PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - MLB Pipeline ranks three D-backs in the top 15 of their Top 100 Prospects | PHNX D-backs Podcast

Starting point is 00:00:04 Happy Friday and welcome in to another edition of the PHNX Debax podcast right here on PHNX. My name is Derek Montia. Of course, I am your tribal chief and your mayor, the one and only. This guy can't mute his computer. He's also my wise man and my vice mayor. It turned out the computer was already muted in my defense. And so I was just making sure. And if you try to mute a computer that's already muted, it turns out you unmute the computer.

Starting point is 00:00:36 He's full of excuses. It's the one and only Jesse Friedman. Welcome in and welcome, of course. Happy Friday to you all. This show is brought to you by the fine folks of the Drafking Sportsbook app. America's top-rated sportsbook app. Yesterday, we had MLB pipelines. Very exciting top 100 prospects reveal on the MLB network, which we will get to shortly.

Starting point is 00:00:57 But we have some more news involving the MLB network and an Arizona Diamondback player. Cotel Marte has been ranked the eighth best second base. second baseman in all of baseball by MLB.com. However, MLB Network, who ranked him as the top second baseman in all of baseball prior to last season, won't be fooled again, and they do not have Marte in their top 10.

Starting point is 00:01:23 So, Jesse, I guess, does eight seem a little bit more reasonable for Citele Marte than one? Or are they overvaluing Marte over at MLB.com? Are they much like us? Yeah. I think what is, it says about Marte is that, I mean, there is still some recent performance here that was very, very good, right? Catelle was heard a lot in 2021, but he was a very, very good player. And,

Starting point is 00:01:47 you know, it was about a year ago that the Diamondbacks signed an extension with Cotel Marte. And every Diamondbacks fan was very excited about it because he seemed like a jackpot guy to extend, especially for, I want to say, five years, 76 million. It seemed like a total steal for a player of his caliber. But, you know, we saw the injury bug, you know, hurt his season in a big way in 2022. He still played a decent number of games, but I think it's fair to say that Cattel was not really fully himself for a good portion of the year. I think the hamstring issues held them back defensively. There are a number of questions there. But yeah, I don't think the eighth ranking is necessarily too crazy. You look around the league and there's, there aren't that many elite second

Starting point is 00:02:33 basement in baseball right now. It's just kind of the state of the game. You look around the league, Jose Altuve, probably the clear frontrunner here. Andres Jimenez had an extraordinary season for the Cleveland Guardians last year. He's a guy that hopefully baseball fans will become more acquainted with in the coming years because he deserves all of the flowers in my book for the season that he just had. But after that, you know, Jeff McNeil, 326 batting average last year. That's kind of what he does. He doesn't necessarily, you know, hit for much power. He doesn't walk a ton, but his bat to ball skills are really off the charts. And, you know, after that, I'm not sure there really are any clearly elite second baseman in the game.

Starting point is 00:03:13 That's just kind of where Major League Baseball is right now at that position. It's like his 106 OPS plus, right? He's just good enough to be above average. And that small margin of being better than average is enough to make you, to get you on the top 10 list. I mean, he struggled at times. I still think a lot of it was due to injury, but that seems like a cop out, right? Just to say it's automatically due to injury. You just can't help but notice that that guy, you know, dropped off the way he did last year.

Starting point is 00:03:46 And he just continued to have over the last two years, just a number of injuries that seem to kind of linger and cause him problems. I think Marte is still a key piece to this team. And we both have said that we feel like he is going to rebound this year. To be honest, his numbers last year weren't terrible. They just weren't the guy that the Diamondbacks extended and kind of looked to be the, I guess, the crown jewel of their franchise for the time being. Now with the younger guys coming up, and honestly, with Marte's contract being relatively team friendly, it feels like he's playing adequately enough for him to not be a failure as far as, you know, extending him and having him further be a part of this team, it just still feels like there's untapped potential there that he can.

Starting point is 00:04:31 could get back to. He was just, you know, we said it about Marte. He's a guy that hits 320. And that's kind of a joke we make. But to be honest, that's kind of something. We really believed it going into last year. We really believed it. He seemed like he was going to be that guy again. And I don't know. I think that often we've talked about guys we think are going to rebound in 2023. Mark Malanson has been a name we kind of throw around some of the other guys on this team. I think Christian Walker has the potential to have a very good season after the slow start that he had in 2020. if he can kind of continue on the path he was in the second half. Jake McCarthy as well, he's another guy that if he continues down that path in the second half,

Starting point is 00:05:09 he could be incredibly good for this team next year. The thing about Catelle is we've seen how good he can be. And I think that right there, seeing how good consistently he can be over a season when it isn't, when injuries aren't getting in his way. So I truly believe that next year is going to be probably a season more like what we're used to from Catell, but a season people will rave about because of his, you know, you know, hopefully his ability to bounce back. Yeah, I mean, looking at this contract, which again, I mean, everyone was stoked about this

Starting point is 00:05:39 year ago when it was first signed. So Kutel is due to make $11 million in 2023, which is fine. That's not that much. I believe it would have been $10 million in his previous contract with the new deal that got bumped up to $11 million. $204.13 million, $205, $16 million. That's also true for $2026. Then 2027, it goes down to $14 million.

Starting point is 00:06:00 and then you've got a $13 million club option with a $3 million buyout in 2028. So the number never gets higher than $16 million. The debacks will never be paying Ketel more than $16 million a year. But his defense took a big step back last year. We've talked about that a lot over the off season. And to me, that's almost the thing that's most concerning. I think Ketel's a good enough hitter that I do expect a moderate bounce back this season. if you look at the projections, I think Zips is very high on Ketel-Marte, having an 800, 850 OPS.

Starting point is 00:06:35 I'm not sure I'm quite that bullish after what I saw last year. But the defense is going to be a big question. Because if Ketel-Marte at 29 years old, I want to say, if he's already at the point where he needs to be a DH in this league, that's not what the debacks were signing up for. I don't think they expected Marte's defense to deteriorate that quickly. Tori Lavello talked about it at the winter meetings. He actually was in the Dominican Republic and visited with Cattel. And they talked a little bit about his defense.

Starting point is 00:07:08 And especially with the shift restrictions coming, it's going to put a lot more stress on second baseman in particular. Catell is not going to be able to get bailed out by Nick Ahmed coming over, you know, whatever kind of defensive shifting the Diamondbacks might do. So it's going to put a lot of pressure on him. And if he's the same defender it was last year, potentially disastrous scenario for the debats. Like a potential situation where Ketel just kind of has to DH most of the time

Starting point is 00:07:36 because he's just killing you with his defense at second base. I don't know if he's going to be that bad, but it's going to be interesting to see how the defensive shift restrictions impact that. Also, I don't know if 800 OPS is so crazy over an 800. It's not. No, it's not that crazy. It's an odd year, Jesse. It is an odd year. That's a great point.

Starting point is 00:07:54 In 2019, he had a 981 OPS, 2020, 732. 2021, 909 OPS, 2022, not so hot, 727. So here we are back on an odd year. So I'm guessing he's going to have an OPS around 993.

Starting point is 00:08:12 That's what is OPS. Science. Science. Science. Well, he's not the only extremely highly ranked player on this team. As we talked about a little while ago, MLB Pipeline. release their top 100 prospects list and a very exciting MLB Network special. I enjoyed the way

Starting point is 00:08:32 that they did it. They had me glued to my television set all night long. They really have it figured out. They're like, yeah, we can play as many commercials as we want to in between every five or ten prospects. We don't even need to talk about all five. We'll like throw a couple of guys in there and like, yeah, he's good. Anyway, moving on to these other two guys we know more about. But the D-backs had four prospects in the top 100. Gabriel Moreno being the only one that we've seen on Baseball America's list that isn't on this list or other publications list due to the Toronto Blue Jays kind of screwing, ooh, screwing that up. See how angry I am? I'm smacking my mic about it. The Toronto Blue Jays had him up, not actually playing enough technically, just had him on the main

Starting point is 00:09:12 roster enough for him to lose his rookie status or his prospect status. But they did have the other four guys, the same guys we've seen on Baseball America's list, Brandon Fott, Drew Jones, Jordan Lawler, and Corbyn Carroll. However, Brandon Fott was my. lower and everybody else was kind of extremely high, to be honest. Brandon Fott was 59th. And that's where Jesse and I both kind of, I think, realistically had him ranked a little bit more. That's why Baseball America's ranking of him in the top 30 was a bit surprising. But Brandon Fott is still going to be an excellent pitcher for this organization.

Starting point is 00:09:46 He's going to debut this year. And he's honestly the best pitching prospect that they have, period. And he might be better than some of the guys, even on the main roster right now as we speak. but Drew Jones, Jordan Lawler, and Corbyn Carroll, all in the top 15. Yeah, it's insane. It's absolutely insane. We talked about the Baseball America rankings and how crazy those were the other day. This is almost equally crazy.

Starting point is 00:10:09 Like you said, they don't have Brandon Fogg quite as high. They're not quite as high on his slider in particular. They haven't met at 55 on the 20 to 80 scale for a slider and a 55 in command. On the 20 to 80 scale, both of those numbers were 60 for Baseball America. so you can kind of see where the disparity came from. But yeah, I mean, I was looking at this yesterday. Only 11 of the 30 teams in baseball had even one representative in the top 15. Only 11 teams in baseball.

Starting point is 00:10:38 That's less than half the league had a top 15 prospect. The debacks have three of them, right? It's an insane. It's a little bit top heavy, right? The system's a little top heavy. We're seeing that in these rankings, right? It's Loller Jones and Corbyn Carroll, right, at the top of all these lists. And then you may and may not have Brandon fought depending on the list.

Starting point is 00:10:57 I don't think we're going to see Ryan Nelson, Dre Jameson, Davis and Dela Santos. I don't think we're going to see them in any top 100s this year. So it's a little top heavy, but being top heavy is not the worst thing in the world when you've got the caliber of players that debacks do. And Davidson de los Santos was ranked in the top 10 for third base prospects. He was. He is ranked as far as MLB.com pretty highly on their list as well. That damn Gunner Henderson though.

Starting point is 00:11:23 Yeah, he seems to be the Thorne in our side when it comes to Corby and Carroll getting his flowers at the top. That was exciting to watch as it went down. As Mack Huff pointed out, yes, watching the Pipeline special did go a little bit like, Here's Corbyn Carroll and Jordan Walker and Whopper, Wopper, Wopper, Wopper, Wapper, Wapper. I know Shane's going to love that I did that. That's basically how it went. I was fine, though, because D-Backs were up there. was a lot. Orioles speaking of which I'm very jealous up because they had the most prospects in the in the top 100, including Gundersen at number one overall. But they had eight prospects in the top 100. Very impressive for a team that had a similar bounceback. I think the Diamondbacks, Mets, and the Orioles were the three top teams as far as their improvement from 2021 to 2022. So it's great to see a team like the Orioles not only already kind of coming out of.

Starting point is 00:12:23 it, much like the debacks are, but also having that, you know, amazing, those amazing young prospects in their system ready to go and come up and, you know, slowly make this team better over the next few years, much like we'll see with the debacks. Yeah, we also saw another guy on the, on the Orioles list that was among those eight on the top 100 was Heston Kirstadt. He saw in the fall league. He was the fall league MVP. So, yeah, this is something I'm thinking about potentially writing about is kind of comparing

Starting point is 00:12:51 the diamond backs and the Orioles and where they, Because they've kind of had a similar path the last few years, right? They were both miserable baseball teams in 2021. Both had pretty remarkable bouncebacks last year. Remember how mad we were about Josh Van Meter losing us Elijah Green? Yes. Man, how things change. And now Elijah Green, I think, is 46 on the top one on the list.

Starting point is 00:13:13 I texted you that last night that I was very kind of giddy about how that pivoted in our... Elijah Green's the type of guy who could be the number one prospect in baseball in a couple years. Sure. It's just he... The issue was... with Elijah Green has nothing to do with the ceiling and everything to do with the floor. It's a question of like, is this guy going to swing and miss too much to even really be like a viable majorly kidder?

Starting point is 00:13:34 But the ceiling is still sky high. It's every bit as high as we thought it could be, you know, when we were thinking about that a couple years ago. So I also think like looking ahead to next year, could Jordan Lawler be sort of the Corbyn Carol of this year where he's in the top one, two, or three of prospect list next year? I could see that. If Jordan Lawler comes out this season has a big year, maybe he gets to the majors at the end of the season,

Starting point is 00:14:00 not impossible. I could see a scenario where we're talking next off season, and Jordan Lawler is number one, number two, number three, you know, in at least that top five of some of these lists. MLB pipeline and MLB.com or the MLB network, they were very, very complimentary of the Arizona Diamondbacks, even though they don't have as many prospects as some of the other teams that do have a lot of prospects in the top.

Starting point is 00:14:23 100. Oriel's, like I said, had the most with eight guardians and Dodgers were tied with the second most with seven each, the Diamondbacks, with their four prospects. But according to the piece by MLB Pipeline, Arizona boasts arguably the best big four of any prospect group this year. Yeah. And again, if that isn't something that gets you excited, then check your pulse. I don't know what else, at least for the future of this team, would be more exciting than hearing the those words. I mean, maybe having eight like the Orioles did and kind of, you know, still contending. I think the Orioles ended with a plus 500 record, but they did speak about the Arizona. They're a little ahead of the D-Backs right now. I think most people would say. But not too far off.

Starting point is 00:15:08 And their division is possibly even more miserable than the Diamondbacks division. But they did speak about the Arizona outfield being a no-fly zone in the future as far as once they have Drew Jones. And I'll even throw a bold prediction out there, a bullish take, as Jesse would say, but I will say that the next time we get this top 100 prospects ranking, not midseason, but at this time next year, I wouldn't be surprised to see Drew Jones actually be the Arizona's top prospects

Starting point is 00:15:35 surpassing Jordan Lawler. Yeah, I think there's a very possible, it is very possible if the Diamondbacks could have both Jones and Lawler in like a top five next year. That wouldn't surprise me. Because we haven't even seen Drew Jones play a professional game yet, and we've only seen one full, professional season of Jordan Lawler. And it's really hard for guys to be in the top, you know, top

Starting point is 00:15:58 five when they haven't really played much above A ball, right? And that's kind of where Jordan Lawler is right now. We saw him in the fall league. We saw him a little bit in double A, but he kind of struggled there. If he's able to prove some things this season, he really could move up, move up those lists in a big way. Brett Johnson in the comments says also, how happy are y'all that Miggy Montero is back? That's a very exciting thing. I'm very excited about Miggy Montiero being back. I loved Miguel Montero. He was around when I first started covering this team. And there was just something as a new journalist, if you want to call me that, that was, he was very comforting to speak to Miguel Montero.

Starting point is 00:16:36 Sometimes it's intimidating to talk to some of these guys and especially doing game recaps where you're coming at him after a loss and expecting them not to be fired up or take your questions, defense to your questions, right? Miguel Montero was always kind of a calming voice in the clubhouse. and it was always a pleasure to be around him. So it's great to have him back. And honestly, it's great to have guys back, you know, as members of the organization now that are no longer playing ball that, you know, are working for the Diamondbacks. I know it's an absolute pleasure to see Luis Gonzalez

Starting point is 00:17:06 and Randy Johnson around the ballpark all the time. Yeah. You know, I mean, that's... The backs love their former players. Yeah, so do we. We do, too. Yeah, I think everyone does. Gonzo is the man.

Starting point is 00:17:17 And I'll, like, you know, I remind you the fact that one day he let me cut line at Dutch brothers. Like, who does that? Who lets people cut line at Dutch pros? An absolute baby angel. That's who. But I'm going to need Jesse. I'm going to need you because you're always criticizing our dog noises. I need you to give me your best bark, Jesse.

Starting point is 00:17:36 Roof. Oh, that's pretty good, actually. It at least sounded like a dog. I wasn't expecting you to like really try, but that was good. That was really good. That was more of an overdog than an underdog. Why don't you doubt me, Dad? I don't know.

Starting point is 00:17:47 I don't know. Why you doubt me? because I haven't heard about you winning one thing on underdog fantasy, and that's why I doubt you. But underdog fantasy, of course, does daily fantasy differently. Grab five of your friends, get together, pick some teams, and win some cold hard cash, the highest scoring squad for that night, wins that money.

Starting point is 00:18:07 You can draft six NBA players with no positional limits, and that's it. Then you just go stats and points, fantasy points, and see who wins. It's a fun time because I don't like getting involved. an entire seasons of anything. I am a fantasy football person at the most, and even that lasts way too long for me. They added an extra game to the season?

Starting point is 00:18:28 What the hell? You would not survive fantasy baseball. No, I wouldn't. I barely survived a fantasy hockey season one time, and I had no business playing that. But the best part about this is you can get down on a fantasy for a night instead of an entire season. You can also get down on their pickums games,

Starting point is 00:18:44 higher, lower on a wide variety of stats. and different categories for you to choose from, and the more that you add, the more money you can win. It's this easy to get started to. Go over to underdog fantasy.com or download the app, sign up with promo code PHNX, and Underdog will match your first deposit up to $100. And like Brett Johnson says,

Starting point is 00:19:06 pitch count bets till we die. Let's go. Easy, easy. It's easy money over at the Underdog Fantasy app. Ford Peaks Brewing Company, by the way, we wanted to once again give our thanks. We had a blast over there on Wednesday, chicken tendies and beers all over the place. Their new beers were great.

Starting point is 00:19:23 Make sure to try those out before they run out because they were already out of the recreational juice tank IPA, which makes me sad. I wanted to try it. But you can still try their staccation super juicy IPA. And more importantly, you can get down on the Super Bowl over at Four Peaks Brewing Company. We'll also be there every last Wednesday of the month. So if you didn't catch us this Wednesday, catch us next month. Their patio is glorious. Their patio is so good.

Starting point is 00:19:45 It's just so nice inside. Personal story. I really bundled up, Jesse really bundled up, and we overshot it a little bit. We were a little too warm for the patio out there because it's Phoenix. It turns out 62 degrees is not synonymous with a Chicago winter, which is what we were all prepared for. We were in the sunshine. It was kind of beautiful out. You know, there was lots of things there to be.

Starting point is 00:20:07 I wore a North Face puffer jacket. He did. He did. I saw it. I saw it. In about five minutes and I was like, what the hell happened? Yeah, I believe while he was showing me that, I was putting up the sunshade over my table so that way I could block the sun out of my face. But yeah, like Jesse said, Four Peaks Brewing Company, patio is beautiful. A bunch of places to have the Super Bowl with your friends or just go out there for lunch, whatever. And if you can't make out the Four Peaks, grab their beer, wherever you eat your beer here in the valley.

Starting point is 00:20:34 They are, come on. Let's shop local brands and let's support Four Peaks Brewing Company. Of course, must be 21 or over to enjoy it and enjoy responsibly. People are really complimentary My bark Yeah your bark was good I'm telling you Although Gabriel said that sounded

Starting point is 00:20:48 Like my dog Which is sad I like Kenneth Felix Kenneth Felix said Jesse's got that dog in him So I appreciate that cat I can't attest This guy does have that dog

Starting point is 00:21:00 Jesse you a big DMX fan Yeah That's what everyone's saying I know I was kind of a small puppy No That's pretty on brand All right

Starting point is 00:21:09 But we actually are of course, not only your leading source of barks for Arizona Diamondbacks News, but we're your leading source of jersey information and hat information. We pride ourselves on that, and we actually have some new information. Again, much like the spring training hat, unconfirmed. We have no confirmation from the team. But according to some information I was sent from a source, the D-backs are going to be utilizing the A logo once again this season as their primary logo with the red and teal. And this is you can check out their Twitter account and you'll see that they have up there at the top They've changed it to that guy that guy's all over the place Jesse

Starting point is 00:21:48 I like you're so you're saying that one's here to stay This isn't just like they're gonna do that for spring training or something and then switch it back This is their 25th anniversary So I have been told that they have a lot of stuff coming in to celebrate the 25th anniversary And I think that the direction that they're gonna go with this is that this is going to be like the The the mending of the two generations you're gonna have the Sedona Red and the Teal. I know that it's been very popular, especially this version of it,

Starting point is 00:22:15 even though it does look a little bit like the Miami Marlins stuff, I'll admit. But I just love it. I think it pops on the jersey. I think all together it looks pretty good. Marlins don't really have red. No, no, no, no. It's not the red. It's just the outline of blue and the...

Starting point is 00:22:28 And the teal is pretty much the same. Pretty close, yeah. But a fun fact, by the way, about that A logo. It was designed by Campbell Fisher Ditko, a Phoenix-based graphic firm. graphic design firm who also designed the streaking Suns logo that the Suns are using again this year, the ones from the mid-90s. And fun fact, it's also the design firm that designed the PHNX Suns's logo that they currently use on PHAXSons.

Starting point is 00:22:55 Really? Yes. Did he design our PHNXDX logo? He did not. No, sadly. No, no. I wish he did, though, because that would be very exciting. We also have some other unconfirmed information in regards to that A and the Jersey. we've been informed that the only white jersey the D-BACs will be wearing from last season is this teal kit design,

Starting point is 00:23:15 which is currently listed as their alternate one kit, their first alternate. So this will be the D-BAC's primary home uniform for the year, unconfirmed. I don't know if they'll use that hat. They might use the A-hat with this combination. But regardless, I think that's a slick look. I've always thought this was the nicest-looking home jersey. I had, honestly. I ranked it very high.

Starting point is 00:23:39 things where like you get a little tired of like in a situation in some ways you want like the really cool uniform to be kind of a rare thing like oh they're wearing that really cool jersey today like if you wore it every day then maybe it wouldn't be a special but i personally know the belief that like this has always been kind of their their best home uniform at least over the last few years and so yeah use it every day like it i think it's really cool and um i know people of course are clamoring for for the purple and teal to come back i think unfortunately that's that's that's That's just not going to happen. But bringing the teal back in is kind of the compromise that I think they're making with fans.

Starting point is 00:24:17 And I don't know if fans are necessarily satisfied with that. But I do like it. I do think it's a really good look for them. I will say this, interestingly enough, I've gotten some information that within the organization, they were very surprised that people hated the Sedona Red and Sand as much as they did. I think they really thought that it was going to be like a unique thing here in the NL West with no other red teams. Yeah. And the NL West and that people were going to enjoy having that difference from the Colorado Rockies also sharing the purple with us.

Starting point is 00:24:48 I have a couple ideas for jerseys. And I know it's too late to get them in for this season. But I would love to see a jersey with no buttons, just like a shirzy, you know, with the VNAC, maybe the A logo on the side or even the Los Dbacks one, which I think is really cool. But because it has more words, I think it might look good without the split. down the middle, if I'm, if I'm being frank. I'd also love like, okay, you're not going to bring back the purple and the teal, right? No, I don't think so. Can we bring back maybe the pinstripe best look?

Starting point is 00:25:18 Maybe can we bring back a new version of that? Like do it, make it look like the old one, but do it in this color scheme of the Sedona Red and the teal and the black. I feel like in, and yeah, I mean, we don't have any information on this yet. But if the debacks are embracing like a let's go back to the roots, right? like let's merge the modern debacks look with with where it started back in 98. I feel like there's a lot of room for them to do something like that where they have, I don't know, maybe it's a throwback Thursday thing like they did in the past where they like fully, fully embrace like what the uniforms used to look like.

Starting point is 00:25:53 They haven't done the throwback Thursday thing in a few years, which as we talked about yesterday is still sort of baffling to me. But yeah, there's a lot of room for them to, I don't know, kind of bring it back to the old days of what fans used to really enjoy, even if that's not going full on back to purple and teal. Nicholas in the comments that I want to see a primary black jersey with the TLA, kind of like how they did with the Lose-Dbex jersey from a while back. Yeah, that Los Debex jersey, that's one I was talking about.

Starting point is 00:26:21 Yeah. It just pops on the black with the maroon and then the teal outline. That looks great. It would be great. It would be great to see them do something just different. You know, just try to be different. Well, they did something pretty different. Well, here was that 14?

Starting point is 00:26:35 2014. Oh, yeah. Oh, they were different. Yeah, gradient patterns. Now we just have them on our bald heads is all we have. But another interesting fact that came from my source at the team shop is I did, I was told that there is a slight chance that we might see some sort of change next year because there's basically like a, it's not business as usual as far as like the designs

Starting point is 00:26:57 and stuff. It really feels like there might be more like brand new stuff coming in next year. So I thought we might see. I thought we might see it this year. I thought this, the 25th anniversary was the biggest, the most appropriate time to see it. But who knows? I mean, maybe now would be a great time or maybe next year, you know, whenever. I don't care.

Starting point is 00:27:15 It's always a good time for teal and purple. So thank you guys, by the way, for being here. If you haven't already done, so make sure to subscribe to the PHNX YouTube channel. Sign up for notifications. That way you don't miss when we go live or any of our other shows go live. And if you're listening to us right now on your favorite audio podcasting app, please subscribe to us there. So leave us a review. We always appreciate your feedback.

Starting point is 00:27:37 Brett, I am going to continue to you. Oh, yeah. Brett, you're absolutely right. That was 2016. Hashtag join the evolution. Join the evolution. But it's weird to me that that's still like the primary jersey you find when you look up DBAX jerseys.

Starting point is 00:27:50 Yeah, there are a lot of people who still think the DBAX uniforms are terrible because those jerseys are like forever ingrained in their minds. I personally, I didn't dislike them that much at the time. I remember thinking that the gray was too dark. But I was one of the few who actually thought they were okay at the time and I genuinely think the team's uniforms are great now. That's just me. Nicholas digs the shirt and I dig Nicholas. MacHuff says the black Serpientish jersey.

Starting point is 00:28:15 It was a giveaway jersey last year. They should. I agree with that. The swapping of it where it's black with the words in beige was hot. Yeah, they really should. Yeah. I don't even know why they made that just to tantalize us. Just to be like this is what it could look like, but we're not giving it to you.

Starting point is 00:28:31 Also, if you haven't done so already, sign up for a PHNX diehards membership. Get Jesse's wonderful writing no matter if it's unlocked or locked behind the paywall. I'll also get the wonderful writing from Gerald Craig and all of our other writers Howard as well. We also have a free t-shirt, free hat, free piece of merchandise from the PHNX Locker.com. You can get this amazing shirt from the PHNX Locker.com as your free shirt or this hat that I'm wearing. I'm wearing all the merch. You get 20% off as well on all your future orders. You also get 20% off events and other discounts from our partners.

Starting point is 00:29:04 You get members only merch, members only discounts, all sorts of stuff. Members only access to our Discord, members only events, and so much more. So make sure to sign up for a diehard's membership over at go phtonx.com. We appreciate you. Whether you are a member or not, we appreciate you, but we love you even more for becoming a nut, die hard. And of course, whether you're a diehard or not a diehard, you need to send Jesse Friedman your ideas for what furniture he needs for his house. for more furniture because this is getting exhausting. Jesse, again, just believes strongly in the chase lounges.

Starting point is 00:29:37 He asked me if they make like an outdoor chase lounge and I was like, no. And then he sent me like 15 pictures. Oh, they absolutely make out to hurt chase lounges. I was like, why would you even want that? And he said, Derek, chase lounges in every room. But whether he gets those or not, he's going to be able to have them delivered by more furniture.com. But I really think he should get some more stuff.

Starting point is 00:29:58 Visit more furniture on the crossroads of 45th Street McDowell and use promo code PHNX to get free delivery and installation on any purchase of $99 or more. This is not available online, so make sure to visit that specific location at 44th Street McDowell for that discount. This is a limited time offer only that is valid until January 31st exclusively for our pHNX listeners. So take advantage now. Go get your house spruced up just in time.

Starting point is 00:30:24 Maybe in time for the Royal Rumble tomorrow. Maybe in time for the Super Bowl next weekend. Whatever, whatever your cup of tea is. I'm trying to cover my whole audience, and I know my audience. But regardless, go to check out more furniture.com. Before we get out of here, Jesse and I just wanted to once again say how much we really, really miss Zach Granky. Zach Granky remains a free agent.

Starting point is 00:30:45 And of course, that's not right. Somebody should snatch Zach Granky up. I think the pitching ninja, aka Rob Friedman yesterday on Twitter, dedicated his account to Granky maybe to help him get picked up by a team. but it was fun to reminisce and go through all of the, all the weird times that we had with Zach Granky. And if nothing more, I told Jesse,

Starting point is 00:31:05 I've had to, like, cover my mouth from laughing very hard at Zach Granky in the comments he makes and how funny he just naturally is as a person. But the most fascinating thing to me about him is he's not even trying most of the time. Like the Granky last name thing during Players Weekend where that was his nickname, I don't even think he was trying to be funny. I literally think he was just like,

Starting point is 00:31:26 what do you want on the back of your? Jersey, Zach, and he's like, Granky. I mean, it's the most Zach Granky response possible to that question. It's completely on brand. But, of course, we went through memory lane a little bit. Friedman posted gifts and quotes

Starting point is 00:31:43 from Granky, including a gift showing Zach Granky's career fastest strike at a hundred point four miles per hour and his slow strike at 51.5 miles an hour. Honestly, the 100.4 surprises me a little bit more.

Starting point is 00:31:57 Because I mean, we've seen the Ephis pitch before. We've seen that, we've seen, I mean, 51.4. I mean, that's, that's pretty insane. But to imagine Zach Granky throwing over 100 miles an hour is just absolutely frightening. And I know early in his career, he did have like mid-up upper 90s stuff. I don't think he was like sitting 100 or anything. I don't think he was sitting 99. But even just one pitch from Zach Granky that was over 100 miles an hour is, is insane.

Starting point is 00:32:25 Because he has this reputation as, as, as. is like a command artist, right? Is a guy who doesn't necessarily get you with stuff. He gets you with finesse. It's like, no, not really. Like when Zach Rankie was young, he threw over 100 miles an hour at a time when very few pitchers actually did that, right?

Starting point is 00:32:41 So, yeah, I mean, he's an absolute treasure of a human being and, of course, a major league pitcher. So hopefully we get to see one more year, at least, he's a treasure of a human being. He's a treasure of a human being who one time in 2009 took on Chipotle. And I mean, not all heroes wear capes, right? Some of them wear baseball uniforms. And the reason why that quote is so special to be is because of how it ended.

Starting point is 00:33:08 Zach Granky was asked about the guacamole at Chipotle. And Granky said this. He said, I like the guacamole. Now, I don't really love the guacamole. So I get it when I feel like it. They change their guacamole from $1.50 to $1.80. I mean, $1.50 is already pretty darn high. so they change it to $1.80 and I'll never get guacamole again.

Starting point is 00:33:30 And then he finished it off by saying, it's not about the guacamole itself. I just don't want to let them win. This man is a competitor, whether he is eating lunch, whether he is ribbing his friends and ribbing the media, as Jesse and I both can attest to, or if he's just attacking someone on the mound during a baseball game. But he's not wrong because here we are 14 years later. And the guacamole Jesse at Chipotle is currently $1.95. I'm surprised it's not more honestly.

Starting point is 00:33:59 I'm surprised it's not more honestly. With how crazy inflation is been, I don't generally get guacamole at restaurants because I mean, that's honestly on the cheaper end. Like $1.95, I feel like it's kind of reasonable for guacamole at this point. I feel like most Mexican joints are well past that at this point. Because they want to bring you like a bowl of guacamole, even though it's understood in this scenario that I just wanted guacamole on my burrito. Right.

Starting point is 00:34:23 Or I just wanted a side of it for these three. tacos I have, I don't want a shareable bowl that you can bring to the table. That's not what the point of this is. But guess what? They're going to charge you the same anyway. So you might as well get the shareable bowl is what I'm saying. The most beautiful part of that story, though, is that Zach Ranky's career earnings are over a quarter of a billion dollars. Correct.

Starting point is 00:34:44 Or most all time. Yeah. Approaching half a billion dollars, really. According to baseball reference, it says 330 million, but there's a couple years here that are blank. So I think it's more than $330 million. So, yeah, the fact that a guy who's made that much money is scoffing, paying a $1.80 for his guacamole. Makes me feel good about myself.

Starting point is 00:35:08 It's incredible. It's incredible. Jesse Granky also told the same reporter who wrote this article back in 2009, a very important quote. And I want you to reflect at times how I've changed your life, how I have helped make your life better. because Granky, when pestered by this reporter, told the reporter, you're not allowed to write about me if you haven't seen the Shawshank Redemption. See it and then get back to me. So you're welcome, Jesse.

Starting point is 00:35:36 You're welcome that you're now allowed to cover Zach Granky because I have cultured you by making you watch movies. Speaking of which, we need to give Jesse his next movie assignment. So we are open to any and all suggestions. We'll put a tweet out there. We'll pass the Christmas movies. Yeah, we are, yeah, die hard. Die hard.

Starting point is 00:35:53 Die hard. was the end-all be-all of Christmas movies. So we put a bow on that. But whatever your suggestions are, baseball movies, football movies, maybe movies that don't have anything to do with sports, that'll really blow his mind. Because I don't know if he's ever seen movies that don't involve sports. Shoshang Redemption.

Starting point is 00:36:10 Yeah, Shasheng Redemption. There's baseball in it, right? Yeah, got you. All right. Well, make sure, like I said, to tweet us your ideas or leave it here in the chat. We always love hearing you. But make sure, if you haven't done so already,

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Starting point is 00:36:56 Minimum age and eligibility restrictions apply. See show notes for details. I also took some NBA action. They had an odds boost tonight for if I think it was the Milwaukee Bucks winning and the Golden State Warriors winning. And they're both favorites in their game. Seems like a no-brainer. We'll see if I'm back here on Monday, you know,

Starting point is 00:37:15 talking about how much money I won. But I do know regardless of if I win or lose, I'm going to save money. Just like Zach Granky on guacamole by not purchasing it, I'm going to save money by waiting until the last minute to buy my tickets at game time. Of course. That Granky would definitely use the game time. Oh, 100%.

Starting point is 00:37:30 See, Zach Granky is a man of culture and class. And Zach Granky knows that he's a very busy man. There's no way he can make plans what six months in advance. Like I'm supposed to know already that I'm going to go to Pink in September at Chasefield. I might be 10 by then. I can't invest in tickets this early. So I'm going to wait until the last minute. I'm going to go see Pink at Chase Field by saving 60% the day of the concert.

Starting point is 00:37:55 And I'm going to be a happy guy. And you can too save up to 60% on tickets when you buy them. Last minute, it doesn't matter. Concerts, movies, or not movies, I guess they are on movies, but shows, stuff out of gamage, all sorts of things. Sporting events, of course. And the best way to support us is by buying your tickets through the link in the description. We got some ideas here.

Starting point is 00:38:14 Kenneth Felix says make Jesse watch ready to rumble. And that's probably the best idea of anybody so far. Brett Johnson says watch Little Big League. Little Big League is one of my favorite. Like, I don't even classify it as a kid's baseball movie. You can be a full grown adult and see it for the first time and enjoy the hell of that movie. And it stands up. There's a number of baseball movies that are still on the list.

Starting point is 00:38:37 Yeah. Oh, yeah. We got to make sure Jesse watches everyone. Maybe that's where we go. Gabriel has Goodfellas on there. I just don't know if Jesse ready for Goodfellas yet. I mean, he did make it all the way through Shoshang Redemption. Can we talk about Gabriel's earlier comment about?

Starting point is 00:38:49 He said the day they charged me for ranch I'll burn the establishment down to the ground But my question is we're talking about Chipotle here Do you get ranch from Chipotle? Look don't judge the man Don't judge the man What would you put I've gotten ranch on the chicken burrito before

Starting point is 00:39:06 That's prisonable That's a prisonable offense No No absolutely not Absolutely not You guys are just painting yourself into a corner I think they're doing you a favor By charging for ranch because they're trying to like

Starting point is 00:39:17 discourage you like are you You know who charges for ranch? You know who doesn't charge for ranch but puts it on a burrito or a wrap? Salad and go, Jesse. Salad and go. They have several wraps that are wrap like a burrito that they put ranch in. Yeah, but it's not, it's not same is Chipotle. Chipotle and salad and go, not really comparable.

Starting point is 00:39:35 You can get a salad at Chipotle. This is crazy talk. That's true. I feel insane. This is how he makes me feel. He makes me feel old and crazy and I hate it here. But you guys make me feel better. All right.

Starting point is 00:39:48 Gabriel says ranch from anywhere, but I'll chug ranch. All right, well, we need to get video of that. Ranch is one of the better condiments. Like, of all the American condiments, ranch is one of the better ones. Yeah, all right. I'm not going to argue with that. I put ranch on a lot of stuff. So I guess we do agree on something before we go.

Starting point is 00:40:05 But if you guys agree that we are an enjoyable podcast, make sure to subscribe to us everywhere you do that as well. Follow us on Twitter. I'm at Kapp underscore K-man with a K. This guy's at Jesse Ed Friedman. Our show is at PHNX underscore D-Backs. We are so close to 5,000. So any support you can offer us there, we would appreciate it.

Starting point is 00:40:24 And we have a bunch of stuff to give away, by the way. So let's hit 5K and give some stuff away. Of course, all roads lead to at PHNX underscore sports on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. We thank you guys, again, so much for being here. Happy Friday to you all on behalf of this guy who has not seen enough movies. Damon behind the mic and myself, we always appreciate your time. and remember kids, baseball is fun, but it's so much more fun when Catelle Marte is the best second baseman in baseball.

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