PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - First Base Remains MISSING PIECE As D-backs Approach Offseason Finish Line

Episode Date: January 23, 2026

The Diamondbacks missed out on landing MacKenzie Gore via trade, so what does that say about where this rotation really stands? Did the Snakes do enough to seriously pursue a frontline starter? Plus, the spotlight is back on first base as we debate what the D-backs’ plan actually is at the position and whether an internal option or a late-market move for Paul Goldschmidt or Ryan Mountcastle makes the most sense. Meanwhile, Corbin Carroll continues to get his flowers after being ranked the 9th best player in baseball by MLB Network, and we take a look at what it means for the organization to have three players ranked inside the Top 25 of MLB Network’s Top 100 list. Can their stars lead them to the Postseason in 2026 as predicted by MLB.com? We also have some fun by building the best possible roster using players from the 2001 and 2023 Diamondbacks World Series teams.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/Phoenix Raceway: Get your tickets now for March 5-8! https://www.phoenixraceway.com/march-cup-weekend/?CID=PIR_DI_TP_BA_PHNX26Spring_251120ALLCITY — including us here at PHNX — is teaming up with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America for an exciting three-year partnership. To learn more, visit https://www.bbbs.org/allcity/Branded Bills: Use code BBPHNX at https://www.brandedbills.com/ for 15% off your first order!Husband & Wife Law Team: If you’ve had a serious injury, Call The Husband & Wife Law Team first at 602-783-8841 or visithttps://husbandandwifelawteam.com/?utm_source=allcity-padcasts&utm_medium=digital-phx&utm_campaign=allcityShowNotesbet365: https://www.bet365.com/hub/en-us/app-hero-banner-1?utm_source=affiliate&utm_campaign=usapp&utm_medium=affiliate&affiliate=365_03485317 Use the code PHNX365 to sign up, deposit $10 and bet $5 to get $150 in bonus bets!Disclaimer: Must be 21+ and physically located in AZ.  If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-NEXT-STEP, text NEXTSTEP to 53342 or visit https://problemgambling.az.gov/Gametime: Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code PHNX for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply.Shady Rays: Head to https://shadyrays.com and use code: PHNX for 35% off polarized sunglasses. Try for yourself the shades rated 5 stars by over 300,000 people.Circle K: Join Inner Circle for free by downloading the Circle K app today! Head to https://www.circlek.com/store-locator to find Circle Ks near you!When you shop through links in the description, we may earn affiliate commissions. Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The heavy lifting is done for the Arizona Dynamics this off season, according to one John Gambadoro, but could they still be adding a first baseman? And is Paul Goldschmidt the best option? We're talking about it here in 30 seconds. Don't you go anywhere? Be Friday to you all. Welcome in to another edition of the PHNXVEback podcast.

Love! From Studio K, presented by our friends at Circle K. It is I, your mayor of PHNX, occasionally known as Derek Montia. thrilled to have you guys here on a beautiful Friday from downtown Phoenix, Arizona. And thrilled, as always, to be joined by the Leche to my cafe, the one, the only Damon Farrell, aka Damon Dog, who is not very happy this morning as a piece of Yoshi is living to already in our chat. So we're going to get around to us missing out on Sir Anthony Dominguez.

But we also got to get around first to us missing around out on Mackenzie Gore. Am I right? What a crazy thing that happened yesterday. What a disaster. What a disaster for this podcast. In case you missed it, we put together a hypothetical situation of the Diamondbacks potentially trading for starting pitcher McKenzie Gore. We talked about trade packages.

You were there. You remember. And then moments after we wrap. Not even moments, Damon. In fact, in the final 15 seconds of the episode itself. I think he might have said bark, bark. And then he got traded like right then and there. See, okay, so now in going back and reviewing what happened yesterday,

there was a portion of the show where I may have unnecessarily attacked the Texas Rangers for what we did to them. I think I might have called it the perfect heist sending Merrill Kelly in to steal three of their top prospects only to return to this organization after the season was over. Well, apparently the Rangers took that personally. Right, Damon? Yeah, it does seem as though,

but here's what I will say. The Diamondbacks could get to that Mariners offer. I'm sorry, the Rangers' offer. The Rangers farm system, I know it's five for one. I know, like, you look at like the top prospects on the thing, right? And you're like, oh, they got the number two, six, ten prospects in the Rangers farm system. But you got to remember, we absolutely just, you say a heist. Like, we, we robbed the Rangers farm system.

We took away three of their top ten prospects. The Rangers have one of the worst farm systems in all of baseball. We knew that when we made that trade for Merrill Kelly to them, that they didn't have a strong farm system. And it got about half as strong when they traded away three of their top arms for Merrill Kelly. So I think the dimebacks absolutely could have matched an offer like this. I know it was five for one. But if you headline it with like a Jordan Lawler, as we were talking about,

I think that gets you pretty darn close to what they ended up getting. Because the top guy that they got from the Rangers was. was a dude who's in single A, and his MLB ETA isn't until like 20, 29 or something like that, something nuts. So I think that, you know, you could have hypothetically enticed them with the Lawler offer. Turns out, Dianvaks aren't really, I think, on the train of trying to get an elite-level arm or a high-level arm in the building. I mean. And Gambo mentioned that they would have been in on Freddie Peralta as well. If they had less injuries on the roster right now, they would have been a little bit more.

all in on a move like that. I think it's a matter of if the Diamondbacks had more to offer than the Rangers. Like you could take a look at this and probably say yes, but were they willing to part with that? Were they willing to feel like we were about maybe not adding Cold Drake into that? I mean, I will say that the package we put together that we didn't love because of the Cold Drake edition yesterday did seem like it was too much. And yet that was just three for one. Meanwhile, what the Rangers end up receiving is five prospects,

Gavin Fien, Alejandro Rosario, Devin Fitzgerald, Al-Aamelich Ortiz, and Jeremy Cabrera in exchange for one McKenzie Gore. But not one top 100 prospect, as RA puts here in the chat. Like those were not guys that are like super highly rated. Well, I mean, that's fine because, but still they're highly rated within the Rangers system, maybe not across baseball. That might make them easier to part ways with from a Rangers perspective. The Rangers also didn't have a problem with trading. as much as they did to get Merrill Kelly

only for them to miss the playoffs in 2025, right? But it's your classic five-for-one swap, Damon, you know, your classic five-for-one player trade where you have a quantity of prospects that hopefully from, you know, from the Nationals perspective, one works out, if not two, right? That's really what you can hope for

when you're getting five prospects for McKenzie Gore. The Rangers, meanwhile, add another solid pitcher to their already, fairly good starting rotation. I mean, you could definitely say that McKenzie Gore is an upgrade from Merrill Kelly, at least in the idea of what he could offer. I mean, not statistically because Merrill Kelly had a much better season last year than McKenzie Gore did. But again, this move is about the Rangers trying to win now and not building towards the future.

And the nationals, as we know, are always building towards the future. That's what they do. Gore's cost very team friendly for the next two years. Again, that's the reason why it made it so alluring to the day. Diamondbacks to add someone like that to this roster. And again, it's it's mostly just about Chris Young, who is the president of baseball operations over there, watching our episode yesterday, getting very angry at the things we said and picking up the phone while we were in the middle of discussing McKenzie Gore coming to the Diamondbacks and being like, oh yeah,

you want to see what steal somebody, watch this. And that's basically what happened. So Chris Young, the former Rangers pitcher, is their president? Um, is he, the former ring yeah yes yes because i remember there was two chris youngs in the league there was chris young and then they're chris young correct so is our is our move here we got to hire chris young in our front office to counter yes i like that isn't he like he's an melb network yeah i mean he's he knows his stuff he does yeah and he's he's actually carved out a pretty cool role for himself given you know not that he was a bad player but like he wasn't the level of player that you're typically used to seeing seeing on those studio shows.

What I'll also say is typically those guys are guys like Archie Bradley, where when you went to interview them as a member of the media, they gave you so much, right? Like there's guys that you're not surprised by them transitioning because you couldn't get them to shut up when you asked them a question sometimes. Chris Young was not that when he was a player for the Diamondbacks. In fact, him and Justin Upton had a bit of a reputation of like not wanting to speak to the media too often. Yeah, I mean, I wouldn't want to speak to you either, Derek.

No, I wouldn't want to speak to me either. If I had a choice on the matter, that guy? I get up every morning and have to look at this face in the mirror and have a discussion about, you know, us getting our stuff together and being able to make it out the door. But meanwhile, again, this feels like the Rangers, once again, being aggressive as far as pushing to better their team

and the nationals, once again, five for one, they got themselves a bunch more prospects. Maybe they can turn it into a trade where they improve their major league roster, probably doesn't seem like that's the case. Meanwhile, let's get to the real story here, and that is Damon just being done with baseball because the Chicago White Sox, once again,

stole away one of the players that we wanted. What's going on? Like, what are the White Sox keep doing? Sir Anthony DeMas, according to Jeff Passon, says right-handed reliever, Sir Anthony Dominguez, and the White Sox are in agreement on a two-year, $20 million contract sources tell ESPN. Dominguez 31 is expected to close.

for the White Sox who used the money saved in the Luis Robert Jr. deal to continue adding this winter. The White Sox are back. I love it. I kind of like the White Sox low key. My grandpa was born on the south side of Chicago. So I root for him a little bit. You haven't mentioned that before.

No. Yeah. I mean, I just like to, I like to root for the losers. You know what I mean? And that's just kind of who I am, I think. But an underdog, Damon. This hurts. This hurts.

This hurts a little bit. But I wish my white socks didn't do this to us, Derek, because this feels like a pretty, you know, this is about what we expected Sir Anthony Dominguez to get as a contract. I think we were thinking about, you know, $8 to $10 million, one to two years, maybe an option. Obviously, there's no option involved here. But this would have been assigning that that both of us, I think, would have been really happy about. I mean, I will say that overall again, when you look at what the Diamondbacks have spent this offseason. Did that happen? Is that actually true, Alex?

That's no. Goldie just signed with the Giants. Please tell me that that is a lie. Two days in a row would be crazy. Two days in a row. Please don't tell me it's two days in a row. You've got to be out of your mind. No, I'm not seeing anything right now.

All right. Well, we'll see. It looks like we might have gotten duped. We'll see. I mean, I don't know. It's possible. Maybe this guy just knows what's going on. Maybe this is mock bomb.

Maybe mock bomb is in here under the name Alex. We'll see, though. We'll see how things develop on. Instagram or on Twitter because I'm sure we'll hear something very soon here in regards to that. But again, like you said, yes, Sir Anthony Dominguez, I mean, $10 million a year, fairly affordable to bring in an elite pitching arm. However, the Diamondback spent $7.5 million on a starter. So maybe you could see why they did not, you know, go after Sir Anthony Dominguez, or maybe you could see why a deal for him did not pan out. Meanwhile, the nationals have claimed

Gus Varland off waivers who the Diamondbacks waived to make a roster spot for Taylor Clark when they signed Taylor Clark. And again, the Washington Nationals designate catcher Riley Adams for assignment, who he was a guy that had a lot of potential but has struggled to hit over 200 in his big league career. Meanwhile, Gus Varland, his overall big league ERA sits in the mid-fours over-limited inning. So a little bit of a surprise there that he didn't clear waivers and couldn't potentially make it back to the Diamondbacks. But a lot of teams are trying to to fill out bullpen rolls and looking for guys that can just kind of eat innings. Meanwhile, the big story is these are all the things we missed out on. What are we getting? What are we getting? So the tweet we have here, Damon, is from John Gambadoro. And of course, we always... We're going to have a conversation about this tweet.

We are definitely going to have a conversation. Gambo said, I would say most of the heavy lifting with the Arizona Diamondbacks is done. Though trade discussions are still ongoing. I still believe they, A, trade for more bullpen help with either depth they have on the Major League roster or from the farm system, and B, sign a free agent-first basement. So we know we've talked about Goldschmidt and a Goldschmidt reunion being just a very nice fit here for the Diamondbacks. That might not happen based on maybe false claims or real claims happening in the chat. Maybe that's Buster Posey's burner account on YouTube, and he just wanted to. to come in here and tell us that before the deal actually happens.

But Goldschmidt is a very attractive addition to this team. There's no doubt about it at all. And he feels, Damon, like the likely ad, right? Like, we felt like Merrill Kelly was going to come back, and then that happened. We felt like the Diamondbacks were going to trade based on everything we heard, one of Jake McCarthy or Alec Thomas. And that's happened, right? In fact, we felt in our bones that they weren't going to trade,

could tell and those trade talks have been shut down. So I think that's the reason why it just feels like Paul Goldschmidt, being a free agent and willing, again, wanting to play in 2026, expressing that he wants to be like an everyday starter in 2026 really does feel like a reunion is, you know, in the works, in the future, right? But we do have, of course, some potential other options. And even though that Gambo said in that tweet that they could add, pitcher or starting first baseman via free agency they could add a first baseman via trade right so again we know what paulgoltsman bring you he's a proven performer he's a franchise legend i don't have to give you all of the reasons once again why i think it's an amazing move to bring goldie back uh i think that not

only does he have a lot to offer still on the baseball diamond but i think that goldschmidt also brings a true heartwarming story here to him returning to the franchise. And again, I think if you're talking about teams across Major League Baseball, I don't know if another franchise, maybe outside of the Cardinals, is going to appreciate Paul Goldschmidt being on the team as much as the Diamondbacks fan base is going to appreciate. Oh, no chance Cardinals fans love Paul Goldschman as much as we, my brother. Right. He spent the first eight seasons of his career here. Well, and let's just be honest for a second.

Eight seasons in Arizona weighs a lot more than eight seasons or however long he was in St. Louis. That's fair. That's an organization with tons of history, legends all over the place. They have a whole wall in the outfield of Hall of Famers that have played for the organization. Like Paul Goldschmidt is a diamond back. He is one of the three probably front facing diamondbacks you think of when you think of this franchise like Randy Johnson, Paul Goldschmidt and probably Luis Gonzalez with that hit. and then hopefully, you know, down the road we're talking about Cotell Marte, Corby, Corbyn Carroll, Herald Obridomo potentially.

But I think that, you know, you look at just the Paul Goldschman aspect of things. It would sell seats. And as Grito shot second puts here in the chat, like he could be a platoon monster against left-handed pitching. He went over his splits the other day. Yeah, if you bring him in and you have him focused on hitting lefties, I mean, that's just a disaster for opposition. And he's beloved.

I mean, that goes back to what you said about putting. Bobblehead night. Beloved. Beloved. I mean, in fact, my daughter, when she was little, it was her favorite name to say. And she was, it was adorable when she said, Paul Golchman, all like as one word. She has an autograph, stuffed animal of him. In fact, just the other day.

And you still hate him? She, I do not hate Paul Goldstein. He was nice to your daughter and he still hate him? She made him a birthday card one year for his birthday. But like just the other day, she finally decided to remove the broken Paul Goldschmidt bobbleheads from her from a room and only keep the ones that aren't broken. So again, this is a guy that, you know, proven performer, but you could say his offense of output has declined from his MVP years. As platoon splits suggest he's obviously more effective in a limited role than has a full time for his basement. But that's almost exactly what the diamond backs need here, right?

Like they need a guy that can probably play DH and they can let that first base roll go a little bit more to the platoon of Zach of Tyler Locklear and Pavin Smith. But he could also participate that. And it just would be more than just nostalgia and just a good story. It would be a strategic veteran addition here. It would stabilize the lineup. It would add power to the lineup. It would add experience to the lineup. And it's probably going to come without a massive long term commitment.

Right. Yeah. So again. And right now. Not a long term commitment at all. I think it'd be insane if it was anything more than a one-year deal, right? Yeah. Like, it won't even...

I would say it won't even be a two-year contract. So it's as minimal risk, I think, as it gets, essentially. Meanwhile, there are other options. And one of those other options that we've kind of concocted here is the idea that there is a team that has entirely too many first basement on it right now. And that is the Baltimore Orioles. And, of course, we, for a long time, based just on his last name alone, have coveted Ryan Mountain Castle. because I could say his name when he hits a home run. Mount Castle!

Right? So there's that, but he could be a potential trade candidate with the Orioles, having that first base position well covered. And again, with a logjam of a guy that has one more season left on his contract. I mean, he's the righty, and he can play first base, and he can DH, and he's still under team control entering 2026. So this trade would, again, be another short-term deal where the Diamondbacks wouldn't have to commit long-term to a player,

but perhaps he could become that guy for the Diamondbacks. Maybe we find our actual first baseman, I don't want to say of the future, but I mean, he definitely could become a part of the core, especially now that he's kind of out of the picture there in Baltimore. He could be a middle-of-the-bat order or middle-the-order bat, and it could really just be one of those change-of-seinery situations that helps his career.

working with Joe Mather, Damon. Always seems to help guys bat. And again, he defensively, he's a solid option at first base compared to some of the alternatives out there, probably even a more solid option than Paul Goldschman. I do believe. For sure. I mean, at this age, no doubt about it. He was a shortstop, Derek.

I just learned that from Bo Brock, who's a big Orioles fan. And he was a shortstop for or drafted like as from the Orioles organization. So he, you know, I'm not saying he was ever going to stick at that position, but he does have a little bit more of a glove than maybe you would be accustomed to from a first baseman like that. And here's another interesting nugget. His second position is left field. Whoa. What team might need a little bit of extra help in left field right now, the Arizona Diamondbacks? And the age and a first basement.

He literally fits the kind of like all of the boxes of the positions that we're looking at, at least on paper and saying, maybe we're not settled there completely. DH, first base, left field. And he, those are the spots that he can go in and play. Not that he's a good outfielder, but, you know, he can give you some spot innings out there potentially. I like the move, Derek. To me, it reminds me a lot of Josh Naylor from last season.

It's very similar to me. He's about 27, 28 years old. Yeah. He, you know, approaching, he's in the prime slash approaching, like, the, you know, the, you know, the back end of his prime of his career probably, or I guess in baseball, you know, 30 years old is about your prime these days, right? And so he's, you know, he's getting to those prime years. He's about to enter free agency for the first time of his career.

And you're trading for him and probably trading for him pennies on the dollar because he is on that last year of his deal. And the Orioles know they're not going to re-sign him. So, you know, and I guess the Guardian's trade ended up looking a little bit better for them than we thought. but when we traded Slade for Josh Naylor, that felt like highway robbery. It did. And I think that you could be thinking about something. That's not to say the Orioles couldn't get a good return from us,

but I think you could be looking at something similar of like, it's probably not going to take the level of prospect that we've been talking about with a Freddie Peralta or a McKenzie Gore trade. It's going to take much, much less than that. And again, you could lose the trade, but I think that this would be a pretty reasonable cost, very similar to how the Naylor trade was. last year. Well, and I know they probably have

shortstop covered specifically in their, you know, or infield covered in their system, but perhaps one of those three top 10 second basemen the Diamondbacks have in their system. Well, they have Jackson Holiday at second base, but it doesn't, you just want the best players available. My point

being, though, is much like the Diamondbacks, right? We talked about them having a log jam. We could tell Marte at second base. That's how they have these three good infielders that are on the top 10 list that all play second. But some of them are far off, right? So if you're talking about like Dimitriot Quissantis or J.D. Dix, right? Those could be potentially players of the future for Baltimore. Yeah, you never trade, I don't think, for positions, players that you have on your

roster right now. You trade for the best return that you could get what your scouts like and who you think will have more value down the road. So I don't think that that really factors in too much to the Orioles thinking on a trade. But meanwhile, I disagree with you because I think the Orioles will ask for too much. I think that the Orioles might just ask for a size. return. Now, maybe they won't, or maybe they feel like they hold on to Mount Castle for depth overall, but it does feel like, I agree with what you're saying. Like, it feels like they have an abundance of players and it's a great opportunity right now before camp starts for them to make a trade to improve their roster, either for the future or even for now. And also the Diamondbacks,

you know, could potentially have another first baseman, like you said, Josh Naylor, like Josh Naylor, where they bring him in on the final year of his contract. And perhaps he, you know, sticks around and and you know gets uh becomes a permanent member of this team uh lando says the o's gave him his qualifying offer so there is that it's interesting that they did that and then how does that how does that i don't really understand how that makes sense that because they gave him they avoided arbitration with like a 6.8 million dollar contract this year so how does the qualifying offer factor in okay yeah no you're right yeah because it wouldn't be it would be arbitration so a qualifying offer would have to be

Wouldn't he be like that would be if he was a free agent? It would have to be next year that is called, that they gave him the qualifying offer. So not sure about that. I also don't think he's a guy that they, that you would pay like $22 million. He's like a lot. Yeah.

Like that's like a lot. That felt like a lot for like Josh Naylor when we were talking about it. He made the top 100 pro like MLB players list this year. I don't know if you saw that. We could have had five on there if Gino and, and Naylor weren't traded Derek. By the way, Damon. Did you know that Nico Horner?

was not featured on the top one of those. Didn't he have six war this year? That's crazy. Six war and he didn't make top 100? I feel like they just forgot him. That's wild dude. Anyway, I again, when it comes to acquiring Mount Castle, it does give the Diamondbacks more of a full time first base option, right? So that does create perhaps a, you know, a roster problem for them as far as what they're going to do with Tyler Locklear. But like Damon said, I mean, he could play left field. He also could DH. There's just a lot of flexibility. there with adding Mountcastle versus Goldie. However, Goldschmidt kind of feels like he fits the way the Diamondbacks are constructed better now, right? Pavin and Goldie would take the first base duties until Locklear returns. Goldschmidt can be a DH in first base occasionally.

When there's, you know, left-handed pitching starting in a game, you can have him helping Tyler Locklear potentially become the first baseman of the future. And again, it's a return that would be popular and make sense, at a lower risk and shorter term. Mountcastle is going to be a bit of a bolder move and maybe have a bigger impact than Goldschmidt, but it's going to cost you far more in players that are part of this team and not just $5 to $7 million.

Yeah, I mean, you look at what they did this offseason. They brought in Piedelonzo on a huge deal. I think Adley Rushman, you look at and say that that could be a guy that they might transition a little bit more to playing first base as he gets older throughout his career because he won't. to preserve him a little bit. So I just think it makes sense for them to offload a first baseman when they can get any value for him before, you know, they probably let him walk for nothing unless they plan on

having him play first base and Pete Alonzo being a DH full time for his career. But I thought we had heard rumblings of like Petolanzum not necessarily wanting that to be the case. So I'd be surprised if maybe that was a team that he went and signed for was one that was like your full-time DH from here on out. Yoshi, you can check me on that if I'm wrong there. but I think Mount Castle is an option just because I think that maybe you could be,

as like with a Freddie Peralta, like Freddie Peralta would be a lot more expensive for a trade package if he wasn't an unrestricted free agent next season. Right. And that's why you were able to obtain a frontline sub three ERA starting pitcher for, you know. Two prospects. Yeah, two prospects. But your two best prospects.

Yeah, and really good players. But, you know, when he's on. an $8 million contract and, you know, he's going to be a free agent next year. Like, I think that, you know, you're looking at maybe, you know, to a lower degree, something similar to that of like, probably don't have to trade a Jordan Lawler, probably don't have to trade a Tommy Troy, in my opinion. I think that, you know, or Ryan Waldschmidt. I think we could be, I think we could be looking at like the second tier of the debaq system for guys that could be a trade candidate in this scenario. And I like the fit. I think the fit is solid. I think that he would.

you know, probably be like what the, the, well, I like that fit too. But I think he'd be like the, what, like the fifth hitter on this team. Like I think, you know, it would be a pretty solid addition for what we got on this roster. And he had a, you know, he had it somewhat of a down year last year, Derek. He really did. But, you know, you look at his stats in the past and he's been a really, really good player for them. So. Well, piece of Yoshi says, I've heard rumblings.

He didn't want to DH because it hurt his value, helped by the fact that the Mets first base options last year were all somehow worse. So, yeah, I mean, again, I feel. like a lot of players wouldn't want to just DH because it could hurt their value, especially if that's all they start getting seen as. It didn't hurt Kyle Schwab or none would get in that contract, though. So again, I think that there is, there's definitely some interest here. Plus, you know, again, it would allow the flexibility financially for them to take the money they were going to spend on a first basement and go add a reliever, even though there's not very many left on the market.

Yeah, I mean, 6.7, 6.8 million is not a crazy amount of money for, you know, know, a player that's going to start for you for essentially the entire season, hypothetically. So, you know, I think that you look at that contract and you say, that's about what we were maybe thinking about paying Paul Goldschman, maybe even a little less. And, you know, this is a guy that if he has a good season, like either could do what you did with Naylor and you could trade him for value and hopefully you get somebody that helps your team in the future or he's good enough and you resign him over the, you know, future years. So yeah, I like this. move. 28 years old is right in my sweet spot of like where I would want for the debacks because

I think this organization has to either plan for very short term or long term. The in between doesn't help. Like when you get the e-rods of the world for four or five-year contracts for 20 million a year, like I think that's almost debilitating to the franchise. Whereas like Jordan Montgomery was horrible. He's gone. He's gone. Forget about him. It's not a big deal. So I like I like guys that, you know, there's minimal risk on those deals. Plus, Damon, we can add a castle to the top of Mount 500. Wow. If he was a part of this team.

That's insane. I didn't even think about that. A little perdomo could go up the mountain to the castle, to Mount Castle at the top of Mount 500. We're climbing Mount Castle. Just saying, let me know what you guys think in the chat. We always love to hear from you guys. Would you prefer Paul Goldschnett? Would you prefer Ryan Mountcastle?

Who makes more sense for you? More importantly, before we move on, Damon, bring up to John Gambador. tweet one more time because Dave and I had a little bit of a problem with the wording of this tweet where Gambo says most of the heavy lifting with the Arizona Diamondbacks is done.

Damon laughed at that a little bit. I understand what Gambo means here because the biggest problem for this team was what were they going to do with starting pitcher? How are they going to spend this minimal amount of money that they had to spend less than $40 million and get two starting pitchers,

relievers, outfield, and a first baseman. And somehow they did make some savvy moves here to get most of that stuff. I still don't understand the Nolan-Aeronautot trade, even though I love it. It really wasn't a big priority for them. However, you could definitely say

that third base was not locked down with the candidates that Diamondbacks had at Jordan Lawler or even Blaze Alexander, right? So it doesn't hurt to improve there. However, again, it's heavy lifting simply because I think the most important things for this team were done. And at this point, you could live with what you haven't accomplished yet. Do you think that's more of what he means?

I think that he's talking about checking boxes, as you're saying, essentially, of being like, yeah, we've figured out most of the things that we needed to do this offseason. I will say, we haven't added any outfielders. We haven't added a first basement. We haven't added to the bullpen. In fact, we got a woman outfielder. I'm looking at the boxes that we needed to check. We did add to the bullpen. We did add to the bullpen.

You're going to act like Taylor Clark is nobody. Yeah. Just ignore Taylor Clark. I am going to ignore Taylor Clark. That's not a high profile addition to the bullpen. He might not even make the major league roster to start the year. No, that's probably not going to happen. I would say that about Lois Sega, but maybe not.

Probably not. Taylor. I said he might not make the roster. It's fair. When you look at the list of things that we needed, starting pitcher, starting pitcher, bullpen help, backup catcher, outfield first base. That's half the things that you've done. That's half of them, Derek.

You could say that we're checking boxes, but we're checking 50% of them. That's an F. You got an F on your test. And I just laugh at the wording of heavy lifting because there was nothing heavy about this offseason. The highest profile edition is bringing back a player that we have had

in this organization for five plus seasons. And he's a great player. But I was sitting up here. months ago saying we're going to bring back Merrill Kelly and you were like I don't know if that's a given I don't know if we should be and I'm like we're going to bring back Merrill Kelly it feels like it's set in stone like I knew that was happening so I'm sitting up there it almost feels like less of a high profile addition than like normally a two year 20 million dollar per year deal would feel because it was he's a guy who used to play for us and it felt like it was in the card so much then you

look at the rest of it no one or not I love I actually love the trade especially at the dollar value we got him at but in what world is two years 11 million over the next two years a heavy lifting well you're just that's the lightest lifting possible i know well you're talking about it you're you're literally talking about financially i am yeah there's zero heavy heavy lifting was done i think that there was like maybe like we we use some dumbbells you know we picked up some 35 million dollars to spend damon we picked up some 40 pound dumbbells and we were you know we curled them a couple times but this is not like we're not deadlift in here d'allel Eric, we're not bench pressing.

We're not back squatting. These are not heavy lifts that are going on here. I mean, it was heavy lifts as far as necessities are concerned. It wasn't like they needed to go out. Yes, because they got half. They needed to go out and upgrade. Well, again, it's because you and I, nobody, I feel differently about this team than they do, right?

You and I obviously think there are more additions that need to be done. And I'm not arguing with that. I'm sure even Mike Aizen wouldn't argue with that. But again, you send me to the store with 10. $10. F-and-dollar. And then you're mad that all I came back with was some bread and some cheese and a little bit of fruit and a couple other things. I'm sitting here going, I got all of this for $10. That's all you sent me with. And you're like, oh, you didn't bring back steak? Where's the stakes? And it's like, yeah, there's no steak because there was no money. And honestly,

they had to do things creatively, even to add a Nolan Aeronado here. So what they've done is, a good job of spending the money that they've spent. But as far as like what you're talking about, heavy lifting is improving this team. And it's really hard to say that they have improved this team at this point. They went out and satisfied several of the needs, not all of them, like you said. But again, they might feel like they have internal candidates to play left field now. They might feel like Blaise is the person that's going to take over that spot. They might feel comfortable with Alec being in center field far more comfortable than you do. We know Corby's so many so much internal belief though Derek at what point do we sit there and go like brother look at the team that we're competing

against at the top in our division right internal development like that's awesome it sounds great but like can we can we can we like factor it in that it's going to happen because absolutely not you definitely can't do that here's what we're going to do we're going to take a quick break and on the other side of this break we're going to talk about why the Diamondbacks could be good in 26 it's because they have three of the best goddamn players in baseball, three top 25 players, including Corby Carroll coming on MLB Network's top 10 list at number nine. Not only that,

but we have MLB.com picking the Diamondbacks to actually make the playoffs next year. So all of that is what we're going to talk about on the other side of this break. Don't you go anywhere. We're going to do some more debating, and we're going to talk more about all of this on the other side of this break. You're watching the PHNX Diamondback show. Well, we cannot wait to possibly win one of the four Corvettes that our friends at Heila River Resorts and casinos are giving away during their fabulous Corvette giveaway. That's right.

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where the other five million dollars go Derek I'm sitting here and I'm you pocketed the five dollars that I sent you with and I'm and I'm pissed yeah I don't I'm not okay with it um apparently Michael Dixon and the chat is telling other people Dbacks want uh Goldschmidt to return in a time role. He wants a full-time role per Jack Summers. I don't know where Jack is getting that from. Jack also said that the Diamondbacks are going to sign somebody big here at the early part of this week or this past weekend. So I'm still waiting. Summer's bomb. I'm still waiting for that. But I think that that makes somewhat amount of sense. But at the same time, like I said this yesterday, why would Paul Goldschmidt look at a team

with no DH, Pavin Smith at first base, and say, yeah, I'm not going to get in a lot of A-Bs on that team. It's like, dude, no, the role is very, very in front of you. Like, you are going to get, you know, 100 starts plus at 38 years old. Totally. On a team like that. And I don't really understand where this idea that like there's like some minimum role, what team is going to give him 150 starts, Derek? I don't know. That's why I honestly don't know. Baffling. I honestly don't know that. I really don't. And I also don't know why Goldschmidt would not be okay with taking less defensive reps and, you know, D-Hing more. You're just getting to be a hitter and, you know, also getting to retire the place that it all started, getting your Jersey retirement, like the whole

all of it factors in. I think it makes perfect sense. When we talk about P. Lonzo, right, that's a guy that still, you know, wants to show his value. Even on Brian Mountcastle, I could understand not wanting to DH because he wants to play first base and show that value, especially in the final year of his contract. Absolutely. I doubt that's the case with Paul Goldschman at 38, but I could be wrong about that. I don't know. I'm just speculating on that.

It just doesn't seem to line up for me. But what does line up is how good this team is, how good offensively this team was last year and how good offensively they're going to continue to be because they are led by the number ninth, ninth overall player in baseball in Corby and Carroll. MLB Network dropped their top 10 last night. Robin Carroll was placed ninth overall in MLB Network's top 100 players right now list for the 2026 season, a significant jump from his previous ranking of 32nd in Major League Baseball last year. His climb reflects a historic 2025 campaign where he combined speed and power

and everything. I mean, he was a better defender. His arm got stronger. He didn't steal as many bases because he was too busy nabbing triples all season long. He had a career best 31 home runs, 32 steals, and led Major League Baseball in triples, solidifying him as one of the top stars in baseball. I didn't even realize he stole that many bases. It didn't feel like it, honestly. Because he didn't have that many opportunities. And it wasn't like he was not converting.

He just wasn't stealing, attempting as many steals because he was ending up on second and third more than he has in his previous seasons playing Major League Baseball. I think there were statistics that also showed. that he was just less likely to steal in last season. But that's also fair because he had guys like Heraldo Pardomo and Cotell Marte and, you know, Josh Naylor, Gina Suarez, hitting behind him who were putting up career best numbers all across the board. It's like it makes perfect sense why you wouldn't want that guy to steal as much. Unbelievable jump.

The fact that he was 32nd last year in what was considered a down year for Corbyn Carroll is indicative of how good of a baseball player he is, how truly elite that that dude is because he really wasn't that great last season or two seasons ago, I should say now. Like, he really wasn't that that great. But he was able to pick it up in the second half of the year and he still finished top 40 in MLB in their player list. Like, the dude is special. Top 10. Like, I didn't expect it. However than Vladimir Guerrero Jr. We talked about who we thought he would be above on the list. Yeah, it was our guess. We thought we thought maybe he would be above. Yeah, Jose Ramirez. Yeah. I think, you know, top 10 was unexpected for me, but I love to see, you know,

Diamondbacks player get some national love, some national attention like that. And Corbyn Carroll is just, he's, he is the organization at this point, you know. Absolutely is. We have him extended for a long while on a good amount of money. And we're going to go as far as he takes us, I feel like, in, you know, a lot of ways over the next few years with, you know, the three guys who all finished in the top 25. being the core of this entire organization. We got Corbyn-Carrul at number 9. We got Cotel-Marté at number 19th, which is weird that he didn't really move from last year to this year.

And then you have Geraldo Pardomo also taking a huge step forward, being ranked 24th. However, we still feel like Geraldo Pardomo should have been here in the top 10, quite frankly. Can we just start calling Geraldo Pardomo 23, Catea, 18? Because Mugie Betts being above both of them is disrespectful to the sport. of baseball. But I mean, this level of representation in the top 25 is huge for the Diamondbacks. It's a major statement about how good this team actually is. And it goes to show that without any pitchers being in the top 100,

that the Diamondbacks definitely have a problem when it comes to pitching. That's really truly what they need to address. You can add around this core of these three guys. You can build around these guys. And you will have a successful team. You'll have a successful offense. But they cannot have a pitching staff that blows four. 47 leads again in 2026. If they find a way to cut that down by 40%, 30%, you're talking about

a team that makes the playoffs by a few games, honestly. So for Corby and Carroll, this is huge, man. I mean, solidifying himself as one of the top 10 players in baseball is just really incredible. And again, there's no reason why this team shouldn't be able to find success with these highly productive offensive players as part of their lineup. Yeah, I mean, this offense should be good enough with those three carrying it alone almost, you feel like, right? And that's why I think that getting a guy like a Ryan Mountcastle so intriguing, because he doesn't even need to be great.

He needs to be what Ryan Mountcastle is typically. And you're like, okay, this lineup just got significantly better because we got to just surround these three elite offensive players with six guys that are, you know, average, right? Like you look at, you know, getting a, you know, slightly above average. A Ryan Mountcastle. Nolan Irrano, you know, if he's anything except for what he did last season over the course of his career. Yeah.

Fantastic addition. Yeah. The year before, you know, he took a step back and you could see the decline happening. But he still was like a 270 hitter. He hit like, you know, 20 plus home runs. Like if he gives you that, unbelievable addition to this roster. You know what I love about Nato is that he was already sending videos to the hitting coach and the coaching staff the day he was traded to this team. Pro's pro.

I mean, come on. Like if there is no better indication that he wants to improve upon his 2025 season and make the 2026 season like you said, any of the other years of his career, then you feel really good about paying him five. million dollars a year and you feel like this guy's going to help this team win right meanwhile the only team that had more top 25 players than the diamondbacks you guessed it the los angeles dodgers with twice as many six with six show hey otani at one yoshinaabu yamomoto at 13 mucky bets at 18 will smith at 20 Kyle Tucker at 21 freddie freeman at 22 how gross is it that they were just like they were like mooky bet should have been 19th and Catelle should have been 18. So they would have had 19, 20, 21, and 22.

Muggy Betts should have been like 56. I know, but you know what I mean. Yeah, that's where I'm at. But yeah, that they still, that's not factoring in Blake Snell who made the list. That's not factoring. Yeah, no, that's just top 25. Yeah. That's just six in the top 25. Absolutely. They have, they have more overall than that as well. I don't think Tyler Glass now even made it. You know, obviously he's like, he's probably talented enough. He's just too injury prone to Oscar Hernandez, very good hitter. I don't think he made the list. Like, they're, they're ridiculous. It's not fair.

It sucks. It sucks that we have to go into the season. I keep saying it. It sucks that we have to go into the season, knowing that the best avenue to make playoffs is cooked already. It's January. And we know that there's a zero percent chance that we win the NL West. It's awful for the sport.

Please fix things. Please change it. When they do change it, the problem is that we still have to experience these, you know, the Dodgers. the next like five years because they're still going to be benefiting off of the contracts that were legal in the past. It's a disaster. It's an absolute disaster for a team to have three top 25 players and feel like you just have no chance to win your own division. We got a major legal thing. We got to go out there. We got to be a bunch of scrappy underdogs.

We need to pray to Joe Boo. We need a Willie Mays Hayes on the base path. We need anything we can get in order to beat this Dodgers team. And hopefully we can figure something out. I think I might have an idea, though. One of our mailbag Monday questions from two weeks ago, Damon, not this past Monday, but the previous Monday, it was a little too robust for us to get in under the, under the clock on Monday's episode. So we are going to comprise a roster here of the best players from the 2001 World Series team and the 2023 World Series team. And maybe this team we create could beat the Dodgers here probably not. Probably not. You're probably right about that. But we're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back. Don't you go anywhere. You're watching the PHN next time.

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They also have shirts, they have bags, they have all sorts of accessories for you to get your brand logo on and have your brand looking beautiful. So, of course, head to brandedbills.com and use that code of BBPHNX, whether you're just getting hats or starting that custom order, and you will get 15% off your first order. Well, of course, we did kind of blow past talking about Ryan Mountcastle's baseball savant, and you know we love looking at baseball savon pages on this show. So, Damon, if you wouldn't mind bringing that up, if you weren't enticed by our idea here, perhaps you will be looking at this. Damon, what are we looking at on these two baseball semots? Yeah. So, I mean, when you're taking a peek here, I mean, the 2025 season was not all that special. Still a lot of red on it, though.

There is a good amount of red, you know, and there's a discrepancy, right? Like, he's either really bad or he's really good at certain stuff, which I think you get used to seeing on. baseball savant pages but not the best season last year from ryan mountcastle you look back at his twenty twenty four season though however and he was really he was really damn good i i would say i mean look look how much red is on that 2024 graphic there derrick uh the fielding slugging percentage and expected slug expected batting average all great i mean yeah his range is incredible over there two outs above average in the 80th percentile for first base and then he was zero last year and somewhat of a down year but it's not like you would expect him physically to be

breaking down. He's 28 years old. I think that it was just a bit of a down year on an Orioles team that was not very good last season. And, you know, the Orioles, probably are going to have a bounce back year this year. If he doesn't get traded, I expect Mountcastle too as well. But if you could get him in a situation like Arizona, like I said, bat him like fourth, fifth, sixth, and put him around these elite hitters, I think he'll look a little bit more like that 2024 season than he will in that 2025 season. Also pretty fast for a first baseman, 57th percentile. Well, in, Injuries limited him in 2025, but he was also very inconsistent.

And again, he got, you know, it was easy to have someone else out there over him, over him, then due to his inconsistency, especially how, you know, you couldn't really count on him to be healthy. It seemed like last year. But again, the Diamondbacks could use some help. And we got this question on Monday, I think, that could help them. I mean, it's not like we can go back in a time machine and still these players in their crime and bring them to the team. But Heraldo's biggest, Herald Perdomo's biggest fan, debatable, says, I'm so happy I can stop

asking about Cotel rumors. So here's a fun one. Using only the 2001 World Series team and the 2023 World Series team, how would you build the ultimate D-BACs team? Who would be your starting nine, rotation, bullpen, et cetera? Damon and I took this very seriously. In fact, we had some debates about a few of the positions. This isn't, I don't know this is clear cut. Like it depends on what stats you want to look like look at. We were looking at like the postseason stats for 2001 and 2020. Seeing which guys just were real studs there, but then you just again are trying to build your best roster, right? Overall. So we had to take a look at the overall

performances and wasn't wasn't easy. It's a bit of an internal formula, I'd say. Like it's a mixture of all those things. How they were, I think that what we're talking about, we're not talking about like, you know, for example, and this was one of the ones that we'll probably debate a little bit more so. But when you're looking at Heraldo Pardomo, you can't look at 2023 Heraldopredomo and say, we're getting the 2025 version. And now he was still very good in 2023. Right. But he wasn't a seven-war player like he was in 2025. And we had to look at those specific seasons and the players they were in those seasons.

Absolutely. Absolutely. But also like, you know, their playoff stats do get weighed in in how they performed in the playoffs versus how they didn't. So all of it is a little bit of a weird mismash of internal formula. But, you know, Derek and I are, I think we're, we, we've, we kind of fleshed it out eventually. And, and yeah, we got our, we got a list here. Damon was the one who stood on the desk this time and screamed, I will kill you if I put Tony Womack on the list over Roldo Perdomo. And I, I acquiesced. So Heraldo Perdomo is our starting shortstop in this line. You're damn right. Going to the rest of the infield, we went with Christian Walker over Martin. Grace. I think this was just due to Walker being more in his prime there and Grace being in his later years overall as a first

baseman. Christian Walker, best defensive first basement in the sport at that time too. I think that's the other thing is it's hard to have a better defensive first baseman in team history than Walker. So it makes a lot of sense. Of course, next to Christian Walker you got to have Cateau-Marté. There's no doubt about it. That Catea is the second

baseman on this team. Over at third base though, we went with the vet himself, Matt Williams. Hard to not have that guy over there. holding down the hot corner. I tried to argue for Emmanuel Rivera. Derek didn't want to get let it through. I mean,

because we stand you'll Emmanuel. We never will stop standing Emmanuel, but not this time. And then Gabby at Catcher, right? Yeah, Gabby at Catcher behind the plate. That was, that one was a little easy,

especially with the season that Gabby had in 2020. And his post season in 2020. He was incredible. Like, you can't, I think that that's one where like, that's a differentiator, right? Like, Gabby was better than,

you know, the, the Rob Barajas is in the Damien Martinez is of the world anyways. But when you factor in him hitting four hole on a team that won the pennant and was ripping bombs off of, you know, Lance Lynn forcing him to retire. What a great thing. And like Clayton Kershaw ripped a bomb off of them. Like, dude was unbelievable in that postseason. We need that form of Gabby really, truly, like, I know this is a tangent, but we need that badly in 2026 here. It was someone. Geek Martinez. Yeah, Geek Martinez up in the chat. Or, sorry.

Sorry, that was not the one. I think he went past it. He said, we need Gabby to be a top 25 player. And I, you know, I think that's pushing it. If you asked Derek maybe before the 2024 season, he would have told you Gabby was going to be a top 10 player in baseball because he was going to hit 40 bombs and win his second gold glove at catcher. No doubt about it. I think if we could just get Gabby to be consistently healthy, hit close to 20 home runs. I don't even need 20.

18 would suffice. You show a little bit more power. and be a middle of the order bat for, for, you know, those three elite hitters that we have at the top of the lineup, I think that we're looking at a different team versus if Gabby gets hurt again and we have to deal with, you know, him missing a bunch of times. So Gabby's going to be so important in next year's roster. Him, Guerrielle in particular, I think, how fast he can get back

because those guys are two of the only bats that you trust outside of the top three dudes that we have right now, I think. So need those guys back with level Mountcastle to add in between. But yeah, let's get 20. 2023 postseason Gabby going. Let's get that going. Meanwhile, the outfield is pretty easy, and I'm sorry to disappoint,

Zabe, aka Elizabeth, in our chat. She said, if my goat, David Dulucci isn't on this list, I will riot, prepare to get your pitchfork, prepare to get your torch. The outfield is going to be Gonzo, Steve Finley, Corby, Carroll. One of the most amazing outfields you can find. You're not hitting anything out there

and not having it get caught. You better hope it's in left field because it's getting caught in center. Yeah, we actually, and we got arms this time, too. We can actually throw into the infield. Tell you what, David DeLucci, first outfielder off the bench. No. I'm just for Zabe.

No way. No way. I know. He's not even on the roster, but just for Zay. I think Alec would probably have to be the first outfielder off the bench because of that home run he hit off of Craig Kimbril alone. Yeah, when he owned the city of Philadelphia. But of course, we do have to thank you guys, by the way, while we take a quick moment in between the starting nine and, of course, where we're going to do with the pitching staff. to let you guys know we thank you for being supporters club members thank you so much debor

thank all of you guys for being here as supporters club members we continue to rock and lead all city and supporters club members and it's because of you guys so of course you can sign up on our youtube channel it's five bucks a month if you ever send a super chat this is a much better way to spend your five dollars because you get access to those emojis you get access to custom or all sorts of fun custom badges that will update with time and you will also get access to additional content. Go watch the guys play headbands. We're going to be filming another one of those here.

Shortly, those are a lot of fun as well as the amazing stuff the Suns guys have been putting out for members only. So you can think of this as a fun way to support PHNX directly. It's not a paywall. It's not essential content, but we hope to be giving you guys something extra. And again, we appreciate the people who support us and keep us going. It really does mean the world to us. And Derek's doing a fun thing where he makes me compete in games.

And then he ruins it for me and gets me in last place. So if that's, If that's worth it for $5 a month. Keep telling everybody what I said about Gabby Moreno after the 2020-3 season. Keep telling everybody how much I hate Paul Goldschmidt. You'll never win this game, Damon. Over my dead body, will you win around? If that's worth $5 to see me crash out and yell at Derek on our members-only content,

then, you know, this is the one for you. This is for you. This is for you. Well, starting rotation seems pretty easy, doesn't it, Damon? I mean, we don't even need a fifth guy. We're not going to five. We're doing Randy, we're doing Kurt, we're doing Merrill Kelly, and we're doing Zach Gowan. And we just want to get back around to Randy as fast as possible.

So there is no fifth starter. If we do pick a fifth, we'll go, we'll go Brandon Fought. We'll go Biggie and Brandon. Sure, yeah, especially with how good he was in the 2023 postseason run, right? But again, we just want to get around to Randy Johnson again as fast as possible. Bullpen. We got a nice mix here. We have Kevin Ginkle, Ryan Nelson, Andrew Saul Frank, and Ryan Thompson, all from the

2023 year. Saul Frank and Thompson were incredible that season. Kevin Ginkle was a beast. And then you also have Ryan Nelson who could also be that fifth starter as well. We have him there as a long reliever as well as a depth piece for the starting rotation. Greg Swindell and Mike Morgan make it on from the 2001 World Series team. Also at closer from the 2001 World Series team, Randy Johnson. Absolutely. I mean, can we do that? Can we just Randy Johnson at closer again? Not debatable. Why not? You're telling me.

You tell me. These are my rules. I get to play the game how I want to play it. You're telling me you either want Younghung Kim or Paul Seawald over a six foot 10 horse who runs out of the bullpen, throws a hundred miles per hour, strikes out everybody that he faces. I'll take that dude as my closer. After he started four days ago. 100%. After he started two days ago.

Because he's Randy goddamn Johnson. The best modern pitcher we've seen in this league's history. He just got better as he got older. And if so help me, God, you tell me Pedro Martinez is better because he struck out the side in an all-star game. Who cares? Get him. Get him, Damon. That's for you, Bo.

I didn't have Young, Young Kim actually in there as my closer. So there's beyond Young Kim. I wanted to say hello to Yankees girl who might have just gotten lost and shown up here by mistake. But we welcome everybody. The bat signal of the 2001 World Series. No matter what fan base we were talking about, we welcome them. We love Yankees fans. We beat them.

Yeah, we did. We all that's, see, like, that's not, we got no issue. We got no problem. No problem. Now, Rangers fans, you come in this chat. Where's the bat? Where's the bat? So help me, God.

We appreciate all of you guys being here. And those of you that are here get to hear it from me first, Damon. It is time. I've teased it all week long. I've said that I was going to make another stupid, stupid bet for 2026. As you know in the past, my hair has been dyed multiple colors. my face, my beard has been dyed. That's because that Blaze Alexander kidnapped our snake, so that's a whole other situation.

But I'm ready, Damon, I'm ready. I mean, you and I have offered up eyebrow slits to look like a tel Marte, which I still want to do just to be stylish. If they make playoffs, we'll be doing eyebrows slits. Yeah, if they make the playoffs, we're doing eyebrows slits. But if they make the playoffs in 2026, I'm going to offer up something a bit more permanent. I think Candace, who's not here today, suggested that I get a nipple piercing. with a Diamondback's charm on it.

And I got to admit, that one was very appealing to me. But I will offer up my body once again to be permanently scarred. And I will say that if the Diamondbacks make the playoffs in 2026, you guys can tattoo me. We will get a tattoo. I will allow the Diamondbacks, Ph.NX Diamondbacks community to select said tattoo. And maybe we'll even get into a discussion about where on my body it's going to be placed. Am I confident that Diamondbacks are going to reach the playoffs? Absolutely not. I wouldn't be offering this up if it wasn't the case. But tell them. Tell them I said what I said. Tell them, tell them, tell the entire team, Dre, Jerry P, Corby, Catell. Tell them all what I said. Tell them all that I will permanently scar my stupid body with a tattoo. I will add to the ones I already have. And again, I will let you guys pick. See, Zabe is already making me regret that because she says,

my vote is for you to get Jesse's name tattooed on you. That's, uh, that's might blow up in my face very quickly, Damon. Thunderstick. This might be like all the multiple times that people gave the internet, you know, the option to vote on stuff and they just ran with it and sunk it into the ground. They sent Pitbull to Alaska when they got to pick which Walmart he would be performing at. They named a boat, Boaty McBoatface, Damon. And I am sure that if the Diamondbacks make the play,

playoffs in 2026 I am going to 100% regret the thing that I said today at 1 p.m. on Friday January 23rd we so how is that how are we going to decide on that how are we going to decide as a community yeah I guess maybe what we'll do is we'll pick some finalists we'll let yeah like a like a Twitter ball or something yeah we'll get some ideas we'll wiggle it down to the finalists and then we'll we'll have a vote on who on what people want me to get we can't just go free rain no tattoo on my face. No, nothing like that. We're not, we're not tattooing whatever it is that you're already thinking about Damon because I know you're coming up with stuff. No, I actually, I don't want

you to have a horrible tattoo that you hate. That would, that would make me sad. But I, I think that we ask the discord for ideas and then you kind of pull people for different ideas of like what would actually be cool, something that you would like. You take your favorite like four and you put it on a Twitter poll so that we can kind of branch this out to people and it can just have a little bit more of a scope of like, hey, this guy's getting a freaking tattoo for the debacks. Ryan has a great idea. We could do like a March Madness style tournament. Pick 32 or something and have a bracket.

Just bracket it and see what comes down as the champion, you know? Zab saying Damon's face with a U of A hat. She is finding so many ways to make me regret this three minutes after those words. came out of my mouth. It's amazing. Maybe. Damon dog? A dog that

resembles Damon? We're figuring it out. I'd be like, I don't know how I feel about that one. I was, I had some ideas. I had some ideas. I was thinking Baxter with like phoenix on his hand as like an actual like thing. But anyway, we'll leave it up to you guys. You guys will figure it out, I'm sure.

But we appreciate you guys so much for stopping by. We love you. We thank you for your time. Your time is your most valuable commodity. So, again, we appreciate you sharing any amount of it with us. You can follow us on social media. I am at cap underscore K-man with a K. Damon Dog is at Damon Dog with a D-A-W-W-G, and we're all Damon's dogs.

Bark, bark, bark. I said bark, bark. Okay. Our show is at P-H-N-X underscore D-Backs, but as always, all roads lead to at PhNX underscore sports on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. We thank you guys so much for your time. We hope you have a wonderful Friday. We'll see you back here on Monday at 12 p.m. as we move ever closer to pitchers and catchers reporting on February 10th.

So until then, hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Behave yourselves, Ryan and CWP, you especially. And remember, kids, baseball is fun, but it's so much more fun when you actually do the heavy lifting.