PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - Is Carlos Santana The MOST PRACTICAL Replacement For Diamondbacks At First Base?

Episode Date: October 24, 2024

JOIN THE DIEHARDS FOR JUST $4 A MONTH! https://www.gophnx.com/intro-offer-youtubeWhile Christian Walker is arguably the best replacement for Christian Walker, the Diamondbacks realistically might opt to go elsewhere.An ALLCITY Network ProductionSUBSCRIBE to our YouTube: https://bit.ly/phnx_youtubeALL THINGS PHNX: http://linktr.ee/phnxsportsMERCH https://store.allcitynetwork.com/collections/phnx-lockerALLCITY Network, Inc. aka PHNX and PHNX Sports is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by the City of PhoenixPHNX Events: Get your tickets to PHNX events and takeovers here: https://gophnx.com/events/bet365: https://www.bet365.com/olp/open-account?affiliate=365_03330244 Use the code PHNX365 to sign up, deposit $10 and choose your offer!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/Bluechew: Try BlueChew FREE when you use our promo code ALLCITY at checkout--just pay $5 shipping. That’s https://bluechew.com promo code ALLCITY to receive your first month FREE. Visit for more details and important safety information, and we thank BlueChew for sponsoring the podcast..Zbiotics: Go to https://zbiotics.com/phnxdbacks to get 15% off your first order when you use PHNXDBACKS at checkout. Pre-Alcohol is backed with 100% money back guarantee so if you’re unsatisfied for any reason, they’ll refund your money, no questions asked. Empire Today: Schedule a free in-home estimate today! All listeners can receive a $350 OFF discount when they use the promo code PHNX. Restrictions apply. See https://empiretoday.com/phnx for details.Branded Bills: Use code PHNX at https://www.brandedbills.com/ for 20% off your first order!Earn entries for Ferrari Fortunes every Friday. At 7pm, winners are drawn for cash prizes and free bonus play. The grand finale will take place on November 1st at Wild Horse Pass, where one lucky winner will win a Ferrari 488 GTB! Visit https://playatgila.com/promotion/ferrarifortunes/Gametime: Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code PHNX for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply.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!Shady Rays: Exclusively for our listeners, Shady Rays is giving out their best deal of the season. 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.Check out FOCO merch and collectibles and use promo code “PHNX10” for 10% off your order on all non Pre Order items.Rugged Road: Gear up for your next adventure with Rugged Road Coolers - Your ultimate outdoor companion! Head to http://ruggedroadoutdoors.pxf.io/ALLCITY and use code PHNX for 10% off!Get 10 FREE meals at https://hellofresh.com/freedbacks. Applied across 7 boxes, new subscribers only, varies by plan.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.

What's this? What's that? What are these colors, Jesse? It's throwback Thursday. Let's go. Don't go anywhere. We got throwback Thursday coming your way for the first time in 30 seconds. Come in to another edition of the PHNX TVax podcast right here in Studio K, presented by our friends at Serf K. My name is Derek Monti, occasionally known as your mayor of PHNX and occasionally known as a guy who rakes at Chase Field. This man next to me is the thunderstick, though he didn't get to display his thunderstick power.

this morning. It's also the one and only Jesse Friedman. And welcome in, ladies and gentlemen, to our very first installment of Throwback Thursday. What is Throwback Thursday? We don't even know. We just miss these colors. We miss the copper. We miss the teal. We miss the purple. We're bringing it back. But we do have some fun stuff to talk about in regards to the Diamondbacks history and especially this day in Diamondbacks history. But I did want to tell you this show is brought to you by our friends at Bet365. Download the Bet365 app. Use that code of P HNX365.

When you sign up, choose your offer, and find out why it is never ordinary at Bet365. Jesse, welcome in the throwback Thursday, I guess. Yeah, yeah. A brain child of Mr. Friedman over here. But one year ago, we definitely made some magic happen. A historical day in Diamondbacks history. Yeah, it honestly worked out perfectly as much as I would love to say that we intentionally planned it out so that our first ever our first ever throwback Thursday podcast would be on the one

year anniversary of the diamondbacks winning the pennant that's not exactly the way it happened uh but yeah it it obviously this was uh one year ago today was uh when i i would venture to guess one of the best days in uh the lives of a lot of diamondbacks fans probably a lot of people joining us uh here on this show so uh it worked out pretty well and uh for a while uh you everybody knows like purple and teal everybody wants the purple and teal back and so we felt it was only fitting that for every Thursday show at least throughout the remainder of the off season we are going to sort of refresh our color palette around here pay our respects to the colors that everyone wishes had never gone anywhere the colors that made us if you would jesse the colors that made us what we are but this was a very special day one year ago beating the Phillies in game seven of the NLCS and advancing to the World Series. It just, it was just a magical time. I mean, I think that there is a part of me that feels very empty as we have discussed

this postseason. As we have made an attempt to do postgame shows and get into the playoffs, it hurts. It doesn't feel right because last year just gave us so many amazing moments, but I don't know if anywhere as big as the excitement that we as a lot. company experienced on this day jumping around this office hugging each other uh it was it was amazing i think damon leapt into my arms he left into my arms jesse it was it was a special time that was beautiful derrick i i still get a tear in my eye thinking about that i do too i do too i feel very sad that i wasn't here to to witness it was yeah it was crazy we had like three cameras set up

because we were just like just in case it happened i have seen the video you've seen the video yes but mean i i don't know man you got brandon fought versus rangers swore as in that game uh you have the diamondbacks getting up early again which was so which was so big yeah i think for the diamond backs to immediately get a one nothing lead in the top half of the first inning in that environment in a game seven i think it just allowed everyone to to kind of settle in uh and corvin carroll man i mean he just had his his handprint was all over that win for the diamond backs And even in that first inning, it was a Corbyn Carroll single. It was a Gabriel Moreno single.

The Bex had first and third with one out there in the top half of the first. And then Christian Walker hit a fielder's choice ground out. It wasn't anything super, you know, super flashy necessarily. But it got the diamond backs on the board immediately. And yeah, it was a close game. And they obviously were able to come away with a win. And it wasn't just that it, I mean, it kind of was basically the playoffs, right?

I mean, like there was this. It was the playoffs. No, no, no. I mean, it was kind of a story of the whole playoffs. There was just this sense at times where the Diamondbacks were going to get knocked out. There was this sense of times that, you know, like, I guess this feeling of satisfaction that, like, at least they made it this far, right? You had that when they made it into the playoffs.

Then they beat Milwaukee and they go to the Dodgers. and there was this sense of dread, and there was this sense of like, oh. And then even during the, but they handled their business against the Dodgers, but during the series against Phillies, we felt that several times. Like several times you were ready to wrap it up

and at least say, wow, look at this run that they went on. And instead, they just kept finding ways to win. And this was probably that biggest, like, well, no matter what happens tonight, at least they push this to seven. It's going to be hard to win at the bank. And, you know, you just got to appreciate. what they've done up till this point.

Instead, what we got was a very, very magical, a game, win, and advancement on the World Series, which, you know, that part maybe wasn't so magical, but we still had some fun during the World Series as well. I think that, you know, the game started well, but in the fourth inning of that Game 7, I was sort of like, all right, this is where the wheels fall off. Like, it's been a nice run,

but the Diamondback was really about to win game seven of the NLCS in Philadelphia. The Phillies, I guess the Phillies tied the game first of all in the second inning. Alec Bohm hit an absolute, an absolute missile to left field. So that was a solo shot that tied the game. And then in the fourth inning, the Phillies took a two one lead on a Bryson Stott RBI double. And at that point, it was like, all right, the Phillies have their lead. The crowd is back into it. This is going to be really hard for the debacks to come back and win this game.

And the next batter was J.T. Rom Uto. He singled. So the Phillies had first and third still only one out in the inning. They had a chance to really blow the game open at that point. But Brandon fought in just a trend throughout the entire postseason run. He struck out Nick Castiano's. He, I think more or less like kind of worked around Brandon Marsh, left, you know, left on right matchup, a guy that the debacks wanted to probably make sure didn't beat them.

So they walked Marsh with the second base open. and then Fott got Johan Rojas to strike out to end the inning. And there were a number of examples of that throughout this game where the Phillies had opportunities to really take a leader, in this case, even break the game open. And they weren't able to do that. The Diamondbacks time and time again were able to do just enough to keep the Phillies off the board

and ultimately, of course, won this game. Well, I mean, that day was something else. I think, you know, there's, there's just a special, like, spark about that. You know, there's something about, you know, what the Diamondbacks were able to do in that particular game that made you believe that this team was perhaps destined to win the World Series. Like, I remember thinking how. It really felt that way, didn't it? Like that, because it was that game was what changed everything.

Like, up until that point, you just kind of, once again, like I said, had this feeling of gratitude, hopefully as a fan, had a feeling of gratitude that they had made it to the, far. Yeah. That this young team was so happy to be there. Yeah, just happy to be there. That is when it stopped being that. When they beat the Phillies in game seven of the NLCS in Philadelphia,

that is the moment when the Diamondback stopped being a cute story to me that we were just happy with how far they've come. Yeah. And again, it was against the Texas Rangers team in the World Series that you believed that they actually had a chance to beat. Whereas up to that point, even facing Milwaukee, you kind of had your. doubts. I mean, I feel like most Diamondbacks fans did have their doubts in regards to if the Diamondbacks could overcome any of their opponents, especially considering the way they played

at the end of the regular season, much like the end of this year's regular season, right? But they did the thing, and boy, did they continue to do it. But this, that's why I was saying this win just felt special. After this win, after we saw Alec Thomas go out there and plant that flag in their field and officially declare Citizens Bank Park Diamondbacks, territory like that was electric right it was such a it was such a banner moment for corbin carol too like the diamondbacks won game seven because of corbin carol and gabriel marino marino had a great game too it was really those two guys who were you know he got the single that scored rbera and then he scores that single on that gabriel marino right rbi single i believe that then gave them the lead yeah

after they fell behind two one uh in the sixth inning it was an ammanuel rvera lead off single Geraldo Perdomo bunted him to second base. So he's there with one out. Kattel struck out. So he was there with two outs. And then Corby and Carroll came through with a clutch RBI single. And not only that, but he stole second base. And then he came around to score on a two out RBI single by Gabby Moreno.

So it was, it was really cool to see the Diamondbacks young players come through on a stage that big. And as someone who was at the bank for that game, I can attest that there was so much nervous energy in that ballpark from the first pitch. Game six, the Phillies fans were like, all right, we're going to win this game. We're going to, you know, there was a sense of confidence, I think, for Phillies fans with game six. Game seven, I think Phillies fans were mortified deep down. They still got loud.

They still got plenty loud, especially when the Phillies took that early lead. But there was, I think that's why we always talk about in a game seven, anything can happen, right? Yeah. And I think that Phillies fans were really feeling that. And the way that this game turned out, it wasn't, it didn't feel like a fluke, though. You know, the debacks out hit the Phillies 11 to 5. It wasn't like, you know, the Phillies were hit rockets all over the place and got super unlucky. This was a game where the debacks just played better and they found a way to win.

And it was, yeah, again, one of the best moments in Diamondbacks history. Paul Sewell got three flyouts to end the game. And fittingly so Corbyn Carroll made the last out catching it. And we have some images, I believe. of that day that really if our words and reminiscing about it wasn't enough for you. I mean, we can take a look at some of these historic images from that wind over the Phillies. This is like when you when you like go through your camera roll just like aimlessly. Do you ever do this?

Oh God. I just I just do this and like like relive relive like the glory moments from when I was in, you know, college or whatever. And yeah, I guess this isn't a particularly happy photo. this is Brandon Fott looking sort of dejected. He doesn't have any pictures where he ever looks pumped up, Jesse. You know this. He's a very cool, calm, collected individual. That's kind of why he is the way he is, I feel like.

That's why he's big game Brandon. Yeah, you're not wrong. You're not wrong. That's why I thought it was like kind of like a descriptive moment of how just kind of how he was the entire postseason, no matter what. Yeah, Fought was outstanding throughout the whole post season. And I needed to have a, I needed to have a, I need to have a picture of Brandon Fott.

It wouldn't have felt right to not have a shot of Fott, even if he looks sort of ejected. Let's go. Let's go to the next one. Oh, fire me up. There's the electricity we were looking for. Yeah, and there was quite a bit of noise that really should accompany this photo as well,

because you could hear Kevin Ginkle from the press box in this moment as he was shouting, screaming. That's when he struck out the side in the eighth, right? It's when he struck out the side in the eighth inning. And not only that, but he got two huge outs in the seventh. Andrew Saul-Frank issued back-to-back walks with one out. And then Gingle came in and got two flyouts to get the debacks out of that inning. Obviously, we've talked about it.

We had Gingle on our show around this time last year. And, yeah, it was a remarkable postseason run for him. He didn't allow an earned run the entire way, which is crazy to think about. You also have Corbyn Carroll making that last out there. And that's an iconic, that's an iconic photo there. You also have, I think Ryan in the chat said he still remembers the announcer's call in regards to that. And the Diamondbacks are moving on to the World Series. Brian Anderson, man, he's nailing all these big postseason moments last year, this year.

He's really good at what he does. But yeah, it wouldn't have felt right if Corbyn Carroll had not been the one to catch that final, that final out to send the Diamondbacks. the World Series. It really was perfect. And of course, oh, this one's going to infuriate Thunderbolt. Their story, they're celebrating. And again, what a feeling, you know, this must have been for him. Like, I think that there is something to be said about how early, you know, that that trip

to the World Series was for this franchise. And honestly, how good it must have felt, you know, to kind of be leading. these young guys and having these young guys like you said corbin and gabby were just the the reasons why the diamondbacks won this game and and obviously kevin ginkle played a huge role huge role as yeah a lot of people did i mean you just got to be just over the moon that you were able to you know manage these young guys to to this point in their career it's it's got i mean obviously the results in the world series weren't as desired but there probably wasn't a higher moment in this man's career as a manager than that moment right there getting to put on that shirt of national

league champion it looks like he didn't quite finish putting on the shirt sometimes sometimes when you're wet with champagne shirts don't go on very easily I learned that like when you're especially if you're if you're if you took off your shirt uh and you might have gowsher but this is pre champagne shower right he's a little sweaty though there's some condensation there I don't know I want Can I get some sad fillies? I'd like some sad Phillies maybe had to yeah had to yeah Brain and Marsh oh that's a shame You hate to see that guy you hate to see it, but what he gets for having such a wet beard

You love to see it oh god that spot is probably soaking wet when it gets up from it They're gonna have to like bring in some sand to dry it up I just I'm like the Phillies make me so angry now Yes, I'm salty about the Phillies And now more so than I ever will be. So seeing sad Phillies makes me happy. We cost them a championship. They would have beat the Rangers, I think, in that World Series. I feel good about that.

Yeah. I know that I wanted to win it myself. But, you know, keeping those scumbags away from a championship, that means something to me. Yeah. They would have been favored by a long shot if they had gone to the World Series. Yeah. And of course, the man that they took out this year. and the reason why maybe we didn't make the playoffs this year.

That man right there. Man, he was electric last postseason. It's just incredible to think back upon that hitting streak he had and just everything that he did for this team. But give me one more like good time shot. Oh, why didn't I know we were in the good times, you know, when you're in the actual good times? Do you know what I mean?

Like, why didn't we know that? Give me a shot of Alec Thomas maybe. With making the, I don't know, making the bank, his bank, or making it our bank? Is it our bank? It's our bank, right? I'm pretty sure that's how that works. That's Diamondback country right there. You plant a flag somewhere and all of a sudden you own that territory.

Yeah, that's how, yeah. United States owns the moon, right? That's how that works. Oh, man. That's electric. I think this was probably the best moment of your life, Derek. And you weren't even there to witness it in person. You just, you just witnessed it.

A cigar. Yeah. Ah, God, Jerry Pee in the celebration with a beer down his pants there? You know Jerry knows how to party. Oh, my God. Like, you know he does. Yeah. Like when you go and party with Jerry, you don't remember it because you're like,

what happened to the weekend? I've only seen the pictures. I don't remember. But yeah, no, I'm, I don't know. Why am I more empty inside now? I thought this was going to make me feel better and it somehow made me feel worse. It just puts into perspective how, like, how long the Diamondbacks postseason run was. Because I don't know about you, Derek, but the end of the regular season feels like an eternity ago to me at this point.

It's crazy. Like, I can't even, I can't even like picture covering a baseball game at this point, even though it's only been like three weeks. But yeah, the Diamondbacks last year at this time, they were still in the race. They were about to fly to Arlington to play another seven game series. So it was a remarkable run. It was something that as someone who was able to cover all these games, I mean, that's something that I'm going to cherish for the rest of my life. And I guess it's also a reminder that, you know, these kind of runs, they don't happen too often.

This year's Diamondbacks team. We've said it a whole bunch. This year's Diamondbacks team was better than that Diamondbacks team. and there's a lot of very solid evidence to confirm that. Yeah. And yet we've been sitting here for three weeks talking about other teams in the postseason, you know, making a bunch of our cherished viewers and listeners angry. Especially with my clothing. Especially, I mean, those choices are inexcusable, Derek.

There's no. Yeah, that's absolutely earned. But yeah. The Yamamoto Kingsank. That was probably questionable best. That was 100% questionable. I take some responsibility for that. Yeah, so someone would say Kevin failed his producer test.

Yeah, Jesse, I appreciate you taking some accountability for that. Yeah, that was, that was, I can't. It was big of him, right? Yeah, Derek's wardrobe choices are fully on him. Hey, it's scattered day around this office, so I dressed appropriately today. But, uh, yes, I very much in chat, honestly, like I'll throw this out there. I'd like to apologize as well. If I was here, we all know that that would have never.

Yeah, no, no, no. Damon would not have made that graphic. I would have laughed in Derek's face. And then I would have said, what you were kidding. weren't you? It was more than just my decision, I feel like. I don't really, you know what, that's fine. We're not going to go into it.

But what I am going to go into, though, is one, a heck of a deal because if you guys haven't signed up for our diehard membership yet, now is the time to do so. And that is because right now you can get that $48 introductory offer for your first year, which is just $4 a month billed annually, as Bo Brock would say, less than a happy meal a month. And of course, you get all the wonderful. content that we have around here. Jesse's wonderful writing. We have our exclusive diehard only content from this show, Ask Archie, which we have a brand new one, our very first edition showing up here momentarily. We'll have that out for our diehards. We'll also have Damon and me just cursing up a storm

and going over controversial topics on debacks after dark. Of course, you get your free t-shirt of your choice from the locker with that membership, as well as entrance to our Discord lounge, which is the best place to be in Arizona sports fan and discounts on all. of our events. So don't miss out on the chance to join the family over here at PHNX and become one of our diehards. Our other diehards will attest that the community is the biggest is the biggest benefit. As much as I would like to say, we give you all this content. Jesse does some incredible work on his articles, including that upcoming piece on Gino Groover, as well as our other shows. Joining the family and being in Discord and finding this particular group of Arizona sports

fans is probably the biggest benefit. I implore you to check it out over at go p hnx.com and sign up today. I promise you won't be disappointed. On the other side of this break, we have a big topic to discuss, which is the potential Diamondbacks future without Christian Walker. As much as we don't want to talk about that, it is very much a potential reality for this franchise. So we have a few ideas on maybe some replacements for Walker.

And of course, there is nobody to replace Christian Walker other than Christian Walker. We will be talking about that. on the other side of this break, so don't you go anywhere. Of course, check out Bet365. It does make watching sports more fun. And right now you can sign up using our code of PHNX365, deposit $10 and choose between two offers, either a bet and get offer where you can place a $5 bet or more

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If you're someone you know as a gambling problem wants help, call 100 next step. Text next step to 533442 or visit problem gambling.az.com. Also, if you are in the market for a new vehicle, make sure to check out our official vehicle's partner, Sanderson Ford. Sanderson Ford is an incredible group of people over there who will thrive on a no hassle sales approach that will help you, find the vehicle you're looking for and give you the best deal they can. Sanderson Ford is America's most awarded for dealership for customer satisfaction.

and right now you can get a 2024 F-150 truck with a 3.9% APR financing for 60 months plus $1,000 cash back. But if you trade in your RAM truck, you get an additional $2,000 cash back. So we love working with Sanderson Ford because of all the things they do for our community right here in Phoenix, Arizona. And you can get it all with a no hassle, no pressure, and no nonsense approach at Sanderson Ford. Offers OAC from Ford Credit expire 1031 for your next vehicle purchase or lease, choose the dealership, the gives back, pays it forward, seed dealership for details. Well, Jesse, again, this is a topic most Diamondbacks fans don't really want to discuss because the preface is that the D-backs may lose Christian Walker.

Now, we've heard some things about qualifying offers and such like that in regards to what Christian might receive from another team, what the Diamondbacks might do, but we do have to face the reality that the Diamondbacks may need to find a new first basement. It is the reality. And yeah, any time we talk about any potential replacements, we get a little, we get a fair amount of hate mail for even entertaining the discussion in the first place. But yeah, the reality is that it is far from a guarantee that the Diamond Vax will bring back Christian Walker. We're not at all trying to say that they shouldn't bring back Christian Walker.

Correct. I think you and I are pretty much in agreement that, you know, it's not our money. But it seems like that's what's in the best interest of the team. it's going to be hard to replicate his production going any other direction. However, there are some guys in free agency who I think are reasonably good candidates, players who would cost less that are by no means do we expect them to approximate Christian Walker's production, but they could still be, you know, reasonable replacements where you're not taking as big of a hit as you might expect.

And one of those guys that I think could make sense for the diamond backs, if they aren't bringing Christian Walker back is Carlos Santana, who is a 38-year-old. He is getting up there in age, certainly. Let's be careful. This is a fine line we need to watch on each year. But yeah, no, the first question people asked me when they heard that Carlos Santana was our topic today, was he, he's still playing? Yeah. How old is he? Honestly, it is remarkable. Carlos Santana, this is what, like his 15th season in the league? Let's see if I can find this. He's been in the league for a very long time. He's almost a 40-war player in his career.

So he came into the league aged 24. So, yeah, this was his 15th season that he just played. So he's going on season number 16. And I think that tells you right there. If you've played that many years in the league, you're a good, you're a good player. And Carlos Santana, not to say that he's aged perfectly, but he's aged pretty darn well. If we look at Santana's numbers from the 2024 season, these aren't great. but they're pretty good.

They're pretty solid. And yes, we do have, we did make this graphic in purple and teal because it's throwback Thursday. Gorgeous. It's beautiful. It's lovely. So, yeah, in 2024, Santana for the Minnesota Twins slash 238, 328, 420 to 749 OPS with 233 homers, 71 RBI, and 3.0 fan graphs, wins above replacement. These are pretty decent numbers. So are they outstanding for a first baseman?

No, but the twins got Santana on a one-year $5.25 million deal. And I think we all know the cost of bringing Christian Walker back is going to be way higher than that. So I don't know if it would, if you could necessarily get him for one year five million again, the price tag might tick up a little bit based on the fact that he did just have a pretty good season with the twins. But you're definitely looking at a one-year deal. I don't think Santana is getting a two-year contract at the age of three. 38 and it's probably going to be you know six seven million something maybe in that range and you'd be saving a pretty good amount of money if you went that route as opposed to to bring walker back

walker has incredible defense which we've discussed yes and is going to be basically impossible to replicate but if there was one position i think that you didn't really care that much about taking a step back defensively is first base yeah like i feel like that's the one position that's going to hurt you the least by regressing in defense over there at first. So first of all, I mean, there's no point to even compare defensive metrics at all here because it's no, there's, there's no question. But when you look at the side by side comparison for Christian Walker and, and Carlos Santana, what you'll see is, is that for a difference of potentially $15 million a year,

you might not be losing that much. Yeah. And I think the, uh, Santana didn't quite hit three. 28. I would have been. It was 23. Yeah, 23. I think that's his OBP.

But yeah, so the OPS comparison, 803 for Walker, 749 for Santana. Is that meaningful? Yes. But it's not alarming. 26 homers for Walker, 23 for Santana, Walker at 84 RBI compared to 71 for Santana. Obviously, Walker did miss a little bit of time. He missed about a month with that oblique injury, whereas Santana stayed healthy for pretty much the whole year, played 150 games, which I guess is a positive for him.

At this age, he's still really going out there and playing every single day. And the numbers at the bottom really stand out to me here. Three fan graphs war for Christian Walker, three fan graphs war for Carlos Santana. If you go by Winds above replacement, there was not a difference between Carlos Santana and Christian Walker in 2024. It's so wild. And a big part of it. that is defense.

What you said earlier, Christian Walker, one of the best in the game at first base, the best in the game at first base. However, there was one first baseman in the league in 2024 that actually had more defensive runs saved and more outs above average than Christian Walker.

No. And it is Carlos Santana. Carlos Santana. Carlos Santana had eight defensive run saved, 14 outs above average in 2024. Wow. Walker had seven and 13. Well, I lied about the defensive metrics.

Maybe we should have thrown those up there. I mean, I think Walker is still a better first baseman. Santana's defensive metrics have been good for a while. They haven't been quite this good. But yeah, that that's definitely a positive for Santana is that the diamond backs love defense. They value defense a lot. And, you know, Santana's probably not going to be Christian Walker at first base. But he's going to be, I think, safely well above average over there.

That's wild. And that's, yeah, that's something the Diamondbacks value a lot. Yeah, I mean, he played about 140 more innings roughly than Christian Walker this season. Right. So he did have a chance to play, you know, a few more games due to Walker's injury and such. But, right. I mean, in regards to Christian Walker coming back, I don't know. Like, I think this is what this is what baseball at times is again, right?

I think this is what kind of the Kansas City Royals cooked up this past off. season where we saw them making some of their moves. And you're like, these aren't the flashy free agent splashes that you would normally make. And they saved themselves a considerable amount of money by making those savvy moves instead of going after the high price free agents. But you could say that especially in the case of one Jordan Montgomery, that didn't work out for the team that signed him, did it?

So sometimes signing these guys that might not put up the exact same numbers, but put up comparable numbers for significantly less. isn't a terrible move, especially considering that this Diamondbacks team is really just looking to try to make something happen next year. Right? It's not, you want to bring Christian Walker back long term,

but there's uncertainty there, right? Christian Walker, the reports are that Christian Walker is going to cost you about three years, 60 million right now is what the estimate is. And that's a reasonable estimate. There's a good chance that somebody else is going to go out there and offer them even more. But I will say that, you know,

again, when it comes to at least next season, we kind of talked about it a little bit. It's kind of an all-in season for the Diamondbacks in regards to having certain guys potentially leave after next season and that this is probably the last incarnation of this particular group of guys that went to the World Series. They all have a lot to play for. Next year is an important season for this franchise. It's also important individually for a lot of guys on the team. Right, right.

And I guess another couple of other things I'll mention about Santana. He is a switch hitter. So, you know, you feel pretty good about him against both righties and lefties. He did have significant splits in in 2024. He had a 934 OPS against lefties compared to a 676 mark against righties. But I think that actually makes sense for the debacks in that you have Pavin Smith in house. Pavin, I think, is deserving of some sort of opportunity in 2025 given the season that he just had. He had an OPS around 900 and you look at the numbers under the hood and they support it.

So I think you, I think you probably go into 2025 planning to give Pavin some opportunity. And Carlos Santana could be kind of the perfect platoon partner, a 934 OPS against lefties. Paveen Smith obviously got the majority of his at bats against Ritey's last year as a left-handed hitter. So those two guys together kind of makes sense. And if Paveen does struggle, which I think is possible, don't know exactly if he's going to be able to replicate this. Then you have a guy in Santana who just played 150 games and showed that he can be an everyday player and give you decent production. So I think it is kind of a nice balance where it opens the door for Pavin Smith to earn

opportunity. And Santana's getting up there in age. So I think you could maybe talk him into taking a bit of a step back. But he also could just sort of play every day if Pavin is not able to replicate that or Pavin is used in more of a D.H. role, which I think is also an option going into next year. Well, we're going to continue to look at candidates

to potentially replace Christian Walker, but we're also going to cover CWalk's, you know, I guess, ongoing negotiations in free agency or with this team. According to Mike Hayeson, some comments he made to Nick Piccaro and Steve Gilbert, the Diamondbacks might

be spending a bit more in free agency than we thought. We kind of reviewed what they already, committed to and we thought it looked like a fairly tall task maybe at this point they were already kind of maxed out on what you would want to spend for the 2025 season but has in made some comments that made it sound like you know if this team if they believe in this team that they might push in their chips even more on a 2025 season yeah hazen was was interviewed yesterday by both nick picorro and and steve gilbert uh and he he did have his meeting with diamond backs ownership something they do

after the season ends to just talk about some numbers and some plans for the off season and whatnot. And Hazen, yeah, here's what Hazen had to say about Ken Kendrick. He said, Ken has been very consistent since I've been here. If he thinks we have a good team, he wants to push forward to see that team get into the playoffs. He is consistently, when we have a good team, giving us resources to go out and get good players, and we have a good team. So, yeah, we, Hazen did not provide any specifics, nor did Kendrick provide any specifics in his interview earlier this month about what exactly the payroll is going to look like. We don't have an answer to that.

But based on the comments that Hazen made, based on what Ken said in his interview over on 987 earlier this month, at the very least, it doesn't sound like the diamondbacks are cutting back significantly. Something in a similar range to what they had in 2024 sounds reasonably possible. Are they going to go well north of that? I have my doubts. But, Also, last year around this time, we were talking about the Diamondback spending like 140 million in 2024. And they wound up spending 175. And we thought that was crazy even pushing it up to 140. We thought Lourdes was gone for sure.

Yeah. I feel like the exact, I feel the same way about Christian Walker. Michael asked in the comments, what percentage are we giving resigning walk? And yeah, like, I probably feel the same about Lourdes. I think like my feelings on Lourdes were a little different because I felt like, Lordus had a big season. And then he comes off of a year where the team that he's on

makes it to the World Series. Typically in sports, that gives you that little extra bump. You know, if you won the championship, it bumps you even more, right? But making it to the championship gives you that kind of increase.

And Lordus was a commodity. I thought some teams would be willing to overpay for. And in the end, he ends up coming back to the Diamondback. Yeah. So I think I would feel a similar feeling about my case, or about Christian Walker.

And I know that people, would, I know there's a lot of teams that are interested in them. I think that's probably the thing that's scarier because I don't know if we heard about the interest in Lourdes last off season as much as we've heard the interest from a lot of teams and walk. Yeah, I think, you know, right-handed hitting outfielder is just inherently not, not as valuable of a player, I guess corner outfielder in particular, just not as valuable as Christian Walker, who is really one of the best hitting first baseman in baseball. as well as best defensive.

Yeah, in addition to the defense. But on offense, the Diamondbacks had the fourth highest team OPS, I believe it was, at first base this year. And the only teams in front of them, I think it's the Blue Jays with Vlad Guerrero Jr. It's the Phillies with Bryce Harper, and it's the Dodgers with Freddie Freeman. There are not that many great hitting first baseman in the league right now. It's sort of weird, but that's just kind of the reality of the situation. And so Walker is going to, as one of those guys,

Walker is going to get a lot of interest because of that. If I had to put a percentage on it, I don't know, man. I think it's less than 50 that they bring Walker back. I'll just say that. Yeah, I'd probably agree with that. I would probably agree with that. It's not five, but I think it's somewhere between five and 50%. Yeah, that's about as specific as I'm willing to go.

I'll push it a little further. I'm somewhere between 12% and 48%. Nice. There you go. Not feeling great about it, but I do think there's a good chance that Walker's love for his teammates for this city. I mean, Archie talked about it yesterday about just loving being here. And Christian Walker, he's just a cowboy, man. He's just a bourbon drinking cowboy that guy.

I love him so much. I think there's a good chance that maybe, you know, being in the one place that he's pretty much played his entire Major League career might have a little impact. Also, Nick Piccaro is reporting that the diamondbacks are expected to offer Walker, a qualifying offer. That's a one year, $21.05 million deal. It's a lot of money. It is.

Yeah. And I think for me, the qualifying offer is, is frankly another reason why I think the diamondbacks are not so likely to bring Walker back because if Walker rejects that offer, which I think he will, he might not. I almost think that. It feels like he will because of the long, like just having a lot. longer-term deal, right? Just having the security of having three years instead of just having one year, especially considering that he didn't finish this season very strong and he got injured. Like it, he needed this to be a big season for him. Like we were talking about the guys that have a, you know, essentially the end of their, end of their contract year next year, right? So,

there, there is something to be said about, you know, the issues essentially that Christian Walker had there at the end. And again, trying to make sure that he capitalizes on, you know, this moment as much as possible to secure his financial future. Yeah, yeah. I mean, the fact that it's a one-year deal, 21 million is a decent amount of money for him, I think, for one year. But you're right, he could probably get that times three. Yeah, he could probably get that times three, exactly.

So we think Walker is going to reject this deal. And if he does, the Diamondbacks would be entitled to draft compensation in next year's in next year's draft. And so at that point, the calculus for resigning him is, you know, you're not. only paying the money to bring him back in a sense you're also paying this draft pick that you would also be getting there there's like an opportunity cost uh to to bringing walker back in a sense uh so but that draft pick could be very important for a team that needs it yeah yeah i mean teams really do value these draft picks i don't think it you know i don't think it means the diamond backs or you know

there's no way that they're that they're going to bring him back just because of that um but and i guess the flip side is that having draft pick compensation tied to one Walker would, uh, would maybe drive his price tag down a little bit in the marketplace. Maybe that gives the diamond backs a bit of a leg up, uh, during those negotiations. But, uh, yeah, I, I think it's very possible they bring Walker back and, in these conversations we're having about Paul Goldschman and Carlos Santana and all that. We can just throw it out the window. But, uh, that's not really my expectation.

He's going to have a lot of suitors. He had a good season. And we're just going to have to see how it plays out. Well, we have some more Arizona Fall League updates to discuss. Jesse was out there last night, so we will be discussing now on the other side. We made you wait too long. We're going to show you me raking at Chase Field. That's all people really care about there.

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Damon here very soon so that we can achieve legendary status together as a group, as a team. By the way, Jesse doesn't want to address in the same colors as me anymore. That's a whole other time. No, no, no. I check in with him to see what, like, we're a team. We have to, we have to coordinate against matching now. Yeah, he lies to me about what he's wearing. But, of course, we do look like a team when we go to America's third stop, which is Circle K,

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k stop by america's thirst stop today all right well we are your fall guys Arizona fall league is still in swing we had uh we well i mean we do have an important uh update from uh the dominican republic uh winter League, but that's a whole other story for tomorrow, perhaps, because Emmanuel Rivera got himself into an altercation against our team. We are Tigres podcast, by the way. Don't forget that. But first and foremost, we are Salt River Raptors podcast. And Jesse, what did you got from last night's game? Yeah, yeah. I've been out there the last couple of days. Dylan Ray started on Tuesday night and Yumen Lin started yesterday. Umin Lin, his final line was not, not spectacular. He gave up three runs and three innings.

I will say that his defense did him no favors in this game. I think he pitched better than, than those numbers indicate. I believe he is at a three ERA now for the Fall League, three runs all allowed in that game last night in nine innings pitched. So on the whole, his body of work in the Fall League has been very impressive. I got to talk to him for a while after the game yesterday.

I'll have a cool story coming out on him here in the next couple of weeks. But yeah, I think that he continues to look pretty solid out there, getting some work in after that, that obviously brutal injury that he suffered earlier in the season. Dylan Ray also was very interesting to me on Tuesday. He's using his change up a whole bunch, which is a pitch that I haven't seen him throw a ton. And his change up has like tons of spin. I'm sort of getting down in the weeds here a little bit. but usually with a change-up, you're trying to actually prevent spin, whereas with a breaking pitch, you're trying to make the ball spin as much as possible.

And Dylan Ray's change-up is unique in that the spin rate is outrageously high. It is extremely, extremely high. Very similar, actually, to one, Devin Williams, who has, of course, one of the best change-ups in the entire sport. And our buddy Michael McDermott talked to Dylan Ray about that a little bit yesterday. Got some interesting quotes about how Dylan Ray's change-ups. change up actually is fashioned after Devin Williams, uh, change up in some ways. So that's, um, that's wild.

They were getting to that point, right? And I mean, Devin Williams hasn't even been around that long to be like, oh, he's, he's fashioning it after a, uh, legends, you know, right, right. Yeah. This is just Devin Williams. It's been a stud for like the last two seasons mostly. Yeah. Yeah.

Uh, I mean, I'm maybe slightly longer than that. But yeah, it's not like, you know, it's not like Devin Williams is, you know, doing this 2010 or something. Right. Um, so, yeah, that was interesting. I feel like I've heard more about his breaking stuff And he has some good rise on his fastball if if this change up is for real and it did get a good amount of swing and miss in that game on Tuesday Yeah, you can you can dream on on Dylan Ray a little bit more

So that was that was an interesting development for sure Well, of course we also had that video we showed yesterday of Tommy Troy talking a little bit about the prior day with the Check swing challenge system which continues to be interesting and there's another one you yesterday. A lot of buzz around Major League Baseball in regards to that. I feel like the reception is fairly positive. People don't feel like it's overcomplicating the game. They like it. Yeah, yeah. I think everyone just wants clarity on exactly what the rule is going to be. That's a 45 degree angle thing is wild to me. Yeah, you get to a point where this isn't so much a, just like a challenge system to try to get calls correct. It's really like a full on rule change.

Yeah, yes. It's trying to change. change the person or I guess what people know as a check swing it's trying to make it like impossible for a hitter to to do anything other than check swing like it's basically requiring a hitter to commit fully to the swing in order for it to count as a swing so but do you hate that do you hate that I mean like I guess there's things that become part of the game that we just grow used to yeah right but it is completely up to that man who's way down there, his decision whether or not you swung and not. No rule, no black or white definition,

nothing we can track, nothing we can say, look, you did, didn't cross. Because we've seen plenty of times where a check swing has crossed home plate and they called it a ball or they said he held up, right? So like, it just really feels like this is MLB finally defining something that they've kind of let go this entire time. And I mean,

it's not the only rule. It's just with time, they've removed the human element for the most part out of the game where you can go back and say that was on that umpire's discretion, right? Yeah. It's one thing for that umpire to be calling a strike zone. It's another one for him to be reimagining what the strike zone is, right? You know what the strike zone is. You might get mad at him for calling some balls outside strikes or whatever, but as long as he does it all game long,

we're fine with that for the most part. It's consistency that we're looking for. But again, there are some umpires that just take the game and manipulate it into their own and make all the rules, their decision. And it's just it's so hard as an athlete to not normally play under an umpire like that, but also to kind of deal with their decision making based on their their bad calls in some cases. Right. So like, I get it.

And especially as we touched on yesterday, sports gambling has to have an impact on this because before it's just fans being upset that their team lost or won or, you know, whatever, right? Like now you're talking about millions of dollars potentially being on the line in a big moment in a big game. Yeah, I think, I mean, I think you just want the rules to be well defined. And maybe this is an opportunity for Major League Baseball to actually define what the rule is. Right. We saw them come up with the weird 45 degree angle thing that we talked about with Archie yesterday. And yeah, it is very generous for hitters.

I feel like there's probably some middle ground there. Maybe 35 degrees? Yeah, like make it generous for hitters, but maybe we back it down to 30 degrees or 25 or something like that. It'll be a really interesting thing to follow in the coming months. It doesn't sound like this is coming to Major League Baseball anytime soon. I think this is the first step in what is probably going to be. We'll get ABS way before we get this. Yeah, I think so.

But a lot of it just depends on the technology. And if they feel like the technology is ready to perform and be reliable at the big league level, then I think we probably will see this at some point in the big leagues. It seems like it's getting a positive reception, and I think it would make the game better. All right, well, I lied about showing you the video of me hitting because we're going to make you wait just one more break, but don't go anywhere because we'll get to it right on the other side.

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if you are a hockey fan than over with our pals at What Chaos. If you miss Sean DePaz, that is where you can find him. What Chaos, the All City Hockey Podcast, hosted by Pete Blackburn and DJ Bean. It's mostly hockey with a whole lot of nonsense, but they interview players, coaches,

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I, my feelings on Shonda Paws are different. Like, that's a whole other thing. That guy is definitely not rooting for the Yankees in the World Series. We know that, but. That's fair. You might not be either. Don't you dare. Given your history.

Don't you dare. Don't you dare. Don't you question. It would be really cool if Otani won a ring. Oh, shut up. No, that's not even a quote that was said on this show at any point. You're just making stuff up. It's false news, but this isn't false news.

because we had a chance to go out to Chase Field today. I went out there with Kyle because Jesse had stuff to do. But we got to try some of their incredible food that they have for that November night's music festival. They're very excited about that upcoming music festival. It is some of my favorite bands that I travel to reggae festivals to see, like Revolution and Sublime with Bradley's Son. Jacob is fronting that sublime version, and that's really cool. Not to mention Weezer, Violent Femmes, and so much.

many others. But they, they pulled out all the stops for this one. They had Jesse, one of the most incredible burgers I've ever seen in my life. It's called the November burger. It's two beef patties with jalapeno bacon, grilled cheese sandwiches as the buns, and then just chicken wings and sausages on the top of it as like accoutrements, as little like wonderful side items, I guess. I don't know. It was too much. It's too much food. They put chicken wings and sausages on top of the topping with On top of a burger. Through it into the, yeah, right, into a burger that has grilled two sandwiches for the buns. Oh, my gosh.

It's insanity, but we got to go try it out. And also, I got to hit a little batting practice out at Chase Field. And we got film of it. And thank God we did, because I had like smash one. Let's take a look. Let's do this. You see that? You got all of that, right?

You got that one, especially. Oh, that was it? I hit like six balls and we just cut it down to one. That's fine. We'll have the full video out for you on. on social media. I'm furious at Kyle that he didn't get where that one landed, though, because that one was a beautiful shot.

But, yes, let me tell you, there's nothing more fun sometimes than getting the opportunity to take batting practice out at Chase Field. And I did talk to our pal Kat, who suggested that maybe we make this a little bit more than just batting practice, Jesse. She suggested that perhaps we turn this into a celebrity media game. Oh, 100%.

Where we actually play against each other. Thoughts on that? Yeah, well, I mean, do we have another batting practice event scheduled? Is this on the calendar? We're going to have to figure it out for sure. We'll get them to do it. Our A says line out. It was no line out.

It was no line out. That one went to the outfield unless someone jumped and grabbed it. I think I'd take you and me over Steve Gilbert probably. I don't know. I think Nick Piccoro probably rakes. Yes, Nick does rate. We want. We want Nick and Alex Weiner on our team.

Yes. They can keep Jack Summers and Steve Gilbert. They can have Steve for sure. Barry Bloom can be on their team. Yep, yep. They can have Barry. Okay. Who else can we take?

Yeah, who are we missing here? I guess from the PR staff, Shane, we definitely take Shane. Oh, a thousand percent. Shane pitched in college. Yeah. Jesse looked up Shane's stats. Yeah, Shane has a baseball reference page. So you know his baseball career is legit.

Yeah, and then Who else? I'm trying to think if there's anyone we're missing here I guess I guess Damon is on our team We kind of go out of you start out or do you forget that What is that even a question? Yeah I'm Alex Thomas I don't know what I'm getting you from the plate Yeah, but I'm tracking everything down in the outfield That's the thing that made me the most sad about this today is that they told me

That if I wanted to I could go shagg fly balls and unfortunately because I have to do this This show I had to come back, Jesse. But you know what made me the most bad? I had my glove with me. Damon, I had my glove with me. I could have shagged balls in Chasefield with my new glove. Could have shown everybody how cool it is.

Yeah, it's a beautiful glove. It is. Anyway, well, we thank you guys for joining us for our very first edition of Throwback Thursday. We hope you guys enjoyed it, and we will have this for you every Thursday. So make sure to join us. This man decided in the middle of the start of the World Series

to go on vacation, so he will not be back with us tomorrow. But I will be bringing in my one and only, one of my best friends in the whole world, Rock Knowledge is going to be joining us, of course. Rock always stops by or hasn't stopped by in a while. Yeah, yeah. But he's our trading car guru as well as a huge, huge baseball fan that has been locked in to the playoffs. So we will be bringing you a postgame show tomorrow night after game one of the World Series. Make sure to join us for that.

But in the meantime, you can make sure to follow us all on Twitter. I'm at cap underscore caveman with a K. Jesse is at Jesse N. Friedman. Of course, Damon Dog is that Damon Dog. That's D-A-W-G. We are still and will forever be Damon's dogs.

Bark, bark. That's really what throwback Thursday. It's really throwback Thursday because Damon's around. Yeah, Damon is back for us on Thursday. I told Jesse I was workshopping Damon Thursday. Just because I've done two in a row now.

It feels like this is Kevin's off day. It feels like Thursdays is kind of my welcome back to the show. I mean, Jacobs in the office, too. That's very much throwback Thursday. Absolutely. That's the ultimate throwback Thursday. But yeah, I mean, I think throwback Thursday works too. You know, Damon Thursday has a nice ring to it.

I get it. You want us to change the logo on the screen to be Damon Thursday? I mean. Yeah. And just in my cartoon head. Yeah. It's just the lower logo here. That's our new podcast logo for Thursday.

It's just Damon's face. I guess I thought I was the only maniac around here, but apparently someone else has a huge ego as well. and I'm here for you. But speaking of that huge ego, you have fun in Miami and you make sure you come back. Okay. That's the most important part. I got to try to drink.

God damn it. You make sure you come back and drink lots of water. Lots of water. I don't think we welcome him back if the Cardinals don't win though. I think it's contingent. I'm not worried about that. It's the dolphins. They're terrible.

But anyway, they're getting two of back though, right? I know. I know. I'm just trying to hit. He also is a Dolphins fan. So it's like that's trouble side. Damon's rooting for the dolphins.

He is. He's a bad person. And he's talking. that's me. My allegiances, anyway. Don't put me on blast like that. We appreciate you guys so much.

Of course, our shows at PHNX underscore D-Backs, but all roads lead to at PHNX underscore sports on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. We thank you again so much for your time. We will see you tomorrow. And until then, remember kids, baseball is fun, but it is so much more fun on throwback Thursday.