PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - Mike Hazen REAFFIRMS D-backs Have Shut Down Ketel Marte Trade Talks

Episode Date: January 19, 2026

Diamondbacks GM Mike Hazen was once again forced to shut down Ketel Marte trade rumors after they were reignited by the Red Sox acquiring Ranger Suárez. While keeping Ketel is obviously a win, it could also signal that the D-backs are finished making moves this offseason. So what does that mean for their chances in 2026 with the roster as it’s currently constructed? And what happens if nobody steps up to sign Zac Gallen, who was recently labeled the least attractive free agent on the market? We break down all of it and answer your Mailbag Monday questions on another loaded episode.JOIN THE SUPPORTERS CLUB ➡️ https://tinyurl.com/yc6km2r4An ALLCITY Network ProductionSUBSCRIBE to our YouTube: https://bit.ly/phnx_youtubeALL THINGS PHNX: http://linktr.ee/phnxsportsMERCH 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/Phoenix Raceway: Get your tickets now for March 5-8! https://www.phoenixraceway.com/march-cup-weekend/?CID=PIR_DI_TP_BA_PHNX26Spring_251120ALLCITY — 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/Branded Bills: Use code BBPHNX 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=allcityShowNotesbet365: https://www.bet365.com/hub/en-us/app-hero-banner-1?utm_source=affiliate&utm_campaign=usapp&utm_medium=affiliate&affiliate=365_03485317 Use the code PHNX365 to sign up, deposit $10 and bet $5 to get $150 in bonus bets!Disclaimer: Must be 21+ and physically located in AZ.  If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-NEXT-STEP, text NEXTSTEP to 53342 or visit https://problemgambling.az.gov/Gametime: 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 35% 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!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.

I thought we made this clear. I thought we were very firm on this. And I will say this one last time, as loudly as I can for the people in the back, when it comes to a Catelle-Marté trade. Lose this number! Happy Monday to you all. Welcome in to another edition of the PHNX Diamondbacks podcast, love from Studio K, presented by a.

our friends at Circle K. It is I, your mayor of PHNX, occasionally known as Derek Montia ski to you all. Thrill to have you guys here. And, of course, I'm joined by the leche to my cafe, the one, the only, the incomparable Damon Farrell, aka Damon Dogg, aka Dodgers fans most hated, most wanted. Worst nightmare.

Worst nightmare. Thank you guys for being here. It's thrilled to have you guys here on a Monday morning and thrilled to be talking once again about shutting down Cotel Marte trade rumors. But first, of course, we do have to talk about some other things

happening across MLB, including the Dodgers really just pushing us. They really just want us to lose our goddamn minds. Don't they, Damon? Isn't that what they're trying for? Because multiple outlets are now reporting that the Dodgers

remain in the mix and one of the favorites somehow for a potential trade involving Brewer's Ace Freddie Peralta as spring training nears. They're among a group of teams, as we've heard this in the past all offseason long, there is interest apparently in Freddie Peralta being traded. The brewers have kind of stood firm a bit on this, saying that they don't really intend to trade Freddie Peralta, but they were kind of like the Diamondbacks and Mike Hazen. They're willing to listen to offers on Peralta, who has one year left on

his contract, an $8 million option for 2026. The thinking here, obviously, is that trading for Peralta is not only a game changer for most teams, but that, again, it's a very cost-effective contract being only an $8 million hit on your payroll. And that's the exact same reason why the brewers would probably want to keep him, at least until the trade deadline, as far as, you know, not knowing how their season is going to go and possibly just wanting them to be on their team. Obviously, yes, that makes them financially attractive to trade partners, but it makes them financially attractive to the brewers to keep them, just like Catelle Marte, just like Ctele Marte with the Diamondbacks, right?

John Heyman reported that the brewers are fielding offers on Peralta. Of course, I'm sure it's fielding pro offers in the same way, once again, that the Diamondbacks were fielding offers on Marte. But it sickens me. it actually sickens me to hear that the Dodgers are in on a Freddie Peralta trade. Like again, much like our rant from Friday where we just really just let loose about our true feelings on the Dodgers both on the show and on our D-Backs after dark audio-only podcast, which if you haven't checked that out, make sure to count how many times we said the F-word in that podcast. But take a shot, take a shot for every F-WR. Take a shot for every F word.

You won't make it through the first 10 minutes. But, I mean, again, this is that same frustration, that F word, not the other F word. Frustration here with the Dodgers, right? The Dodgers already have an all-star lineup. The Dodgers already have all of the assets to do anything they want. They have all of the trade pieces. They have a farm system that's solid. They have players that are very attractive under contract on their team that they could trade.

It just goes to show that this. This is, again, just so incredibly one-sided and so incredibly, like, off-putting as a fan that does not root for the Dodgers, right? I, once again, do not fault them for wanting to improve their lineup. Damon will. Damon will fault them for everything. I'm not even going to speak on behalf of him, but I'll say, like, I understand it. However, there's a point that it's greedy, right? There's a point where there's nothing wrong with your team, and you're simply,

going out there trying to get another top-notch starter on as a part of your franchise through a trade, considering you know how attractive of a destination being a Dodger is, being in that clubhouse, playing for that team. This is a man that's going to be looking for a big contract after the year is over. So it makes it that much easier for him to just resign with the Dodgers if he's already a part of that franchise once his contract is up anyway. And the last thing the Dodgers, need is a team-friendly contract. So get the hell out of here with that. Some sources suggest LA is actively pushing for Peralta just to bolster their starting

pitching depth, even after adding all these other big names that they've added this offseason. And again, it means that the Dodgers would likely need to include a major league ready pitching pitcher pitching prospect and other pieces to satisfy Milwaukee's return price, much like the Boston Red Sox with the Diamondbacks on the Cotele trade, it does feel like the Dodgers have the pieces that they could trade for anybody if they really wanted to, right? Like, it's just depending on how much they want to give up. If they do give up a bunch, then they can still replace that amount through free agency or other means. It's just suffocating. The Dodgers are

suffocating the rest of Major League Baseball right now. And again, this is a guy that had a standout 2025 season with a sub 3ERA over 200 strikeouts and durability that's quite rare these days in Major League Baseball among frontline starters. So that makes them very attractive here for the Dodgers to add it to them to their team. And Katie says they aren't doing it for the love of the game. They are doing it for the money. And yeah, that mean that's it. They're a machine now at this point. They're a machine. If you want to look on the bright side, according to an appearance with my guy, John Sina on the Roku mini-series, what drives you with John Sina? Mookie Bets will be calling it quits in 2032. So our longstanding national nightmare is almost over. We have six more years

of Mookie Bets in our life and then we don't have to deal with him anymore. Mookiee said that he plans to retire after his contract with Los Angeles ends. And sure, why wouldn't he? Why wouldn't any guy who goes to play for the Dodgers retire after the end of their contract? They're going to win multiple championships and they're going to be paid billions of dollars and probably have the money deferred so that they're taking care of financially for the rest of their lives long term. You know, because sometimes you just get greedy and you want to go get yourself like a really nice car and maybe you don't have, you know, that money in the bank yet for that really nice car or whatever. Like maybe you just have to be more fiscally responsible with deferred contracts.

I don't know. But again, he'll be 40 at that point. So it's almost like you, would prefer he stuck around and played for the Dodgers for longer, considering he could just be a detriment to that franchise at that point. Speaking of detriments to the franchise, Damon, let's all point and laugh at the Braves. Ha-Song Kim will be out four to five months with a finger injury. And I'm not laughing at the injury. I wouldn't do that. That would be mean. And you know me. I'm not mean. I'm a nice guy. But I will say that of all the comments, contracts that were signed this off season, I think Hassan Kim's one is the one that made me and Damon truly go, really? You know, quite a bit. We've talked about it quite a bit. And of course,

$20 million for one year just seemed like a lot considering what his production and how his 2025 went. However, now it gets worse for the Braves because now they will lose him, like I said, for four to five months. But forget all of that business. We have our own business to attend to, Damon and that is that Mike Hayeson who made things very clear that the diamondbacks weren't trading Cattel and at no point reversed his position on trading Cotel somehow, some way needed to once again refute any Cotel Marte trade rumors. And this is I guess kind of like our fault a little bit, right? Like we're partially to blame here. Like I said, like I said the other day, we don't take accountability on this podcast. But we might have been a little bit to blame here.

Right. When the Red Sox did get Rangers Juarez, it did cause people, not us, other people, to start talking about the Boston Red Sox perhaps trying to open up that door again there with the Diamondbacks and make a trade for Catelle Marte happen. In fact, the Red Sox are tied to every potential trade candidate now. That's a bat. They're tied to Brendan Donovan. With the St. Louis Cardinals, there died. So were we, by the way. Did you see that by any chance? We were.

That was weird. Thoughts? Thoughts is that that was probably during that time where they were still unsure about what was going to happen with Coutel Martte. Or I was, I mean, probably not going to happen. But I was, I mean, I think that he could be a left fielder while you wait for Lordus to get back. He's kind of the utility man of all utility men. I mean, where like he could play every position. I don't hate that at all, and I'm sure Tori wouldn't either, because Tori loves guys that can do all of that, right?

So, yeah, you're probably not wrong when it comes to that. But, again, the Red Sox are now tied to Nico Horner from the Cubs. They're tied to everybody to try to bring in some sort of bat to go with that incredible starting rotation that they currently have. But, again, the acquisition of Rangers Juarez did resurrect from the dead, the Ketel Marte rumors. And now Mike Hazen went out like any member of the Writers. and put those back in their grave is what he did. According to Steve Gilbert's latest article over at MLB.com, Mike Hazen went ahead and shut down the Cattel-Marté trade rumors.

Once again, I think we have a quote graphic here, but you'll see this is what Mike had to say about this. And you can almost, like, it's hard sometimes to hear the frustration of answering a question multiple times in print. But I feel this in my bones, in my soul. he says look we've already engaged in that process I said at the time that I set the deadline for a reason to avoid this and again this is I feel like no matter what Mike Hazen says these rumors are just still going to pop up but I don't think that he could be any more clear on this it's dead we're not discussing it anymore lose this number You jumps tried. We gave you an opportunity to at least give us a call and make offers. None of you were serious.

None of you were actually wanting Cotel Marte on your team based on your offers. And we've moved on. Per the article, Hazen informed Marte by phone that all trade talks were off and that the two are going to sit down and talk about it face to face when Marte comes to Arizona before spring training. In fact, we saw an Instagram post from Catele's account where he was in the skies flying over Phoenix. Not sure if he was coming directly here. I think he was coming home. But again, this is something that we discussed when Mike first shut down these trade talks, that, you know, there's going to have to be some mending of a relationship here.

And understandably so. I still don't understand how Ketel-Marté. I think that's probably something for Mike Hazen to probably be, you know, frustrated about this. I don't understand how these became the biggest talk of the off-season with all of these big, you know, free agents and all this other stuff going on in baseball somehow could tell Marte became the talk of the off-season.

I think it's because it was the only thing that was spicy, Damon. Like the Terik Scoobel situation after arbitration now is getting spicy. Or not arbitration after the arbitration was, you know, that they didn't come to an agreement. They're going to go to a hearing. Now it's becoming spicy. But I think the reason why they could tell Marte thing became the talk of baseball is one, Marte is an incredible player and 29 other fan bases and teams would love to have them. And two, there's this locker room clubhouse issue with Marte that got made a molehill,

got made into a mountain a bit here, you know? But I feel like that's the reason why it became a big thing. Because even Mike at times when he was addressing it sounded a bit confused and flabbergasted how, you know, the trade of Cotele became the biggest story in MLB. Yeah. I mean, it's definitely, you know, kind of snowballed, it feels like, right? Like this entire situation. I feel that personally, you know, Mike Hazen maybe let this go on a little bit. too long.

But he was being honest. I mean, he was taking calls on him and he hadn't shut it down. So I feel like he was just trying to be transparent and honest. I guess you don't have to be as a Major League Baseball GM. You could just have no comment on it or whatever the case may be. That might just make things get, you know, even more of a mystery. He might add more to the intrigue if you're not just trying to be honest about it. But like, again, the way that it got changed from,

you know, taking calls to shopping him and the way that it got changed from, you know, this to that, just to kind of make the whole story seem more interesting, felt like it was, you know, again, the media and the way it was handled and not necessarily in the hands of the Diamondbacks. I don't know. Fake news media is what you're trying to say, Derek. That's all. I'm just, I'm just floating it out there. I get it.

No, and I get that. I mean, you've always been that guy. But when it comes to this situation, I do think that there is like, I think they legitimately shopping him. I do. But I, like I was saying, I think that, you know, it got to a point where it was clearly getting in the way of what Diamondbacks were trying to do this off season. And so that's why Mike Hazen was like, all right, you guys aren't serious. Then we're done. Right. And then now it feels like the Red Sox are like, whoa, whoa, wait, wait, we were not done. And it's like, no, no, we are. Because you guys didn't want to offer us what it required. And, you know,

it feels like what it was required was Marcello Mayer, as we've talked about on this show, plenty of times. So, you know, I, I, I think Mike probably is frustrated by this. I think everything being so public for the Diamondbacks is like the opposite of what they want, right? And I don't think that it was the Diamondbacks that were leaking this information. I think if the Diamondbacks had it their way, they would have kept this silent. They would have been talking behind the scenes with these teams. and then they'd come back to Catell and go, no, we didn't try to trade you this off season.

What are you crazy? People wanted you, but we just told them to go. Yeah. And now they can't really do that now where it feels like Catell absolutely probably feels like he was at least somewhat discussed as being a trade that would better the team of the Diamondbacks organization by getting rid of them. So it's an interesting situation. And honestly, this is why you have Tori Lovola because he is that connector. He is that guy who, you know, I think is the one that is supposed to be the intermediary between what the team does, the organization does, and the locker room, the clubhouse, the players that are on the team.

And I think that in this circumstance, like, yeah, Tori has his faults. Maybe he's not the best in-game manager in the entire world. But what he might be the best manager in the entire world at is being a culture builder. And I think it's up to him to show us why we're. paying him millions of dollars to say get Catelle locked back in on this on this team and on this season and I believe in Tori to be able to do that I really do I think you're right what you said because Mike Azen does such a great job at keeping his cards close to his vest when it comes to moves trades it's the reason why the diamond backs just swoop in out of nowhere the last few seasons

you're like Aeronado yeah what like it burns Jordan Montgomery it keeps happening right like they clearly want to keep things under wraps but in this situation it's been all out in the public. Yeah. And who does that behoove, Derek? It behooves the Red Sox to try to get. Yeah, it behooves the teams that are trying to get them. To try to get Catell more unsettled, make this more likely to happen, sever that

D-BAC's relationship just a bit more, right? And so I think that's absolutely what we're looking at here. And no doubt Mike Hazen is frustrated by this being so public. He scoffed at the idea that he would go back on his word. He said in the article, or Gilbert noted in the article, that a GM's word has to count for something. And that's it because it goes far beyond Ketel. It goes to the other 40 guys on that roster. It goes to the minor league guys. It speaks volumes to people that are part of this organization. If you

go out there and publicly make a statement that you're not going to trade a player and you change your mind two weeks later simply because the Red Sox got aggressive, right? I think that that is something that's incredibly smart to do. It's again, it's the reason why you don't want this information getting out there because you don't want to have to deal with making public statements about it and then having you know someone come in and blow you away but like with the negotiation process you're right like i have to call my satellite provider damon once a year and go through same song and dance the same old song i'm gonna leave i'm gonna leave you what can we offer you what can we offer me i don't know

what can you offer me the day that i do that and they're just like fine goodbye we don't need you anymore that's the day that i come crawling back on my hands and knees to the satellite company and say i was i didn't mean it they're like no no no no we already shut you off in fact we've sent you an envelope send us back your little boxes we'll have someone come out and pick up the satellite dish this conversation is over lose this number that is what mike hazen did to 29 baseball teams and we all need to appreciate that that is what's happened and we need to

move on with our lives. Okay, and part of that moving on is discussing how this team gets better. However, another part of Steve Gilbert's article isn't so happy, I guess isn't so positive because there might be a chance as far as adding to this team that the Diamondbacks

are done, at least when it comes to the bullpen and I really don't know how to feel about that. Can I say something in regards to that and kind of connecting it back to the Freddie Peralta conversation before we move on? Yeah, please. I know I mentioned this before, but I really do think it bears noting.

And maybe, you know, maybe there's nothing to this. But Ken Kendrick has shown the last two off-season the willingness to go above and beyond what the team has available, quote-unquote, available going into the off-season. to upgrade the roster, right? But I think that the big caveat there is that he's done so in a way where, you know, it's been short-term.

Like I will give Jordan Montgomery a one-year plus player option contract where if this blows up in our face, it won't be long-term debilitating to the organization. I really think that getting a guy like Freddie Peralta could be a potential option for the time and back. because he is so cost-controlled right now. You would have to pay him next season. But there's, like, Merrill Kelly is only signed for two more years, right? Yeah. And then he's done.

E-Rod is only signed for two more years. And then that contract is off your books. Corbyn Burns could opt out next off-season. So it's like, I'm looking at this debacks rotation and I'm saying, okay, I have Ryan Nelson and Brandon fought. But, like, if you feel like you could get Freddie Peralta for, say, Jordan Lawler and something else. I'm interested. I'm interested if I'm Ken Kendrick and paying one off, one season more,

like we are talking about of like maybe going up a little bit above and beyond, and that would be next season probably, once you resign Freddie Peralta hypothetically. But I think that that, like, you could convince Ken Kendrick that one year of extra spending would be worth it for this organization. So I'm in on a Freddie Peralta trade. I don't know if there's any ability for us to get in on. it but I would I would be willing to unload some of these prospects for a guy like that. It's not impossible. It's just how much of the future do you want a mortgage and how much do the brewers want prospects in return, right? It feels like the Brewers would maybe want Tommy Troy.

Major League ready talent. Drew Jones. I don't know. Damon, I woke up today to a dead car battery. You have your own car issues in life. So it's like we're maybe. No car. Things are great for us in the big 26 right now. We just we need some good news. The big 26 has been a kick in the ass. It really is. It does. But we're trying. We're putting

forth effort the big 26th. We're trying. But we need something from the Diamondbacks. We need a little bit more. Maybe Paul Goldschmidt. I don't know. Jack Summers, our pal, hinted at something that drove the internet insane. So they may not be done, but we are going to talk about Mike Hazen's comments here about them possibly being done on the other side of this break. Don't you go anywhere. You're watching the pH next time of back show. Well, multiplier scratchers are a great way for me to make some money to get these car repairs

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say, I didn't try to say we're the best sports city, but we, hey, I'll tell you this, if you're an Arizona sports fan, you're dedicated, and we love you for that, because not a lot to love lately these days. But I will say this, this Diamondbacks team is shaping up to be interesting, volatile, perhaps even surprising, right? I do like the pieces that they have here. However, Damon and I still haven't felt great about the bullpen editions. And I have to wonder if, based on Mike Hazen's comments in this same article with Steve Gilbert from MLB.com, if they are in fact done. They might be done altogether. We might have seen them add the pieces that they are going to add this offseason.

If you add up all of the money they've spent, they're pretty close to tapped out on the budget. Right. And kudos to Mike for going out there, making the trade for Nolan Aronado, bringing in the starting pitching that they needed for less than $30 million to get two starting pitchers for less than $30 million in this economy. It's pretty difficult, right? But overall here, we still have felt a bit dissatisfied with the additions to the bullpen. We knew they weren't going to go out there and get one of the top end guys, even though we flirted with those ideas. we even flirted as an organization with Pete Fairbanks who ends up a Miami Marlin. But according to Mike Hazen in this article, when asked about going out there and acquiring more bullpen help,

Mike Hazen said the following. Would I like to have somebody that has a clear pedigree of pitching in the eighth and ninth inning? That's an easier answer. I'm not sure what we'll have access to in that way. I think if we continue to build out talent in the bullpen, the bullpen is going to be good in time as we move through the season. Now it does feel like a lot of this is putting faith in some of those young guys that made their debuts last year.

I still think now with the additions of Taylor Clark and perhaps Loy Siga as a long, long-term addition, maybe somebody that breaks into the bullpen during spring camp, there's some veteran presence there. You also have Ryan Thompson and you also have Kevin Ginkle. I felt like Brandon Garcia and Philip Abner, two guys that I've talked about quite a bit, really took a step forward and proved that they have some good stuff and looks like they can handle some high leverage innings. Andrew Saul Frank was fairly outstanding last year and not just a small sample size, but a fairly big one in that bullpen. So overall, it's a little understandable that

the Diamondbacks might not feel like they have this sense of urgency to really go out and add a bunch or make a big bunch of big flashy moves in order to improve this bullpen at this point. Mike said, we're going to obviously be getting guys back as we move through the season. So I think the talent is naturally going to improve as we move through the year, meaning AJ Puck and Justin Martinez return, right?

But the big headline last week about with Aeronado being traded for feels like it was the final major move of the offseason right now for the team. The 40-man roster is full, making it harder to add someone without dropping someone else. And Mike Hazen and the front campus have indicated that they're content with the core and haven't signaled another blockbuster move pending.

Nothing, you know, that he said in this article makes you feel like the Diamondbacks are still out there trying to make stuff happen. Spring training injuries or poor performances in spring could obviously lead to some last-minute depth additions, much like we saw last year where, you know, Jalen Beaks was added right before opening day. And if the team decides midwinter that they need an impact starter or reliever, a trade requiring, you know, DFA movement could still happen here, obviously. But, I mean, it feels like the depth here is going to come from the minor league and perhaps just internal depth moves. We know they brought back Taylor Rashi.

We know we've got several guys on this team that, you know, obviously could be a value here, right? But again, this does feel like the diamondbacks are done. So I guess, Damon, how do you feel? Do we feel like this is enough? Do we feel confident about the pitching for this team? I'll say I feel plenty confident with the addition of Nolan Aeronado that the diamond backs can figure out a formula here to make everything else work, right? I do feel that. I think Aronado can dh some if he can find his bat again. And I think obviously his defense at third base is going to be incredible. So he's probably going to play over there the majority of the season.

That does leave some question marks for Blaze Alexander, Jordan Lawler. And still we have no idea what they're going to do over there at first base. But I mean, pitching wise, what do you think? I mean, is like, is this enough? No. Yeah. I mean, I, I, it's hard to say yes to that question. right yeah i i feel like and you know i've been talked off the ledge a little bit by someone like cogs

who's come on this show and said you know there's a lot of young pitchers in this organization that are you know in and around the major league level right now and that could potentially be decent i mean i think that you know you make all those trades at last deadline to kind of rebuild that bullpen right it feels like that was the the goal at hand was we're going to trade gino for bullpen help we're going to trade, you know, all these guys for extra arms that this organization just does not have even starters in the case of Merrill Kelly. I just, you know, I wish that there was one guy that I was a little bit more like settled in on as like, okay, the floor is high with Sir Anthony Dominguez. You know what I mean? Like, get me a guy like that. And all of a sudden, the wild cards

that are in this bullpen, I feel a lot better about them. But when you're relying solely on wild cards to prove that they are major league caliber pitchers. That's where it's up in the air of like, is this bullpen just going to be awful again? Because all we keep seeing year after year is this bullpen is awful. If Mike Hazen builds the bullpen, it stinks. Yeah. So it's like what is what is what about these,

this crop of players proves that, yeah, these guys are different. These guys are definitely better than what we've had. I wouldn't say that there's any evidence of that thus far. I hope that it works out. but I wish that there was one more relief pitcher in place. There's a reason that I said I was interested in a guy like Freddie Peralta, even though it feels like this, you know, five-man rotation is fairly set with Soroka at the back end of it.

And that's because I don't feel comfortable with the starting rotation either. So I'm looking at the pitching and I'm saying they could both use one more piece. And then on the hitting side of things, I think you absolutely need a DH or a power hitting option, a Paul Goldschmidt type to kind of round out the rest of the roster. So, yeah, I mean, I hope they're not done because I don't feel like this roster is settled completely, although I don't think that it's too far off. Well, can I interest you in bringing back one Zach Gallen? Damon?

Yeah, I would take back Zach Gallen if he got desperate. Well, you might get desperate because according to a report from Ken Rosenthal over at the Athletic, an anonymous MLB executive said teams might view Gallen as one of the least attractive free agent. this winter. That's so bad. That's so mean. Zach's hot. Zach's hot. What are we talking about? He's attractive. That hurts. I mean, with glasses, without glasses, the man's a sex symbol. I don't know what we're talking about here that he's least attractive. No, I kid. Obviously, the context of this is that whatever team takes that Gallen does have to deal with the consequences of him rejecting the qualifying offer from the Diamondbacks. And that is giving up a draft pick. He's tied to a draft pick

compensation and isn't among the true elite names available on the market and you still have plenty of elite starting pitching available on the elite on the market for ambroseph does still does not have a team right and you got other starting pitchers out there that might even rank below Zach that other teams might be willing to take that chance on because they didn't get a qualifying offer from their team and they don't have that draft pick compensation tied to it right so that's pretty much it obviously gallon also posted a career worst 4.83 era in 20 25, the most important season of his career. And this was why?

Because if you do badly and you're fine in your walk year, this is where you end up. Your last two years, really. Yeah, the last two years, that's fair. And that's the reason why teams are cautious on them. You know, there are elite free agents out there. The teams are willing to surrender that draft pick compensation for because the impact justifies it overall.

But Gallen, not, he's good, but not elite. and again, clubs are comfortable shouldering the draft pick costs for a pitcher coming down, coming off and off year. We have reports in the chat. Someone came in here, probably not a Diamondbacks fan, probably not a doctor's fan,

but he just came in here to let us know that Drew Petzing is going to the line. And I am hearing in live time. There is cheers. Well, no, no. PHNX Cardinals producer, Noel Wolbrecht. Oh, is that who's streaming? Oh, he can hear devastating. station in his voice.

Oh my God. Noah Wilbrecht is the Pitch and X Cardinals producer. He has been as anti-Drew Petzing as anybody here. He has to be in shambled right now. His hometown team, his ball club, the Detroit Lions, where he is born and raised. And he drafted like six of their players to his fantasy football team. It was the craziest strategy I ever saw. Just picked up Drew Petting.

It seems as though he cannot escape Drew Petting. I mean, did you hear that? That was not Jubilee, Derek. I thought it was cheers of adulation. Oh, no, no, no, no. I thought it was like the end of Return of the Jedi. Like, what, the Yubnum? I thought it was Ewks out there, like, cheering the end of Darth Vader.

But no, it's Noah screaming. Cooked. Just cooked, like the end of the prequels, right? This was... Rip the lions. Literally cooked. Back to Zach Gallon. I don't know how to transition back here, but at least that gallon isn't Drew Petting, that's for sure.

There won't be cheers when Zach Gallon leaves, though I do think there's some people. that would disagree with you, Damon, that don't want Zach Gallen back because of these terms, right? 4.83 ERA, bad, not great the last two seasons. And again, this doesn't mean that Zat Gowan is unwanted. It just means that a team might have to, once again, strategically sign Gallen to a short-term deal that requires them not to give up that compensatory pick, which means the debacks get screwed. And that's definitely a possibility that's increasing. That's the likelihood of that is increasing. the longer that Zach Gallen stays a free agent and isn't signed here by a team. So that sucks. Yeah.

What is that threshold that needs to be reached? $50 million. $50 million. Yeah. So if they sign them literally for two years 48, nothing. Diamondbacks get nothing. And that's...

That feels very possible at this point. It does, right? Like as a team, wouldn't you... I mean, that's not... That's just good management overall. And if Zach's willing to accept a deal like that, hopefully he's not. Hopefully, Zach doesn't want to screw the Diamondbacks like that.

and hopefully he goes out there. And as long as that gets three years, we're good. Yeah, probably. There's a chance that he might not get that. He might, some reports have suggested teams could try to sign him for mid-tier, money, and terms. So that's not great. But I'll tell you what is great is it's Monday. And we have a lot of fun around here on Monday.

So we're going to do that on the other side of this break. Don't you guys go anywhere. You're watching the PH&X Diamond Back Show. I'll tell you, there's a lot of things I love when it comes to hats, but there are a few hat companies I love as much as branded bills, mostly because their logo work is second to none. Some of the coolest logo work I've seen on a hat, those little rubber logos, so much detail put into them.

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like 79 cent polar pops and 99 cent prosters. And if you're hungry, they got their meal deal matrix with all sorts of deals ranging from $3 to $6 that'll keep you filled and, of course, save you it some money. So join the Inner Circle for free right now by downloading the Circle K app today. Terms and conditions do apply at participating locations. visit circle k.com for details well i want to first uh i probably long overdue wish a very happy birthday to uh one martin luther king junior dr martin luther king junior uh hope you guys that do have the day off are enjoying this time and i hope you all remember why we have this day off but

and i hope you guys are all happy that derrick and i are sitting here at work when you guys are just comfy on your couch at home pulling up youtube probably yeah coffee in your hand at or my little at 1241 p.m. Oh. Not like, not like anyone would ever have a coffee at 1241 p.m. Yeah, yeah. This guy buys a breakfast burrito at 10 a.m.

And he maybe gets around to it by 4 p.m. That's how much Derek works me, maybe. I tell you to eat and I tell you to hydrate. You know that. And I also tell you what day it is. You know what day it is. It's Monday.

You know what we do on Mondays. You know that every year is our year. No matter what year it is, no matter how bad things are, it is still the year of the season. snake. Every single month on this podcast is Black History Month. Every single month on this podcast is Women's History Month. And every single month on the PHNX Diamondbacks podcast is Black Women's History Month. Every single week is Shark Week. Every single goddamn day is Earth Day.

But every single Monday, we go to the mailbag and we have forever. Damon, let's go to the mailbag. And then once in a while there's a letter that makes me go wow. What's always something interesting? Shout out to my illegitimate father, Excalibur from A.A.W. I missed you. Good to see you this week. All right. What do we got in the mailbag this week, Damon?

Our first question, of course, comes from Travis Moore, who was very long-winded in this question, Derek. Lots of words to get to here. He went on two tweets. I know. He used all the characters. I know, I know. Can we get a general overview discussion of what the consensus agreement is upon the purpose of each level of the miners.

For example, I've consistently read the double A is where the biggest development goes into prepping certain players for the show, while AAA is partially that, but also used as a depth branch for the majors that a lot of call-ups are guys that are pressured to be at their ceiling already. Yeah, I mean, you're pretty spot on about this. I mean, for those of you that might not know, there are so many levels for. for a minor leager, right? You have, uh, it's rookie low a high a double a triple a correct?

Right. But you also have like the Arizona Complex League and you also have winner ball and you also have all these other things. But yeah, like Damon said, you have rookie ball short season, which is your first year up. Then you have low low a then high A. Both of those are your first step towards playing legitimate professional baseball as as a player, right? Not to say you haven't done that throughout your.

your career up to that point. But rookie ball short season, that's more like young players who aren't ready to hop into the middle of an ongoing season. They get drafted. They get added. Things like that, especially players that are younger that may still even be in high school. They can only go do the rookie ball short season. That's just literally taking a look at you for your first time outside of whatever team you played for as a young player, right? But then once you get to low A and high A, low A and high A, that's your first step towards actually playing, you know, a 140 game season. And that's, you know, again, players coming out of high school tend to be added to low A, college players go to high A. Players that kind of advance through the system can go to high A. But usually

AA, as you said, double A is where the most development takes place. Overall, double A is where you're going to find guys that are very close to being major league ready. You're also going to have major league ready pitching and hitting, right? So double a is where guys really start to get weeded out as far as if organizations believe in them as a major league player if their development is on its way. It's the reason why so many people have been disappointed with guys like Drew Jones slow development and not advancing. Well, the reason why is because he's, is not at a level where they feel comfortable advancing him to that next step in his career, right? It's not to say that Drew Jones is a bust. It's just to say that sometimes that

development might take longer for certain guys. He is a very athletically gifted player. However, things come easy to, I think, athletically gifted players. Like, again, this is what I've said about handsome fellas, right? Handsome fellas don't have to develop a personality. But short rounds like me, we got to. We have to develop some sort of sense of humor in order to make women talk to us. So again, this is kind of the thing is sometimes you are athletically gifted as a young baseball player. You have to kind of develop because that's not enough for you to play against major league caliber pitching, you know, and hitting, right? That's what you find out. That's where guys get exposed. It's also the reason why Ryan Walshmidt feels like he's just zooming through the

system because he feels very ready already at his age and the level that he's at. And again, this is really where you'll find players with major league experience at the AA level sometimes, but not often will you see that, right? That's usually a AAA level. Like what you said, Travis is that, again, AAA is filled with all kinds of players, but a lot of those players at AAA level are guys that they might not feel are going to be major league talent and they are only there as depth pieces. They are there in case something goes wrong. They're not there necessarily working to, I mean, everybody's working to get better. Everybody

wants to be recognized. And at any point, any player could make an impression and put things together and suddenly be desirable by the organization to call up and, you know, put into a major league rotation or lineup. However, you know, there are some guys, again, no matter how good their numbers might look or things are they feel like that leap to a major league level or maybe guys that have made that debut at a major league level and didn't work out for them, they might hang around at in AAA specifically for that depth. I think that's where we start labeling guys as 4A players, you know, the quad A players because again, that's that's where those guys get stuck. It's also where plenty of veterans get stuck due to just being on a, you know, minor league deal

and being there also for depth. I was going to say that. To me, that's the big differentiator, is that you will find a lot more 28-year-olds, 30-year-olds and whatnot at the AAA level because those guys are on minor league deals, awaiting for an injury call-up, awaiting for their opportunity to be,

come out of the bullpen because the Diamondbacks are short, a pitcher on that night, and that's why a guy like John Curtis resigns with the D-Backs, not because the D-backs want him to ideally be, you know, in their best iteration of the bullpen, but because the Diamondbacks are like, well, you know,

if we have some injuries, it could be worse than getting that guy in the mix. So I think, you know, AA, a lot of times you find, like, your better prospects in the double A ranks or, like,

you'll find, like, a lot of, like, the more highly rated guys. Yeah. Because the dudes that are ready for AAA are typically, like, almost, you know, ready for that jump to the majors already.

Like a Ryan Waldschmidt, he might start in AAA, but that's why I expect him to be on the major league roster, you know, fairly soon because he's, he was killing it in double A and he's a really good prospect. Say his name and he appears, I believe in John Curtis. Well, yeah, that's, I think, I hope that covers it. And like, again, none of these labels on any guys, I think, mean anything really. Like, it's just a matter of trying to figure out, you know, what you like about guys and, you know,

who you think actually. has a chance of making that leap to a major league level, right? Who's worth developing and who's worth putting your time into? And that's, honestly, that is part of it. It sounds callous, but in some cases, organizations want to put a little bit more development into guys that they believe are the future and maybe not so much in the guys that they don't. So, all right, what else we got?

Let's go to the next question. Yeah, our next question here is from our guy Jarmi. and Jarmi wants to know Nolan Aeronado Gold Schmidt if he signs neither player on the front half of their career are the DBEX making a 2026 postseason push by not getting younger

Perhaps I mean again we've talked about how much veteran experience can mean to a young team now this is no attack on Goldie or Nolan Aeronado it's going to sound like one though it's not like those guys bring a ton of postseason experience to your organization however

it doesn't mean gold Schmidt's played a good decent amount he's played a decent amount he's had like four postseason appearances or something like that I'm not again I'm not attacking either one of them it's not their fault that their teams don't make it to the postseason either what I'm saying is is that the major league experience that they bring is still plenty valuable right so I think that what you want to achieve is a balance and I think that that's what Nolan Aeronado already brings to this team I think obviously it's so easy to make that comparison to Evan Longoria but Evan Longoria was that guy for this team, and he also happened to play third base. So it does make that, you know, that comparison even easier.

However, you know, again, Goldie, there's so many reasons I think would be of value to this team, to this fan base, to this organization, goes far beyond just what he can contribute on the field. But I do believe what he can contribute on the field is quite a bit, right? And I think that if they're able to find a way to sign Goldschmidt and Adam, it's just a win all the way around. He doesn't even have to put up great numbers for you to still feel like, you know, he's bringing quite a bit to the valley. He's bringing quite a bit to those young first baseman-baseman over there, Tyler Locklear. Haven Smith even still isn't that old and not very long into his career. There's so much that, again, Goldschmidt could bring to this team.

I think he could DH, which would allow him to, you know, keep some miles off of his body this season. But I do think it would help this team quite a bit. I just think that it would bring a lot of, I don't know, leadership, even though he's a quiet guy that does it based on, you know, leading by example. I think his presence is big for this team. But, hey, that's just because baseball is weird and you never know. I think there's plenty of youth on this team already. I don't think they need to get younger.

I think they need, like I said earlier, find that balance. By the way, I need Christina's energy because Christina earlier on in the chat, Damon said that we're going to win the NL West and I need I need that kind of energy injected directly into my veins. Damon often says that I I just, it's just loser talk coming out of me all the time. Yeah, I mean, I don't even know what to think anymore after Kyle Tucker, Derek. I lost, I lost my my. Yeah, yeah.

See, there's always something that drains the life force from you. I try. I tried. It was Kyle Tucker. I tried. I tried my hardest. I tried my darndest. Sometimes, you know, we just, it's just not like our car.

I appreciate you. I appreciate you trying. What else we got in the mailbag, Damien? Our next question comes from barrels and bets, and they want to know, are we completely satisfied with the pitching staff? Seems like they need more reinforcements in the bullpen, especially in the closer role until puck and or J-Mark come back. You can never have enough pitching, and we saw how we're short at times in that department last year.

I will say that Diamondbacks have all, I mean, after the trade deadline, and they've really added to their starting pitching depth in the minor leagues, though those guys still don't have major league experience themselves. I like Cole Drake. I like Mitch Bratt. I'm excited for what they can be for this organization quite a bit. But I do agree. I don't think they added enough.

I know we kind of covered this earlier. I know Damon also said that. I think that, you know, again, it doesn't, for a team that had the worst pitching staff, one of the worst pitching staffs in baseball, including the starting rotation, and the bullpen, it doesn't feel like we did enough. We are putting far too much hope out there that these guys are all going to take a step forward.

I don't think that that's that impossible, especially with some changes, a new assistant GM that specializes in pitching development. I mean, I think that there's a lot of talent here. I just don't believe that they're going to turn things around. I don't, and I would like to believe that. I really would. I know baseball players are like that. I know we experience that quite a bit where a guy leaves this team and suddenly they become a god, right?

So it's not to say that players can't suddenly change and get better or find their footing and improve. It's just to say it's especially when it comes to pitching development and this organization, it's hard for me to feel like no major changes is going to lead to this team finding success. However, prove me wrong. I hope they do. I want them to. I want Brandon fought to shove and have a sub three ERA. I want Erod to be what he was at one point with the Boston Red Sox.

I want that. I need that. I want to eat my words and I want to say I was wrong and they've proven me wrong. But it's hard for me to feel that way without seeing, you know, seeing the 2026 team on the field playing regular season baseball, right? So what else we got, Damon? Our next question here comes from flea ball. Fleabell asks, we understand everything's a team decision with the debacks and times have changed.

But should Tori take more of a leadership role this year? Voting to name the starter last year was a complete joke, maybe toned down the parental figure he sounds sometimes, especially after a loss. Yeah. I mean, again, it's the double-edged sword, right? There's a part of us that love Tori for what he brings to this team and the players love him because of that parental aspect that he brings. He makes these guys into a family. It's how he connects the clubhouse, right? But you're right.

I do think that the more cooks that are in the kitchen, more hands in the pot, it just makes it feel like you as a manager trust yourself less. I felt that. I used to tweet willy-nilly from our account. And then I started getting criticized about how long my tweets were and things like that, right? And again, this is just part of the process of getting better, but sometimes having like five, six people, like a committee come to you and talk to you about the stuff that you were doing on your own at one point. It makes you lose confidence in yourself. It makes you feel like you need to check in with someone or just have somebody kind of sign off on what you're doing.

Right. Like so maybe part of it, the decision making process here is watered down for Tori. Maybe he doesn't trust himself enough. Maybe his decisions weren't the right one, so maybe he doesn't trust himself for the right reason. I don't know. Tori often after games has said, you know, when you make the right choices,

you look like a genius, and when you make the wrong ones, you look like an idiot. Right. And it's on display every single day for 162 games. So, again, it is one of those situations that, you know, the knowing that Tori is, is managing by committee knowing that the front office has a say in the decisions does make it seem like, you know, again, he might be there more relaying information than he is making those

decisions. I do think that in the game, that all of that comes from Tory directly. I think he has, I mean, he values, like, leading by committee in a way and having the opinions of others. He values Jeff Bannister greatly. He values, you know, all of his assistant or all of his coach. all the staff, he values their opinions and asks for it and wants it to take into consideration when he's making a decision. I still think ultimately most of the decisions are still made by Tory. And I think that there may have been some things that, you know, that were out of his control. There may have been, you know, again, too many people making these decisions or at least having a say in certain decisions. and that could have led to quite a bit of confusion

and maybe some losses last year. Still don't know whose decision it was to start Zach Gallen on opening day, and it felt like we were just sunk from that point on, right? It really felt like that was the wrong decision, and it took the Diamondbacks and Corbyn-Burns specifically, entirely too long to get back on track. But I am with you in the aspect that I do think Tori needs to be the final voice,

and he needs to be empowered to, to make those decisions himself. I'm sure he is, but that could easily get lost when there's too many voices and the voices are too loud, right? Yeah, I mean, I everyone always blames Tori for the decisions that happen

when it feels like it's more of a collective decision anyways. Is it really what people want for Tori to make more of the decisions to have more of the stuff on his plate? I mean, I don't know. I think it's like the stuff about who's available on the bullpen. I feel like that's like out of his control. bit and obviously usage plays a big factor in that so it's not like Tori would be pushing guys

anyway he tends to lean conservative when it comes to those kind of things but it does feel for instance like you know like who's available out of the pen might be one of those like group decisions i don't really know i'm just speculating on that yeah yeah i mean i it's an interesting discussion and an interesting topic i i kind of think that the way in which that they go about it with like it being kind of a collective decision and Tori being kind of more of the like the clubhouse manager than like the lineup manager is is probably more is just kind of modern baseball you know the next manager is going to probably be in a similar circumstance yeah in my opinion you're probably not wrong uh you know who else is not wrong Alex Dagostino that guy knows ball he knows ball when it comes

to baseball knows ball when it comes to football and of course he is always up to date on all of the sports here in the Valley. You can be too by signing up for the PHNX newsletter. You get the biggest news in Arizona sports in your inbox daily at 6 a.m. It's completely free. It's it's welcoming. I love waking up in the morning and having that email from Alex. You could be the smartest sports fan you know and of course you can get it again for absolutely free over at go phnx.com slash newsletter. So go sign up for it right now. Damon Welts. I think we got some questions from discord as well from our diehards, our wonderful, wonderful diehards. Yeah, we do.

We have Katie May here who's in the chat. And Katie says, spying on our exes, I haven't heard much about Gino. Any chance he could be signed as our D.H. He was hot with us last year and wouldn't be worse than Pavin or Gritchick last year. A D.H feels so pointless if they can't hit.

Yes, Katie May. I mean, yeah, here we go, spying on our exes. Let's do a little bit of that. Gino's kind of in the same boat as Zach Gowlin. Gino was one of the best pitchers in baseball. Hitters. Or excuse me, hitters.

I'm an idiot. I'm dumb sometimes. One of the best hitters in baseball. And then he wasn't, right? His numbers with Seattle are not great. And I think it also makes it worse that you can actually like look at a comparison very easily as to see what he was doing with the Diamondbacks versus once he was traded to the Mariners. He did bring them a very, very big home.

home run during the playoffs. However, I don't think, I think a lot of teams are very hesitant on Gino because of his age and because of the cost. I imagine that that cost is going to come down, but I cannot imagine him coming to the Diamondbacks now with the Nolan Aeronado trade. I did entertain that idea myself. I thought it might be something that could happen as, you know, as the offseason progresses. And again, maybe prices come down for some of these players. I just think that, again, Gino is too expensive to sign just as a D.H. And most likely, again, off the Diamondbacks radar

once they went out and added a third baseman. I think, again, if you're going to bring in Gino, you do want them to play third base. And that would be now four players on the roster that would essentially be third baseman for this team. So I don't see that happen. Four players. How do you figure?

Nolan Aeronado plays Alexander. and Jordan Lawler. So three and two of them played multiple other positions. Right. I don't think of that's, for me, I think if Gino is anywhere close to Goldie in terms of, you know, we've been thinking Gouldy is going to want like, what, 10 million? If you could get Gino for a little bit more than that for a similarly short deal, I'm 100% interested.

I think that's a better option than Paul Goldschmidt at the points that they are in their career, get Gino back to a place he's stable. I'm interested, truly. I mean, Aeronado is a better defender than Gino, so I don't have any quarrels putting him as the DH. I mean, he's projected to get like $20 million for one season. I just don't think that his market is that right now. It's January 19th. He hasn't really even had a sniff this off season from as far as we can tell from the outside.

I mean, obviously, we don't know how much and, you know, how close he's truly been to signing with the team. But it doesn't feel like his market is that of a, you know, a hot market at all, Derek. It feels like it's completely dead. What's stopping us from doing like one year 14 million or something like that? I mean, I don't know. I mean, there's some rumors linking him to perhaps the pirates and maybe linking him even to Toronto after they missed out on Boba Chet and Kyle Tucker.

But I just can't imagine. I can't imagine the Diamondbacks, again, spending. Because, again, if he's projected to get 20, let's say he doesn't get that. He's not getting less than 15, right? And you don't want to spend $15 million on Gino at this point, especially considering where your roster is at and how you would play him. I mean, he's not a better defender than Nolan Aeronado, a better hitter, but arguably because, again, his numbers last year in the second half were pretty bad with Seattle.

Or do we move him to first? Do we is this is this the geno to first base transition right now? Is that the move? That I don't hate that I don't hate. I mean he's a probably a better defender. The price has to be so much cheaper than than $20 million. Yeah, it does. And I, but I think it is at this point personally.

I mean, again, we don't know what conversations are happening behind closed doors, but he's a better defender than Paving. That's true. That's true. And I mean, I know he can handle first base, so it's not like it's out of the question. What else we have? Our next question comes from Arrow Chain who says, Derek, with no one clear suitor for Gallin, how likely do you think it is slash how good of an idea would it be to bring back Zach Gallen?

I still don't think it's likely because I still think the Diamondbacks stand where they stand with Gallin. I still think that the Diamondbacks as an organization want Gallin to sign somewhere else for $50 million and they get that compensatory draft pick. However, Damon is right. I don't feel comfortable with the starting rotation and the depth that they currently have. So I would not be opposed to Zach Gallen, you know, coming back here, and it would have to be on a Merrill Kelly-type deal. He would have to get like $40 million for two seasons.

I wouldn't want it to be very long-term, nor would I want it to be a very high annual value. So I'm not sure if you'd be interested in that. He did turn down, you know, the qualifying offer, which is more than $20 million per year. but it would give him at least two years of security maybe with an opt-out after the first season. I'm sure he'll sign something like that, but if it's with another team and it's that low, again, we miss out on the draft pick. I am on board, though, with bringing Gallen back, and I don't know how it would factor in.

I don't know what they would do with Michael Soroka. I don't know how spring training would play out, but I do think that this team is better, but Zach Gallen as a part of it. Yeah, I agree. I mean, I think that, you know, we're bargain bin shopping at this point. Absolutely. And these are bigger contracts. But as we've talked about with Ken Kendrick, like, you can convince him to sign a little bit of a bigger contract if it's a shorter term, you know, investment that he's making. And if, you know, it's just too good of a deal to pass up.

So I'm interested in bringing back Gowling, Gino, all these guys just at my price, obviously. But they haven't, clearly they haven't gotten their price. So beggars can't be choosers. Gino, like if you want 12 million into being a place where you like, that offer is standing. He loves it here. He loves it here. Yeah, but I'm not paying you freaking $12 million over three years. It's over one year.

Maybe with an option. We'll see. Like, that's the kind of thing that I'm interested in right now. All right. What else we got? Our next question is from number one D vaccine in Texas who says, how would you fix baseball's big money problems? or if you could give one Dodgers player to a different team in the league

other than us, who would you pick and where? I would put Sho Hay on the Angels. On the Angels. Yep. I'd put Sho Hay on the Angels and he could rot in nothingness

and you could go be on your freaking L.A. team and you could not ruin the sport. Have your new balance deal. Have a great time. How would I fix baseball. I put Clayton Kershaw on another team in our

division so that we still get to face him. Yes. Yes. I mean, I feel like the easiest route here without things being too radical is to not allow the deferred payments anymore. Right. I'm not saying that a team can't come to an agreement with a player that the

huge amount of money they're going to pay them is going to be structured in a deal where they get paid for the next 20 years for a five year deal. That's not what I'm talking about. I am talking about the actual value of that contract, not counting towards their payroll. And I think that we need a cap. I'm totally willing to allow that cap to be an insane amount of money. We could make that cap $300 million, right? We can make the floor $150 million.

That way these teams right now, when we say there are 11, 11 baseball teams, 11 baseball teams paying less money for their entire roster than the Dodgers will pay Kyle Tucker and luxury tax penalties next season. We've said it before. We made it very clear. The team's not spending are a bigger part of the problem than the teams that are. Those teams become minor league systems. for the big spenders in baseball,

and they just keep adding to the lack of parity in baseball. But we have to do something about these deferred deals. I don't care if a team can pay that much money over the course of 500 years. We just can't allow it to be whittled down to Shohei Otani getting $2 million a year. We can't allow that. I know the cap hits way bigger than that.

I'm just saying. We just can't allow the teams to be getting. getting away with the deferred payments and the cap hits being so small. Right. It's just allowing these rich teams to get richer to make more moves. Quite frankly, the Dodgers are getting to an irresponsible point of spending, considering they have no idea what the future of anything is anymore, and they just have billions of dollars committed in the future to paying all of these players.

Right? I think that there is a responsibility on MLB's behalf to actually, keep teams from wrecking of the future of a franchise potentially. So I don't know. I just think that there is a lot. R.A. says

revenue sharing also needs to be fixed. Yeah, that's part of it. The Dodgers signing Kyle Tucker actually gave the Diamondbacks more money to spend. Yay. I can't stand it, but I don't know. Maybe

a floor, maybe a ceiling, and then maybe just maybe stop letting teams defer payments. What else we got, Damon? Was that the last one we got? No, we had one more, Derek. And it is from Ragnar, who's here in the chat and says, who do we think has a better chance against the target giraffe, Damon or Freddie Vernier's Freeman?

I mean, my first thought here is that right away, Freddie Freeman cannot match Damon's level of aggression. He's just too nice. He has too much to live for. Damon has nothing to lose. Exactly. You don't even understand. You never want to get in a fight with a man that has nothing to lose.

100% Derek. Like, Freddie Freeman has endorsement deals. He has a family. He has people who love him. He has fans. He has a baseball career. I bet he has some lovely cars that aren't probably in the shop.

Yeah, he is a car. That's a big one. Wow. But have you taken it? into account the bite force of Freddie veneers Freeman? Well, I mean, no, I didn't. But see, that feels like that would have to get down to a nasty, nasty thing. Like, okay, so I think Freddie Freeman has it in him to go for the drafts like Achilles tendon or whatever they have in their, in their leg, right, with his chompers, right? But Damon's just, I feel like there's going to be a point where Freddie's conflicted because he's fighting this animal that seems innocent. And, and he's going to question, you know, Everything. It's a guy in a suit, but whatever. He's got a question why he's doing this.

Damon will never question ending the giraffe. Damon's primary goal would be to make sure that two men enter one man leaves, and that man is a dog and not a giraffe. Did I nail it? Yes. Is there anything else that I missed on that one? No, I think that's pretty solid, Derek. I think it about covers it.

I appreciate it. I also appreciate people said very nice things about me, calling me a cutie patootie in the chat, and I can't thank you guys enough. I appreciate you. Even if you're lying, thank you for saying nice things. Cool bro sent us some super chats. We appreciate you,

Cool, bro. He said, rest and peace, the lions for hiring petzing. Never been more excited to get a guy out of this state that drew petzing. He also said,

would you rather fight a chicken every time you get into a car or fight a gorilla once a year? Holy crap. Well, like, I feel like a gorilla once a year will end you.

Yeah, you're dead. I guess the chicken. I mean, it's annoying, but I'd rather be like, But is the chicken like the chicken Peter Griffin fights? Is it a man-sized chicken?

Because I don't feel like getting into that every single time I get into my car. That's a lot. Okay. So if we're just talking normal-sized, animal-sized chickens, I guess, man, I feel like with time, that's going to get annoying. But after a while, you're just going to expect it. It's like, once again, Damon and I have been talking about our car issues. It's like when you have a car issue, right? Like when, you know, your suspension is messed up or something, you deal with it.

You don't get it fixed. Like I had, my air conditioning went out on me here in Arizona during the summer. It took me a month and a half to go get it fixed. So that was basically like fighting a chicken every time I got in the car because it was fighting the Arizona heat and the greenhouse effect. So it was very similar. And I will put up with that for only so long, right? But there's going to be a come, there's going to come a time that where I'm going to actually

start questioning, where does this chicken keep coming? from. And why is it that after I defeat it, it keeps coming back the next day? Why hasn't it learned its lesson? Right? So conflicted, but again, guerrilla, I'm dead, chicken, minor convenience. I'm going to go with fighting the chicken. I hope that makes sense to all of you. But I do appreciate you guys so much for being here. We love you guys. We thank you for your questions. As always, Mailbag Monday would not be what it is without you. And as always, your time is your most valuable commodity so we can't thank you enough for spending it with us and sharing a little bit of it with us. We'll be back tomorrow with another 12 p.m. show. Jesse Friedman will be stopping by and we

will be talking more about the moves or lack thereof by this team as we head into pitchers and catchers reporting in less than a month. So make sure to stop by for that. In the meantime, you can follow us on social media. I am at cap underscore caveman with a K. Damon is at Damon dog with a D-A-W-W-G. We are all Damon's dogs. Bark, bark, bark. Our show is at PHNX underscore D-Backs, but as always all roads lead to at PHNX underscore sports on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Thank you guys so much for your time.

Hope you stop by back again tomorrow at 12 p.m. Until then, hope you guys have a wonderful evening. I hope you guys all behave yourselves and remember kids. Baseball is fun, but it's so much more fun when we can finally stop shutting down Ketel-Marté trade rumors.