, according to reports, is when he is estimated to arrive at the major league level. depend. That's still, you know, obviously is remains to be seen. But I do think being a lefty could be valuable coming out of the pen. And I just think that there is, again, one of those guys, because Brandon fought is also on his way. And I don't envision Brandon fought being a reliever in any way. So I could definitely see Ryan Nelson going to the bullpen and maybe Blake Walsden joining, joining him as well if he arrives this year. Yeah, there's also, you mentioned Walson being a lefty, which is another significant

factor here, at least as of right now, I think the debacks need at least one more lefty for their bullpen. And Tommy Henry is a guy who's probably right there already and could probably fill that roll in a heartbeat if they needed him to. So, yeah, if things don't work out in the starting rotation for Tommy Henry next year, which is a possibility, we'll see how things go in spring training for him, I think he could, in a heartbeat, you know, come out of the bullpen and maybe he proves more effective in that role. All right. Next question comes from Gabriel. And Gabriel asks at Bold is Bronze on Twitter. He asked, what is your personal expectation for this time next year? Another growth in development year or playoffs. Personally, I have them being beat in five games in the

NLCS next year. Gabriel has been drinking before tweeting, I think. But I am going to say, I expect them to make the playoffs next year. Whoa, all right. Here we go. The crazy Derek predictions have begun. Here's what I'm saying. That's my expectation. My expectation is that they are a playoff team,

and I'm not going to have any further expectations outside of that, whether that means that they get bounced in the first round as a wild card in that three-game series or whatever. I think that something similar to what we saw with the Seattle Mariners last year is what I expect to see with the debacks. That's that's my opinion. I know that might be a bit bullish, as Jesse would say, but I think with it being these higher expectations, I think with some of these guys coming in and knowing now that they are the guy, knowing now that they don't have to fight for a role, but that they will be, you know, a starter and they will be part of this team, the younger guys,

I expect to see them to really, you know, kind of blow up. I wouldn't be surprised to see, you know, that 85 to 90 win range, but still not, you know, obviously come close to the division. Yeah, I mean, like I talked with Sean when I did the show with him last week, making the playoffs is not as simple as like getting to a certain win total, which it's easy to kind of talk your, it's kind of easy to talk your way into that

because like we've talked about with some of these projections, right? Zips having the Diamondbacks is 83 wins. Jack Summers working with the steamer projections had them at 84 wins. Right? I mean, those numbers are pretty compelling. theoretically, if you add a few more wins,

you know, in free agency or the trade market this offseason, then maybe you're at 87 or 88 wins going into next year just as a projection, in which case you feel pretty good about your postseason chances. The thing that I'm hung up on is who are the Diamondbacks going to beat, right? Which team that made the playoffs last year are they going to replace and, you know, become a playoff team this year, right? Even with that additional wildcard spot, you've still only got six of them.

I think the Dodgers and the Padres, those are sort of no-brainer teams at this point, right? you've got a stacked NL East with the Braves, the Mets, and the Philadelphia Phillies, who are just in the World Series. And then you've got the St. Louis Cardinals doing their thing in the Central. Maybe the Brewers make some noise there as well. So that's a lot of teams, right? I mean, that's seven teams that I just named. The debacks would have to be able to overcome two of those in order to have a shot at the

playoffs themselves. So, yeah, the playoffs, I'm not ready to go there just yet. But I think it's reasonable the Diamondbacks could be in above 500 team next year. And playoffs or not, I think that's still way ahead of schedule. And that would still be an incredible development for them this soon after, you know, a 20, 21 season in which they won 52 games. I mean, that's still an incredible turnaround. All right. Next question.

Michael Rokicke asks, what Diamondbacks moment from this past season made you feel most Usy? And who is the Sammy Zane of PHNX and why is it Jesse Friedman? Now, I know I need to explain both of these things to Jesse. And I know maybe even to a lot of you. I'm not going to expect all of you to follow pro wrestling. So Jesse, we'll say feeling most Usi. Usi is like, you know, I guess partially cool, partially joyful, right? So what was a cool, joyful moment for you from this past season?

cool and joyful. Yeah. Okay. All right. Does that does that simplify? That's, it's almost too simple. I, I,

I expected there to be more nuanced to, to, uh, to, to the concept, right. I want to, I want to take the word oozy.

Okay, so Oos is a term of family, right? Like Ouse is someone you would call where it's almost like calling you us is like calling you brother or bro or something like that, right? You're, your family. And so,

uh, these, these wrestlers have adopted the term in the filling uzi is something like that even though it doesn't have much to do with family has to do with with with with being with with being joyful and uh like i said kind of cool so uh i'll give you the stage for your moment from the diamondbacks this season all right so the the the uceiest moment of the diamond back season am i am i using it right well done yes the uceiest moment in my mind would probably be um And I think I've used this answer before for similar questions.

I'm going to use it again. I think it's the day that Corbyn Carroll got called up to the big leagues. The Diamondbacks were losing seven to nothing. And it seemed like a huge buzzkill. Corbyn Carroll was 0 for 2. Nothing great was happening. And then the Diamondbacks just went on this incredible run. And they won the game 13 to 7 when all was said and done.

Corbyn Carroll had an enormous two-run double for his first big league hit into the left center field gap, a beautiful opposite field shot on a pretty good slider. I don't remember who was on the mound for the Phillies that game. But that was just a fun day at the ballpark. I know there were probably some people who came just because Corby and Carroll was making his big league debut. And I don't think they were disappointed at all with the results.

Wasn't that the same day that Jacob and Shane participated in the hot dog race? Was this the same day? I think it might have been. I think it might have been. Yeah. That's also, that's pretty oozy as well. That was pretty uce. Yeah.

No, I'm going to have to agree with you on that for sure. And I can't think of a better moment that that myself. So I'm with you 100% than that. But the other part of this question, Jesse, is to explain who is Sammy Zane at P.H.N.X and why is it you? And it's very much you. Now, Sammy Zane is a wrestler. As somebody mentioned in the comments,

Mark Graves said, Sammy Zane keeps reinventing his wrestling. career. Yes, that was fantastic. He absolutely keeps reinventing himself. But a big part of his current character is he's kind of a bit of a fish out of water looking a bit like a red-haired homeless man who's very awkward and kind of, you know, funny. And also he's in with this group of pretty bad guys. We'll say bad guys that are Samoans, their family of Samoans. to kind of run things right now, like a mob, like some gangsters, right? And he has had to prove himself recently in a pay-per-view event where he had to show his loyalties to this mafia-like

group of guys. And he did. And thus he made himself a made man in their eyes. There was this wonderful tear-inducing moment of them hugging him and handshakes all around and everything. But I'm going to say now why you are that. does not compromise himself for anybody. However, Jesse does an amazing job of fitting in wherever he goes,

right? Jesse can come off. You come off sometimes as being more awkward than you actually are. You're not. You actually, you're quite charming,

and you do a great job of making people who would initially judge you the wrong way end up feeling differently about you. And that's, something that Sammy Zane very much has done so in the eyes of Roman Reins and the Uso's and the entire bloodline. So Jesse would definitely fit right in as Sammy Zane, I think. That's my opinion.

Elizabeth is lost. I'm sorry. I tried to keep people that didn't know somewhat engaged, but that one was, that's, that one was literally for like two guys that are here. So I apologize to the rest of you for that. So I'm not, I'm not as weird as, you would initially think is basically what makes me like, I'm saying people would judge you for not being as cool as you actually are. And then there we go. The mistake they've made. Is that better?

Yeah, I like that. I did my best. I did my best. I did my, and obviously I'm Paul Heyman with the way I can talk. But of course, uh, we want to thank our friends over at more furniture.

Uh, where did you spend your post Thanksgiving feast? Was there a chair, a couch? where did you find some sort of, where did you go to relax and open up, you know, the belt a little bit after your meal? Well, I was kind of deathly ill on Thanksgiving Day. Oh, that's right. And so I was pretty much in bed the whole day.

And it didn't particularly make a difference that I had just eaten a large meal, which I did still eat. But I was, yeah, I did not go further than I, other than going to the back. That's about the farthest trip away from my, from my room that I made that day. Nobody really wanted to be around me, which is fair. No, I wouldn't. I didn't. And I still don't. And that's why we're not together right now.

Because we're both, we both have the ick and we can't be around other people or each other. So, but Jesse, of course, I found, uh, I have a couch that, uh, I got from more furniture. And it, it, it, it, it reclines in two areas. Uh, and I was laying on it comfortably. enough, but then I decided to recline the two areas just to give myself more leg room and, you know, arm room to kind of really spread out and let, you know, proper digestion take place. And that's where I slept that night. So, of course, make sure you know, a wonderful place for you to spend your post feast, you know, time and spruce up your home with more furniture's

fall sale over at more furniture.com. Plus, you'll receive a hundred dollar gift card for every $1,000 you spend over at more furniture. Also, I, yeah, Michael says, I'm sorry you had such a bad Thanksgiving. Jesse, I am too. You guys should also feel sorry for me. My mother-in-law microwaved the mashed potatoes. They were microwave. Yeah, sure.

Sure, maybe I wasn't as sick as Jesse, but I think I deserve equal condolences for what I'm. What happened? What happened with the pies again and something happened? Oh, yeah, yeah. And my mother and father-in-law forgot to take the pies out of the freezer. So we didn't have pie. but I had a backup pie at home.

See, that's where... There you go. There you go. It comes in to... It really pays off when I had that backup pie. Of course, I will tell you that the guys over at Four Peaks Brewing Company had an absolute blast for the U.S. and Mexico World Cup matches. And now both teams are in must-win matches in order to advance to the World Cup knockout stages. So make sure to catch all the World Cup watch party action for free at 4.

Four Peaks, Eighth Street Pub, USA versus Iran, Tuesday, November 29th, noon kickoff, 11 a.m. Watch party. And then we have Mexico versus Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, November 30th, noon kickoff, 11 a.m. watch party. So make sure to make it out to the Four Peaks Brewing Company, 8th Street Pub. Register in the link in the description to make sure they know you're coming. And you can register for free for that. All right.

Moving on to some more mailbag Monday questions. We got question for Leo. what do we got? Rick Hughes at DBL11S3 asks, why do some DeBax fans covet prospects from other organizations without seeing the potential of players already in-house with potential of their own, tired of the flavor of the month BS? I understand this perspective, Rick, and I understand being frustrated with it at times. I think that I am a person that I covet the,

I covet the player that has played at a major league level versus the player that has not proven himself at a major league level, if that makes sense. Obviously, with minor leaguers, we know how few of them advance from the minor leagues to the major leagues and how fewer of those that advance actually find success. But I think the reason why is because the Diamondbacks in the past have been burned by trading away prospects. We've seen not a lot. I think that in our own minds, we multiply it out to be more than it actually is.

is, but the Diamondbacks have seen some good players that were, you know, good players when they were here go off to become great players somewhere else. So I think it's always the fear that that this guy we're trading away, this untested prospect that we still don't know his full potential is going to be yet another case of that. Yeah. Can we pull up the question one more time? Just make sure I'm, I'm understanding what Rick is saying here. So why do DeBacks fans covet prospects from other organizations without seeing the potential of players already in house with potential of their own. I don't know if I have really sensed this in the Diamondbacks fan base.

I don't know. Have you, you think Diamondbacks fans are like looking at other, like I know Diamondbacks fans are looking at, you know, Trey Turner or looking at big name free agents or big name trade targets. That I've definitely seen. I don't know if I'm seeing Diamondbacks fans go and look at other teams.

top prospect list and be like, oh, if only we had this guy, right? Like, I like this guy more than I like Corbyn Carroll or more than I like Drew Jones. I don't know if I'm seeing that. The Blue Jays, for instance, I know that we've been talking about a trade with the Blue Jays that would potentially see one of the Diamondbacks outfielders go for a teacher who's still a prospect, right? I think maybe that's part of it, you know, things like that. I think that there are, uh, there is a lot of talk about training.

one of the outfielders, which one of the outfielders right now would still be kind of, we haven't seen their full potential yet or fully what they can do. We've talked about Jake McCarthy, maybe having, you know, one of the better years that he might have, so might be a good time to trade him now while his value is high. But then we could see Jake McCarthy go off and have this just be the beginning of a superstar career for all we know, right? Yeah. Yeah, I guess, I mean, I guess that makes sense.

guess I see where Rick is coming from. If you're talking about like trading one of the young outfielders for like an equivalently young player from another team, I guess I see where we're coming from there. I mean, it's not going to be a, it's not going to be like a prospect in terms of like a like a guy who's still in the minor leagues. It's going to be a guy who's ready to play in the majors. Mike Hazen has said that many times. But, but yeah, like if they go get like a Gabby Moreno or something from the Toronto Blue Jays, then yeah, I mean, he probably still qualifies as a prospect. At that point, though, I don't think it's a matter of Diamondbacks fans looking at Gabby Moreno and being like, I see more potential in him than I do in Alec Thomas or in Jake McCarthy. I think it's more

just like Gabby Moreno is a catcher and the Diamondbacks have a bunch outfielders, right? And there's this idea that if you have a surplus of something, you should try to leverage that as an asset, particularly in a market where those where center fielders are very hard to come by and you should use that to try to go get something else you need. So I don't think it's as much being like, oh, you know, we prefer Moreno as a prospect over the guys the Diamondbacks have, although maybe that's the case. And that's why they would make a trade ultimately. That's just more a matter of like, hey, we have we have so many outfielders that we can afford to give one up, even though we like them in order to improve elsewhere.

So I still think D-backs fans are high on a lot of the prospects that are that are still within the organization. It's just a matter of, you know, are you willing to part with one of them to try to improve at a different position? And I think that's a pretty smart line of thinking and one that the diamondbacks are very much considering right now. Yeah. I think what you said is the, I mean, as much as we want it to happen, can't play four

outfielders all at the same time, right? unless someone. Well, you can if you, you can't if you dh one of them. Yeah, for sure. But I mean, I, I wish I could say I was listening to you. But the whole time, all I was thinking about is the fact that Leah said in the chat that there's an extra pumpkin pie in the office fridge. And I'm just sitting here thinking about how you and I are not in the office and how. Oh, there's there's burrito express in the office today. Yeah. This is terrible. That's a heel move, Leah. That's a heel move going that I'm not in the office. All right. Question number five. Is a trade with a team, Marlins, for example, for a starting pitcher a thing the debacks are looking at, one of Lazardo, Lopez, or Rogers

would be great, but likely have to give up more than just an outfielder, McCarthy Thomas, to obtain. Would they be looking at different positions or is starting pitching possible? And that comes from a Harley underscore PDX on Twitter.

Jesse, I was bringing this up because I actually think that starting pitching is the one area that the Diamondbacks really don't need to look outside of the organization in order to improve. I think it would be them looking at different positions. I feel, and I mean, maybe this is just hubris, but I feel like they're starting rotation with the potential addition of Brandon Fought is pretty solid. Maybe it's too small of a sample size to determine that about Nelson and Jameson and even Fought.

But that's that's kind of my feeling on where their starting rotation is going to end up. Yeah, I think it's possible they would look for a starting pitcher in a trade. I guess I should put it this way. If the Diamondbacks trade an outfielder, if they trade one of the coveted outfielder that we've talked about so much, they're not doing it for a reliever. At least I would be absolutely shocked if they did it where a relief pitcher was the centerpiece of the return. I just don't think that's something they can stomach at this point. So at that point, you're looking at, okay, if you're not getting a reliever, then what are you targeting

in those trade conversations, which we know the diamond backs are having. They're getting all sorts of interest on those guys. So the positions that make sense to me are starting pitcher, which granted, to your point, they may or may not really need a starting pitcher at this point. a third baseman. I think there's still kind of a long-term hole that could be filled there, a third base with a guy who, you know, hits both lefties and righties and is a good defender and can play there for a long time. Or a catcher, which is another point of need for the debacks in the long-term.

Carson Kelly will be around a couple more years and frankly hasn't been that good or that consistent of late anyway. Those are the three positions that I have in my head. And I do think starting pitching is probably an option. Mike Hazen did talk about how he feels like you can never have too many starting pitchers and how that is something that they'll be looking for this offseason. I don't think they'll pursue it all that aggressively necessarily. So I'd be pretty surprised if the debacks deal like a Dalton Varsho or a Jake McCarthy or now with

one of those names like Trevor Rogers or whatnot. Those names are interesting though. But Jesus Luzardo in particular kind of stands out in that list for me. Luzardo struggled with injuries. Once again, last year he's had Tommy John's surgery in the past. His injury history is long and frankly quite scary. But he was excellent last year with the Marlins. Excellent.

His last two months of the year, he was one of the best pitchers in the game. He had like 12 or 13 strikeouts like every other start toward the end of the year. So I think there's definitely some room there. If we know anything about Mike Hazen, it's that Mike Hazen loves his controllable young starting pitchers. And even in moments where it might seem like that's not the most pressing need that the diamondbacks have, Mike Hazen is still going to be open to looking for that. And I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing.

Like the moment you think you have enough starting pitching, you're probably wrong. And I think Mike Hazen has learned that over the years. in some cases the hard way like in 2021, when the team just didn't have the depth there that it really needed. Great point. Great point. All right, Leah, let's get our last question in here. This one's the most important one, of course,

and it comes from at Don's Bread, known troublemaker, known habitual line stepper. And he asks, you get transported to the world of the walking dead with the AZDbacks. What would you want to, excuse me, who would you want to be in your five-man survival crew? Jesse asked me to take the reins on this one. Because, of course, his first question was, what is the walking dead?

And I don't. I mean, I've heard of it. I've just, I've never seen it. I don't know what I would do here. So, Leah, if we could, let's put my list up of the walking D-backs. First of all, we're dead, Jesse.

We didn't make it. But the ones that would make it, as you can see here, Josh Rojas, Madison Bumgarner, for obvious reasons. everybody knows that we always include them in anything like this. So, of course, they have to be our top, our top additions. Now, with that being said, Josh Rojas is a fighter. I would want Josh Rojas with me in my walking dead crew until the end because I feel like there's nobody, nobody else here.

Everybody else would give up long before Josh Rojas gave up, right? That's what I'm looking for is somebody that's not going to give up. Madison Bumgarder has a, uh, uh, uh, wide range of skills and talents that would be applicable here. So that's not even a funny thing. Madison Bumgarner, who else is going to teach me how to ride a horse, right, without a saddle?

Madison Bumgarner, who else is going to teach me out of rope zombies and whatnot? Madbub. Ben says Madbub is the MVP of this group. He's absolutely right about that. He gets it. Christian Walker, you've seen what he can do with a bat.

Of course, I want Christian Walker battling zombies at my side. right? Christian Walker also I'm sure knows how to distill all sorts of liquids into into making alcohol some way. I'm putting that on him maybe that's not true but we'll see about that. Corby and Carroll, obviously speed.

We're looking for speed. We need somebody here that can run away from zombies. We need somebody that's going to be able to stay, like make it through a hoard and get to the other side, deliver medicine, information, whatever. We're going to need somebody fast. And we're also going to need somebody slow. And that's why I have Jeff Bannister here, because I don't want to be the first

one to die. Right? But again, Jeff Bannister has a wide range of talents and skills. I believe that man is a hunter. I believe he is a scrappy. He might be an older gentleman. However, I don't think that Jeff Bannister is going down without a fight. So

I think that that's a pretty complete list right there. Jeff Bannister has shown quite a bit of perseverance throughout his life to say the least. And I'm saying that with complete sincerity. So I mean, in these kinds of moments, Jeff Bannister's probably not a bad guy to have around. These are well thought out selections, Jesse.

I'm telling you. I didn't just throw some names on a board. Josh Rojas and Madison Bumgarder. Yeah, that's funny. But when you think about it, do you really want a zombie survival team without Josh Rojas and Madison Bubgarner on it? I don't think so.

Not in my world. It's not the world I want to live in. But anyway, I also don't want to live in a world without Drafking's Sportsbook app because what else would I do with these games that I don't care anything about, Jesse, otherwise? I don't care about some of these games.

But they make me care about any game that's on. And that's the beautiful part about the Draft King's sports book. NBA season is heating up. I've been betting on the suns, didn't do so hot the other night. Learned that they're not. the offensive juggernaut that they really are with Chris Paul's out there.

So got to make sure I kind of adapt in those situations. And you should too. Make sure to keep an eye out for not only changes on your teams like that, but also for opt-in opportunities for you to get all sorts of increases in your value on the drafting sportsbook app. You can get same game parlays boosted, all sorts of stuff. And again, it's all there on the app right there at the top. Download the app now.

Sign up with our promo code of PHNX. Place a $5 pregame money line bet on any NBA team to win their game, and you will get $150 in free bets if they do. That's promo code PHNX only at the Drafking Sportsbook app. Minimum age and eligibility restrictions apply. See show notes for details. Jesse, that's all I got. I got a bunch of wrapping to do.

Amazon dropped off six packages at the same time. You have Christmas gifts already? Oh my God, Jesse. I have so many Christmas gifts. Look, I got dog bed right here. I got boxes. I got packages. I got all sorts of stuff.

I'm going to be wrapping for the next month. I stay on top of this, Jesse. I stay on top of this. You should too. If you didn't get down on the Friday deals and the Cyber Monday deals, I don't know what to tell you. I have a tradition where me and my oldest brother, we go Christmas shopping on Christmas Eve,

usually about 4 p.m. Yes, most of the malls close at 5, 6. We like to go right up to the end. and it's utterly stressful, but it's tradition, Derek, and you never and you never break tradition. I don't do all my, I don't do all my Christmas shopping then, mind you, but I do a fair amount of it, probably more than I should be doing at that time on Christmas Eve. Leah in the comments says, as someone who used to work at retail, I resented those men. Yes, Jesse, that's how they feel about you.

Yes, it was always. Fantastic. Well, you guys can shame Jesse on Twitter. He is at Jesse and Friedman. You can compliment me on being done with all of my holiday shopping. I'm at cap underscore caveman with a K. Of course, our show is at PHNX underscore Dbacks, but all roads lead to at PHNX underscore sports on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

We thank you guys again so much for joining us. Still don't know what the hell of Texas Rangers are doing, but we appreciate you guys. for being here on behalf of Jesse Leah and myself. We always appreciate you and thank you for your time. And remember, kids, baseball is fun, but it's so much more fun when you bring Madison Bumgarner along with you

on your zombie survival crew.