PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - Is Alex Bregman REALLY Joining D-backs? Conflicting Reports Create Free Agency Confusion

Episode Date: December 29, 2025

Alex Bregman continues to be linked to the Arizona Diamondbacks, but conflicting reports from the same local outlet have many questioning how real this interest actually is.  We discuss Bregman opting out of his deal with the Red Sox, the massive financial commitment required to add an elite third baseman, and why Ketel Marte remains central to any scenario in which Arizona lands Bregman. Is there a realistic path for the Diamondbacks to make this move without reshaping the roster? Plus, we dive into MLB’s decision to centralize minor league player data next season, a move that may benefit organizations but raises serious questions about fairness for players. And as always, we wrap things up by answering your Mailbag Monday questions.JOIN THE SUPPORTERS CLUB ➡️ https://tinyurl.com/yc6km2r4An ALLCITY Network ProductionSUBSCRIBE to our YouTube: https://bit.ly/phnx_youtubeALL THINGS PHNX: http://linktr.ee/phnxsportsMERCH https://store.allcitynetwork.com/collections/phnx-lockerALLCITY Network, Inc. aka PHNX and PHNX Sports is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by the City of PhoenixPHNX Events: Get your tickets to PHNX events and takeovers here: https://gophnx.com/events/Phoenix Raceway: Get your tickets now for March 5-8! https://www.phoenixraceway.com/march-cup-weekend/?CID=PIR_DI_TP_BA_PHNX26Spring_251120ALLCITY — including us here at PHNX — is teaming up with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America for an exciting three-year partnership. To learn more, visit https://www.bbbs.org/allcity/Branded Bills: Use code BBPHNX at https://www.brandedbills.com/ for 15% off your first order!Husband & Wife Law Team: If you’ve had a serious injury, Call The Husband & Wife Law Team first at 602-783-8841 or visithttps://husbandandwifelawteam.com/?utm_source=allcity-padcasts&utm_medium=digital-phx&utm_campaign=allcityShowNotesbet365: https://www.bet365.com/hub/en-us/app-hero-banner-1?utm_source=affiliate&utm_campaign=usapp&utm_medium=affiliate&affiliate=365_03485317 Use the code PHNX365 to sign up, deposit $10 and bet $5 to get $150 in bonus bets!Disclaimer: Must be 21+ and physically located in AZ.  If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-NEXT-STEP, text NEXTSTEP to 53342 or visit https://problemgambling.az.gov/Gametime: Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code PHNX for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply.Shady Rays: Head to https://shadyrays.com and use code: PHNX for 35% off polarized sunglasses. Try for yourself the shades rated 5 stars by over 300,000 people.Circle K: Join Inner Circle for free by downloading the Circle K app today! Head to https://www.circlek.com/store-locator to find Circle Ks near you!When you shop through links in the description, we may earn affiliate commissions. Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

We have some conflicting reports about Alex Bregman coming to the Arizona Diamondbacks, and those reports are coming from the same station. So we are going to try to sort through this and figure out if Bregman really makes any sense for Arizona. And we also have more on MLB centralizing minor league player data. Is this good for owners and bad for players? Sounds like it. We're talking about all this in 30 seconds. Don't you go anywhere.

Happy Monday to you all. Welcome in to another edition of the PHNXDbacks podcast. from Studio K presented by our friends at Circle K it is I your mayor of Christmas occasionally known as Derek Montia thrilled to be here today thrilled to be representing

my beloved sod poodles shout out to my wife for this amazing hoodie that I'm wearing shout out to all of you I hope you all got everything you wanted from Santa under your Christmas trees and various gifts stockings matter where you're getting your gifts. Hope you guys got spoiled. I got the one guy that spoils me on

the ones and twos today. It is the one, the only the Damon, the Damon Farrell, aka the Damon dog. Merry Christmas to you, pal. Hope you, hope you had a good one down there in Tucson. Merry Christmas, Derek. I know we, I know we chatted briefly on Friday's episode, but we were both very sad because neither one of us got Pete Fairbanks under our Christmas tree. We were sad about that. And now the Pete Fairbanks signing has been made official with the Miami Marlins. Gross. And, you know, here we are a few days from January. And there are quite the long list of players that are still free agents out there. We have one Kyle Tucker, Alex Bregman, Bo Bichette, Cody Bellinger, Frander Valdez, Ranger Suarez, old friend Zach Gallin, A. Huanyos

Svarez, another old friend, and J.T. Real Muto. We talked about bringing Suarez back, even though, of course, that still seems like it's going to cost entirely too much money. It would solve their issue at third base. And to be honest, even in talking about it, Gino kind of seems to make more sense than an Alex Bregman deal. But that is the only thing that people are talking about. Reports all across Major League Baseball have Alex Bregman now linked to the Arizona Diamondbacks. It doesn't really feel like it's picking up any steam. We still haven't seen too many reports.

reports that really like link many facts to this, much like the could tell rumors, though it does come back to Dan Bickley's report. And we now have conflicting reports kind of from the same radio station, a place I used to work over there at Arizona Sports 98.7. Dan Bickley, during Bickley and Marotta on, I believe this was Wednesday or Friday last week. He said, I think it's a matter of Friday. I think it's a matter of time before they get Alex Breggman, I think that's a done deal, to be honest with you. Now, again, this is pretty, this is, this is a pretty much a full-on confirmation, right? Like this would seem to be, even though there is the word, I think, in there twice, and that does a lot of heavy lifting here. Bickley is

giving what he feels like is an accurate report here that that the Diamondbacks are in fact pursuing Alex Breggman and that the deal is done. Interestingly enough, John Gambadoro actually I'm not going to say contradicted that. But again, John Gambadoro kind of had a conflicting report with this suggesting that the sides aren't really close and also suggesting that perhaps if any kind of deal with Breggman does get done that Cattel-Marté move, would be necessary. Gambo said he wants five years and all this money, which is not in the wheelhouse of the Arizona Diamondbacks,

so the numbers would have to come down. They'd have to get very creative. And that's on the Diamondbacks end, right? As far as, you know, structuring that contract in a way where it's not at least cumbersome to the Diamondbacks in 2026, considering that they do not seem to have very much money to spend for that season. And also, you know, something that has some deferred payments in it,

as we've discussed, right? But Gambo, I think we have some tweets here overall here from Gambo. Yeah, we're going to get him here in a second. It does feel like deferrals would have to be a part of any sort of Alex Brighman discussion. Right. That's what Gambo said on Gambo and Burns. And then he went on to say on a tweet, have never ruled it out, still think it's a long shot, but not impossible. But yes, we depend on a Marte trade for it to happen.

don't see it happening unless they move Marte. So that right there, I don't, I mean, I feel like that this is requiring a Marte move to happen first, I imagine. Like I said, there is, I don't know, a lot to this and a lot that doesn't make sense, right? I don't really understand why Ketelmarte has to be. moved in order for an Alex Bregman deal to happen. That's the part that I still can't wrap my mind around. I do know that as Marte gets older that this contract, like a lot of players right now who have long-term deals with their teams, it wouldn't look as attractive, right?

But at the same time, as has been discussed time and time again, could tell Marte as far as what his statistics are, what he is as a player, is far more valuable than any other player that you could probably get on a similar deal unless that player is still within that first contract range after being first called up by a major league organization. But Gambo again says that he hasn't ruled out the idea of bringing Alex Bregman to this team. But he did say this.

I think this was the other one from Christmas Day. He said, okay, back to work after two weeks. off. Thanks, Gambo. We appreciate you getting back. All quiet on the Marte front. Not a lot. Get done during the Christmas holiday as many of the power brokers are traveling. I do expect Arizona to land a bridge closer, someone who can close games until Puck and J-Mart get back, then fall into a setup

roll. And we have our guy, Jack Summers, suggesting that bridge closer is going to be the new hot term for us in Arizona here in 2026. Oh, man. This fan base is going to love that. There's going to be so many memes. There's going to be so many memes. We're going to get some guy with like a 4-5 ERA and call him the bridge close.

That's where we're at. But again, Bickley's comment says, I think it's a matter of time before they get Alex Bregman. Recent report suggested there's a scenario where the Diamondbacks can hold on to both Bregman and Marte. But again, Gambo kind of shot that down. Marte, if they bring Bregman here as far as Gamble, is concerned, it's a done deal for Marte. None of this makes any sense. None of this is something that the Diamondbacks need to get into, and I kind of hate it. I kind of hate it. I'm with Kobe. Kobe says, just give me a bullpen, please. Just give me pitching, please. Just spend this kind of money

elsewhere. Maybe it's easier if Bregman does in fact want to come here. That seems to continue to be part of this entire equation, is that Alex Bregman wanted to come here. Last off season, Alex Bregman wants to come here and be a part of this with Corbyn Burns. Alex Bregman wants to come here this year. He likes Arizona and wants to, wants to play here. I still have this one thing that I can't get over, right? This is a 31 year old player who opted out of a two-year deal worth $80 million. $40 million a year? 80 million remaining on his contract for two years with the Red Sox. The Red Sox are not a bad organization, right? So it's not a situation where it's maybe toxic or, you're sick of losing so you want to get out of there.

The Red Sox have been active in the free agent market, and they've been trying to pursue some big name free agents. They also have themselves, you know, a exciting young core of players that they're adding to that team as well. I don't know if, you know, if Breggman is opting out of having two years and $80 million left to take some sort of discount with the Arizona Diamondbacks. It's going to take $160 million.

and at the very least as far as the discount is concerned, it's probably going to be five years. So maybe it's spread over and the annual value is less than two years and 80. It gives Brighman some peace of mind to be paid that much money over the next five years and have some deferral payments taking care of you and your family for, you know, a long time beyond your playing days, beyond this five-year contract. I just can't imagine the Diamondbacks giving this much money to, no offense. a guy who put up these numbers in 2025 with the Boston Red Sox, right? We're talking about a guy who has good numbers.

Find numbers. 273 batting average, 821 OPS, 62 RBI, one defensive run saved, 3.5 baseball reference war, right? He is a great player. Maybe on the verge of being a good player? Yeah, he, I would say. great is even fair, but he's, is he a $30 million a year type of player? 40? That's the, that's the question.

I think on a longer term deal, we're looking at 30. Yeah. 30 for 5, 30 for 6. My point being is what his contract was. We have no idea what his contract is going to be, but this man. It's not going to be 40 million APY. Right. Unless it's on two years, like something similar like that. But also, why would he opt out to take that elsewhere? This isn't the Boston Red Sox opting out. It wasn't a team.

Because he wants the long term, his last long term deal of his career. I get it. He's 31. 31. He's going to get like a five, six year deal and that's pretty much going to be it for him. Right. Maybe he gets a two year deal or one year deal after that. Maybe whatever, right.

But that is what these players are trying to do. They're trying to secure their future. And I think a lot of them are trying to do it without having to play into their age 42 and 43 year old, you know, season. Like some of these guys on these 15 year contracts and stuff are going to be so old by the end of them. I can't wait for those. days to come for those times. Like Bryce Harper? Yes, exactly. Like how old is he going to be when that contract is up? I don't know. I think he's going to be 82 years old by the time that contract

is up. But I don't mean to attack Alex Breggman. I just bring it back to the Diamondbacks being in a position of such need as far as pitching is concerned. 39 for Bryce Harper, by the way. That's what he's going to be at the end of his contract. Yeah. And that's it. I mean, pitching, pitching, pitching is what we need. I can understand Ken Kendrick maybe wanting to try something different. after pitching burned him, burned this organization. And I don't mean that as a pun. That was a terrible pun. I didn't mean to use the word burned,

but it's the best word I can think of, right? The Jordan Montgomery situation, Corbant Burns, neither one of those guys really worked out and it's not to the fault of Corvin Burns that it didn't work out. You could maybe even argue it's not to the fault of Jordan Montgomery, it didn't work out. It's just one of those things that perhaps, based on those situations not going the Diamondbacks way,

that now they're trying to look if they're going to spend money and spending it a different way. This offense was fine last year. This offense might even somehow be better this year, especially if guys can find a way to take a step forward that need to, right? Like Alex, Alex Thomas, like a Jake McCarthy, Blaise Alexander, you know, these are guys that, if they're not to say Blaze, but if Alec or Jake are still a part of this organization, the Diamondbacks need them and they need them to be better than they were last year, right? So I just, I don't know if adding Bregman is going to be the thing that rectifies this team as much as going out and acquiring pitching. I also don't know what to think about these reports conflicting each other.

Like Bickley is Dan Bickley, right? He is a well-known, you know, media personality here. And he has really good sources. His information is solid. I know that sometimes, especially in this case, he might just be going on, you know, how he feels about it. He might just be, he might just be thinking, this is how I feel. But still, like I said, with the Cotel Marte trade rumors a long time ago, you can't ignore this stuff when there is so much like smoke here, right? Where there's smoke, there's fire.

With the Marte trade rumors, I want to shoot them down. I hate them. I hate Damon for making me talk about them. Damon will tell you. In fact, can we give a round of applause that we got between one show and another show, an entire weekend came and went without us having news? you could tell Marte trade rumors. That's something to celebrate. It is pretty crazy.

I was expecting it this morning. I was expecting it. Like who's in now? Mariners are all in. Now the Yankees. Sorry, Yankees. You're on the no trade list.

Sorry, I hate to tell you that. But yeah, I mean, again, it just, none of this makes sense. Did you see the Yankees fan

that was talking about getting Gerardo Perdomo? Gerardo Perdomo? Yeah. See, that's another thing I'm sick of is these damn fan bases thinking that they could just

poach all of our players and like the Diamondbacks are in some sort of, weird rebuild. We're not that and we're not going to be that. We might be that in 2028, but we got a lot of time between now and then. He was offering us the Martian, bro. Yeah, I saw that. Get your ridiculous trade proposals out of my mentions. Lose our number, but actually, actually, if you call and you don't joke like about Jerry, like, ha ha, what about Roldo? No, no, I was just joking. Anyway, but the Brayman thing, again, but the Brayman thing,

Again, one thing that I think most fans hate about this idea, what most fans can't wrap their mind around, much like myself, much like Damon, is looking at the idea of Breggman versus Marte. Like, I don't know, man. I mean, again, there must really be, if that's the truth, if that's the case, then there must really be some ill feelings towards Cattel Marte.

100%. Because they're nowhere near, the same caliber of the player. No. If we're being completely real. There's no reason why you would upgrade or change your roster to for this. You know, again, Marte's contract makes more sense. Bregman's really doesn't. The Diamondbacks don't have money to spend.

The Diamondbacks have far bigger needs than third base. I would argue that even first base might be a need for them, which is something maybe Bregman could play in the future. I've said that before. He could, yeah. There's no doubt that that could be the option of the, the future if they decide to maybe go with plays at third base it just still doesn't make any sense especially if you're going to bring brigman in and change his position as well could tell as cobi

said right there is far better and far cheaper and uh also i don't know man i mean i i don't know what to say i really don't i don't because none of this makes any sense but again the the talk of brigman to diamond to to arizona continues it's seemingly hot and it it's it's seemingly hot and it it might actually happen. The biggest regret would be if it has to happen, or if a Mark Tate trade has to happen in order to accommodate it or in order for that to be what the diamondbacks do.

That will determine what my feelings on a Breggman signing would, you know what I mean? Like if it means Ketel's gone, I hate it. I hate it. I think it's terrible. I think it's a bad tradeoff in that regard. And, you know, the fact that they're being seen as like comparable to me is,

is just not true. And I don't think that that's, again, we keep coming back to that. And it's because the two deals are somehow tied, right? It's not necessarily the case. It just kind of means that the Diamondbacks might be trading Marte and then they might want to, you know, add to their offense, add to their position players with Breggman. But, I mean, that the problem is, is that no matter how this shakes out, if that is the way they go, if Breggman to the Diamondbacks happens and Marte is traded, it's always,

always going to be viewed as a comparison between Bregman and Marte. And it's always going to be, I guess, looked at as why did we go with this guy over this guy, right? Brighman's put up impressive numbers in his career, you know, but again, he's not the guy that put up in 8.9 war and walked 119 times in 2019, right? And he's probably not going to be. So, yeah, that's six years ago. I mean, and he's still a good player. Don't get me wrong. But like, yeah, we're a far cry from prime Bregman at this point. They are both the same age. So there's that that we don't really address often enough.

Like I feel like we make Bregman into like this ancient old man and that could tell Marte is young. They're both 31 years old, right? So there are some things there as far as like going in that direction that doesn't feel like it's that big of a drop off. But again, Marte is a guy that has had a history of. like season sub two baseball reference war more than above two, right? So Breggman has had that consistency throughout his career. I just hate it. And I don't know.

I mean, this would be a huge shakeup for this organization. And again, like Damon said, it really comes down to what the hall would be for Cattel. But it would be hard for Breggman to be, you know, I think embraced by this fan base. Should all of that go down. I also don't love any of this like still not making any sense, but that's just me looking at the finances, looking at what the Diamondbacks had to deal with, and again,

looking at how they could spend that money in other ways at this point to improve the overall roster, right? The bullpen still hasn't had an addition. We now have, again, the bridge closer coming in to be the guy that helps this team close out games until AJ Puck or Justin Martinez comes back. And that bridge closer is not going to be the big name that was available on the free agent market that we were hoping to see this Diamondbacks team go after. At this point, Sir Anthony Dominguez that we talked about on Friday is looking more and more likely.

And there's other guys still that weren't even as good as him. That might be optioned for this team. I mean, at this point, Sir Anthony Dominguez is like, now he's the pretty girl at the bar. Yeah, you know what I mean? 100%. I would die for him now at this point. Yeah, like everybody who keeps becoming the top option, Derek, I think just starts to, you know, look prettier and prettier and mine in your eyes. Sir Anthony Dominguez, I mean, what a baller, you know?

Yeah. Katie comes back to the, I'm fine with him taking approved days off. It's inhuman and not want people to have a couple of days off, just all above board. Yeah, I guess that really is what it comes down to. But he needs to notify his employer. That's a, that is a, it's a fireable offense in most jobs. It's a big, that's a big difference differentiator. Like you, I think the debacks are the type of organization where if he was struggling,

I think that they would say take a couple days off. But the problem is that he got on a plane and they had no idea. Right. Well, don't you think it was further exasperated by him actually getting robbed? And then having that be the reason that people thought that he missed time only for, it to not maybe I was just a naive one that believed that was the one reason he missed time but it was like well it seemed like it on the surface because then you find out that he wasn't in fact at his home here in town that got robbed he was you know in the dominican right so yeah but i don't know man

again that that could tell has been a delight to be around as far as my perspective i have covered this team for a very long time longer than i care to admit there's entirely too much gray in this little mustache. But I will say that, you know, Kattel, as far as relationships with his teammates, being, you know,

you know, I guess open to media, even though, you know, at times he doesn't feel comfortable, you know, speaking in a second language and things like that, and being a translator,

like Ketel's just always kind of been great. He's always been somebody that seems to, you know, get along with everybody, get along with even the opposing team. and just kind of bring a smile to people's faces, you know. However, sometimes you might get too big even for yourself. And it did feel like this was a moment where that might have been what happened for Marte.

I was there when he apologized. His apology seemed sincere. It seemed like it was something that he regretted having happened. And, you know, most importantly, he hated the way that, you know, everybody now perceived him to be a bad teammate and a bad, like, again, employee of the Arizona Diamondback. So I don't know, though. I'm with Cool Bro here, 2026, no more superstar trade rumors. That's our New Year's resolution.

Trust me, cool, bro, as much as I would like to make that my New Year's resolution, Damon will not allow it. He will not allow it. Well, I mean, if they're going to be peddled, me and Derek are going to talk about it. Sorry, guys. That's right. We got to do what we can to keep these rumor mill churning, right? We got to keep the lights on.

Yeah, we're going to take a quick break. speaking of keeping the lights on on the other side of this break, we're going to talk about Major League Baseball centralizing player data from the minor leagues next year and why it might be good for ownership and very bad for players. We're going to do that on the other side of this break. Don't you go anywhere? You're watching the PHA next time in Back Show.

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They have everything you need. Branded Bills has you covered with performance and style. Head to brandedbills.com and use that code of BB, PHNX for 15% off your first order. Well, it's obvious big Jake Franklin in the chat wants Cotel Marte out of here, right? It's obvious. Jacob Franklin says, just remember, as sucky as it is, they aren't looking to trade Marte because of his skills. They're looking to trade him because of his attitude. That, I mean, I think we know that, right?

He's not wrong about it. But I will also say, like, the Diamondbacks are a team that value character quite a bit. They've talked about it. They've talked about it time and time again that that is something that's very, that's very important to them. And we've seen it. You know, we've seen certain clubhouses that don't have that kind of,

I mean, demand for, for players to be their best to be, to give it all to the organization at all times, right? But, like, again, that is something that's highly valued in this organization. It's a big reason why, you know, Diamondbacks made it as far as they did in 2023.

And why, Tori reminded us that an effing connected team is an effing dangerous team, right? But at the same time, maybe Marte is seen as being a problem. You know, there's been certain verbiage and things used in interviews and such that you could probably pick apart and find things said even by some of his teammates that might be referring to him as far as, you know, feeling like he's not being a good teammate or not all in on this with the rest of his team. So I don't really know, but I do still feel like it's a conspiracy theory, Damon, and I am becoming a conspiracy theorist lately.

I thought that all of the conspiracy theories that I could be a part of were already kind of identified, but I'm finding new conspiracy theories to believe in. Damon today filled my head with all of these theories about the Titanic being a setup to those it was sank on purpose to help create the Federal Reserve. Correct. Yeah, look into it, guys. Shady stuff. I hate how confident he just said, yeah, look into it. There's lots of websites on it.

There is. I like Reddit. Reddit's one that I peruse quite a bit. J.P. Morgan. Didn't end up on the boat, Derek. Coincidence? Coincidence? I think not.

I think not. A new favorite conspiracy I found is that they're no longer teaching children cursive in school so that the future generations cannot accurately read historical documents. That doesn't feel like a conspiracy theory as much as it just feels like the truth. That's it. Killer X says Ketel doesn't have an attitude problem. You all just have a Ketel problem. that might be a conspiracy theory.

That might be pretty good. Eno Seris over at the Athletic had a report about some changes being made to Major League Baseball. And there might be a conspiracy theory to be had in here because, as you may know, organizations that have more money

than organizations that don't have, guess what? Better technology. Better information. Wow. Imagine that. You just have the fact that some teams have more money, thus they can analyze players better and get more information on them,

know when a player is maybe going to be a bus, know when they're not, all of that kind of stuff, right? And it's all of the organizations that you can imagine, all the teams that have all of the money and spend it in the proper ways, right? So basically, deep-pocketed organizations, according to this report from the athletic,

have always gained an advantage in recent years by flexing their financial muscle in the minor leagues. They can spend more money on cutting-edge technology, like high-speed cameras and motion capture technology to gather in-game data. They also have the ability for AI to analyze players and take a look at their pitching form and their structure and to see if there is potential for an injury, you know, in the future

or, you know, whatever. I've talked it a bit on this show about Stephen Straussberg being looked at by ESPN at one point on their sports science segment during SportsCenter. And a long time before he started having pitching or significant injury issues, they kind of showed at that point that his pitching form, his motion, the way that he, you know, that submarine or sideways kind of style did not necessarily equate to a long, very long career.

And it was funny that they were just kind of putting that on TV and sharing that information with all of us. But now what's happening next season in Major League Baseball is all of this information gathered by all of this cutting edge technology that bigger organizations with more money have to spend will be shared with all teams among MLB. Beginning next season, Major League Baseball will regulate the in-game technology available for use across all minor league parks. Multiple league and team sources have told the athletic. The move is designed to bring parity and quell what until now has been an unchall. checked arms race, meaning that some of these teams that literally have like MRI machines that can scan a player on the field, they have to share that data with everyone now.

Major League Baseball spokesperson wrote in a statement confirming the change, we are taking this step to ensure that all 30 clubs are working with the same set of information as they make baseball operation decisions. However, information is the most vital part I feel like of owning an organization and managing an organization. Am I wrong, Damon? Like, is information not king? Is not like that is the way that organizations can fleece other organizations based on what they know about a player? It's the way that, I mean, I get it as far as trying to make it fair,

but is information not the most important thing in this entire? entire game besides money? And even then you could say that information has an impact on that. Yeah, I mean, it's kind of a slippery slope, right? Because I understand what if you listen to what Fowel Territory says and what Eric Kratz was saying. Like it makes sense why, you know, it seems like a bad idea, right? Because now MLB controls basically all this like secret information that is, that is, you know,

well, and that's what I expect. all this secret information that, you know, like, necessarily wouldn't be known without this data. And so now, like, I guess in arbitration hearings and whatnot, you know, this can be used against players to, you know, dictate values. It's just, it seems like it's just a little bit of an unfair system for the player side of things. I mean, now, yeah. It makes sense from the organization's standpoint why they would want to do it. Yeah, Eric Crats at Fowell Territory was very much against this. He said on yesterday or was it today's episode?

Yesterday. Yeah, yesterday episode. He suggested that the shared usage of this data will only help owners and teams control players' value. And that's not wrong, right? Like he's definitely on to something there. Teams can absolutely control players' value overall with the idea that they all know everything about these players. and also can have like predictive AI now get involved and, you know, try to determine if a player is going to have a future injury or just have durability concerns, all of those things which are only going to further lower a player's value. And none of it is stuff that, again, one team has to share with another team.

in doing so though creates this idea that the players value can be undermined essentially by everybody involved to a certain degree and this especially impacts players on the free agency market having that right like other teams could essentially know exactly why a team is trying to trade prospects away to them and and I don't know I mean all of this just seems like it's a way for owners to not have to invest in players because they have technology and information that's been shared with them by other teams that would somehow tell them that a player isn't worth the money that they're trying to get paid. None of this is impacted by the performance actually on the field. And we're just getting so deep in the weeds that these players are, players value is being tied to what artificial intelligence would suggest about them.

Or, I mean, in some cases, a lot of this is good data, but data that necessarily other teams wouldn't have if it wasn't being shared by the team that drafted them. And if that team has good technology, then it's going to be even more information available. And I don't know, cause more doubt in some cases on a player being able to have a healthy long-term career, right? It just seems like it's bad for baseball in every potential way.

And as much as it sounds like it's fair, I mean, I don't know. I mean, I guess there's other ways to do it, like limit technology where teams aren't allowed to use more advanced technology than one other team or whatever, but even that seems stupid. If you have the ability to go out there and find some sort of new technology that helps you scout and understand which players are potential breakout stars and which players are potentially going to have an injury riddled career, there's no reason for you not to use that.

it just still doesn't mean that any of it is reality. It sounds like so much of it is predictive and it's just going to cause players to not be seen as being worth, you know, worth the amount that they are. It also just, again, overall probably is really, really irritating to the teams that do have that amazing technology out there that they have to share with other teams. Books Journey asked, do other sports not do this? That's a great question. I mean, baseball has always been weird. So things in baseball, like a salary cap and other things that all other sports do seem so foreign and weird in baseball.

But yeah, I mean, Kobe here says, not going to lie, I hate this. This is a competitive sport. If you have some advantage due to being smarter and investing in it, that's your info. I said the same thing. I said the same thing. I know as much as like of a Dodgers hater and stuff as I am with like the, you know how much I think that. the resources differential in baseball needs to be fixed. This seems like something that it's like you're just not trying if you're not investing in

your farm system and your minor leaguers in your data department. Like that's all things that are controllable and will help you have a cheaper team in the future. So like if you're the pirates, for example, that was the example I used Eric. And you say, you know, we're not investing in this because we don't want to spend the money requisite money, but also we don't want to resign and extend our players and we're going to trade Paul Skeens before we have to give him a contract. Right.

It's like what exactly is the goal then? Because you're not doing anything to try to win. You're laughing in your fans' faces. Well, and I mean, the other side of this too is that, I don't know, man, like some teams, like MLB has to approve of your in-game technology now, which apparently they didn't have to before, Damon. That seems weird, especially considering that like we do see the other sports kind of control everything. Doesn't the NFL have a thing where they have cameras in certain stadiums, but since

they're not in all stadiums, they can't use those cameras for actual decision-making purposes or something. I think it might be down like the sideline or something like that. That seems like on par with this just a little bit, but it sounds like NFL and other leagues do a better job of that. Right now, teams that have made significant investments into some of this technology may be required to remove it from their minor league stadiums. So just taking a step back to what I said a second ago, like, not only are they, like, reducing the advantage that one team might have over others with the technology, but they almost want to dumb it down. So now that information isn't available. Like MLB will have to approve in-game technology being used by teams and technology vendors. So this is going to prohibit them from necessarily even having amazing advancements made, right? Like maybe a team like the Dodgers, which we all hate, boo. like maybe they want to invest in some sort of amazing new technology that could revolutionize scouting players well they're not going to be allowed to use that right and so then that

revolutionary technology doesn't get introduced in baseball doesn't prove that it can work doesn't then get accepted by other teams and then doesn't get implemented throughout the league because it comes to be so valuable right we are literally like dummy it feels like we're dumbing ourselves down here we're dumbing the sport down we're dumbing the amount of information available down. But overall, it just feels like this is not a great step for baseball to be doing this. And I kind of agree. I think that overall, it's just, it's more than the fact that it's going to limit players and their value. It's limiting technology and the impact that it could have on scouting the game, right? Even if that technology might be unfair to players because it can look

inside your shoulder and see that in three seasons, you're going to need some sort of rotator cuff surgery or can look at your ligament and be like, that thing's holding on by a thread. You're a rat, buddy. Like, these are things that teams would probably love to know, though. And again, we don't know if we'll get that technology anytime soon based on baseball kind of doing this and making this move, right? But there has been a vocal subset of owners that have wanted to limit front office spending for a while.

And we know who it is. We know who you are. You don't have to tell us that. But that's where we're at here overall. So I kind of agree with Eric Kratz. I don't love what this does for baseball players themselves. However, organizations, fans that are fans of those organizations, none of us want to be duped by a guy that an organization

ends up spending a ton of money on only for that player to have a injury. You might have been able to know about using, you know, current technology and then having it go the wrong way for them. So it is what it is. Baseball continues to try to fix the game in the wrong ways, I guess, and make it more fair. But we'll see what the kind of long-term impact this has on the game. Hopefully, I'll be around long enough to discuss that at a later time. But we're going to take a quick break.

And on the other side of this break, you know what we do on Mondays, and we're going to get to it. So don't you go anywhere? You're watching the P.HNX Diamondback Show. Arizona Lottery, they want to give you money, obviously, but they also want you to win free gas for a year. I don't even know what I would do with free gas for a year. like as far as I'm concerned, getting a raise, getting a promotion around here. But of course, it would be nice to not have to worry about those increasing prices of gas that go up and down.

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Siri Shane is sharing the same track on the same day, and you'll be able to say you were there. at NASCAR and NTT IndyCar Series weekend at Phoenix March 5th through March 8th. Secure your seats now at the link in our description. Big Jake is suddenly back on board with Catelle Marte. He's been wavering on this podcast, Damon. He says if Marte stays, mark my words, he will go down as best offensive snake of all time. Make up your mind.

Jake, pick a lane. What are we doing here? Do you want him to stay or do you want him to go? It feels like you were holding the door. open for him to get him out of here, you know? You and Killer Rex, we're both doing that. But we-KillerX does hate Ketel. Oh, yeah, it's pretty sad. It's Tori. It's crazy. It's crazy. But, you know, this day is not about hate. This day is about love because you know what we do on this day. You know it's Monday. And you know what we got cooking around here. Every year on this

show is still the year of the snake, no matter what the actual astrological year is supposed to be. Every month on this podcast is Hispanic Heritage Month. Every week on this podcast is that fun week between Christmas and New Year's where nothing really matters every day's a Friday. And you can drink starting at 10 o'clock in the morning. But every day, still Earth Day because Damon and I recycle. On Mondays, however, we go to the mailbag. Damon, let's go to the mailbag. My mailbox.

Always something interesting in my mailbox. I try to get to everything in my mailbox. And then once in a while, there's a letter. that makes me go out. All right. What do we got here in the mailbag today? Our first question is testy, Derek. I didn't realize that it was so controversial here.

Yeah, I don't like this. Travis Moore wanted, I don't know if he was trying to like become the enemy of this chat today. It's crazy. It is a crazy question. He starts off and he says, Braggman supposedly wants to sign with Arizona to settle down there. Outside of spring training advantage, I personally don't understand the.

peel, live there my whole life until September 2025. I love my D-backs, but really have never liked the state, nor understand why people do. And then later goes on to, to ask Derek, can you defend wanting to live there? Can I defend wanting to live in the greatest state in the United States, David? Isn't that wild? Do I even have to? Do I even have to? Let me ask you, Travis, When you were here, when was the last time some sort of weather event tore the roof off of your house? No, never, because there's not tornadoes or hurricanes here. The only thing you have to worry about is ensuring that your AC unit is working in June, July, and August. And I mean, if you don't, then you're taking your life in your own hands.

Arizona is the greatest state to live in. I will say that Dodgers fans and people from California are making it worse in general. But overall, what an amazing place we live. Can we first talk about the grid system, Damon? Can we talk about the grid traffic system? The grid system is nice. Where everything's a square and avenues start at central and go west and streets start at central and go east. It is so easy to find your way around here.

I guarantee you go to any one of these other pathetic 49 states and try to find a grid system as efficient. I don't even need GPS. I can look at an address and know where it's actually at. I yesterday spent the day outside in shorts on December 28th and I enjoyed every minute of it. I had a little hoodie action on with my Arizona Cardinals jersey that made me equally sad to be wearing as as does that team in general. But this is an amazing state to live in. You have everything up north. You can get away to the beautiful mountains.

You can go to snow. Sedona, one of the most magical and beautiful places. in this entire country. People travel from around the world to come here for the Grand Canyon. It is the number one vacation spot according to some sort of BS report I just saw the other day. I don't believe it. It's just a giant hole in the ground, but still, people come here for it. They have to see it. Arizona is a wonderful place. And I don't want to do this, but I'm going to have to because he's sitting right here. even Tucson and Southern Arizona beautiful cuisine mountains wonderful places like Bisbee I'm not going to throw Tucson in there but I had a great time in Tucson multiple times and yeah it's beautiful the desert the desert in Southern Arizona is is absolutely beautiful it's greener than you could ever imagine a desert being now I will say that there are very many things about this state to not like as there are in all states but overall I just feel like it's a good place to live i've lived a lot of places and i did not enjoy living uh on a day to day

basis in any of those places as much as i've enjoyed living in this fine state i've lived here for most of my life so uh you're gonna you're you're definitely going to have to have a hard time uh convincing me otherwise i mean it was like 70 degrees on christmas derrick and i there were people i was with some people that were like oh that's i wish it was colder and i'm like okay Hell no, you leave, go somewhere else where it's colder then. Because I'm, guess what? I'm taking my 70 degrees in December and I'm running with it. I'll tell you, where the Suario cacti, they are magical, and they only grow here for a reason.

And that's because this is a magical state. We are a magical place. And again, if you don't love it, I'm not going to tell you to get out. But I understand. Like, I understand. Definitely. I just think that if you're talking about someone like Alex Breggman or an athlete that's lived elsewhere, I'm sure.

based on how much money he has, there's an income tax thing to living in Arizona. I think that the idea that you or and others might have of people living in Arizona might be different than the situation. Like, there are a lot of players that permanently make their homes here. And then they go play for Boston or they play for Seattle or they play for Miami. And that's a lot. I mean, it's not the smartest move. Don't get me wrong. Like, again, I'd probably buy a house in the...

state that I lived in, but with sports being the way they are, you could be paying a lot of money to move here, move there, getting new interest rates, doing all of that stuff. Like, it's easier to have a base location if you know there's a good chance that at least for a month out of the year you are going to play in this state for the whole month. Arizona is a great place to live. Plus, it's, you know, again, it's not very expensive to live here versus living in other places like, you know, California or New York or other other things. Yet, it still offers you, you know, very close access to all that. Quick trips to Vegas, quick trips to LA. I mean, again, San Diego? Never, never, never, never, never, never. Have I ever wanted to live somebody place else that

like could be close to those kind of places? I thought you're saying you've never been to San Diego. Oh, no, no. I was like, what? No, mentally in my mind, I'm in San Diego quite a bit. Yes. I love those beaches. But again, I don't know. Like we, we usually very much value Travis Moore's leadoff questions. This one seemed very antagonizing. You know what? Sometimes your leadoff hitter strikes out in three pitches there. I don't love it, Travis.

Everyone's while Ketel walks up there and he just swings out of his shoes three times. And wait, hold on. Let's talk to pimp a bloat fly. Let's talk about that. No daylight savings time. This state refuses to bend the nethered. and succumb to the will of farmers? What other place do you want to live in that we refuses to be a part of something all the other states are a part of?

I love it. We're rebels here. That's what we are. All right. Well, else we got. Man, that was,

I knew that was going to be controversial. I was just like, I am ready to go already. Right? That was crazy. You're coming at what we love, Travis. You can't come out.

You can't come out to guys that love Arizona as much as we do and expect us not to be furious about sonoring dogs. There is a filiburto's everywhere. What are we even talking about? You said it there. Don't try to find some freaking good Mexican food in North Carolina or someone else. Cool bro says the sunsets. I mean, the sunset.

They're so beautiful that we don't even. Like, we don't even think about how great they are. The other day, the sunrise, when I had to leave super early in the morning, was breathtaking. It was breathtaking. It made a joy to be outside and going to Walmart for last minute gift shopping at like 6 o'clock in the morning. but all right what else we got i got to move on i'm fired up now for sure i get it coming back to you to us here tebacks podcast do we prefer goldschmidt or a mount castle trade for first base or is there a reason to have faith in paven is there a reason to have faith in pavement damon i mean

there's reason that to have faith that paven will have like a good stretch where he convinces everybody in the fan base that he's actually him for like a for like 25 games i'm that count i'm that i'm that i'm that i'm that one okay cool i look cool bro might need to be blocked from the chat he was we do not have filiburto slander on this program even though they're not an advertiser with us at all uh nekos is better tucson ball knowers get it oh god this is we just have better food it's okay there it goes it's gonna get down to that i think akamoto if i'm taking a look at that list Akamoto would be the one that would appeal to me the most. I think the reason why is because of the unknown there.

Yeah, for sure. I feel like a Mountcastle trade feels like more of a discard from an Orioles team that is trying to get better at first base and do not believe Mountcastle is the future of that position anymore. It's not to say like an opportunity here in Arizona wouldn't completely, you know, change that. And I feel like a Mount Castle trade, very reasonable, right? We're not talking about trading Catelle Marte for Mountcastle. We're talking about perhaps that could be the Jake McCarthy or Alec Thomas trade. Maybe that's something that fits with the Orioles a bit more. Goldschmidt still feels like the most likely option of those.

I guess besides just having Payvon Smith here. Pavan being our first baseman along with, you know, Tyler Locklear when he returned, still feels like the most likely scenario. Next would be Goldschmidt. Then I would rank the Mount Castle trade just before Akamoto. I do like that Diamondbacks have been connected to him, and I do like that some people feel like it's a good fit. I also think that that is a route where the Diamondbacks could get the most in return

for the least spent. I still don't know what his contract expectations are, what he'll actually land in or where he'll land and for how much, right? But I feel like the one that would excite me the most there is Akamoto. Do you think that's fair to say? Yeah, I think the unknown aspect of it, like you said, like maybe he could be something a little bit more and could be for a little bit longer term than a Goldschmidt.

I think Mountcastle is interesting. He's not a bad player at all. I agree. I think, you know, it makes sense maybe for the Orioles to move on after they get Pete Alonzo, although Alonzo could DH definitely factors in as like a DH. But last year, Mount Castle didn't have a good season at all. only played half the year. But the year before he had a 271 batting average, a 733 OPS, hit 13 bombs, 63 RBI.

I mean, he's okay. He's okay. You know, I would trust him more than Paving. Yeah. I would. But I don't know what the cost to get him would be. Akamoto would definitely, I think, I think you're right about that. Like that the highest upside is there.

So I think that's what excites you the most. Yeah. And again, that's kind of what I've said in general about bringing players back. Like I'm thrilled to have Merrill Kelly back and I still think as far as what they spent, Merrill Kelly was the best available option. However, it's just hard to get excited about Merrill because it's like, you know, getting excited about getting excited or expecting different results with the same pieces. That's where it's hard to get excited.

Even if a guy might have worse numbers, right? You still feel excited about adding that new arm, that new person to this team. And you think as a fan, hopefully they can turn it around. and they can be what they were at the best part of their career. Devin Williams is a perfect example of that. He's a guy that like the Diamondbacks could have signed, and despite how bad his ERA is, people are going to remember those golden years with the brewers

and feel like he could come here and be that for us. They might not be wrong, or they could. And he could post a 4.5 ERA again next year and just kind of be bad, bad, you know? So, you know, again, the excitement there would be with a new face. Ryan Mountcastle makes things a little. exciting, but that seems once again like more of a cast off from a team that upgraded that position. Right.

So hard to get too excited about that until we see what he could do on the field. What else we got, Damon? Next question here. Oh, that's our last question. Sorry about that. Give me a second. You got it. Well, it's from Karen.

And Karen wants to know, Karen here in the chat, by the way. Which D-BACs player slash prospect do you think will have a breakout season in 2026? It's a very interesting question. I like this question. I do too. I like this. And I guess it's kind of hard. It feels like Jordan Lawler is the name that instantly comes to mind.

I don't know why. I don't know if that's me being hopeful or that's me actually thinking that he could have the breakout season. I don't know. Would you say Jerry had the breakout season of last year? Oh, 100%. Yeah, no doubt. I would say Blaze started to, right? And everything Blaze did started to become exciting.

so I don't know if you would say that that was a breakout season. Cool bro in the chat says Gabby. I think once again, Gabby kind of had his breakout season. It's not about the breakout season. I think it's about like what you can put together also beyond that. Gabby had an incredible season for the Diamondbacks. He just hasn't really had that since that season. I mean, he had a good season.

I think that we were projecting him to be better and better. He obviously won the Gold Glove, which was a big deal, I think, especially as a rookie, winning the gold glove is pretty massive. But I do think that Gabby, like, he does have the, like, potential to take it to the next level. Yes. Like a Jerry did. Jerry was an All-Star in 2023. Right.

I mean, whether that was deserved or not, you know, we could split hairs. But, like, he made the All-Star game in 2023. I guess technically that would be his breakout. But really, it was his, like, what, his six, seven-war season that he had last year is his true breakout season. I think that you could see Gabby potentially, like, just stay a little. bit more healthy, stay a little bit more consistent, and maybe be like a, you know, 15, 20 plus home run guy. And that in it of itself would be a huge jump for Gabby to like, you know, boost his power numbers. We've seen him have that power before. He just hasn't really put it

together. I like the Gabby edition. I mean, I think that the best one for the Diamondbacks, if I'm, if I'm being idealistic, who would be the, the best case scenario to have like a big jump from what they were to what they could become. Brandon Faw. A hundred percent. You read my mind. It's Brandon Fawt. I don't even think it's a question.

Because we have him extended. We have him long term already set. We know that he has potential to be an upper rotation level pitcher. But he's just been so damn inconsistent, whether it's giving up 10 runs and getting zero outs or, you know, having, you know, just complete meltdowns where he gives up like three bombs in an inning. And then he goes out and he shoves the next. game. And you're like, what happened between then and now where you just were two different

pitchers? I think Brandon fought, like, if he can give you like a under 3-5 ERA, you know what that would do for the long-term future of the Arizona Diamondbacks organization? So that's what I want to happen. I think that's different than what I think will happen. Do you have any thoughts on, on someone that you think could break out other than Lawler, maybe? I still think Ryan Waldschmidt, if given an opportunity at a major league level, could be that. guy that just becomes that instant superstar. You know what I mean? Just a breakout star that, you know, comes up to the major league roster and just sticks.

I think that could very much be that. Another guy that I believe in, I've always believed in, and this could finally be the breakout season for him, Drey Jameson, going back to pitching. When you hear other organizations are taking a look at Dre Jameson and kicking the tires on him as a starter, what are what are the diamondbacks truly doing with him? Is he a starter? Is he a reliever? Please. We know he has the makeup to be a closer. We know he has the physical chemical makeup, the head, the mind, everything to be a closer, right? I mean, he went through a lot of injury things. They thought that he needed another Tommy John surgery, but it ended up being like bone spurs

or whatever in his elbows. So, I mean, again, I just feel like with what I have heard about Dre, what we've seen from him, talking to him, like he is a guy that's poised for that. He is like at a point in his career where it is almost put up or shut up time for him as well. And he has been talking a lot. I mean, he is a guy that truly believes in himself. So I think that he is a guy that could be a game changer for this bullpen.

It's the reason why we might not see this team make many moves. this offseason when it comes to that bullpen because they might feel like they have some guys that that can internally be good and be a bullpen for this team. We might not believe in it, but the way they look at these players, the way they value these players completely different than the way we as fans do. So again, many, a lot of times these organizations think that this is going to be the breakout season for so many guys. And honestly, with the young arms that the Diamondbacks have in the bullpen, it could be any of those guys. Yeah, I think you're Mesto says that that's what he wants to see happen,

and then he lists some guys here, Drey Jameson, Brandon Garcia, Andrew Hoffman, Juan Burgos, Gilbert Diaz, and Juan Murillo. Like, those are all young pitchers that have stuff that you would at least, you know, be intrigued by. I think Abner, you can throw in there as well, probably, right? Like, there are a few young relievers on this team who, you know,

maybe you could bank a little bit of potential on. And you're going to need a couple of those guys to step up. I think that that's fairly likely to have. happened that a couple of because they're just going to have the opportunity there's they're throwing darts at a dartboard eventually you're going to land a couple of you know what i mean you got it so and i think like i said with all due respect i think some of those guys did deserve it super bad andrew hoffman was really good at first uh i felt like brandon garcia was solid throughout his entire time in the bullpen numbers yeah the numbers don't indicate that any of these guys right now were studs for this team in

2025. It doesn't mean that they couldn't be studs for this team in 2026. They have the experience. They shake off the whole major league call up. I'm new to this team. I'm new to this organization thing. And once they can kind of get comfortable and settled in, then maybe these guys can be the bullpen of the future. But I still believe in Dre. I do. I do really like that question. Just to round it out. I think that if I had to pick a prospect, I would go Walt Schmidt. Not that that's like a hot take. But I just get the, I get, there's a vibe around, around Waldy. Derek there really is I know like I think he's him like I

it's I I feel like he's the like he actually to me I have I have a lot of faith that he's like got a pretty high floor if that makes sense he's a he's an SEC college player he's moving through the system really quick like he's pointing to me he's checking all the boxes

of the guy that I think is is going to be a damn good player and and like if if Gurriel is out for any extended period of time I want to see him get a shot I really do he's going to have a chance to make the spring training roster, to make the MLB roster, as Jesse told us, like, in spring training. So I hope we get to see it. I hope Ryan Walschmidt doesn't play for that team that you're wearing all the gear of ever again, Derek. I want to see him in the Reno Aces at minimum,

and then I want to see him on the Arizona Diamondbacks as soon as possible. Yeah, you're not wrong. You're not wrong. Our guy Jake Oliver in the chat says, Akamoto, meeting with Arizona is great news. This is actually some breaking news that we got right now. Kazuma Akamoto is reportedly in the U.S. for in-person meetings. His posting deadline, Damon, is at the end of this week. Potential suitors listed,

Blue Jays, Cubs, Red Sox, Diamondbacks, Padres, Angels, Pirates. So we are... Happy to be here. Just happy to be a part. He's going to be an angel. He's going to be an angel.

He's going to be an angel. He's going to be an angel. Oh, God. I'm sorry to let everybody know that now. Yeah, well, hopefully, hopefully. I don't know. Again, cool bro suggested not taking him to Philberto's. I might just take him to Philberto.

See if I can change his mind on it. Man, what do you think? That would be a crazy video. I would love to do like pH and X Sports takes the new Japanese signing to like to a Mexican food restaurant. Hell yeah. He's just like, he's like, what? What? I've never experienced anything like.

What is this magic? Yeah. That'd be electric. I do want to talk about some magic, by the way, before we get on to our next question. And the magic is coming out to have fun with us. There are not a lot of Cardinals games left, thank God. But for some of the remaining away games, we can still get together as a family and lament about how bad our football team is. Join Bo Brock, Johnny Venerable, myself, the rest of the PHNX crew.

Noah's out there causing problems. It's a great time. We are all out for the ultimate Cardinals away game watch parties at Heela, River. resorts and casinos wild horse pass and damon on my way out stop by visited with some buffalo dropped 20 one 110 dollars on my way out so not only did i get some great food great drinks and hanged with some great people but uh yeah one myself a little cash on the way out the door uh we have live pre half and post game ph and x cardinal shows we also have food and drink specials as well as ph and x giveaways our guy ryan hanley won this one shout

out to our guy. He's right there. He is. When you're there, your family. There's our guy. Ryan. Macculate vibes as always. And of course, we have one more watch party left, January 4th versus the Los Angeles Rams. So come on out. It's a free event. RSVP for our Cardinals game watch parties at go p.h-nx.com slash events. And yes, I am a $190.90, richer, but still nonetheless. What do we got still in the mailbag, Damon? Our next question here, and again, I did it again because I'm a bad guy.

Yeah, you're a bad. Flea Ball, who I believe is also here in the chat as always. Saul Frank has closer stuff, right? Let's just call it now. Also, where is Tawa playing in 2026? He needs one position to see what we have in him. I have some bad news for you about Tim Tawa. He is going to continue to play everywhere.

And unfortunately, I think that's because he's proven that he has value doing so. Yeah. Yeah, I think that that's the type of player for sure, where it's like his avenue to the majors is that he can play wherever Tori needs him to. He can slot in any spot on any given night in the lineup, depending on injury, rest, you name it. Yeah. And so I think that more we just need to see him be consistent at the plate. And it's a hard job and task to have when you're that utility guy. But, yeah, I mean, like if you if he has something more, he'll prove it, I feel like in his, you know, A.Bs that he gets.

but he has to also compete with like a guy like Blaze for that utility role, I think. Yeah, I think Blaze will get more defined role. I think Blaze will probably stick to third in the outfield. As of now, I think Blaze is the third baseman. I think so too. But that could change. Yeah. And then in regards to his first part of his question, we have not talked about Andrew Saul-Frank

enough and what he did in the 2025 season. In the, we're past an hour. Can I curse now, Damon? I think you can kind of curse. In the dog shit season, that was the bullpen, there was this brief, this glimmering light of hope. And it was Andrew Saul Frank. He posted a 1.24 ERA in 28 games and 29 innings pitched. He had a 3.31 FIP incredible.

He was amazing. I mean, he was simply amazing. He posted a 1.6 baseball reference war in 29 innings. Damn. That is pretty crazy. Right. So, you know, again, this is one of those guys that, again, because of how bad the rest of the bullpen was, he kind of has been lumped into it. But he was incredible for a stretch. As were a few other guys. I mean, there was, especially in that second half when the Diamondbacks made a true playoff push, there were a couple of guys that were a big part of that.

Nabil Krizmott, who, as they mentioned in the chat, signed with, I believe, the was it the Rangers? signed Nebile Christmas? Yes. And then, you know, again, Andrew Salfranc, incredible. Even Erod, even Eduardo Rodriguez, who we're going to talk about here in a moment, was incredible for a stretch against some of the best teams in baseball. But it's about replicating that and about having that be, you know, what Saul Frank, you know, can do throughout an entire season.

His time with this team has definitely a dark cloud hanging over it with those, with the suspension due to, you know, the betting situation. right so I mean I know it was a stupid mistake but I more feel bad for him than anything about that because I don't I don't think that he really didn't he thought he was doing anything wrong well you know what I mean yeah and I mean I also think that this is a this is a guy who again still has a tremendous amount of value to this team and kind of is flying under the radar right now due to that whole situation a bit so I think this is a spot on assessment I agree with flea ball that if nothing changes right Right now, there's a good chance that we'll probably see Saul Frank in the ninth. And like Ryan Thompson or Kevin Ginkle in the 8th? Like, that feels like where we're at. I think people are a little too low on Ginkle, honestly. He had two.

Damon defending a U of A guy. How am I surprised by this? Well, first off, it's been disgusting the way that people talk about Kevin Ginkle. I know. A guy who gave us so much and now you fickle fans turn your back on him. I mean, was the Kikog in our bullpins. in the 2023 playoff run. He was the best pitcher in the bullpen.

He was better than Ryan Thompson. He was better than Paul Sewell. So, like, he had great seasons in 23 and 24. If you look at his underlying metrics, baseball savant, lines that up. 2025 he was hurt the entire year. Yeah. You know, I don't think that it's over for Kevin Ginko. I think he could have a bounce back season.

I think Ryan Thompson is decent, you know, and, you know, maybe he took a step back from what he was when he first came to Arizona. But he's still an okay pitcher. but yeah, I mean, listen, I think Andrew Saul-Frank is a solid, solid pitcher. And hopefully he continues to give you what he gave you in very short amount of endings last year. What else we got out there, Damon? Next question comes from Michael C, why doesn't the Diamondbacks do a salary dump for Erod to sign Braggman? If only we're so simple, Michael.

If only it was so easy, right? If we could get rid of E. Rod, I'd do it in two seconds. We still have how many years on that contract? Just one. Is that right? Yeah, just one. Thank God. Eduardo Rodriguez.

But he, I mean, it was a four-year contract. So I think it's two, right? Yeah, 2027 is when it's over. Yeah, so. But a conditional mutual option. Yeah, it's a mutual option for 2028, which. Good luck, you, Rod. That's a wrap on that one, right?

But yeah, the 2026 and 2020. 27 seasons will be with the Diamondbacks. And I mean, again, he's owed $21 million in 26 and $19 million in 27. It's not absurd, right? We're seeing contracts in baseball kind of come down. It's absurd when you have an ERA of five, though. 100%. So how do you get somebody to take it?

Exactly. Right? Like, that's really what it comes down. You literally had a 502 ERA. You would need him to go on another stretch like he did that I was discussing at the end of last year and then trade him at the height of interest being in him before he can, you know, becoming consistent. I still believe in Eduardo Rodriguez. I still think he hasn't been healthy.

That's what I think. That's what I think. Whether that's true, whether it's just me making up fairy tales. But that stretch when we were covering him and I was calculating his ERA after a couple of games and everything was just looking so good, it's hard not to want. wonder if he can replicate that, which was not that long ago over the course of a season. Yes, he's going to have bad games. Yes, he's not going to be able to do that every single night, night in and night out.

But if he could have more stretches like that rather than just being against a five game stretch. And maybe if he can do it against all teams and not just the best teams in baseball, similar to what we saw as Zach Gallen last year, perhaps Erod could still have tremendous amount of value there in the starting rotation. never going to be your one or two starter, right? But he definitely could still be much better than a five ERA pitcher. And that's what I think that, you know, again, that he can add. Plus, you know, again, flea ball is absolutely right. We do need a lefty in the rotation, at least one. And that's what E. Rod gives us. And again, I might be smoking that Erod copium OG pack for sure. I mean,

it's an all in one device and it's got smooth hits. But, dude, I just, I'll believe it when I see it, Derek. I can't believe in, I can't believe in E. Rod. I know. Right. And nor do I feel like he's given Diamondbacks fans anything to necessarily believe in, right? But overall, like the course of his career, it's not like he's been that much better.

You know, his last, yes, his last season with the Tigers when the Diamondbacks got him, he had a 3.30 ERA in 2023. So you add, you think about adding that to a team. that was so short on starting pitching and still made it all the way to the World Series. And you feel like even if he's not a 3.30, even if he balloons back up to 4.05 like he had in 22 or 4.74 in 21. It's still not awful. But yes, it was awful. 5.04 in 24, 5.02 ERA in 23. My other problem with Erod, if you really want to talk the other direction and get me so angry, Damon, what you're doing,

his fit for 24 and 25, 4.57. Both seasons, exactly the same FIP, exactly. It's hard to not believe that that's exactly what he is. 4.57 FIPP. He's not a good pitcher. I don't really know how else to say it. I don't have faith that he's going to be good. I think he could be exactly what he has been for us,

which is maybe an innings eater for half a season, because he'll get hurt. It was a terrible signing. And the fact, honestly, we should have seen the signs. The fact that we bought as high as we did on E-R-D, he had a 3-3-0-E-R-A, he turned down the Dodgers in a trade. We were fired up. Stupid decision.

We should have never been fired up about that signing. That was not a good signing. Yeah. I don't know. And it's valuable resources because we don't have a lot of $20 million a year contracts that were paying out, Derek. Like, if we didn't have Erod, we legitimately could have another star on this roster. That's not an exaggeration.

We can have like Edwin Diaz. Shut up. Cool bro in the chat says, Meet the Grams by Kendrick Lamar, but for Erod. Oh, my God. Take that mask off. I want to see what's underneath them achievements. Why believe you?

You never gave us nothing to believe in. Maybe he's right. I might just be, in fact, too hopeful, too positive. But what else we got? Our next question is from Jarmy and Jason wants to know, given who is left in free agency, is there a scenario where doing nothing else is better than just doing a signing for signing's sake? Signing for signing's sake is five times fast. Go ahead.

It is. Try it. I agree. I kind of feel this way about Alex Brighman, don't you? Don't you? Forget Cotel Marte, getting rid of Cotel Marte. Don't you sit there and wonder how the hell it makes sense to add out, Alex Brighman, and don't you feel like maybe just maybe not committing that much money to him

might be the better move? I don't know. I feel like if it if you told me- If it doesn't involve trading Catell, it's a completely different scenario. For me. Right. I mean, no, for me too. It really is, but I still, like I've said time and time again, I just hate this. I hate this. This is, this is needing to do renovations and having our friends at Window Depot help us here, but you want to go spend $5,000 on a front door. And we have so many other things to fix in this house, Damon. We have so many windows to repair. We do need a corner infielder though, Derek.

We do. We do. It's not like that's not one of the needs that we have. I feel like you're like you, you, you, very clearly. And I'm not saying you're wrong because I think that I actually would lean your way as well. But I think you very clearly think that Blaze Alexander has a better shot of being the long term third baseman than Pavin Smith does the long term first basement. Or Locklear. We'll throw Locklear into that as well.

1000%. Because because I think that you consider. consistently keep wanting a first base more than the third basement. But I think that you could make the argument that they need both. And Blaze could move to the left field and be flexible a little bit more so if you wanted him to. Bregman later in his career could move to first base, as we've mentioned in this in this show already. I think that Bregman would give the Diamondbacks like the best infield, offensive infield in baseball. Pardomo, Catell, Bregman, and one infield.

I mean, that's something to hang your hat on. If it meant no, we didn't have to get rid of Catell, I'd be all. on it. Yeah, I mean, that does start to make you feel like we are a team competing and contending in the NL West. Yeah. So maybe you're right, but I think, Sean, I hear you and I think that there's always that risk when you're the Diamondbacks because we are just so bad at signing Big Fury agents. Sean says Brighman would end up being Erod in the form of a position player. I just think Brigman is more consistent than that. Like, he go look at his stats. Even in his down seasons, he's still a good player. That I agree with it. Whereas E. Rod in his down seasons is literally the worst

starting pitcher in baseball last year. Literally. Not an exaggeration. Like 502 ERA, you know, Gowan fought and Erod just competing for worst starter in the league. And so I just I think Brighman is just has a much, much higher floor than ERAD does

personally. Yeah, you're right. You're right about that. All right, what else we got? Our next question. We're keeping people entirely too long. No, we're having a good time here, Derek. We're having a good time and I did it again. It's all right. We're going to James Sargent and James wants to know, when will the D-backs ever prioritize a bullpen? It literally has been an issue since the inception of the franchise.

Pitching is like the trenches in football. You have to build there and make sure you have good starters and relievers to compete for a title. 100%. A hundred percent. Jimmy's spitting. He is. And he's also right about it literally being the issue since the inception of the Diamondbacks. Very true.

I mean, it's why we've joked so many times on this show. Maybe not joked. maybe joked isn't the right word, address the true matter, which was the Diamondback sacrificing their bullpen soul for Randy Johnson to come out during the World Series and win that baseball game for them. But yeah, I mean, it's been a problem for a very long time. And it's the reason why a Brighman signing upsets me so much, right? Like, because there's so much good pitching available out there.

We have a guy like Tatsuya Amai who wants to do nothing more than come to the United States and bring the Dodgers to their knees. And we aren't going to sign a guy like that. I give him everything. Sean brings up the Iceman Matt Mantai. I love Matt Mantai, but even his numbers when you go back and look at him aren't incredible. In fact,

young, young Kim, probably one of the best closers we've ever had. Absolutely. Like top three, it's crazy. Yeah. Yeah. A top three closer we've ever had is known for choking in the playoffs. Yeah.

Like that's the state of this history of bullpen that we have in Arizona. 100%. And it's just, it really is, Derek, I will say. Like the Dinobbacks didn't need to go out there and sign five bullpen pitchers this offseason. But it's shocking that Mike Hazen didn't get one of the premier available options. It makes no sense to me how we don't end up with Pete Fairbanks or Luke Weaver when those two are the fine, like basically the final two options available. Get one of them, Mike? Yeah.

One of them. Yeah, I can send a message to this fan base. And maybe the young guys step up and are pretty decent, but I just think that you needed to get a one piece in the bullpen. I've had this wavering kind of like feeling about this team. And again, Mike Soroka, I was interested. I'm just interested. Not, I don't feel a certain way about it,

but I do feel like Soroka could be a very interesting piece that at the end of 2026, we're talking about how valuable in addition to the starting rotation that guy is. We already know what we're getting in Merrill Kelly. So I'm very, very satisfied to have him back. and as far as heartwarming stories are concerned, there is none better than that. It's the reason why I would love to have Paul Goldschman back.

I think he has value, and I think it's a great story for this team. But overall, yeah, man, I don't feel like they have addressed the bullpen nearly enough. Well, they haven't done it at all. Well, I mean, yeah, yeah. They haven't done a thing. Fair, fair.

Fair. And I don't love, you know, again, even some of the rumored moves that they're tied to. I don't know what they're doing. and, you know, like Jacob said it earlier, but the, I guess the disrespect by Cotel Marte and such is far more than most of us might know and how much, you know, again, that Marte trade is viewed as being necessary for this team to move on and be competitive in 2026, even though the rest of us are left sitting here going, why the hell are we doing this? Why are we even talking about this? But anyway, let's get one more in, Damon. Let's get out of here. Last question from Austin. Before home game giveaways are announced this year, what would be one that gets you super excited?

Are you kidding me? There's no giveaway that would get me more excited than James McCann armbands. Sexy man Jimmy McCann arm bands. A bobblehead of him flexing. Let's go. I don't know. Like, I still think some of the best giveaways in Diamondbacks history are very unique to this team. For sure.

And I just don't know if Major League Baseball. really wants to do that. Like, everything is so repetitive in Major League Baseball. I want more, you know, Haboob sand globes. And I want Gonzo the Muppet in representing Gonzo the human. Gurielhair. Yeah, Guriel hair was great. Guriel hair is legit.

And that needs to be something that, like, they give out at the door. What else could they do? Like, something for Pardomo and frogs, right? There has to be a frog next year. of some kind. If there's not a frog, what are the Diamondbacks even doing? Anything you can think of?

Man, a Coutel Marte bobblehead? Thoughts? He's in the Dominican? No, he's in an Arizona Diamondbacks uniform. Oh, yeah,

no, that 100% yes. And we're giving them out because he plays on the team and he's batting, he's batting lead off tonight, playing second base. Just a thought,

just a thought. Yeah, I'm down for that, 100%. I feel like we could think of something else good, though. I like the James McCann, like the fake buff arms that you wear on like Halloween. Yes, that would be amazing. I think they need to give away rattles. I think they need to do it like on opening day.

Yes. Could you imagine how electric that stadium would be? 42,000 strong shaking rattles at the opposition. Best home field advantage involved. Yeah. Let's go. That would be electric. Yeah.

I mean, I know we can buy the team shop, but let's just give those away. Let's hook them up every fan on opening day with that. But we thank you guys. I'd give you guys the world because you guys are here sharing your time with us. We appreciate you guys doing so. We will be back tomorrow with the 12 p.m. episode. I do believe our guy, Jesse Friedman, will be here once again in studio to discuss probably these Breggman rumors, probably some Cite rumors, and hopefully some new information about this team. This bullpen is going to look like in 2026.

Until then, you can follow all of us on Twitter. I am at cap underscore caveman with a K. Damon is at Damon Dog with a DAWG at the end. And as always, we're all Damon's dogs. Bark, bark. I said bark, bark. Okay. Our show is at PHNX underscore D-Backs, but all roads, as always leads to PHNX underscore Sports on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Again, we thank you guys so much for your time. We appreciate you stopping by. We'll see you tomorrow at noon. And until then, we hope you all have a wonderful evening. Behave yourselves, Scotty Mac, you gorgeous SOB. And remember, kids, baseball is fun. But it's so much more fun when you don't upgrade to a player that's going to cost you more that might be worse than the one you're going to get rid of.