PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - Is Gabriel Moreno the franchise catcher the Arizona Diamondbacks have been seeking?

Episode Date: December 26, 2022

We are still bubbling about the Christmas Eve eve trade that will bring Gabriel Moreno and Lourdes Gurriel Jr to Arizona in exchange for Daulton Varsho and tools to be named later. Is Moreno the final piece to the D-backs core they have been trying to establish? And how will Gurriel fit into the lineup?BUY D-BACKS TICKETS HERE: https://gametime.hnyj8s.net/c/3442941/1410622/10874 SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube: https://bit.ly/phnx_youtubeALL THINGS PHNX: http://linktr.ee/phnxsports PHNX: Join us at the Inaugural PHNX Tee Party, presented by Four Peaks Brewing Co., at Dobson Ranch Golf Course!We are renting out the entire driving range! Come hang with Big Drive Energy, the PHNX crew and fellow Diehards for a night of golf, food, drinks, contests, prizes, and more. Our PHNX Suns crew will be hosting a watch party for the Suns vs. Timberwolves. Check out https://www.eventbrite.com/e/phnx-tee-party-at-dobson-ranch-tickets-481918139127 to reserve your spot right now! And for our Diehards, check Discord for your special link where you’ll save 20% on this awesome event!DraftKings: Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app now (https://bit.ly/3Jl1dMX), use promo code PHNX and make your first deposit of FIVE DOLLARS and get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in FREE BETS INSTANTLY! For every leg you add you can boost your winnings up to ONE HUNDRED percent!If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisiscounseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800-GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537) (IL/IN/MI/NJ/PA/WV/WY), 1-800-NEXT STEP (AZ), 1-800-522-4700 (CO/NH), 888-789-7777/visit http://ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-BETS OFF (IA), 1-877-770-STOP (7867) (LA), 877-8-HOPENY/text HOPENY (467369) (NY), visitOPGR.org (OR), call/text TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN), or 1-888-532-3500 (VA).21+ (18+ WY). Physically present in AZ/CO/CT/IL/IN/IA/LA/MI/NJ/NY/PA/TN/VA/WV/WY only. Min. $5 deposit required. Eligibility restrictions apply. See http://draftkings.com/sportsbook for details.OGeez!: Enter the “Flavoring Life” sweepstakes. One winner will receive 3 bags of OGeez, an OGeez! Hat, a PHNX shirt of your choice, and a PHNX annual membership. Sign up at gophnx.com or visit https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfIplqDYsxYeiotn5Zc6hRahaX0a5qG99eHVzkhOlGZDRdgUA/viewform. Must be 21 years or older to purchase.Underdog Fantasy: Sign up for Underdog Fantasy today! Go to the link https://play.underdogfantasy.com/p-phnx and use promo code “PHNX” to receive a deposit match up to $100Four Peaks: Enter to win the “Toast of the Month” sweepstakes to win a $50 Four Peaks gift card, a PHNX shirt of your choice, and a PHNX annual membership. Go to goPHNX.Com or visit https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfOabxo8KQxOWwn9wTilMBuTMAJdrL0CaH9lzfuJqgKN9vfSg/viewform Must be 21 or older. Enjoy responsibly. Bad Birdie: Use code “PHNXSPORTS15” for 15% off your next order https://glnk.io/7qnq/phnx-sportsMor Furniture: Save up to 50% all through the holidays! Check out https://morfurniture.comLiquid Death: Get free shipping on all water and merch at https://LiquidDeath.com/PHNX FOCO: FOCO has you covered with the best Arizona Merchandise. Head on over to foco.com. For all non pre-sale items use the promo code “PHNX” for 10% offWhen you shop through links in the description, we may earn affiliate commissions. Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello and welcome to another edition of the PHNX D-Backs podcast right here on PHNX. Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. And of course, we know I didn't, of course. But I am joined by my vice mayor, the one and only thunderstick Jesse Friedman. I am your mayor, PHNX, occasionally known as Derek Montia. Jesse, how was your Christmas? Did you get all the shopping done? You know, I did.

I did get all the shopping done. It was reasonably successful. although if you're wondering why the shelves behind me are empty. You're just giving away your stuff, aren't you? I just had to give away my backdrop decorations for Christmas. But the good news is my family members loved them. So I gave you one of those signs last year. What the hell?

Damn it. Got to do what you got to do, Derek. Got to do what you got to do. You know, while I don't like it, I respect it. I respect it. But of course, welcome on in. Of course, this show is brought to you by the final. folks at the Drafking Sportsbook app, America's top-rated sportsbook app.

And Jesse and I are still not over this trade that occurred on Christmas Eve, Eve, if you will, Dalton Varshow being traded to the Toronto Blue Jays, along with some tools to be named later for Gabriel Moreno and Lordus Gurriel Jr. We've had a lot of time to kind of soak this in. We've had a lot of feedback from both Blue Jays fans and Arizona Diamondbacks fans, which has been very cool. shout out to our friends from Canada and a Blue Jays fan because you guys have been, of course, as expected, tremendously respectful and kind, which we're not used to that around here. We don't know how to, we don't know how to take that, but it feels like, Jesse, that everybody, the general consensus is that this was a pretty big win win for both teams. I think that is the general consensus. Yeah, the more that I've read up on some different people.

pieces of analysis on this move that have been put out there. Keith Law wrote something about it over at the Athletic. There have been a couple of other websites that have done analyses as well. ESPN seem to view this as sort of a slam dunk for the Diamondbacks. But I think there is a general consensus that, yeah, this is like your classic, like good baseball trade, right? It's like the Diamondbacks had a whole bunch of outfielders. They really could use a franchise catcher, something that unfortunately Carson Kelly

has not really been able to be for them, at least not on a consistent basis. That's been something that has been kind of a hole in the organization for a long time. That's a need that this team had and they were able to trade an outfielder to go get it. And on the Blue Jays side, they had a surplus of catchers. And they really needed an outfielder, especially a left-handed hitting outfielder, given how right-handed heavy their lineup has already been last year and over the last couple of years. And so they get their guy in Dalton Varshow. So I think from a value standpoint, it's pretty even on both sides.

And I think it's, yeah, it's just kind of like your good old-fashioned baseball trade where like both teams get what they need and give away something that they can sort of afford to lose. I didn't really feel like attacking Dalton Varsho negatively on Friday's emergency podcast. What I will say, just kind of latching on to some of the points you made, the Varsho is we know how incredible of a player he is and I think that's the reason why ESPN might be saying this is a slam dunk for the Diamondbacks because they don't know how valuable of a player he is. They're paying attention to certain stats, stats that we don't really value that highly around here like batting average and such, right? War is a much better indication of how valuable a player really is and

batting average and such, yeah, the home run numbers are pretty good. Batting average is not great. There's a lot of things there that aren't great. You look at Dalton Varshow's past. Technically, he's a failed catcher himself if you want to call him that. I don't want to call him that. Yeah, I don't know if that's, I mean, I don't know if you can be a failed catcher if you turn into like an elite outfielder.

That's odd. That's very true. It's very true. You're absolutely right. And that's why it's not really that, right? It's almost like he was pretty good in the minors as a catcher. He was being brought up as a catcher, got to a major league level, found out he didn't really have that much value as a major league catcher. Maybe if they wanted to commit to that with him, maybe they could have continued down that path and just tried to help him improve as a catcher.

But for the most part, something there indicated that he was going to be much more valuable in the outfield, like what you're saying, than he was behind the plate. It's less of a, oh, hey, you were bad behind the plate and maybe more of a, you just are so much better in the outfield than your mediocre play behind the plate, let's say, or even average, right? Like, I'm not trying to take away from him. What we saw, though, was we saw him be, as you said, elite defensively in the outfield. And that's the big difference here. Dalton Varsho hasn't had that much time to kind of have that acknowledgement of being an elite defender. in center field, right? But and Connor Pearson said, I think failed is a strong term because he still did catch a bit

last year. If I'm not mistaken, you're right. But they abandoned that early on. And then Mike Hazen made comments middle of the season that said that he was not going to be behind the plate any longer when asked about it. So I'm not, I'm not saying he couldn't have caught at a major league level. And who knows what happens with his career going to Toronto? They don't really need a catcher.

So that's one area for him. That's going to be good. But he could still serve as a backup if the situation ever came up. And I think that to be honest, with his defensive prowess in the outfield, no one's going to want him behind the plate, really. I will say, though, though, that overall, when you look at what the Diamondbacks brought Varsh up as, right? He was their catcher of the future, technically.

and it hasn't really worked out in that manner. So bringing in Gabriel Moreno, who's rated by Baseball America as the number three prospect in baseball, that seems to be like such a solid move for the Diamondbacks in acquiring back what they thought they were getting to a degree out of Varsho initially when he was in their system as a minor league player. I think Varsho, like the fact that he's not a catcher or has not, at least the Diamondbacks did not view him as a catcher, long term. I think it was pretty clear that if Dalton Varsho were coming back with the Diamondbacks next season, he probably wouldn't play a single inning at catcher barring some sort of an emergency situation. And yeah, for the Jay's fans who are here, you know, kind of wondering, you know, is this guy catcher, can he catch? I think he could, but I think given how elite he was in the outfield,

it's like, why would you possibly want him to, right? I mean, if he's so, so good at that, why would you even want him to catch? And I think that's what the conclusion the Diamondbacks came to, It's less about, oh, Dalton Varsho couldn't catch or he's well below average a catcher. I think he was probably a little bit below average, but certainly he could have grown in that area. It was just like, hey, this guy is the best defensive outfielder in baseball. Why are we wasting our time trying to teach him how to play the most difficult defensive position on the field when he's already so incredibly good at, you know, playing centerfield or playing in one of the outfield corners? One thing I do want to bring up on Varsho kind of going back to what you said earlier about

just like his trajectory as a diamond back and kind of how his career has evolved so far. Varsho offensively has some flaws that I think it's important not only for maybe Jay's fans to recognize now that he's going over there, but also for Diamondbacks fans who maybe really fell in love with Dalton Varsho, and understandably so. He's a great guy, right? Just an incredible player with what he did defensively at 27 home runs. There's tons of value here. But it's important to recognize, I think, the Dalton Varsho had some kinks in his game. And I think namely, it stands out to me that Dalton Varshow pulled the ball at the highest rate of any player in baseball with a minimum of 450 plate appearances. There are some concerns with his approach. I think

he sort of had a sellout for power approach at the plate toward the end of the year. We talked about that, though. And the defensive changes, the rule changes as far as the shift is concerned, are probably only going to help him next season, right? As far as his batting average goes, right? Because of it being such a consistent. But I think also Dalton Varsho also hits a ton of fly balls, like a lot of fly balls. And so that's going to limit how much he's able. He will benefit from the shift restrictions, I think.

But it's going to, it's going to limit how much he's able to benefit in the long term. So yeah, he's he's a good offensive player, but he's certainly not a great one. And the other big thing here is that Dalton Varsho has really struggled to hit lefties. He has a, in 2022, he had about a 550 OPS against lefties. And frankly, that's a pretty big thing, right? Like, you can't really become a true star player if your platoon splits are that extreme. And I think there's certainly a chance that Dalton Varsho could overcome that at some point down the road.

But as of yet, that's something he hasn't really learned how to do yet. He actually took a slight step back in that regard in 2020. compared to years prior. I am the Larry in the comment says baseball America's write-up didn't even mention Varshot's defensive stats in their write-up. So again, there's that's something. It's a bit of an oversight. It's something that we can't stress enough as people that watched Varsho this entire season

and even last season. He's incredible in the outfield defensively. You guys are really getting yourselves one of the best defenders in baseball. And like you said, it doesn't make it to the write-up. oftentimes, especially with trades like this, what the big concern is, is what Toronto is giving up as far as Gabrielle Moreno being the number three prospect in baseball. Jesse said this more than once on Friday show, but teams just don't do that. It's the reason why Corby and Carroll is untouchable compared to the other outfielders. It's not to say that it's a guarantee Carol is going to have a better career than Thomas or McCarthy or even Varsho.

but the Diamondbacks just value him far too much for him to even be somebody they're taking phone calls on, right? But and going back to Varsho, I do want to say, I think someone said that Toronto wasn't looking for a catcher. I totally get that. I was speaking from a perspective of the Arizona Diamondbacks, right? That's really, for those of you that remember when Varsho was a prospect in the minors, he was their top guy for a period of time. He was the next, you know, big thing for the. diamond back. So I just don't really know,

you know, again, I guess you could consider him a bit of a disappointment. Also, he is absolutely one of the best defenders in baseball. So you also can't consider a disappointment. What you could say is he just didn't turn out

to be the position that the Diamondbacks were acquiring him at and basically putting all their eggs in the future of catching in his basket, right? It's not to say moves. can't be made. It's not to say that they couldn't go in a different direction. They tried to. We talked about the Sean Murphy thing. Obviously, there's other moves they tried to make that,

who knows, may have involved Dalton Varsho going to a different team. This trade makes a lot of sense for both ball clubs. And I think in the end, both teams are going to be very happy with the players they acquired. The Diamondbacks have now four of the top 20 prospects in baseball. Gabriel Moreno, according to Baseball America, Gabriel Moreno at three, Corby and Carol at five, Jordan Lawler at 11 and Drew Jones at 19. So if that doesn't excite you, you might need to check your pulse. You might not have made it through Christmas, but it's a very exciting time. The future is exciting.

And it's also exciting because two of those guys, the top two, are going to be on this team next season, contributing and helping the debacks win ball games. It's just wild to me. Like how much time will we spend talking about Corbyn Carroll and Jordan Lawler and Drew Jones? and at least according to baseball America, not all of the prospect analysts out there would necessarily agree with this, but at least according to baseball America,

Gabby Moreno is the best prospect out of all of those guys, which is just wild to think about. And that's why, like if you go over to ESPN and read what they wrote about this trade, or if you read what Keith Law wrote about this trade, I have yet to see any well-respected baseball mind think of this trade is a bad move for the debacks. I haven't, that is a take I have not seen from a single individual.

And not to say that people are saying, oh, there's a bad move for the J's. I haven't really seen much of that either. But when you get a guy like Gabby Moreno, it's just like, like we said earlier, you just don't, teams just don't trade those kinds of players. And the debacks paid handsomely for it, Varsho is a great player and is really, really great defensively and certainly has another level that maybe he could reach with the bat. but when you're getting a guy like that, it's really, really hard to lose from a value standpoint.

At least obviously there's a chance that Gabby Morano doesn't become the catcher that the Diamondbacks hope that you will be. But from a value standpoint, it's really, really hard on paper to say that this was a bad move for the debacks. Jesse, here's the thing, though. You could say that about trades, free agency pickups, or anything.

Far too often in baseball, guys are rewarded for what they have done in the past versus what people truly feel their capability. of doing in the future. Prospects seem to only be the only ones judged on that scale of what you're going to do in the future versus what you've done in the past. But that's not the only part of the trade. I mean, Blue Jays fans had some things to say. I did see some Jays fans kind of talking about how, you know, the negatives for both Moreno and the other part of that trade, which is Lordis Gouriel Jr. But I know some question marks surround Guriel's defensive

play. Yeah. He doesn't. It's probably not going to be a starter in this lineup unless he starts at DH, but, but he might, he might still give Lavo lovolo some options just as far as platoons go or, or we know Lavello never is going to play the same lineup two days in a row. So we know that that fits into potentially Gouriel being a utility guy that could fill in both in the outfield and the infield. He might not be, uh, that great, but he definitely does seem delightful as a personality. I can't wait to be around this guy. His hair is incredible. And, uh, you know, again, I don't really think he was the focus of this trade. Uh, you actually looked into it. His, his contract does end after this season. So yeah, I mean, it would kind of make sense for them to be going after this

trade more for Moreno than, then for Gurriel. Yeah, Moreno is, is definitely, you know, the, the key part of this return. There's no question about that. But, um, yeah, it is true. I know we, we weren't totally sure what the deal was on on Friday with geryl's contract situation. It is indeed just one year of team control. So the debacks are just having for 2023. Then he would become a free agent next off season. But yeah, apparently I read from a blue jays rider over the, over at the athletic that the diamondbacks would not,

would not make this move without guriel being included, which I think might have been a difficult thing for the blue jays because goryl did still serve a purpose in their lineup and on their roster. And so they're a good team and they're not really looking to deal major league players necessarily. So I think that wasn't in some ways a big loss for them. But yeah, from the debacks perspective, Gurriel is a helpful piece to have for sure. I don't think you're going to see him play any infield, most likely. Mike Hazen did say that once they get him here and they kind of talk to him a little bit,

they'll maybe see if playing some infield would be something he's comfortable with, but sounds like it's probably going to be left field. And then most likely, as you said, some opportunity at DH as well. Gabriel says, I think Gereil is probably a salary dump on the Blues Jays side. I don't think so. I don't think he's, he's too good to be a salary dump. And he's only making about $5 million.

So they're saving a little bit of money there, but that's money pretty well spent on a guy like Gereo. We've talked about how teams right now, now don't really want to give up guys. They would much rather pay out of the nose for guys that they want to bring on rather than giving up their own players. A big part of that is not seeing these guys go off and have success somewhere else. Who knows?

Maybe Guriel ends up being the diamond in the rough of this trade and ends up being a bigger contributor to the team than Gabriel Moreno. Baseball's weird like that. That could totally be the case. I feel like something's gone seriously wrong if Gurriel in one year produces more value than Moreno over six years. But he is a good player. Oh, I didn't mean that.

I didn't mean that. I didn't mean that just during the college. Jesse, they can bring people back. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm just mean in the general. We've had situations like that. We've seen situations in baseball.

Hell, right now, Bleacher Report has this incredible article up about the 10 biggest nightmare contracts by 2025, taking a look. They even gave Jacob DeGreux. Grom's brand new contract with the Texas Rangers as one of those potentially nightmarish contract, right? But in going through that article, not only do they address contracts right now that might

not be bad, but might become bad here in the near future, they also address some contracts that were given out that are just horrible now by comparison looking back on them. And some of them were as much as like a year or two ago, Anthony Redone with the Los Angeles Angels, Chris Bryant with the Colorado Rockies. Like, there's a lot of bad contracts out there where teams oh guys a lot of money and those guys are not producing for those teams. It just, it happens in baseball. It's not something that, that, you know, I don't even feel like it happens as often in other sports as it does in baseball.

But if you want to be happy, the Diamondbacks didn't go out and just throw their cash around like a madman, read that article. It's one of those pieces that really makes you reflect on how much money they can give someone who turns around and for the next two seasons, hits below 225. Just saying. Just saying. You know, the Diamondbacks at least have something very exciting on the, on the horizon.

They have something to look forward to. We have talked at length about this team not even knowing who their core is. And I think if Gabby Moreno ends up being a piece of this team that's valuable for the future, they have almost established their core between Zach Gallen, between guys like, Brandon fought and Ryan Nelson and Dre Jameson, you have that wonderful outfield. I mean, you have Christian Walker dialed in at first base.

So many of these guys are under team control for an extended period of time that really the future is so bright for this team. The next step, maybe next offseason is when they do that spending. Maybe next off season is when they add that big free agent piece that might be that thing to get them over the hump.

But I don't know. They still, I think that they still have things looking pretty good for 2023. I don't even want to think about beyond that. This season, we're going to have some fun. And we did it without opening up our wallets and dumping it all into the toilet like some teams did. But anyway, if you haven't had a chance to do so already, make sure to check out go phnx.com. Get yourself a diehards membership. Become a pHNX diehards. We have these incredible membership cards. Where are you going to flash them at?

I don't know, maybe at the door to get into secret speakeasies that we come up with. These are the kind of crazy things that we're planning. And the few. future events, discounts to merchandise over at the PHNX Locker.com, your free piece of merchandise as a member every single year, all of that stuff over at go PHNx.com. Get yourself a diehard membership. Join us in the diehard lounge on Discord, the best place to be an Arizona sports fan, and get Jesse's wonderful diehard only pieces like his diehard newsletter, which, of course, keeps you updated on all of the Arizona Diamondbacks News.

Jesse, what do you got cooking for these people, for these fine folks? we have we have some some zach gallon extension related things in the works so i don't know if that'll be this week or next week or when exactly that will be but um can you give me a preview am i going to hate you afterwards well so i mean yes i'm taking the answer yes when you say well like that i know it's yes i'm taking the realistic approach and i'm i'm looking at scott boris's history and uh you know the players he has had some plays he has had some player sign extensions. It's a common misconception that Scott Boris has never had a client actually sign an extension. It is rare. But I'm going to kind of look back and does he ever do it before the

end of the contract? It has happened. Yeah, it has happened with, I believe, like a full season remaining. Steven Strasbourg is one of the more prominent names that, that we've seen that, you know, Scott Boris client did sign an extension. I want to say that was fairly well out in advance of Strasbourg's contract expiring, not by like years, but maybe. maybe by one season or something like that. So anyway, we're going to take a deep dive into Scott Forrest's history as an agent and see what that might mean about the Diamondbacks and their chances of bringing back Zach Gallen long term. Wonderful.

Well, make sure to check that out over at go-PhNX.com. If you haven't grabbed yourself a membership, make sure to do so. And of course, your membership, your diehard membership will get you a discount to our upcoming and inaugural PHNX Tea Party, where we are going to be out at the Dobson Ranch Golf course on January 13th, Friday the 13th, as Jesse loves to point out. We're going to be having ourselves a blast. Die hards get a discount on the entry fee. Entry includes all sorts of great stuff.

Not only are you going to get into the big event, which is a PHNX Suns watch party. We are going to be renting out the entire driving range, and that entry fee will get you unlimited range balls, a set of rental clubs. You'll get to watch the game Suns versus the Timberwolves on jumbo screens. We're also giving you a one free hour of. of range time and golf balls at Dobson Ranch to be used at a later time. We're going to be playing mini games. Jesse's going to be beating your ass and ping pong.

We're going to have contests for longest drive, putting challenges and more. There'll be all sorts of food and drink available for purchase along with offerings from our PHNX locker and our partners. There will also be a free kids clinic provided for all kids 10 and under. So join us on January 13th, presented by the Four Peaks, our fine, fine friends at Four Peaks, where they will also be out there providing beer samples and swag. our PHNX Sun's crew will be hosting that watch party and so much more. So check the link in the description to reserve your spot right now.

And for diehards, check the Discord for your special link where you'll save 20% off on this incredible event. And also shout out to our friends at Four Peaks. If you don't get to make it out to the Dobson Ranch golf course, make sure to grab yourself some Four Peaks beer wherever you get your beer and enjoy responsibly. Must be 21 or over to enjoy. And Jesse, I know we have so many questions. we could go on talking about Gabriel Moreno for the next hour and a half, but it's Monday, right? It's Monday.

You know what we do around here? Every week is Shark Week. Every day is Earth Day. And every Monday, we go to the mailbag. Leah, let's go. My mail box. Always something interesting in my mailbox. I'm trying to get to everything in my mailbox.

And then once in a while, there's a letter that makes me go out. Shout out to Megaran, of course, for that wonderful jam. Didn't somebody, I think we got somebody asked, like as a mailbag question, how can I get the Mailbag Monday theme song as like a ringtone or something. Was that a real question? Well, there's a really easy way to do that. I feel like that was a real question. We'll get that.

We'll get that out to you guys. But of course, that is a Megaran hit. Omega Ran classic, if you will. So I'll make sure to put that out there on Twitter. So if you were the one looking for that, we'll get the link out to you guys ASAP. But Leah, let's go with our first question, shall we? Kyle Collins, friend Kyle Collins says, how are we feeling about third base at the moment? Longo steal realistically on the table?

How would we feel about possibly bringing in Brian Anderson if Longo is off the table? Happy holidays, y'all. I think Evan Longoria is still on the table. I know nothing has really changed. I'm sure the Diamondbacks are still probably looking at some options. They still have some pieces that, I mean, you could consider to be a bit expendable. So they might be trying to bring someone over via trade. But Evan Longoria on a one-year deal still seems like a pretty good fit for this team.

I think it's possible. I think it's definitely possible. I do think that the fact that the debacks have Guriel in the mix, it feels like right now if Alec Thomas and Jake McCarthy look good in spring training and are a full go for an everyday role along with Corbyn Carroll, I think you'd see a lot of Guriel at DH. And if that's the case, I'm not sure if bringing in Evan Longoria is that much of a need, frankly. The debacks have a decent platoon set up at third base with Josh Rojas. and Emmanuel Rivera, if you look at Rivera's numbers against lefties and you look at Rojas's numbers against righties and then you look at Evan Longoria's like overall offensive numbers, there's not a big difference. It's kind of hard to make the case that Evan Longoria in more of a full-time role, granted he's probably going to get hurt at some point. But having Evan Longoria is your everyday third baseman. I'm not sure if it's really an upgrade over Josh Rojas and Emmanuel Rivera doing sort of a platoon over there. I also think Rivera is a better third baseman than Longoria is at this point. Maybe Longoria and Rojas are somewhat even, but defensively,

you're probably going to improve if you go with some more Emmanuel Rivera innings there. There you go. All right. What else we got, Leah? Larry Jones, who I believe is I am the Larry. I am the Larry. I think you are. Is still here in the chat. His Twitter handle is I am the Larry 6969. So I'm going to go out on a limb and say to the same person. Maybe. We'll see. There's still only six outfielders on the MLB roster. Will any others be on the move, perhaps for pitching? Thomas for Jesus Luzardo trade, for example, makes a ton of sense for both sides. Yeah, except for my heart. I don't like that one bit. I feel like after losing Dalton Varshot, it's a bit much to expect the Diamondbacks to trade any more outfielders. I agree. I agree. But I understand where you're coming from because, yes, on paper,

the debacks had a surplus of outfielders and they traded one away but also got one in return. So I understand where you're coming from. It seems like there is still sort of a surplus there. But I think at this point, given that Gurriel might be more of a DH when all is said and done, I think if you moved to Alec Thomas, you'd be in a position where you had to either play Guriel in left field every day. And you wouldn't necessarily have a long-term answer there since Guriel is only a one-year guy. And I also think that there's still some risk, right, with either Jake McCrill.

or Alec Thomas or even Corbyn Carroll, frankly, you know, maybe struggling a little bit. They're still all very early in their careers. You know, there could be some some sophomore slump sort of situation that we see with any of those guys. I think having a healthy amount of depth that the position is good. I'd be very, very surprised if the debacks dealt one of their other big name outfielder. That would be a lot of movement in that regard for one off season. I'm also not ready to trade for Luzardo just because of one good season. I mean, it's not to say he's been terrible. Yeah, Luzardo's filthy, but I understand the concern.

There's a lot of risk there. It's not just risk, but it's like, I don't know if I, right now, if I'm doing something to move a potential piece that was considered to be the future of this team like Alec Thomas. I'm not doing it for a guy that just had one good season statistically, right? it's hard to tell because he's always pitched for bad teams. He's been on the Oakland A's and he's been on the Miami Marlin. So who knows what he can do if he's actually on a competitive team. But right now he has a career ERA of over four and a half. So I'm not ready to bring that guy on without seeing more from him.

And I think that most teams are probably in a similar position. That's the knee-jerk reaction. I think organizations make entirely too much is seeing a guy have one good season feel like this is the guy he's going to be without looking at it. his past and realizing he was more consistently subpar than he was at being an all-star like yeah lusardo he's had a lot of injury issues over the year so i i really do think that's played a big role like luzardo like healthy hasus lzardo is a really really good pitcher and he kind of showed that last year but you're right there's there's just so much risk with you know what what

what does the next chapter in his career actually look like from an injury standpoint i'm not sure you feel comfortable enough with that to make that kind of a move. But it is a reasonable suggestion. Back before the bar show trade, Alec Thomas for Jesus Lazzardo is kind of at least the framework of a trade that I had in my head as well. I think it could have made some sense for both sides. All right.

Leah, what else we got? Is Lordess defense a concern from our friend AZ Girl, AZDbacks 192 on Twitter? I don't know. Yes. I would say yes. But I have no concerns about his defense until I see him on the field for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Does that, is that silly of me to say that? Like, I mean, yeah, defensively, his metrics don't look great. And I understand that he's an average to below average defender anywhere

he plays on the diamond. But I don't know. I have this strong belief in a change of scenery and a change of coaching staff and how little things might be able to help him, maybe places that they can play him where he's not going to be a huge, you know, left field, places like that, where he's not going to get a ton of balls hit his way.

I don't really know. I'd say at this point, though, that doesn't stop me, even if I'm the Diamondbacks from making this deal. It's interesting that you brought up that he was a key part of the deal that the Diamondbacks wanted. So obviously, it's not a concern to them.

Yeah, I mean, I think the Debacks just kind of have had a wide open, a hole at DH, sort of, where now that Dalton Varsho is no longer on the roster, they have a lot of DH at bats out there and I expect that's the majority of the

abats that Gurriel will get. He graded out okay in left field. He's not a disaster defensively in left field, I don't think. I have heard just anecdotally a number of Toronto Blue Jays fans say that Gurriel is one of those players who just kind of does dumb things. And I can't really speak to that personally.

But apparently defensively on the base paths, he's one of those guys who occasionally just kind of has mental lapses. So, you know, maybe we'll see some of that this next year. But yeah, if Alec Thomas and Jake McCarthy and Corbyn Carroll come into spring training and are playing well and looking good, I don't think you'll see much of Gurriel defensively. And that's probably the ideal outcome for the debacks in the long run here. I don't want to say he's young because he's 29 years old. But maturity is a thing sometimes it comes, you know, at some point unexpectedly, right? I wouldn't be surprised to see, you know, look, we've already seen the antics of this guy.

That's why I think he's delightful and I can't wait for him to be a part of this scene. He's hilarious. Yeah. There is, you can't be that much fun and also be mature, is what I'm saying. Like, the two don't go hand in hand, right? So there is still some immaturity. I'm still, I'm sure that's still there. I'm sure it might not even go away.

But of course, the beautiful part about it is that you never know. know what, you know, a trade like this is going to do for a guy's career. Even if he doesn't stay here in Arizona, this might just be one of those seasons where he breaks out and then leaves. And we all like remember that one season that we had with Lordus Gurriel that was magic, just like, just like our pal that's over in L.A. now, Mr. Martinez. So anyway, what else we got? We got another one, Leah, for this. Yeah, of course. Yep, there we go. Michael Rokicke wants to know where does Lourdes-Dis Ariel's hair rank in Diamondbacks all-time hair dues. Very highly, very highly. Man hasn't even

played an inning. He hasn't stepped on the field yet for the debacks, but I'm ranking his hair very highly. We've talked about this. You have to have great hair to be a part of this team. It's a requirement. And to be honest, the people with with poor hair probably, you know, should watch out. I'm not saying this factored into the Dalton Varsho deal, but is Dalton Varsho not have a shaved head? I rest my case I rest my case Yeah I mean like So the debacks currently

I mean they have they have some pretty Some pretty impressive hair on the roster already Like like Jake McCarthy Like if it's Jake if it's Jake McCarthy versus Lordus Girl Jr. I don't I don't know frankly Which side of that I would take Uh thinking back many years

Uh I don't know like like Clay Zavada You know with like the with the mustache And he had quite a flow going as well. He comes to mind. Randy Johnson. We don't talk enough about Randy Johnson's hair. Right. All time great mullet. All time. By the way, I saw someone ask what, what jersey Randy Johnson would wear into the Hall of Fame. Are we, are we serious? How is it out of Diamondbacks Jersey? Where else did he win multiple Cy Young Awards and a World Series? Like, this is crazy. Talk to me. I know we all think of Randy Johnson in his Seattle Mariners hat. I do too.

I dream at night. It doesn't mean that that's the jersey that he should go to the hall with and you know it, period. Alec Thomas or Lordus Gurriel Jr. Who are you taken from a hair standpoint? Man, I don't know where Alec Thomas's hair is going. I feel like Thomas's hair has untapped potential, right? It never ceases to amaze me when he takes it, like, he takes his hat off and there's just a new thing under there. It's wild. His hair was so crazy that like it infected David Peralta. David Peralta had the same hair going on. It was contagious. It was wild. But anyway, probably Alec Thomas for now, for now, for now. Of course, we thank you guys for being here. It's a wonderful mailbag Monday. If you guys haven't subscribed to the PHNX Sports YouTube channel already, I don't know why you haven't. What are you doing? Do that now. Sign up for notifications. That way you don't miss what any of our wonderful shows go live. Even if you're a Toronto, Blue Jays fan. You're just here hanging out. Get down on it. You might enjoy. Maybe you become a son's fan. I don't know. I've always thought of the rafters and the suns of being like connected in some way, mostly because of the Calangelo's. But anyway, we thank you guys for being here regardless of

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We're all about getting better every single year. And we're going to do that in 2023. Jesse, we got some more mailbag questions. Leah, what do we got? our friend Gabriel, aka known troublemaker, asks, what were your wishes for this team at this time last year? Did any come true? And what are your wishes for this year?

Well, I know my wish at this time last year was, can we fucking play baseball for God's sake? Can we just play some baseball? So yes, my wishes came true. I wanted baseball to no longer be locked out. And eventually it wasn't, right? Yeah, yeah. I mean that yeah if you're talking about like a year ago right now I mean that's all we were literally coming here right every single day doing a live stream talking about the latest news.

You know the latest report from Jeff Passon saying that there was no deal and there never was going to be a deal and it just felt like it was rinse and repeat with that narrative for you know six to eight weeks or something before momentum actually started we started to feel some of that momentum. You had John Heyman and Bob Nightingale over here trying to give us hope and then you had Jeff. Passing just dowsing our hopes with water every single day. Just putting those flames of hope right out every single day with his. I mean, that was that was big though, right? Because like there was some serious concern over like we really might miss a couple months of baseball. Like we really might be looking at an opening day in June or July or, you know,

just like a completely upended season of this game that we all love. And that didn't happen. And for me, just as like a baseball fan in general, that was like that was all I wanted for Christmas in some ways last year at this time right like just give me a normal baseball season and and we did we did essentially get that I mean it was delayed by a week but other than that it was basically you know the spring training ramp up was quick we lost some cactus league games that was unfortunate but by and large it was a pretty normal season of baseball did it make you appreciate baseball more the way that like the pandemic made us appreciate going to the store door again or going like living life outdoors again. Like it almost felt like a similar situation where all it took was taking what like what you said that normalcy away. The thing that we're used to are every year that we get to do this at this time and

we've never really been stopped from doing it. And now all of a sudden we can't do the things we've, we've normally done. Right. So like I felt like last year was I was more appreciative of baseball being back last year. than a normal season, obviously. Yeah. And I'm just,

I'm finding myself this off season, just so appreciative of like what a normal baseball off season is like and just all of the awesome things that happen. Like this has been low key, maybe not even low key, maybe high key, like a very fun off season of baseball. There have been a lot of,

a lot of big free agents. They all signed relatively early. This isn't like some of the past few years where some of the big fish and free agency, you know, lingered until January, February. Like, you've got pitchers and catchers reporting and some of the big name guys still don't have a team. That didn't happen this year. And it's just been fun. It's just been fun to be like, wow, this is like, in a normal year, the baseball offseason is actually a really fun time for the sport. We just got so used, like, these last couple of years to just some bizarre things happening. And, you know, some of the

markets for certain players just lingering out months and months and months. It's been a lot of fun just seeing kind of a return to normalcy this offseason on a number of different fronts. I'll give you another thing going back to the question about, you know, what were our wishes for this year. My wish, all my wishes came true. And I think it exceeded my expectations as far as what wishes I would see. I think I wished to see Corbyn Carroll knowing I wouldn't, knowing like 99.9% that I wouldn't see them on the Major League roster last year. Alec Thomas, a lot more reasonable, felt like was somebody we were going to see, but that didn't disappoint.

And we got to see Thomas early on. He had success right out of the gate. Not only was he pretty damn good offensively early on, but defensively, he was a lock in center field. So I think that we just wanted to see the young guys come up, get some playing time, and flourish. And we wanted to see this team not lose 100 games. And I think that's all of that was everything we could have asked for considering the disaster that was 2021.

Isn't it crazy, though, just how the expectations have changed? Like, like, the wish has gone from don't lose 100 games to like, all right. Like now, yeah, now like you should probably be in the mix for a wild card spot. Get that wild card spot and make it to the World Series like the Phillies did. Like the Phillies did. Yeah. Like I think some DeVax fans have genuinely talked themselves into that for 2020. and somehow it doesn't actually feel that crazy.

Yeah, for sure, for sure. All right, what else we got? Preston Smith asks, do you think there is any chance to debacks try to make a run for Arnoldus Chapman? What are you thoughts, Jesse? I mean, that's not. I assume we mean a Raldus Chapman.

Arnoldus. Arnoldus. I like Arnoldus, I like Arnaldus, Chapman. What are your thoughts on this being viable? I mean, obviously, there's some character issues when it comes to Chapman. There's some other things off the field that the Diamondbacks might not want to be interested

in. Yeah. This kind of goes to a morality thing, not on the same level as Trevor Bauer that we were discussing the other day, but maybe on a similar level where there's some stuff, Diamondbacks, you know, not just personal stuff that he's gone through in the past, but even last season with the Yankees where it seemed like, you know, there was a weird ending to his time there due to not being on the on the on the playoff roster yeah i mean are all this chapman like like look the guy the guy broke into the big leagues at age 22 he was you know one of the best relievers

in the game if not the best reliever for you know six seven eight years mostly while he was in cincinnati um and and i think he's gotten to the point now where he's like no longer that guy right of all this chapman at this point is 34 years old it'll be 30 it'll be 35 by opening day of next year. If you look at his numbers for the Yankees last year, all the character things aside, he just wasn't that good, frankly. He had 28 walks and 36 in the third innings.

That's way too many walks to really be an effective reliever. The strikeout numbers are still there to a certain degree. He didn't allow that many hits. But I don't see it. I think the debacks are looking for guys in the bullpen that they can count on a little bit more so. Whereas frankly, a Rallis Chapman had an ERA of four and a half last year.

And that's, I don't know if that's really to the level that the debacks are looking for all of those character issues aside. So I would be really surprised if that happened. Does he still throw triple digits, Jesse? You know, that's a good question. I don't know if this is a retort. Do you know, do you know the answer to this question? I don't. I'm asking, I was more asking if you knew because I don't.

That's going to judge if he can be in this bullpen or not this season because that's all. We're just going for triple digit guys now. That's it. He averaged 97.5 last year. So he probably touched triple digits, but I don't think he didn't. I mean, in in 2016, he averaged 101.2. So he's, he's not, he's not that guy. He's not that guy anymore.

I am the Larry in the chat. We confirmed it was his Twitter account earlier. He says, please don't go get Chapman. We don't need any past domestic violence guys. I don't, I mean, I don't disagree with that. I don't think most people would. I think the problem is, is that after a while, that that factor starts to get murky when it comes to,

well, can he still throw the ball? Right? So it's like, I think that's the biggest problem with sports. If it was up to me, none of these assholes that, you know, commit crimes or do things while they're and professional athlete would be allowed back in the sport because frankly, it should be a privilege to earn millions of dollars

playing a professional sport. But there's no way all owners of every sport are all going to get on board with that shit. There's always going to be one guy that's like, we'll bring him in. And that is the reason why we can't have nice things. What else do we got, Leah? Can we get a step-by-step walkthrough of Jesse's trip to Chandler Mall on the 24th?

Jesse, I've been waiting for this. Let's go. How did your last-minute Christmas shopping go? Please, please, we need this story. It was. So this is going to blow some people's minds, but my last-minute Christmas shopping did not take me to Chandler Mall this year. It still started at the same time that I advertised. I left home at about 3.30, 4 o'clock on Christmas Eve.

But I went to Hobby Lobby and I went to Walmart and I was able to get everything that I needed. Part of this, I have to say, part of this is courtesy of the PHNX locker. I placed a very large order around Black Friday and was able to have multiple family members. That doesn't count. Wait, you went shopping beforehand. That's not fair. I know. The PH and X locker essentially saved my last minute Christmas shopping in some ways, because I had way fewer people to actually shop for. But yeah, things actually went surprisingly smoothly.

I only wound up needing to buy one thing, which I found at Walmart reasonably quickly. So you know what? Another year of another year of 4 p.m. Christmas Eve, Christmas shopping in the books. and I have yet to learn any lesson about doing this in any other way. Damn it. Damn it. I need you to get your comeuppins. I need you to have everything go wrong for you, Jesse. This isn't fair.

This isn't fair to those of us that spend, you know, weeks shopping. And we do that weeks ahead of time. And here you are. Just coming along with your life. I did not buy a single gift card. I need to dispel that possible, possible thought about how my, my Christmas shopping went. There were no gift cards. I will say there was I did give cash to one of my siblings, but that was, uh, that was sort of an inside joke kind of a thing. There was a little bit more

to it. So I didn't just straight up like just give him cash and that was it. Um, but you know what? All is well that ends well, Derek. And if I continue to have so much success shopping at 4 p.m. on Christmas Eve every year, then that is, that is what I will continue to do. So the people are just going to have to put up with it. I'm calling the police. I'm calling the police right now. I still can't believe that you got shopping done at Hobby Lobby. I mean, that actually sounds like a fun place to get Christmas gifts now that I'm thinking about it. I actually had a hard time, Jesse, finding a calendar for my wife, because apparently people don't use those things anymore. They're not a physical item that you can just go to the store and grab, but I did have a tremendous

amount of luck at Staples on Christmas Eve myself, which was to know. one's surprise empty. I did not stand in a line at Staples. And I ended up getting pretty good stuff there. So I'm with you a little bit. Anyway, I hate you and I hope that your shopping goes terrible next year. That's all I hope for. I'm sure you'll, you have no problem. You'll have no problem having money to spend with your with your streak on Draft King's Sportsbook app. Of course, if you guys haven't done so already, make sure to grab the Drafking sportsbook app. Download it. Use our code of P.HNX. That way you can get down. on the free bets that we offer to you.

If you place a $5 pregame money line bet on any NBA team to win their game, you will get $150 in free bets if they do. I would, this is where I would normally suggest doing it on the Sons, betting on the Sons, but I don't know, I don't know that anymore. I'm not,

that's, that's out the window. I feel like my meetings with the mayor last week might have spoiled that because I projected that the Sons were going to choke. I also asked the Diamondbacks to do something, and they did. So now I'm concerned that the whole choking thing might have really impacted the suns, and I'm blaming myself quite a bit here. But go on and I'll tell you, put a bet on maybe the Denver Nuggets,

because they seem to be pretty much on fire. Mavericks also, I hate all of them, but whatever. Anyway, bet bet on an NBA team, $5 money line bet or more, and you will get $150 of free bets if they do. Leah says, of course, money line on the coyote or puck line on the coyotes and you bet against the coyotes. Don't forget that. The coyotes are like pretty good at home, right? Is that the idea here?

The thing is, is that the puck line is always two goals, essentially. So if the coyotes lose by one or win, then you still win. So that's why Leah is suggesting the puck line there, which is a very smart move. And she says, yes, they're good at home. They're good at home. We know why that fucking arena is incredible. All this talk, all this, all this bashing of the Mollett Arena. And it's an incredible place, not only to watch hockey, but take it for me.

It's an incredible place to watch Lucha as well. So make sure to do that. But of course, the big thing you need to do is download the Drap King Sportsbook app. Use our code of P. H&X only at the Drapking Sportsbook app. Minimum age and eligibility restrictions apply. See show notes for details. And of course, I want to give a shout out to our guys at Burrito Express,

the homies at Burrito Express. They not only keep us well-supplied in breakfast burritos around the office, but they are doing a service for the Valley. Go buy a $25 Barreto Express gift card, and they'll give you a free burrito. That's it. That's it. You have somebody like, did you forget to shop?

That's the place to go get a gift card. Go get a gift card at a place that is going to give you a free burrito simply for buying a gift card there. There's no way you don't win that way. Head over to your nearby Burrito Express location today, remember even their bean and cheese burrito is incredible. So you can't go wrong at Brito Express.

But shout out to them for making me look forward to Mondays. We are home today. Jesse and I are home. We're coming to you remotely this week. And I've never been more sad about the fact that I'm not in the office. Because right now, Leah is backstage on this very program we're using, bring you this fight show. Just fucking flaunting her burrito in the camera.

Leah, come up on, come on up. Let's, I'm going to add it. Let's add her to the street. Green, look at this. This is what she's doing to me while I'm talking about me not getting my burrito. Oh, no, no, the green sauce. Did you, you better not have taken all the green sauce. I'm checking. No, I'm not Michaela. Yeah, I'm going to say, we'll check back at the desk when we get back. Make sure there's no burritos being stashed in there. But anyway, shout out to Brito Express, of course. We love it. Michael, you do need to try Burrito Express. Do not, do not miss out. Do not hesitate.

It's genuinely, genuinely incredible. I've never been like a, like, a huge. huge like burrito savante or anything but burrito express they they do it pretty well that's right that's right so of course we thank you guys for being here mailbag monday is nothing without you thank you guys for being here in the chat and for sending us your questions uh we are still going to be talking about gabriel moreno all week long so uh if you that's what you're here for i feel like we we like only scratched the surface like our headline today is is gabriel merino the franchise catcher the arizona dime's been seeking like we like we haven't even really started to talk about this guy yet. So be sure to be sure to stick with us through the whole week.

That's right. That's right. And of course, in the meantime, you can catch us on Twitter. I'm at Capp underscore Kman with a K. Jesse is at Jesse and Friedman. Our show is at PHNX underscore Dbacks, but of course all roads lead to at PHNX underscore sports on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. We thank you guys again so much for being here in the chat. We appreciate all of our Blue Jays fans for stopping by, even the ones that wanted to tell us how bad Moreno and Lordis are. We appreciate you. giving us this information. You guys are great. Did anyone actually say that?

I feel like every Blue Jays fan who showed up has been very cordial and has said, you guys got two incredible players. That seems to be the recurring comment I'm seeing over and over again. Maybe I missed one or two. I get it.

Yeah, you might have missed one or two. There were some in here. I need to scroll back here a little bit, but of course, no, I mean, I think the thing is, is that the Toronto fans are very, very,

familiar with these guys. I think that they know that you know, Loris Gouriel might be a little bit, kind of like the opposite of our show a bit, right? He's like a, he's like a fan favorite though. Like he's a fan favorite. I've heard like Blue Jays fans,

I think more than anything with Gouriel are just kind of devastated to lose like just the person that he is. Like if you go back and watch some videos of Lourdes Goreal Jr., he's had some pretty funny moments in his in his big league career over in Toronto. So, I'm sure DeBax fans have plenty of

entertainment value awaiting them with Lardis Gouriel Jr. now being in Arizona Diamondback. Yep, exactly. Benjamin Hunley says it sounds like Gouriel was the Blue Jays David Peralta. That's a great comparison. I know he kept us very entertained with his hijinks, so I look forward to Guriel doing the same. Like I said, we thank you guys for being here.

Follow us all on Twitter, all that stuff. Until next time, we appreciate you guys stopping by on behalf of Jesse Leah Leah's burrito and myself, we thank you guys so much for the time. And remember, kids, baseball is fun. But it's so much more fun when you can get excited about having all of the top prospects.