PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - Is trading Madison Bumgarner before the 2023 season a move the Arizona Diamondbacks can make?

Starting point is 00:00:07 Ho, ho, ho, and welcome in to our final edition of the PHNX Debaks podcast before the Christmas holiday. Of course, my name is Derek Montia, occasionally known as your mayor of PHNX. I am joined by my vice mayor, the one and only thunder stick, Jesse Friedman. Derek, the Christmas decorations are up. Yes. Snow is falling. What? And it looks like Christmas.

Starting point is 00:00:31 No, the snow is not falling. But it does feel like, it does feel like Christmas. It does feel like Christmas. just yeah you know that at least my immediate neighborhood like i talked about yesterday there's just lights everywhere there's people people walking all along the streets late into the night there's there's tour buses going down the road that's weird to be yeah that's wild to be that you have tour buses going down your street like where in my part of town where i grew up like i went to high school there was this i'm sure it's still like this but paradise lane uh that was

Starting point is 00:01:03 kind of like that where when we would go down it it would be this massive traffic jam down the street the whole way. And we would always make comments about imagine living on this street and not being one of the people that participated in this event. You're just dealing with this two mile an hour crawl to your house the whole way down until you get home. Anyway, screw those people, right? Of course, this show is brought to you by the fine folks at the Draft King Sportsbook app,

Starting point is 00:01:32 America's top rated sportsbook app. Welcome in everybody. Again, happy Friday. to you all. We're very excited to talk a little bit about maybe, maybe giving Arizona Diamondbacks the gift of trading Madison Bumgarner away this offseason. But before that, we have some news, I guess you could say. The last, maybe potentially the last big free agent name coming off the board, the San Francisco Giants enact some revenge against the New York Mets by signing away Michael Conferto to a two-year, $36 million deal. Obviously, one of the,

Starting point is 00:02:07 the last big bats on the board as well as what many consider to be the last big name free agent available. So what are your thoughts on this deal by the Giants? Yeah, I mean, Conforto is, Conforto is an interesting story, right? I mean, the last time that Michael Conforto actually played baseball, he was, he was pretty good. If you look back at his 2021 numbers, he hit 232, 344 on base, 384 slugging percentage. So maybe pretty good is a slight overstatement. In 2020, though, in the season with the pandemic, he was extremely good. He had a 927 OPS that year.

Starting point is 00:02:48 And he has an 824 OPS for his career. And so for a guy who's still only 29 years old, there's a lot of upside here. So you can definitely see why the Giants were interested in making this move. it is interesting that that Conforto missed all of last season, right? It's obviously going to be big for him to see if he can come back

Starting point is 00:03:11 and kind of get back to the player that he was before that injury. What was the injury that kept him out for the entire season? The injury that kept him out, I don't remember off the top of my head. Let me, I'm trying to remember what that was.

Starting point is 00:03:30 I mean, it wasn't Tommy John's surgery. Like it wasn't your, it was a shoulder surgery is what it was. A shoulder surgery. Yeah, so he hasn't played since, since 2021. That's the last time he was a full-time player. But yeah, shoulder surgeries, I mean, that's a pretty, you know, pretty extreme process for an outfielder to go through. It's obviously going to mess with his swing in some pretty significant ways. But also something that you could certainly come back from.

Starting point is 00:04:00 and, you know, kind of get back to the player you were before it happened. I worked out yesterday, Jesse. I did chest exercises with weights, and I slightly tweaked my right shoulder. I knew it happened while I was working out, but there was no immediate pain. It was just like a weird kind of crunch, uncomfortable feeling while I was doing some exercises. No big deal. Kept it stepping. Did the show with you yesterday.

Starting point is 00:04:29 Come home. around four or five o'clock at night is really, it's really where the pain set in. And then it was just a steady incline of pain from that point on. Like just at the steepest incline that you could imagine, by eight o'clock, I was wondering how I was even going to go to bed with the amount of pain I was in. Because as you know,

Starting point is 00:04:48 when you lay down, you tend to lay on your shoulder quite a bit. So this minor, this minor injury is much better today, for those of you that are concerned about it. but I just wanted to express that that's a small non-surgery required shoulder injury that made my evening just terrible. I can only imagine, you know, being a ball player, having a major surgery like this,

Starting point is 00:05:13 and coming back from it just because of the fact that now you're, you're, you're kind of a different person in a way. Your swing is a bit different, you know, your movement. It's just not going to be the same, especially with a sport where, you know, your shoulder is so important as a part of your offensive swing. Conforto is an offensive threat, obviously. He's a big bat. So I'm sure that's the reason why the Giants pursued him. I just have to think like, Jesse, imagine if you're still a free agent out there. You're not signed. And this guy, according to reports, is considered to be the last big name free agent coming off the board. How does that make you feel

Starting point is 00:05:51 about yourself if you're still sitting around waiting to be signed? Like, that would make me sad. I'm like, I knew I wasn't a big free agent name, but I don't need them saying the last big name free agent came off the board. The rest of us are a bunch of like throwaway B tier guys. Well, and you've got, you know, Michael Conforto being the guy who hasn't actually played a game in more than a year. You're like, you're going to call the guy who hasn't played since, you know, September of 2021, a bigger free agent than everyone else. But I mean, you can kind of understand where people are coming from in some ways, right? I mean, Conforto was a very good player for a few years. If you look at his numbers between 2017 and 2020 with the Mets, he hit 265 with a 369 on base percentage, 495 slugging percentage.

Starting point is 00:06:41 Those are really, really good numbers, you know, even at a corner outfield spot, which is ideally where you would play a guy like him. But his story is interesting. This shoulder injury happened during the lockout. He was trying to secure, you know, he was one of the top free agents in last year's free agent class. And he was trying to secure a multi-year deal. He wasn't able to get it before the lockout started. And so the lockout started. And then while he was training, that's when the injury happened.

Starting point is 00:07:12 And so he lost his 22 season and had this shoulder surgery. And now he's back. 36 million is probably a lot less than what he would have gotten last year had had this injury not happened. Well, and we've talked about this before, right? We've talked about guys taking smaller deals and betting on themselves. We talked about Aaron Judge, not accepting the contract extension. The Yankees offered him at the beginning of the season and now, you know, where he's at. But it can work in the other way, too, right?

Starting point is 00:07:39 Like, even if you were on the verge of big money, injuries and, I mean, look what happened with Carlos Correa with the Giants, obviously. We don't know what came up on the medical report, but obviously it was enough to alter the situation in some way. We could speculate on it. You and I talked about it yesterday. Could be because Carlos Correa or maybe the Giants wanted less years. Maybe they just wanted to change the deal. So it wasn't a 13-year deal any longer based on this information. I'm still doubtful and I know you are as well that the Giants just wanted to like put their hands up and walk away.

Starting point is 00:08:15 But obviously whatever they wanted to alter wasn't good enough for Scott Boris and Carlos Correa. And next thing you know, Correa is a met. Right. So these these, these, these situations with teams, especially dealing with injuries, especially dealing with guys that are aging, they're just not going to give you the money that, that you once would have had if they think that now you're kind of tainted goods, right? Like they don't know, they don't know when this shoulder surgery or shoulder, shoulder injury is going to come back up again, potentially. Even if he's perfectly healthy and never has another issue with his shoulder again, he's always going to have that. that question about his health connected to. Right. Right.

Starting point is 00:08:57 And there's, there's just a lot of questions with this Giants roster. Like, I'm, I'm just looking at their depth chart right now. Yeah. I mean, you've got, someone said, someone said, they question Carlos Correa's medical history, but then signed Mitch Hanaker. Come on. What's going on there, right? Yeah, I mean, and that's kind of a trend, like, like through the entire roster.

Starting point is 00:09:17 And maybe less so with, like, injuries, but just like performance level. You just don't know what you're going to get. Yeah. of some of these guys. You've got Jock Peterson, who was great last year. That was kind of a standout year for him. Maybe the best year he's had. Obviously, there's heavy platoon splits there. But then Conforto, I mean, you don't really know what you're going to get there. Like we said, for a guy you didn't play at all last year and kind of had a down year the year before that, some of the pitchers they've signed. Ross Stripling is great, but he also has never thrown

Starting point is 00:09:50 more than 134 innings in a season. He said his career high. last year. They signed Sean Mania, who's another guy who, you know, high ceiling, like you know there's something else there, but he had an ERA of five last year for the Padres. So this Giants team is very volatile. Like they could be a lot better than maybe we think they are if all of these pieces kind of fit into place. I agree.

Starting point is 00:10:13 But they also could be, you know, maybe even worse than they were last year because they haven't improved in any, like, guaranteed sort of. way like they basically lost rodon and they've replaced him with kind of a bunch of lottery tickets. Yeah. Like reasonably priced lottery tickets. That's a great way to put. That's a great way to put it. Good lottery tickets, but lottery tickets nonetheless.

Starting point is 00:10:36 They're not buying the $20, $25 scratchers, right? They're buying like the $5 ones that have a decent payout. You know, they're not, it's not the dollar stocking stuff or jobs that you know aren't going to give you anything. But it's like the $5 crossword puzzle and bingo ones that you know, you might get a decent payout on. I agree with what you're saying. And like GMs still have a type. We joke about Mike Hazen's type all the time, right? But we know that when you look at the moves they make,

Starting point is 00:11:05 there's a certain type. And the Giants definitely right now are looking at guys in that tier, right? Like not terrible, good, have been great maybe at times in their career, but not consistently great like we see out of the guys that are getting the major contracts. They are definitely pursuing guys. that at one time were considered to have a lot of potential or be very good.

Starting point is 00:11:28 I think the Diamondbacks type is guys in a similar position, but I think that the Diamondbacks are more looking for guys that really have had like a terrible year just last season or maybe the last two seasons, but have had good production in the past so that they can maybe, you know, bring them back, bounce back, and get back to where you were at one point. I don't feel like the Giants are looking for guys that are like that, but they are definitely looking for guys that seem to be, you know, seem to be on the other end of their career, maybe a little bit,

Starting point is 00:11:59 maybe they're not still on the upward trajectory as far as their career goes. It still makes sense. And like you said, they could be very good. And, you know, especially in this division, outside of the Padres, not a lot of teams got better, right? I mean, the Diamondbacks didn't get much better. Rockies have done next to nothing. And, you know, you obviously have the Dodgers that have really,

Starting point is 00:12:21 again, like you said about the Giants, the Dodgers might have lost more than they've gained, which it's going to be, there's an interesting, obviously there's an interesting question to be had about a potential, or I guess a prior member of their pitching staff, because in other news,

Starting point is 00:12:39 former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer just recently had his domestic violence suspension reduced by an arbitrator from 324 games to 194 games. And it's interesting because we know nothing about this decision. We know very little about the investigation that MLB conducted. In fact, they have not released any of their information about the investigation. And they don't have to because it can 100% be an internal matter. But I do find it interesting that the suspension has been reduced.

Starting point is 00:13:14 It's still the largest suspension in MLB history for under the domestic violence policy. also I just can't help but think like is Trevor Bowers career really done or is somebody once this is all over going to give this man an opportunity on their on their team and it's it's it's it's it's an interesting moral question because once again sports tend to act morally but then they tend to trend in a direction of going with whoever can help us win baseball games and if Trevor Bauer can still pitch. when his suspension is over, it would not surprise me in the least to see some team give him an opportunity. Yeah, and I mean, technically the Dodgers have until January 6th to decide whether to return

Starting point is 00:14:04 Bauer to their roster or just release him. January 6th, Jesse, January 6th is the day. January 6th is the day. That's so appropriate for some reason. I don't know why, but anyway, go ahead. You have something against January 6th? I do.

Starting point is 00:14:20 do. I do. I do. It's not exactly a great day in our country's history. But anyway, yeah, Trevor Bauer, the Dodgers have a, have a decision to make. And honestly, it's not an easy one. It's really not. And I know it's easy to sit here as a team or a fan that doesn't give a damn about the Dodgers and say, no, it's not a hard decision. It's easy. You say goodbye to this man, right? But I mean, let's be honest, Trevor Bauer is still a very talented athlete. And if the Dodgers do that, like I said, someone else is most likely going to give him that opportunity. Yeah. Yeah, Bob Nightingale reported that the Dodgers do plan to release Trevor Bauer and said that they would have to pay, they will have to pay $23 million when they officially

Starting point is 00:15:10 make that announcement. So that's kind of the expectation. But you're right. There is a, it is difficult to, you know, when you have someone as talented as Trevor Bauer, you know, if you can kind of block out the off the field stuff, it's like, why would you, why would you want to just let a player like that walk and have to pay money in order to do it? It's very counterintuitive. But at this point, I mean, Trevor Bauer has created such a PR nightmare for himself that I don't know. I want to agree with you that some team is going to give him an opportunity because of how good he is. We've seen other players have some, you know, some not great things happen off the fields.

Starting point is 00:15:59 And teams were generally still willing to employ them. Orles Chapman's had some interesting things happen. And, you know, he's continued to pitch in general. Even Yon Lopez. I know. Yon Lopez on the Arizona Diamondbacks had had some domestic violence issues. And the Diamondbacks never parted ways with him after that incident. And to be honest, I mean, again, it's it is a question of morality.

Starting point is 00:16:27 It's a question of how you feel about the situation. Like you said, it is a PR nightmare. This isn't just a small story that not a lot of people know about. The Trevor Bauer situation is well known. It's well documented. And the investigation that when, into it on MLB side is really the only thing that we don't we know very little about right so i you know what i foresee happening the dodgers are going to cut him maybe a season passes some team's going to give

Starting point is 00:16:55 him a shot at like a one year contract he's going to be very good still and then someone else will pick him up after that and pay him a whole lot of money for maybe not that long because he'll be you know older he'll he's not he's not exactly young anymore but i i still foresee this happening it's just going to take one other team to give him a shot and let that whole situation kind of blow over. Maybe that team takes the heat for him being a part of their organization. Then after that, other teams see themselves if he's a free agent after that season, free and clear to go in and pick him up now because we're out of the choppy waters of his PR situation.

Starting point is 00:17:34 But I don't know. Do I want it to happen? Absolutely not. You know, and let's be honest, Trevor Bauer has a connection to us here. in Arizona. But I just, I just know sports, Jesse. I just know sports. And at the end of the day, people love a comeback story, even if what you're coming back from is being a piece of shit and doing something terrible. And people love in sports, you know, when when an athlete can can overcome stuff, whatever the stuff is. I just think that we're getting to a point where,

Starting point is 00:18:07 you know, I really feel like playing sports is a privilege. And there are times where, you know, where, where, where you cause such a bad situation for baseball as a whole, for your team, for yourself by, by, you know, going through by by just having things like this happen, having something like this happen where you're violent against another human being, where you're just, you know, morally reprehensible. and, you know, everybody can agree to you being out of baseball, right? Pete Rose, still the worst person in baseball for betting against the game, right? And so, like, it's just crazy how we view things differently and this is more important than that or whatever, right? Like, I, you know, I would love to say that Major League Baseball is going to take a stance here and not allow Trevor Bauer back in the game, even if it's an unspoken, unsaid rule like

Starting point is 00:19:06 many of their unsaid rules. But if you're talented and you can help a team win baseball games, I just don't see that happening. I just don't see them giving up completely on you as a person. Maybe he gives up on baseball. Maybe with, you know, his buyout from the Dodgers and the amount of money he's paid, he'll have made enough money that he doesn't need to play the sport anymore. Who knows? I just know that, uh, I'm sure some team. I'm sure some team is still willing to, to go that route. But, uh, of course, we want to move on to better things. It's the holiday season and we want to talk about happy stuff. So of course, if you haven't done so already, make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel, sign up for notifications. That way you don't miss

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Starting point is 00:22:30 Jesse, we've talked about this. We know, we know what people are thinking. we know what people want. There was a report back in October that the debacks want to bring Madison Bumgardner in for spring training and possibly trade him if he can look good during spring training before the 20, 23 season starts. And of course, we've talked, we always put Madison Bumgarner in our conversations for any of our funny decisions on what Diamondbacks players would be a fish or which ones

Starting point is 00:23:03 of them would be the best magic dragon. Of course, um, Bumgarner does not really fit the current roster structure, if you will, due to his age versus the youth of the rest of, of the roster. But Bob Nightingale wrote, uh, like I said, back in October, the diamondbacks will bring struggling veteran

Starting point is 00:23:23 Bannison Bumgarner spring to spring training, hoping he can pitch well enough to trade him. He's owed 37 million dollars over the next two seasons and the D-backs would likely have to eat most of it. Jesse, are we eating, are we going to eat $37 million to get rid of Madison Bumgarner? I don't think you're going to eat 37. I think you might eat 25 fish, something like that. I think, I mean, like, if you think about the deal that was just signed yesterday with Drew Smiley, right, Drew Smiley got two years and $19 million from the Chicago Cubs. So the question is, if Madison Bumgarner, we're like on the open market right now, what kind of a contract?

Starting point is 00:24:03 would he get? And I think he maybe could get two years possible. Maybe a team would rather give him a one-year deal. Maybe he could get a two-year deal just because of the name and cred and the fact that he was still somewhat serviceable in a starting rotation last year. I think Madison Bumgarner on the open market could probably get two years and 12 million, maybe something like that. Maybe a team would pay him $6 million a year for two years.

Starting point is 00:24:28 And the Diamondbacks, of course, over the next two years are going to be paying him $37 million. So there is a $25 million gap between what at least I perceive him to be worth on the open market versus what he's actually going to be making with the diamond back. So I think you're looking at about $25 million that you would have to eat. And so the question becomes is that worth it? Like, is it worth it to you to sort of pay off Madison Bumgarner and just kind of get him off of the depth chart, allow him to, you know, maybe try to rework things in another organization where maybe he can, maybe he can do a little bit better. He does have a partial no trade clause, which covers five

Starting point is 00:25:11 teams. I don't believe it has ever been revealed which five teams those are. So that could be an obstacle in a possible trade. But another possibility is maybe rather than eating a bunch of money, maybe you do like a bad contract for bad contract swap. And you find another team in a similar situation and maybe the debucks would rather have another team's bad contract player than Madison Bumgarner. It would certainly open the door for them to just kind of go into 2023 and try to give some of these young starting pitchers as much opportunity as they possibly could. I would love to know which teams he has a know.

Starting point is 00:25:51 It's only five teams in baseball. It's only five. Yeah. I don't, I've never been able to find. which five teams those are. I don't think it has ever been reported in any, anywhere. I'm going to go out on a limb and say

Starting point is 00:26:06 it's, it's, it's, uh, all Ohio teams and a couple of Pennsylvania teams. That's what I'm going to say. I don't know. Okay. So it's the, it's the guardians. It's the Reds. Yeah. It's, uh, the Phillies. It's the Pirates. Maybe Phillies make it out. Maybe the Phillies aren't on there. I don't know. I don't know. Okay. Well, the Phillies aren't on there. That's only three teams. Is there another Ohio team I'm forgetting?

Starting point is 00:26:31 Is there another Pittsburgh? No, no, you're right. I don't think so. I don't think so. I don't know, though. He's like, I want to say, I want to say like Milwaukee, but he seems like a very Midwestern kind of guy that would fit in, uh, in, in, in that region, you know, so I don't know. But here's the thing. Teams would be acquiring two people in one, Jesse. They're not just getting Madison Bumgarner, as you know.

Starting point is 00:26:56 They're also getting Mason Saunders. So here's what I feel is if the Diamondbacks could negotiate this into a way where a team feels like they can maximize the value of both of his personas, then it could end up being a good deal for the team that acquires him. I'm not saying you have to, I'm not saying you have to make him get on a horse and go out there and like, I don't know, cattle rope, an umpire before the game starts. but I'm just saying that sort of thing typically would sell some tickets is what I'm thinking, right? What could we get for him if we traded him to a rodeo? What would they get in return for Mason Saunders from a rodeo? A large bull? Because, I mean, it's a $37 million bull, but I'm kind of, I'm kind of down with it if we can get like a decent return of livestock back for Mason Saunders.

Starting point is 00:27:52 I don't know what we'll do with the livestock, but I feel like at least if we can get something for him, right? I mean, I don't know. This reminds me of like white elephant where, uh, you know you have the worst gift out there, right? You didn't try very hard. Maybe you literally did the white elephant thing of like,

Starting point is 00:28:16 oh, I'm giving someone that bath set I got last year at a white elephant party. that's kind of the equivalent from Madison Bumgarten right now, right? So like what you got to do at a white elephant party if you're giving the shitty gift, Jesse is you kind of got to talk it up, right? You got a, oh, yeah, I love this brand or whatever. Oh, these foot scrubs are the best, whatever the case may be. That way your gift doesn't look as bad. So maybe maybe that's what the diamondbacks need to do.

Starting point is 00:28:42 Just talk them up a bit. Maybe that's what the spring training thing is, right? You know, just get him out there, get them looking good before his arm is tired, and the season has weighed down on him. and maybe just maybe they can trade them to a rodeo for a large bull. That would be awesome. I'm bored with that. All jokes aside, bumgarner really does, he really does create a problem for the Arizona

Starting point is 00:29:05 Diamondbacks because he is getting paid enough and he is good enough to be in the starting rotation. However, you know, how many, like, what's the, what's, what's, what's the drawback here? What's, what's the lack of performance? what's the lack of winning. Like he hasn't been very good. So, you know, I, I know that you don't want to, like, not have him be in your starting rotation.

Starting point is 00:29:32 It just when does, you know, his lack of performance detract from the team? When is his lack of performance so bad that you don't even want to start him anymore or have him be part of this rotation? I don't think we're that far away from that point, right? I don't think, like, once you get Brandon fought up to the big leagues and, you know, you've still got Ryan Nelson and Ray Jameson, along with Merrill Kelly and Zach Gallen, it's not that hard to imagine a scenario in which even as of opening day, Madison Bumgarner is not among the five best starting pitchers on the Arizona Diamondbacks. I think that's totally possible. If you look at his numbers from last year, I mean, it was a four point. 8-8-E-R-A, which is not good. But it's not like, you know, we need to send this guy down to the miners necessary.

Starting point is 00:30:30 Like, it's not so bad that you can't even think of putting him on a big league roster. But you could see, you know, one more year if Bumgarner continues to move in the wrong direction. It's not that hard to imagine in 2023 kind of being the year where it's like, okay, that this, we need, we need to, I move him to the bullpen or we need to kind of rethink how we're playing Madison Bumgarner because the level of performance just isn't what it needs to be. And I think, I mean, Mike Hazen has said that incumbency matters coming into spring training, which leads me to believe that if he is on the roster, the D-Backs will give Bumgarner a shot. They'll give him a chance. They'll come into spring training, expecting him to be in the rotation. And as long as he doesn't give them any extreme

Starting point is 00:31:20 reasons to think otherwise. I think he will be in the starting rotation when when the season begins. But yeah, we have this report from from Bob Nightingale that, you know, maybe the team goes into spring training. And if he does look a little bit better than then maybe we expect, then maybe that's a situation where the devax try to move him elsewhere. He does have value to other teams. Not $37 million over two years worth of value, but he does have some value to us. other teams. You might be able to work out some sort of a trade where the debacks eat some money. Maybe they take back a not ideal contract, but a player that maybe would be more useful to

Starting point is 00:32:00 them. And they could find a way to make it work. It's going to be really hard, though. I don't expect a Madison-Bungarner trade to happen because those trades are just really, really hard to pull off where teams aren't really like trading for players that they want as much as they're trading players that they don't want and trying to like make it balanced on both sides. It's really hard to pull off.

Starting point is 00:32:20 So it's not something I would necessarily expect to happen. In 10 seasons with the Giants, Madison Bumgarner won 119 games with a winning percentage of 564 and an ERA of 3.13 with a 1.111 whip. In the three seasons that this man has bid with the Arizona Diamondbacks, he has 15 wins for a 341 winning percentage and a nearly 5.5. ERA 4.9. I mean, it's not like to say his time here has been a disaster, but it's not, if this wasn't a guy that you were paying what you're paying, you would not have kept him on your roster.

Starting point is 00:33:09 Fair to say. Yeah, yeah, I think so. I mean, I, I feel like they've had even better pitchers on their roster that they've DFA or parted ways with just because they could. It's not going to financially bind them the way that it would for Madison Bumgardner to have to kick rocks. But yeah, that's, it's just definitely, uh, it's,

Starting point is 00:33:32 it's definitely a predicament that Diamondbacks are in. Things are trending in the right direction for them, but they still do have some key, you know, positional issues to deal with. And to be honest, Mad Bum being on the roster is one of those issues. And I hate to say that. Yeah. you know, outside of some sort of crazy conversion to a bullpen pitcher or something like that,

Starting point is 00:33:54 I just don't know if Madison Bumgardner being on the starting rotation is going to help the Diamondbacks win games in 2023. So it'll be interesting to see how this plays out. And of course, we still have the entire situation with the fact that they could still trade one of their young outfielders. And we don't know when that's going to happen or if that's going to happen. I just hope they don't do anything that, you know, is kind of, a panic move when they don't really need to do that at this point.

Starting point is 00:34:23 I will say this, though. Of course, I love my friends at OGs, and whenever I think of bad contracts, they help me get over them with their wonderful selection of edibles. OGs is all about flavoring life. So if you've ever had edibles and they tasted like pure garbage or marijuana, that's because that company does not care about you the same way. Our friends at OGs does.

Starting point is 00:34:47 So make sure to check out. their wide variety of flavors, doses and strains. They have everything that you're looking for. They got you covered, setivas, Indicas, and especially their nighttime gummy with their CBN formula. So check out our friends at OG's brands at your local dispensary. It must be 21 years or older to enjoy. If you don't get a chance to come out and join us for the Four Peaks inaugural tea party,

Starting point is 00:35:12 make sure to go check out our friends at Four Peaks this holiday season at their 8th Street pub. It's always a great place to hang out. out. They have a wonderful variety of food and beers for you to check out. And of course, it's a great place to spend, spend the weekend. Go over there, hang out with your friends, drink some beers. If you can't make it out to Four Peaks Brewing Company, 8th Street Pub, make sure to grab some Four Peaks wherever you get your beer and enjoy responsibly. Must be 21 years or older to enjoy. Jesse Cactus League is right around the corner. That's my spring training.

Starting point is 00:35:41 Of course, we've talked about how we don't, we don't get much time off around here. But MLB announces official spring training start dates Friday, February 24th with a couple of Cactus League games before all 30 teams play in Cactus and Great Fruit League games on Saturday, February 25th. Those tickets are available now. So if you want more ideas for your holiday shopping season, go out and grab someone some spring training tickets. I will say this. It's a great idea.

Starting point is 00:36:12 I am a guy that because of my reputation, because of my office, I get a lot of like crap, trinkets, toys, stuff. People buy me pops and action figures, stuff I absolutely don't need. Nothing is better than someone buying me something like that's kind of consumable in a way, right? Either a gift card to like my favorite place to go eat or drink where I'm just not going to spend that money or tickets to a wonderful event. Like I had a friend buy me tickets to a concert and it was honestly one of the best gifts I've ever received just because it was a thing I wanted to do anyway. Now I don't have to buy those tickets or pay for it. It was a five-star gift. But of course, spring training is always, you know, the best time to be a baseball

Starting point is 00:36:53 fan. I feel like you get to go out and enjoy the wonderful weather, watch these games, and not at all really worry about the outcome or even actually watching the game. So, but yeah, spring training is fun. The schedule has been released. I don't think that there's anybody that are super compelled about the schedule or as far as who the Diamondbacks are playing, but it's still fun to take a look at. Yeah, they open with a split squad. So that's always, that's always fun. We get hit with some,

Starting point is 00:37:24 some spring training awesomeness from, from day one with, of course, at that point, you've got, you know, a bunch of players from minor league camp. So there's a lot of guys that,

Starting point is 00:37:32 you know, you want to give playing time to. So it is helpful to have, have those happen early on in the spring training calendar. But yeah, they're at, at the Oakland A's and, uh,

Starting point is 00:37:43 at home against the Colorado Rockies, which I guess they also, could have been on the road against the Rockies. That's right. Made much of a difference. Yeah. Yeah. And then Padres.

Starting point is 00:37:55 Then they have a game against like Monday 27th, another split squad game, Cubs in the afternoon and in the evening, the mountaineers, Jesse. Mountaineers, the Mountaineers. I believe that is the West Virginia. West Virginia.

Starting point is 00:38:10 Correct. Yes. The West Virginia. That should be interesting. The debacks have played like GCU in recent years on like the equivalent of that game, I think. They've also played ASU in the past, I remember. So the West Virginia Mountaineers, there you go.

Starting point is 00:38:28 I believe, I believe you don't even need a ticket for that one. I think that game is actually free. Nice. So there you go. Some free baseball at Salt River Fields on, what is that, the 27th? Yeah. That's a good, that's a good way to spend. I like free baseball.

Starting point is 00:38:45 Free baseball is good. I'm very devastated to not see the Savannah bananas on the schedule, Jesse. I know that they're going to be in town, and I was really hoping to see a spring training game against the bananas. I think we just miss them, right? We do. Yeah, the season starts. Bananas are March 31st and April 1st, at which point the debacks will be out in Los Angeles opening the season against the L.A. Dodgers. That's right.

Starting point is 00:39:10 Which is always, always fun when the Diamondbacks open the year against L.A., especially on the road. It's basically the most difficult opening day assignment it's possibly receive. But the devaks have dealt with more than their fair share of that over the last few years it's felt like. So it is a brutal opening to the schedule for them. You know what, though?

Starting point is 00:39:32 They play the Dodgers, the first series. Then the following weekend, they play the Dodgers again at home. Right, right. And then Jesse, then something wonderful happens. months past before the next time the Diamondbacks have to play the Dodgers. And when I say months, I mean months.

Starting point is 00:39:54 I'm talking about post-all-star break. Jesse, the next time we have to see those Dodgers after that is a two-game set in August. Let's fucking go. I mean, that's more than half of the games that they're going to play against the Dodgers are happening. in basically the first week of the year. They have a four-game series on the road, right, that goes through April 2nd. And then as you said, they play the Dodgers again.

Starting point is 00:40:24 They have a two-game set in San Diego against the Padres. And then they play the Dodgers at home. That'll be their home opener on April 6th. That goes through the 9th. That's another four-game series. So eight of the 13 games that the Diamondbacks play against the Dodgers, the entire season, 13. It's only 13 this year.

Starting point is 00:40:44 Eight of the 13 happen in the first two weeks of the season. So whether you view that as a good thing or a bad thing, I guess is sort of open to interpretation, but it is interesting. They're basically getting that part of the schedule out of the way within, you know, 10 or 14 days. Yeah. They also have the six games with the Padres in the first month. So, yeah, that's going to be a rough month for them.

Starting point is 00:41:11 But you know what? Again, those are the kind of struggles that if you can make. it through a stretch like that and end up around 500 or maybe even with a winning record, then you got to really start filling some momentum, you know, building up for your season. So, I mean, it's, it's an early test, but it's going to be a fun one for the Diamondbacks.

Starting point is 00:41:29 And let's be honest, you know, we want to see where they're at anyway, right? Like, I want an early test like this. Spring training never provide you with that. And of course, we'll have no idea what this team will actually look like once spring training comes along because, I don't know. Anything can happen. I feel like there are a lot of positions that are wide open,

Starting point is 00:41:48 no matter where you are at in the organization, if you're going to be invited up to the spring training, you know, for spring training, you are going to have an opportunity at your position, maybe more so than, I don't know, any other season, unless you're an outfielder. Then I'm sorry, my condolences, because you might not ever make this team.

Starting point is 00:42:07 But anyway, in the meantime, we will be watching and seeing if any other moves are made by the Arizona Diamondbacks between now and then, especially Madison Bumgarten, are getting moved, which we are not holding our breath on. But you can follow us in the meantime. I am at Cap underscore Caveman with a K. Jesse is at Jesse and Friedman.

Starting point is 00:42:26 Our show is at PHNX underscore D-Backs, but of course all roads lead to at PHNX underscore sports on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. If you haven't spruced up your home for this holiday season in preparation for all of these people like Clark Griswold's relatives that annoy Jesse so much that are coming over to your house, make sure to stop by MoreFurniture.com. Check out their fall sale going,

Starting point is 00:42:49 or excuse me, fall sale, holiday sale going on right now. I swear to God, I look at words and I read them correctly in my head, and then they just fall out of my mouth incorrectly. But the holiday clearance event happening at more furniture right now can save you up to 50%.

Starting point is 00:43:04 So if you need anything for your home in preparation for the holiday season, or to start off the new year with a bang, make sure to check out the holiday clearance have been happening right now, More Furniture through Christmas. So check that out over at morefurniture.com. Again, we thank you guys so much for checking out the show. I hope you all sincerely have a wonderful holiday weekend. We will be back on Monday with our Mailbag Monday questions.

Starting point is 00:43:28 So, of course, if you want to ask Jesse what he got in his stocking, make sure to put that in our Mailbag Monday questions on Twitter. I had a meeting with all of the sports teams just to kind of clear up some things before the holiday season. It didn't go so well. These guys are a bunch of maniac. So make sure to check that out on the PHNX Sports YouTube or not YouTube, but on Instagram and Twitter wherever they are. But again, we thank you guys so much for being here and listening to this episode. Again, have a happy holiday season. On behalf of Jesse and myself, we appreciate you so much. And remember, kids, baseball is fun, but it's so much more fun when you

Starting point is 00:44:11 Trade Madison Bumgartner.

PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - Is trading Madison Bumgarner before the 2023 season a move the Arizona Diamondbacks can make?

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