PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - GM Mike Hazen “Done Hoping” in Arizona Diamondbacks Turnaround Ahead of Trade Deadline

Episode Date: July 15, 2025

📬 Arizona sports in your inbox! https://gophnx.com/newsletterWith the MLB Trade Deadline just two weeks away, Diamondbacks General Manager Mike Hazen has some tough decisions to make regarding his team. Should the Snakes buy or sell? The age old question. Hazen made comments to the Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro that showed more openness to the idea of selling than we have heard previously from the GM. Is reality finally hitting this clubhouse sitting 5.5 games back of the Wild Card at the halfway point this year? PLUS, the MLB All-Star Game is tonight and the Diamondbacks have three players suiting up for the National League: Ketel Marte, Corbin Carroll and Eugenio Suarez. And we make fun of old friend Jazz Chisholm’s Home Run Derby disasterclass from last night. THANK GOD Geno didn’t get an invite, am I right?An 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/ALLCITY — 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-thermostatsChicken N’ Pickle: Family friendly fun awaits! Visit chickennpickle.com to plan your visit today!Phoenix Raceway: Tickets, hospitality and upgrades are still available for the NASCAR Championship Series October 31st through November 2nd! Visit the link HERE to get yours now!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/Branded Bills: Use code BBPHNX at https://www.brandedbills.com/ for 20% off your first order!Gametime: Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code PHNX for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply.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!Monarch Money: Use Monarch Money to get control of your overall finances with 50% off your first year at https://www.monarchmoney.com/phnxAll Pro Shade Concepts: Call 623-204-1476 or visit https://allproshadeconcepts.com/ now to schedule your free estimate!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.

Jazz Chisholm? What on earth did we just witness? Welcome on in, guys, to the PHNXDBACs podcast. I am your host, Damon Farrell. I got my guy, Kevin Thomas. As always, almost, it feels like at this point, hitting the ones and twos making me look good. And Derek Montia is still out of the country. But we got a lot to talk about today.

We got more reports regarding Mike Hazen, the MLB trade deadline, if the Diamondback should buy or sell via Nick Bucoro. of the Arizona Republic and AZCentral.com, as well as we're going to talk a little bit about Jazz Chisholm's disaster class in the home run derby last night. And what we want to see from Arizona Diamondbacks players in the All-Star game later tonight.

So going to be a good time. I'm going to have a great time on this show. Appreciate everybody for being here. Jake Cuddy, loving the jazz cancel logo in the back of the thumbnail. Thank you, sir. I put a lot of time and effort into that. Michael Dixon pulling out his thesaurus early in the day here at noon,

giving us an ominous title. Love it, Michael. Love the big words. Maybe you should be the one with a microphone in front of your face, my brother. But got a lot to talk about before we do. Kevin, did you watch the Home Run Derby at all last night? Like I said, I was going to boycott it. I did place a bet on James Wood.

So I tuned in for the early portions of the Home Run Derby. and then as soon as I got the vibes of James Wood was not winning it, which was pretty much the third batter, I tapped out. I did tap out. And then I did check Twitter and I saw Jazz Chisholm's stats from the home run derby. And let's just say that Gino can do it better in one night than Jazz can do over the course of literally a practice session. Yes.

You have that on the money, Kevin. Obviously, we all know, A. E. O'Swere's hit four home runs in a baseball game this year. Jazz Chisholm in a home run derby, three home runs. Three home runs from Jazz Chisholm. I saw a great tweet, Kevin. It was a video of Pete Alonzo putting up his, his home run derby trophy in the air, and it said, Jazz Chisholm, if murdering worms in Atlanta was the goal of the competition.

I saw that one as well. I also saw one of a similar gif. I don't think it was Pete Alonzo, though, but a similar home run derby winning gif of someone saying Jazz Chisholm, if it was a single home run. like it was a singles derby and you could just hit you know blue singles and uh you know you've been unreal you know singles that have the announcers going that ball had eyes you know that's that's a jazz chisholm special right there absolutely mark r puts here in the chat if it were in yankee stadium jazz might have been able to win but everybody else gets to play in yankee stadium too maybe if you

put jazz in yankee stadium by himself and everybody else is in atlanta and you just let that guy hit off of a little league, you know, cracker jack box fence, uh, that, that could be helpful. But, uh,

unfortunately if like Matt Olson and stuff, we're getting to swing into that Yankee Stadium front porch, I'm not sure jazz has any chance of winning. Um, not saying Gino would have won even. Uh, you never know. I mean, I'm not going to say that he had zero chance of winning,

but I know for a fact that he would have put up more than three home runs. And, um, go check it out on my Twitter account. I tweeted it last night at Damon dog. Kevin, I'm just happy. We didn't have to see an Arizona. diamondbacks logo on our screens last night.

Can you think about the ratings? I mean, they would have plummeted damn near immediately. Oh, my God. As soon as they show Gino Suarez, the ratings, they steady. They stay the same. People turn off their television. Well, wait, they might even turn on the television. But then, but then when they show what team, Eugenio Suarez plays for,

people would have come to their senses and realized we can't enjoy a small market player participating in a home run derby. This is about New York. This is about L.A. This is about Brent Rooker. I mean, Las Vegas. This is about all types of different stuff that isn't Eugenio Suarez's team. But no, yeah, I think your tweet was apt.

And also, like, sure, maybe Eugenio Suarez doesn't win it. But we don't know if he would not have won that. Like, obviously, this is something that Eugenio Suarez wanted for himself this weekend. This is something that he said as such. Yeah, this is something that he kind of like really wanted to do. And I think that that has to be taken into account. If he got the opportunity, who knows what he could have done, but he never was given the opportunity.

So now it's what if. week is rank week here. Maybe in a couple years we'll be like, what if Gino Suarez gotten to the home run derby? You know what I mean? Who knows? Maybe they turn it all around. It's just another 513 from O'Neill Cruz was dope. That was insane. And if you

listened to our show yesterday and you listened to what I had to tell the people, Bet365 had a super boost yesterday, Kevin, for the longest home run to be 479 and a half or longer. Of course, I cashed on that with our friends at Bet, at Bet365.

And Bet365 is one of our presenting sponsors today. I should mention that off the top. Go ahead and download that Bet365 app. Use our promo code of PHNX365 when you sign up. And then as well as download the GameTime app and use our promo code of PHNX. Get $20 off when you sign up on that first purchase. So GameTime, Bet365. Appreciate you guys for presenting this fine program.

But that was easy money, Jay Cuddy. On the topic of bet 365 in the All-Star game, you are a much more well-renowned betting analyst than I am. Is betting on the All-Star game a thing that people do? I threw out a little... You bet on the home run derby. I don't know if you bet on the All-Star game, man. That's what I'm saying.

Like, it feels like just such an unpredictable beast. Like, you don't even know, like, the level of effort or the level of... It's baseball, right? So, like, Paul Skeens could go out there. I mean, it's Paul Skeens. He's going to take a serious. But, like, let's just say he doesn't take it that serious. Everyone's like, oh, well, the NL's got a shut out.

It's got to be a nerfy. You know what I mean? And then all of a sudden he throws a meatball and he just gets taken yard. And all of a sudden, yeah, like Mark says, if you do bet on the All-Star game, you should call the hotline. But yeah, I just wondered if you were having any action on that. I did throw an over one and a half runs in the first three innings bet out there. Wow.

Yeah. Yeah, you are a degenerate like that, Kevin. There's just nothing else to hit. Well, Caitlin Clark. Well, yeah, we're going to, yeah, we can talk about that in the easy wildcats pot, tune in for that later. But yeah, no. Caitlin Clark, over 16 and a half, lock.

Are you guys talking? I mean, are you guys seeing that? Let's just, let's just derail this conversation for a second. Are you folks at home seeing that? Caitlin Clark, 16 and a half points. I mean, have you ever seen anything you like more in your entire life? National TV, the whole world watching. Oh, my God.

I can't wait. Can't wait for tonight. But I'll be having it on dual screen. And a little I'm a little all-star game as well. Just, you know, the home run derby obviously didn't hit my bet. Matt Olson didn't show up in the first half of his round. second round he was going ballistic the crowd was getting into it it was exactly what i envisioned um but he hit like one home run in his first half of his swings that he was given so uh unfortunately

didn't have it there james wood kevin uh didn't have it in his bag uh damn it was it was not a great call from from you my guy awful call actually some might say i mean it's not as bad as anybody who might have put money down on jazz chisholm to win the home run derby that people outside of one of the burrows do that like is that something i'm sure I'm sure that anyone actually did some some Yankees fan did it. I mean, there's Yankees fans all over. That's what you have to. They're vermin.

You know, they, they, they pollute this, this country all over. Invasive species? Yes. As much as I actually like, don't go after Yankees fans very often because, like, my dad kind of grew up a Yankees fan before the debacks were a thing. But the, I just, I direct all my hate towards the Dodgers. That's, I have hate in my heart for one, for one team. And they get all of it.

They get 100% of it. but um j cutty said poor james he was my pick after uh cow and cruise uh and it looks honestly kevin the odds makers must know what they're doing with that home run derby right because cow rale was the favorite o'neal cruise was second like uh like they just felt like they had they had a good read on exactly how it was going to go and maybe they are smarter than me and you can i actually you know i'm going to throw myself on the screen here for this one because i i saw a tweet this is not an original thought but i i think you'll be in alignment shots of the sons about this take, they got to bring back to old format of the home run derby where the guys can admire their

work for a second. Yeah. Where they're not just ripping a home run. Like, O'Neill Cruz hitting that 510 plus feet, whatever, if it was 13, if it was 18, whatever it was bat in there. I want him to sit there and watch it for five seconds while it's hanging in the air and wonder where the hell it went. Maybe celebrate with somebody.

Be like, oh, he hit that bomb. And then we can get back into it as opposed to like, just like spamming the swings. And then all of a sudden there's like a, thank you. you. There's like a, you know what I mean? Like a line of players in the timeout where it's like, all right, this guy's gas. You have like, I'm assuming like a rules analyst talking to them. Like, all right, after this timeout, you have X amount of swings and X amount of time. It's like, let the guy hit the ball.

Yeah. And let him watch it fly. It's the home run derby. That's why we're here. This is not like a how fast can you hit 10 home runs. This is how far and how many can you hit. And so I was watching it. And yeah, the pace was awesome.

But I feel like it actually kind of limited the experience of, watching the home run derby. I'm not going to say it was part of the reason why I didn't finish the homerun derby, but I can't say that it wasn't, right? Maybe if I'm watching it and it's a little bit more cinematic, I stay throughout my moving process and have it on my phone and I watch, right?

But I just, throughout the course of my day, there's no reason for me to have it on if I'm just, if Gino isn't in it, you know what I'm saying? And it's just like an assembly line of people hitting home runs. Yeah. Yeah.

I don't know. Do you feel like they should bring back the old format? I, you know, I don't know about the old format. I do like the head-to-head. I think that that's pretty fun that they do, but I will say that it's,

I definitely think that the time constraint on it doesn't need to be a thing, right? Like, what are we doing? Why are we trying to get this in within a certain amount of time? Like this is, if you're watching the home run derby, you want to watch the home run derby. No one's sitting there being like, I need a home run derby, but I actually need 85% of the time that you guys put on this home run. on Derby, just crunch it down a little bit and then I'll be super locked in.

It's like that's that's kind of an odd way of going about it. Additionally, like this, you know, we were talking about the best All-Star game festivities across all the leagues. Yeah. And how the NBA dunk contest has such high potential but such low realized potential in the modern era. I think in part because it feels like just an extra thing that a player is going to have to do over the course of the All-Star week when players already have to do all this.

I'm not, you know, boohooing for all the hundreds of millionaires that, you know, get to play a game. But what I am saying is, you, we all have jobs. And if you just add another task into our week, we're probably less likely to want to do that task, even if it seems like on the outside of fun thing to do. Yeah. I think if you put a time limit on these guys, you make it look like an exhausting task. You make it seem like something that you're going to be tired after doing. I think after a couple years, you're going to see less elite hitters want to do it. Maybe I'm wrong on that.

But I feel like you want it to be fun. You want it to be laid back in a way. You want it to feel like, hey, if you're an elite hitter and you made the All-Star game, show it off. You know, as opposed to like, well, I know, I'm trying to rest this week and I don't want to, like, forget that. Forget the time limit. Let the boys hit bombs is what I say.

You know what I mean? Ernesto here in the comments says they should add the ABS challenge system or a form of that to the derby. Explain. I want to know, I want to know more about your thought process because I'm not out on it. I just need to, I need to know exactly. specifically what you're saying and let's fix the home run derby together together we can make a change but um it was it was fun uh for for the most part i mean you know it sucks not watching

gino it was it was i will say that like the way in which jazz flamed out was was so laughable that it almost was like best case scenario in a way i best case scenario is gino's in the in the home run derby but if if if they're going to snub gino for jazz wasn't that the way in which that you'd to see it happen, Kevin? Oh, 1,000%. You have, you have not only egg on the face of the decision makers for this, but you also make them eat crow in the same sitting. You usually get one of two, one or two of those, but they got egg on their face while they're eating crow. And I think it's a beautiful thing. Because yeah, you do snub, Gino, and we've outlined it multiple times on this pod. And in that reality, I think this is the best case scenario because it truly shows that you can't

just plug and play a guy from a big market for a guy that's deserving of that spot. And it's not going to work out nine times out of ten i feel like so yeah yeah for sure i mean it's it's just uh it's such an encapsulation of how baseball has fallen right like that like you know you could put it into a vacuum and be like that is that is example number one as to what has gone wrong with major league baseball over the years where you know even in a sport where every team inherently has a chance of winning, like more so than other sports, right? Like, I'd say hockey and baseball are the two sports in that regard. And right, Kevin, where like, it's like, if you should have, if you make playoffs, you have

a good chance of winning it. It doesn't matter if you've been the best team all season long. NBA, NFL, usually, like, there's like a difference between the last playoff teams and the true contenders. But in the MOB and in the NHL, you kind of just have to get in the dance. And it's, it's like, it's so funny that baseball has taken that and been like, we have are a sport that everyone has a chance, even the small market teams. And we're going to do everything in our power to market and cater it towards the big market

teams. And it's just like, that's just so ridiculous, man. You guys, the format of your sport is inherently like better for competition. And you guys are running away from that in the name of, well, the Dodgers can pay Joe Aotani $2 million this year and $70 million in, you know, 2055. and that's cool with us because they can afford to do that, whereas no other team can. You know, I love this analogy. Shout out to Greg McElroy, because I'm going to continue to use it probably for the rest of my life.

But we were talking about yesterday, like if you're marketing your league, just doing your biceps, your legs are going to become weak. Like the All-Star game, that's not the place to try to get more big market fans. That's the opposite. Like, the big market fans are already there and they're tuning in three times a year and the All-Star game is one of them. You know what I mean? And I think this is your chance to create household names in small markets. Like an Arizona Diamondback, like Eugenio Suarez, who might get traded in like a week?

You know what I mean? To the Yankees. So it's like if, if Eugenio Suarez was allowed into the, in the home run derby, like, let's just say he wins the thing. Even if he finishes in the top three, but let's just say he wins it. You create how many fans in the state of Arizona that really didn't care about baseball before. But, oh, we have a home run derby winner. That sounds cool. Maybe I check it out.

Maybe I go to a game. that's how you create fans. You don't need more Yankees fans. You don't need more Dodgers fans. And I'm not saying that because we don't like Yankee and Dodgers fans. I'm saying that because there's already a ton of them. You don't need to grow that brand. It's an automated machine at this point.

It's going to grow itself. But like the small markets that are being threatened with moving to Utah, for example, those fan bases need nurturing. Those fan bases need help. And I think that like the All Star game is a great way to show all the big market fans what you're cooking in the small markets. unless you're not cooking anything at all. And then you're just focused on how can we get a Yankee into the home run competition.

But that's where I'm at. I feel like that was the biggest miss. I know the Gino thing is we love to talk about it and that's our guy and whatever. But beyond all else, like the MLB, this is an example of them not properly marketing their game year after year after year. And this is like this is you talk about it all the time. Lack of self-awareness. You know those brands are big. You don't need another one Yankee fan because they saw Jazz Chisham hit one home run in the home run.

competition. You need more Diamondbacks fans. You need more fans of Johani Os Juarez. You need his story to get out there. You need to tell his tale to the public. So yeah, that was kind of bothering me as you were going on that. Mark, you're right. I mean, like, that is in, you know, very true, like, of what you're saying. You're not saying anything incorrect. It's just, I think it's just short-sighted. In the long run of your popularity of your league, I think that you need a strong base of fans from top to bottom for all the teams in existence, not just, you know, five strong fan bases and 25 fan bases that are apathetic towards their teams.

And that's where catering to solely big market teams is a big, massive issue. Like, I always hear Dodgers fans say to me in response when I'm, you know, getting into Twitter wars with them. I know that's shocking to everybody. But they always say to me, like, your team can do deferrals too. And the Diamondbacks have done some deferrals. But the level to which you can do deferrals when you're the Dodgers versus everybody else, when you have your own television contract versus the Diamondbacks,

you know, losing their Bally's contract last season. Like we are talking about two different worlds of money and resources and ability to put money on the back end and lay it away. Like that's just not the reality that these small market teams have. And I know that we've come a long way from talking about the home render. It's just a perfect encapsulation in my opinion of just exactly how Major League Baseball has done everything in their power to, you basically throw the smaller market teams to the side

in favor of the big market teams. And it's just, in my opinion, it's not the way to build your business. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe in the long run, I turn out to have egg on my face, but I just think that you see what the NFL is doing, you see what the NBA is doing.

And to me, it's pretty obvious popular sports are going towards trying to have the most parity in their league as possible and making making your stars irregardless of what franchise they suit up for, right, Kevin? Like, isn't that kind of the point? No, a thousand percent. Josh Allen is a megastar.

Patrick Burhomes is doing commercials with Messi. The guy plays for the Kansas City Chiefs. Yeah. Like, this is, you know, you don't need, in the NFL, it's about how good you are as a player. It's not about what team you play for. And in the MLB, it's just not bad at all. And I think, like, you know, it's a cliche,

but it's true, like a rising tide raises all ships. And I think like if you see just a couple franchises getting propped up, I think that you will also see a shrinking of the overall fan base of the game, right? I think like what the NBA is doing, I know that they're sinking a lot of money into the WMBA and maybe, you know, you have opinions on whether they should be sinking that money in there or not. Regardless, the outcome is increased fans in the game of basketball. Yeah.

Right? You have fans that were not exposed to it prior to that. now they're now exposed to the game and that's their in that's their way in so i think if you just focus on the big markets if you just focus on the new yorks the texas the l a's right i think i think then you you shrink

the game nationwide and it's not you know conducive to to growing the the league as a whole right it's the same argument as like why is a beer eighteen dollars at a at a diamond backs game when you know not and that's that's cheaper for most major league teams

when if they made it you know $10, I'm buying three. But if they make it $18, I'm buying one. I just think it's short-sighted. They try to grab as much money as possible from people in the short term versus in the long term, what does that cost you in opportunity costs? Michael, you're right. I agree.

Like I did preface this conversation by saying that. Baseball has inherently way more parity as a sport. It's just always bound to be that way. I just think that because of that, majorly, baseball should be pushing that. but instead they almost go the opposite way because they feel that the parody like hurts their popularity in a way like they're like oh my god we you know we would prefer the dodgers and the yankees played every world series against each other all the time whereas every other sport is like let me run away from that as as fast as possible mark says it makes more sense when

you consider they're trying to grow the game globally even more than they are in the u.s and that is there is 100% that's we talked about this yesterday kevin like they are more concerned about growing the game in Japan and having people watch all the Japanese people watch every Dodgers game, then they are about making Arizona Diamondbacks fans love their team, than making Miami Marlins fans love their team. And I think that that is, you know, from a business standpoint, yeah, is it, is it probably the best option for them to be the most sustainable and have the most money and the most, you know, cut out, like space that is theirs in the sports world?

yes but does that suck for all the people that are fans of the 25 other franchises in the league 100%. And I think that you can't really have both. I don't know what the fix is, but I just don't, I'm never going to be of the opinion that we should cater to, you know, the masses to screw over the few just because that's that's the best way for baseball to make money. Baseball has a lot of money. I also, I also wanted to mention like in response to what Mark is saying, because Mark's correct. Like Japan has roughly the population of all the East Coast states combined. It makes sense that you'd want to grow the game there. In a place that already loves the game itself, like it's not like the NFL going over to Germany where no one cares about American football

and trying to make them care. This is MLB capitalizing on an unrealized opportunity, right? But I also think that that that does not mean that like Damon is saying, you can't market the teams that are already there to the markets that are existing right now today. Like I think that, for example, I know it's kind of a meme on the internet at this point, but like there's no reason that the MLB social media pages should be posting primarily Dodger stuff. I understand that like you should post maybe predominantly the big market stuff

because it's going to get the most clicks and the most money and the most interactions. There's been times where I checked Instagram and it's legit like 19 of 20 posts are Shohei Otani and the Dodgers. Exactly. And if it was like, you know, honestly if it was 10 out of 20, I would get it. You know, half of it, like I get that.

But they don't do a good enough job of selling what's already there domestically. Like they're not taking care of home first. They're worried about their neighbor's house burning down before. Actually, not burning down, I shouldn't say that. They're worried about their neighbor's house being built before they finish their downstairs renovations. You know what I mean? Yeah.

And you just, I feel like while you can grow the game globally and it be great for the MLB, that doesn't mean you have to completely abandon like the Rockies and completely abandon the Marlins and the D-backs. There are stories going on that should be told. That's proven in the fact that in the way in which the NFL and NBA globally market their games. It's not like those sports are just like straight up not trying to market their games worldwide, right? Like the NFL is is doing games all over the world. No, they have a Germany game and they have an England game or I think too. They've done Mexico City games.

They're doing a, aren't they doing a Brazil game this year? I believe so. Isn't that going to be like Eagles? Yeah, South Paulo. Brazil. And it's going to be, the Chargers are going to be playing in that one. So, oh, it's the, it's week one. It's Chargers chiefs.

The most Brazilian matchup of all time. Come on. Oh, they played a game in Brazil last year, Eagles, Packers. That's why I thought. Yeah. So it's like, you know, those sport, that sport is doing it in a way that works. The NBA bends over backwards for China. They do.

And, and, but that doesn't mean they're going the opposite direction of, we want the thunder and the Pacers in the finals because those teams are fun. And people like watching good. basketball. You know what I mean? So it's the NFL Europe stuff. I think that it's just, I mean, it's not as popular as baseball in Japan. That's a fact. If you're comparing those together head to head, no doubt about it. But I do think that football is a lot more popular in Europe than it used to be because of their efforts to make it so. So like people in England and stuff like like football more than they ever have. But it's just a it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's

a crazy it's a crazy world kevin it's a crazy league um we live in a society we do live in fact in a society and uh it's it's unfortunate when you're a fan of a smaller market team like we happen to be because it feels like you kind of get kicked to the curb and screwed over all the time and i you know from a money making standpoint from a business standpoint all of it makes sense but it just at what point do you not cater to the big market teams and and screw over your your smaller market teams all the time I just think something needs to be done. Yeah, no. And to summarize, like, what my grander point was in response to Marx

because, like, I think it's a very intelligent thing to grow the game in Japan. But also, like, what I'm really saying is you got to market what you already have domestically as well. And you can't let the stories that are actively going on in the MLB right now get out ahead of what you're trying to do overseas. Like, what, like, if you, let's say all city expanded tomorrow to a new city, right? They wouldn't tell us like, hey, guys, we expanded to wherever city. No more of any content we're going to post from PH&X because we're just solely trying to focus on this new city. And it's like, that's not how you grow anything, right? Now you're shrinking what we do, but you can do both simultaneously and grow them both in a beautiful way.

So, yeah, I just wish the MLB was better at marketing the stories that they have in their lap. Absolutely. We're going to talk more about the MLB All-Star Game, what to expect from Diamondbacks players and we'll do that right after the break here on the pH and XD Backs show. First, let's talk about our friends at branded bills. I'm still waiting on Branded Bills to make some more Arizona Diamondback stuff, Kevin, because I know they did that golf hat that is it behind me? I don't think it's behind me anymore.

But it's a beautiful hat. It's got the golf sticks on it. It's got an Arizona Diamondbacks logo right in the middle. And it just got me a craving for more Arizona Diamondbacks branded Bills stuff. So whether it's a snapback truck or fitted beanie or t-shirt, you know Brainer Bills has you covered. They're a local company out of Mesa, Arizona. They are partnering with the Phoenix Sun.

So maybe we could have some Arizona Diamondback stuff on the horizon. Kevin, there's one right over there under the big TV if you really wanted to go grab it. But over 40 partnerships with multiple universities, including ASU, U of A, GCU, you name it, part of the campus collection. We love the campus collection. And we love this Arizona Diamondbacks collab, of course, that they did with Brainer Bills this year. It was given to, I believe, only season ticket holders. You had to have a special event pass, but isn't that baby nice looking.

We love our friends at branded bills. Shout out branded bills for sponsoring this podcast. Head to branded bills.com and use code BB HNX for 15% off your first order. We also know it is the heat of the summer. And that means you need to keep your energy costs, your AC bill down as low as possible. That's where APS comes in. They got their smart thermostats that could be eligible for you as low as $0 to get it installed in your place. And did you know that with every one degree you raise your thermostat, you could save up to 2 to 3% on your cooling costs?

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I got one of those in my new place, Damon. Do you actually? I genuinely do. Wow. I transferred my service with APS to my new spot and I do have a smart thermometer in my new place. Put yourself on screen for a second. I need to talk to you about this.

What kind of bells and whistles are we talking here? With the thermometer? Does this thing look like it's from like the 22nd century? Oh, hey, I'll keep a sweet, but I was actually talking to John about this last night. It's a really sad for all my tactile people out there. it's a really satisfying mix of like the old rotary phone and all the new modern technology you need. Like I was, I was setting up the Wi-Fi on there and I'm typing in my password and I'm just click. It was so satisfying.

It's pretty beast. So from setup to actual like using of the thermometer, thermostat, whatever, it's beautiful. I love it so much. Yeah. Passball football guy says Kevin talking about his new place. He's never talked about that. Tell us more. Ah, save it for the AZ Wildcats pod, man.

That's our whole first segment today. It is our whole first segment today. We're going to go crazy, which is at 7 p.m. So if you're an Arizona Wildcats fan, AZ Wildcats pod listener, we are actually going to be live at 7 p.m. doing the biggest what ifs in Arizona Wildcats sports history. That'll, of course, be debuting on the PHNXD back show as well later this week. So stay tuned for that.

I also, one of the, spoiler alert, one of the what ifs on the AZ Wildcats pod is what if Kobe actually deletes his Twitter later? Some people are saying it would destroy the athletes. athletic program. What if, what if Kobe took the shot that Damon bought him at the height? Whoa. Redacted.

I guess, wait, does that fall under this show? Wednesday. Wednesday. Yeah, Wednesday. Right. Okay.

Yeah. Because it's more, more on that later. More on that. Let's get back to D. Debeck stuff. But that, that smart thermostat is special.

It genuinely is special. Yeah. Do you have it to turn down on your phone right now? No, I haven't. I'm not fully like set up in the, like I said, you're not taking the fullest advantage of the APS smart thermostat right now.

I'm not. I'm actually still learning all the wonderful things that it can do for my place like the schedule stuff all that stuff so yeah yeah uh coby of course responding to to what i just said to him uh fair enough brother fair enough but we do have the all-star game tonight we do have some arizona diebacks playing it three diamond backs representatives all hitters wow and no one saw that coming how could it's only offensive players that are suiting up in the ulster game for the debacks i thought we had so many stud pitchers on this team but um Kevin, if you told me that, by the way, before the season, if you looked at me and you said

the Diamondbacks will have zero pitchers on the NL All-Star Game roster, I would have told you I am absolutely sick to my stomach. What happened? What kind of disaster happened? Where Corbyn Burns and Zach Gallen and Merrill Kelly, none of them are getting a bid. AJ Puck, none of these guys. You would have been like, oh, so there's like five pitchers having a historic season above them, right?

That's the only reason why. And I'd be like, no, Damon, I'm from the future. and it just doesn't work out. I'm sorry, buddy. We do have three representatives, though. It's A. E. E. E. Hino-Svarez. It is Corbyn-Karrelle-Marty.

It would be great if Gino hit four home runs. I would like to show the lineup card here. Our guys at DOLS who are covering the game are in Atlanta. Took this picture of Cotel Marte on the field yesterday. Our sweet, sweet Citell. Hitting third tonight. Hitting third tonight for the National League All-Star team. that's just special man i mean i can't believe they put the logo up there what are they doing

we're risking at all yeah i'm surprised they didn't say hey you know actually we'd prefer if a diamond backs player was not in the starting lineup could you imagine they just have like the MLB logo next to katelle instead of the diamond backs logo so it's just like yankee logo dodger logo MLB like if you're not on one of those two teams you're just an MLB player on the game absolutely uh But just kind of talking more about what to expect in this All-Star game. We do have Corbyn Carroll and some sound here on what he had to say regarding, you know, suiting up for his second All-Star game for the Arizona Diamondbacks. They've both had great years.

We've got a couple more teammates that also had some great years that didn't get chosen. To be here with them, it means a lot. Have you gotten in the pool yet? In the pool? Yeah, the Babon-Back Stadium. Yeah, we did. I think it was when we clicked the playoffs. We ran out there.

Yeah, yeah. What about, yeah, just being here with your teammates and, you know, second time around, All-Star game? Yeah. It's great to have teammates here. It means, you know, some guys got recognized, which is awesome. But I feel like there was a lot more players on our team that had great years that aren't here. But, yeah, it just means a lot to be here.

Yeah, like you said, second time. So hopefully a little bit more comfortable to go around. Have you seen the, like, quarterback documentary on Netflix? or starting five or anything? I was trying to watch it last night, but it wouldn't download for my flight. Okay. Well, if MLB made one, who do you think would be an interesting few guys? Let's go, I feel like Kershaw would be a cool one.

Just, yeah, kind of, it seems like maybe he's at a stage in his career where he'd want to do something like that. And yeah, I'd like to see it. Cool. Thank you. Sorry, guys. I get a hold of myself for a second. Did you say Clayton Kershaw? Hell no.

The question was, of course, if there was a quarterback-style MLB documentary, what players would be good for an event like that? And Corbyn Carroll said, Clayton Kershaw? No, thanks. That sounds like Kirk Cousins' ball. That sounds exactly like what I'm watching with Kirk Cousins on the screen in quarterback. minus Kirk Cochains persona. It would just be Kirk Cousins,

minus the fun parts. That might actually be better. Just like full cornball? Yeah, I mean, so you think the Kirk-O-Chains thing is not cornball. No, it's super cornball, but it's at least funny.

You know what I mean? Like, at least it entertains me. That is a rare Corbin L. J. Cuddy. I don't know how to, I didn't watch the full video. I watched more of the build-up to it.

And, wow, that hurts a little bit. What would your answer be? How would you, That is an interesting question, right? I mean, for sure, Geraldo Perdomo, we all know that. He needs to be one of the four.

That's an easy number one. Frog, him and his frog collection. Correct. Frogdomo. I'm trying to think, who else is, who else is like interesting? Let's put together a four-man list. Scherzer known Parkway Central High School graduate, says Ernesto Escair. We got Verlander and Scher with Clayton Kershaw.

I mean, if they really did like an all-time pitchers thing like that, it could be decent. But yeah, I think Paul Skeens would be interesting just because the Paul Skeens aura right now is so strong. People want to know about Paul Skeens. The Livy Dun cameos would do good numbers on social media. Them sitting on the couch together, her talking and him just sitting there. Tons of memes. Just looking up at the sky or something. Just like, she's just like, yeah, Paul works so hard.

I will say jazz, if jazz was on the show and it took place. this year, the hate watch that you could relive of the home run derby would be epic. Like, they're just showing like video of him in the in the sprinter van on the way to the home run derby. And he's like, yeah, man, this is so special. I've dreamed to this day. Like da-da-da-da. And then they're just playing all the hits, all the low lights of him killing worms at true. What is it, Truest Park? You know what I mean? So yeah. No, I think that'd be cinema. Yeah, it would be. I think basketball football guy says it here. Perdomo would be so fun in a series like that. He really would be. He's not a big enough star, but he really, really would be.

I think a guy like maybe like a J-Ram, Jose Ramirez could be interesting. He's a fun player. You know, maybe like a Vladdy Jr. You know, we got some options here. That would be a fun series, though. I think I'd be more interested in that than the football version. Would you, Kevin? I just, I don't really care that much.

I don't, what am I going to get out of the quarterback show? I might get anything. I'd be more interested in the MLB version from the sense of like, I don't know these people. Tommy fan. You know what I mean? Like, I don't know. I don't know like what. They're way more of an unknown.

Yeah. Also, I just think that like quarterbacks in particular are so media trained. Exactly. Yeah. Oh, you know, I'm just going to go out there and, you know, give it my best and, you know, trust in Jesus. And, you know, and it's just like that's the whole show. Isn't it? Yeah.

No, yeah. No, you're right. Like, if you're going to do Joe Burrow. I know Joe Burrow is on the last season is, like, do they talk about like, again, I haven't watched it, don't have much interest. They talk about him getting his home invaded? I haven't seen that. Because if they don't talk about that, then, like, what are we doing?

I haven't seen the quarterback one. I have watched the starting five one, which I think is the same like EP. See, that's more interesting to me as well. And they do cover like the unfortunate passing of Jay Butler's dad. They cover that. So they cover the real life stuff that goes on. I haven't watched quarterback, but I would assume because it's the same production team that they cover the same topic matters.

Yeah. I actually think that the starting five seems way more interesting to me. I don't know why. I don't know why the NFL, which is probably my favorite sport, if I'm being completely honest, is so uninteresting in that capacity for me. I mean, I just don't feel like I'm going to get anything that I find remotely interesting out of any of those guys. I think it goes back to the idea of just how these leagues are marketed.

The NBA is marketed in a way where, like, you follow the players. You follow, like, you want, there's like almost like a parissocial aspect of it to where like you're watching it because you want to hang out with Jimmy Butler. Yeah. You want to know what Jimmy Butler's like when he's not playing at the highest level of basketball. because you see his face, you see his celebrations, you see what he does after games, like there's fashion show pretty much every night in the NBA. So like there's a parissocial thing there where like you want to think that he'd,

you could hang out with Jimmy Butler and have a good time. You know what I mean? Yeah. And I think like with the NFL, like it's much more like result based. Like you don't really care what Sam Darnold does in his personal life because Sam Darnold's not one of the best in the league. You know what I mean? And I think that like you care about what Patrick Mahomes does to an extent because he's

the best. but I do think you're right. With the quarterbacks, there's just less general interest in their personal life because that's not how they're marketed. They're marketed as football players. But I think basketball guys, they're marketed as Jimmy Butler, the Miami Heat. Well, I guess not anymore. Sorry about that.

That was unintentionally rude. But like Jason Tatum, the Boston Celtic, like, you know what I mean? Steph Curry, the Golden State Warrior. Jason Tatum, the Gatorade hander. Wow. Well, you went at me, so I went at you. Mine was unintentional. Welcome to the show.

Well, so the Arizona Diamondbacks in the All-Star game. Ketel Marte just walked the red carpet at the MLB All-Star game. He is wearing a teal suit. His family all has teal suits on as well. And it is sleeveless, Kevin. Purple shoes. Catelle is literally begging for the purple and teal to be the main colors of this team.

So is pretty much every player on this team at this point. But we're going to grab that video. and play it here on air for you guys. We do have, of course, more to talk about on the side of things regarding, you know, Eh, E. E. E. E. Hohenio Suarez and his comments he made about the New York Yankees and the question he was asked about whether or not he could be traded to the Yankees and what that would do for them.

But as well as the, just the whole topic of conversation regarding what Mike Hazen said to Nick Bacorra of the Arizona Republic today. Kevin, I don't believe that is ready to go. Is it? I don't believe either. I think I'm going to have to do some massaging to the Cattel video. It's too hot for broadcast right now. Would you mind getting that ready for us, please?

I'm going to tone it down. Can we talk about Gino while I toned down the aura of Cotel Marte? We absolutely can. Of course, Gino Suarez was asked the question at the MLB All-Star Game availability about whether or not he could see himself traded. I believe the question was specifically about the Yankees. And this is what Gino had to say in. I mean, Yankees is Yankees.

You know, I feel like it's a team who want to win. They had the test from last year, but they're hungry still. If I got over there, like I said, I would do my best over there, try to help them win the World Series. Harts to hear. Harts to hear. Doesn't feel good at all. You know, I think that one is one where he gets asked the question and Gino is such a polite, nice guy that he's going to answer. the question that has been given.

But, I mean, Kevin, correct me if you disagree with me, doesn't it kind of feel crappy to have a reporter ask a question like that when a guy's playing on another team that is not really fully out of it? It's not as if we're the Rockies. We're not in the gutter of baseball. Like the Diamondbacks are a team that was in the World Series two years ago, and you're legitimately just going trade up to a guy being like, hey, Yankees? thoughts you know it's like i don't want to turn this whole show into me being like why is the league

like this but i i think it like is just it kind of goes back to the thing of like when you draft an elite player like a paul skeins to a organization like pittsburg and it's only a matter of days you get traded to the red sox man it's only a matter of days before that kind of stuff starts coming out so i think that this is just an extension of that where you have a team underperforming in the diamond backs and i mean we're talking about it before the show today if you look up, Johanio Suarez right now. It's not home run derby talk. It's not talking about the Arizona

Diamondbacks. It's can the Chicago Cubs poach Johanio Suarez from the struggling Arizona Diamondbacks? Can the New York Yankees get so-and-so from the air? Like it becomes that but I think it's a product of the league pushing and funneling all of its stars into three cities as quickly as

humanly possible. It's just an it really is an odd question. It does feel though and I don't mean to take too much from it, but the response to me sounds like a guy who is somewhat accepting of the fact that he probably will be on a new roster next season or not next season but next half of the season. So yeah, I mean, I hate the question. I think it's a little bit despicable.

Clown question, bro. Being completely honest. Absolutely a clown question. But it does, I do think that we need to talk about what his response was in that because it was a response that I think warrants noteworthiness. Like it's a response where, you know, I sit there and I think to myself, have they had internal conversations about, hey, Gina, we're probably going to find you a new home because a lot of teams are interested in you, a lot of contenders and you're on the expiring deal.

But as we mentioned yesterday on this show as well, Gino has mentioned how much he wants to stay in Arizona, how much he loves Arizona. I do think that you could be looking at a scenario where you do the old Hez-E-Hay on him, Kevin and and throw him Gino in a trade, his contract expires. And then we go, hey, bro, what's up? That's what we call the old, the old two in the hand, two in the other hand kind of strategy. That's just not checkers, baby. Exactly.

That's also me living in my fantasy society. We do, I think, have now our Catelle Marte video. Yes, we do. So why don't we go ahead and look at what Cotel's walk down the red carpet, show the people? Prental advisory is there. Guy just epitomizes swag in every sense of the word. And he plays for my baseball team. Not your baseball team, my baseball team.

But love Catele-Marté, love that he's hit in third tonight, and love that these Diamondbacks players are representing people in the MLB All-Star game. Jay Cuddy says, damn. And that's, I think, very apt, very apt, given the outfit that Catele-Marté and family we're wearing. We're going to talk more about Mike Hazen's comments that he made to Nick Picorro, and we're going to do that right after the break here on the PHNXD Back show. But why don't we talk about pure edibles? You guys hear us talk about pure edibles all the time.

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or easy to dial in your exact dose. Go find yourself some pure edibles products from one of over 130 dispensaries across the state of Arizona. Or like I said, go find yourself a new goddamn dispensary. But we also want to talk about all pro-shade concepts. You heard me talk about it when I was talking about how hot it is in the summer with our other read.

And now we're going to talk about it again because it is so damn hot in this place, Kevin. And it is almost unbearable to be outside. But if you want your outdoor living space to be bearable, then there are no other people to hit up in all pro-shade concepts. You're going to hit this number, 623, 204-14-7-6. or visit all pro shades concepts.com to check out there are over hundreds of options when it comes to custom fit awnings and shades from all types of colors and styles. You'll find something that meets and matches your outdoor living space and keeps it up to 20 degrees cooler in that hot azy sun.

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I think that's symbolic in its own sense. But you might never be hot again in the comfort of your own home. No. If you have an APS smart service and the All-Procent. If you got APS stacking on APSC, you're killing the game. And I'm trying to get like you, my boy. Isn't that, isn't that the problem? You know, don't you just want, don't you just want to live in a nice cool environment, right?

Is it no place like home and no place like home when it actually is livable? 1,000 percent. I mean, you say that's the problem. But if you ask Lions Den, 1984, they say the problem with the debacks are timely hits, but the major issues are pitching an injury. So, AC, pitching injuries. a little comedy, a little combo. Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm. Absolutely. Lions Den is correct. It does feel for as good of a, excuse me, for as good of a hitting team as the Arizona Dynamics are, it does feel as though

they lack the ability to really get some of those like super timely hits in, right? And so that's going to be something that is going to have to change in the future here if you want to start winning more baseball games. But are we even, going to win more baseball games? Is this a team that this organization is going to invest in,

that Tori Lavolo and Mike Hazen are going to, you know, look at and say, hey, you know, should we put more resources into building this roster? Or is that pretty much just the, you know, the buck stops here, Kevin, like this is a season where maybe it's just time to give up. You're, you know, you find yourself a few games out of the wild card here, um, enough where I think that you start to raise questions about whether or not, you know, buying is really the best option for this team. Five and a half games back as of right now. As we discussed yesterday, they're in seventh place in the wild card standings in the National League, which is, which is, you know, a lot of teams ahead of them. And Mike Hazen today went on Arizona Republic or not really

went on. It's a newspaper. But talk to Nick Picoro of the Arizona Republic for AzeCentral.com and had these quotes to say in regards to, you know, the conversation here said, I think we, Mike Hazen said, I think we've definitely had our spurts where things look good. I think we have the ability to put things together. But at this point, with the position we've put ourselves in, we need to play pretty exceptional to move back up from where we are now. He went on to say that I don't want to sit here and hope that things are going to happen. I'm kind of done hoping.

We want to see it happen. It is what it is. We've been waiting now for the better part of three plus months. Pretty, I think pretty jarring comments there from GM, Mike Hazen. In regards to the reality of the Diamondback situation right now, I know Jesse Friedman, when we had him on on Friday, after the Diamondbacks walkoff loss to the Angels, Kevin, said similar, right? Like, at what point do you just say,

we can't keep believing in a team that is not producing the results we need to see? and when you start getting put at the back of a big group like that in terms of the wildcard standings, it really just does raise questions for a team that you thought no doubt was going to be a contender, no doubt was going to be a buyer at the deadline to ultimately end up selling some of their more valuable assets. So it feels like Mike Hazen is a little bit fed up with the way in which the direction of the team is going and that Mike Hazen might be of the opinion that now is the time to get out on some of these expiring assets. It's, something we haven't really heard from Mike Hazen up to this point.

In the past, we had heard from Mike Hazen when he's gone on radio stations and whatnot, like that we are going to buy. And he kind of put to bed the notion that selling was really even an option. But here you start to see that that seems to be coming back down to Earth a little bit more because I think when Mike Hazen made those comments in the first place, the Diamondbacks had gotten the hardest part of their schedule out of the way. They were about a 500 baseball team. And they had an easy horizon in terms of teams that they had to play in the future.

Mike Hazen probably was of the opinion that this team was going to perform much, much better than they did over that stretch, not going to have a losing record like they ended up doing. Probably thought they were going to have a winning record. And instead, they don't, and they fall further in these standings. And it just raises the question of whether or not that is something that is worth investing in further. So I think you're looking at a real reality check here from the Arizona Diamondbacks organization in the coming weeks.

you know, whether or not they will buy or sell. I think most 9-O-Backs fans are probably hoping that Mike Hazen does a classic. Mike Hazen flip somebody who maybe is on an expiring for somebody who has a little bit more control. Go with that. I don't know how realistic that is. You know, I think like, I think that obviously Tyler Glass now is more valuable probably than anybody we got with the way Zach Gallen's been performing. But you look at the Tyler Glass Now trade that the Dodgers made.

They bring in Glass Now. they give up Ryan Pepio, right? And, and, or was it, um, Ephron? And, and Zach Ephron is, is a, you know, a good, good pitcher for the Tampa Bay Rays. And it just, it just made sense for them at the time, right? So, uh, Eflin, sorry, not Effron. That's Ephron.

Zach Fron. Uh, Zach Eflin. Uh, but yes, the, the Tampa Bay Rays, they made a great trade in terms of getting a guy with more control than they re-signed him for a more recent. reasonable deal and Zach Eflin's been more valuable to the team since because Tyler Glassner, obviously has the injury problems. But I just think that you need to try to find a way to supplement this roster in the future, bringing people that are maybe ready to win now or a season away from ready to win now. You can't just punt completely. And I don't want your garbage heaps for

really, really good baseball players. So it's going to be interesting to see what Mike Hayes in in the direction that this organization tends to go in from here. Kevin, what do you think they should do? man it is it is a brutal this like i don't envy mike hazen's you know next six months as a as a decision maker for the arizona diving backs mostly because he must be feeling and i you know he's probably a better man than me he's probably not an excuse maker like i am but he must be feeling pretty sorry for himself in a way i know i would be because you must be thinking okay well i put together this awesome team on paper the arizona diving backs have finally spent some money we finally went out and got a guy like Corbyn Burns for this franchise.

Simultaneously while you have an ace like Zach Allen is what you, or Zach Allen, Zach Allen. I have a friend named Zach Allen, ironically. But like, do you play for the Denver Broncos? No, no, different Zach Allen. Yeah, actually, if you saw them in person, couldn't be any different of a Zach Allen. But what I was saying was like Mike Hazen must be feeling pretty, like, how did this happen to me? I put together such a good roster and there's no, even if you told Mike Hayes and hey, we're

to have a couple injuries to this pitching staff this year. He's probably thinking, okay, there's short-term injuries. We can band-aid some things. We have about a gazillion starting arms at the MLB level. But the way that this season has gone, whether it be due to injuries, whether it be due to not having the right mix of guys on the coaching staff, whether it be whatever it is, I don't envy Mike Hazen's next, you know, a couple of weeks here from a decision-making standpoint.

If you ask me what I think they should do, though, sheesh, man. You have too much talent to just, like, punt, right? Or do you, I guess? Because like I said, we've talked about it off air, you and I, you are what your record says you are at a certain point. So like at what point do you like Hazen said, do you stop hoping that this team will certainly, you know, well, they're talented, they're going to start coming through

and the Kremlin will rise to the top. But we are in middle of July and it's the all-star break. And it doesn't seem like that's going to be happening anytime soon. So you almost get forced into a position of selling. in a scenario where I think I'll say seven times out of ten you would never sell in those scenarios so it's brutal

for Mike Hazen these next couple of weeks having to make the decisions that he's going to have to make especially with a guy like Gino Slares who I'm sure is not just a fan favorite I would guess I would venture to say he is an organizational favorite as well so yeah I don't know Haysen went on to say that

the question of whether or not they will buy sell. He said, that's a tough question to answer today on July 14th. So yesterday said, once we get through the draft, I'll have to think about it a little bit more. I still don't think there's a lot of trades happening two weeks before the deadline where people feel satisfied with what they would get anyway. We're going to continue to have those conversations. So it doesn't seem as though anything is necessarily imminent on the trade front, that they're going to be selling tomorrow or before the start of the second half of the season. But it does seem is though that Mike Hazen is starting to open himself up more to the idea that this team just

isn't going to really have much of an avenue to making the postseason to going on a run and that, you know, maybe the best avenue for winning is in the form of 2026, in the form of 27 and down the road rather than in 2025. But I hope Kobe makes the point. It's also a seller's market. A lot of teams are competitive. A lot of teams are competing for a wild card. It seems as though the value you could get on these guys is probably going to be better this year than it would be in most years would be my guess but that's going to have to play out in the coming weeks as Mike Hazen said like he's not necessarily getting the offers that you might get right leading up to the trade deadline right now because teams just get frankly more desperate before the trade deadline.

I was going to ask you Damon, do you think that like how don't our phrase this? I guess I'm saying like do you want to do you think that Mike Hazen should use the Sons as a bit of a cautionary tale, let me explain, in the sense that once they made, let's just say, the Kevin Durant deal, whatever deal you believe was the inciting point for this, every deal after that was Band-Aids to try to fix the mistake that they felt they had made. And it was, like we talked about earlier, short-term decision-making, causing long-term problems for that organization. Do you think that if the Diamondbacks do, you know, just for lack of a better phrase,

flush 2025 and they do sell at the trade deadline that it would it feel like a band-aid fix or would it feel like a resetting would it feel like this is not an inciting moment that will spark a downfall not for the entire franchise but for this iteration of this team i mean i i don't want to it's hard to put a a true definition on that right because i don't know it all depends on what you get back like if you got back uh you know young promising player that was a high caliber prospect in one of these deals or something. And then that guy starts hitting really good from the jump and you're like, okay, now we have another building block for this future.

I think you feel a lot better. But I will say that it does in a way almost feel like the window is kind of closed. Yeah. Because you're probably not going to have Zach Allen. Merrill Kelly might be gone as well. Josh Naylor, you know, Suarez. I mean, you've lost a lot of pieces of team that you thought was maybe not, you know, necessarily the World Series team.

know Zach Allen and Merrill Kelly were on that team. The other guys weren't. But I just think that it feels a little bit like the window has kind of gone out the door on you and that there's going to need to be some really, really big moves made in order to get this team back into a contention style kind of era. But I don't know, man. I don't want to put a big, like I don't want to, you know, put my stamp on that because I don't necessarily feel that right right now.

But it does feel like, as Kobe just said, that this year was the year. and that if they did have a good year, then they probably invest heavily next year. And you know what I like that was like the snowball effect of like, of like, you know, we're in a really good spot. But it almost seems like now it's like now we sell off the expiring deals. Then we lose a lot of talent because we do so.

And then how do we replace that talent? Because I don't necessarily think that trade deadline deals is how you recoup a ton of value because oftentimes it's for expirings. It's, you know, people that aren't super valuable that you're getting back in those trades. so it's it's a it's a tough situation it that it feels like it feels like the window is is shut and pretty tight on us here kevin and uh that's that's not a place you want to be in but appreciate everybody for being here today uh watching the phnxd back show hoolio uh it's gonna be

okay brother it's going to be okay i promise um just we just need some deep breaths man just some deep breaths uh shout at everybody for being here like i said drop a like on this video uh helps us out so much, subscribe to the channel if you haven't done so already. You know, it's, it's trying times as D-BACs fans. We thought we had a lot this year. We thought we had incredibly high expectations and we had high expectations because we'd seen this team be so competitive before. And, you know, things just haven't broken this team's way this year,

whether it's individual games, whether it's the bullpen, whether it's injuries, you name it, man. But we're going to find out in the coming weeks here, whether or not Mike Hazen and Tori Lovolo and Co are going to end up selling a lot players on this roster. But until then, we got All-Star game tonight. So that's what we'll be tuning into. And we'll be back tomorrow at 7 p.m.

because we have our what-if episode debuting tomorrow at 7 p.m. So make sure that you guys are tuned in for that. The biggest what-ifs in Arizona Diamondbacks history. Spoiler alert. One of them is, what if Corey Seeger doesn't hit a moonshot against Paul Seward in game one of the 2023 world series. So appreciate everybody for being here. Drop a like on this video.

Follow me at Damon Dogg. It's the AWG. Follow Kevin at Kev-O-P-O-P-O-S-DS. And follow us at PHNX underscore D-BACs on all social media. We'll be back tomorrow at 7 p.m. Tune in for our what-if show. And until then, remember kids, baseball is fun, but it's so much more fun when jazz chisel is not on my home run derby screen.