PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - Does Eugenio Suárez’s Cooling Market Make REUNION With D-backs More Likely?

Episode Date: December 23, 2025

It seems like every time a team in MLB makes a move, a new Ketel Marte trade rumor sprouts. We examine the newest connection to the New York Mets and discuss if the rumors make any sense, especially if it means moving Marte to the outfield. We also have more on a potential Diamondbacks reunion with Eugenio Suarez now that interest in the third baseman seems to have dwindled. Or should the D-backs look to international sensation Kazuma Okamoto for their answer at either first or third? Jesse Friedman from Snakes Territory joins the show to talk all things D-backs, including if he thinks we will see Jordan Lawlar in the outfield for the Snakes in 2026 and what their biggest gift to themselves should be this holiday season.JOIN THE SUPPORTERS CLUB ➡️ https://tinyurl.com/yc6km2r4An ALLCITY Network ProductionSUBSCRIBE to our YouTube: https://bit.ly/phnx_youtubeALL THINGS PHNX: http://linktr.ee/phnxsportsMERCH https://store.allcitynetwork.com/collections/phnx-lockerALLCITY Network, Inc. aka PHNX and PHNX Sports is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by the City of PhoenixPHNX Events: Get your tickets to PHNX events and takeovers here: https://gophnx.com/events/Aura Frames: Exclusive $35 off Carver Mat at https://on.auraframes.com/PHNX. Promo Code PHNXPhoenix Raceway: Get your tickets now for March 5-8! https://www.phoenixraceway.com/march-cup-weekend/?CID=PIR_DI_TP_BA_PHNX26Spring_251120ALLCITY — including us here at PHNX — is teaming up with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America for an exciting three-year partnership. To learn more, visit https://www.bbbs.org/allcity/APS:  Find instant rebates, discounts and special offers on smart thermostats, energy-efficient appliances and more at https://marketplace.aps.com/default/heating-cooling/smart-thermostatsBranded Bills: Use code BBPHNX at https://www.brandedbills.com/ for 15% off your first order!Husband & Wife Law Team: If you’ve had a serious injury, Call The Husband & Wife Law Team first at 602-783-8841 or visithttps://husbandandwifelawteam.com/?utm_source=allcity-padcasts&utm_medium=digital-phx&utm_campaign=allcityShowNotesChicken N’ Pickle: Family friendly fun awaits! Visit chickennpickle.com to plan your visit today!Visit https://www.macu.com/accounts/checking/mystyle-checking?cid=ea-PHNX-AZ-mystyleAugust2025-checking to learn more about their MyStyle Checking Accounts!bet365: https://www.bet365.com/hub/en-us/app-hero-banner-1?utm_source=affiliate&utm_campaign=usapp&utm_medium=affiliate&affiliate=365_03485317 Use the code PHNX365 to sign up, deposit $10 and bet $5 to get $150 in bonus bets!Disclaimer: Must be 21+ and physically located in AZ.  If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-NEXT-STEP, text NEXTSTEP to 53342 or visit https://problemgambling.az.gov/Gametime: Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code PHNX for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply.Shady Rays: Head to https://shadyrays.com and use code: PHNX for 35% off polarized sunglasses. Try for yourself the shades rated 5 stars by over 300,000 people.Circle K: Join Inner Circle for free by downloading the Circle K app today! Head to https://www.circlek.com/store-locator to find Circle Ks near you!When you shop through links in the description, we may earn affiliate commissions. Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Happy holidays to you all, and we have yet more Cotel Marte trade rumors to deal with. Plus, we're going to talk about bringing back an old face. Does a cooling market for Gino Suarez mean that a reunion with the Diamondbacks is possible or plausible? Or would we even want that? We're going to talk about it in 30 seconds. Don't you go anywhere. Welcome into another edition of the PHNX Diamondbacks podcast live from Studio K, presented by our friends at Circle K. It is I, your mayor of P.HNX, occasionally known as Derek Montita, or a very well-decorated festive Christmas tree.

I'm joined here by one of my favorite human beings on the planet. He won the only, the Thunderstick, Jesse Friedman from Snake's territory. Great to have you here, bud. Glad you got the memo on wearing Forrest Dream with me today. Yeah, I'm not quite as you still have me feeling kind of embarrassed that I feel like I'm not nearly dressed well. enough for the occasion. This is your festive holiday wear. So I appreciate you breaking it out.

It's great stuff. And of course, we got my leche to my cone cafe. It's the one, the only Damon Farrell on the ones in Tuesday, aka Damon Dog back there. Thrilled to have you guys here. I'm wearing my tree colors as well, Derek.

Have you noticed? You are wearing your tree colors. You are wearing your tree colors. Yep, I see it underneath there, underneath the sweater. Well, I hope you guys all are actually here. And cool bro's asking, are we actually live?

I think so. I think we're actually live. Hi, cool, bro. Good to see you here. Of course, this show's brought to you by our friends at GameTime. Go download that GameTime app right now. Create an account, use our code of PHNX. You'll get $20 off your first ticket purchase on those already low last minute ticket deals. Terms do apply. And yeah, great to have you guys here.

Final day before we go on our little holiday hiatus. And again, thrilled to have this guy actually in studio. I know that you have been dealing with this, this awful thing. Damon keeps putting me through of having to talk about Cotel Marte trade rumors nearly every single day. It feels like every time a transaction happens in Major League Baseball, it somehow comes back to, well, this means this team has to be trading for Cotel, right? We had the Tampa Bay Ray raise rumors that got kind of like escalated a bit because they traded Brandon Lowe. and they're like, oh, look, now they have the spot for them.

Now we have Jeff McNeil being traded by the New York Mets to the athletics, and that somehow has started the rumors here that the Mets are in play for Catelle Marde. I think people are just bored and want to connect the dots back to Catell in some way. Catell's like some sort of big conspiracy theory, and all the big journalists in Major League Baseball all have to figure out, how he is going to play into the puzzle of the offseason. And our hope is that he doesn't. Our hope is that all of this is just talk and rumors and propaganda,

essentially, to come back around to Catelle-Marté staying on the Diamondbacks and not being moved. The Mets one I really don't understand. No, no, none at all. Because, I mean, it's one thing for a team to genuinely open up a spot at second base and actually have room for Cotel Marte to play every day. But last I checked, the Mets traded away a center fielder in Brandon Nimmo for a second baseman in Marcus Semyon.

Right. And then you could say, oh, well, maybe they want Cattel to play first base, which is something we've suspected maybe Cattel would slide over there eventually, although I don't think he would be very on board with that at this stage in his career. But even then, the Mets also just signed Jorge Polanco, who has vets. a second basement in the past, but apparently is going to be playing first base for them already. So I guess, I mean, could Kattel be the DH for the Mets? I mean, I guess so if they're not sold on Mark Vientos.

I've seen some Mets fans put out mock lineups where Ketel becomes their left fielder. That's the one that gets me. What the hell are we doing? This is when you start talking about, like, I get it because a respected journalist puts it out there that the are interested in Marta. Francis Romero is a respected journalist. And again, it's like you and I have said, here's what he said.

He said with Jeff McNeil gone, the Mets are believed to be exploring Cotel Marte, or at least discussing him in trade talks per an industry source. Now, this does not mean that they are in trade talks with Cotel or with the Diamondbacks. It does not mean they're discussing the trade with the Diamondbacks.

It merely is suggesting that an internal source has heard the front office discussing potentially looking at Catelle Marte, which like you said, is one of the stupidest matches for Marte that I think we've seen yet. Now, the reason why it worries me, the reason why it concerns me, is because a lot of what the Mets are doing doesn't really seem to make sense. No offense to them, but the Brandon Nimmo trade for Marcus Simeon didn't really feel like they got better statistically or in their lineup as much as it was more perhaps about bringing Simeon into B.A. a leader on a team that desperately needs leadership, needs some direction, needs somebody

in that clubhouse that can get guys going in the right direction. But, like, it's weird because I don't know what the feelings on Jeff McNeil. I do know that Jeff McNeil overall is, like, the last of the 2022 New York Mets team, right? He's the last remnants of that squad. They have traded all of those guys away or moved them or not brought up. them back. And I mean, I don't know. I mean, the direction that they've gone in some of these trades and some of these moves have been like, in my opinion, second place moves. The Mets have been missing out on the guys they have truly wanted. So they've kind of almost had to go out there and get

the next guy, the next best available option. That's why they brought in guys like Devin Williams. That's why we're seeing them. Like every move they make isn't a terrible move. It's not like it's a a bad option, but it just definitely doesn't seem like what they wanted. You know, we're hearing them be attached to all of these free agents, and they seem to be missing out on so many of them despite having the money to spend. Right. And I mean, again, it's mostly because that organization can spend all the money that they want and still not be able to figure it out.

A move for Cotel Marte would absolutely be that kind of move. If you brought in Cotel Marte and your idea was to, play him in the outfield, it would, again, that would be the moment where we all throw our heads back and laugh because we've seen that and it did not work out. And I also just don't understand limiting someone like Marte who is very good at second base and wanting him to play a position that he doesn't naturally play. Plus, honestly, a position we've seen him play, at least some of, that he was pretty bad at. I mean, I guess it could be DH. Like, that's the one, that's the one route. where this makes some sort of sense.

But even then, are the Mets really going to be willing to meet the Diamondbacks asking price when their plan for using Catelle Marte is not one that's going to maximize his value? Like, he's still, I mean, he'd still be a great DH. He's obviously an awesome hitter. Absolutely. That's his biggest asset that he brings to a team at this point in his career. But he still was totally fine defensively at second base in 2025. And I don't know why a team would want to.

rush him off that position and move him to move him to DH ahead of maybe when he would be comfortable making that transition. So yeah, it it doesn't, you know, even if the Mets do have some legitimate interest here, it still doesn't feel to me like this is going to be the team that's finally going to meet the Diamondbacks asking price. I just I just don't really see that happening given that the fit for the Mets just really isn't all that great. What we're starting to see though is we're starting to see the trade rumors go in the other direction right we're starting to see kind of like an end time and frame put on this you know yeah we have ken rosenthal talking to your guys of foul territory just today saying that the diamondbacks want quality young pitching back in return

for kattel martay and if they don't receive that then they're not interested in a deal for us we do not know what that necessarily means, right? It definitely could be prospects and they could be okay with prospects as long as those prospects are significantly, you know, highly touted prospects that could make the Diamondbacks better as soon as this year potentially, right? So there's that. And not a lot of teams have that or is willing to give that up. Also, teams aren't really willing to give up their young pitchers that do have major league experience like we discussed with the Boston Red Sox trade, right? That Boston Red Sox trade. That Boston Red Sox. Red Sox deal for one Wilson Contreras.

Yes. That's for you. Thank goodness he's out of the National League. That's exactly what David said. He's like, Jesse is going to love that he's out of the National League and then we only have to play them for one series. I know Jesse missed that too. Missed Eric doing that.

I did. It absolutely, I mean, it indicated there briefly that the Red Sox were probably out of the Catel Marte, you know, a trade sweepstakes yet we immediately got from. not a very credible source, but still a source nonetheless saying that that did not to take the Red Sox out and that they were still interested in Marte. That's all we're hearing, yet we're still not really hearing any concrete trade packages. We're not hearing anything concrete from Mike Hazen as to what he's seeking or if any of this has enticed him in any way, shape, or form.

We wouldn't hear that because he would never tell us that in a million years, even though it was true, right? But it just, it feels like, at least with like what Ken Rosenthal told him. foul territory this morning, the main focus, and this has been the case the entire time, seems to be on logical reasoning more than actual like rumors and movement. And, you know, it was like the way that all of these trade rumors have gotten kind of turned into the Diamondback shopping him around when in the first place it was more of the Diamondbacks are listening to offers on him, which is completely two different things.

You know what I mean? Yeah, right, right, right. You're like, it's all how Mike Hazen phrases it, right? Like, at the end of the day, I said this because we've seen this with a few GMs where they just shut down the trade rumors. We heard about this with Detroit. It's easy for them to just say, we're not trading Terrick Scoobal, but they won't say that. Similar to Mike Hazen. Mike Hazen will not say we're not trading Cattel Marte.

That is the reason why every time a move gets made in Major League Baseball and suddenly a team needs a second baseman or in the King's, of the Mets don't even need a second basement, but hell, they're just, they just want more, you know, talent. Kutel Marte instantly gets connected to that team, right? I mean,

it's, it just feels like it's going to take, you know, the biggest Christmas hall. It's going to take Santa's entire bag for Mike Hazen to give up, you know, Ketel Marte,

but because he refuses to actually shut down the rumors, they're not going to go away. And this is what we're, we're kind of forced to deal with. Yeah, I mean, it's hard to know exactly what's been going on behind the scenes. You know, are the Diamondbacks actually going out there and really trying to move Catel Marte by whatever means possible? Like, I don't think they're doing that.

But I also don't know if I fully buy into the gist. Oh, the debacks are listening, but they're not. It seems to me like the debacks are interested in moving Cotel Marte if they can, finds if they're asking price is met. There have been there have been multiple reports sort of sort of along those lines. But what we've seen so far is the Diamondbacks asking price has not been met. And I think as time goes on, we're just becoming more and more doubtful that a team is going to is going to be willing to go there, especially now that it certainly appears the Boston Red Sox are out of the running or at least much less so than they would have been before the Wilson

Contreras trade. To me, the Boston Red Sox always made the most sense. I mean, they have tons of pitching debt. Definitely. They have Peyton Toley. They have Connolly early. Like they have the types of young pitchers that the Diamondbacks would love to acquire, I'm sure. And a surplus of them. And they're not looking to like necessarily use them. It feels like the Boston Red Sox are trying to keep up with the other teams in the ALE East. They want to go out. They want to spend. They want to add. And if they add pitching to their team in any way, shape, or form, it just pushes those guys down. that much more. So again, as much as you covet your prospects, right, you don't miss out on a chance to add an ace. I think if we saw the Red Sox add somebody crazy like Framber Valdez or something

like that, then I feel like this trade becomes significantly more likely at that point, right? It's still, it's still depending on what moves are going to be made across Major League Baseball and where especially so many of these quality starting pitchers are going to land. You know, we still have this, I know we've had some go, but man, we still have like the best of the best. Plus, you have the, you know, the, the Terek Scoobel rumors. You have the rumors for Freddie Peralta, right? Like, there's other starting pitchers out there that seem to be available besides just the free agent ones that are even better than the free agent ones that are on

the market. I don't think either of those guys are going to get moved before the trade deadline at all. But again, the fact that those rumors aren't getting shut down really by the, the tigers. I mean, it sounded like the brewer shut down the Freddie Peralta stuff a little bit. Yeah, well, they also shut down the Corbin Burns talk a couple years ago. They wound up trading him anyway. You know, all of this is lip service. None of it means anything. Even if Mike Hazen is trying to be so adamant that they're not trying to trade,

Cate does not mean that they're not trying to do so. What we have at the end of the day, if Cotel does stay, is a relationship to mend. These trade rumors don't help this relationship between Cotel in the organization that is already somewhat fractured. Now, that's fair. Kattel has taken a lot of accountability for his actions and the things that caused all of these locker room issues to pop up, right?

So I don't know if Ketel's feelings are going to be that hurt by this, considering that he knows that this was a mistake on his part and something that he did that caused the organization to lose some faith and trust in him overall. But again, there is a relationship here to repair. I think I heard Mike Hazen say that. Like he's going to have to have a talk with Catelle after all of this and kind of, you know, go through what, what kind of happened here during this offseason. The noise on this is deaf. It's too loud to ignore.

It's deafening. You know what I mean? There's no way to tell Marte, who is a guy that's, you know, a human being with feelings and a heart and a mind. Like, it's hard to not hear all of this and not feel like the team that is supposed to be, you know, that you're supposed to be like. the face of and the franchise player for is shopping you around. You know what I mean? When there's circumstances like the end of a contract and such, it's far more understandable than it is when Cateel-Marty was signing an extension

to be here for what he thought was the rest of his career. You know, and now here we are dealing with these rumors when we're not very far into this contract at all. It is weird to have a guy so clearly available via trade and yet have six years remaining on his contract. Like, that is not a normal situation. But I think it all goes back to the 10 and 5 right situation. I know Ken Rosenthal referenced this on fair territory, I guess it was today.

Yeah, where if the diamond backs are going to trade Catel Marte, if they want to capitalize on his value and try to get some young pitching, which frankly the organization kind of needs, then this is the window to do it. they don't have the option to wait until the trade deadline, like, you know, the Tigers might with Terek Scoobel or, or, you know, the brewers with Freddie Peralta, whoever you want to, you want to talk about. Like, this kind of has to happen right now. And, but at the same time, I think the fact that it feels like we're getting to an end here where the debacks are maybe getting ready to shut this down and move on and try to patch some of their pitching needs in other ways. I think part of that is that, yeah, they don't want all of this trade drama to drag on

into spring training. And as you said, like the relationship between the organization Kattel, I imagine Kattel understands that it's a business and he understands why so many teams are interested in him. And maybe he understands why the D-backs are open to these conversations. But you can see where his relationship with the organization, it might be better if the D-BACs are able to move on from this sooner than later and not have these constant rumors drag on until we're back out at Salt River Fields. I mean, we were asked the other day what other situation in baseball is comparable to this and I can't really come up with one.

Hunter Green is probably the one that makes the is the closest connection that the reds are interested or at least listening to offers on Hunter Green. And again, it's just because he's a solid, consistent performer in his position. still years of control left on his contract. And he is a guy that a team like the Red should be building around to be their ace of their staff, not even trying to consider trading someone like Hunter Green. I know he doesn't have the amount of time that Katel has left on his deal,

but he's pretty much for me the only comparable player across baseball that I feel similar about as Katel as to why would they even be trying to trade someone like. Yeah, I mean he, but even then, like we're not hearing Hunter Green rumored. every day. No, not at all. Yeah, not at all. He just pops up in those articles where it's like, players likely to be traded this off season.

And Cotel is always up there with Terek Scouble as like number one and number two. Those are the guys that are the most scintillating, the players that probably would change an organization the most. But Hunter Green isn't far off. He's usually in the top five of those kind of articles. And that's because apparently, once again, there is not a lot of, there's not a lot of smoke there. There's not a big fire. But again, when you kind of hear these

rumors and then the Reds aren't doing much to shut those rumors down by saying implicitly, we're not trading Hunter Green, then it keeps the door open. I mean, Kobe's right. Kobe said here, you don't shut them down because you never know if someone will take, offer you something stupid and it's a must take.

Then not only do you look like you are a liar, you know, but then it's that much more difficult for the fans to accept the idea that you traded away a player of Catele Marte's, you know, stature magnitude, you know. And that's why I don't, I still don't know

if I understand what shutting this down would even mean because, yeah, if the D-BACs go out and they say, all right, we're moving on, we're keeping Cattel. But then in mid-February, a team maybe an injury happens early in spring training or something like that and suddenly a team is willing to make you an offer

that they weren't willing to make now. Are you, I mean, are you not allowed to take that deal at that point? I imagine the D-Backs would still have to entertain it. So even if they, even if they do say that they're, they're shutting this down and moving on in the coming days, I'm not sure it's really a, I'm not sure it's really a hard no until I think it's like the 10th day of the regular season when Kattel gets his 10 and 5 rights. And then it's truly like, okay, he has to approve any trade at this point. And given the fact that he just

signed a long term extension, you're probably not counting on him to to approve much of any trade after that point. So between now and then, though, I mean, in my book, it's at least possible anything could happen. 100%. And you made a great point there overall. Like, none of this is shut down and it's just such a difficult balance for a GM. His job is to try to win. And Marte definitely gives them a great opportunity to win, but this team so desperately needs pitching, so desperately needs to figure out what the future is beyond Merrill Kelly, beyond Eduardo Rodriguez, beyond even a Michael Soroka, that that that's part of his job. Like, we have said on this show that there's a good chance that maybe Mike Hazen isn't around for too much longer overall here with the Diamondbacks,

just because after a amount, after a period of time, it feels like they might want to change there if things don't work out. So there, it's not to say Mike Hazen is desperate, but Mike Hayen has this difficult task of trying to build towards now, build towards the future, make the overall team better, and also still not let the fans down. Cotel Marte is just one of those players that it's going to be impossible, impossible for any return, no matter what it is, to make fans happy. At the end of the day, a significant portion of this fan base is going to be upset, no matter what the return is based on them trading Cotelmore just period yeah there's no

getting around that that's fair I mean that's that kind of happens when you trade a star level player right not gonna be the most popular thing no matter what time he could literally get back nine players for them and two of them could be starters with sub three and a half ERAs and people would be like why did you do that

you know he's like look at what I got why did you do that you know though anyway but uh you know again it's also because we hold these players close to our hearts. And we have another guy. We can hold very close to our heart. We're going to talk about him on the other side of this break

and determine if a cooling market for one, A. Hueneo Svarez, means that a reunion is possible or plausible for the Diamondbacks. We're going to talk about it on the other side of this break. Don't you go anywhere? You're watching the P.HNXD Back Show. Well, you already know Phoenix is one of the best cities for sports in America, and you know that coming here during the spring is the best time of the year to come. Well, Phoenix Raceway is now getting in.

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next step, text next step to 533342 or visit problemgambling.az.gov. Well, we have trades coming in. We have free agent pickups coming in. Robert Murray just reported that the pirates made a signing. Yeah, Pittsburgh Pirates making moves, Derek. Free agent, first baseman Ryan O'Hern and the Pirates agree on a two-year $29 million contract. We just talked about Ryan O'Hern as a potential target for the D-BACs on Snake's territory yesterday. It's kind of a lot of money, isn't it? It is kind of a lot of money.

Two years, 29 million? We were talking about two and 24 maybe, and even that, I was fairly doubtful. DeBax would make that kind of investment in a, you know, left-handed first base, DH-type player. But, yeah, he gets a pretty decent payday and coming off a good season. I mean, he was really good in the first half with the Baltimore Orioles. little bit less so in the second half with the San Diego Padres, but well, well deserved on the part of Ryan O'Hur and he had a really, really, really nice season in 2025. Things you love to see. You love to

see the Padres losing yet another player. It's great to see. That did happen, yes. Also great to see again the pirates now potentially out of the race. We got word that the Diamondbacks might be in on Kazuma Akamoto. We're going to talk about that as a potential option for them there in the infield. But first, they're going to have to outbid the pirates, Derek. I don't know if anyone can outbid the pirates these days. Apparently, they're going crazy.

But a guy that doesn't seem to be getting much action lately, Jesse, is former Arizona Diamondback, Hue, Nio Swares. We know how incredibly good Gino was for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2025. And then you talk about Ryan O'Hern falling off in the second half after being traded. You could definitely say the same about Gino. when he was traded to the Mariners. Definitely not what Josh Naylor did. Like, the pickup for Naylor seemed to kind of, you know,

give him new life or juvenate him a bit. And it's not like he wasn't doing that stuff already for the Diamondbacks. You had Naylor nabbing bases and being a menace on the base path and all that here. But he just seemed to get better in Seattle. You definitely couldn't say the same about Gino, though he did deliver one of their biggest hits of the entire season, postseason. Right. So, again, not to say that people.

don't love Gino there in Seattle. It's not to say he still doesn't bring amazing vibes, but I have seen even the Seattle Mariners fans kind of cooling on the idea of bringing Gino back. So I guess we have to start wondering if there is a potential for the Diamondbacks to bring Gino back here. I know it's something they very much would have liked to do. It's not like it's out of the range of possibility based on them bringing back Merrill Kelly,

though I will say it's unlikely or seemed unlikely based on. on how much the Diamondbacks would have had to pay for Gino. We know that they didn't have that kind of money. We also know third base isn't necessarily a priority for them, considering the young options they have to play third base. But, you know, we have heard these Alex Bregman rumors and now... Clearly, they're willing to spend some money on those days. I was going to say, clearly they're willing to do something to get third base locked down.

So what are your thoughts overall? Like, Gino, again, had himself just bad enough of a second half that, I mean, his price has probably gone down significantly also considering his age i doubt anybody wants to give him you know a very long-term deal yeah i mean gino is 34 years old at this point he's entering i guess this will technically be his age 34 season though but yeah his second half with the seattle mariners was brutal there's there's no way around it he still hit 13 home runs in 53 games but uh yeah we've got the numbers here a 189 average a 6 92 ops a strikeout rome of well over 35%, which is just, I mean, that is kind of unplayable with that.

There are very few major league hitters who can be productive with a strikeout rate that high, and I don't think Gino is one of them. So he was a different guy. I mean, what the debacks got out of Gino in the first half of the season was one of the best hitters in all of baseball, and what the Mariners got in the second half was one of the worst hitters in all of baseball. And so I think there's just a massive question mark. going into 2026 and beyond over what you could expect from from gina moving forward like you said a

strikeout percentage well over 35 percent with the diamondbacks 26.8 percent strikeout percentage and 897 OPS a 248 batting average uh zero defensive run saved and a 3.3 baseball reference war 11 times the war 11 times the war and just a guy that again was at one point like in a battle with Cal Rally for like the home run kind of lead. I mean, he's still at 49 home runs on the season. It's weird to be down on a guy who just has 49 home runs. But I think that's just kind of the reality of the situation. We knew how streaky both Gino and Lourdes can be.

But I think even the Seattle Mariners did not know trading Gino to Seattle would cause him just to go into one of those, you know, slumps that we've seen him go into. Like we know that Gino at times can be one of the best players in the league and also can be frustrating. The year prior was the opposite, right? He had a really slow start and then he magically caught fire along with Corbyn Carroll later in the season. But overall, I mean, again, it could just be the fact that Gino is an emotional player that wants to deliver so much. And I think that the more that he struggled in Seattle, the more you saw those numbers get worse and worse, you know, like he's one of those guys who is so likable that this goes against the opposite of what I said yesterday where I'm like, oh, well, he's not our guy now, so I have to root against him.

I was still rooting for Gino. Even though deep down inside, I was doing my job as a DBAC's host and analyst keeping an eye on what he was doing and, you know, secretly being happy that he didn't go to Seattle and go off, right? Like because you don't want to necessarily see your team trade a guy and then have him get even better with another team than he was for your team. But I definitely didn't want to see Gino go into the slump that he went to and have the struggles that he did. You could just tell. Again, it was like he wanted it so bad. He wanted to come in. He wanted to be just the best player on the planet.

And once he was, you know, struggling, you just felt it get worse and worse, you know, for him throughout the season. It's hard for me to see it with the diamond backs. Honestly, I think, I think Gino, while the industry is certainly lower on him now than it was at the trade deadline, I still don't know if I see Gino signing for less than, you know, like 10 million a year. I mean, when you have 49 home runs, even if you're really not great for the last two months of the season, you're still going to do okay for yourself, I think. And especially for Gino as a guy who is so well respected as a leader in the clubhouse, somebody that everybody just loves having around, I think that's only going to help this market as well.

So if you're the debacks and yes, you do have some questions at third base moving forward. I don't know if Blaze Alexander is quite proven at the Major League level at this point, even though he certainly showed some good signs in the second half. I mean, maybe you'd like to be able to move Blaze Alexander to some different positions. But I'm not sure that it's going to make sense for the debacks to put as much of an investment as it would take into someone like. Gino. You also have a D.H. spot open as well, I will add that, you know, potentially a Gino as he gets older could could maybe phase into. But Jesse, I do want to ask you like, obviously maybe it feels a little unrealistic that of the Bregman signing happening, but it is still something that's

being rumored. What level to which, you know, money wise would you pay Gino on a shorter term deal versus Bregman on a longer term deal? Like, where, what's the differentiator for, for you? Like, If Gino say maybe, you know, accepted something as low as like two years for 16 million or all of a sudden you're all in or something like that, I know that's pretty, pretty, you know, obviously. Probably a little low. Yes. Yes.

Yeah, that's a good question. I mean, I guess any free agent you would want at the right price. So I guess, like, well, how low would we have to go for it to make sense for the debacks? I don't know if I see it at DH. I mean, I think if you are going to spend the money to get Gino, you're probably doing it because you think he still has some positional value at third base. And also even at D.H. I mean, it's like if you don't think this guy is going to hit all that well moving forward,

then it doesn't matter what position you put him at. I mean, maybe you're just not really wanting to invest in that player. So given any of 49 home runs, yes, I think there is still a price where it would make sense. I think, you know, if 2 and 16 was possible and the debacks feel that they have it in the budget and they can still go out and add to the bullpen, then sure, you know, why not? It's just so unlikely, like you said. I mean, it's like talking about a Terrick Scoobal trade and being like, what have Terrick Scoobel signed for like 150,000 or 150 million?

150,000. But no, you know what I mean? Like, that's not going to happen. I was exaggerating on two for 16. I was trying to just think of a lower figure at less years. Right. Basically wasn't the same as Breggman's six years for $180 million. Right.

Right. I know getting paid two years, $29 million, though, makes things feel a bit outrageous. It makes me feel like Goldschmidt is going to get too much and he's going to be out of the Diamondbacks price range. It makes me feel like in general, the market is moving in a direction where the Diamondbacks definitely can't afford to fill positions that they think they have at least a decent option of, right?

Like they don't hate their platoon of, you know, of Tyler Locklear and Pavin Smith at first base nearly as much as Damon does. But they do, you know, they are going to look for ways to upgrade. And if someone falls in their lap that's cheap enough, then it makes sense. We are hearing that the Diamondbacks are potentially in on Japanese slugger Kazuma Okamoto. And that is something that's very exciting to me. You know how excited I am to bring over anybody from the NPB. but this tweet from Cody Duncan suggested that the Diamondbacks are one of six teams, according to John Heyman, that are in on Kazuma Okamoto, includes the Angels, the Pirates, the Red Sox, the Blue Jays, the Cubs, and the Diamondbacks. He said most of these teams want Bichette and Breggman.

That's meaning the Red Sox, the Blue Jays, the Cubs, probably. I'm sure he's throwing Diamondbacks in there as far as their connection to Brighman, but I still doubt that that's real. he says he thinks it comes down to the pirates and angels if you had to guess. Now, I don't know what Ryan O'Hern signing with the pirates does for them still being interested in Akamoto because he is an infielder that plays third base but also does play first. He's 28 years old and he is a guy that could do an absolutely outstanding job at either of those corner positions for the Diamondbacks. in in 2025, he slashed 322, 411, 581 for a 992 OPS. And he had 15 home runs and 51 RBIs, had lots of extra base hits.

So you love that about a guy that would play at Chase Field. And he's just a proven slugger in the middle of your lineup. And again, he's just one of the most impactful NPP position players that is making the jump from Japan over to the United States. like most Japanese players, you cannot guarantee he's going to be a star, but based on his track record, it's hard not to imagine this guy having success here in the United States and Major League Baseball.

Yeah, it's also interesting to just read about him as opposed to Murakami, who of course just signed with the White Sox and how those two players are viewed very differently, I think, even though they play similar positions, you know, both have a chance to play third base, maybe more likely moving over to first base. Murakami is the guy with the massive, massive raw power who could hit, you know, some outrageous number of home runs.

He certainly did that in Japan, whereas Okamoto is kind of the more well-rounded hitter, lower ceiling, but also a higher floor. He hit 41 home runs in Japan back in 2023. So it's not, he doesn't have any power, even if he doesn't quite have the raw punch that Murakami does. So I think, I think Okamoto absolutely, could make sense for for the diamond backs uh you know viewing him in comparison to gino is is interesting

i would i think i think gno would be worth an investment of more than two and 16 i don't want to make it sound like that's that's you know the highest the debaq should consider paying for him but if you suggested he would take that i would give that to him in a heartbeat yeah yeah yeah just about it right for sure you know maybe the dbacks would be willing to go like it makes sense for them to go to two and twenty or two and twenty four something like that but one in twelve with like a player option or something like that for him to, you know, test free agency again potentially. Sure, sure. I mean, if you could get Gino for one and 12.

That's not bad at all. And again, if it didn't, if it didn't keep you, and this is a big caveat for me, if it doesn't keep you from going and upgrading your bullpen, which I think is the more pressing need than adding Gino at third base, even though as intriguing as that might be, you know, I think, that could make sense. But going back to Okamoto, he's, yeah, really. interesting player. He's not as young as Maracami's 29, but you still feel like it, you know, it's not like he's in his mid-30s or anything. He still has, hopefully, some good life left in his career as he

transitions over to the States. So I think it totally makes sense for the debacks. It's never felt to me like they were super in on him. But I guess John Heyman mentioned them as a team that is at least checked in. So we'll, we'll see where this goes. Let's be honest. Mike Hazen, is very good at his job. And one of the things he's best at is keeping what he's actually working on under wraps. I feel like that's why he's done a good job at controlling the Catele-Marté trade rumors, even though they're wild and out of control. Like the way he handles them is the exact way I want him to handle him.

He might be lying to my face and I might be buying every bit of it. But it does make me feel better about the Marte trade rumors. he makes me feel like it's not as crazy and not as, you know, as, as boiling hot on the hot stove as it is, right? Like he, when he says things like, you know, we get calls on Kutel every year. This isn't different. It's like, yeah, but it is, isn't it? It's different. It's different.

It's not the same. Don't be, don't lie to me. But when you see a guy like Akamoto, again, it's intriguing considering that his contract, projected contract is somewhere in the year, of $4 to $5 million or four to five years in the range of $60 to $90 million. So, I mean, if you're talking about a player that they could lock in for a four-year deal, $60 million of this caliber, and he can bring these numbers offensively to your team at just 28 years old, you feel very good about making that risk, making that contract, you know, whatever it is. The Diamondbacks kind of have to do something crazy that works in their favor in order

for them to keep up with the competition. It's just the way it is. That would be what this kind of move could be. You know what I mean? It's one of those moves that would be unexpected. But as we've heard in the past, Ken gets aggressive when he thinks this team has a chance to win. So adding a guy with this pedigree that could essentially bring a 320 batting average

to the middle of your lineup or even if, forget it even 320. It's probably not going to be 320 in the majors. What if it was 290? I would still take that all. day for five years and you know 70 million dollars i don't yeah it's it's always really hard to know exactly how the numbers are going to translate over but uh but yeah i mean i think there's an expectation that he's going to come over and he's going to be a solid major leaguer from day one whereas with murakami it's like all right this guy could hit 250 with 55 home runs or he could

hit like 190 with 20 home runs and basically just not produce enough value offensively With Okamoto, you feel more comfortable that he's going to be able to stick around and contribute for a while. So sure, you know, four years, $60 million, something in that range feels reasonable. But again, I just go back to how much money to the debacks have left to spend. And are they still able to get what they need in the bullpen if they go out and make an investment like this? That's kind of why the Breggman, the Breggman conversation has sort of felt different to me because I think it feels like that's a situation where Ken Kendrick is like, he wants him. Yeah, I want this specific player and I'm willing to go way above and beyond to get that specific player. I don't know if he would feel the same way about Okamoto.

It's a great point. And so maybe if you go get Okamoto, then you actually are taking away from your ability to fill other needs, whereas Breggman would just be like an extra piece that you could. that you could get because Ken Kendrick decides to get aggressive as we've seen at times. And you make such a great point because it's like you almost wish Ken was like that about starting pitching. Um, yet he has been. So it's like it's understandable that Ken isn't really in the mood to go out and spend

money this off season on the top available starting pitcher. He is willing to spend money on a guy he personally likes. He personally believes in. And he thinks is going to be like all of the. the things that's going to push this team over the top, right? He's an all-star, even though those days might be behind him. He's definitely a veteran. He's a winner. And in some people's minds, maybe even a cheater. So that's up to them. But he's a guy that wins, right? He's a guy that has brought a lot to the teams that he's been on. And I can understand, especially someone

like Kendrick, who like knows so much about baseball and is still just such a fan of the game himself that you would find yourself wanting to spend that extra money on somebody that you believe in and you are a fan of more than Mike Hazen trying to come to you and say Tatsuya Amai wants to beat the Dodgers look at how good his stats are from Stan and Ken's like yeah yeah great what about Framber Valdez though like they're like no no no we don't have for Amber Maldez money but we I mean what if we had Tetsuya my money right like there are there there are players again that might be worth the cost that he's not considering and then there might be other players that aren't worth the cost.

Austin. That might be why we got a Jordan Montgomery here. And that might be the reason why maybe it didn't work out. I don't know. But anyway. Some of those track record there is a little spotty. Yeah. I appreciate the effort, though.

I really do. That's the point is that he is not shied away from making sudden moves to make this team better. And more importantly, showing the rest of the roster that he believes in them enough that he's going to go out and add one of these. you know, players that everybody thought was far and away out of the Diamondbacks price range. And he's done that the last two offseason. Correct. You can't say it's his fault.

Intent to win, Derek. We talked about it on this show a lot when you want to just fold the season next year. And I'm like, go tell Geraldo Pardomo that, bro. Go tell Corby and Carroll that, that we don't need to suit up next year. We got plenty of players that are really good baseball players on this team. And you should, you should try at least. And I appreciate that Ken Kendrick, like as much as the disrespect was loud when he didn't sign anybody forever, I feel like we got to show him proper appreciation when he does do stuff.

You're not wrong. You're not wrong. He has a pretty positive reputation around the league right now. He does. I mean, just the way that analysts around the game talk about the Diamondbacks and Ken Kendrick, their willingness to spend, they're not the team that people are talking about when they're saying like,

oh, we've got all these teams around baseball that are not carrying their weight and not spending what they're supposed to. It's creating this imbalance around the game. They're not talking about the Arizona Diamondbacks. And honestly, the Diamondbacks have, they make far less money than some of those teams, right? The Pirates are a perfect example. You mean to tell me that that gorgeous ballpark isn't filled all the time?

Like, you mean to tell me that people that go to Pittsburgh as tourists don't specifically stop by that ballpark regardless of what game is being played just to visit it and go to a game there? Like, there are, I mean, I understand. Pirates were 26th in attendance last year. Are you kidding me? Yeah, which is outrageous. I mean, it makes. It makes your point. But it's also because the team's bad though, too.

The team is really bad. But if they were willing to spend a little bit more money and improve the team, then that ballpark has a chance to really attract a lot of people. You can't say the same thing about the rays and their ballpark. You can't say the same thing about the nightmare that currently is going on with the athletics until they eventually get to Las Vegas. When they get to Las Vegas, they're going to be that kind of attraction. They're going to be the same thing that some of those teams in Vegas experience where people

that are just visitors to that town, which they get millions of every single day, it feels like, are going to go check out, you know, an athletics game, especially if it's a cool state of the art stadium that looks like baseball's version of SOFI. So, like, it's, I mean, there's,

there, there is something to be said about, again, how the performance impacts attendance on, on these, you know, to these teams, but a team like the pirate should be, should have no business being 26th in attendance.

Meanwhile, the Diamondbacks, you don't hear anybody be like, I have to go to Chase Field. Like, I mean, no disrespect to our airplane hanger, but nobody is like, I got to go to Phoenix. We've got to go see the Grand Canyon. I got to stop by Sedona and we need to make our way to Chase Field. The only people that say that are diehard Diamondbacks fans that live in other states. But your typical tour isn't ensuring that a stop by Chase Field is on their list. There's hopefully improvements they can make to make it that. But I feel like that's very, very far away.

So for now, credit to Ken for getting aggressive when the time calls for it and being a respected owner across baseball. We'll be enough to get Acomoto, probably not. And there's probably going to be a few things that the Diamondbacks come up short on as far as needs this off season. But we're going to talk about later what we think our favorite most important need is this holiday season. What gift we need the Diamondbacks to get themselves under the tree this holiday season. But first, we're going to talk about Jordan Lawler playing the outside season. outfield and if this means anything for the Diamondbacks. We're going to do that on the other side of this break.

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And really, at the end of the day, it comes down to what they feel comfortable with and what options they have. Now, we still feel like pitching is a priority, not only starting pitching was something that they had to go out and get and they did that, but they still have to add to this bullpen if you want to feel confident about this team being not only, you know, competitive in 2026, but any kind of contender. But again, what we did discuss briefly was that Jordan Lawler, while playing in the Dominican Winter League for Lisey, has been playing some games in center field. And Steve Gilbert over at MLB.com recently published an article, I believe it was yesterday, about that exact topic. In 11 games playing for Lysie this winter, Lawler saw time at short. He played seven games at shortstop. He played three games in center field, and he played one game at third base.

Steve Gilbert asked Mike Hazen about it. Mike Hazen responded with saying it was a very small sample size, so I don't want to read too much into it. But the fact that he was out there and working and playing was a good sign for us. And I think it will give us a good head start going into spring training. Gilbert went on to say that Lawler is expected to see time in center and an infield this spring, and he could end up being a major contributor for the Diamondbacks. It's a weird thing because obviously it is a small sample size. he did not have very good numbers in the Dominican Winter League, and you instantly want to overreact, considering that he's had his struggles already at a major league level offensively,

though he did start to put together some much better bets towards the end of the season. But again, it is interesting because Jordan Lawler feels like a wild card. He feels like a guy that still has a ton of potential. However, I don't know if we've seen a lot of it. We don't know if we've seen him actually produce. And as far as we know, he's no longer being being viewed as a prospect and being viewed as a majorly contributor. Where do you kind of see this going with Jordan Lawler? Like, I mean, again, we know that the Diamondbacks probably don't have a lot of money to make too many more moves and, you know, have some shortages in the outfield, third base all over the place.

So, I mean, what do you think ends up happening in Jordan? I have no idea is the short answer. I mean, I don't know if the diamond backs really have any idea either where this is all going to land. I mean, Heisen's basically saying, like, yeah, I think he's going to, like, have a great year for us and play somewhere. And it's like, that doesn't sound very confident. And I don't know if, like, what he did there in Lisey is enough to make you think, or for Lysie is enough to make you think that he's taking any, you know, steps in one direction or another. I guess it's just the idea that he's so committed to getting better at playing the game of baseball that he's out there playing in the Dominican Winter League is the positive side of this and what he's been doing. Yeah, I mean, I think it's noteworthy that the debacks are going to have him play center field in spring training.

Like we know that we know that outfield is going to stick around for him. This wasn't just three games in the Dominican Winter League and never again. But I do find it interesting that frankly, Jordan Lawler struggled defensively toward the end of the year. It felt like Tori Lavello, who's a very defensive-minded manager, was not really comfortable with Jordan Lawler Manning third base. Far more comfortable with Blaze. He was far more comfortable with Blaze toward the end of the year.

And Mike Hazen addressed that in this article from Steve Gilbert. He said we had been bouncing him all over the field in AAA. I don't think that's ever conducive from a defensive standpoint. I think we asked a lot of him defensively, and I think that's what it was more than anything else, speaking of his struggles on that side of the ball. But at the same time, my head then goes to like, okay, well, now you're having him play a new position. Like now you're adding another position into the fold. You're not taking him away from third and just focusing him on second base and shortstop,

which is what he was good at, what he came up playing, right? Like you are now stretching him, which I don't even think it was shortstop, right? he was primarily a second baseman, but that position's kind of taken right now, at least right now. We don't know what's going to happen. But again, it's like, you're right. You're instead of you feeling like,

okay, maybe we shouldn't bounce him around so much, maybe we should have them, you know, stick to one position. But that one position, which is the one that seems to be open right now for this team and seems to be of need, is the position he played the least of for Lise. He played one.

one game at third base, meanwhile, seven at shortstop and three in center field. So I don't really know how any of this helped to make him a better player or more ready for this season, right? I feel like there's more questions than answers at this point. I think there's, yeah, there's just a lot of questions right now in terms of the position player group and how things are going to shake out when spring training opens. Are the debacks going to add a third baseman? Are they going to add a second baseman?

and you'd imagine probably not unless Catel Marte gets traded. Are they going to upgrade center fields or maybe more likely just trade away one of their center fielders? Does it mean they add a right-handed hitting outfielder? That's something we've wondered about with Lordis Gurriel Jr., missing significant time. So there's just a lot of questions. And I guess from Jordan Lawler's perspective, you just, you don't want his position to become a barrier for getting him playing time.

Right. Because that's happened a lot already. Right. And you want to see what Jordan Lawler is, is able to produce if he can get regular playing time, which the debacks have never really given him. So I guess that's what this is about is just like, let's make it so that Jordan Lawler has as many options as possible so that however the rest of the offseason goes, whatever positions we add to or don't add to, there's still a path for him to get playing time.

But again, it's hard for me to feel great if I'm a fan of this team about Jordan Lawler adding another position to his arsenal. It's like, well, this hasn't worked so well in the past. So I don't know if that's going to help him as he continues to try to adjust to the major league level. It's just amazing because Jordan Lawler has an incredible attitude. I mean, he's always like so willing to do whatever the team asks of him. And then when you talk to him about it, it's no problem. him he's smiling he's calm about it like his demeanor and his approach when we interview it makes me feel like he's totally ready for this at a major league level like he is mentally ready to be a

major leaguer what i what i hate is that baseball is a game of consistency we know that in fact we make jokes about how much players are creatures of habit in baseball and how much like the best pitchers and the best players go through like a routine every day and everything's the same and they're very particular about things. Yet we have no problem taking a young man like this who's struggling because of the, you know, because of adapting from minors to major league level. And we're just putting him wherever and calling him up

and sending him down making him play different positions in minor leagues, making them play different positions at a major league level. All of it doesn't seem very fair. And then on top of that, you're heaping the criticism on him that he's a bust as a draft pick and that it's not going to work out. I do not believe that for his second, Although I could be wrong about that, but I believe in Jordan Lawler. I just think he needs consistency.

It sounds like Mike Hazen does too. Hazen did say in the article, he could wind up playing a big role. I thought he made strides offensively with us towards the end of the year last year. Like with a lot of young guys, it's about controlling the strike zone, controlling their at bats. And that also could be what they saw out of him in the Dominican Winter League that gave them, you know, some positive feelings about, you know, his progression overall. And the numbers weren't great. Numbers were terrible. We're not going to talk about the numbers, Jesse.

But again, but you know how that is, right? Like, sometimes the numbers can be bad, but they're still very happy with what he was doing, how coachable he was, what is it, bats, we're looking like, you know, things like that. So there's definitely things that we don't know that they're looking at, or once again, it could just all be lip service because they don't want him to start doubting himself because they hear Mike Hayes and say,

I have no idea where he's going to play in an interview with Steve Gilman. So anyway. We're going to take a quick break. Last one. And on the other side of this break, we are going to give you our thoughts on what we think the Diamondbacks absolutely need to have under the tree this holiday season. Don't you go anywhere.

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Well, before we get out of here, we got to give you guys at least one holiday gift that we, we think the Diamondbacks absolutely need this holiday season. This is more of giving a gift to yourself for them. By the way, get yourself a gift, especially if the people in your life are bad gift givers. Do not put up with that. Get yourself something nice. I kind of have to put up with that a little bit.

I'm an excellent gift giver. This man somehow is like a magician. I can't even tell you. You don't even see him shop. You'll ask him like today. Jesse, are you done with your shopping yet? I haven't started, Derek. He's a madman.

He's a madman. Do you know how sleepless? My last week would have been if I would have even started my shopping. We have 48 hours there. Plenty of time. Plenty of time. Plenty of time. Well, we got to talk at least about one item.

We think the Diamondbacks need under the tree. I'm sure you and I might agree on this because, again, it does feel like pitching, pitching, pitching. I mean, I love the fact that they were able to go out and add two starting pitchers to their rotation. I don't know how confident I still am in Michael Soroka, even though I really enjoyed the press media availability with that, with him. I enjoyed his answers quite a bit. And I, I mean, it got me more pumped up, you know,

got me believing in him. And sometimes that's what they do in these media interviews. But it also makes me feel like if I saw the Diamondbacks add another starting pitcher, I wouldn't be surprised. And I also would feel much better about next season rather than I, currently do. I'll never forget Corbyn Burns sitting in his introductory press conference when being asked about the depth that the Diamondbacks had in starting pitchers and looking right at us and saying no team ever gets through the season with just five starting pitchers. I'll never forget

that and I'll never forget what happened not too long after that because we were asking them, what are you going to do in seven starters? And now look at the way that the season went. So I don't feel great about the Diamondbacks literally only having five starters, but I also think that the bullpen is the next thing they need to address. Jesse, what are you demanding that the Diamondbacks get themselves this holiday season if they only have one, one gift left to get? I mean, the name that I keep going back to is Pete Fairbanks, not because he is, you know, the best closer on the market or, well, actually, he is the best closer on the market. That is that is now the case. That is now officially 100% he's really the only closer on the market actually unless you want to convert another guy there's not even like super high leverage arms available on the relief market let alone closers like you said he's the last of the last yeah i mean i like sar anthony dominges like maybe you can get some high leverage that demon brought up for sure his uh his walk rate was quite high last year though but yeah i i think you know the the rumors have already been out there we already know the debacks have some level of interest in pete fairbanks i imagine

the fact that he is really the only closer left on the market. It probably creates some leverage for him in these negotiations. I wouldn't say I feel all that confident right now. The debacks are going to wind up winning that bidding war. But this team just needs bullpen help. And they just cannot afford to go another offseason without addressing that. I know last year there were multiple injuries that happened, which were really tough. and maybe it would have looked a lot different

if AJ Puck and Justin Martinez hadn't gone down so early in the year the way that they did. But you have to have, you have to have depth in the bullpen and you also have to have some top-end talents and some guys that you really feel you can trust from the get-go in those high-leverage innings.

And Pete Fairbanks is not a perfect high-leverage reliever. He's not the same guy that he was a couple years ago, but he added a cutter toward the end of the year, which I think we talked about at one point. And I just think he has a good chance to still be a productive reliever for another couple of seasons. And the debacks just,

they just got to do it. I mean, I just don't think they can go another off season without really addressing that group. He is not going to cost you nearly as much as some of these other guys cost you. And I look at like a contract that Robert Swares got. And I'm like,

that was even doable in my mind. That wasn't that bad. It wasn't that mine. Just like I don't think that Michael King's contract. was that bad at all. And it's something the Diamondbacks, I mean, again, he re-signed. So that's a little different story.

But still, like, when you see what some of these guys are signing for, there's a part of you that says, like, I feel like that was reasonable. When you see what the other elite arms are getting, you know, Pete Fairbanks is going to get quite that much. As you said, though, the market is skyrocketing for Pete Fairbanks. I mean, he... That's what you think, right?

I mean, we haven't necessarily heard that. No, you're right. Just like the market for other guys that, are out there. Like, we have not heard much in regards to several key free agent players that should have people buzzing and teams interested and we should be hearing. Like Framber Valdez, once again, a perfect example. It's not to say there aren't rumors out there, but my God, you're not cracking open news on MLB every day hearing about another team being in on Framber Valdez. In fact, I feel like what the incident with his catcher and what happened with him might

be hurting his value a tremendous amount because just like Ctele, Marte, one little incident makes you as a new team question his commitment to his teammates and to his team and to this game and everything like that. Right. So again, I find that part interesting. I will say that that is my choice as well, but to give one more selection that I would want to see, I still think Paul Goldschmidt returning to this team is just so good for everybody. And it's very similar to Merrill Kelly where I just can't imagine a scenario where Goldschmidt

goes to any other team and is as well received in returning. or being there as a new player as he would be coming back to Arizona. It would be, as we said at one point, of fairy tale ending to his career potentially. If he does find a way to wrap things up here, I also think he still has a lot to offer. I think he still is a very good first baseman, not very good, but good, better than the options the Diamondbacks have, and also a DH option that they don't currently have. So if Tyler Locklear does start to develop into a first baseman,

you're not blocking him over there with a guy that you're paying a tremendous amount of money. you're bringing in a guy who almost is there to help Tyler Locklear kind of develop and become a better first baseman. And that could definitely be the possibility. I know Goldie's not the most talkative guy, but I do feel like he has definitely grown into this veteran role that he's in. And I think that I remember from his time here, him always being a great teammate, right? You know, I would always hear from players how much he talked to them. I'd never see it and he wouldn't talk to us that much, but he would definitely talk to them. I just think, though, again, this is one of those feel-good additions that will make people come back to the ballpark simply because Goldschmidt's on this team again.

And again, it's a lower cost signing than the other first-based options. It just makes me feel like everything else would kind of benefit from it. Like adding a closer, you feel like the bullpen kind of people can know their role and they can stack up properly. You feel like getting someone over there that your everyday first baseman will allow flexibility to maybe look at other roles for Pavin Smith. It would allow Tyler Locklear to step in and still play plenty of first base when he returns from his injury. Like Goldie could take over for the first month. And then when Tyler Locklear comes back, Goldie can kind of be more of a DH. And again, I just think that it's one of the few scenarios we've talked about that makes so much sense to me that I find myself going,

why hasn't this happened yet? You know? The big reason why is because guys like Ryan O'Hern are going out there and getting $30 million close to it. And I'm sure Goldschmidt is like, well, hey, hold on. I still have something left in the tank. Can I maybe get 10 from somebody? And, you know, again, that's where the Diamondbacks might be like, no, not from us.

You know, so again, I understand them not wanting to do it just for the nostalgia, not just for the field, right? But again, we talked about the job of a GM at times is to make the fan base. happy and when a move like this makes sense both logically with the numbers and statistically on the field that it's going to help the team better and it's going to make the fans happy I feel like it's somewhat of a no-brainer fun fun paulgolchman fact that I just now discovered apparently he played center field for the new york Yankees in 2025 for a third of an inning we figured it out we got the versatility we needed yeah so he could

So he could play first base and platoon with Pavin Smith, maybe a little bit. He could also platoon in center field. The Swiss Army knife. Yeah, I need to go back and figure out exactly how this happened. The Google AI overview says he briefly played center field in a game for the Yankees in a strategic defensive shift. Apparently he like swapped places with Cody Bellinger for a play. So, yeah, fun fact, Paul Voltschman.

We got it. It was only a matter of time before he logged majorly getting in Centerfield. Like Ryan said, he has all the tools, all the tools. And Paving used to play Center a little bit as well. So that is, that is true. That is, yeah. Awesome. Why are you bringing that up?

You of all people back there are bringing that up. It's just awesome. You love a good first basement out in there in Center Field. Yeah, you do. Well, I'm very appreciative of this guy for stopping by. I hope you guys all have a wonderful holiday week. Enjoy yourselves. Eat entirely too much food.

I hope you get all the things you want on your wish list. And again, I hope you guys all enjoy that time with your family. Make sure to check out Jesse and Jack over at Snake's Territory. You can find their podcast wherever you find ours. And you can follow Jesse at Jesse and Friedman on Twitter. You can follow me at Cap underscore Caveman with a K on all social media. You can follow Damon at Damon Dog with a DAWG. And as always, we're all Damon's dogs.

Bark, bark. Our show is at Ph.NX underscore Devax. But all roads do. to at PHNX underscore sports on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. I mean it so much. I thank you guys so much for your time this year. I know we're going to do a year and wrap up here shortly and before we get to the new year.

But I can't thank you guys enough for all of your support for both of us this year. We appreciate the Diamondbacks community immensely for supporting both of our shows and for you guys just being awesome people. So again, we thank you so much for your time. Your time is your most valuable commodity. Be careful who you share it with,

especially this holiday season. Don't let those relatives that steal parts of your soul take too much of your time because they don't deserve it. But again, love you guys. Thank you guys so much for your time. We'll see you on Friday with a 12 p.m. show from my house. Until then, hope you guys all behave yourselves. I hope some of you get to drink coquito. And again, I hope you guys have a wonderful holiday season.

Appreciate you again. Remember kids, baseball is fun, but it's so much more fun when you have cool friends to watch it with. Love you guys. Thank you.