PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - How will the Arizona Diamondbacks replace Daulton Varsho?

Episode Date: December 30, 2022

How will the Arizona Diamondbacks replace Daulton Varsho's defense in the outfield and power at the plate? And how will MLB replace 10 umpires who are retiring? And how will some of these MLB teams replace all of the money they are paying in Competitive Balance Tax? We ponder all of these questions and more.BUY D-BACKS TICKETS HERE: https://gametime.hnyj8s.net/c/3442941/1410622/10874 SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube: https://bit.ly/phnx_youtubeALL THINGS PHNX: http://linktr.ee/phnxsports PHNX: Join us at the Inaugural PHNX Tee Party, presented by Four Peaks Brewing Co., at Dobson Ranch Golf Course!We are renting out the entire driving range! Come hang with Big Drive Energy, the PHNX crew and fellow Diehards for a night of golf, food, drinks, contests, prizes, and more. Our PHNX Suns crew will be hosting a watch party for the Suns vs. Timberwolves. Check out https://www.eventbrite.com/e/phnx-tee-party-at-dobson-ranch-tickets-481918139127 to reserve your spot right now! And for our Diehards, check Discord for your special link where you’ll save 20% on this awesome event!DraftKings: Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app now (https://bit.ly/3Jl1dMX), use promo code PHNX and make your first deposit of FIVE DOLLARS and get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in FREE BETS INSTANTLY! For every leg you add you can boost your winnings up to ONE HUNDRED percent!If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisiscounseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800-GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537) (IL/IN/MI/NJ/PA/WV/WY), 1-800-NEXT STEP (AZ), 1-800-522-4700 (CO/NH), 888-789-7777/visit http://ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-BETS OFF (IA), 1-877-770-STOP (7867) (LA), 877-8-HOPENY/text HOPENY (467369) (NY), visitOPGR.org (OR), call/text TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN), or 1-888-532-3500 (VA).21+ (18+ WY). Physically present in AZ/CO/CT/IL/IN/IA/LA/MI/NJ/NY/PA/TN/VA/WV/WY only. Min. $5 deposit required. Eligibility restrictions apply. See http://draftkings.com/sportsbook for details.OGeez!: Enter the “Flavoring Life” sweepstakes. One winner will receive 3 bags of OGeez, an OGeez! Hat, a PHNX shirt of your choice, and a PHNX annual membership. Sign up at gophnx.com or visit https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfIplqDYsxYeiotn5Zc6hRahaX0a5qG99eHVzkhOlGZDRdgUA/viewform. Must be 21 years or older to purchase.Underdog Fantasy: Sign up for Underdog Fantasy today! Go to the link https://play.underdogfantasy.com/p-phnx and use promo code “PHNX” to receive a deposit match up to $100Four Peaks: Enter to win the “Toast of the Month” sweepstakes to win a $50 Four Peaks gift card, a PHNX shirt of your choice, and a PHNX annual membership. Go to goPHNX.Com or visit https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfOabxo8KQxOWwn9wTilMBuTMAJdrL0CaH9lzfuJqgKN9vfSg/viewform Must be 21 or older. Enjoy responsibly. Bad Birdie: Use code “PHNX_SPORTS15” for 15% off your next order https://glnk.io/7qnq/phnx-sportsMor Furniture: Save up to 50% all through the holidays! Check out https://morfurniture.comLiquid Death: Get free shipping on all water and merch at https://LiquidDeath.com/PHNX FOCO: FOCO has you covered with the best Arizona Merchandise. Head on over to foco.com. For all non pre-sale items use the promo code “PHNX” for 10% offWhen you shop through links in the description, we may earn affiliate commissions. 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello and happy Friday. Welcome in to another edition of the PHNX Debaks podcast right here on PHNX. My name is Derek Montia. Of course, I am your mayor of Friday. I'm joined by my vice mayor of Friday, the one and only thunderstick, Jesse Friedman. Derek, yesterday I was watching an interview on MLB Network, where Dalton Varshow was the interviewee and Chris Young was the interviewer, who's now a host for MLB Network, of course. And it was very, interesting just from a diamond backs perspective like you see chris young like on the stage asking these questions i think matt vas kersen was there too and then you see now toronto blue jays outfielder dalton bar show responding it was an interesting interesting thing to watch is someone who's been around the diamond backs for a long time that that kind of hurts a little bit i don't think i'm ready for that i'm not ready for that in fact but of course this show is brought to you whether i am ready or not by the fine folks at the Draft King's Sportsbook app, America's top-rated sportsbook app. I get sad already thinking about Dalton Varshot

being a Toronto Blue J. As I'm sure does some of our friends from Toronto about Gabriel Moreno and Lordis Gouriel, especially Gouriel because I feel like he's had a bigger impression on the fan base. So it's a similar feeling of like, ah, I like this guy. I really, I can very much say I like Dalton Varshow. I like the way that he does interviews. I like the way he plays the sport. There's very little to not like about Varsh. So I'm sure he's going to be embraced by the Toronto Blue Jays fan base almost immediately. Right. But I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, it's too soon. It's too soon for that. Yeah, he, I mean, he talked about all these Blue Jays players who've reached out to him and, you know, kind of made it feel like home.

already, Bo Bichet and George Springer and, you know, just some of the, some of the main guys over there who are kind of leaders in that clubhouse. It seems like they've already kind of grafted in Dalton Varsho into that group. And I mean, that's not surprising. Like, Dalton Varshow is probably going to be something of, I don't know if leader is the right word. I mean, he's a really young guy. He's coming off his first full season in the big leagues. But, you know, he, I mean, the Diamondbacks named him their heart and hustle award winner from, from, from, from, this past season. Like he's,

he's, he's that kind of a guy that a lot of players in that Toronto clubhouse are probably going to want to model their game after. I think he doesn't really bring in, you know, the experience, but he just brings in the, the ultimate dog in him attitude,

you know? Right. It's something that a lot of the Diamondbacks players, like you said, when we were grading Cattel Marte, just have an abundance. We, we look,

at past players, especially players like David Peralta and Dalton Varshot, who were playing a completely different position at one point in their career and were able to transition to a more successful career as an outfielder and, you know, do great in that role, right? And I just think there's something a bit irreplaceable, especially about Dalton Varsho and his dog in him, right? he was just an absolute factor in a lot of the Diamondbacks wins. And honestly, one of our big questions today is, how are the Diamondbacks going to replace this guy and all of his tools? It's not going to be easy, Derek.

It's not going to be easy. I know it's a position that Diamondbacks have tons of depth at, right, which is why they made the move in the first place. They have all these left-in hitting outfielders. But frankly, none of their left-hitted hitting outfielders were close to as good as Dalton Varsho was last year. I guess you could make a case that Corbyn Carroll was, but it was such a small sample size that, you know,

he still has a lot to prove as well. So I feel like this move puts a lot of pressure on two players in particular, those being Jake McCarthy and Alec Thomas. Those are the other two key pieces to this puzzle for the outfield outside of Corbyn Carroll. And I think those two guys are going to be counted on in a big way in 2023 in order to fill that voluble. And it is a bit of a gamble for the Diamondbacks, right?

Like, Alec Thomas was sent down to Reno for a reason with a few weeks left to go in the season. He was, you know, solid offensively for two or three months. And then the wheels just really came off with a swing. He was just rolling over the top of everything, way too many, you know, slow rollers on the infield, some of which he was able to beat out because of how fast he is, but most of which he was not. And then there's also Jake McCarthy who had an excellent year last year, but is still very much unproven, right? And it wasn't particularly good in his first two big league stints with the debacks.

Only in that third and final stint, did he look better? And even then, some of the batted ball metrics say that you might not necessarily be able to count on Jake McCarthy, you know, hitting 280 or 300 or something like that again next season. I think he still has some strides to make as well. So it's the kind of move where if those two guys wind up being not as good as the diamond backs hope they are, if they wind up taking a step back or I guess in the case of Alec Thomas not taking a big step forward, you might be in a tough situation where it's like, oh man, like we we traded away the one outfielder who is proven and who we knew was very good. And the ones that are still here are, we're kind of taking a gamble, hoping that they turn into what we think they will. I think Dalton Varsho, of course, defensively is, like you suggested, defensively, is going to be the area where we end up missing him the most. I mean, his war, there you go, for those of you that have a problem with the way I say war.

Not war. Not war today. It's just war. His war is a bit irreplaceable, right? And the big factor there is defensive play, obviously. Now, we have seen all three of those guys, including Varsh, play center field and play it well, but to a varying degree. Varsha was excellent. Alec Thomas at times was excellent.

Jake McCarthy was good, right? He could play center field, and he played a lot of games in center field both last season and this season for this team, but he's definitely not their center fielder, right? So the one thing there is that, you know, maybe, maybe Corby Carroll moves to right field. Maybe Jake McCarthy plays left field. Maybe Corbyn Carroll stays put there for a little while, depending on how it shakes out. I think defensively, he's going to be, you know, obviously absolutely missed. Offensively, though, I don't know where the Diamondbacks are going to get his missing power from. You know, his home run, his slugging percentage, his ability.

you know, to his RBI's, you know, or RBI for those of you of class and dignity. He, you know, was his batting average does not tell the story. His 235 batting average does not tell the story for his impact on this team. And I think that loss is going to be huge as well. Yeah, it really is. And I mean, from a power standpoint, I frankly, I don't think there's any easy answers there. I think what you can hope for is, and this is something that the Diamondbacks have sort of said, is they think that they think that Lordus Gurriel Jr.'s wrist injury played a role in him only hitting five home runs last year.

And he has had multiple 20 homer seasons in the past with Toronto. So now that, you know, he's having surgery, which I believe removes the hamate bone that was causing that issue. He had that surgery, and the Diamondbacks are hoping he can come into 2023 fully healthy, and that hopefully that allows him to get some of his pop in his swing back, even if it doesn't, still a valuable player hit 291 last year. The debacks still certainly have a need for that. But yeah, he's the only guy, frankly, Derek, that I can look at and say, yes, I think this player could take a significant step forward from a power standpoint.

Outside of that, I'm not sure if you can really hope for anything more than what you've already gotten from a lot of these other guys. Odd number years seem to be good years for Guriel, right? 2019, 20 home runs, 50 RBI, 2021, 21 home runs, 84 RBI, 2023, TBD, right? But yeah, you're right. If we could get a little bit more power from a couple of the guys, maybe he could tell Marte stops trying so hard to hit for power and maybe he gets his swing back a bit, right? like not his lack of production last year did roll over into his power as well so maybe between

gurell and martay returning to form a bit maybe we can get that maybe corbin carroll can flash some of his power that we saw at a minor league level once he's you know kind of playing every day at a major league level i still think that there's uh the the home runs and the rbi are there on this team to be unlocked i still think defensively he is going to be missed more than his But again, it's a team that is a bunch of guys that really don't have a lot of power outside of Christian Walker. Let's be honest. And Gabriel Moreno is not going to be a source of that. It appears based on his minor league numbers.

He much like Gouriel, he has a great batting average. So that's, and that's something honestly, like at times that I know that long ball is sexy, but I don't know any more frustrating of an afternoon for a pitcher than having to deal with guys singling you. to death, you know, getting a bases loaded and just running that carousel around on you. You know, that's the thing that I think, uh, this team is going to do well. They're going to play essentially that small ball well without that power, but I think that they're still going to generate a lot of offensive runs. And I'm, I'm excited to watch that.

I just still don't know if we will see, uh, anybody step up. We could also see a regression from Christian Walker as well. I don't want to throw that out there in the universe, but it's true, right? We could see that. Yeah. Remember a year ago, remember a year ago when we were talking about Christian Walker being a non-tender candidate? Like, is it worth it to bring him back for, you know, two, three million, whatever it was? We were having that conversation because Christian Walker was not good in 2021.

And it was like, okay, I mean, you can't have a first baseman with a 670 OPS, right? Like there's just not a role for that on a big league team. And yeah, I mean, safe to say the Diamondbacks are going to pay whatever they have to. arbitration in order to bring him back. He is well worth what the diamond backs are paying him, given his defense, his power and everything he brings to the team. Well, I'm going to tell you this much. You had a pessimistic attitude about Christian Walker last year.

I'm not throwing myself in there, but you had a pessimistic attitude. I liked where your head's at because, of course, that allowed Christian Walker to have the season that he had. We talked yesterday about the article on MLB. com giving out awards ahead of time for the 2020s season predictions for who's going to win those awards we saw Zach Gallin be named the future winner of the NL Sai Young and we saw Toy Lobolo be the future winner of the NL manager of the year it blows my mind it blows my mind I don't like I don't like that at all I don't like the diamond backs the time backs were the only

team that that article gave two awards to there is no other team got more than than one award except for the Diamondbacks, which is not something that you're used to see from an Arizona perspective. Usually the writers aren't like over favoring the Diamondbacks in their preseason analysis. You're right. You're right. We often complain about the lack of attention that this team gets, but one almost added to the other, right? He suggested that Zach Gallen is an incredible pitcher that a lot of people don't know about. And he was suggesting that he is going to really have a breakout season based on what he did not only this year but you know especially what he did kind of in the second half where he really turned it on and had you know an incredible run there

i think that that conclusion i think he even said it in the article about tori lavalo the the the the si young led to the conclusion that meant that tori lovolo will win the manager of the year now he also said that both of these things are going to happen because it's always something weird Like it's always something out of the, out of the normal. And there's a bunch of like obvious candidates for the Cy Young that, you know, of course, probably people think of before they would think of Zach Allen. However, that's why he decided to pick Zach Allen because it had to be something different and weird. And it had to be on the team that you wouldn't think of would have the Cy Young winner on it.

And I like where he was going with that. However, I don't like that energy being put out in the universe. We talked about what the MLB network did to poor Ketel-Mart. and I don't like this bad juju being thrown at both Zach Gallin and Tori LaBolo. I think they're both going to like trip and fall and hurt themselves now because of this article. Jesse Friedman, however, tried to counterbalance that article with his full count for diehard's only article titled The Diamondbacks Need a Miracle. Now, I don't feel like I need to tell you much about what that article is about. I just need to tell you the title.

Of course, he bashed me in the article at one point because that's what he does when I'm not looking. He thinks I'm not, he thinks I don't have a diehard membership, but I absolutely do. Of course, make sure to check that out because Jesse's going to break your heart. And that's what he does. But I am glad that he put this out there because, of course, like I said, we needed this. We needed a naysayer to counteract all of this positive energy going to, towards the Diamondbacks. And I think Jesse's article did that wonderfully. If you haven't done so already get yourself a diehard membership over at go phtnx.com. Not only will you get to read

wonderful articles like Jesse's diehard only newsletter, the full count. You will also get wonderful articles from all of our writers, as well as free merchandise from the phnx locker.com every single year you're a member and 20% off at the phynx locker.com. You'll also get wonderful deals with our partners. You will get more than just what I'm talking about right now. Of course you get access to our Discord lounge, the best place to be an Arizona sports fan. And you will get 20% off to exclusive events that we have like our upcoming Four Peaks inaugural tea party over at the Dobson Ranch golf course. You will get a discount on your entry fee. It's $45 per person for anyone to join us, but $36 for diehards, $160 for foursome, and $120 for die hard fores.

This will give you unlimited range balls, a set of rental clubs if you don't have your own. One free hour of range time and golf balls at Dobson Ranch to be used at a later time. You can come out and play mini games with us, including Cornhole, which I will beat you in. Saul will beat you in pickleball and Jesse will beat you in ping pong. We'll also have contest entries, heaters, hot chocolate, food and drinks will be available for purchase, along with offerings from our locker and our partners. There will also be a free kids clinic provided for all kids, Ted and under, and we will be hanging out with the PHNX Sun's crew doing a watch,

long. The suns versus the timber wolves that night, they'll be showing on jumbo screens out at the golf course. We're renting out the entire drive range. So come hang out with us, big drive energy, and your fellow diehards for a night of golf food, drinks, contest, prizes, and so much more. Of course, make sure to check the link in the description to reserve your spot right now. And for our diehards, check the Discord for your special link where you will receive 20% off this awesome event. And I can't wait for that, Jesse. As you pointed out, it's Friday the 13th. So I'm a little less excited about that. don't want anybody showing up in a hockey mask or anything like that. That's not that that's terrifying on that day. And I feel like Jesse's going to experience bad luck at the ping pong table because of it being Friday the 13th, mostly because he's the one that pointed that out.

But of course, got to save yourself some money. You can do that as a diehard member. Or unless you are the owner of an MLB team, you can spend however much money you want. you don't have to worry about that. But shout out to our friends at the Four Peaks Brewing Company. Of course, if you don't join us out there, they will be providing you with free beer samples and some swag. If you can't join us,

make sure to grab their beer wherever you get their beer. Must be 21 or over to enjoy and enjoy responsibly. And again, yeah, the baseball teams, they're spending money, Jesse. These teams competitive balance tax payroll thresholds are something else right now because, of course, this is the first year with the new tiered competitive balance tax thresholds system based on the amount of spending. Of course, we know that the Mets don't give a shit about your

tax tiers or your luxury tax or how much they spend or how much you're spending. They don't care. They'll spend whatever they want and they'll do it gladly. But six teams right now are currently above the minimum $233 million threshold. And there's there's weird things here because of course everybody due to this being a new thing, everybody would be like considered a first time spender on this, but the more years that you're above the salary tax or above these thresholds,

the more you end up having to pay, right? So that's also a factor here too. That's the reason I think we're only seeing six teams right now above the minimum threshold because a lot of teams really want to stay under that first time spender if they can for this new competitive balance tax. system, tiered system. Yeah, the way it works,

kind of like what you're saying is, if you're a first time offender, then your tax rates are, you know, these numbers. And then if you're a second time, then those numbers increase. If you're a third time, those numbers increase again. And I think they just stay there at that point. So the Mets are a second time offender.

So they're paying 90% tax above that highest threshold. So, okay, so it didn't reset with the new yeared system. It's just based on like last year and this year. Yeah, I believe. Yeah, I believe they, they are they are considered a second time offender. So instead of paying 80% tax above that highest, that highest marker, which is set at 293 million, they're paying 90% tax. And then if they're a third time offender, which it feels inevitable that they will be a third time offender next year. That would be 110% that they would be taxed above that highest threshold. So yeah, it's, it's insane. The Diamondback, shockingly, have never exceeded the threshold for the MLB competitive balance tax.

I know that comes as a shock to everyone. But yeah, there are these six teams that are here. The Dodgers are like right on the cusp, this MLB trade rumors article that we were looking at said they are a rounding air away. There's basically seven teams. Once the offseason ends, I'm sure there's going to be seven teams. The Dodgers still have, I'm sure, a smaller move. to make it the very least. So we're probably going to see that.

But the article does suggest because we have seen a lack of spending from the Dodgers, we have seen some of their key pieces that were successful there, go on to other teams. And they suggest that right now, if they can stay below that $233 million threshold, that allows them to kind of reset their status and go into 2024 as a first-time payer, which is something that obviously this team has always been, at least over like the last 10 years over whatever the competitive balance tax amount is. But now, you know, of course, right now they see all the spending going on. They actually still have a decent farm system.

I mean, the Dodgers have have this incredible ability to not only develop their young players, but also develop guys that they bring on. But like you said, yeah, there's a good, there's a good chance that they're not going to stay below that threshold. And I'm sure once they go above it, they'll have no problem like going crazy and doing something, you know, huge or whatever. But what's surprising is some of these teams that are above it, including the Blue Jays are one of the teams that are above that $233 million threshold.

The Mets, of course, are in their own fucking division altogether up there. Also, the Yankees and the Padres then tier down, and they are alone in their individual tiers as well. When you get down into that first tier that's just above 233, you have the Philly. the Braves and the Blue Jays. The Braves, man, it makes me feel good to see them there. With all the spending they're doing, I'm just glad to finally see them have to pay something,

even if it's just in that first year. Yeah, yeah. I mean, they're at 240 million right now. It is just kind of crazy that like, I don't know, if you look at like the bottom 10 of spenders in baseball, the Diamondbacks currently are at 21st in terms of their luxury tax payroll. that's at $123 million. They're not actually spending $123 million,

but that's like how much they're being counted against in terms of the luxury tax threshold. It's just so crazy to me that like those bottom 10 of spenders are not actually anywhere close to that first luxury tax threshold. Like the Dodgers are able to stay under the luxury tax threshold, right? No penalty, nothing. And their payroll is still, more than twice as much as the team that ranks 20th,

not like the lease bender, like the team that ranks 20th. There's still nine more teams below them, right? Right. And the Dodgers in that position aren't actually being penalized at all. So it just goes to show that like this competitive balance tax system that is put into place.

It is effective in some ways. I mean, you're seeing teams like the Dodgers. You know, it makes sense. Maybe they want to stay under that threshold this year so that they can go give Shohei, Tonny, you know, $45 million a year or whatever next year. Yeah. But in the grand scheme of things, their payroll is still so much higher than so many other

teams that it's not really doing its job at the end of the day. It's not really, you know, accomplishing competitive balance as its name suggests. Well, then in that case is the idea there that we need a spending floor, as we've talked about in the past. Is it more on the owners like? Because to me, that seems like. crafty maneuvering by the Dodgers. If the Dodgers keep their payroll at $232 million and avoid that, but still spend, it's like a good secret Santa, right? Where, you know, you can't spend over $25

and this dude spent $24.99. And then you also have the guy that spent $8. You know both of these people exist and you know you've been given gifts by both of these different secret sannas. And you know which one it's cool to get gifts from and which one it sucks to get gifts from, right? So I just figure, I mean, of course right now that could just be a coincidence. Maybe the Dodgers are holding right there, but they do plan on exceeding it. Maybe part of their plan is to reset their first payer status to next year. So they can go after Otani, like what you're talking about and give them an absurd 15 year deal and have them be a part of the Los Angeles Dodgers organization and make me hate life and hate him. And I'll never hate him.

I can't, I can't say I'll ever hate Otani. but yeah, I mean, I almost feel like this is more on the owners that aren't spending more money. I understand, though. It's still a business. There's still stadiums that aren't going to be filled every single night the way that that stadium in San Diego is filled, the way that Los Angeles is filled. I was actually shocked to see how empty the giant stadium got last year, considering that they were a bad team. I thought that was a team that was kind of impervious to people not coming

out watching their games. But even last season, they were enough of a disappointment that their fan base didn't really come out and support them the way they do when the team is doing well, which it's no real surprise. There's a lot of cool shit to do in San Francisco. I just think that, again, it's about obviously fielding good teams and that being kind of related to the stadiums

and how packed they are, how much support you get. The Diamondbacks are in a, in a hard spot. You know what I mean? They, they have a lot to contend with, and it's not just the NL West.

They have a lot of other issues to contend with as far as building a fan base, having a stadium full of people. There's just a lot there that they still have to work on. And I'm sure, you know, I'm sure they can get there. I just don't know how. Like,

I know spending obviously is going to be a big part of it. You can't compete in a division when you're spending half as much as, you know, your division rival, let alone what the Padres are spending, what other teams in the National League are spending, right? The, the Mets competitive balance tax penalty is more than the Diamondbacks payroll, I believe. Is that correct? Yeah. Yeah, I believe it is correct. Yeah.

That's, that hurts my heart in so many different ways. It hurts my heart for the Mets. Like, God, that's a lot of money that you're just fucking being taxed on. and I don't know how they're going to continue to do that, but hey, God bless them. It's not my business to worry about their business. I will just say, I don't know how they're going to continue to do that. The Diamondbacks could never run it that much of a negative and operate.

You know, so I just don't know where the Mets are coming from. Or, you know, even if their stadium is full every single night, sold out game night after night for 81 nights, I still don't see where they're going to be able to recoup that money from as a business. No, no. I mean, they're definitely engaged in deficit spending. And so are the Padres. And their owners just don't care, right?

I mean, that's just kind of the, there are some owners out there that just they're in this to win. They're not in this to make money or to even break even. They're just in this to win. And in a perfect world, you'd have 30, Steve Cohen's, right? Like, that would be, that would make Facebook. What a great world. I mean, that would be,

that would be great because they'd be, you know, they'd be all competing with each other and, you know, I mean, in a way, that's what this feels like, right?

Like, I feel like Steve Cohen's trying to make other people back down with his spending in a way. And instead, you have other teams spending outrageous amounts. And I, like, again,

only one team wins the World Series. So the Padre season is going to be a failure or the Mets season is going to be a failure. Or the Yankee season is going to be a failure. Or the Yankee season is, going to be a failure, but one of these, especially the teams that spent way above 233 million, it's going to be a huge fucking disaster for, you know, three of those four teams. Like, it's, it's crazy, you know. And of course, at least teams like the Braves and the Blue Jays have the fact that they're not putting all of their eggs in the basket of the next two years, right? So even though

they're spending a lot of money, they also spent the money on a young team that is going to hopefully continue to be competitive. I just don't know about the Mets and if they're going to be that, you know, especially with just all of these guys with fat contracts, long term, aging together, you know, getting on the Riders together.

If you look at the Mets starting rotation, there are, you could make the argument that there are like zero long term assets there. I guess maybe they have a few young guys that, you know, might factor in. But like Kodai Senga, you don't really know what he's going to be in the long term.

term. I think it's a five-year deal, so he'll be around for a while, but there's some risk there. Jose Cantana, he had a great year last year, but, you know, he's in his early mid-30s at this point. I don't know if you necessarily view him as like a long-term fixture in that rotation. And then even at the top with, you know, Scherzer and Verlander, like those two guys are, you know, I mean, are going to be great while they're still around, but the clock is ticking and, you know, that realistically might not be longer than a couple of more years. years. So yeah, the Mets in the long turn, like they're operating in a pretty different way than a lot of those other teams who have a number of players under control for for a decently long time.

The Mets really don't have that. A lot of their guys are, are aging veterans in particular in their pitching staff. There's just not a lot there. Well, Jesse, the World Baseball Classic, as we talked about yesterday, is right around the corner. There's a lot of fun stuff right around the corner. Super Bowl is right around the corner NFL playoffs. And of course, the MLB season is coming up in no time. So make sure to spruce up your home so you can have guests over, have some, have some snacks, and enjoy some sports together at your house. And that way you don't have to go anywhere. And more is the place to do that. So go to morefurniture.com. Get yourself some new furniture. And again, when you talk about not having to go anywhere, not only can you invite your friends over

and check out your new living room or your new, your new man cave, you can also. You can also get more furniture to deliver your furniture for free with their white glove delivery service, which we received at our office. And it made me feel very fancy, very fancy. There was, there was no bow ties involved, but it was very clean, no, no fingerprints on the new stuff. So make sure to check out morefurniture.com. And with a minimum purchase of $1,999, you will get that free white glove delivery service only at morefurniture.com. Jesse, that's not all, though. I want to thank everybody this year for joining us on the PHNX Sports YouTube channel. I'm not saying just this week.

Of course, we had all sorts of new friends check out the show this week due to the trade with Toronto. It's been a blast having you guys here. But more importantly, it's been a blast having all of our diehards here all year long, all season long. Of course, if you haven't done so already, make sure to subscribe to the PHNX Sports YouTube channel. If you've been listening to us on this audio podcasting app that you're

listening to us on right now. Go leave us a thumbs up on our episodes. Subscribe, sign up for notifications. That way you don't miss when any of our shows go live or any of the other shows go live. And again, if you're listening to us on your favorite audio podcasting app, please subscribe to us there. If you haven't done so, leave us a review. We appreciate you guys always leaving us some feedback. Of course, five-star reviews make my heart grow 10 times the size. So make sure to do that. And in a healthy way, not like in an enlarged heart. kind of unhealthy way. But, of course, we're saying goodbye to 2022.

I know Jesse and I wanted to talk about some of our favorite moments, but we're not the only ones saying goodbye to 2022 and goodbye to their beloved sports because we have Jesse kind of, I won't say unprecedented, but we have quite a few umpires saying goodbye to Major League Baseball. 10, in fact, are retiring, which is the most number of umpires that have retired at one time since 1999. A couple of them well-respected crew chiefs like Ted Barrett,

Greg Gibson, Tom Hallion, Sam Holbrook, Jerry Meals, Jim Reynolds, and Bill Welke. You might not recognize most of these names because they're not problematic umpires. That's part of the reason why it sucks to lose them. They're good guys that did their job, so you don't know their names.

No, there's no Angel Hernandez in there. No, there's no CB Buckner in there, not yet. But also Marty Foster, Paul Nort, and Tim Timmons will also all be hanging up the chest protector and the face mask. So Jesse, it's kind of interesting because one thing a friend of mine that used to be an umpire told me, I don't know, maybe about four or five years ago, was that he was afraid that there was going to be a shortage of umpires, kind of similar to what we hear about like airline pilots, you know, it's like. Is there a shortage of airline pilots?

Apparently there's going to be, yeah, because airline pilots are forced to retire at a certain age. I believe it's 65, obviously, for the reasons of getting up there and not being able to do their job as effectively. No, no timeline like that with umpires, of course. But I will say that, you know, I think it's a thing where it was a profession that people wanted to be involved in more at one point. Maybe it's just not as desirable. I do know both positions get a lot of grief, obviously. It's a lot of a, it's a thankless job that you do that. I mean, of course, airline pilots aren't, you know, the cool superheroes that they used to be kind of in the 70s, you know, at one point.

So I get that. Umpires, I don't know who would want to be an umpire. I really don't. I don't know who would say, like, you know what? I want to go tell other people what to do, you know, like, I don't know. I mean, maybe I get it. It's a power trip thing. I just don't know who, like, honestly, would be like, I want to go call.

balls and strikes for baseball. You know, I get it from the perspective that I love this game, you love this game, and we both want to do anything we can to be involved with it, including putting up with each other's bullshit and doing the show, right? So that's part of, that's part of what we do here. Um, but of course, you know, like, I don't know, a person that would actively seek out a career as an umpire. So I guess that makes sense. Hopefully it's not the truth. I know that there's plenty of umpires and like, minor leagues and stuff like that. This is just a lot leaving at one time.

I'm sure it's going to leave a bit of a gap for the umpiring world somewhere. Yeah, it's interesting. I like, I personally don't know, I hardly even know a little league umpire. Like, that's just not, I mean, you could make a case that being a little league umpire is worse than being, like minor league or major league umpire. Absolutely. because you've got like you've got like kids parents in your ears all the time like when the game doesn't even matter at the end of the day like the kids are all eight years old

you got these parents chirping at you from the stands and the kids are all hell of disrespectful too don't get me wrong like you get from both sides you know you get a manager yelling at you get the kids yelling at you and then you have the parents in the stands yeah i mean i i i can understand why the the appeal of the job isn't really all there because it i mean it's not just like what you said about you get to go tell other people what to do. It's like, no, those other people, they're going to tell you what to do too.

You know, it definitely works both ways. So yeah, I honestly have a lot of respect for most MLB umpires. You know, there's a few that do cause some issues from time to time. But I mean, any job, like whether you're an NBA referee or an MLB umpire, an NFL referee or whatever, you're basically guaranteed to get. a bad rap and you're basically guaranteed to have people hate you and uh and you're guaranteed to miss calls too because that's just the nature of being a human being like trying to operate in that position it's impossible for any umpire to you know we we saw we saw at one point this year right it was

a playoff game there was a game where the home played umpire i don't remember his name uh where the home played umpire had a perfect game they they called all the strikes strikes they called all the balls balls and it was a perfect game for an umpire. But that is extraordinarily rare. To my knowledge, that is the only time that happened in all of 2022 for umpires. Pat Hohberg, by the way. Pat Hover, Pat Hover.

There you go. Shout out to Pat Hover. But like that kind of a thing is really, really hard to do. And it's not these umpires are trying to be bad at their job. It's just because we're human beings and no human being can operate with that degree of precision, you know,

for 250 pitches every game. It just doesn't work. that way. You just made the perfect argument for robotoms, Jesse, and that's what we're going to see is robot omens. Once people stop wanting to be umpires, then the robots come and then I'm excited because we actually get like, I want C3PO back there. No face mask. You can just ding it right off the umpire. He doesn't even flinch, you know, by the way, Pat Hoberg called that perfect game in game two of the world series, by the way. So it's like, not only did he call it, but he called it on such a huge stage. And that's just one of the very memorable. moments from this past year that we experienced. Of course, I know we've experienced a lot of memorable moments on this very show. So, Jesse, before we say goodbye to 2022, I know this is an audio-only podcast. We can't show any clips, but what was your favorite moment from this show? What are some of your favorite moments?

I want to put too much pressure on one moment. I have a feeling we're going to share one for sure. Are we talking moments on the show or moments of the season? Yeah, you go either way. 2022 is almost God. So what would have been your favorite moments of this year? Okay, okay. I'll start the season and then maybe I'll chime in some stuff on this show in particular later.

I think the moment where Pittsburgh Pirates legend, Rodolfo Castro, slid into their face and had his cell phone a lot of his back pocket. Yeah. Speaking of umpires, I don't remember the umpire. in this, oh, no, it was third base umpire, Adam Hamari. It was Adam Hamari. He was the third base umpire in this situation. And after Rodolfo Castro slides, he stands up. And then Adam Hamari points down to his cell phone.

It's like, I think you lost your cell phone there, buddy. Yep. And then Adam Amari, like, of course, there were, you know, there were some ramifications for this. You're not allowed to have your cell phone with you in the dugout, much less. while you're actively playing on the field, at least to my knowledge. But Hamari, like, could it help but just hold back this smile on his face?

It was hilarious. He was just like, like, that's not really something you see on a professional baseball field ever. Players sliding and then their phone falls out of their pocket. So that was a, that was a priceless moment from the 2020, 2020 season for me.

This feels like it was so long ago, but all of the harassment that Madison Bumgartner endured from umpire. this season. That's something I remember. Dan Bellino with the hand check, the stare into the eyes, the magical

moment. Another wonderful moment that was an exchange between someone in an umpire was when the Diamondbacks were playing the St. Louis Cardinals and C. B. Buckner and Oliver Marble got into it. And not only that, but

John Boy had one of the most incredible lip-reading breakdowns of this exchange ever and it was honestly one of the funniest things I've ever seen in my life just the just the actual words that were said from one

person to another and of course shout out shout out to John Boy for being so good at those lip reading things I saw at the winter meetings there were several questions to the managers and the executives about John Boy's ability to

read lips And apparently the lot of them said he was spot on. I was a little nervous walking around at the winter meetings because I knew that those Johnboy guys were around. And I was like, I better make sure that I'm, I'm careful with my words because they could be doing lip reading on me at any moment. Oh, yeah. Why they would care to do that with me in particular. You never know. You never know.

You never know. You can always be a targeted, Jimmy. But anyway, some favorite moments on this show. though, Jesse. I will say... I mean, the Congoline thing, right? The Congoline has to be the first thing that comes to my mind. It's still my cover photo on Twitter, a picture of me just like laughing hysterically with the microphone right in front of me.

And then all of you, we should probably share the full context here for people who don't know what we're talking about. Yeah, if you haven't seen the episode, you have to go back and check this one out. Maybe we'll have it for you next week. But of course, the context was that Jesse didn't know what a conga line was. I think I used it as a metaphor saying there was a conga line of young players ready to dance to the way onto the major league roster, to which point Jesse questioned what a conga line was. Leah and I lost our minds.

And then somehow, some way, in a moment that most people don't believe was natural and just formed out of nowhere, our coworkers from PHNX formed a conga line and danced into our studio and around us. And we had no part in that. It was very scary for about five seconds because I had no idea what they were up to. But the minute that they came in, I couldn't be more overjoyed that they did. It was one of the greatest moments in PHNX history, not just this show. Let's be honest. It was.

That's a moment we're going to remember for a long time, not just in 2020. 22. That was pretty funny. Yeah, I loved everything about that. I will also say I've loved your movie reviews, even though I obviously disagree with so many of them. And I hate them so much, but I've loved your movie reviews. I love how many movies we've already made you watch in this, just in this year. I feel like we've moved your cinematic film watching career along substantially. I've watched more movies.

in the last, I don't know, how long we've been doing this, maybe like three or four months. I've watched more movies in the last three or four months than possibly any three or four months span of my life. And we've only been doing these movie reviews like once every two weeks. So that tells you something about how few movies I generally consume in my day-to-day life. Yes. I also have really enjoyed working with Leah. Leah has been an incredible producer.

Forget that Faj guy. You know, whatever. Yeah, can't stay in that guy. But Leah, Leah has been a ray of sunshine. I very much miss working with Emma. I very much love having Faj on the show. I know that few people in the office have Jacobs fire about the Arizona Diamondbacks. I don't think even you and I do.

We can't even muster up that amount of energy that Jacob does to be either excited or angry about things happening with this team. But also, shout out to our MVP, Sean DePaz. That's my MVP, Sean DePaz, because he was also fantastic on the show once Jesse let him come on. Yeah, he might. He might come back on next week. We'll see. We'll see how, depending on how he behaves, how he treats me in the next few days. We'll see if he gets that invite or not.

But yeah, it's been a blast, man. I've been really enjoyed working with you. All jokes aside, it's been a fun time. And I think that we have just, we have just begun. We have only just begun, Jesse, with this thing. We call the PHNXDbacks podcast. We very much look forward to bringing you even bigger and better coverage of the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2020.

And I know I'm very excited for spring training to kick off around these parts because it's happening before we know it. You know, we're going to blink. We're going to talk about some more offseason moves and trades. And next thing you know, pitchers and catchers are going to be reporting. So we thank you guys so much for being here. sending us your mailbag Monday questions for joining us live in the chat. It's been an absolute joy to see you guys join us to make you guys part of our family here at PHNXDbacks. And to see

this thing grow. It's been a lot of fun, especially with everything going on with this team. I think that we found ourselves some really great fans. And again, even that has just begun to grow. So we're off to bigger and better things in 2023, us, the team, die hard to everybody. Looking forward to it, but of course, got to say goodbye to 2020 and thank you for all the fishes.

That's a, that's a hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy. A book that you, I'm going to get you to read that book and I'm going to get you to read, books are where I draw the line, Derek. You can get me to watch some movies, but I'm not. Did you not give me a book for Christmas

last year? You monster. Jesus, you won't even do the thing you got me, but anyway. Yeah, that's good. Of course, I'm going to also get Jesse on the Drafking Sportsbook app, and if you haven't done so, we need to get you on the Drafking Sportsback app. Of course, use our code of PHNX to sign up. Make a $5 money line bet on any NBA team pregame to win their game, and you will get $150 in free bets if they do that thing.

So, of course, I would say bet on the suns, but they're pretty erratic right now. I don't know when to say yes and when to say no. They've surprised me and then they've let me down. So maybe again, I'm riding with the Denver Nuggets lately as much as it pains me to say that. But I got to keep it in the All-City family. So I know I can't trust the Bulls. So let's go with the Nuggets. But of course, place it on any team you want.

And of course, if you win as a new customer, you'll get that $150 in free bets. That's promo code PHNX only at the drafting sportsbook app. Minimum age and eligibility restrictions apply. see show notes for details. Jesse, that's all I got this week. Of course, we thank you guys so much for being here, not just this week, not just this month, but all year long.

In behalf of Jesse and myself, we always appreciate you, but more so lately, we've really appreciated the support. This has been a big week and month for us. It's our biggest, biggest month of downloads that we've ever had, biggest month of views on YouTube,

and it's during the off season. So we can't thank you guys enough for it. In the meantime, you can follow us on Twitter. I'm at Cap underscore Caveman with a K. Jesse is at Jesse and Friedman. Our shows at PHNX underscore D-Backs, but of course all roads lead to at PHNX underscore Sports on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

We thank you guys again for joining us all year long. On behalf of Jesse myself, we appreciate your time. And remember, kids, baseball is fun, but it's so much more fun in 2023.