PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - Kevin Durant is a member of the Phoenix Suns. Your move, Diamondbacks

Episode Date: February 9, 2023

The Phoenix Suns go all in with a huge trade for Kevin Durant that involved some of their most exciting young players. We discuss what would be the baseball equivalent of this trade for the Diamondbacks, how the two franchises couldn’t be in a more different state, and what our best D-backs lineup would look like.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 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! Gambling Problem? Call 877-8-HOPENY/text HOPENY (467369) (NY),If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800-GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537) (CO/IL/IN/LA/MD/MI/NJ/OH/PA/TN/WV/WY), 1-800-NEXT STEP (AZ), 1-800-522-4700 (KS/NH), 888-789-7777/visit ccpg.org (CT), 1-800-BETS OFF (IA), visit OPGR.org (OR), or 1-888-532-3500 (VA). 21+ (18+ NH/WY). Physically present in AZ/CO/CT/IL/IN/IA/KS/LA(select parishes)/MD/MI/NJ/NY/OH/PA/TN/VA/WV/WY only. Void in ONT. Eligibility restrictions apply. $200 in Bonus Bets: Valid 1 per new customer. Min. $5 deposit. Min $5 bet. Promo code req. $200 issued as bonus bets that expire 7 days (168 hours) after being awarded. Bonus must be wagered 1x and stake is not included in any returns or winnings.Super Boost: Valid 1 Odds Boost Token per customer after opt-in each day for eligible Super Bowl LVII prop markets only. Token must be used BEFORE placing eligible bet between 6-9PM ET daily. Odds boosts and prop markets will vary. Max bet limits apply. Tokens are non-cashable, non-refundable, and cannot be withdrawn. Boost Token expire daily at 9PM ET. There are no restrictions on the funds a customer will receive if their bet wins. If their bet loses, they will not receive any reward. Offer period valid 2/6/23 - 2/11/23. See terms at sportsbook.draftkings.com/footballterms.OGeez!: Learn more about OGeez! at https://ogeezbrands.com//. 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: Drink, eat, find, and experience Four Peaks at https://www.fourpeaks.com/.  Must be 21 or older. Enjoy responsibly. Bad Birdie: Use code “PHNX_SPORTS15” 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.comChitown Cornhole: Check out Chitown Cornhole at http://chitowncornhole.com and make sure to follow them on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/chitowncustomcornholeboards/Roman: Go to https://ro.co/PHNX today to get 20% off your entire first order. Order by February 8th for guaranteed shipping in time for Valentine’s Day.When you shop through links in the description, we may earn affiliate commissions. Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. 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.

Guys, Derek is, Derek is asleep. He may never, he may never recover. These Super Bowl parties are going to kill me, you guys. Was it actually a Super Bowl party last night, though, Derek? It's not, I don't know what it is anymore. A certain something else happened in Arizona sports that might have been significant. That might have been, that might have been something I'm excited about, but I don't know. Why are these lights so bright, Jesse?

My name is Kevin Durant, occasionally known as the mayor of PHNX. This guy over here, also Kevin Durant. He's the vice mayor and the Thunderstake. Kevin, how's it going? I'm actually T.J. Warren. That's right. In this relationship, you definitely are. This broadcast is brought to you by the fine folks.

No, I feel insulted by that. You did it to yourself. You owned yourself, Jesse. This show is brought to you by the fine folks at the Draft King Sportsbook app. America's top-rated sportsbook app. Yes, Phoenix Suns fans. We are here to rejoice in the news. We didn't want to be left out.

Look, we know we're baseball. We get it, but we don't care. We're over here excited because we are both very big Phoenix Suns fans. More importantly, I am a huge Kevin Durant fan. So today's news is just very, very exciting. But of course, it does not come without consequences, right? The pieces that were traded away do make us very sad, especially the two of us, huge McHale Bridges fans.

We've talked about him a bunch on the show. We love McAil, and this absolutely breaks our heart. And I'm a little worried about the trade overall because of what we gave up. But this very much is reminiscent of some of the things that the Arizona Diamondbacks could do, that we don't really want to see them do necessarily. I mean, these two franchises right now couldn't be in more opposite places. Yeah. Right?

I mean, one is ready to win now. One needs that. And now, honestly, with the trade has a very short window, you could say, as far as a championship run is concerned, versus the Diamondbacks who, like, at least they know the direction they're going. They're very young. They're very talented. And even though they might not be close to that championship window, you can see how they

might be better set up for the future than what the Suns recently did to kind of try to make that push for the for the trophy yeah i i view the diamondbacks is currently in uh i guess the bubble suns right like yeah that's a good comparison that year that year of the suns and this is actually i think something that that we talked a little bit about during the season it kind of feels like the debacks are in that phase at this point right you've you've got you know the young pieces you can kind of start to see things coming together uh you know you have some some veterans here but you know guys who might not necessarily stick around long term. And so, yeah, I mean, you could make a case.

Maybe what the Diamondbacks need to do is they need to go get, you know, the Chris Paul that helped the Sons reach the next level. And then maybe eventually also kept the Kevin Durant that would really put them over the top. So it's hard to compare these two franchises right now. But, but yeah, I mean, the D-backs are on paper. They're relatively close to, I mean, it turned around quickly for the Sons, right? it's amazing how quickly we went from the Suns being a team that nobody thought about to suddenly in that in that bubble suns year, seeing them kind of take that next step.

And then before you knew it, you know, they were in the NBA finals, right? And I don't know if it's going to happen quite that quick for the debacks, but it could be somewhat similar in the sense that when you have a lot of young players, a lot of young players that are highly touted, those kind of changes can happen pretty quickly. And that's kind of what you're hoping for if you're a debacks fan. I think the one thing here is that the Diamondbacks have, you know, obviously they're not as close. Like you said, they've kind of entered that first phase that we talked about, right? Adding those free agents that put you over to that next level is where you really determined that you have a core that can win not just this year, but for a number of years.

And then you can add to that as you see fit, you know, maybe that's when you spend your money. We've talked about in the past the Diamondbacks not really spending money. And we know they don't do that. But when you look at certain deals that other teams make that don't make much sense, they just cost a lot of money. You kind of wonder why they did that. And I think that that's what the Diamondbacks have been trying to avoid over the last few years. Going out and making a big free agent move that doesn't make much sense with the direction that the overall team is going,

that just is going to spend a lot of money. I feel like the Chris Bryant acquisition by the Rockies is kind of that, right? The Rockies really weren't in a position where Chris Bryant was going to be added to the team. and put them over the edge in the NLS, right? So they paid a lot of money for him. Not only did it not work out because he spent most of the season injured anyway, but he also probably will have a hard time living up production-wise to the amount of money they paid him. Yeah.

I mean, I don't even think Chris Bryan is like Chris Brian is not as good in baseball as Kevin Durant is in basketball. No, no. But he's kind of a tier below. There's a little similarity, though. There's some similarity. Both of them were very, very good and probably, you know, you could have considered Chris Bryant's. be at the top of baseball at one point in his career. But injuries and stuff have kind of, you know,

brought him back down to being a little bit more above average of a player besides being an extraordinary player, right? Kevin Durant, when he's healthy, is still an extraordinary player. More than anything, he gets fouled a million times in a game. And that's something the Suntz can really fucking use right now because, you know, it's them against the referees a lot of times. But what would a comparable trade be for the debacks to make like this? because, well, like we said,

it doesn't make a heck of a lot of sense for them to do it. But I was wondering what your thoughts were. I had my own scenario, which you kind of giggled at, where I said this would be like trading Alec Thomas, Jake McCarthy, Lordus Gouriel Jr., and four first round draft picks

to the Phillies for Bryce Harper and Alec Baum. And the reason why I went with Alec Baum is because I figure he's still a serviceable third baseman. He's a very good third basement. Sure. And the Diamondbacks need that, right? With the way that the Suns made this move, they needed a T.J. Warren in return in order to fill their starting lineup at this point. Yeah.

Yeah. So my only qualms with that is that I don't know if Alec Thomas and Jake McCarthy are quite as like, they're not established enough like the way that McHale Bridges and Cam Johnson are. And to be honest, there's really no players on the Diamondbacks who I think actually relate to McHale Bridges and Cam Johnson. and like they're standing in the NBA. So this is kind of an impossible task. But I think if we could- That's what we fucking do around here, Jesse. It's a possible task.

If we could rewind the tape a few months to when Dalton Varsho was still a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks. I think Dalton Varsho and Mikhail Bridges, I think there's a pretty solid connection there. Like both excellent defenders, right? That's the primary strength for both of them. A lot of value that kind of underrated value, right? Yep. Like fan favorite, right?

Like everybody in the clubhouse loves them. That's sort of a thing. National reporters are calling him Mickle. And what do they call? I heard my call. My call last night. Yeah. I just don't understand how you can do.

Do you research? I don't know what outlet that was that I was watching. But it's really shameful. Nobody should have any trouble pronouncing Dolm Farshot though. But I do like that comparison. Varshot is very much just like McHale Bridge is an underrated player that was quietly one of the best on his team. without a lot of people in basketball knowing about him, right? Right.

So then I have, I think Jake McCarthy is maybe the best comp for Cam Johnson. Yeah, that's what I thought. Like better on offense, right? That's more the strength. I think Jake McCarthy, there's maybe more questions about how well he holds up in the future than Cam Johnson, who's pretty well established. You know, he's just pretty darn good at this point. And then Nick Ahmed is my comp for Jake Crowder, you know, expiring,

expiring contract, right? I mean, obviously, Nick Ahmed is not the trouble in the Diamondbacks Clubhouse that Jay Crowder has been for the sun. So that doesn't really compare at all. Nick Ahmed, sure, but yeah. Yeah, yeah, he's not quite as divisive of a, of a player as Jay Crowder. But so I've Varshot, Jake McCarthy, Nick Ahmed. I would do four first round picks like you said. You can't actually trade picks in Major League Baseball. You can trade competitive balance picks. I'm not totally sure how many of those you can trade at the time. I don't believe I've ever seen a team trade four of them. You can have a half a dozen.

Here you go. Whatever. We're just not going to have one for two decades or something. That might be what it would actually take. And then as far as what's coming back, Bryce Harper is pretty, like I think that's pretty compelling that Bryce Harper is standing in Major League Baseball, pretty similar to Kevin Durant standing in the NBA, right?

Like maybe not the very best player, but like pretty much always. right up there. They both have some injury history, right? Bryce Harper is not going to play for the first few months of the season for the Phillies after having surgery after the postseason. So there's some connection there. I think Mike Trout is maybe another name that I would bring in,

who I think is honestly pretty comparable to Kevin Durant, right? Mike Trout, lots of injury history, lots and lots of injury history. But you know that when Mike Trout is on the field, he's going to be one of the best, even though he's, you know, he's aging in much the same way that Kevin Durant is. I think Trout and Harper are only about a year or two apart. There's not a big difference there. But yeah, so Varsho, McCarthy, Nick Ahmed, whatever draft pick compensation you can muster for Mike Trout and Gio Orchella maybe would be a good, a good comp for T.J. Warren coming back.

So that's my best comp. But again, this is a trade that the Angels would never actually accept in a million years, nor is it a trade that I mean I guess the diamond backs would be interested in it but it's probably not a trade that actually mirrors what happened last night perfectly. Gabriel Ferrer says would Bryce Harper make them a favorite? I don't know if trading for any one player would make anybody a favorite unless they were already in a position to be a favorite. Baseball is just different like that.

Yeah. Like it would have to be a team like the Mets or the Dodgers or Atlanta or somebody that traded for like Otani for it to really be the thing that moves the needle. already kind of have to be there. It's it's much easier in basketball to add somebody that's a superstar to a five-man team out there and have it impact the team in so many different ways. Like especially when you talk about Devin Booker's, you know, playoff history and sometimes his inability to just to be the primary score when the team is looking for that. Kevin Durant comes in and he just alleviates that completely and changes the dynamic of this team altogether.

Yeah. to mention let's talk about how good DeAndre Aiton has been lately. Aiton has been incredible. Don't, don't buy it, Derek. Don't buy it. Damn it, Jesse. My belief with DeAndre Aiton, and as you said last night, we're just becoming a full-on Suns podcast now.

We're just going to embrace it for a day. Aren't the Suns on right now? Why are we even doing a show at the same time as the Sun show on a Kevin Durant day? Is that what's happening? I like, that's, what are we? Like, that's a futile effort, I feel like. We have no choice but to talk about the Suns over here. It's nothing but Sun's coverage wall to wall on PHNX today, but go ahead.

Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt you. I'm still drunk. I need a beer. You don't think that Aitn will benefit from the spacing that Katie and... I think he will. I think he will. Yeah. I'm just...

My son's two cents for this episode of the Ph.NXD back show is that DeAndre Aiton is the type of player where you love him for two games. Everyone dreams about what he could become. And then he sucks for two or three games. and everyone gets mad at him. And then he rebounds and he's great for two or three games and everyone dreams about how great he could be. And it's like, no, this is who he is.

Now I'm mad at you. Now I'm mad at you. About basketball and that's not even what we're supposed to be talking about. But here we are. I don't like you anymore. But you do write wonderful articles and you should check out his new piece. It's not even locked behind a paywall. What's the new piece on?

The new piece is on the Diamondbacks bullpen options. I basically organize them into different tiers of how likely I think they are to make the opening day roster. So tier number one, you've got Joe Mantiply, Scott McGuff, Miguel Castro, and then it kind of goes on from there. I think those guys are pretty much guaranteed to make the roster and then goes on from there in terms of decreasing likelihood of making the roster. So a lot of different levels there.

He thinks Scott McGuff is going to be the closer and I'm interested to see if he's right. It's possible. I mentioned a few names as closing possibilities in the story. So definitely go check it out. I'm going to spoil it for you. But make sure to check out the story. If you want to read all of this stuff, make sure to get yourself a diehard membership.

Of course, our diehard membership is the best. It's the best thing to have. It's the best place to be an Arizona sports fan. Not only do you get access to the wonderful diehard pieces that we have from Jesse, from Gerald, from Craig, from all of our writers. We also have a wide variety of benefits, including a piece of PHNX merch every single year from the PHNX locker, 20% off all your future purchases, as well as, invites to members-only parties, members-only merch, a wide variety of things.

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Leave us a review. We appreciate you doing so. Most importantly, leave us a thumbs up review. Thumbs up on this video. It's, it just picks us up, makes us feel good about ourselves. I am drinking the number one beer, by the way, from Four Peaks. It is a wow-wheat, the Joy Bus. And it's helping me recover from last night.

They fed me fish bowls of Long Island iced tea, which I haven't had since I was like, 17 years old. But you can have a good quality beer from four peaks for this big game, wherever you get your beer at here in the valley. There's so many sporting events. Not only do we have the big game, we have the waste management open. Spring training is right around the corner. So make sure to grab yourself some four peaks. And also, if you haven't had a chance to try out this number one wheat ale in Arizona, it's the wow wheat, then come on down to Old Town Boondocks for the tailgate time machine this Saturday, February 11th. Try, Four Peaks newest innovation. It's packed full of Arizona citrus flavor, perfect for light

drinking in the desert sun, must be 21 years or older to enjoy and enjoy responsibly. Jesse and I are very excited, obviously, about the baseball season. I know you guys all are too. So we decided that we wanted to build our best D-backs lineup that we could out of the current roster. Jesse, of course, immediately had to compromise things. He had to make it just more complicated. He comes to me to ask me, are we going versus righties? Are we going versus lefties? Is it a day game? There is a difference. I will maintain. What field is it at? Are we playing at home?

Are we playing away? Is it a road trip? Is it a single series? Is it a two game series? Is it a four game series? Okay, I did not. There's just so many variables he needed to know in order to comprise the best lineup. It's like fucking dealing with Tori LaBullo over here, but let's go ahead and take a look at Jesse's perfect lineup, shall we?

I don't know if I would say perfect line. This is the best. This is the best. This is the best I can do. And yeah, this is against a right-handed, a right-handed starter. So keep that in mind. So I have Corvin Carroll leading off in right field, specifically choosing right field because I think Corvin Carroll is a better arm than Jake McCarthy does.

So maybe that's a change we see the debacks make at some point. He did play mostly left field last year. So we'll see. So he's leading off in right field. Cotel Marte batting second base. Lordus Gouriel Jr., D.H. hitting third. Christian Walker batting clean up at first base. Josh Rojas hitting fifth at third base.

Gabriel Moreno hitting six playing catcher, Jake McCarthy, seventh, left field, Alec Thomas, eighth, eighth center field, and then Nick Ahmed rounding it out, batting ninth and playing shortstop. Derek, what do we think here? Did I do okay? I think you did okay, but I'm saying that mostly because when you see my lineup, you'll understand that we basically went with the exact same players. Okay, okay.

Actually, I think we literally went with the same players at every single position, with the exception of I left Corbyn Carroll in left field and left Jake McCarthy and right. Sure. That's the only thing. But you're right. I do think that, to be honest, Corbyn Carroll is probably the center fielder of the future.

And there's a good chance we might even see him move there before the end of the season. I just thought that, you know, where they're at is where most likely we'll see them be for a little while, I think. As long as Alec Thomas is here and playing well, I think he's the center fielder. I think that's how the DVX view the situation. He was just so good there last year, right? I mean, it was a gold glove finalist for a reason. I don't think that's a change the DBEX are going to make.

unless they have to. The one thing I really like is that we both have Lourdes Goreil Jr. NSD.H. Let's take a look at my line up here. I have Gabriel Moreno with his. Obviously, we both have Corby Carroll leading off. That's kind of a no-brainer. You actually said that you were interested in going with Moreno, possibly at one point

at lead off. I think that's the same reason why I might have him here at a second in the lineup, right, is because his bat was very good last year, consistent. Carol, obviously, with his speed and his ability to get on base. I just see this right here as an RBI machine. You know, you got Marte and then Walker. And then you have kind of another cleanup there with Gurriel coming after Walker. McCarthy, Rojas, Thomas, Ahmed.

We basically had, I think, the last two players, the same, first position, the same. And everybody else kind of in there mixed up a little bit differently. We both had Josh Rojas at third base, too, which I find interesting. Yeah, I mean, if it's against it, that's the, that's the, primary reason why I asked lefty or righty because if it's a if it's a lefty I'm going to play Evan Longoria. If it's a righty, I'm going to play Josh Rojas. And I think the debacks will probably do the same the majority of the time. Yeah, Gabrielle Moreno, I did think about having him lead off. In fact, while I was like, while I was playing around with things, I think Moreno was in the lead

off spot for most of the time. I still think I could see that happening at some point. Just watching some of his highlights from from last year in Toronto and knowing the kind of player he is, like the hit tool is amazing. I mean, that's what everyone gets excited about with Gabriel Moreno. If you've got a guy who maybe doesn't have a whole lot of power, but he's a 65 or 70 on the scouting scale for his hit tool, I mean, what more are you looking for in a leadoff hitter, right? I know there's kind of this stereotype your lead off hitter should steal bases and whatnot. We've seen the debacks embrace that at times, not embraced that at other times. Carson Kelly hit lead off for them last year against lefties at times. Nick Ahmed has hit leadoff against

lefties as well. So I don't think Tori Lavello necessarily cares about the speed component as much. The other guy considered in the lead-off spot, which I think Pedro might have alluded to in the comments earlier, is Jake McCarthy. I think if Jake McCarthy comes back next year and puts up similar offensive numbers, if he's hitting 280, 290, you know, with a mid-300 on base percentage. You're moving him up in a lot. With that speed man, like he becomes pretty much the ideal lead-off hitter. The only reason I don't have him there is because, again, and if you're a double, die hard, you know, hopefully you saw my

full on fleshed out story about Jake McCarthy and kind of what the underlying metrics say about his 2022 season. I just don't know if I believe it enough yet to put him that high in the lineup, but I could see that changing over the course of the year. A couple of interesting things

in regards to the Diamondbacks 40 man roster. Right now, Dominic Fletcher is on the 40 man roster as well as Blaze Alexander. I think that's going to be interesting in camp and of course that very fluid that could change but I also think it's interesting

that when you currently look at their depth chart for starting pitching they're going with a seven man rotation and I don't know what to think about that Jesse you think they're to go full seven man I mean what depth chart are you looking at the Diamondbacks depth chart on their website where they're starting rotation

right now comprises of Madison Bumgarner Merrill Kelly Zach Gallin Zach Davies Ryan Nelson Dre Jameson and Tommy Henry so that's so that's it then right that's it Tori Lavella told the people running the website, you know, put seven starters there because we will be using a seven-man race.

We did. You heard it here first. We have heard Mike Hazen not rule out a six-man rotation. That's true. After the Zach Davies signing, we asked Mike about that, and he said he wouldn't rule it out. I have a hard time seeing it because

you're really going to have Zach Allen start every six games. You're really going to have Merrill Kelly start every six games. I don't know if that serves you well, no matter how good the other guys. are looking but uh but yeah i don't know and no i did not call jake mcarthy mid gabriel that that's not that's not i think i'm saying i need to see i need to see more from jake mccarthy to buy in because it was just a few months and if you look at the batted ball data it doesn't necessarily scream you know 285 with a 350 on base or whatever it was that he wound up with last year yeah you're not wrong you're not

wrong but uh anyway we hope you guys uh like the lineups we hope to see this lineup uh we need to we need to get tory back in here and get his thoughts on our lineups yeah yeah next time we have tori on we'll have him we'll have him critique our lineups that would be that would be great he's like nah there's not no no and no i'm not using that two days in a row that's definitely what he would say but can i can i just say real quick like like can we pull up either of our lineups again real quick it doesn't it doesn't really matter i mean they're they're pretty much the same players at least. It's just a matter of like how you how you tease out the order. It's a pretty good lineup. Like it's a pretty decent lineup. We constantly act like they are this tremendously

underdog team. And when you look at this now, knowing how good the young guys could potentially be, knowing how good we've seen them be, including Moreno in Toronto. This is this is a very exciting lineup. Like just rolling through the guys that I have real quick like Corbyn Carroll, right, rookie of the year favorite. Like could Corby and Carol have? 800, 850 OPS last year with a whole bunch of stolen bases. Yeah, like I think he could. Ketel-Marty kind of widely expected as a as a bounceback candidate, right? Like he really could come back next year. If you look at his Zips projections, he's projected for like an 800,850 OPS. Lordus Geryl Jr., the power wasn't there last year. But, but he still had like a 770 OPS and his batted ball data was still really good.

Christian Walker at 36 homers, right? You go down the list, Rojas, Moreno, McCarthy, Thomas. Ahmed, like, it's a pretty decent lineup. And I don't know if we've really been able to say that about the diamondbacks. Like, I don't know, back when Paul Goldschmidt was in the middle of it, maybe. And even then, I mean, I think toward the latter years of Paul Goldschman being here, that Debacks didn't necessarily have a whole lot of pieces to put around him. So there's a lot that has to go right. There's a lot of guys you don't necessarily know for sure about.

But it's a pretty good lineup. And I think that's something we haven't been able to say in a while. I agree. And by the way, I think we botched this for our audio listeners. So just to recap, Jesse's lineup is Corbyn Carole, Caryl, Caryl, Jr., Christian Walker, Josh Rojas, Gabriel Moreno, Jake McCarthy, and then in the final two spots, Alec Thomas, and Nick Ahmed. My lineup, very similar. Corbyn, Corbyn, Corby, Corby, Christian Walker, and cleanup, Guriel, D.H., Jake McCarthy, right field, Josh Rojas, Thomas, and So very similar, just a little bit of moving around there in the middle. And I think we could very well see that based on the performance.

Like you said, their performance next season is going to dictate where they move up in the lineup. The one thing that is very true for this team is they are not going to be held down by, you know, any kind of, I guess, like what we talked about with the starting rotation. Like there's no like awarded anything to anybody on this team. Even could tell Marte who could you arguably is besides. besides Nick Ahmed one of the longest tenured and honestly one of the best players on the team, nothing's given for him because now there is a guy that can play second base. There's a couple of guys that can play second base. And if they're outperforming, Cotel Marte, he could easily find himself in a DH role or even

not playing nearly as often as he should be. So I like that. I like that they're coming into camp with this, you know, competition. It only strives to push them further and make this team better. And when you look at the best teams in the league, the guys that emerge, are guys that had to kind of fight their way to win a spot on a team that's very, very talented. And it just kind of helps to make you that much better of a ball player. By the way, this isn't a baseball episode of this podcast.

This is all basketball. I don't even know why we did the lineups thing. We should have done the starting lineups for like the Sons or something. Yeah, so who would the D-BACs point guard be? Who would the D-Bas? And who's starting a power forward with Kevin Durant in there? How are we doing this? Wow.

Wow. Okay, we're doing this. Um, that's a good question. Uh, the, the person I photoshopped the body onto is Davidson de los Santos. So I feel like we need to call him up for a power forward role. But you're talking about just the current line up that the, the closest body type you could find to Kevin Durant was Davidson. I don't know about that one. It's not.

It was it. It was just, it's, you know, sometimes you just want it to look funny. That's all. That's all you're really going for is something that looks funny. Look at that. Look at that guy. That is terrifying. It just doesn't look right.

The thought of Kevin DeRant being that thick with two seas is terrifying. Come on, buddy. He doesn't really look like an NBA player anymore. No. I think the ideal build for a baseball. He's deaching for us for sure. Yeah, the ideal build for a baseball power hitter and the ideal build for, you know, like a six foot 10 forward in the NBA, a little different. But I appreciate your photoshopping.

I appreciate your appreciation. Now, back to this basketball thing that you got going on with the Diamondbacks. Are we putting Madison, Bumgardner, and center? Are we going? At center? You want Matt? I mean, he's one of the taller guys on the team. Yeah, right?

Maybe, no, Joe Manton's apply. Joe Manteply. Joe Manz apply. He is Joe Klein vibes from the old Phoenix Suns days. You probably are too young for that. Let me think, Corbyn Carroll is my point guard. Okay. Alec Thomas small forward.

Okay. Right? I like Thomas a little small for small forward, but I guess we're kind of adjusting to baseball standards. They're all baseball players. They're not going to be. He's not how this works. I like Thomas though, like like pretty slim to.

I don't know. Can we find like like like Lordus Lordus Gurriel Jr. Well yeah. You want you want him as a starting spot for maybe? I feel like he'd make a good shooting guard. I feel like he'd make a good shooting guard. Maybe a good shooting guard. Okay.

Well, he's one of your taller. I mean, Lordus Girl Jr. At least he's listed at six four. That's that's shooting guard height in NBA. Uh, Diamondback's tallest player is, oh, we found their center. Boy, did we find their center? Is it Miguel Castro? Miguel Castro is, I forgot about.

Miguel Castro six foot seven. And he throws a hundred and five miles an hour. He does. He does. Come on, man. Those cross court passes are going to be incredible. I don't know if he can shoot, but he's the center. He just needs to make life.

He called, yes, Gabriel. He called Jake McCarthy mid and he called Alec Thomas Small. This is a bad person that I sit next to and do this show with. Anyway, the one thing that you need to do is make sure to get your hands on the brand new, Kevin Durant, Slim Valley Reaper T-shirt over at PHNX Lock. com right now. It's the best way to celebrate the news. And honestly, this podcast going full basketball up in here. So we need to get you one of those, Derek, so you're not wearing this terrible

Thunder jersey. Look, I don't care about your thoughts on my Thunder jersey. I've been a Kevin Durant fan since I thought he was going to fill out at Texas. And I am still a Kevin Durant fan to this day. Look at this shirt. Look at how good this shirt is. Damn. D-Line was in his bag on this one, man. The Slim Valley Reaper shirt. Make sure to get that over at the PHNX Locker.com. And also, To celebrate not only this news, but if you are here in Phoenix from out of town, I just want to remind you that recreational marijuana is legal here. And you can enjoy our friends from OGs while you're here for the big game. Make sure to stop by your local dispensary. They have a wide variety of doses, flavors, and strains for you to choose from.

And OGs is all about flavoring life. So they make some of the best tasting edibles you can find in the valley. And it's official. Now they have the strawberries and cream. happy balance CBD to THC ratio. It helps smooth that, help smooth that high out and make it not so bad. They also have the minis.

We got minis. We got the fruits. We got summer edition. We got sleep edition. We got hats. We got everything. Come on out to OGs. We're having a good time.

Make sure to find yourself a party. I've been at too many parties this weekend. Thanks, Max. This week. But it must be 21 or over to enjoy and enjoy responsibly wherever you find them. Find my local dispensary. Also, Jesse's favorite app in the world is the Underdog Fantasy app. The Underdog Fantasy app lets you do daily fantasy sports differently.

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Go to underdog fantasy.com or download the app. Sign up with promo code PHNX, and Underdog will match your first deposit up to $100. And reminding you that we are riding on pitch counts this Major League Baseball season. So make sure to check the pickums on the Underdog app as well. You just pick higher or lower for a stat that they give you. Point total works for NBA, NFL, MLB. Pitchers, pitch counts, higher or lower pitch count.

I'm telling you, man. We're going to get down on this. Win some money. The more legs you add, the more money you win. at the Underdog Fantasy app, as Jesse would say, be an overdog at the Underdog Fantasy app. Speaking of you, you found me some interesting oddities

for the MLB schedule from our friend Jason Stark over at the Athletic. Can I real quick? I have one more player I have to mention for a Diamondbacks basketball lineup. No, it's too much. Drey Jameson needs to be in there because Brent Strom told us during the season that Dre Jameson, even though

he's listed at six feet, and then he's probably more like 510, 511, if that. Drey Jameson apparently can dunk a basketball flat-footed without a running start. You trying to tell me you don't want that guy playing point card, Derek? No, that's a good point. Maybe he's small-forward.

Maybe we put Dravey-Jemison in small-forward. Small-forward? Small-forward? You really, the small and small-forward. You're really putting the small-and-small-forward there with Ray Jameson. You know what, Jesse, there's more important Drey-Jamison news because, you know what we're doing? We're spending a very special day with Drey Jameson.

Don't miss out on a very special edition of a Valentine's Dreyms. episode. We are going to be having Dre Jameson on this show next Tuesday. So don't miss out on that because we are definitely going to ask him about beating Corbyn Carroll in a foot race. Twice? Twice it happened? I don't understand that.

But anyway, the MLB schedule is weird as hell and we love it. It's so weird that it's literally causing like teams to play other teams for the first time in like 60 years. And I'm not even joking about that. San Francisco opens the season in New York

against the Yankees at Yankee Stadium or in New York for the first time since 1959? Is that right? 56, I think. Yeah. And the first time ever at Yankee Stadium, meaning that obviously they would, in 56, they opened up against the Mets. So very, very weird things, Jesse.

What's going on with this MLB schedule? I mean, there's just a lot of weird things going on. I think the big thing that maybe people don't realize with, or at least not realize fully with the scheduling changes that if you go from 19 games against your divisional opponents to 13, like if you have two of those in like a one or two week span,

like the debacks do with the Dodgers to open the year, yeah, like you're not going to see teams for a long time. Like a lot longer than you're probably used to ever happening before. So Jason Stark in this story from the athletic points out that the Philadelphia Phillies will play 15 games

against the Rangers, Yankees, White Sox, Mariners, and Astros in March and April. All American League teams. All American League teams, but zero games against the Mets, the Braves, and the Nationals. Throughout the entire first month plus of the season. It's wild. I mean, it really does, going back to our divisional realignment thing from yesterday,

it really does beg for that. Because, again, the reason why the divisions were the way they were and the reason why you played 162 games and the reason why the majority, of them were not only against your division, but only against your league at one point, was so that essentially you had this defining kind of thing of which team is the best team, right? You could have a 20 game, you could be back 20 games, and when you still have to play one of your division opponents or, you know, you have to play your division still like 40 times, you could actually, theoretically, make that, you know, make that up, right?

And it made sense for the season to be as long as it did when you played your division. so often. I know this doesn't change the length of the season, but it just goes to show that now that they're changing it to not be so focused on the division that some really weird things end up happening. Like the Diamondbacks are playing the Dodgers and the Padres a ton in the first month. But then like you said, they don't see them until what July, I think again or something ridiculous like that. Yeah, I don't know in front of me. But yeah, after they first play those two series against LA, I think it's maybe toward the back half of the season that the Dback see the Dodgers again. So you would think at least the divisions would all kind of.

kind of see each other early on and then like again later. But with there being five teams in the division, someone's going to get left out as far as the, you know, as far as like the matchups go for early on. Yeah. And next thing you know, you have the Phillies playing 15 games against the American League before they play a single division or NL opponent.

Yeah, another thing that Jason points out in here, and we have talked about it, you know, just strength of schedule. Obviously the D-back schedule gets easier under the new. scheduling system compared to past years, you know. Fewer games against the Dodgers and Padres pretty much equals easier schedule. It's not all that complicated. But another part of this that is interesting is that the Dodgers schedule actually gets

a fair amount better. Their schedule gets more difficult as a result of this. So in 2022, the combined opponent win percentage for the Dodgers was 483 in 2023 using records from past from from last year that jumps up to 490 so there's a bit of a bump up in in who the dodgers are playing right they're getting fewer games against the rockies and the giants and and the debacks i guess you factoring in last year's record the debacks would have been you know a team you would have wanted to play i suppose so so that's another another part of this yeah ben says can we please have 19 games against the rockies still i wish ben i really yeah if only you could

pick and choose like who you uh like well we'll take 19 games again What if it was like a build your own schedule system where every team just gets a chance to... No one would play the Dodgers. Yeah. No one would play the Dodgers would be just trying to find someone to play against them and they'd just have a terrible time. It would be like Taylor Swift at the Grammys just dancing all by themselves. You know what I mean? But anyway, can it really be true that the Cardinals will play the Cubs in London before they actually play them in St. Louis?

Yes, yes, it's true. The schedule is very weird. So there's all sorts of crazy things. And honestly, I think it makes for it to be more fun. I feel like after having covered this team as long as I do, I feel like, especially in April, you kind of go through the same thing every year, right? You don't get to see some of the more exciting teams

that you don't normally get to watch until, you know, a little bit deeper into the season. So I like the way that this has been changed, and I'm very excited about the fact that now they got, what, 52 games against your own division, and then games versus the 10 other league opponents, you have 64. Interleague games, you have 46.

It's just a more balanced schedule when it comes to playing all of Major League Baseball. Yeah, yeah. I mean, I think it's good. And Jason talks about this and this story and makes some great points that we've touched on in the past about how, like, the way that sports works currently in, like, in this age, is you've got to market your stars, right? Like, that's what it's really all about at the end of the day. And every, it's no secret baseball has not done a great job of that. that necessarily. Well, yeah, because they only build it in certain markets that

people see those players. Yeah, I mean, we've done a good job building up Aaron Judge, right? Like, everyone knows who he is, but they even change the size of the baseballs for Aaron. Yeah, we'll do anything for, yeah, we'll do anything. I got the glasses on. I had to throw some shade, you know what I mean? Like, if they're already on, I figured I could.

Really, what this is about is getting everybody to see Shohei Otani. That's what this is all about. Everybody needs to see show hey, and everybody should. He is delightful, and everybody should love him as much as I do. But again, that is going to be why the schedule is more fun, I think. And honestly, I don't care that teams don't play their own division earlier, whatever.

None of that bothers me. And as a matter of fact, speaking for most Diamondbacks fans, goodbye, fucking Dodgers and Padres. I'm happy to not see you again after April for a few months. Let this team actually gain some confidence and play some teams that they could beat. There's just something very defeating, I think, about playing. the Dodgers and the Padres. It goes back to the mindset that Tori Lovolo tried is trying to change, right? And especially the one thing like Steve Gilbert talked about when we had them on is how

the late game losses can impact your thought process, right? It's a more weighty thing to work through. When you're up and you give up the lead late and you start losing games in that fashion, it starts, you start getting into the mindset of, I hope we don't lose. And that's even when you're up, right? Like, oh, we're up three runs. I hope we don't blow this one, right? And that's the mindset that LaVallo is trying to change with this team.

It's hard when you're going up against juggernauts in your own division. But the only way to defeat them is to change your own outlook and to start coming to the ballpark every day with the attitude of we're going to win today. Right. And then the whole one and O thing. The one and O shirts. Win the day. Win the goddamn day is what it's all about. Right.

So let's win the day. And of course, the best way to do that is with the draft king sports book app. And on Super Bowl Sunday, we are only riding with one team. And that team, my friends, is blue Gatorade. Blue Gatorade for the Gatorade choice of the Gatorade that will be dumped on the head coach of the winning football team. Jesse, it's insane. It's currently at plus 400. That's nonsense.

Blue Gatorade should be the favorite. Oh, it's not the favorite? It's not the favorite. What's the favorite? Lemon Lime is the favorite right now at like plus $1,400. Followed up by fucking orange. Yeah, I feel, I mean, personally, I think the lemon lime one tastes the best. So if I was talking about, of course you do.

You like vanilla ice cream and unsalted pretzels. I don't, I'm not surprised at all that you think fucking lime is the best flavor. Here's the thing. What was it? I think our man Damon gave me this fact. But I was since 2015, I believe, that the blue Gatorade has been poured four times and is most used over the last like eight years. Is that right, Damon?

Yeah, you better go got that. Yeah, so I'm looking at Orange has been five times as the most ever. Ever. But since I believe, yep, since 2015, Blue has been four times, which is 50% of the time. Four times since 2015. We ride on Blue Gatorade on the Drafking Sportsbook app. Get on the Drafking Sportsbook app right now.

Put your money on there. It's plus $400. A $20 bet, I believe, is going to win you $80. on the color of Gatorade, what is happening? Why aren't we? We should all bet on that. Let's get down on that on the Drafking Sportsbook app. If you haven't done so already,

download the Drafking Sportsbook app. Use our code of PHNX. New customers can bet $5 on Super Bowl 57 and get $200 in bonus bets instantly. Only at the Drafking Sportsbook app with code PHNX. So that way you can bet on the game, get your bonus bets back, and then use your bonus bets to ride with blue Gatorade.

Minimum age and eligibility restrictions apply. See show notes. for details. And of course, before we go, we got to let you know that once baseball season comes around, the time to buy your tickets or the place to buy your tickets, the time to buy your tickets, the place to buy your tickets is on the GameTime app. It is Jesse's app of choice. It is aesthetically pleasing. It's beautiful. And it helps you save up to 60% on tickets when you buy them last minute. So procrastinate, procrastinate, procrastinate. I have friends talking right now about going to a show in a few weeks. They don't know what they're going to be. They don't know if their jobs are going to allow for it.

They don't know if they're going to have time. They don't. They might not even have jobs by then. A middle of the week's show too? What are we 20? We don't do these things anymore. Look at me. I am dying. I am not going to make it through this week, folks, alive. I'm telling you that right now. I have like three more Super Bowl parties before Sunday. And I'm already like bleeding out of one of my eyes. But here's the thing. You could have fun, unlike me, using the game time app by getting your tickets last minute. Save up to 60% on tickets when you buy them last minute. The best way to support us is by buying your tickets through the link in the description. So make sure to do that. And remember that.

Book market for baseball season when that comes around. But we appreciate you guys being here. We are so thankful to have some of you watching us when there's Phoenix Sun's podcast and news going on right now. We understand. People would rather hear us talk about the baseball analogies of the Kevin Durant trade than the actual Kevin Durant trade. Right. Yeah. You guys are the best.

We thank you guys so much for being here. You can follow us on Twitter. I'm at Kapp underscore K-Man with the K. I promise I will get a new Kevin Durant, Jersey, Tyler. This guy over here, he's at Jesse N. Friedman. Our show is at PHNX underscore D-Backs, but of course all roads lead to at PHNX underscore Sports on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

You know, you know what we're doing. We're riding for the NBA championship from this point on. It's a championship season or bust around here. But we thank you guys for being here. On behalf of Damon, Jesse, and myself, We always appreciate you attending today's class and remember kids. Baseball is fun, but it's so much more fun when it's basketball.