PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - Mike Hazen Brings Back Torey Lovullo… But What Must Change for the D-backs in 2027?

Episode Date: October 2, 2026

The Arizona Diamondbacks are bringing back Torey Lovullo, and now we’re breaking down everything Lovullo and Mike Hazen had to say about that decision during Thursday’s press conference. Why does Hazen believe Lovullo is still the right manager to lead this team, and what does Lovullo need to prove heading into 2027? We also revisit the D-backs’ only trade at the deadline: the acquisition of Lars Nootbaar from the St. Louis Cardinals. Now that the player to be named later has officially been revealed, we break down the full deal, whether the D-backs gave up too much in Brian Curley, and whether Nootbaar can ultimately make the trade worth it. Plus, the Philadelphia Phillies are officially eliminated after the Atlanta Braves win the decisive Wild Card game, and we react accordingly to their early postseason exit. And while MLB attendance is up across the league in 2026, attendance at Chase Field is down from last season. Why is Arizona moving in the opposite direction?BECOME A DIEHARD: gophnx.com/join JOIN THE SUPPORTERS CLUB ➡️ https://tinyurl.com/yc6km2r4An ALLCITY Network ProductionSUBSCRIBE to our YouTube: https://bit.ly/phnx_youtubeALL THINGS PHNX: http://linktr.ee/phnxsports MERCH https://store.allcitynetwork.com/collections/phnx-lockerALLCITY Network, Inc. aka PHNX and PHNX Sports is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by the City of PhoenixPHNX Events: Get your tickets to PHNX events and takeovers here: https://gophnx.com/events/ALLCITY — including us here at PHNX — is teaming up with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America for an exciting three-year partnership. To learn more, visit https://www.bbbs.org/allcity/ACE HVAC: If you are having an AC, Plumbing or electrical issue, call our friends over at ACE: [phone] , tell them PHNX sent you, they’ll take great care of you!Branded Bills: Use code BBPHNX15 at https://www.brandedbills.com/ for 15% off your first order!Husband & Wife Law Team: If you’ve had a serious injury, Call The Husband & Wife Law Team first at 602-783-8841 or visithttps://husbandandwifelawteam.com/?utm_source=allcity-padcasts&utm_medium=digital-phx&utm_campaign=allcityShowNotesGametime: Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code PHNX for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply.Shady Rays: Head to https://shadyrays.com and use code: PHNX for 40% 2+ pairs of off polarized sunglasses. Try for yourself the shades rated 5 stars by over 300,000 people.Circle K:  Join Inner Circle for free by downloading the Circle K app today! Head to https://www.circlek.com/store-locator to find Circle Ks near you!New DraftKings customers sign up with code PHNX, spend just five bucks, and get two hundred in rewards within 21 days. That’s code PHNX. In partnership with DraftKings. The Crown Is Yours. Gambling problem? Call one eight hundred NEXT STEP. Twenty-one plus. Arizona only. Eligibility restrictions apply. Fifty dollars in non-withdrawable Bonus Bets issued every seven days via click-to-claim for twenty-one days. Bonus Bets expire seven days after issuance. 1 football Boost per customer. Maximum bet limits and restrictions apply. Tokens expire at the end of the final select game each day when offered. Terms at d k n g dot c o slash offer.  Limited time offer.When you shop through links in the description, we may earn affiliate commissions. Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Tori Lavallo is back, and we have more from him and Mike Hazen yesterday and their comments at the final media availability of the year for those two. But we also have more on if the Diamondbacks may have given up far too much for Lars Neutbar. We're talking about all of this right now. Don't you go anywhere. We are going, let's go. To another edition of the PHNX time, presented by our friends at Circle K, it is your mayor of PHNX. Occasionally known as Derek Montia, thrilled to have you guys here and thrilled to have. something to talk about. Let's be honest. It's the offseason. And besides the fact that we got to watch

the Phillies get booted and eliminated, we also have plenty on the Tori Lovolo situation. Now that he is back on a new two-year contract, we will hear from Lovallo and Mike Hazen from yesterday's press conference. We also have more on the Lars Newbar trade. Now that it's finalized, Damon and I got started on that conversation. And we got cut off entirely too early by me because it's the off season. And there was no way we were going hour and a half during the offseason on the show. No one was asking to go an hour and a half. We just can't do that. I was notifying the people about breaking news.

I know you. You are. Very, very fair. And it is breaking news. And again, now that we have the full package and had a chance to look at it. Yeah, now we can really dive into it. We don't like it. But we're going to talk about that.

Of course, this show, that voice is Damon. Of course, the bad boy of PHNX, occasionally known as your Damon dog around here. And of course, we are brought to you by the fine folks at GameTime. Make sure to go download that GameTime app right now. create account and use our code of PH&X and you'll get $20 off your first purchase terms to apply. Shout out to our friends over at GameTime. Only place on buying tickets.

Oh, for real. I mean, for real. Let me tell you, I don't buy tickets on other apps. No, I really don't because there's no point. GameTime puts it all in the same place for you. They take all those apps and they put it all in one. Yeah. Yeah.

And they have the best interface. Well, and then I hear these horror stories from my friends. Like this isn't just ad read stuff I legitimately have my friends be like Dude I bought it I came into Philadelphia I bought a ticket to a Sixers game When I got to the arena they told me the ticket I bought Through a legitimate app that won't be named here

Was not a real ticket And I was just beside myself I was like how does that even happen? How's that even happen? Of course you know you know you don't worry about that Going to Diamondbacks games They'll just let you in I promise they won't they won't credit They won't worry about the legitimacy of your ticket over there I'm kidding

Katie Mavius calls Damon the bad boy or the mad boy? I don't know. It's Friday. I think he's a little happy. He's got a Tori back. He's happy about that. Yeah, my Tori's back. His Tori's back.

We got Sunday dinners on deck and we are all thrilled around here that at least the managerial situation for the Diamondbacks is taken care of. I say that because that would have been one of the biggest obstacles, one of the biggest tasks that the Diamondbacks needed to take care of this offseason. They would have needed to. obviously find another manager quickly or at least prioritize that before they could possibly make any other move. Bringing in a new manager that would have replaced Tori obviously.

Oh, I've said obviously too many times. I don't stop saying that right now. But bringing in a new manager. Bringing out the Glock and spiel. Yeah, please, Damon, Glock and spiel, me anytime I say obviously. But when it comes to a new manager, it would have changed a lot. It would have changed the entire coaching staff. It would have changed perhaps how they handle the roster, how they handle the roster, how they

handle the Ctele-Marté situation, how they handle quite a bit, right? But there is a lot of accountability that was had at the press conference yesterday. We got to hear from Mike Hazen. We got to hear from Tori Lovelo. And I think the biggest thing was Mike giving credit where credit was due, as many have, many in the media, many people that are just fans of this team. It's been a divisive topic that some very much feel that this was a wrong decision. This is a bad decision. Others feel like Tori did his best job of managing in 2026. Here is Mike Hazen from yesterday telling us why he made the decision to bring Tori Lavello back and what he values here as what Tori did here in 26.

Yeah, so the decision to bring Tori back was I felt like in consultation with Derek and Ken that Tori and the coaches did a really good job of keeping this team through. was a fairly tumultuous season on a number of different fronts. The team together, playing hard, the most comeback wins in baseball, the characteristics of playing a brand of baseball that I appreciate and respect, and I think that leads to wins. It led to a decent amount of wins. It didn't lead to enough wins. We are all disappointed by the way the season ended.

We should have been in the playoffs. But that didn't happen. I tried to strip that away from, you know, the very ending around all the things that happened for the six months prior and and looking at through the lens of what I didn't do and what the manager ultimately needs to be successful in the ways that I didn't help him be successful specific to early in the season first base DH some of the things that happened around the trading deadline through all of that playing with rookie rookie starting pitchers through the month of August watching us continue to accelerate through the month of August I think that takes a tremendous amount of leadership and stability to not let that, you know, take your season off the rails. And nobody's content with winning 86 games and finishing in third place and not making the playoffs. That is the goal.

We failed at that goal. But I wanted to take a slightly broader view of that of all the good things that he does the way he leads the coaching staff, the way he leads our organization with the class and dignity and runs a game. and manages our clubhouse with the way he treats our players, the respect he has across the game, the way we interact as a front office, and with the people that work for me that interact with the coaches. He sets the example for that too,

and I think it's critically important in today's game that in order for us to be as good as we can be, all those things have to be working well. Mike Hazen speaks the truth. I know some people don't want to accept it. I know people still think of that as opinion, but I feel like it is a lot of the same things that we've been saying about Tori when it comes to this season. It's not that Tori did not have, he didn't have a perfect season.

He's not free of blame for losses throughout the year. Every manager is responsible for wins at times and losses. I think when it comes to Tori and when it comes to 2026, we might not even really be able to wrap our minds around the adversity that this team faced at times, considering how well they just kind of rolled through it, Damon. Like, the fact they had to fill out their starting lineup with so many rookies. Yeah, they had a lot of holes. And throughout the season, you know, they kind of just found ways to overcome that.

And I think that's the sign of a good team a lot of the times. And unfortunately, you know, the Diamondbacks were the best team that didn't get a chance to prove that they were a great team in the postseason, you know? He also brought up that 89 games normally get you into the postseason. 86 games a lot of times is going to get you the postseason. Would have gotten you into the postseason last year. But it just seems to be that the Diamondbacks have on top of this inability to finish strong, which I will always say that that has been the case over the past three seasons, even past four seasons.

Like I don't think they finished 2023 strong. They just did enough to get in. And luckily the teams that they needed to lose law, They factually finished stronger this season than they did in 2020. Correct. Yeah, and people won't give them credit for it. People continue to say that they, what do they say? They fell apart at the end.

Collapse. They collapsed. And it's like, another collapse incoming. And it's like, well, they went 13 and 10, which is a 92 win pace across the course of 162 games. I feel like that's pretty good baseball at the end of the day. I can't disagree with that. Just like I can't disagree with Mike's comments about why he brought Tori back. I think one thing that he was asked, he was asked about.

2027 and the uncertainty of 2027 kind of impacting his decision he immediately said no but again I just think that overall with the situation next year that we all know MLB is facing it the two-year deal for Tori still felt fair overall I think I think anything longer might have been you know venturing into giving Tori too much time and we have no idea of Tori would will even last these two years that he has. Maybe he doesn't. Maybe he fails to, you know, get this team there in 27 and perhaps they go in a different direction.

That's always still a possibility. This does align him with Mike Kazen's, you know, contract with the Diamondbacks. And essentially it puts them on a similar time frame now for them to turn this thing around and get this team to the postseason, make this team from an 85 win team into a 95 win team a reality. You know, and I think at the end of the day,

what a lot of people that do not want to worry back and want my gaze and gone, the reason why they want that isn't necessarily due to, in my opinion, the success that those two guys have had. It's more of just the track record. It's two postseason appearances in 10 years, and it is the fact that we've come so close

to the postseason the last three seasons and missed it every single time in almost the exact same fashion. I get that. And again, there's, There was some accountability taken here yesterday. Tori said that Tori will admit that he could have done better and he evaluated his 2026 season. Honestly, here's what Tori had to say about how he felt his season went.

My personal belief is I could have been better. I can always be better and I want to learn how to be better. And I never want to sit still. I've shared with you guys, my biggest fear is getting caught and stuck in the last year. So I feel like I could have done more. I could have managed better, manage harder. and helped us win one or two more games and be in a situation where we wouldn't be like this.

Part of the reason why I took some time to decompress is that I 100% felt that we were going to be in the playoffs and we weren't. It was a little bit of an adjustment. But overall, I know that I could have been better. I reflect on very most recent decisions that I made that impacted the game, very most recent conversations.

impacted players' lives. But it happened all year long. So I go over all those things. And we had a lot of good moments here, and I keep telling myself that. But I think innately, I'm just critical of myself and I want to be accountable. Those are big, it's a big word in our culture.

So I got to reflect on it the right way. I will. And I'm continuing to do that. And at some point, in the next several weeks, I'll turn the page and get ready for a very healthy 2027. I mean, I felt like he definitely takes responsibility there and I do think that Tori has always made efforts to be better as a manager. They brought up yesterday that one of the things that Tori, you know, is, has gotten better at as

being objective, being a little bit less of a player manager and being more about, you know, the situation and what I guess the situation calls for. We know at times Tori's always trying to like show a player that he's building confidence in him or other things like that. And sometimes it is at the cost of a game. And like as much as people would appreciate what Tori's trying to build as far as internally for players and get them to be a better version of themselves so that later in the season, they are the best version of themselves. It's, you know, it's those sacrifices at times, especially earlier on than the season that people look back on when you miss the playoffs by two games and think about why you didn't do this,

this or this at that time to try to win a baseball game. instead of just kind of rolling over and waving the white flag. And that's something that people criticize Tori for quite a bit. I do think that, you know, when they talked about his bullpen usage and the way that he maneuvered through that bullpen this year, I do think that he did a much better job as far as, you know, not trusting the guy he trusted all the time just because he trusted that guy despite the fact that things fell apart at times

for different relievers in the bullpen, including Paul Seawalt, who they didn't take very long for him to start blowing saves before they decided to part ways with Seawald. And that's obviously more on Mike Hazen, but again, that's part of this whole situation of not holding on to guys due to personal relationships and other reasons, right? But when it comes to Mike, Mike also takes responsibility and accountability.

I mean, he takes more responsibility for missing the playoffs than blaming Tori. And anyway, here's what Mike had to say about. his lack of moves and and the fact that his inability to get to supplement this roster with the things they needed not only at the beginning of the year but at the trade deadline is the bigger reason why this team missed the playoffs I get it I do get it and close isn't good enough for any of us and the way I look at this season I think it falls on quite frankly me more than anybody as far as why we didn't make it this year

And each one of those things is different. You know, it's hard for me to criticize 89 wins as like a failed season, even though you don't make the playoffs. It's hard for me to have more wins than half the American League playoff teams and just say that we were a failure when we all play the same schedule. You know, but there's no excuse. We didn't make it. It's very competitive in our league. It's very competitive in our division. I've always said that I like that.

It's, yeah, we haven't made the playoffs. It's not good enough. but there is a choice that you make to throw away all the things that lead to you getting to certain positions in places where one or two more wins counts and not being seven games away from being in a situation where one or two games will count. And, you know, there's no perfect way to do that. And I don't think the manager is ultimately responsible for a lot of those things. I think I'm more responsible for that than he is in some ways. But the way this works in our clubhouse, in our walls, as some things happen to our club.

that I feel like we come out on the other side of in a very positive fashion, I just don't want to throw that away. It doesn't mean it's the only thing. It's not the only criteria. That's not that there's not criticisms. I'm very critical of him every day. He's critical of me. Part of the thing I value from a cultural standpoint is we have that opportunity to do those things.

I think it's going to help and continue to push us forward. But yeah, anything other than we were failures for not making the playoffs is the only acceptable answer. I'm trying to give you a little more color into it. but if I boiled it down, that's the answer. And yeah, I don't know what the decision should be because of that. But I'm in a position right now to make this decision, and this is the decision I made.

He was snippy yesterday, Derek. He was owning it. You know what I mean? He was owning. He's owning the decision to bring Tori back and just being like this was the decision I made. I feel like this is the best thing for this club. But he also like, like, he owned the season though, too.

I mean. To the season being what it is. It's hard to sit up there in front of a room full of people and tell everybody, yeah, it's my fault. I screwed up. And honestly, sometimes you don't really need to do it by being all sad and apologetic about it. Sometimes you can be a little snippy about it when you're saying I'm the one that's screwed up, right? But also like, you know, he's, Mike Hazen has job security at the moment at least.

And so he knows he's not getting fired between that statement and next season. He's like, I got to be better. We want to, nothing other than making playoffs is acceptable. That's it. And we know that. And they preach that. And obviously a lot of people are going to be like, well, clearly not because everybody's getting brought back. But they're going to try to make some changes about the roster this offseason.

And believe it or not, the roster has way more of an impact on how the team performs throughout the course of 162 than Tori Lovolo does. I think ultimately what it comes down to is that the World Series changed the expectations for this team, period. And there's nothing you can do about it. They just changed the expectations. we had just we had one of our worst seasons in history just a few seasons before we went to the world series right so the fact that we turned it around so fast and we're able to make it to the championship series is impressive but it changed the expectations it's almost like we did it too fast and then at that point the expectation was for us to not only get back to the world series in 24 but to win it and then win it again in 25 and win it again in 26 and then win it again in 26 and then. just be a power. That was always crazy though. And I feel like I was trying to say that like right after the season was over where I was like, guys, I don't know if we'll get that close again my entire life. That's not really how baseball works. Right, right. You got to give yourself chances at the postseason

because once you get in, anything can happen. Right. I mean, we're going to bash the Phillies later, but look how often the Phillies are in. And even though their results have been getting progressively worse, which if that was the case for the Diamondbacks, people would probably be just as upset. We made it to the World Series and then the NLCS and then the NLDS twice and then got bounced in the wildcard round. People would still want Tori Fire. So, but it's, you know, it does. It changes the expectations. If you make it postseason every year, then those expectations change.

And if you make the first round and it gets bounced in the first round every time, your fans are going to expect you to at least make the NLCS the next time. And if you don't make the playoffs or fall short in the wild card round, then it's going to be a lot of. failure then to. It's it's just the way the perception has changed based on success. Right. But Tori was, he did describe what happened. Tori by the way, went radio silent. He had to apologize to a lot of people in the room that were there, including staff members that he didn't text back because he just went on what I can really appreciate is a text-free Ted Lassow binge-wise. watching period with his wife where they just stayed in and watched the Ted Lassow from beginning

it's it's the most Tory thing ever though I like my biggest takeaway head lasso I couldn't believe that I did like I wanted that mic because they were passing a mic around head lasso too I wanted to ask like what was his big takeaway and was it like looking in a mirror while he was watching it literally like I know a lot of people are going to be like that's why we we hate him so much and we want him gone Yes. But I genuinely think that like in the, you know, the spirit of that show, if you've watched it, Ted Lassar's just straight up a good guy. And, you know, he makes himself, he endears himself to everyone that he spends his time around.

Yeah. Even people that went into the relationship with preexisting notions of how he was going to be or I don't like this person, he eventually wears on them. And I feel like that is kind of like the Tory style of just being like, just you know like like he does with you Derek like he's just a nice guy he'll be like oh how's the how's the garage podcast and like that kind of thing and yeah he's he's a good guy I think is the team loves him because of that and it is very Ted lasso esk but I know that that's not like the big tough guy that a lot of people run in the dugout I know he loved the goldfish line though

I know I know he loved the memory of a goldfish line he's like I'm going to use that instead of flush it next year probably he literally is ted lassie yeah he is uh also he probably has a believe poster in in the debacks clubhouse why wouldn't well if he doesn't he's going to now after binge watching the entire series for sure for sure but uh here's tory talking about when he found out that he was coming back um yeah i think i was um i was uh with my wife dropping off some clothes to get altered at our local alteration there in North Scottsdale. And, you know, I got the phone call that everything had been ironed out, sewing up, and Mike called.

So at that point, I was relieved and grateful and excited. So it is emotional. I mean, I've been here a long time. I've been here for 10 years in this valley. And I've got to believe that I'm doing something right. And, you know, I want to, I don't necessarily want to be validated by anything other than wins and losses. I'm sorry, more by wins than losses. But, you know, the fact that I'll be here for a couple more years feels good.

And I like that feeling. I don't want to feel good. I beat myself up with certain things that take place and I wear things for this group. And, you know, I always take the mindset that if it's wrong, it's my fault. If it's right, it's the player's success. And I live in that space. I'll never ever take credit for anything that goes right. So I think, you know, quickly going over how it's feeling at that very moment, I felt really good.

And there was a little bit of validation that I was appreciated. And that's exactly it, Derek. That's why me and you rate Tori as a manager. I think that's why, you know, a lot of people that are, you know, across baseball who have respected opinions are like, this guy is just a good manager because he does, he does wear the blame. name when the team loses. And that's why you have the people that flock to this chat to be like, Tori's the worst manager in the history of Major League Baseball after every game because

he will put his hand up and say, I just didn't, I didn't do enough today to win this baseball game. And when the players do win, he goes, man, all credit to them. Those guys are unbelievable. They did a great job. Corbyn Carroll's the best. To tell Marte what a hitter. Like, yeah, that's his style.

And again, like he says, it's nice to know that that is. seen and appreciated by management as well because I do think that like if you're if you're trying to contextualize it he's very good at that specifically you want to like argue with a guy when you're blaming him you want him to push back so that you can like kind of laugh at the idea yeah right people that take accountability are the most annoying people in the world because there's nothing more you can say they apologize they tell you it's my fault they're like They're like, I'm sorry. That one's on me.

I'll wear this one, right? David and I do this to each other all the time. It's immediately there's, and you just, there's nothing you can do. It's game over. It's checkmate. Once they've apologized and taken accountability, what more can you do?

Now you're the jerk if you keep railing them for the thing they did being wrong or whatever, right? And I think that again, Tori does do that, but he also, you know, he protects his players to a fault, right? And we know that with the Cotel Martez situation now that we know more about it. And he also, you know, again, is disliked because of the fact that he does take so much of the blame. So it always feels like so much is on him. Yeah. That's what I'm saying. I feel like, and I don't, I don't mean to like say that people are always wrong. I think like,

for example, someone like Sean who watches our show all the time and is a very, I think, like for reasonable dude at the end of the day, he obviously is out on Tori now because of the Jose Cabrera thing. And I understand that. That was a egregious, egregious miscall by. Tori lollo on that circumstance. But I do think in large part, it's the most of the anti-Torri people, most of the Tory out people, they don't look beneath the surface. Yeah. They just, they find the, the hanging donut in front of their eyes and that's all they can see.

And they're like, I hate this guy. It's his fault. And you're like, is it though? Or is it the nine guys out there on the diamond who lost the baseball game because they're actually playing in it. We came up with a segment for this show. This is not the NFL. Just so that we could fairly place blame on who deserved it.

And he's on there. Well, he's on there. But the reason why we did that, Damon, is because you and I got determined. It was determined we were Tori Shills and we were on the payroll and we were Tory apologists based on the fact that we do place blame where we feel like blame should be placed. And sometimes we don't feel like it's Tori. Tori putting in a guy that has a sub 2 ERA to get them out of a jam and that guy gives up a three run home run and they lose because of that. It's kind of on the pitcher.

I mean, it's kind of on the guy that went out there, gave up the three home run. But people will blame Tori in that instance for putting it in it. Especially if it's a guy like Taylor Clark who's like has like a two five ERA on the season. And it's like what's Tori supposed to do? Not ever pitch him again. Like he's been unbelievable all season long. I don't, but meanwhile, it is fair to criticize him starting him in that bullpen game when we discussed on this show. And we're big brain guys around here.

We know so much about baseball. Like, we discussed his overuse. And we were like, ah, you know, he hasn't been overused because how good he was early on. But he also hasn't been very great lately because they had to. They had to. They feels like he's guessed. Right. But still, if they manage game one differently, you could have used Ryan Nelson.

You could have used that gallon. You had guys that are literal starters in your bullpen with starting experience that could have started a starting game and start and start and start, Damon, start the game. Even go three innings, two innings, better than Taylor Clark, who pitched 72 plus innings in a season, which is remarkable, but far too many innings. It wasn't even Taylor Clark's fault, though. Like, I think him giving up a, the D-backs had a lead after his inning. 100%.

I'm just like, I was just comparing it to us saying, like, you bring Taylor Clark in midseason, he gives up a home run. It's like, yeah, but that guy was excellent. At the end, maybe a little criticism, but whatever. As you have kind of uncovered there through your sources, like it wasn't even supposed to be Jose Cabrera. It was not. So Jose Cabrera was not supposed to be. That was not part of the plan.

That was not part of the plan. So, yeah, Damon saw what the plan was supposed to be. Yeah. No. There were two different, there were two different plans for that game. And neither one of them had Jose Cabrera coming into the game. Yeah. And that comes from.

And that's the unfortunate part. The Diamondbacks themselves. Well, somebody on the diamond backs. Anyway, Damon. That's the unfortunate part, Derek. Because I think that, you know, like that that obviously seems like it's now a Tory call. Yeah, of course. And then he gets to wear that.

And it was a bad decision. Maybe there is a reason. But that's not what the season boils down to either. Maybe somebody wasn't available or there was some reason that they had to turn to Cabrera in kind of an emergency, break the glass kind of situation. Right. That's why that happened. We don't know that because Tori is not going to, one, blame Cabrera for having a bad outing in a moment like that when he's a rookie that was kind of thrown into a situation that he probably shouldn't have been thrown into. He had a lot thrown at him this year, Cabrera.

And he was pretty good in general. I mean, that was a bad way to end this season. But overall, he was pretty good. I think my bigger problem with it, Derek, and I don't even care if Cabrera has to go in. We throw an audible. He pitches in the game. You cannot throw him against that part of the Padres lineup. When you see who's due up in the inning, that's where you have to be like new

audible. Juan Marillo is pitching this inning. Now we're going to Jose Cabrera against the bottom half of the Padres order next inning. Like, you just can't throw him out there against. It's Machado and Tautice, dude. That's the biggest issue. Yeah. In my opinion.

Well, let's take a quick break. We're going to hear more from Mike and from Tori here from the press conference yesterday. And don't you guys go anywhere. You are watching the pH next Diamondback show. Well, you know Sanders and Ford. You've heard the name. But why choose Sanders and Ford? It's because they deliver.

For more than 70 years, Sanderson Ford has been delivering. They deliver on straightforward pricing and real value. They deliver on their commitment to customer service. And they've been delivering when, comes to giving back to our community. But now they are literally delivering to you. They're bringing you your brand new Ford that you purchase right to your door.

With Sanderson Ford's shop from home by from home we deliver program, browse their entire inventory online, choose your new Ford, value your trade, and complete your financing and paperwork all from the comfort of your cozy couch. And then when you're done, Sanderson Ford will bring your brand new Ford straight to your door. So whether you prefer to shop from home or by visiting the showroom in person, which isn't a terrible idea. Don't miss out on the Star Line or Diner. But Sanderson will make sure the entire experience

comes with no hassle, no pressure, and no nonsense. When you are in the market for a new vehicle, choose a dealership that's been delivering for more than 70 years. Choose Sanderson Ford. And of course, we are big hat guys around here. We love branded bills.

Branded Bills make some exceptional hats for both ASU and U of A as part of their campus collection and for the Phoenix Suns. But of course, they can make some hats for you. They can get your brand. brand on a hat. And if you are looking to make some gear that helps your brand stand apart from the crowd, look no further than branded bills. Branded bills has you covered with the best custom headwear. Start your order in their dedicated team.

We'll help you create the exact custom apparel you need, whether it's snapbacks, trucker hats, fitted hats, beanie hats, beanie hats, just beanieies, but any kind of hat. I'm sure they have cowboy hats and other kind of hats. I'm not even being able to address right now. But they also have T-shirts, merch, all sorts of stuff for you. And they will make sure that that logo work looks beautiful. Branded Bills has you covered with performance and with style. They're a local company from right here in Tempe, Arizona. And of course, head on over to Brandabills.com and use that code of BBPHNX for 15% off your first order. Neiman, I know we got a little bit more here from Tori. And I know the one thing I wanted to

address was that feeling that Tori described of wanting to be wanted. I know that was a big story and that was something that a lot of people discussed. It was in fact, kind of people wondered who he was talking about. And Tori clarified that yesterday and he also discussed how he feels about some of our favorite Twitter accounts. Here's what Tori had to say. Yeah, I love the fans.

I love the geniuses that are sitting out there. I appreciate them all. But as I've told Jack a few times, I don't give two SHITs about what some of those people are saying. I care mostly about impressing Ken, Derek, and Mike every single day. I want them to come here and be proud of what we do and what we accomplish. And I want to be the absolute best I could possibly be for the players. So that's what I was mostly talking about.

I want the fans to want this. I want the fans to want us. I want the fans understand that we're a really good organization. We've done a lot of really good things here. We're going to get there. And we're going to jump in that pool together. You know, so, but that's, I love them. I love them.

But I have a job to do it. To be appreciated and wanted was mostly directed internally for the group here. So good, Derek. Of course, I'm the Derek that he was talking about there in the middle. Yeah, he wants to impress Mike. Ken and Derek. Ken and Derek Montia. That's me.

That's, I'm the Derek. But yeah, of course, he doesn't care. I mean, I will say. It's so funny that he sees it, though. Of course he sees it. He has to see it. And he says that. He talks about the rumors here shortly, but he gets sent it.

Players get sent this stuff. That's how all of this stuff gets around. In fact, I am grateful and thankful that when players come up to me and show me something on their phone, usually it's one of my dumb memes that I made that one of their family members sent to them. In fact, one of my favorite parts of the other day, I don't even think I got to talk about this, but I got to show Tim Tawa, Jimothy Tawa. He was kind of pumped about it. I thought it looked great.

But yeah, there's a that's- Did he like the headband? Oh, he loved, you see, did you show him the headband? Did you show it immediately? Did you show it to him? He was like, is that my headband? I was like, you're damn right.

Did he actually bring it up before you even said anything? No, he doesn't. He was just like, great job. And it looked at me like a weirdo. Like, why would you make this? I did get to tell him also that the cryptocurrency community loves that meme, but. They really do. Also, Tori, you know, I mean, I've had personal conversations with Tori about how, you know,

his life has been impacted. by the stuff people say online and, you know, he is not free of seeing that stuff. I'm sure that gives some people great joy that their nasty comments that they left anonymously on a faceless account made him feel bad about himself. For sure. Yeah, they definitely like that. That's like encouragement almost that he that he like sees it and acknowledges them. But I think it's good natured from Tori to be like laughing about it and be like,

I appreciate all the, you know, the geniuses out there that. If they were managing the team, everything would go right and the team would assuredly make the playoffs without a doubt because the difference between not making the playoffs every year is the manager, as we all know. But, yeah, it's, I don't know. I mean, I think that he has a, he has the exact right mentality about it, which is, which is, I appreciate the fans. I love the fans, even the ones that hate me. I'm, I'm the D-Bax manager and I love D-Bax fans and I love this community at the end of the day. But my job is not to impress them. My job is to impress my bosses.

And if my bosses think I'm doing a good enough job to give me an extension, then I must be doing something right. I know a lot of people, again, probably don't want to hear that or think that that's the proper thing here in this circumstance. But I think that that's the right mentality. The players like Tori Lovolo, Mike Hazen likes Tori Lovolo, Derek Hall likes Tori Lovolo, and that's what really matters at the end of the day. and you know he's trying to do a good job for this organization not for you know Derek and Damon necessarily even though those things go hand and handle a lot of the time

I mean we we have some words for him at Sunday dinner so he wants to steer clear of that but he definitely doesn't care what people think and that's why we're so opposite we're going to jump in the pool together Derek also that that that was the other part of it because I put that out that I tweeted that that clip out and you know I was I was sitting there and I was like I don't know which direction to go here because there's a couple of, I think, good places that you can, like, land this plane on the, you know, when you're talking about the wording on the Twitter part, because that's a money quote. Yeah.

That's a money line. Like, we're going to jump in that pool together. Yeah. I love it. Yeah. It's great. And next year. I hope next year is the year that we get to see that.

NOS Crown. I feel like you're insincere in saying that, but I like, I like it. I like it. It's after those frauds from Los Angeles get taken down by the federal government, which is coming very soon. Clippers and the doctors, they're both going down. But I also think, again, that's why Tori's cut out for this, his inability to separate himself from the opinion of the fan base and the public in society.

Meanwhile, I want to be liked by everybody so much all the time. Also, I love that Mike and Tori talked about their relationship, and in talking about it, they discussed screaming at each other a lot, Damon. they both did. Oh, they'd miss you just in the moment. I was like, oh, they're just like us. They're just like a, especially Tori said the way the relationship changed over the years was eventually it went from them screaming at each other to just Mike screaming at Tori and

Tori not screaming back. And I'm like, again, it's just like me and Damon. And I go, and I'm sorry you feel that way, Derek. Again, he's that jerk. See, he's that jerk. But Tori did address the rumors, by the way, that he was perhaps leaving for Seattle or another team. In fact, he said that he felt like this was perhaps the closest that he was to not returning as a manager except for the terrible year that they had in 2022. And he describes

that those rumors were just that rumors. Here's what Tori had to say about leaving the Diamondbacks. The 21 season was pretty dark. And I felt like at that point in time, you know, I might be looking for other employment. This one, I felt like if I had been judged, on a lot of the things that went right this year that we would level out and come to a really good conclusion. The other team situation, you know, I'm a human being, I have family, I have friends, I got texts from Seattle, my relatives of Seattle, that Seattle thing never ever happened and never ever took place. In fact, I had tried to send word up there to make it stop. I didn't want it to go any further because I am under contract, was currently under contract

with the Arizona Diamondbacks, and I didn't feel right about that. information getting spread out there so I don't know what happened there so no other teams had contacted me nor was I in touch with any other teams my my my my main objective was just hang loose go radio silent and then when it was time to come out of my hole that I would and and talk to Mike and that's what happened starting yesterday a lot's been made about the relationship between Tori and Mike we've discussed it on the show but one thing that was made clear yesterday is, you know, even though they've worked together for a number of years and

obviously are close, you're supposed to hit the Glock and spiel on another, obviously, but they're close. It's just still a working relationship. It's still a boss and subordinate relationship. And they understand that. They definitely do. And I think, again, really what gets misconstrued is that Mike is doing this based on that relationship with Tori and not based on Tori's merit and that's what people don't like that's why people also turn uh towards mike and what mike let go and they also think that the mistakes that hayson made with this you know roster warrant that i i i would say that when you do talk about those mistakes which there are many i would argue that there's more positive things that mike hazen has done for this organization

as its GM the negative yeah yeah assuredly for sure he's a good GM i just is he is he going to be the guy that takes this team to the top. That's the question. That I don't know. I think that even and I saw some people be like they better, I think it was yesterday potentially people be like they better get it going this time around because if

they don't then neither of them are going to have much job prospects in the future and I disagree with that. I think obviously these final two years of both of their contracts between Hayes and Tori the writing is on the wall of like you better produce or

we're going to be looking in a new direction and cleaning slate from, you know, management all the way down to the coaches in the dugout, right? But at the same time, I think that you can see how respected Tori Lavolo is across baseball. You know, like the Mariners, you know, maybe they didn't hit up Tori's crew, but something was going on there. There was smoke somewhere in that situation, right? And it's because Tori is well thought of and he would be a top candidate for us almost every job that was open. this season if the devax to bring him back. And sorry to cut you off, but especially a team that has a budget that they feel like, hey, like let's bring Hazen in.

Let's see what he can do giving him money. Yeah. Because I'm sure that he's turned this organization around top to bottom from like where we were when he took over versus now. I know a lot of people are, it's not good enough. And yeah, I think Mike Hazen's job is not an easy one. I call him out all the time when I think that he did not do his job. And I feel like Mike Hazen.

And, you know, like he gets up there yesterday. And yeah, I know he's in a little bit of a prickly mood. But, like, I feel like he's saying all the things that I have, I literally, when I watched his press conference, Derek, I was like, like, he was like, I've said that on the podcast. I've said that on the podcast. I've said that on the podcast. For sure. And I think that if he was like listening to to me, he'd be like, yeah, that's the truth. I agree.

Like, I didn't, I acknowledge that. And so that's where I'm like, I have confidence that the approach this next off season might be a little bit different. just because they, you know, it feels like they know what went wrong and they're acknowledging it and they're trying to attack it differently. But I also think that both these guys are well thought of across baseball. And, you know, I think that a lot of teams would be happy to have Mike Hayes and or Tori Lovolo as the guys leading their franchise. But I know for DeBACs fans, like, it just gets a little bit stale. Sure.

And I don't think that that's necessarily the right thing. I disagree with it. That's why I'm happy Tori's back. But yeah, I think I understand it getting stale to an extent. I will say that the clock is ticking for both of them, obviously. So there'll be a sense of urgency. And, you know, this team is in a much better position this off season than they were last. Regardless of if Corbyn Burns opt into his deal or not,

they're in a better position of Burns is still here. But if they's not here, it also frees up that money. And they can go after a replacement for their rotation and they still have far less needs. this offseason than they had last. But here's Tori discussing his relationship with Mike Hazen. I think we've already been in that space. We've been coexisting for a long time. And I think, you know, it makes sense to me, but maybe not to others.

I'm grateful for that. I like that. And we've got work to do here. We got to go and win some baseball games. And if we don't do that, you know, we're going to continue to be judged. certain way. So whether the contract overlapped the same year or not, Mike and I have been in the same boat rowing together every single day. And he

has been a great leader, a great mentor, challenges me. I wish you guys could hear how he screams at me. Like, if you guys understood, like, yeah, we're friends, but it, that's out the window. That's out the window from 11 o'clock until 9 o'clock at night. It's It's out the window. So I'm grateful for that. I wouldn't have it any other way, and that's one of the reasons why I'm so excited to be back here. And one of the main reasons why I want to come back here is because of Mike.

But don't be misled. It's not a lovey-dovey relationship. It's a very challenging, hardcore, let's get this F-and-done or else relationship. And I like that. So we're timed up whatever, however everybody wants to cycle that and talk about it. and say that this is part of the reason why he's here, I think I'm here because he knows how bad I want to win. Whether it's the same time, I'm not a year ahead of him,

or he's not a year of enemy, I don't even really care about that. Well, the big question is Cotel Marte this offseason. Derek Hall made some comments today about Cotel Marte, and the fact that he's still just one of the best players in baseball, It sounded very much like Derek Hall was just trying to say that they're going to figure Cotell Marte out and he is going to be a diamond bat going forward. However, there were, you know, Mike and Tori were both asked yesterday about Cotel and for the most part, they wouldn't make any confirmation in at all about any kind of player that they haven't even thought about the roster yet due to them taking care of this business first. But Tori did make this comment yesterday that John Gambadoro tweeted out. And this was interesting.

I think this just kind of confirms some of the things that have been said, some of the things that have been, you know, overall. Speculated upon about the Cotel Marte situation. Gambo said, Tori Lavallo told us in regards to Cotel Marte and changing how he manages him if he is back next season with that if kind of doing some heavy lifting there. The decisions you are going, the decisions you make are going to be on you now. I am going to eliminate protecting you the way I have. I can't do that anymore.

At a certain point, I have to allow them, the players, to advocate for themselves. Crazy. Which really makes it feel like not only has Tori advocated on Catelle Marte's behalf multiple times in the past, but maybe even more than the few times that we know about. Because over the few years, it's been consistent that it's at least one time per year. but we also have like Tori kind of making it sound which again that's no those no secret we just got done saying earlier the Tori protects his players and and keeps a lot of that's he blames himself for a lot of that stuff but here was what Mike Hazen had to say when asked about

Catelle Marte and how they handled this situation to tell situation what going back do you think you guys handled that properly what would you have changed or would you not have changed yeah I don't know the answer to that I can't I don't get to see what these what's on the side of the other side of the door. What I feel like is, you know, Kattel is a superstar player and delivered for some large pockets of the season. What happened in Boston, we've talked about already. It's already been put to bed.

Was an unfortunate situation for us. And, you know, like I said, Tori dealt with it as well as possible. You know, I think you win with star players in this game. But I am also, I've said this. You're not, I'm not blind to what the clubhouse dynamic is and what the interaction between all the players and the coaches and how that comes into winning and losing games. I'm not sure we have 86 wins if we don't have to tell Marte.

I'm just not knowing what I had available to me in terms of what a trade would have looked like. But I don't know the answer to that. I'm not going to just sit here and say that that's what would have happened. I don't really know. Well, we're going to take a quick break, and on the other side of this break, we are going to talk.

we're going to kind of change topics here. We're going to talk about the Lars New Bar Trade now that it is finalized and get Damon's thoughts on how much we gave up and if it was too much. Don't you go anywhere? You're watching the PH and next Diamondback show. Well, Wayfair is here for everything you need for your home and they help you create a home that stands up to real life

with quality products, great value, and trusted reviews. I've seen some of the best decorative stuff for my home on Wayfair, and I want all of it. I want everything. And Wayfair has verified products that are hands. hand-bedded by product specialists using a 10-point quality inspection. Meaning these are quality products, not some of that flimsy stuff you can get from other brand redacted name websites and you know exactly which ones I'm talking about. You can shop thousands of products across every style and budget and it is spooky season.

We are in October. Now is the best time to get everything you need for your home during October in preparation for Halloween. And some of this stuff is so great, you might just keep it out year-round. I won't, I won't lie. I have a couple of those pieces myself. But they have more than 20 million verified five-star reviews that help shoppers buy with confidence.

Plus, Wayfair reward members get 5% back on every single purchase. So, of course, make sure to get down on a way to beautify your home for fall and prepare for all of those guests coming over this holiday season. Transform your space with pieces that hold up to real life. Join Wayfair rewards today and get 5% back on every purchase. Head over to Wayfair.com or shop the Wayfair app for all things home. That's W-A-Y-F-A-I-R.com. And if you're ever involved in this accident or a serious injury, you've got to do your research because the lawyer you hire matters.

That's why you should contact the husband and wife law team first. That is Mark and Alexis Breyer. They are the husband and wife law team, and their team brings hundreds of years of combined trial experience, along with multiple certified specialists in personal injury and wrongful death litigation. That is what their practice is 100% dedicated to handling injury and wrongful death, litigation, they are experienced, they are specialized, and they are equipped with the expertise to handle every aspect of your case from the day they're firm open. The focus has been to help people during some of the most challenging times of their lives

by providing an unmatched combination of personalized service and legal results. And they can't guarantee the outcome of any case, but they can make promises to you as their client, including that you can cancel your fee agreement with them at any time for any reason, that you may speak with one of their lawyers as often as you choose about anything you wish to discuss including the Diamondbacks bringing back to your Volo and you have the right to trust as your lawyers they will tell you both the strengths and weaknesses of your claim so that you can make informed decisions if you've had a serious injury called the husband and wife law team first at 602 783 8841 or visit their website at the link in our show notes and tell them PH and

Xension well Damon as we began to discuss on yesterday's episode we found out that there is a finalization of the trade the Diamondbacks made to acquire Lars new bar That trade previously included Daniel Egan, which was one of the Diamondbacks top pitching prospects. In fact, I believe he was their top pitching prospect. He was Arizona's number five prospect at the time of the trade. And he was the biggest piece of the package. You also had Santana, who was in there as the number 26, Sandro Santana, 26 overall prospect. He was a left-handed reliever.

And as Damon said, kind of a... Well, he is a left-handed reliever. He still exists. He's still with us. He still exists. Fortunately. He's still a player. But he's not with us. He's with the Cardinals now.

And now the name- He's not with us, but he's with us on the plane of existence that we call. He's not with us, but he's still with us. Right. But now the player to be named later as part of that trade was Brian Curley. That's a right-handed pitcher. He's 23 years old. 5'10, 212 pounds.

And he was drafted by the debacks in the third round of the 2025 draft out of Georgia. He was the number 92 pitch. overall and he signed for a $700,000 below assigned slot value kind of situation. Diamondbacks had him ranked around 19th or 20th in their system late in 2026. He was the number 20 overall prospect last he was with the Diamondbacks. And that seems, as Damon said earlier, very high. I mean, his obvious attraction for the debacks was his stuff. He had a fastball that sat somewhere between 94 and 97 miles per hour, but has touched 100 miles per hour with good riding life.

And he also had an upper 80s slider with velocity in depth. He didn't have great results last year in Amarillo, but few pitchers do. Let's be honest. And he also wasn't always a starter. At Georgia, he was a closer before moving into the rotation and eventually becoming a Friday night starter for the Bulldogs. And then he finished his college season with a 3.55 ERA. and a 1.05 whip. Last year, though,

not as good of a season in 25 games for the AA Amarillo Saut Poodles. He had a 5.28 ERA and a 1.54 whip in 116 in innings pitched. But still, the player to be named later probably shouldn't have been a top 30 prospect in your system. I don't know. It seems like you gave up a lot firm already, so ultimately giving up three pitching prospects from a farm system

that doesn't have very many pitching prospects didn't seem great. And then there's Newt. I mean, he did fine. After arriving, Newt Barr hit for the Diamondbacks 24, 353, 409. He had five home runs and 17 RBI and 42 games. And then over his final 31 games, he hit 283 with an 874 OPS. he really was valuable. In fact, one of the more valuable hitters in the lineup

once the offense started getting going. And I don't know if there's always the adage that prospects are prospects for a reason and you never know if those guys are even going to make the major leagues, but it does seem like they gave up a lot for New Barter, even with an extra year of control. Damon? Yeah, it definitely does.

Especially when you compare them, Derek. Did you want to throw up this comparison? Just for fun. And just to make Damon sick to his stomach, we pulled the two trades that, we pulled the other trade we wanted to make, the one the Dodgers made for Tarek Scouble. And this is kind of a comparison of those trades,

if you would, Damon. Throw up that graphic that's going to make me sick to my stomach. When you compare these trade packages for the four large new bar, the Diamondbacks gave up their number five, overall prospect in Daniel Egan, their number 20 overall prospect in Brian Curley, and their number 26 overall prospect in Sandra Santana. Meanwhile, the Dodgers got the best pitcher in all of baseball, and they did give up their number five pick in Zahir Hope, and they gave up their number seven overall prospect in Ryan, River Ryan, and their number 17th overall prospect in Brady Smith.

I do know that Hope was the number 25th overall prospect in MLB and that Ryan was the number 68 overall prospect in MLB. So besides the fact that they did give up a little bit higher prospects, obviously within their own system, those prospects were rated five and seven there. And Hope and Ryan were rated much higher as far as MLB prospects are concerned. Yeah, obviously, I think that that's the big differentiator. And we know that.

Like, it's not as if that's lost on anybody that these Dodgers prospects were all in the top 100 of Major League Baseball. Not Brady Smith, but River Ryan Insighter Hope were. And regardless of whether or not that was deserved, I think is a different conversation, Derek. You know, like we obviously like, I feel like I've been a big proponent of the conspiracy that I'm not even sure is really a conspiracy. I think it's kind of just straight up the truth. It's what it's life. The MOB prospect pages all give the Dodgers prospects way more flowers than they deserve so that they have inherent trade value that they can then send for star players across the league. Like it feels like that is absolutely happening.

I'm tired of pretending like it's not because River Ryan is older than me. And I've been working here for how long as Derek, I've been working out. I've been out of my master's program since four. four years that I've been working here. I was, but I'm saying that like I, it's not even regular, just like regular college.

I did a professional program outside of that. I've still worked here for four years. And River Ryan had not made his MLB debut yet. Let me pick up. Is that not kind of insane? Let me pick up that title you dropped about your master's program real fast. No, that is insane.

But it was, it was, I'm sorry, but it's more to, and you know what, Derek, this is the thing that I need to hold you more accountable for. When you name drop as much as you do on this show, I need to start

being like, oh, big time, Mr. Derek over here, but I just let you do your spiel. Oh, I'm Derek. I'm out the Grammys. I'm with Megarin all the time at all his cool things that he brings me to. That's the name I bring up. It's always Megaran. It's always for me writing on his coattails. But then when I say one thing that actually had a point to it, which was to say that it's, I was, I did six years of schooling. And this guy is still not. made his MLB debut, you're taking shots. Well, look at it, the Dodgers are tearing us apart once again. They always do.

And Terrick Scoobal is tearing us apart once again. They always do. Oh, God. Listen. Yeah, I mean, obviously they didn't give up as much as the Dodgers did, but that's debatable overall. And we never know how this works out. We don't even know how the trade for Newt Bar works out.

What we do know is that he was pretty good this year and he wasn't part of the problem late. And we also get another year of Lars Neutbar being on the Diamond. and backs, a year that's still up in the air if it's even going to happen, but another year regardless, right? Now, Sandra Santana, I think, is the one that really hurts me too because that's the one you He's a left-handed reliever. And I just, you know, I say this all the time, but like, I'm not the biggest farm system guy in the world. So I kind of defer to people that I find that have a lot of knowledge about the debacks farm system and, you know, listen to what they have to say about it.

And I think the debacks prospects page is a fantastic resource. on Twitter, one of my favorite D-BACs accounts. Sandra Santana, according to D-BAC's prospects, is like the best reliever that we had in the whole organization. He's a lefty. He throws upper 90s. He's been incredible in Amarillo of all places, which is an incredibly tough place to pitch, as we all know.

And, yeah, it's just, it's, I can't believe that an organization that has such a lack of arms in particular is willing to give up three quality prospect arms for a year and a half of Lars Neupar, who's a decent outfielder, but not necessarily a needle mover. I think that's kind of wild. It's just like maybe if it was a second baseman, because, you know, we have Chrysontes and J.D. Nicks, and we have all these different guys at second base, right? Like the debacks have the best second baseman crop of prospects in all of baseball, according

to Major League Baseball before the season. and it's like okay well then maybe throw one of those guys in there even if it's going to be an overpay you're doing it at a position where we do you know we don't need five second baseman yeah but you do need five pitchers and it feels like we're just like leveraging some quality arms that we just don't really have a whole lot of and can't afford to continue to just pass by sure I don't know that that's what really bothers me about it I don't even think the comparison with the Dodgers, like it doesn't, that doesn't bother me as much. It's more about why are we trading three pitchers away when we have no pitchers in this

organization's farm system? Yeah. It seems crazy to me. Yeah. You're not wrong, but let's take a break. And on the other side of this break, we're going to say goodbye to the Philadelphia Phillies. Because I'll say it. I'm glad they're gone.

I'm glad they're gone for multiple reasons. We're going to talk about that. On the other side of this ad break, don't you go anywhere. You're watching the PHA next time in Beck Show. Well, you know, I'm punch. for October 16th through the 18th, because that is when the chase returns to Phoenix Raceway right here in Phoenix, and that is when the NASCAR playoffs comes to our door. Will Ryan Blaney still be in it?

Will my heart be broken before then? I don't know, but regardless of where my favorite driver is going to be at, hopefully your favorite driver is still a part of this exciting race, and you can watch NASCAR's championship contenders battle at the freeway insurance 500 in one of the most critical races on the road to the championship at our iconic track right here in Phoenix. There are RV camping options available where you can camp all week with your crew

and there are also ticket options that include grandstand seating, hillside views, two-day and three-day race packages, and all of that makes planning easy. But most importantly, you got to get access to the best access in motorsports. And that means that you get to go inside the garages, walk the track, meet the driver and meet the drivers, including Ryan Blaney and his mustache.

And catch the pre-race concert with the Desert Diamond Casasian. in-field experience. All of this excitement is going to be here. Experience the intensity of the freeway insurance 500 weekend from October 16th through the 18th at Phoenix Raceway. Feel the pressure strategy in side-by-side racing as NASCAR's biggest stars compete to advance towards the championship.

Secure your seats now at PhoenixRaceway.com. That's PhoenixRaceway.com. And you know the Powerball. You know the pick and you know pick three. You know them. You love them and you know that they are the Erz on the lottery draw games. right now they're all better than ever the draw games all got an upgrade they all leveled up and with more prizes more drawings and more ways to win they are more fun than ever the powerball jackpot

still starts at 20 million dollars and keeps growing until someone wins it hopefully that person eventually is me but for now there are more ways to play including double play where you get a second drawing using your same numbers and power play which is a chance to win to multiply your prize either way you can add these on your powerball ticket for just one dollar and don't forget about the pick now and Pick Plus, which is a new instant game with cash prizes. And they've also added a new draw game in the lottery lineup, exclusive to Arizona, pick four. You can play your favorite draw game today,

starting at just $1 at more than 3,600 retailers across the state. Find a place to play near you at Arizona Lottery.com. Arizona Lottery, love the play. It must be 21 or over to play. Damon, the MLB playoffs are officially into the division series round. the wild card rounds are over, teams have been eliminated, and people barely remember that those teams even made the playoffs. So if there's one thing you can feel a little bit better about Diamondbacks fans,

it's that. Nobody remembers who lost in the wild card round unless you're the team that advanced, and then you remember the teams that you beat along the way. But were the Astros in it? I don't know. I don't remember. I mean, did the Cubs make the postseason? Did they?

Anybody? Anybody? How many games and runs did the Cubs score? the postseason. Oh, that's right, as many as the Diamondbacks did. Sorry, I'm just petty and bitter right now, but it's not going to be any more petty than me talking about. The Philadelphia Phillies getting bounced once again from the postseason. Atlanta wins six to two in game three, taking the wild card series and eliminating the Phillies. Michael Harris, the second broke at home, open immediately with a three-run home run off Aaron Nola in the first inning, and Nola never

recovered. They brought Zach Wheeler in as a relief pitcher. Ozzy Albies hit a two-run home run off him in the fourth. That made it five to nothing, and essentially Philadelphia was done at that point. They did score some runs in the sixth and the eighth, but Atlanta's pitching held them to just six hits and two runs in the game. And Chris Sale came out of the bullpen in a Randy Johnson-esque fashion and struck out Bryce Harper to finish it, which was sick. And again, this is a four-year streak of the Phillies NLDS appearances ending

and extends Philadelphia's losing streak and elimination games to four. They lost in the World Series in 2022. They lost in the 2023 NLCS to these guys right here. Or not, I guess these guys, not this guy. I didn't participate in that particular playoffs. They did lose in 2024 and 25 in the NLDS. And now they lost in the wild card round. And the Braves, who we are big fans of now, move on to face the Dodgers in the NLDS.

And Damon, that brings us to our matchup breakdown presented by our friends over at Draft Kings, of course, get down on all of the action over there at Draft Kings. We have our division series here set up. We got the White Sox taking on the Cleveland Guardians. We got the New York Yankees taking on the Tampa Bay Rays. We have the Braves taking on the Dodgers. And we have the Padres taking on the Brewers. And Damon, let me tell you, when it comes to these particular matchups,

I really like what's going on here in the division. series round. We got a lot of exciting things cook in here. And I think that really it's kind of an exciting playoff, especially honestly if the Dodgers can be eliminated. I'm just saying that obviously based on once again spite, but I'm also saying that it's like so wide open. I feel like if the raise advance and the Braves advance, it's just crazy. Because at that point, if the race can advance, you have three teams sitting just a few series away from perhaps winning their first World Series championship ever. And I need it to not be the Padres just because I need to be able to continue to still call

them ringless bumps. Yeah, for sure. I mean, the Braves are everything. What's our thoughts on Tomahawk chopping in 2026? I thought, I feel like we might be back. I thought we got rid of stuff like that. I think about like five-ish years ago. I thought that wasn't okay.

I think about five-ish years ago probably, but I think we might be back. I'll tell you what, Derek. You know what? People can fry me if they want about it. I don't care. When I went to the Braves game about three summers ago, I did it, didn't you?

I did it. And it was one of the most electric things I've ever been a part of in my entire life. Oh, Damon, you're a bad guy. That's fine. And you know what? I'm a die-hard Braves baseball guy. And I always have been, and I always will be until maybe after this series is over. But let's go Braves.

I love the Braves. And let's go White Sox. It's all about the White Sox. I would not hate a White Sox Braves World Series at all. And again, overall, you just have some exciting stuff over here. There's a lot of things I like. And I mean, seeing a team win their World Series for the first time, especially a team like the Tampa Bay Rays, which I consider to be our franchise, you know,

cousins or sisters or something. I don't know. Sisters. Sisters. Yeah. Sister, sister franchise. It's, I don't hate that at all. But again, we do got to do our draft king's matchup breakdown, Damon.

So when it comes to the division series here, we have these interesting matchups. And again, we got the Yankees and the race as division rival. there facing off. This is an AL East matchup between two teams that know each other extremely well. That first game starts on Saturday there in Tampa Bay. And I, you know, I don't know what else to say about that Tampa Bay team other than they remind me very much of another team that caused some chaos in 2023. They seem like a very exciting team that is legitimately good from top to bottom as a starting lineup. and I think that they have all, everything that they need to perhaps advance in the American League. And honestly, I don't hate that. I also don't hate the idea of the White Sox after what they've done, what they've become,

Miracami being the greatest baseball player on the planet Earth. And I have no vetting interest in the Guardian. So yes, I would love to see a raise White Sox ALCS. Meanwhile, on the other side of things, who doesn't want to watch the Dodgers get eliminated? I think we all can stand unified as a major league baseball fan base and suggest that if you are not a Dodgers fan, you should be with us on this side rooting against the Dodgers. And maybe not tomahawk chopping,

but maybe just being down with the Braves. Is that enough? I don't know, man. I think I might be getting out of my seat and doing it from home. That's how much I'm into this team. Oh, man. Again, that's interesting. but I think the Padres are going to are going to make it to the NLCS unfortunately.

As Sean kind of alludes to what I said yesterday. Like I just that the Brewers, this is where the Brewers season ends every year. It is. Right here. It is. I'll throw it up on screen so we can look at it from a bracket standpoint. Yeah. You see you just see this chat.

Right in this area? That's right where the Brewers season ends every single season. 100%. I expect more of the same. frankly, in that regard. But yeah, I, uh, I, I think that the Padres, unfortunately, they, they feel like a team that's just hard to beat. Yeah.

Hard to beat right now. They really are. And I hate to say that. I don't want to like root for them, but I would also say from a, like, here, let me stand a little bit farther away. Let me, let me, let me, let me, let me, let me just move back a few feet. They might, they're, they're kind of a fun team to watch. Who?

The Padres? Yeah, you know, but I don't like want them to advance. I just think that like I like watching fun baseball and I just feel like they're exciting. It also just feels like that's right where the brewer season ends. You guys were curious. Yeah, right there. If you didn't see it, Damon circled it and highlighted it. And that's where it ends every single year.

And it might probably end again this year. But Saturday is absolutely loaded Damon four division series opener starting at 10 AMR time right here. Arizona and running all the way through the night time. And again, the Braves Dodgers series, probably the one that keep the closest eye on as far as, you know, what taking down that team could mean for the entire bracket and for the field kind of being wide open at that point. If I had to predict right now, Derek,

what I think the World Series will be, I'm saying it's going to be a 2000 or was it 1999. No, it was 98. I just got it wrong three times. But the 1998, World Series rematch Padres Yankees. Yeah. Yeah.

And then we put our pinstripes on. That one, that one was embarrassing for that Padres. Oh, that's also like, I was, I was just doing research into it. The least interesting World Series I've ever watched in my life. The greatest baseball team probably of all time that the Yankees had that year. Yeah. I think they won 117 games. 117 games.

That's nuts. And they just had just ballers up and down their lineup. Like that team was unstoppable. No one was going to beat that team in the World Series. 100%, but they like steamrolled the Padres. They steamrolled the whole postseason. Yeah. But yeah, that's what I think is going to happen.

Yankees, Yankees Padres. All right. Well, that was 98. That could be a good time to redo that one. My pinstripes back on my body, Derek. Let's go. All right. Just like back in two years ago when we didn't, when we didn't handle business.

Yeah, you're right. Well, we appreciate you guys. Love you. Thank you guys for showing up. We'll be back with another 12 p.m. show on Monday, another mailback Monday episode. Make sure to join us for that. Until then, enjoy watching

some non-diam-dbacks related baseball over the weekend and follow us on social media. I'm at cap underscore caveman with a K. Damon is at Damon Dog with a DAWG and as always we're all Damon's dogs. Bark, bark. Our show is at PHNX underscore D-Backs, but all roads do lead to at pH and X

underscore sports on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Thank you guys. Love you. Appreciate you. Sean's right. The White Sox guys. at CHGO are super cool. So that's another reason to root for that team. And again, we'll be back with all of those updates on what happened over the weekend. So until that time, hope you guys have a wonderful weekend yourselves.

We'll see you back here on Monday. And until then, we love you. Appreciate your time. And remember, kids, baseball is fun, but it's so much more fun when the Dodgers are eliminated.