PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - Is Paul Goldschmidt REUNION The Best Way For Diamondbacks To Replace Christian Walker?

Episode Date: October 18, 2024

With Christian Walker set to reach free agency this offseason, the Diamondbacks will need to decide what to do at first base. One option that could make sense is bringing back old friend Paul Goldschmidt. We break down Goldschmidt’s 2024 numbers, and the pros and cons of signing him. We are also joined by Reno Aces play-by-play broadcaster Nash Walker to talk D-backs prospects such as Adrian Del Castillo, Yu-Min Lin and Jordan Lawlar. Finally, we discuss Thursday’s instant classic between the Guardians and Yankees, and the Dodgers beating up on the Mets yet again. Join Derek, Jesse and Kevin for the PHNX Diamondbacks Show LIVE!! An ALLCITY Network Production SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube: https://bit.ly/phnx_youtube ALL THINGS PHNX: http://linktr.ee/phnxsports MERCH https://store.allcitynetwork.com/collections/phnx-locker ALLCITY Network, Inc. aka PHNX and PHNX Sports is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by the City of Phoenix PHNX 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! 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 https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

If the Arizona Diamondbacks end up needing a new first baseman, is Paul Goldschmidt, potentially a good replacement? We'll be talking about that here in a little bit. Don't go anywhere. Happy Friday. Welcome in to another edition of the PHNXDbacks podcast right here on PHMX. My name is Derek Montia. Occasionally known as your mayor of PHMX. This man next to me is Jesse Friedman, occasionally known as your thunderstick. And of course, this show is brought to you by our friends of Bet365. Go download the Bet365 app now.

use our code of pHNX 365 when you sign up choose your offer and find out why it is never ordinary over at bet 365 jesse this is another off season why are we twinning why does this happen yeah i don't like this yeah we didn't even call each other we've been spending entirely too much time together i thought during the off season we would get a break from each other and yet for some reason i don't know why you thought that yeah right like i thought i felt like yeah like instead like if they would gone to the playoffs, then we would have gotten a break from each other. Then he would have been off in a different city and instead here we are looking like a pretty decent tag team, like a pretty suitable tag team. But we are we got to make this a trio's team. We're excited

to bring in our guy Nash Walker from the Reno Aces. Nash not matching us. He did not get the memo on wearing beige today, but he does have on that killer baby blue ACEs Polo. Welcome in Nash. Thank you so much for joining us. Hey, thank you, fellas. And I know you guys. I know you guys. are together and Jesse would have been in Phoenix for the playoffs, but instead you're talking to the broadcaster at the AAA level. But I'm just, I'm honored to be here in mid-October. I know we're going to do this at some point. Let's make the most of it. Unfortunately, the debacks, unlike last year, not in it, of course, but I'm happy to be here and celebrate what was a good push at the end, right? 89 win season. If they were in the American League, they would

have been in the ALCS right now. Well, and I know we've talked about that a bit and it's just amazing how, like really at the end of the day, even though it's 162 games season, how many games you win really doesn't matter. It just matters what the end results are, what you do and if you make the playoffs. And in this case, even though this was a more successful season than last year, it's obviously not based on not making the playoffs and then obviously not having the run that they had. Yeah, it just feels like they're slow start. you can manage a slow start. We saw Atlanta do that a couple of years ago. You can manage it, but it just felt like they were kind of chasing all year.

And even with a great second half, it just still felt like they were paying the price for a rough first half. And you saw Corby and Carroll get going in the second half. But hopefully if they would have just reduced the first half by a week, the struggles, I think they probably would have made it. But it just felt like they were catching up throughout the summer and paying for the slow start. But they did play great baseball in the second half. It was great to watch in the second half. a little bit short. Only the Mets and the Padres also played very, very good baseball in the second half.

It felt like we were constantly trying to keep up with the other teams that were also playing good baseball. But I do have to ask, like coming up one game short, how, you know, after a season like this, how much does that make you look back and reflect on those losses and those times and kind of maybe overthink some of that and how if one of the, if one of the, those games changed, you'd be in the postseason. Yeah, I thought Tori, I mean, I'm sure you guys would share a similar sentiment. You know him better than I do watching these pressures, but I thought Tori Lavello was tough on them at the end of the year, losing that game to the

Padres. I joke that they lost to the El Paso Chihuahuas. I think it was on that Saturday. They did. This is baseball. Like, these are professional baseball players. We know better than anybody. Anybody can win on any given day. But it really was just one win, right? One or two wins to get you in. So it's painful. It's painful, especially when you saw them last year make that great run. And with their offense, I think anything was possible in October, which makes it even worse. The goal is to get into the dance. I think the debacks are in a good spot. I think, you know, you have some big decisions to make not only this offseason, Christian Walker being a free agent, but Zach Allen next year as well, some of the best players on the team, question marks there. But Corby and Carroll bouncing back,

of course, such a good story in the second half to see him get right. And I would bet on him 100% for next year returning to that 5-6-1 player over a full season. So you have the stars. You have the offense. Ketalmarte top three MVP finisher this year. You have what you need offensively. I think there's probably more questions on the pitching side. I would be still optimistic as a Debex fan.

It's wild as that is to think right now. I think there's a lot of good things still moving forward. Well, hey, the Diamondbacks might not have made the playoffs. But the Reno Aces made the playoffs. didn't wind up. They didn't wind up winning the whole thing, of course. But Nash, I'm curious just this season, it feels like was kind of a roller coaster in Reno. I mean, there's always going to be a decent amount of turnover on your AAA roster.

But it feels like this year, especially the Diamondbacks moved Davis and Delos Santos. Of course, in a trade, they moved under Shapiro. There's some other pieces that, you know, of course, we're moving throughout the season as well. What was it like watching this Reno Aces team this year? And what ultimately led them to have the success that they did? That period of the season was season defining. I was in the gym in Sacramento at the hotel. We were playing the Rivercats.

And it was the trade deadline day. And I saw that they traded Chaparro, which was shocking. That was legitimately shocking to lose him from the lineup because he was, him and Del Castile, I think we're first and second for PCLNBP. Delcastiel won PCLNBP, but I think Shapiro was on pace to probably finish second. So we would have had the first and second place finisher. Had Andres gone up, it would have been different. The debacks may have called them up in the second half.

But within the matter, I think it was of two weeks, Paving got called up. They traded Davison and then they traded Shapiro. So we lost that heart of the order that was so devastating. The lineup was insane. When we had Pavin Smith, Davidson de Los Santos, Andres Chapparo, Adrian Del Castillo, Albert Elmore. Like, we were just so loaded offensively. And then we lost three of those big bats.

In the second half, the pitching took off. But I think the a ACEs mirrored the Diamondbacks in a lot of ways with a rougher first half, really coming on in the second half, playing our best baseball down the stretch. We also had 45 of 75 games here at home in the second half, so that helped a ton. But the pitching, the pitching was fantastic down the stretch. That was the difference for us and why we made it to the championship. But that offense around the trade deadline you guys mentioned with Shapiro and Davison, it was so fun to watch.

and you could say pitching was the reason the Diamondbacks didn't make the playoffs so that's kind of where their two seasons kind of spread apart but you did bring up ADC and being the MVP of the PCL that was a lot of letters I had to say right there but that was an amazing season for him and then you know obviously you see him get called up

and I mean he kind of lit the baseball world on fire there for this first two weeks as a major leaguer what was that like to watch him continue to have that success that he was having in AAA at the major league level. It's wild to say because you see guys go up all the time and struggle, but it really wasn't a surprise. He was an auto barrel for us all summer long.

His swing so simple, but just hits the ball so hard. We all talked, I think when I came on, it may have been July or June at some point in the season, where he was catching everything flush. And then it just didn't change. He went up to the big leagues and he was catching everything flush. But I think as a player, the one thing you want to do is put yourself in the conversation, right? And now we're entering an offseason where the Diamondbacks,

they chose Jose Herrera one time, and we'll see if they choose him again, right? And you never know, like, these injuries could happen. And some guys get hurt, catchers especially. But Del Castillo has now put himself into the conversation of being a perfect platoon fit with Gabriel Moreno offensively. I think the debacks have to be enamored with the season he had all the way through. He hit back-to-back homers and back-to-back games in the playoffs. He just never, stopped. He was so deserving. That was my agenda, guys. I had an agenda starting in May. My narrative was that Del Castillo is the PCO MVP. And I felt validated, vindicated that he was, that everybody around the league felt the same way and didn't knock him too much for our home

ballpark, which is beautiful, but very hitter friendly. So I was so glad to see him win that. He deserved it 100%. And to get that kind of offensive production from the catcher spot, you guys saw what it can do for a lineup, can lengthen it so deep. And it happened when he was with the Diamondbacks too. I think just defensive question marks still for him, but the bat, man, does the bad play?

It was unreal to me just how quickly the bat translated to the majors. I mean, I think two of his first three games this year were three hit games. And his second major league game, he had a walk-off home run against Jeff Hoffman, who's one of the best relievers of Major League Baseball and is going to make a hefty sum of money in free agency this offseason. I mean, it felt magical.

It wasn't just that it is not. numbers were good. It was that he was hitting some, some enormous home runs in big spots time and time again. You did mention defensively that that's, that's kind of where, where the questions lie for him. That's ultimately why the Diamondbacks chose to go back to Jose Herrera toward the end of the season. Big picture, how do you feel like he evolved in, in that regard over the course of the season? And what, what further development do you think it's going to take for maybe the Diamondbacks to choose him over, over someone else down the road? Yeah, I think with guys in improvement, you're always, you look at makeup in that way.

Who are they? Watch them work because that gives you the upside that he could improve in certain areas or the said player can improve in certain areas. He's fantastic, man. Like he went to Winterball. He went to instructs. He played year-round. He played all year. His season did not stop last year.

And he came right into opening day with us, Homeward Opening weekend. And he was a monster all the other way. But it's so cliche. I even hate saying it, but like first and last out type of thing. That's the guy he is. He's extremely humble. He works super hard. There's a reason he hit the way he did this year.

And he took such a big leap as the breakout player in the system was because of who he is. The talent level, yes, as a competitive balance pick, he signed for a million dollars. This is not some guy in the 38th round. Like, he was talented coming out of Miami. But I think who he is and his makeup has gotten him to this point. He's fantastic. He said last year at the end of the year, I'm going to be. be a leader for this group next year. He was a leader for this group this year. Albert Almore

and Adrian Del Castillo brothers, both from Miami. I think Albert's influence on him helped a ton just to watch Albert go through his business every single day. But I would just bet on Del Castile his makeup to continue to improve and do everything he can to get better on both sides of the ball, because he's exactly what you want as far as a person off the field too. we had the opportunity to see eumen lynn pitch in the arizona fall league and we know he made his debut i believe on september 21st uh for the aces what was that game like and and what's your level of excitement to have him as as part of the aces yeah keith law ranked him as the best pitching prospect in the system and i was i was really highlighting that throughout his debut

he's really fun to watch because he's he's so slight in frame he doesn't stand super tall on the mound, but you can see the competitiveness you read about. You can see how he fields his position. He had opportunities to get off the mound and go grab the baseball. He's a, he's a great athlete. You can see it when he's on the mound and the stuff, everything's dipping, ducking, diving. Even here in elevation where stuff doesn't move as well. Stuff just doesn't move as well here. His stuff is still darting out of the zone, starting at the bottom of the zone and finishing in the dirt or starting above the zone and dropping into the lower quadrant. Like everything just moves insanely. And Jesse, when I met you, I don't know if I met you, Derek at spring training or not,

but I definitely talked to Jesse about when. And he was turning eyes at spring training this year. And if not for that freak injury, getting hit in the dugout by a foul ball. I think he may have made his debut this year. I think he's 21. Is he 2021? Super young. But he was the, I feel like he was the talk of spring training guys. I don't know if you agree on that point. But I mean, that was well deserved. And that continued into his AAA debut. Yeah. And then we just saw him in the fall league and he looked really good. He's gone six scoreless innings in that setting so far. A lot of excitement there. And yeah, he wasn't able to make his debut this year next season. It seems like he's in a really good spot to do that at some point, probably start in AAA with you guys.

And then, you know, probably serve as starting pitching depth for the Diamondbacks at some point. Sticking on the starting pitching side, I wanted to ask you about Tommy Henry, a guy that Diamondbacks fans are pretty familiar with. He had a really pretty darn good 2023 season was a pretty big part of this rotation, came into spring training this year, having a pretty good shot to land that fifth starter spot. But it just wasn't the season that he was hoping to have. He really struggled. And I think it was seven starts that he made in the big leagues this year. And then wound up spending almost the entire season in AAA,

I kind of figured he would get called up again at some point toward the end of the season. he never got that opportunity. What did you see from Tommy Henry in really what was the majority of the season that he spent down in Reno? He was a huge part of our second half success. Blake Loller, a manager, said this about Tommy.

For DeBacks fans, the number one thing you want to see for Tommy, I think Tommy knows how to pitch. Tommy knows how to get out. He knows how to get weak contact. His curve balls is great. The number one thing you want to see for him is swings and misses in the strikeouts.

And that really ramped up in the second half. And that's always a good sign for him. If he's getting swings and misses, you saw this in 2023 as well. He's really good, man. He can get a bunch of outs. He can go deep into games. He's the epitome of someone who knows how to pitch and knows what he does well. And then working with Michael Perez, who we added as a veteran catcher in the middle of the season from the Mariners organization, those two got together.

Mike, he was spamming slider with Tommy. And those two struck out the world. Tommy struck out more than he ever had to start against Tacoma here at home. I think it was 12 with Michael Perez behind the plate. The strikeout numbers soared when those two started working together. I think Tommy figured some stuff out in the second half. I really do. He was our game one starter in Sugarland.

It did not, didn't go well for anybody in Sugar Land, save for Del Castillo. But I do think he figured out how to get swings and misses. He was throwing his sliders to righties more. And he was getting swing over sliders on the back foot constantly. Then you add that into the curveball and his fastball playing at the three. the top of the zone. Everything leads to the fastball for him. He gets swings and misses on the curving slider and then he'll come with a fastball and blow it by you at 89.90 because you're looking for the breaking stuff. I think he figured out a lot about himself this year, even though he knew a lot

about himself. I think he learned even more. And there's a lot to be excited about in the second half for him in the swing and miss territory and strikeouts. I mean, they racked up. Well, I would have expected that having you on at the end of the year that we would be talking about Jordan Lawler a whole bunch, but he only, what was it, like 50, 60 played appearances that he ultimately had in AAA this season. I know you probably didn't get to spend a ton of time around him necessarily, but how did you kind of see him navigate everything that he went through this year? And what did it look like when he was on the field? The numbers, it's a small sample, but the numbers look pretty good. If you didn't know that he was 22 and you didn't know that he has

played not very many games in the minors, because he's dealt with injuries now for a handful of years, you would put him in the bucket of our veterans the way that he acts. He seems like he's somebody who's played for the Diamondbacks for a decade. He honestly does. Just the way that he carries himself, he's, he knows he's great. He knows he's a future star in the league. It's just staying healthy is the biggest thing. But he carries himself that way. That's exactly what you want. You want to see that out of him. And in a humble way, like finding that balance of being very confident, knowing that he's the best player on the field most nights here at AAA. But also knowing he puts in his work and he always is out here, get taking ground balls, doing whatever he can.

I asked him too, I was like, does it frustrate you? And this was off camera. I was like, does it frustrate you that you've missed so much of this year? And they're still, they're getting them days off because they want to get him off his feet. He's like, no, man, like it's just part of the process, just what I have to. do. And so he understands that he has that perspective of this being a very long career for him. This is

going to be a long career for Jordan Lawler. He knows missing a lot of this year, it stinks. Last year, the injuries and how they've racked up on them these last couple of seasons, it stinks. But he's got such a bright future, man. There's nothing he can't do on the baseball field. Molly said

this as well, you can pick him out. You can pick him out on the field. It's true. You know when he's playing because he's just he can do everything at a high level. There's not one thing on the field he cannot do. That's why he's, I would say, a top three prospect in the game. And if you had played a full season,

he probably would have played most of the year with the Diamondbacks. But I still think he's top five at minimum. I know that you're used to this at a minor league level. And I know I've probably asked you something similar to this in the past. But how weird is it when you are like in a playoff hunt as a AAA team? but then you're having your best players picked off or traded away for the major league club in the in the way that they were. And then, you know, like, I mean, obviously the Aces did a great job of keeping things on track. But it does feel like, you know, at times when when you're succeeding at a AAA level, then it's that much harder for your guys to stick around and be there for your playoffs or your championship game.

Yeah. I think this is a misconception, too, of AAA and the minors. and I will always push back against this. But people think that winning doesn't matter here. These guys want to be on winning teams because there's a better chance to get called up, right? Like success equals getting called up both personally. And I think when the team is winning, it's just an offshoot of strong personal performances. So if you're winning, it's a sign that guys are getting called up, guys are going up.

This was the thing with Sugarland. You guys saw the Astro, AAA, who we played in the championship, had the most insane season. I think it's going to be a record-breaking season for a while, what they did. They had so many guys performing at such a high level not getting called up, which just doesn't happen here. And with us, guys performing at a high level, the one exception was Del Castillo because there were so many times this summer,

I'm like, how is he not getting called up? How is he not up with the Diamondbacks right now? He's sitting a home run every single night here. He was the exception. But if you do well for a couple weeks, especially true with the Albuquerque isotopes and the Rockies, if you have two good games for the Tops, man, you're gone. You're going to the Rockies.

D-Backs, there's a lot of town. which we're grateful for to keep guys. But yeah, you always are finding that balance because I also built relationships with these guys too. So for ADC, we're the same age. And like, I've known him for a year and a half now. I want him to go. I want him to go up personally.

At the same time, I'm the broadcaster for this team. I call the game solo every single night. I want the team to win. And I want to have Del Castillo hitting second. So it is always, it's always a balance. But I always, of course, lean toward wanting guys to go and they want to win here too because it reflects well on everybody last last thing for me nash uh tim tawa is a debacks prospect that i don't think we've we've talked about much on our show

someone we probably uh deserves more shine than then we've given him up to this point he put up some really strong numbers this year 279 349 519 slash line spent most of the year in double a but was called up to triple a toward the end of the season put up even even better numbers with you guys based on what I've seen. He played literally every single position except for catcher this year. Do you think that Tim Tawa could be an option for the Diamondbacks is sort of a utility type player

here in the near future? Yeah, I think he's going to pop up on some top 20s, guys, this offseason for the D-backs, which it seemed like that was the case at all last year. There's so much bias. I'm not even saying it's incorrect. There's so much bias against the park in Amarillo and the park here in Reno.

Now, there's so much bias. Tim was great last year for the sod poodles. You look at the overall slash. Wow, this is what a great year, 20 plus home runs. And then you always hear about Amarillo, but Amarillo, that ballpark is insane, probably even worse than ours in terms of home runs and offense. But there's so much bias to the ballpark. I think it's hurt Tim more than maybe anybody in the system the last two years because there's

always that caveat of the ballpark. He was unconscious down the stretch this year. He was our best hitter. He was so good when he got called back up. He hit all his home runs after he had gotten called back up from double. He started the year with us. There was a lot of swing and miss. Then he just was homering every other at bat in his second stint at AAA.

He was hitting fifth for us playing first base and you felt like, hey, yeah, he's the first basement with the way he's hitting. No problem with that. He was when you had him and then Alec came off the injured list and Lawler came off the injured list and Tawa was swinging it. I said in an interview and I look like a clown now, but I'll take it. I thought we were the favorite in the championship because we had Del Castile back, Laller, Tawa hitting the way he was, all those guys, Alec Thomas, Al-Mora, garlic in the middle of the order. I thought our lineup was the best in AAA, but it just didn't pan out in the playoffs.

Tim was a big reason for that, though. I think, I think, to answer your question, Jesse, long way of putting it, yes. I do think he's going to pop up on some prospect list in the deback system this off season. And I think there's a legitimate option for them next year. What are your thoughts on the postseason? We talked yesterday a little bit about the MLB postseason and how this particular year has essentially seven of the best players in baseball since 2020. It's been a lot of fun to watch,

but it's also kind of the teams with the big payroll there left in the final four and then the Guardians. What are your thoughts? Have you been having fun watching? Have you been watching it? I should start. Yeah, yeah. I try to take a little baseball hiatus a little bit after the season.

I always tell me. my parents this too. Like, please don't talk to me about baseball during the All-Star break. Please, I don't want to talk about it. Like, I just need a break. So I'm fresh for these games every single night. But yes, like definitely been following along. I think when the Astros lost that the Yankees had that clear path all the way in the American League.

The Astros have been the Yankees cryptonite in October for how many years now. But as soon as Detroit beat Houston, it's like, okay, the Yankee, you better get there. You better get there. We'll see. We'll see if they do after last night. but you better get there from the American League. And then the National League, it felt like nobody was taking the Phillies this year.

I thought that was interesting. And nobody was on the Phillies last year, like America's darling playing the music and the debacks, beat him in Game 7. How special was that? It almost felt like you slayed a dragon in that series because everybody felt like was on the Phillies and how cool it was there.

And rightly so. But nobody picked the Phillies this year. And it turned out to be true. And now the Mets are in it. And I think the Dodgers and Yankees are on a collision course. And like you said, Derek, like the payrolls are playing out here. Dodgers, it is as much as I hate to say,

it's impressive what they've done because they've had so many injuries this year. But you also have Otani and Muki and Freddie. And you should, you should be there. I think they both will be. It'll be interesting. I'll take the Dodgers to win it all, unfortunately. But we'll see, I guess the Yankees don't have a whole lot out of Judge

and Soto outside of those two. Yeah, Ryan and the chat had to point out that both Derek and Archie, think the Phillies. Yeah, we picked the world. I mean, I was, I was thinking the same. I'm like nobody's taking the Phillies this year. It felt like they were flying much more under the radar than they did last year. Last year again, like every, I remember my phone was blowing up.

My friends are like, the Phillies are so cool, so, so cool. And the debacks, Brandon fought, put it on them in game seven. And Brandon Fott and Alec Thomas just destroyed the Phillies. They're never going to win a postseason series ever again. They're never going to be the same ever again. Yeah, I asked Alec, I was like, I shouldn't even even ask Alex. I was like, what's your favorite memory from the playoffs last year? He's like, of course, it was like the homer against the Phillies, but they still, they beam about that.

And I think we had all talked after Perdomo was here on rehab. And they still were smiling and beaming about that series in particular of beating the Phillies and getting to the World Series. That banded this group together like Pridomo and Alec and Corbyn and all those guys that it fought. That's something that they'll have forever. together. First, you saying that you get to take a break away from talking about baseball, that sounds, that sounds delightful. I don't know what that's like.

We don't know what that's like. But also, how do you get away from baseball, considering that you now literally live in the shadow of the stadium? You just showed us a little while ago. Right out of the window is the steps up to the. Yeah, guys, this is where the Reno Aces play right there. Look at that. The people can see.

That's a pretty sweet commute, my guy. Yeah. No, it's a convenience that it's not for everybody, right? It's not for everybody, but it is one of the better decisions I've made, certainly, to be able to walk over games. I like waking up and looking over there and thinking about spring training, where I hope to see you guys. We definitely have to make our way out to Reno this year.

I know that we said that last year, and we lied, and we never made it out. But we were going to make that happen this year. And we appreciate you so much for stopping by. We thank you so much for being the voice of our aces. is the soul voice of our aces and for doing such a great job, man. We appreciate you. Yeah. Thank you guys.

Next year you're going to have Yumen Lin, Christian Mano will be back from the forearms train, hopefully, and ready to go. There's some guys coming up. We didn't really get to see Dylan Ray last year. So I think we're going to have some fun arms. You're going to have to come see a couple starts. We will be out there for that for sure. But again, thank you so much for stopping by, man.

We appreciate your time. Hey, enjoy. We'll see you soon. You can get through this. I did lockdown twins five days a week when they were, you know, out of it in October. Once you get through, it's hot stove season, baby.

It's coming soon, guys. Hang in there. We appreciate you. Thank you for that. Hopefully we'll make it. Thanks, buddy. Take it easy. See you soon.

See you, Nash. All right. Well, he is awesome. And of course, the Reno Aces, that's always a fun time. We need to make that road trip happen. And we will this time, maybe.

He makes me want to move into, you know, those, I think they're apartments that are condos right across the street from Chase Field. I've always thought about that. That would be pretty sick. I'm not going to lie. One of my, one of the guys I used to know from the D-Backs fan group, he lives up there. And he always sends me fun pictures from his balcony that are my mind-blowing to me. But of course, I just like to commute. Can you see inside Chase Field when the roof is open from like the highest level? I don't know. Probably not. Because Chase Field is just too enormous of the building. You need a taller apartment complex. Much, much taller. We'll soon, Jesse. soon. Don't worry. We'll figure out a way to build all around Chasefield soon enough. But of course, we have more on your Arizona Diamondbacks. And

if they might bring back that familiar face we talked about to possibly play first base for them, we will talk about that on the other side of this break, so don't go anywhere. One place you should go, however, though, is chicken and pickle. And you should go for our Cardinals' tailgates

at Chicken and Pickle, which are so much fun. And even if you don't go to meet us on Sunday for those tailgates, You can definitely show up to that indoor, outdoor entertainment complex and check out all the wonderful stuff they have to offer, including indoor and outdoor pickleball courts. They have all sorts of other fun games. They have some wonderful food. And it's just a great place to hang out with friends, with family, coworkers, whatever you're looking for. But it is the best tailgate in the city.

So make sure to meet us out there at Chicken and Pickle. Of course, if you're new to pickleball, you can check out their newbie night. And if you want to join us out there, make sure to join us for those cardinal tailgates. You can sign up for those. and I think they're absolutely free. So just sign up. That way we know how many people do account for. But head to chicken and pickle.com to see all the fun you can have at their Glendale location.

Also, big shout out to Desert Financial Credit Union. It's Jesse and Desert Financial keeping my numbers straight. Those are the two I rely on. And for more than 84 years, Desert Financial has been Arizona's largest, most trusted local credit union. They got me started on my financial journey, on my home ownership journey, and they can hopefully get you started as well. to Desert Financial for checking and savings accounts, mortgages, loans, credit cards, investment options, and so much more. Join a credit union that is committed to giving back to the community and sharing success with their members.

When you open a free checking account online, you can get $200 and bonuses. Get started by visiting Desertfinancial.com slash 200. And of course, Desert Financial, I can speak from experience of working in the banking industry. Desert Financial are financial experts who are committed to your best interests in mind. And of course, sometimes you can't really trust that in today's market. So make sure to check out all of the wonderful options that Desert Financial Credit Union has to offer. Well, speaking of problems, the Arizona Diamondbacks might have a big one next season. We have talked a bit on this show about Christian Walker potentially leaving the debacks.

He is a free agent after this offseason or after this season. And we don't know what the future holds for Christian Walker. we do know that he is going to be a desirable commodity on the free agent market. And there's going to be a lot of teams that have interest in Walker. That we're going to just preface every single one of these segments we talk about with the fact that Christian Walker is the best replacement for Christian Walker. Bringing Christian Walker back for the Arizona Diamondbacks is the best move by far. That's number one.

But we do have to explore other options should Christian Walker sign with another team? because as it stands right now, him returning to the debacks is out of their control. Yeah, I mean, I don't know if I would say it's out of their control. I mean, like, he ultimately makes the decision. That's true.

You're right. You're right. It is out of their control in that sense. I mean, presumably, if they are willing to offer more than any other team, then he probably would come, would come back. So I guess it's in their control,

maybe in that sense. But, yeah, there is, there is a certain first baseman who is also, also a free agent this off season that from a purely a storyline perspective would be pretty cool especially making me shove it after the things I said besmirching his good name at one point that is that is true that's the that's jesse's favorite part you would you would you would owe him an apology i probably would and i would i would be happy to because the man we're talking about is Arizona diamondbacks legend and i do say legend because he absolutely is one for this team

Paul Goldschmidt, who is now a free agent after his years with the St. Louis Cardinals. And here are his numbers from 2024. As you can see, Goldie's still putting up decent numbers for first baseman. He slashed 245, 302, 414. He had 22 home runs, 65 RBI, and an FI of 1.1. Or Foir. Forre. Correct.

I mispronounced it. It's FWR. So these numbers aren't great. No. Right. This is not the Paul Goldschmidt of old. This is not last year's Paul Goldschmidt. This is certainly not the 2022 version of Paul Goldschmidt, the won the MVP award for the same list card.

However, I think Paul Goldschmidt is or was better in 2024 than those numbers indicate. If you look at some of the underlying metrics with him, I guess for starters, he finished the year pretty well. Yeah. From August 9th through the end of the season in 173 plate appearances, Goldschmidt hit 293, 339, 503. That plays. So that's an OPS up over 840. That is pretty darn good.

And if you look at some of the batted ball numbers, some of the baseball savant data under the hood, it appears that Paul Goldschmidt deserved better results than what he got. Oh, boy. In fact, this is going to blow your mind. So Christian Walker. expected batting average in 249.

Christian Walker expected slugging percentage in 2024, 465. Paul Goldschmidt expected batting average in 2024, 258. Paul Goldschmidt expected slugging percentage 464.

So Goldie actually had a higher expected batting average and the expected slugging percentages are one point different from each other. Meanwhile, Christian Walker's expected batting average and his actual batting average not that much different. Right.

His actual batting average was just slightly higher at 251 versus 249 for his XBA, right? Right. So, yeah, I mean, overall, I think what Goldie could end up being is a couple of things here. You said good story. And that's absolutely the case. Oh, the vibe. The vibes would be. I mean, not to say that the vibes with bringing Christian Walker back wouldn't also be great.

Oh, yeah, yeah. But no, Paul Goldsmith has a Hall of Fame case. I hate to say this. I hate to say this, but the vibes might be higher bringing back Paul Goldschmidt over bringing Christian Walker just because of, I think, the change, despite the fact that obviously Goldschmidt isn't as good as Christian Walker defensively. And that's a big thing here that's missing.

We're talking about offensive stats. And it still doesn't make up for the fact that Christian Walker is by far the best defensive first baseman in baseball. and that's really what you're losing here in the steel. But overall, Paul Goldschmidt is going to cost you a substantial amount less than bringing back Christian Walker. You don't also have the years committed. Now, Christian Walker is a great player, but you know, as players get older, they might not produce the way they used to. Goldschmidt's 37 right now.

So he's getting to that point where you might, you're definitely not going to commit to him long term. But bringing him back, just bringing him back is such an incredible, like, shot. in the arm to this team. I'm sure it would make Mike Hazen feel good. Mike Hazen has confessed that it's one of his biggest regrets in his time as GM of this team. Not even one of. It is the biggest regret that he had. Yeah.

And I want to be clear that bringing back Paul Goldschmidt objectively is not as good of an option as bringing back Christian Walker, at least from the numbers that we've seen from everything we know. I mean, obviously anything could happen. But there's no there's no making a convincing argument that Goldschmidt is going to be better than Christian Walker in in 2025. But the conversation that we're having now is like, could Goldschmidt step in? And in addition to being a nice story, give you enough production that you don't feel the loss

of Walker all that much. Right. And the cost is not, I don't think would be super prohibitive given the numbers that he had, right? I think you're probably looking at a one year deal. This is a guy who, as you said, is 37 years old. So I think I think there's a there's a case to be made here beyond just the storyline There's a case to be made from a baseball standpoint that this guy could come in and and be a decent everyday first basement option for you And and yeah, I think it I think it could it could make some sense for the diamond backs

I mean there's there's some things here that aren't great you know his swing percentage at 47.7% was the highest mark of his career yeah right he also saw more in-zone pitches, right, than he's ever seen. But, I mean, the thing about it with Goldie is that there's going to be other options. This isn't going to be the only first baseman that we talk about, potentially being a replacement for Christian Walker. Just no other player is going to bring that feeling that bringing Goldschmidt back is. Like Jesse said, even bringing Walker back is the right. move. That's the smarter move. He's the better player. But I don't know. I mean, there's a reason why old WWE trots, you know, Bill Goldberg out there for Russell Bailey every couple of years.

There's something about like the name, the appeal, the what he's done for this team and just kind of, I guess, making things right a little bit by by bringing him home when he's a player that probably should have never left Arizona. He should have been that guy, right? Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I mean, Paul Goldschmidt probably should have won as MVP as a diamond back, right? I think we can all look at that five-year contract that the that the Cardinals gave him and say that it was pretty clearly worth it. Not to say, it's wild to wonder if he would have putting up the same numbers for the Diamondbacks

instead of the Cardinals just because it's the Diamondbacks. And you know our players, that was the problem with Paul Gulchman when he was here. He didn't feel like once he passed that period of time where it was no longer a fluke and he was just one of the best players in baseball, still felt like he didn't get the attention. and the love he deserved at a national level, but we always feel that about players here in Arizona, I feel.

Yeah, so as far as who Goldie is as the player, I mentioned that the expected batting average, the expected selling percentage, pretty much identical to Christian Walker. What Paul Goldschmidt is not as good as the area where he is clearly not as good at Christian Walker at this point, or at least he certainly wasn't in 2024, is actually drawing walks, which is weird,

because I think when we think about Paul Goldschmidt, that's sort of his defining characteristic is working. Plate discipline. Yeah, just outstanding at bats and, you know, taking 80 to 100 walks every single season. And he was not that guy in 2024. He had a below average walk rate. He had a 7.2% walk rate in 2024.

His previous lowest mark of any season in his career was 9.9% back in 2021. And as you said, he swung a whole bunch. his swing rate was about 48% the highest mark of his career. He also saw more pitches in the zone than he has ever had. He struck out more than he has going back to his debut season in 2011. So I think the difference between Goldie that you remember and Goldie now is that he's just not making as much contact. You can you can sort of pound the zone against Goldie and he's not going to be. be able to hang in there to the same degree that he has in the past.

So that's really the big difference. That's why even though the expected numbers for Goldie and the expected numbers for Walker, this past season almost identical in terms of the batting average and the slugging percentage, Walker was still, according to the expected stats, a much more valuable player because he was just getting on base more. He was walking at nearly double the clip that Goldschmidt was. So that's an unimportant factor here for sure. defensively, obviously Christian Walker is the best in the sport at this point. So there's no question that you're getting a downgrade there.

Goldie was at exactly zero across the board. Zero DRS, zero OAA in just over 1,300 innings at first base this season. So he's not going to kill you defensively. I think he's better than Josh Bell. But he is not the gold glove caliber first baseman that we saw in the past. at least he was not that year and you probably wouldn't want to expect him to be moving forward. I have one way that he fits in with this team, Jesse.

11 for 11 on stolen base attempts. That's true. That's true. Let's go. Goldie is still finding a way to get it done. Create chaos on the base path. I mean, him stealing bases like he had the one year where he stole 32,

I think it was. It was never because he was fast, right? It was because he's just a savvy bass runner. And I imagine Dave McKay probably had a rollback. then and continues to, I'm sure his impact continues to be there for Goldie and helping him just excel on the bases in kind of an uncanny way for a guy who's not all that fast. So yeah, you can, you can, if you're looking for the upgrade here with Goldie over Christian Walker, it's on, it's on the bases, Derek.

It's that you can pencil in Paul Goldschmidt, the double digits stolen bases right now. Christian Walker, I think did have double digits last year, but, but he did not this season. Well, I will say this. He only had two this year. I'll say this about Goldie. It depends on what he would cost for it to be a deciding factor here. Sure. Like how big it, how much money are you actually saved? I mean, are we talking a one year 12 to $15 million deal? Because that seems the most that I would want to do. I think it would be less than that. You think so? I think it would be less than that. Like a ton less than that. I don't I don't know exactly. where that number lands, but probably in more of the eight, eight to 10 range or something like that. Like, I guess, I guess last year's Carlos Santana is, is a decent comp here. Carlos Santana had in 23, like a fairly similar season to the year that Goldie just had. And he signed for one year five point two five million with the Minnesota twins. And similar age, right? Santana is now 38 years old.

So he would have been 37 at this time a year ago. We'll see, that's, that's saving it. significant amount of money. Yeah. And if you get Goldie for one year, $6 million, that is a pretty, pretty massive gap. And that would allow you to kind of maneuver some things.

I mean, uh, Groundhog mama says pay Walker and defer some money. Yes, let's defer the money for 20 years. We'll put it into a, an account that's going to make 5.6% off of it or something like that. And we'll make,

we'll make money off that deferred money, just like the Dodgers would do. Uh, but no, I mean, again, that's, that's really the one benefit is that the diamondbacks are kind of

strapped financially. If they do bring Christian Walker back, that most likely is going to take up their offseason budget for next year as far as, you know, free agent moves they can make. We already have a feeling that Jock Peterson and Randall Gritchick are also going to already be priced out. We know they're probably, you know, we know they're not bringing back Paul Seawald. We know they're not bringing back certain players on this team most likely. But after the year Peterson and Gritchick has, as we've talked about many times, it's hard to see them not going to out getting the bag this off season for sure right but yeah gold Schmidt i mean it might be nice he you know he's had a lot of he has a lot of connections to the valley he really enjoyed his time

here i had the opportunity to work with him on some of his uh charity work over at phoenix children's hospital and stuff so he was always very active in the community and i'm sure that there's a big part of him that still loves it and wouldn't mind coming back here especially overgoing to another team like if he doesn't like resign with the cardinals and then then he just finds himself as a free agent going to Tampa or something like that. Like no, like, no. They didn't even have a, they don't even have a stadium at this point. Yeah, exactly.

Yeah, exactly. They don't have to play at his house. Yeah, the other, the other thing I'll say here is that if you do sign Goldie, based on, on the hypothetical price tag that we kind of have in our heads, whether it's a year, six million, seven million, eight million, maybe, maybe something in that range. That's a small enough amount of money where you don't necessarily feel the pressure for Goldie to be an everyday guy. And that's where I think Pavin Smith becomes part of this conversation as well.

If the Diamondbacks don't. The Pavan Smith agenda. If they don't go big on resigning Christian Walker, then that probably means that Pave and Smith is going to play some role in their first base situation in 2025. And if you bring in Goldie, then he's a right-handed hitter. Last year, he had an eight or this past season, he had an 835 OPS against lefties compared to a 673 mark against Ritey's. And that would sort of make sense, right?

We've, we've mentioned it. We've mentioned it a few times. The Pavin Smith, Paul Goldschmidt, Platoon. Now we're talking. It's not the craziest idea in the world. I don't know if Goldie re, if Goldie comes back to Arizona to be a short side platoon guy. I think the debacks would have to pitch him on a role that is bigger than that.

And maybe if he really, really struggles against right-handed pitching, then the Diamondback sort of shift and, you know, use Paveen in those spots. a little more. But you do also have the DH slot that could be helpful to get both of those guys at bats. Of course, we have to kind of wait and see how the Diamondbacks approach the DH position if they make any additions there. But yeah, it does, it does make some sense on paper. To bring in Goldschmidt is kind of your your solid primary number one first base option. And then you've also

got Pavin Smith. It kind of crushed right-handed pitching this past year. And maybe it evolves into a situation where those guys start splitting time. This is the perfect opportunity to once again ask you, Jesse Friedman, do you want to apologize to Pavin Smith? I do not. Okay. I just wanted to check in. I wanted to give you the opportunity to apologize.

I don't want to, you know, like when we're talking about things where you're praising him, I just want to not miss out on a chance for you maybe to apologize. That's the thing is I do. I do praise Pavin Smith because he has, he deserves. serves it, right? He just had a very good season, but it doesn't change some of the things that I said before that, which at the time were accurate, right? This is a guy who still even after the season that he had, has an OPS plus of 98. He's been a below league average hitter for over the course of his career. And on an actually serious note, I think that is, I think that

is a big variable if you're the Diamondbacks and you're evaluating your. He's not. It's not an apology at all. I think that is an important consideration. It's specifically not an apology. If you're the Diamond Vax and you're evaluating your first base situation, in all seriousness, you have to decide to what extent do you buy in to Pavin Smith being really, really good for 160, 170 plate appearances, whatever that number was this year. And I'm not sure that any team is going to change their evaluation of a player that

drastically based on that sample size. So it's not to say the diamondbacks would, you know, are going to dismiss that entirely, but I think there is a balance to be struck there. And it's probably why if you're not bringing Walker back, you probably want to bring in some other first base options so that you're not banking on Paven Smith. For sure. Repeating what he did over over that sample. However, there is some fan from 2019 of this team that is really excited about the idea of

Goldie and Paven being the, the, tandem at first base in 2025 we'll find out if it happens and we'll see what happens with christian walkers free agency but once again the disclaimer on this segment and every time we talk about this is the best replacement for christian walker is christian walker uh all right well we we're going to talk a little bit about the playoffs on the other side of this break so make sure you guys don't go anywhere because we saw one of the greatest games uh we're gonna we're gonna celebrate christmas on the other side That's what we're going to do. Christmas came a little early this year.

Let's go. Don't go anywhere. Of course, when you are celebrating Christmas or like tonight, we have Shane's Halloween party, there's a good chance. Some drinking might be going on. So, of course, the first stop is to a case of zibiotics to make sure that we all take our pre-alcohol. Pre-alcohol is the world's first genetically engineered probiotic.

It was invented by Ph.D. scientists to tackle the rough mornings after drinking. And it works basically like this. When you drink, alcohol gets converted into a toxic byproduct. At least that's what they tell me. And it's this byproduct, not dehydration, that makes us feel absolutely like garbage the next day. So pre-alcohol produces this enzyme to break down this byproduct. And that helps us recover and have a better day the following morning. Just remember to take Z biotics as your first drink of the night.

Drink responsibly and you'll feel your best tomorrow. There's so much going on this time of the year. Get the most out of your holidays by stocking up on pre-biotics. free alcohol now go to zbiotics.com slash phnx backs to get 15% off your first order when you use phnx backs 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 ask remember to head to zbiotics.com slash p h and xx backs and use code phnx backs at checkout for 15% off also if you want to check out some sporting events of course if you want to go to a diamond backs game which you'll have to

wait till next season but suns right around the corner make sure to save by going to game time you'll save 60% off by buying tickets last minute with game time they have this new feature we've been talking about called game time picks that makes getting tickets for your favorite live events even easier filters out all the fluff game time picks just shows you the incredible deals on any event that you're looking to purchase tickets for so make sure to check out all the options they have including the all in pricing which will show you what all of the fees and the final costs will be before you checkout so there's no surprises at all and you can take the guesswork out of buying tickets

with game time. Download the game time app create an account and use code PHNX for $20 off your first purchase. Terms to apply again create an account, redeem code PHNX for $20 off. Download game time today. Jesse, what time is it? It is game time. It is game time. Well, it's time.

It is time to talk about some games and the postseason. Let's take a look at the updated postseason bracket. Yesterday, Jesse, we witnessed an instant classic between the New York Yankees and the Cleveland Guardians. And that series is now two to one in favor of the Yankees. The Dodgers jump out to a three game, three to one lead over the Mets. And that one looks all but over. I wouldn't write the Mets off because if there was one team that would pull off some

sort of incredible comeback at any point, it's this New York Mets team. But I think that they should be proud regardless of when their season ends because they had the run, I think every Diamondbacks fan wish we could have had, right? Yeah, yeah, John Kenzie, Noel, man. What do you say? That was an amazing moment. Not only that, but I mean, honestly, in that game, you saw Aaron Judge and Juan Soto, or I'm sorry, Giancarlo Stanton. John Carlos. Yeah, go back to back off of Emmanuel Claisse. And of course, that's never, it's literally never happened in his career. He's never given up multiple home runs in an

inning. But we're also, that's very true. That's very true. That's what they said during the broadcast. And he's also been extremely good for the Guardians. Yeah. We've we've talked about it before. Like for whatever reason, if you're, if you're an elite relief pitcher, this postseason has just not been very kind to you. Yeah. Devin Williams and Emmanuel Class A, I think I probably would have listed as as number one and number two, in terms of the best closers in baseball, probably Class A1 and Williams 2 going into the postseason. Yeah, for sure. And yet both of those guys have had some really rough moments, right?

Devin Williams, he is sort of not single-handedly the reason that the Brewers lost that series by any means, but a pretty big reason for it, right? And it just, it just again goes to show that in the postseason, anything really can happen. And I think foolish baseball I saw a tweet out yesterday. congratulations to Mariana Rivera for being the only good relief pitcher ever. And it just feels like it. Don't forget. We got to him.

That's true. That's true. But, but, uh, you know, the debacks didn't hit like a whole bunch of home runs. It's not exactly the,

the way that things went down. Uh, just to see Emmanuel Class A guy who has been seemingly untouchable for, for years now to have all of these big, these big kind of meltdown moments in the post season is, is dumb founding. Yeah. And yet the Guardians found a way to come back and win the game anyway.

And that's the most important part because another guy that somehow became untouchable during the postseason is Luke Weaver. Yes. And Luke Weaver had a meltdown of his own giving up that absolute bomb to Noel. And it was Christmas in Cleveland for sure. Luke Weaver is human. The Yankees are human. And the Guardians managed to walk it off with a David Frye walk off Homer in the 10th.

It was good to not see Ghostfrey. runners out there, Jesse. I love that. It's refreshing. That's real baseball for sure. And it's, I don't know. I mean, again, I think we're all when you don't really have a horse in the race, you're kind of rooting for the underdog here a little bit. And the guardians are, you know, definitely the biggest underdog left in this final four as far as baseball is concerned. But yeah, I mean, it was just, it was one of the most exciting endings to a baseball game. I remember seeing recently, especially because I didn't care who won. So I was just, I was just owing all over.

I was screaming all about every home run and everything because everything just seemed so unbelievable that was happening at the end of that game, especially a game that was kind of mild up to that point, didn't have a lot of, didn't have too much excitement. I mean, the Guardians did have what, was it a 3-1 lead?

Yeah, the Guardians had a 3-1 lead. And then in the eighth inning Hunter Gaddis got the first two outs, walked Juan Soto. And so Stephen Vote was like, all right. You know, there's four outs left to get in this game. Classet.

This is an manual class A, four out save all the way around. And so he goes to get Class A and Class A gives up back-to-back dingers to Aaron Judge and John Carlos Stanton. Yankees take a four-three lead. They then added to that with another run in the top of the ninth made it five to three. And then John Kenzie, Noel, if I can speak. John Kenzie, Noel with, I believe, two outs, if I'm not mistaken. Two outs. In the bottom of the ninth inning with a man on base, it's a crush that baseball.

It's an absolute, an absolute bomb. And I have to give a shout out to Brian Anderson, who was on the call for that moment and has been getting all sorts of all sorts of love. And rightfully so, I believe his words were, oh, oh, my goodness, big Christmas has tied it the ultimate present under the tree. Yeah. And it was, it was a beautiful, beautiful poetic. moment and it brought back memories of last year around this time when brian Anderson had a similarly great call of a big diamond backs moment with alec Thomas taking the ride of his life into right center field against Craig kimberl so brian we have had some conversations

on this show about maybe wanting some of the local broadcasters to be featured on these national broadcast brian anderson's the exception brian anderson is just so good at this that uh you know there's still some advantage there's still a case be made for the local broadcasters, but it doesn't mean that these national guys are doing a bad job by any means. Brian Anderson is absolutely killing it out there. Well, Jesse, are the Mets cooked? Because the Dodgers beat up on them in game four.

They won by a score of 10 to 2 and they have now outscored the Mets 30 to 9. That's not great. No. None of these games have even been close. No, they've been all terrible. Game two between the Mets and Dodgers. Mets won that game seven to three. That was the closest game.

Yeah, the Mets took a big lead early and then the Dodgers kind of made it interesting toward the end. But yeah, none of these games have really been close. Another big Dodgers win yesterday by a final score of 10 to 2. I don't know for sure if the Mets are cooked. I'm hesitant to go there because I've thought the Mets were cooked about 100 times this year. And somehow it's never happened. They're still raw.

They're just sitting there. Somehow they were uncooked the whole time. But now they kind of, they do kind of feel cooked a little bit to me. Looking a little crispy. I, I would not be surprised if, if the series ended, ended tonight in, in New York,

which would be a gut punch for them to lose all three games at home. But this, this Dodgers team, this Dodgers offense is, is just on another level right now. I do not care what it takes to make this happen. But if the Mets don't have grimace at the game, sitting in his.

purple seat. They need to pull out all the stops. Holding up the OMG sign. Right? Uh-huh. With the pumpkin. With the pumpkin with the pumpkin in his other hand. Then I don't really feel like they were trying. I don't know if they wanted to win this if they don't pull out all the stops. I have grimace there in person holding up the OMG sign with Pete's pumpkin. But we're, they're going to need everything that they can get because this Dodgers team seems unstoppable. And good luck to whoever they face potentially in the world series. it's kind of gross how they are playing their best baseball right now. Like I don't know if we've seen the Dodgers play better baseball than they are playing at the moment.

Hey, look, if the Mets do find a way to win tonight at home, then it's 3-2 and it's going back to L.A. And the Diamondback showed last year that no matter how hostile an environment, you feel you might be going into in game six and seven, you can still find a way to win that series. So we've wanted to count the Mets out a number of times. I'm not going to, I'm not going to do it just yet. But they're getting demolished in all of these games. It's really hard to watch these games and not feel like the Dodgers sort of have this series in the bag at this point. Well, before we let you go, remember, it's beautiful outside this weekend in Arizona.

So if you can go see an Arizona fall league game, spend some time outside, go play, go have a catch outside. I'm going to. Are you and Damon going to have a catch today? We're finally going to have a catch. I'm going to make it happen. But regardless, just get outside. It's beautiful. We don't get this like this kind of weekend, often here in October.

We usually have to wait a little bit longer for it. So make sure you enjoy it. Make sure you enjoy some baseball because, of course, we don't have very many games left here with the NLCS and ALCS wrapping up in the World Series starting next Friday. So we'll be bringing you some postgame shows for the World Series, as well as be back on Monday with another 1 p.m. Mailbag Monday episode. So make sure to join us for that.

In the meantime, you can follow us on Twitter. I'm at K-Ur-M-N-W-The-K. Jesse is at Jesse N. Friedman. Of course, our guy, Kev on the On the 1s and Tuesday, is at Kev Tom Wrights. Still not going to tell you how to spell that. You guys are figured it out on your own. Our shows at PHNX underscore D-Backs, but all roads do lead to at PHNX underscore Sports on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Again, we appreciate you stopping by today. We thank you for your time. We will see you on Monday. Until then, have a wonderful weekend. And remember, kids. Baseball is fun, but it's so much. much more fun when the Dodgers fail in the postseason.