PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - Jacob deGrom signs with the Rangers, so the Mets replace him with Justin Verlander

Episode Date: December 5, 2022

Jacob deGrom is officially a member of the Texas Rangers and the New York Mets replace him with Justin Verlander. Meanwhile, Curt Schilling, Barry Bonds, and Roger Clemens are officially not members of baseball’s Hall of Fame. Also, MLB’s Winter Meetings are underway in San Diego, and we have Jesse Friedman bringing us the latest updates.BUY D-BACKS TICKETS HERE: https://gametime.hnyj8s.net/c/3442941/1410622/10874 SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube: https://bit.ly/phnx_youtubeALL THINGS PHNX: http://linktr.ee/phnxsports PHNX: ICYM our Cyber Monday sale, we still have new hoodies and t-shirts including Diehard merch and even Phoe-Knux swag. Check it all out at https://phnxlocker.com/.DraftKings: Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app now (https://bit.ly/3Jl1dMX), use promo code PHNX and make your first deposit of FIVE DOLLARS and get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in FREE BETS INSTANTLY! For every leg you add you can boost your winnings up to ONE HUNDRED percent!If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisiscounseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800-GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537) (IL/IN/MI/NJ/PA/WV/WY), 1-800-NEXT STEP (AZ), 1-800-522-4700 (CO/NH), 888-789-7777/visit http://ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-BETS OFF (IA), 1-877-770-STOP (7867) (LA), 877-8-HOPENY/text HOPENY (467369) (NY), visitOPGR.org (OR), call/text TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN), or 1-888-532-3500 (VA).21+ (18+ WY). Physically present in AZ/CO/CT/IL/IN/IA/LA/MI/NJ/NY/PA/TN/VA/WV/WY only. Min. $5 deposit required. Eligibility restrictions apply. See http://draftkings.com/sportsbook for details.OGeez!: Enter the “Flavoring Life” sweepstakes. One winner will receive 3 bags of OGeez, an OGeez! Hat, a PHNX shirt of your choice, and a PHNX annual membership. Sign up at gophnx.com or visit https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfIplqDYsxYeiotn5Zc6hRahaX0a5qG99eHVzkhOlGZDRdgUA/viewform. Must be 21 years or older to purchase.Underdog Fantasy: Sign up for Underdog Fantasy today! Go to the link https://play.underdogfantasy.com/p-phnx and use promo code “PHNX” to receive a deposit match up to $100Four Peaks: We are teaming up with Four Peaks to host all US and Mexico World Cup matches at their 8th Street Pub. Enjoy beer specials, giveaways, guest appearances, and more while watching on their 22’ jumbo screen. Click here to register for free: https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/phnx-2022-world-cup-watch-parties-1329339Enter to win the “Toast of the Month” sweepstakes to win a $50 Four Peaks gift card, a PHNX shirt of your choice, and a PHNX annual membership. Go to goPHNX.Com or visit https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfOabxo8KQxOWwn9wTilMBuTMAJdrL0CaH9lzfuJqgKN9vfSg/viewform Must be 21 or older. Enjoy responsibly. Bad Birdie: Use code “PHNXBadBirdie” for 15% off your next order https://glnk.io/7qnq/phnx-sportsMor Furniture: Save up to 50% all through the holidays! Check out https://morfurniture.comLiquid Death: Get free shipping on all water and merch at https://LiquidDeath.com/PHNX FOCO: FOCO has you covered with the best Arizona Merchandise. Head on over to foco.com. For all non pre-sale items use the promo code “PHNX” for 10% offWhen you shop through links in the description, we may earn affiliate commissions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Don't let me ever say that I can't replace Jesse. Not only did I replace him, I replaced him with two dudes. Of course, welcome on in to the PHNXDBX podcast. My name is Derek Monti, occasionally known as the mayor of PHNX, and I'm joined by the MVP over here, Shonda Paz. That's fine. And over here, Fogg's himself, Lord, overlord himself, the one only Jacob, Franklin. It's fine.

One of these days, all win an MVP award. Maybe. One of these days. I'm going to keep them just win them off. Look, they're going to name it the Sean DePaz's most valuable player award. There's plenty of great players that never won an MVP. That's true. But then there's just some who did, you know.

I'm just saying. And didn't deserve it. Andrew McCutcheon. There's plenty of people that don't deserve some of these contracts that are being given up right now at MLB. But we'll get to that shortly. Of course, this show is brought to you by the fine folks at the Drafking Sportsbook app. America's top-rated sportsbook app. My vice mayor, Jesse Friedman, is on assignment at the winter meetings in San Diego.

A woe is him. But he is there in the midst of all of this craziness going on because there are some big names signing with new teams today. Trey Turner, breaking news, signs a $300 million contract, 11 years with the Philadelphia Phillies, guys, the National League representative for the World Series gets a little bit better today. Yeah, I think Trey Turner is a great fit in Philadelphia. I think Trey Turner is a great fit pretty much anywhere he goes.

Now, obviously, these long-term deals, you never know what it's going to look like in the 11th year, right? It will be 40 years old when this deal is up. And it has a no trade clause as well, full no trade clause. Yeah, so you don't know how that's going to work out, but anything that gets taken away from the Dodgers, I am a... That's what I'm here for. I am 100% here for Tray Turner being out of the NL West because he had two meetings with the Padres and it started to scare me that we were going to see him remain in the NL West. What are your thoughts, though, on signing a guy that's going to be 40 years old by the end of this contract? Yeah, I mean, when you're a team that was in the world series, like, that's a sacrifice willing to make, right?

Like, you are willing to potentially jeopardize a little bit of your future if it means you can get an even one ring out of, out of Trey Turner. So, I mean, this is just one of like a bunch of really good teams that have gotten better already. Yeah. But yeah, like Jacob said, I mean, it's a fit that makes a lot of sense. And when you have a position that was not, you know, you didn't have somebody dominating in. Now you can improve in that position. It's scary if you're a team in the NL East, which thankfully we are not. Yes, yes, absolutely.

But the NL East did lose a big piece, but they also now have a new foe to deal with. Jacob de Grom signs a five-year, $185 million deal with the Texas Rangers who continue to spend an outrageous amount of money. So the New York Mets replaced him with Justin Verlander. Was he good last year? Verlander? He won the Sion. Yeah, that's what I thought. He was slightly good.

Just, it's kind of good. The Astros get scary with Jose Brayu. Yes, yeah. But they got less scary because you subtract their Sy Young Award winner. However, their Siong Award winner is also like, he was also 40 years old. Yeah, correct. Pretty much. So two-year deal worth $86.6 million.

Can you imagine being paid $43 million for one year of work? Yeah. No, I cannot. You weren't. Would be pretty nice. Shit. Stop it. I need to stop it.

I need to renegotiate my deal. I do love seeing a team that is not the Yankees or the, the Dodgers spend a lot of money though. Yeah. It is fun to just have another team that it's like, I mean, they tried to do this with Seeger and and Simeon Wright, but it didn't pan out a whole lot last year. But nearly half a billion dollars. They're headed in the right direction.

Yeah, I like that they're trying. The Texas Rangers are headed in the right direction. I think you give them about two to three years and that team gets really, really scary fast. I mean, you just have to hope that Jacob de Grom, like I was a very staunch advocate that Jacob de Grom would not fit here in Arizona only because I do not want to overpay for a guy who ends up on the injured list every single year. Five years seems a lot for Jacob de Grom as far as time-wise. Not the amount of money, but like you said, I don't know if I personally feel like Jacob

de Grom is going to even have a career that lasts five more years, but that's only because he seems to, again, like you said, be kind of injury prone. Yeah, yeah. But I mean, I like just in general, I think it's like kind of an interesting way to look at it, But when you look at the Rangers organization in general, they're a team that they got a new stadium, they got new uniforms, and now they're making a push to like actually be relevant on the field. Sure. And I think it's like, obviously we tend to think about baseball in the context of what's happening on the field and just as a baseball team. But it's very interesting that like ownership from a business sense is like doing this all now.

And it's interesting for the Arizona debacks who a lot of people want new uniforms. And I feel like there's growing talk about how long Chase Field is going to last. And it's just, I feel like from a debats perspective, it's kind of interesting. how the baseball decisions line up with the business decisions. Yeah, for sure. I understand that. And honestly, that's the reason. It's the reason why it feels like this year would be a good year, at least for the time being to maybe return back to the old teal and copper and purple and all that.

But I don't know if they're going to go that route. I think that the Rangers, though, are a case. I want them to do it. Do it. But the Rangers are a case of like, do you like how they're spending money? I mean, they're spending a shit ton of money. I mean, you can, but is it being spent in the best possible way? I mean, I don't think anybody can doubt that Jacob de Grom is quite possibly the best pitcher of the entire major leagues.

Like, he just, he is so dominant when he's healthy, right? He's capable of a lot. It's just he has not proved that he can stay healthy. Right? So, like, it sketches me out a little bit, but I do think the Rangers are building something that they can compete with. It's not that they can't compete. Yeah. I just, I always get a little uncomfortable in teams.

just try and go, I mean, if you're on a team like the Dodgers, then they've proven. But even they haven't really like, I get a long comfortable when teams seem like they're just like, they're going to go and try and buy a ring essentially. And not from like a morality standpoint. Like I not like say here and complain about the Yankees buying all the rings. But like they, there's teams that kind of build up to becoming close to contenders and then they go and get a couple of pieces. It seems like the Rangers were kind of just bad. And then like, we're going to start buying really big names and hope it terms of this new contender.

It makes me a little worried, like I said, they went and got two really big names on big contracts, and they didn't really do anything last year. And I'm not sure that one, although it's a very good pitcher, how much that is going to change that. Well, they bring in Bruce Bochy, so I feel like they're trying to bring in a manager that has that experience and that caliber of managing this level of talent, like superstar kind of caliber guys. I just, again, at times there's this thought process that the direction baseball is gone. I don't know if bringing in these older managers and such is always the case. However, Brent Strom is a huge advocate for, you know, analytics coming in with his managing and kind of combining it with what he knows about being a pitching coach. So I don't feel like it's necessarily an age thing as much as it's in accepting the newer way things are done.

But also in regards to Verlander's deal is $86.6 million too much for, We're a 40-year-old guy. No, I think Gabriel points it out in the chat. Randy Johnson was 35 when he signed with the devax. Now, I know that's a different number. However, I think we're starting to learn that age is just a number when it comes to pitchers, right? If you can reinvent yourself in positive ways, I think that there's no limit to how, I mean, there is a limit to how old you can be, but like you can still pitch into your 40s and still be

semi-successful. You might not throw 99 like you used to, but if you can reinvent yourself into a guy that has a lot more control than he did when he was younger. I think there's a lot of room for success. Yeah. I mean, my thing is like, when you're a team like the Mets that is really relatively close to being a legitimate or I mean, they already are a legitimate World Series contender. And obviously you lose to Grom.

Like, you need to replace that in some way. And then the fact that it's a lot of money, but it's only two years. Like, it's not a contract that they're locked into for a very long time. So when you talk about concerns with the age, like they're obviously trying to win right now. Yes. And they will be able to do that. If they can win right now, they'll do it without having jeopardize their future, like potentially the Phillies have with the Trey Turner contract.

The funny thing about Verlander getting this deal was he wanted a Max Scher-like deal, and he got it from the exact same team that gave Max Scherzer that deal, right? And they are on Max Schurzer's timeline, right? They only have a limited amount of time at this point to win. So like you said, they are definitely in a win now kind of mode. But the other news coming out lately that I wanted to discuss before, we bring Jesse in is Fred McGriff, the crime dog, was selected as the newest member of the Baseball Hall of Fame. And once again, Barry Bonds, Kurt Schilling, and Roger Clemens were

all denied. Are we still doing this? I mean, is this still a thing. But Barry Bonds is a Hall of of Famer. Barry Bonds is a Hall of Famer. Barry Bonds is a Hall of Fame. I, so I'm not going to get into a whole, a whole thing about Kurt Schilling, but I, well, my thing is that I think part of being in the Hall of Fame is also representing the game in a good way. And I, I'm not going to I think, I think obviously Barry Bond, Roger Clemens, like these are guys that have done steroids, but they did it in the steroid era when everyone was doing steroids. And they haven't necessarily represented the game in a poor way, the way Kurt Schilling has. Like, just who he is as a person outside of the game.

And I think it leaves a little bit of a black eye on the Hall of Fame in a different way than it would if, if Clemens and Bond specifically, because Bond's had a Hall of Fame career before he even started doing steroids. The first 10 years of his career were Hall of Fame really. So Schilling, I don't have a problem with. I don't think he ever will. I don't think that's something voters want to even touch. But Bonds and Clemens, spawn specifically. Yeah.

Just get over it, get them in. Schilling, I agree with you. It's not just his actions. It's not just the way he hasn't represented the game well. I feel like he is very ungrateful. He said, don't put me into the Hall of Fame and such. So it's like, okay. His numbers dropped by like 24%.

I'm pretty sure last year it had 71. 7% of the votes. He was right on the cusp of being nominated and he said, you know what, forget it. Don't put me in and they drop. It was like 47% or something like that. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, there's there, I don't know an athlete. I mean, yeah, we, we've had some sons that have kind of let me down in the past, but I don't remember personally a valley athlete that we, we've had that's taken the turn that Kurt Schilling has, right? Like this guy literally, it's hard not to be appreciative for him as a debacks fan because the Diamondbacks were not at, won that World Series without him. However, he has turned into a giant piece of shit. He can't stop running his mouth. I will say, it is one hell of a power move to be like, you know, you're not going to vote me in? Well, fuck you.

You can't fire me. I quit. I was like, buy on me. We could have voted you in next year, right? You know, like, that was... We actually weren't going to fire you. It's just too bad. I already quit. Right, but anyway, speaking of getting fired, we have Jesse Friedman

on the line here coming to us from the winter meetings and of course I have his replacements here next to me in case he wants to stay in San Diego but we definitely need to pay for him to have a better Wi-Fi connection. Jesse, how you doing, pal? Hold on.

There's still figuring out. Jesse's just sitting there smiling. Overlays? Overlays? This is some behind the scenes. Hold on one second, everyone. Stay tuned. Get up and jump up there. You got to drag up there. You got to drag

his camera under the lower. Yeah. Oh, yeah. It is under the lower. We'll get it for you. Sorry, everyone. Here's some behind the scenes. See?

Yeah. Interesting. Well, I don't know what to do. His Wi-Fi connection isn't good enough for him to even be on the show. What's happening right now? I'll unmute him so he can at least speak. Yeah. Oh, well, no.

You have to publish the scene. Yeah. Hmm. What should we do? Just publish. All right, well, everybody, here's giant blurry Jesse. Here's giant blurry Jesse. Johnny.

Oh, man. What's up, buddy? How's San Diego? Do you have any sound? Is it just a smiling? You know, San Diego would be better with better Wi-Fi. The beach is great, but the Wi-Fi is not. So I don't know if you guys can actually hear anything I'm saying right now.

But, yeah, we're actually rolling on the hotspot right now. because apparently they didn't plan for having like a million people on the same Wi-Fi network. It's that my mouth is probably not moving like with the way. No, you're good. We can see you're just blurry. We're making it work. Giant blurry, Jesse. All right.

Well, we were just talking about the hot stove getting much hotter today with the signing of Justin Burlander and Tray Turner now to a $300 million $11 year deal with the Philadelphia Phillies. What are you? What are your thoughts on these signings, Jesse? Yeah, I mean, I think Tray Turner going to the Phillies is not a bit shocked. He was watching your reaction 10 seconds after I said. Anyway, I'm just going to keep going. So I think Trey Turner is, he was sort of poised to go to an East Coast team. man we had him you think that they would

sound like that's always what he wanted to do um 11 years 300 billion dollars is a lot of my total value oh boy yeah I think we should keep this one short well Jesse we're gonna mail you out a better email connection or internet connection for tomorrow but definitely do your best to gather as much information make sure like I said, don't let Mike Hazen out of your eyesight and report back to what we got going on. It feels like some big things are going to continue to happen at these winter meetings. Maybe Mike Hayes will let him get a spot spot.

That's what I'm going to check on. I'll report back. All right. Thank you, sir. All right. Sorry, everybody for a giant blurry Jesse. We had to add that to your day. We will praise him.

We praise the giant blurry Jesse. And of course, make sure to read all of his wonderful. content over on Gerald gets that and awkward camera angles. Gerald gets fiber optic internet and poor Jesse gets a broken paper. Thanks, Gabriel. That's an accurate description. But of course, make sure to read

Jesse's stuff over at go-PhNX.com. If you're not a diehard already, sign up to become a DeBax die-hard over at Go-PHNX with your die-hard membership, of course, we're giving you a free shirt or hat every year. We're giving you 20% off merchandise over at the pHNX Locker.com. We have so much great merch.

We got hoodies now, by the way, which I'm going to live in once mine around. So make sure to grab those. Members get a discount at all times. Exclusive members-only merch, not to mention the die-hards-only Discord lounge, which is the best place to be in Arizona Sports Band, and so much more.

So sign up over at go-PhNX.com for a membership. And if you're watching us right now and the PHNX Sports YouTube channel, we once again apologize for Jesse's internet connection. We thank you guys for being here. Espo texted me. He said, is Jesse reporting from the moon? Yeah, he is.

I'm pretty sure there was better. There was better service when they landed on the middle first side. Oh, yeah, it was a solid, low-definition connection. You see those? It's almost like they're fake. Stop it. Anyway, that's for the 10. Is Jesse not actually at in San Diego?

I don't know. That would be a good way. The only way that could be worse is an entire country's internet provider going down while you're there. Oh, wait. That happens. He's just starting M-O-O-N. M-O-O-N. I don't know.

Look. I was like, what? Get out. Anyway. I was like, that's not how you spell San Diego? There's no M's in San Diego. Thank you guys for watching us right now. Make sure to subscribe to the PHNX Sports YouTube channel if you haven't done so already.

Sign up for notifications. That way you won't miss when any of the shows go live. This guy over on ASU Sun Devils, they're always doing fun stuff. They are some hooligans over there. But of course, make sure to also subscribe to us on your favorite audio podcasting app if you're listening to us right now there. Leave us a review as well. Well, of course, whether Jesse is here or not, it doesn't matter. It doesn't stop anything that goes on this show.

It looks like he's moving better. Maybe. I don't know. We'll see. Do you want to try? Let's just keep going with the show and put it in preview mode so we can look at it. Yeah, yeah. We'll see if he can come back to us. But the biggest thing about this is whether Jesse here is here or not, every day is Earth Day on this show.

Every week is Shark Week. And every Monday, we go to the mailbag. Let's go. Always something interesting in my mailbox I try to get to everything in my mailbox And then once in a while There's a letter that makes me go wow Wow, wow

All right Oh, that's a banger I've never heard that before First question Comes from our friend Rick Hughes And Rick Hughes says Thinking McCarthy is the most likely

Outfielder to move Could Jays be talked into moving a catcher To feel a need with Jake? This is something we've talked about a few times on the show. And yes, absolutely. I think this is something that the Jays could be talked into. I think what might be holding this up, what might prevent it, is honestly, the Arizona Diamondbacks might be getting offers that are more tantalizing right now, depending on who they might be getting in return. Some of these young outfielders like Jake McCarthy are highly coveted

by other teams. So, of course, if we can get more for them, I'm sure the Diamondbacks are going to pool that trigger but still feels like there's there's a chance of catcher might be in their future it seems like that might be one of their needs yeah i mean Toronto has a few guys uh Danny jensen alexander Kirk both of who i am pretty familiar with saw them play a lot in uh triple a buffalo um and then uh gabriel merino they have the options there to trade and i i mean i wouldn't hate it i i do think that i mean are we all on agreement at this point that mccarthy's probably the most likely outfielded to be. It feels, right?

There are, there's a case to be made that he would be the best option to be moved. Yeah. I mean, you talk about his expected batting average and everything last year and whether or not last year was a little bit of a fluke. But, yeah, I mean, I could see it. It definitely seems like a possible option, one of the routes I could go with these young guys. What do your thoughts?

Yeah. Jake McCarthy was kind of my guy last year. Like, I would really, really dislike to see him be the piece. that's moved. It's tough for me because Jesse and I had this conversation quite often last year where it just felt like Jake McCarthy's numbers were maybe just a little too good to be true. Yeah. So he might be the most likely to go because you're looking to sell high on some of these guys,

right? Like Varsho is an everyday MLB player, right? He's got a five war. As much as I think Varsha would be the guy that I would deal because I just have not seen enough consistency and he's had the most at bats at this point and you could still get the most for him out of the three in the trio. I think McCarthy is the one that has the, you have the best chance of selling high on. Yeah, I agree. It's him and Varsho. Those two. Varsho actually I think could be even sold at higher, but I feel like Varsho's numbers and his consistency speak to the idea that

he's going to be better for a longer period of time. I mean, more consistent. Jake McCarthy may have, may have had his peak in this season. And that's the reason why. Really out of the four, you know you're not moving Corbyn Carroll. And we talk about- If you move Corby and Carol, I throw hands. Yeah, I mean, we all right.

One for one for Sandy Alcantara. Yeah, right. Oh, well, okay. I'm not against that. Yeah, I was going to say. There's some exceptions. There's some exceptions. But I will say that, like, obviously, that

these three guys left, and Alec Thomas just didn't have a great end to a season. So it's just a low value right now, right? The only thing that you're going to get is maybe you fleece the white socks for him because they just want them so bad in the organization. But who knows? But I think that Jake McCarthy, of all the outfielders, is the most likely to fill a need with some team. For sure. Friend of the program.

Yeah. What else we got, Leo? Speaking of friends of the program, this guy, Gabriel, another note. troublemaker, bold as bronze, he asks, will making a big time free agent signing be more to attract fans, new season ticket holders, or to legitimately make this team a

contender next season? I feel like it's to legitimately make this team a contender. I feel like that would be what the purpose of the move is. However, I do think that there's a little combination of that with the Diamondbacks when it comes to making a big splash and free agency. I think sometimes when they

signed, when they got, you know, a Zach Granke, or Madison Bumgardner, I do feel like part of the reason to put that much money in a name like that is to put butts in seeds. It is. It is because it's a business, right?

It's a business on top of trying to win baseball games. I mean, Madison Bumgarner, he didn't have his best year in San Francisco before they signed him here. And it's not like you signed him to world, like earth-shattering money. But you definitely signed him to a large contract in D-BAC's terms.

Right? So it's one of those like, yeah, does Madison Bumgarner move the needle for some fans? It does. But are we willing to sacrifice quality over having butts and seats? I mean, ask the Tampa Bay Rays because they're the case. Year in and year out, they aren't going to making the flashy moves,

but they continue to, you know, see success and they don't see people coming to their games. They find quality players and they're usually young quality players. And then they, the Tampa Bay Rays are almost like a dude that goes to like a swap meet or like garage sales and find something that he knows is worth money. Then he gets for, then he bought for a quarter. Yeah.

And then he shines it up and turns around, sells it on eBay for $200, right? Yeah. I mean, the thing about baseball is, like, it's a long season. So if you're signing guys with the express purpose of getting butts and seats, like that is going to wear off eventually if the team's not good. Sure. So I assure there would be added value, but I don't think anyone out here is trying to sign, especially in the DI situation, trying to sign someone for the express,

the sole purpose of getting butts and seats. I mean, they get butts and seats as it is. is for visiting fans and you're going to get different players now with the way the schedule works out. I don't think signing like a Xander Bogart's is going to move the needle so much that people need to go to every single game even if they're still losing games. So I don't think it is an added value to some guys like a Madison Bunnarner, but I don't think it is the reason that you'd sign someone like that. All right. What else we got, Leah? Gabby Deer, the real Gabby on Twitter asks, do you see a Lavello extension coming?

well I think it's tied closely to how this team does this year right this is it this is the barometer year for sure and do you think that's going to come midseason no no I think they give them I think they give them the full year because they're they're in a position where they could definitely contend for a wild card spot but I don't think that they're like we're going to contend for beating the Dodgers in the division or the Padres in the division like they're not there yet but this year is one of those like you want to see them yeah like even last year, they were semi in the race. I guess you could say semi in the race. They absolutely were. Yeah, they fizzled out there in the last two, three weeks of the season. But yes, at a point, they were less than double digits away from a, you know, from a playoff spot and controlled their own

destiny if they could have, you know, been a little bit hotter there at the end, right? Like, they played some of the teams that were ahead of them at the wild card. But, right, they just came up short. It's still that improvement that you wanted to see from 2020. but still just not enough, right? Like, I don't know how connected it is to the team making the playoffs, but it definitely feels like that's... Yeah, I feel like if you get to the playoffs, it's a pretty short or far away to lock in an extension.

I feel like an extension probably is coming, because I just think that the floor is pretty low for this team. Like, it's going to take something pretty bad for this season to be a failure. Because, I mean, like you said, the last year they overachieved. And obviously that raises expectations for this year. But I don't think you can come into this season with that mindset of like it's playoffs or bust. If they don't make the playoffs blow everything up because like I said, they overachieve last year. I think they should be closer and probably accomplish at least what they did last year.

But I don't, I think things would have to go really, really wrong in a way that I don't really see them going wrong in order for him not to get an extension. Mike Hazen mentioned in the press conference for Castro coming over Miguel Castro that one of the reasons why Castro wanted to come over here was the infrastructure in place, meaning the coaching staff. Yeah. He was specifically talking about players being excited to work with Brent Strong. Brent Straum is such a draw for pitchers. It's such a draw, but I think it's also Tori Lovalo. I think Matheson, I think the entire coaching staff right now, the way that it's constructed is a draw for a lot of these young guys, right? So I don't think that they necessarily want to do something dramatic there when it comes to the coaching staff.

But I do feel like without, I guess without substantial success, I don't know how long they would even want to extend Lovolo for, right? I mean, they can extend him and still fire him at any point. So it's not like that's the end all be all. But I feel like, I feel like Tori Lovolo has a fantastic, you know, reputation not only with the organization, but with the organization. everybody and I feel like they want to make sure that you know he can bow out gracefully that they don't have to fire him in the middle of the season and and replace him you know with banister or somebody like that right yeah yeah him and him and Mike Hazen have too good of a relationship for that time to happen

Gabriel makes a good point like if the devs spend a bit money on a big name like that changes the expectation sure like if you go and get someone big and the expectation immediately becomes okay now this is a playoff team and then they don't make the playoffs that changes the situation I think for Lavalo so I think as it stands right now with how the roster is made up right now, I don't necessarily think you need to make the playoffs for the season to be a success, or not a success for it to not be a failure. But I think if, yeah, if they were to have gone,

got a Xander Bogart or something crazy like that, then yeah, the expectations come a lot higher. Well, I don't know if I'd call them deals, but some MLB teams definitely got some Christmas presents all squared away. How are you guys doing on your Christmas shopping? You do not? I have not started. I got to get working.

Yeah, I got to work in the same boat, Sean. I already have presents wrapped on the dudes. True. Look at you. That's the way it goes. Derek is that bitch. I am that bitch. Yes, absolutely.

Thank God to all of the online retailers that make it easy. And I can stay home and be sick at home, but also still shop. So make sure you guys check out MoreFurniture.com because you can do exactly that there. Their holiday clearance event is happening now at More Furniture. And you can save up to 50%. And honestly, I know it might not be a gift for people. But you got to realize that this. time of the year is coming and that you're going to get good deal.

So you wait until this time of the year to get that couch, right, even if it's just for yourself. Of course. Always buy yourself presents. Always buy yourself. Always buy yourself. Always buy yourself. Treat yourself. I won't lie.

That's the best part of being single and alone. Yeah. No. I'm an adult father. I'm going to buy a gift for anybody. I bought myself. Two dads and a dude. Two dads and a dude.

I got a kiss for my cat, I guess, but that's it. I got a, I got a Avengers nano-guntlet with the infinity. But like child. Okay. What are you going to use that for? Nothing. The vibes? Nothing, Jacob.

That's not the point. Don't ask me that. That's the same thing that my wife asked. What am I going to use? What am I going to use any of my random baseball memorabilia for? Nothing other than to be happy when I look at it. Exactly. Joy, pure joy.

Don't like guys like him steal your joy. Get yourself whatever you want. That's why I'm the MVP. That's right. That's why you're just the overlord. That's right. But this guy also is drinking the Four Peaks Advent calendar beer pack. Honestly, there is no better gift to give yourself than the gift of beer.

this holiday season. The Four Peak still has limited supplies of their December advert calendar box. Best part about it is you're behind, so that means you have to drink the first like four or five days worth right now. And it's not always, it's not, like you,

they got the quilt lifters and the hazes in there, but yesterday I got a barley wine, like a bourbon barrel age barley wine. Like, I didn't even know that was something they did. So you're going to get some stuff that you can't get anywhere else in these admin counts. That's awesome.

There you go. For $55, enjoy specialty beers, tall boys and more. Barley wine, as you said. purchase this at their 8th Street pub and Tempe. We're sad because the U.S. and Mexico are both.

Transition. I know. No, we're sad because the U.S. and Mexico are out of it. So we have no more watch parties. But that doesn't mean that the World Cup still isn't happening, right? We might get together and still watch the later rounds of the World Cup. So make sure to stay tuned for that. And pour one out for the red, white, and blue with a four peaks.

That's right. Meo. Anyway, getting on to more mailbag Monday questions, Leah. What else do we got? DBAX Network at. debacks and asked will not Nick Ahmed be shipped. Marte deals and possible Bumgarner deal now spring

or he's a Dback on opening day. This guy over here is Cran. Please. Please. Wait, wait a part. What part? Big Ahmed. Please. Just go. Madison Bongarner. He can fly into the sun for all I care. I am not

right. He, hmm. I don't want to see. Actually, no. I disagree. I want him to stay in the M.O.B only for the express the sole purpose of I have a friend who's like a huge Madison Bunner fan and every time that he pitches I get to text her and tell her that he's washed and I enjoy that part so if he wants to stick around for my enjoyment only sure otherwise bye look Nick had his time in the Sedona Redd he had his time he got paid I'm ready

to see him go he's still a good player representative he's the first guy to reach up to charler Lewis sure but yeah I'm with you Nick Ahmed I just yeah he's just not enough he probably doesn't have any he probably has not been worth less than he is right now, right? I don't know how you're going to move him considering his new contract and the fact that he wasn't good last year.

They were talking about DV Garcia coming back for Cotele-Marté. Yeah, I don't. I would, if I had a guess, I think all three of those guys are on the roster at the start of the year.

I don't think any of them are getting moved, sadly. I think eventually you might see a Madison governor move away from being in a starting rotation full time. Sure. But I don't think you're seeing him

anywhere else. Well, our next question. Other than the radio. It's kind of related, so it's kind of the same. and a van down by the river. That's where we want. And a van down by Healer River for the road trip.

I mean, the next question was, should we trade Melanson and Bumgardner? It goes right along with that. Like, yes. And thank you to Corbyn underscore barrels there. But, yeah. In theory, yes. What are you going to get for Mark Melanzum? What are you going to get for either one of these guys?

And who's going to take on their contracts? I could see somebody willing to go on for Bumgarner. Malanson is just no. No. Well, the thing about Melanson, though, is that like, I feel like with Malanson, You can hold out a little bit of hope that like, okay, maybe he'll rebound this year and he'll be okay. Madison Bungarten is clearly at the end of his career. Like, he's not getting any better.

So there is like literally zero value. Malanson was just confusing considering the year he came off with the San Diego Padres. And honestly, it's kind of like the questions that we get about like, are they finally going to lock up the bullpen? Well, they went out and got two closures last off season. They tried. It's not like they didn't. It just didn't work out. And this is kind of what we were talking about when it comes to spending the money, but spending in the right way.

Mlanson wasn't even a bad deal. Mlanson wasn't like a guy that was good at one point and then was coming off of some bad seasons. That seems to be the Diamondbacks like Mow lately is trying to find a guy that had some good seasons. But lately has not been great. Kyle Lewis, you know, the injuries that he has occurred, but maybe we can get him back close to where he was at one point. I will say this. With Moulanson specifically, I almost wonder if it's like, considering the money you've paid him and stuff like that,

there's a pressure to play him, and at times it was a little bit of a liability, if it's not almost worth just, like Charles said, trading him for a bucket of bubble gum just so you don't feel that pressure to put him out in there and where he can blow games for it. That's the bigger thing. Is there a point where he is actually a detriment to the team

going out there and starting every five time? I don't know. I think it would need to be at that point where the Diamondbacks had enough starting rotation guy. where that he could be easily pass he could be moved to the bull pad it could be like a mid-season trade deadline kind of move where you get guys coming up maybe

you make moves and you don't need him as much but like I said I think at the beginning of the season you're gonna need him it could be Brandon fought Gray Jameson and Ryan Nelson all being in the starting rotation behind Merrill Kelly yeah you just got to trust the process a prime situation but it'll take a little of the time to get there so to the original question like I would be shocked if Madbone was not on the roster at the start of the year.

So the only thing that concerns me with that rotation that you just listed is where's your lefty coming through? You have to have a lefty in your rotation to break up the... Absolutely. Absolutely. And you're not getting that with those guys right now. So next question. This one comes from Patrick Martin

on Twitter at Luck Martin 317. He asks with Lawler heard again, should we target one of the short stops? No. I don't think that Lawler is on any kind of time frame that's going to delay from what? He should be ready for season. That's what Hayeson said. Haysen said that he is injury is not going to keep him from missing any time. And honestly, I don't want that anyway. Like that's the weird thing about Nick Ahmed being shipped or whatever. Like Perdomo, yes, can play the position. We saw him do that last year. I don't mind Nick Ahmed staying in the rotation this season in order to still be part of that. I'd still like to see Perdomo get a lot of time. But nothing, I don't want anything to get in the way of Jordan Lawler's progression up to. to the main roster, which probably isn't going to happen at the earliest at the end of the season,

but most likely September call-up would be my guest. That would be Corbyn Carroll. That could definitely be the case. If you were going to get a short stop, it's not going to, Lolo's injury is not going to change to that. Like, you only do that if you have plans to already move Lalo to third or something like that or a short stop you can move to third. But like, obviously, I think of this in the context of Sander Bogart's because that was like the last, I guess, big short stop that was talked about here.

but like in that situation, you're only doing, you're not, the injury has nothing to do with it. You're doing it because you think Lawler fits better at third or whatever it is. So I don't think the injury impacts it, but they're not, they're not shining a shortstop or a big name shortstop at least. Right. And that's what we've, we've heard. There are some big name short stops available. There are some names that have been connected at times of the dimebacks. And it just doesn't make any sense to me.

Go get hobby bias next year. Well, I just, they have so many other needs to address. Yeah. That was my thing with Xander is like, if you're going to go get. him and spend the money on him. Cool. Like I love Zander Bogarts. It would be fun, whatever.

But you can only do that if you know you have the resources to go address the problems that you actually need to address right now in addition to spending all this money on Zendor Bogart. Like if you can go get Zander Bogarts and fix the bullpen, cool. But if you're if you're sacrificing working on the bullpen to go get Zander Bogarts who doesn't really fit this team right now, what's the point? I won't lie. I didn't like hearing the Diamondbacks connected to that. I don't even really like the Diamondbacks being connected to a lot of big, name free agents right now because honestly trust the process yeah we've seen in the valley too much they still haven't

figured out their core right and again we know we know who looks like is part of their core right and i mean there's a good chance that one of those guys gets moved but right now i'm just not i don't feel like this team has even defined themselves yet this could be the season for that the next off season is the year where you make that big move or that big free agency yeah i feel like my credibility is is i need to clarify the hobby bias remark was a joke I do not. The Chad was coming for Sean's throw right now. He was just the first free agent short stop that I thought of when I think of next year.

But yeah, no, please no. Please not. I would have, I'd rather have Perdomo. Brett Johnson says that lefty is going to be Carlos Rodon. And obviously, in regards to. There's a big name. He'll go. Josh says it's going to be him.

I love it. Can we get Josh to have a tryout? How hard can you throw, Josh? Josh made a picture of me as like that. Either of you lefties? man in 1933, so he made me feel very old. And I don't appreciate Josh. Derek on a barrack?

Yeah, no, don't, don't start. Wait, what was it? No, it wasn't Derek on a barric. It was me at the opening of the Golden Gate Bridge, I believe, is what he took, made a picture of, but that's a whole other thing. You got to get Derek on a Derek. Josh, your means are, uh, are hurtful. Josh, don't stop them. I like the Sean and the lawn one.

Leah on IKEA. Leah on IKEA. Leah at IKEA. Oh no Alia on in IKEA The hoodie game is strong right now On the show says Chris Melton Just need Phoenix

We really do need Phoenix We need Phoenix Oh man I'm all left out I've got a quarter zip Not all bad And not even Not even one of your other Shals or

What are you guys His grandpa His grandpa's sweater His shawls Your fancy Your fancy sweaters And that's what's in his mailbox Because that's our next question

The next question from Jacob at Jacob Schulte too on Twitter asks, guys, what's in your mailbox? Got a lot of cat stuff recently. Cat stuff. Getting sent for my new cat. Oh, yeah. I order a new cat. Plus, I finally officially changed my address.

So I've been getting all of the like, welcome to the neighborhood. Where is your, like, here's your 15% off at whatever stuff. I'm not going to use any of it. Well, that makes sense. It's cool. No one sends me stuff. Got a lot of baby stuff recently. That you're being mailed or that you're,

Yeah, I mean, a lot of stuff that was on our registry, like, has come in through the mail. Yeah, just a lot of, like, there was a random company that just sent us, like, formula to test out. I'm like, the baby ain't even here yet. Like, let me just drink it myself. The best part of turning 18 is you get a free razor from Gillette. I don't know if. Oh, yeah, I got that pack. Yeah, I got that.

It was like, you're a man now. You can shave. Like, I've been shaving and also my beard still doesn't connect. Right. That's a weird thing to assume that I just grew facial hair at the age of 18. I guess mine is just filled with all the Christmas gifts that I got going on right now. I literally ordered everything from all sorts of different vendors. I got an arcade one-up game in my mailbox.

That's what I got. I want someone to send me a letter. I want a stamp letter. My grandparents still send me letters. Really? There's something. There's somebody that cares about me that much. Getting an actual piece of mail from another.

I want a handwritten letter with a stamp on it. We'll get everybody, Sean's actual mailing address. so that you can send him stuff. Brett. Mail it to the office. The address is on the address is on the website if you want to mail me a letter. Brett, I regret to inform you.

Sean has not named his cat. His cat is named his cat is named. What? It's whatever the name you want it to be. Does it, do you feel wrong? Yeah, because originally I was going to name it Turko because I was going to get a boy cat and then I couldn't get the boy cat.

So then, but the Turgo doesn't really fit her. Her name was baby, but I don't really like baby as a name, but I call her baby a lot. She reminds me of a lemur. So part of me wants to, to call her Zabomifu, but that's a really long name. That's a good name. I think her name might officially be Zabomifu,

but also part of me wants to keep it a joke and just never give her a name. Well, it's a cat, so it doesn't matter what you came up. Yeah, exactly. I literally call her, I call her, I call her baby. I call her cat. I call her, you fucking idiot. Yeah. It just needs an official, like when you go to a vet, it does need,

the vet needs to have it filed or something. Jesse keeps calling. He's going to try it one more time. My cast name is Jesse. is Jesse and is is giant blurry Jesse and Freeman. No, I think I'm going to name it. Oh, man. Sean DePos.

Sean DePos. Yeah. No, it's going to be Zabuma food DePaws. Yeah. But D.E.A. D.A. That's great. That's great.

We just, yeah, we just named Sean's cat on this show. That's what happens when you get us on the show. You get the three great minds on the show. This is what happens on Melmend. It looks like it. Looks like Jesse's moving. No. Yeah.

No, don't let them in. Do we let them in? I don't know. What are you? I think we should try. Let's let them in. Let's see what Jesse's got going on. Let's see what Jesse's got cooking.

Hey, it's behind the thing now. Hey, slightly blurry. But still pretty big. What's up, buddy? There's still about a 5, 10 second delay on my end. So if you have to just sit and wait for me to respond for a long time, that's just sort of the way it is. We'll start doing the way. Last time.

But hey. If it's good enough, if a 5 second delay is good enough for ESPN, it's good enough for us. That's right. That's right. All right. What big deals have you on earthed out there at the winter meetings so far? Yeah, I mean, obviously there are some bigger things that have happened already today. The winter meetings have kind of lived up to the height on day one so far with obviously the Justin Verlander deal happening this morning as well as the trade Turner deal.

So a lot of things going down here. There's certainly, you know, kind of an excitement in the air here at the winter meetings just given all of the action that I think is already happening. And a lot of the action that people anticipate will be happening coming up. From a Diamondbacks perspective, I do have something somewhat interesting to share. Mike Hazen was on MLB Network radio earlier today. And he was asked, of course, about what the Diamondbacks are looking to add. And something interesting that stood out from that is that Mike Hazen said that they are looking, the team is looking to add a power, a right-handed power bat in the long term.

But he said that now is not the time. And I don't know exactly how to interpret that, whether he's just saying like a deal of that nature isn't imminent. You know, maybe it's still possible at some point in the off season, but just like now as in like today isn't the time. Or it could be interpreted as now is not the time in that, you know, maybe this off season isn't the time. Maybe the diamond backs are comfortable, you know,

being very heavily left-handed. And maybe they're, you know, if they do make a trade of some sort, maybe they're looking to add in some other area. So I don't know exactly how to interpret that, but it was an interesting comment that he made earlier today. He's been a little cryptic, but he keeps leaning towards, for the most part, the Diamondbacks being in on the action.

And this feels a little bit more maybe like, well, and you and I discuss this, but there is no need for them to do anything right now. And I don't know if internally they really feel like they're close enough as a team. to being like, you know, a World Series contender to make that big move right now at this point. I'm just dying at Josh's comment. Yes, Judge to AZ confirms in the chat comments, yes.

The profits, the profits were great. Absolutely. We really killed it in the Q3 this year. But anyway, yeah, it's interesting. Based on what Mike Hazen has said in the past, it does seem like there's a sense of urgency here to improve. And like we talked about on the show the other day, he's, He's kind of talked with some mystery about, you know, what the diamondbacks might be looking to do, you know, talking about maybe something that we haven't traditionally discussed going down at some point here. So, you know, maybe it's not a right-handed bat.

Maybe the diamond backs are looking to add in some other way. But I still think we can confidently say that, you know, they're going to be, they're going to be active in a lot of different ways this week with regard not only to the trade market, but also to free agency. So we'll have more in a couple hours here. Mike Hayes and will speak to the media for the first. time at 5 o'clock. So maybe we can get some clarification on all this stuff at that point. All right. Well, I look forward to talking to you tomorrow and getting some more insight from the winter meetings. Thank you so much, sir. And he's gone. Oh, he's still there. We didn't address up to Jesse once, by the way. I'm on a mission. Oh, yeah. You better. Yeah,

we didn't address how smoothly you're dressed, by the way. You're representing us well out there. The blue, the blue suit coat. You can't go wrong. You can't go wrong. You can't go wrong. All right, my man. We'll talk to you later. See you, Jesse. There we go. All right. Now he's out.

That was fitting. That was perfect. That was a fitting way to end that. Yeah, that was absolutely perfect. Of course, looking forward to Jesse, bringing us all sorts of insight from the winter meetings all week long. So stay tuned for that. Of course, if you haven't done so already,

make sure to download the Draft King Sportsbook app. Make yourself some money. I know this guy over here. I've been good. Last night, I live bet the Buffalo Sabers after the first intermission, simply because of the jerseys they were wearing. They then went and scored.

They were down one after the first admission. They went and scored two goals in the first five minutes of the second period. Won the game six three in total. Made some money there. What jerseys were they wearing? The red and black throwbacks like the jersey that they wore in the early 2000s that I fell in love with. The gray buffalo. Yeah, with like the goat head.

Yeah, it was free money. So that's how you should make your bets is based on what the teams are wearing. Every single time. Every single time. Absolutely. But download the draft the Draft King's Sportsbook app now. Sign up with our promo code of PHA. NX, place a $5 pre-game money line bet on any NBA team to win their game, and you will get $150 in free bets if they do.

That's promo code PHNX only at the Drafking Sportsbook app. Minimum age and eligibility restrictions apply. See, show notes for details. Boys, this is, the hot stove is just now getting hot. This is, it's going to be a big week for MLB. I know, it's kind of wild because MLB is the only sports that it takes that long to preheat it. It's like the gas isn't hooked up for a little while when it comes. to the hot stove. But once we get to the winter meetings,

stuff starts popping. So, of course, Jesse will have more updates for us. In the meantime, you can follow all of us on Twitter. I'm at K-Ur-M-A-M-W-the-K. Sean is at Sean underscore de Paz. This guy over here is at Jacob-Franklin underscore 4. Jacob underscore Franklin 4? You could never get it right.

This is unnecessarily complicated. Just make it, P.HNX underscore Jacob. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. See? That's how hard is that. Anyway, I solve problems. Jesse is at Jesse and Friedman. This guy's the MVP. Leah is also here.

But all roads lead to that. Okay. Damn. Damn. Damn. And underscore sports on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. We thank you guys so much for joining us.

On behalf of everyone here, mostly Leah, we thank you guys so much for being here. And remember, kids, baseball is fun, but it's so much more fun when you report on it from the winter meetings.