PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - Parade envy

Starting point is 00:00:07 And welcome to another edition of the PHNX D-Backs podcast right here on PHNX. My name, of course, is Derek Montia. You guys know me as your mayor of PHNX. And this guy with me here today, you know him as the vice mayor of PHNX, the one and only thunderstick Jesse Friedman. Derek, this is our last audio podcast ever question. Well, you don't, don't tell the audio listeners that. They don't have to know. It's going to be seamless for them.

Starting point is 00:00:36 They're still going to hear us. They're still going to be a podcast available for them. You can't, you can't do that. There's some people that do not want to look at us, Jesse. There's some people that cannot drink all of this in in one glass, if you know what I'm saying. So they can only stand to listen to us. And that's not going to change. You are still going to get us as an audio podcast five days a week.

Starting point is 00:00:58 So if you listen to us on your drive or at your job, wherever you listen to us, we appreciate you doing so and you're going to continue to get us. But viewers, the viewers, are going to get a special treat next week, Jesse. They are going to get us five days a week. And I don't know if they're ready for that. I don't know if we're ready for that. But I am excited for it.

Starting point is 00:01:18 And of course, this show, whether it's live or recorded or audio or video, it doesn't matter. It's brought to you by the fine folks at the Draft King Sportsbook. Download the Draft King Sportsbook app now and get down on the action. The Draft King Sportsbook is America's number one rated sportsbook app. Jesse, the Arizona Diamondbacks are in Colorado preparing for a three-game series with the Rockies. And they are actually there during a pretty fun time where they are actually, there's a championship parade going on today. Our very own Michaela Perkins is out there.

Starting point is 00:01:57 The Colorado Avalanche are celebrating their Stanley Cup victory. All of our friends at DNVR are out there drinking malort for. some reason. I still don't get that connection and having themselves a blast. But more importantly, it just makes me think, Jesse, of how I long for a championship parade. It wasn't that long ago, Jesse Friedman, that we were celebrating our very own championship with our own parade here in Phoenix, Arizona. And man, it's wild to look back upon that now to think, Jesse, there was 300,000 people in attendance at the Arizona Diamondbacks Championship Parade. That's a lot of people playing hooky from work to go watch the Arizona Diamondbacks hoist that trophy up around downtown.

Starting point is 00:02:48 I mean, I think I'm pretty sure I was a toddler at the time. So I don't have a whole lot of personal recollection from this moment. But from people who were there, I remember hearing stories about how, correct me if I'm wrong, You would probably know. Was it like extraordinarily hot when they did the parade? It would have been in November, I think. God, yes. Yeah, it was like, it was that, you know,

Starting point is 00:03:13 it was that unpredictable fall heat. I mean, it wasn't that bad. It could have, it could have taken place at a much worse time. Absolutely. It could have taken place, you know, earlier in October when we still don't have that like fall, cool down a bit. But yes, it was very hot.

Starting point is 00:03:30 day and uh but we didn't care people didn't care yeah we were we were cooled we were cooled by our first major championship is what we were cooled by uh and it was amazing it was amazing but diamond backs in colorado uh hopefully hey maybe seeing that that parade going on and all of those people celebrating uh might rub off on them a little bit is something that they also want in their future but they are in colorado taking on the rockies in a series that we have called winnable. The Rockies right now are right on the Diamondbacks heels. These two teams are nearly neck and neck in records and performance this year, honestly. The Rockies still kind of trying to claw their way back from an early start that took a pretty quick downturn for them. And,

Starting point is 00:04:21 and, you know, they're getting back on track themselves. Yeah, I mean, these teams are only separated by a game at this point. So I don't want to make this series sounds super dramatic, but, you know, please do. You got it. It's all on the line, Jesse. Every, everything is on the line. Stewart die, Jesse.

Starting point is 00:04:41 In Denver, exactly, exactly. No, I mean, the Diamondbacks have a one game lead over the Rockies right now in the NL. West. Debacks, of course, are in four. And the All-City Division. And the All-City Division. That is the most important thing, of course, at the end of the day. So yeah, I think there is some importance to this series.

Starting point is 00:05:03 The Diamondbacks, an interesting storyline here, of course, is Zach Davies is now on the injured list. So the debacks have some shuffling to do with their starting rotation, even though Dallas Kichel is here. They theoretically have a need for another starter. But they do scoot around that in this series, just given the fact that they have an off date today on Thursday. So they have lined up, Derek. It's the Friday game is Merrill Kelly. The Saturday game is Dallas Kichel. And then Zach Allen is the starter on Sunday.

Starting point is 00:05:36 The debacks just moved everyone up because of the off day. But it appears that on July 5th, that's going to be the first day that the diamondbacks have no choice, based on my calculation. So I have no choice but to get a starter from somewhere else. It sounds like from what we heard from Tori Lavello, that will probably be someone internal from the minor league system somewhere. So there are some different options there that they might look at.

Starting point is 00:06:02 But for this series, they won't feel the lack of Zach Davies, if you will, because they're sort of able to scoot around that with the off day. And this is a week that's important for them to get their rest, obviously. They haven't had a week like this all season long where they had two off days in the same week, I don't believe. And they also need it. going forward with this stretch against the NL West. So I hope they got their rest.

Starting point is 00:06:28 And I hope they, you know, definitely use their off days to, to get themselves just right. You know, this, this team has been running a marathon for this first half of the season. When you look back at some of their, uh, their weeks, their schedule, it's been rigorous, you know, and they,

Starting point is 00:06:44 yeah, they had a lot of games against the Dodgers and very good teams early on. And, you know, there's, there's, there's a very tough stretch ahead like we've discussed. but splitting the series with the Padres was a great start. It would have been great to sweep that series, but the offense disappeared.

Starting point is 00:07:01 So again, hopefully the off day can help them get back on track hitting-wise because they will need it in Colorado. I'm sure the- That's a pretty good place to go. Yeah, if you're in the middle of an offensive slump, there are worse places to go than Denver, Colorado. For sure, for sure.

Starting point is 00:07:19 So hopefully they can get back on track because it's, you know, It is a tough stretch. They do play the Rockies twice, so that it's, you know, not only is it important within the NL West and the All-City Division, but it's just important for the Diamondbacks to, again, try to capitalize on playing some of these teams that they have a good chance to beat, right? I mean, they had a nice showing there against the Padres in game one.

Starting point is 00:07:47 However, not to take anything away from their six-run comeback, it was aided greatly by a lot of guys getting hit and put on base and walked by the bullpen and not with their own bats, right? Even the walk-off hit itself wasn't a walk-off hit. It was a walk-off fielder's choice that didn't record it out, but somehow didn't give Christian Walker a hit recorded for the game. So I don't know if I'm as excited about that first win against the Padres, but it's, you know, you'll take it however you can get it, right?

Starting point is 00:08:24 And that's something that the diamondbacks haven't had luck fall their way a lot lately. It's nice to see in a game like that just the bad things that happen in the game happening to, you know, the opposition instead of it happening to the diamondbacks all the time, right? They're going to need that good luck on their side, though, to continue because if their bats don't get right, they are not, they're not going to have a very easy time against this NLS that has been having no problems producing runs at all. Yeah, I mean, the debacks are, they're 34 and 42 at this point, Derek. And it's sort of crazy.

Starting point is 00:09:02 I mean, the All-Star break is only two weeks away, a little over two weeks away, I guess, at this point. So we're almost, and they're also five games away from being at the official half point of the season. So, you know, there are some big milestones in this season that are just around the corner, which is crazy because it's where it feels like the season. season started like a couple weeks ago. And here we are and it's like almost halfway over already.

Starting point is 00:09:25 Right. But the Diamondbacks are, I mean, they're 34 and 42. And something I was looking at as I was writing a piece earlier today is with a diamond backs record after 76 games last year. You want to know what it was, Derek, what the Diamondbacks, what their record was last year at this point? After 76 games, I'm going to guess. What do you think?

Starting point is 00:09:48 20 and 56. You're very close. They were 21 and 55. That was the record last year at this time, which is, I mean, it's crazy considering that I think they started the year like 15 and 14. And somehow they wound up 21 and 55. May and June were rough to say the least last year.

Starting point is 00:10:09 We were just awful. I remember at the All Star break last year, they had won, I want to say 25, 20, yeah, 25 games, right? Sounds about it. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:10:21 So the fact that they could potentially not, and that's not, this isn't a big stretch, this isn't like crazy to say they don't have to go on some sort of enormous winning streak here on this stretch between now and the All Star Break. They could conceivably be up 20 games from where they were last year at the All Star Break. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, there are 13 games ahead. right now. So getting to 20 by then would be, that would be ambitious, but it's, it's not impossible.

Starting point is 00:10:53 Well, okay. So it's like, they need like 10 more wins and they have like 20, close to 20, like 21 games left, right? I mean, 19 games left. So yeah, they'd have to come out over 500 over this stretch against NL West, which isn't, isn't easy to say at the least. But they could be very close, if not at 20 wins more this season than they were at this same point last season. So that's, see, that's the kind of thing that I understand there's a lot of frustrations with this team this season. I understand there's a lot of people that for a stretch thought that they might be seeing a potential team that could sneak into the playoffs.

Starting point is 00:11:34 But you have to be happy with the comeback player of the year here. You got to be happy. If the Diamondbacks can somehow find themselves up at the end of the season with 25 to 30 more wins than they had last season, we're headed in the right direction, right? And that's really what we're looking for at this point is that kind of progress and not necessarily progress. It's validated by a playoff spot. Yeah. Yeah. No, that's absolutely true.

Starting point is 00:12:07 I mean, it's a huge difference where they are now compared to, where they were last year. And I just looked it up at the all-star break last year, the Diamondbacks were 26 and 66. So being at 20 more wins, that would be 46 wins, which the Diamondbacks are currently 12 away from. So be a little ambitious to get 12 wins between now and the All-Star break, which is a little more than two weeks away.

Starting point is 00:12:30 But it is possible. And I mean, either way, even if it's 15 more wins than where they were last year at that point, that's going to be a normal. And what I'm writing about right now, which I'll give a little spoiler. This should be out hopefully by the time that you, that you listen to this, is that I think the fact that the Diamondbacks have been healthy this year is a huge contributor to that difference between last year and this year. It's really mind-boggling to go back and look at just how decimated they were by injuries,

Starting point is 00:13:02 losing, you know, four-fifths of their starting rotation at the same time at one point. And even though the debacks have had their in their injuries, injury issues this year for sure. You know, they've not only been more equipped to deal with them, but there have just been way fewer. The Diamondbacks have not been nearly as decimated this season. So that's been a huge difference. Absolutely.

Starting point is 00:13:24 And make sure to sign up for a membership at go phtnx.com to read that piece if you haven't done so already. Obviously, we talk about this all the time, but we want you to know that there are options for you. If you want to join us, you want to be part of the fam over here at PHNX, because we're having a great time. and we want you to be a part of this with us. You can get in on an annual membership,

Starting point is 00:13:43 that will get you the free t-shirt over at the PHNX Locker.com. It's a free t-shirt of your choosing. By the way, speaking of the Colorado Avalanche Parade, there's nothing that warms my heart more than members of the Colorado Avalanche team and ownership group and front office wearing shirts from DNVR. Is that happening? Are they buying their shirts?

Starting point is 00:14:06 That was happening, Jesse. Wow. They were buying them or sent for free or whatever, but there were quite a few Carry Me Home, DNVR, Colorado Avalent shirts being worn by members of the team up on stage. And that was a beautiful thing to see. Again, much like their parade, much like those shirts being worn, I want that for us. I want all of that for us. So, of course, make sure to sign up and join us to be a part of this revolution with us over at PHNX.

Starting point is 00:14:35 If you get that free T-shirt for getting an annual membership, you'll also get access to our members-only Discord. That is always popping. Today, we're just chatting about what we're doing on our day off. That's what we do on the Discord. But, of course, get access to that and members-only discounts over at the PHNX Locker.com. Also, if you're not interested in the annual membership, you can get the month-to-month membership, you'll get those perks, and you'll also get your first month for just 50 cents.

Starting point is 00:14:59 So regardless of your membership status, we want you to join us. Like so many of our friends did out at Four Peaks yesterday, which was a black. last, by the way. We had a fun, fun time. Broadcasting from Four Peaks, Brewery, the pub out on 8th Street. It was a great time. Great to see so many of you guys out there. So many of our friends from the Discord, so many of our friends from Twitter out there. So shout out to Josh Hunt. Shout out to Charles Woodall Pike. You guys, great to see you guys out there. And everybody else, Chris, of course. I don't even, I don't even mention Chris anymore, Jesse, because I just find her to be part of like our PHSNX team.

Starting point is 00:15:41 Yeah, it's like me saying like shout out to Jacob and Emma for being out there. Like, no, I'm not shouting out to them. They were working. But shout out to you guys that came voluntarily and didn't get paid for it. We appreciate it. It was fun. And we're doing it again on July 7th. Our friends over at the P.HNX coyotes are.

Starting point is 00:15:59 That was a weird way to say the word coyotes. I need to. I'm just going to. I'm just going to run it back live while we're doing this because Jesse, we don't get any more redos. This is our last audio podcast. I'm not editing this one at all. So join our friends at the PHNX Coyotes over for their draft day live party on July 7th at 4 p.m. at the 4 p.m. at the 4 Peaks 8th Street Pub where we were at yesterday. We're going to be doing that stuff all the time. We are also going to be having a draft day episode as well. I don't know where we're going to be

Starting point is 00:16:31 coming to you live from. We might be coming to you live. from four peaks, we might just be coming to you from our living room because we should be comfortable for the MLB draft. It's going to be a long one. So hope you guys join us for that. It's going to be our version of a watch party for sure. But remember, that's very important to the Diamondbacks with the second pick. So that's going to be fun for us as well. So make sure, join us for all that stuff. And of course, join us with a nice, tall can of four peaks in your hand. No matter which Four Peaks variety you choose, they're all delicious, and you can find the variety of their flavors at your local liquor store, convenience store, gas station, grocery

Starting point is 00:17:15 store. It doesn't matter. They're all over the place, all over the valley. They've been in the mix since 96 here in Phoenix, and of course, they are our brewery gods when it comes to beer. So check out our friends at Four Peaks. Must be 21 or older, and please enjoy responsibly. Jesse, the landscape of MLB might be changing very soon. According to an article from ESPN, Don Venata Jr. wrote a profile of Rob Manfred, in which Rob Manfred discussed that the MLB wants to expand to 32 teams and that the pitch clock is almost a certainty for 2023. It's crazy.

Starting point is 00:18:04 As the resident math nerd here, Derek, my first thought is that 32 is not divisible by six. There's no way to split up 32 teams evenly among six divisions. Yeah, but you know what? There's a really easy way to split it up eight ways, Jesse. Eight goes into 32. It does. We're just going to see a bunch of four team divisions.

Starting point is 00:18:30 But like we talked about it. Does it even matter? I mean, I guess that might make it easier to determine more teams for the playoffs then. You know, you have, I don't know, like each division then has one. So there's four and four. So there's eight. And they want to have, you know, some wildcard teams. So then everybody else could just kind of be in a pool after that.

Starting point is 00:18:52 I don't know. Like we're getting closer and closer to divisions and leagues not mattering anymore anyway. But the expansion to 32 teams is wild. especially considering what's happening in Oakland and Tampa Bay. And we're not exempt from being attacked here in Arizona either. Our attendance numbers are not fantastic. So that's just a question of, you know, what are we really doing? And is the interest really there to expand the 32 teams?

Starting point is 00:19:25 Yeah, yeah. I mean, so as far as cities are concerned, I don't know if the article makes any mention of where those teams would be located. I guess you've got, you've got Vegas, of course. You've got Montreal. Yeah, Vegas, I think, is a pretty easy one.

Starting point is 00:19:39 I mean, maybe Oakland goes to Vegas. Maybe, you know, that's not an expansion, but just the Oakland days migrating at some point. And then you've got Portland, Portland, Oregon. I could see that maybe being a destination for a baseball team at some point. Nashville, Tennessee. It's another market I've heard mentioned. And then, of course, there's Montreal,

Starting point is 00:20:00 all, which was a bustling baseball town not that long ago. So I don't know. Am I missing anything, Derek? Are there any other places you can think of that would be likely to get a team? I'm thinking of places that don't really have a team near them. Like, what about Indianapolis? Indianapolis. I guess that's a decent, decent size market.

Starting point is 00:20:28 It could maybe happen. Indianapolis isn't that far from Chicago. That would be the only thought I have there. I don't know. I can't really think of many cities, Portland. Yeah, Portland. Yeah, I mentioned Portland. I think Portland is definitely in the mix for sure.

Starting point is 00:20:47 I'm just, I'm trying to think of teams or like cities that, you know, I don't know. We don't have a team do, does, I guess like Charlotte. Yeah, Charlotte. Yeah, I was thinking the exact same thing. Yeah, North Carolina or something like that. I don't know.

Starting point is 00:21:08 New Orleans. You know, I mean, cities obviously, we're thinking of cities that have at least, you know, two sports franchises, I would say, or that kind of appetite for a sports franchise. But I don't know. I mean, like I actually, I think I was pretty wrong about Las Vegas because I used to say I didn't think sports would really work in Las Vegas because people go to Las Vegas to do so many other things, right? Like sometimes sports are best in an area where there really isn't much else to do much else of a draw, right? That that like, you know, people need something, some form of entertainment. Las Vegas and New Orleans are, have that.

Starting point is 00:21:55 in spades. Like, I don't know. I've often talked about traveling with my friends to go to events and how sometimes the events get in the way of the fun that I'm having in the town that we're in. And it's almost like it's, you know, it's an obstacle to the fun I'm having, even though that's the whole point why we were there in the first place, right? So I don't know. I mean, baseball expanding still doesn't seem like the best idea. It reminds me of like building a bigger stadium, you know, at this point for baseball. Like, oh, we need a 50,000 seat stadium for a baseball team. Do you?

Starting point is 00:22:30 Are you going to fill it up? I mean, I mean, I don't know if that. That seems like an apples to oranges comparison. I know, no, no, no. It's not like. I'm just saying like baseball right now isn't so popular that I feel like expanding it is going, you know, I don't know, maybe it's the opposite thought. Maybe expanding it is going to increase its popularity.

Starting point is 00:22:54 Maybe, you know, you get it to people who don't have a team and you get that backing and you have it grow more across the country or if you choose Canada across, you know, North America, right? I'm not, I'm not opposed to the 32 teams thing. I'm just wondering if the actual market is there for it for baseball right now, considering that it's not right now. It's not in a super popular phase. I would focus on rebounding from the lockout and trying to build goodwill amongst fans and promoting your sport rather than worrying about expanding it right now.

Starting point is 00:23:36 But I could be completely off-paced by that. Sometimes you want to expand as fast as possible or the options are going to be more and more limited. So who knows? I don't. I'm not a business guy. That's your job, Jesse, is to figure all that stuff out for me.

Starting point is 00:23:51 They're definitely, I mean, they would make more money from a business standpoint with more teams, which is a little strange because you're totally right. Baseball is definitely not at its peak right now as far as interest around the country. So the thought of, you know, adding more teams right now when the existing teams are, you know, not necessarily at their highest level of fan interest does seem a little bit counterintuitive. Right. Right. That's that's my thought. Like, I don't know. And that's why I compared it to like having a big stadium, you know, like, I don't know. You don't even know what your, you don't even know what the interest is, really in some of those areas.

Starting point is 00:24:35 Yeah. So some people don't have the right, I guess, idea or motivation, how, how things are going to work. This is not knocking the rest of the ownership group that brought the Arizona Diamondbacks to the valley because they're very important. But there was a difference between them and Jerry Colangelo. There was like this fairy tale baseball is like a place to go and hang out, you know, kind of idea about building a ballpark in downtown, you know, Phoenix and making it as big as possible to have as many people be able to come in as possible.

Starting point is 00:25:14 And then there was Jerry Colangelo, who was a realist, who was familiar with how sports worked here in the valley, how fans were here in the valley. And he knew that they needed to win quickly in order to build that fan base. Right. So, you know, I don't know. I think there is something about knowing, you know, the market that you're going to and not just thinking that you're moving a team to the sixth biggest city in the country or whatever it was at the time, right?

Starting point is 00:25:42 There's definitely more to it than that. even with Phoenix and the Valley being such a big sports town, they, you know, there was different views on what you needed to do in order to get people to want to come down and spend their time at Chase Field. So, of course,

Starting point is 00:26:00 Jerry Colangelo, a genius and knows exactly what he's doing at all times. And we miss him thoroughly. Sort of a legend around the valley. Yeah, that's just kind of, kind of a legend. If you guys haven't had a chance,

Starting point is 00:26:14 please check out our friends at OGs. If you are interested in that kind of thing, Jesse is not, but you know this guy over here absolutely is. OGs, of course, we've been talking about their pinia clotta flavor, but let's not forget that they have an entire array of wonderful flavors over there at OG's brands. I really like the orange creamsicle. It's a big hit around the office.

Starting point is 00:26:39 And much like the pineapple, the pinia colada, it's a pineapple creamy blend. This is an orange creamy blend. It's delicious. OGs really focuses on the flavor, which is important with your edibles because you want to enjoy them when taking them, right? You don't want to just choke them down and have to drink, you know, something to get the flavor and taste out of your mouth. These things are delicious candy. And of course, you can try the variety that they have, not only the variety of flavors, variety of strains, indicas, sativas. They also have a variety of doses. 3 milligram, 10 milligram. Sometimes for you medical users, you might even find a 25 or 50 milligram out there. So, you know, you guys do what you need to do at your local dispensary. That is where you can find OG's brands.

Starting point is 00:27:27 Of course, if you're interested in finding more out more about OG's brands and what they have to offer, you can check out their website at OGsbrands.com. That's OGEZBrands.com. And you can also see them on Instagram at OG's brands where we are friends. I'm a big fan of their posts and their products, of course, as I've discussed. But again, you can find them at your local dispensary near you, must be 21 years or older to purchase. And yes, they also throw an amazing party, by the way, which is something Jesse knows nothing about. Jesse does not know how great the OG's pool parties are.

Starting point is 00:28:06 And I'm going to make sure next time that I drag him to it by his hair and force him to have a great time. because it was a blast, Jesse, much like the time we had at Four Peaks Brewery yesterday, at Four Peaks 8th Street Pub, where our friends at the Coyotes will be with their draft party as well. But, Jesse, I guess we should be a little bit careful. You know, sometimes I throw stuff around information we have, stories we find out about.

Starting point is 00:28:33 And today we had a good reminder from our friend Doug Gottlieb, who reported about the situation with Freddie Freeman when the Dodgers played the Atlanta Braves. According to, according to him, they reason that Freddie Freeman fired his agent of the time was because his agent did not disclose to him that the Atlanta Braves had made him an offer to stay in Atlanta. Right. Am I getting that right?

Starting point is 00:29:06 Am I summing that up right? Yeah. Yeah. Basically, Doug Gottlieb report. that somehow, some way, the agent that Freddie Freeman had at the time, which was Casey close, he since let go of Casey as his agent. But the report was that, yes, that Casey had received an offer from the Atlanta Braves that he didn't tell Freddie Freeman about because he knew that if Freddie knew,

Starting point is 00:29:33 if Freddie was aware of this offer that had been made by the Braves, that he certainly would have taken it, even if it wasn't as high as what the Dodgers were offering. And Casey Close has come out very, very strongly over the last couple of days, he submitted statements to a couple of different outlets that have been released, basically saying that that that is utter nonsense, that every offer that the Atlanta Braves ever made to Freddie Freeman was communicated clearly and that Freddie wasn't left in the dark about anything. And they've been threatened legal action to try to make sure that things are right there.

Starting point is 00:30:07 I have it right here, actually. he said, in the press release, he said, I will not stand by as the circumstances surrounding Freddie Freeman's departure from Atlanta are mischaracterized. Since March, the Braves have fostered a narrative about the negotiations, which stated plainly is false. Part of that false narrative is the suggestion that I did not communicate a contract offer to the Freemans. To be clear, we communicated every offer that was made as well as every communication Excel. That's the company that he works for, or that's his firm had with Bromons. brave's organization throughout the entire process.

Starting point is 00:30:42 I have a 30 year reputation in this business for integrity and honesty, and I have always operated with the utmost character. At Excel, we are privileged to represent many exemplary athletes, some of whom have chosen to spend their entire careers with one franchise. We always put the players' goals in best interest first, and we'll always continue to do so. He's a big man, because he is getting told that basically, uh,

Starting point is 00:31:07 Freddie, the idea is that Atlanta offered Freddie Freeman 140 million for five years and that that was not communicated to Freddie Freeman. So who do you think? What, what, what's going on here, Jesse? Is this is this saving face? I mean, obviously we, we're, we're not going to get ourselves into any trouble here by trying to also say anything about Casey Close because we have no idea what's going on with the situation at all. it does make you wonder because like for instance someone brought up that jock peterson signed a one year six million dollar with the contracts and his agent at the time was also casey close so uh it it seems like you wonder if he got an offer considering that the braves seemingly it seems like they would have paid six million to keep jock peterson considering what he did for them in the world series last year right so but they're they're saying that there is no truth whatsoever to what Doug Gottlie recklessly tweeted and I would testify to that under oath from Casey Close in a statement to Sports Illustrated so you know I don't know if that's

Starting point is 00:32:24 it seems like a weird narrative to be honest if I'm being frank right like baseball today so it's it's sometimes about the reputation of the player, it's easy to blame the agent. Sometimes that's their duty is to deflect and take the heat, to be the slimy agent or whatever, right? But in this case, Casey Close does not have a relationship any longer with Freddie Freeman, so he has no reason to protect whether or not Freddie Freeman is telling the truth about this situation. Just speaking frankly, right? Sometimes it's easier to say something like, oh, I never heard about the offer of the Braves made me so that it doesn't make you look like you left to go to the Dodgers and take a deal

Starting point is 00:33:11 that was just for, you know, a few million dollars more. Well, not a few million dollars more, but considerably more. But, you know, you get. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, there are a lot of baseball journalists, right? I mean, there's a lot of people in this game who break news. And at least as far as I'm aware, Doug Gottlieb was the only person who came out and tweeted this information. And And that's not to say that he's not a reputable source. I mean, his account is verified. He's an analyst on Fox Sports, I believe. So he certainly has a reputation.

Starting point is 00:33:44 But anytime that, you know, one journalist tweets something and there's significant backlash, I'm generally inclined to think that maybe the information was faulty and that's not exactly what happened. That said, of course, Casey Close, I mean, no matter if, no matter if it's true or not, there's always going to be incentive as an agent. If you get some bad publicity, you're going to try to come out and defend yourself. Casey Close, even though he no longer has Freddie Freeman as a client.

Starting point is 00:34:15 He's one of the best known agents in this game. And there were also, I believe there have been players who have come out and spoken in his favor. Derek Jeter. Yeah, yeah, Derek Jeter. I think I saw Dexter Fowler quote tweet the statement from Casey Close

Starting point is 00:34:31 and emphasize that, you know, he is all. always been an agent of integrity. And so it's, it's a little tricky. I was also a little guarded when the information first came out just based on the fact that Doug Gottlie was the only person behind this. And it, and it seemed a little bit strange. Yeah, we were actually hesitant to even talk about it, but we did kind of have it queued up to talk about yesterday. And now this is all happened. And, you know, the story is still unfolding. But I was actually wrong on this,

Starting point is 00:35:04 So if what were, let's just play playing devil's advocate, if this was true, the difference in the contract offer between the Dodgers and the Atlanta Braves would have been $12 million. And one year of service time. Dodgers signed Freddie Freeman to a six year, $162 million contract. And the idea floating around is that the Braves offered five years at $150 million. So, I don't know. That's actually, I mean, that's a higher, that's a higher annual average annual value. Correct. Right.

Starting point is 00:35:40 So I don't know, Jesse. I'm, I'm with you there. I'm a bit skeptical about the facts behind that. But we will definitely, I'm sure this isn't the last that we're going to hear of this for sure. And who knows? I mean, really, the way, the way I look at it, the only person that can clear this up is Freddie Freeman, right? Yeah. Yeah. And even in that case, Freddie Freeman might, you know, might say that he did it because of that, even if, even if that's not the truth. I don't know. Freddie Freeman seems like a good guy, though. So I would trust what he says in regards to the situation.

Starting point is 00:36:19 But I feel like he's the only person that could clear it up, you know. I do think that from a like from a Diamondbacks fan's perspective, this probably sucks a little bit because you're, you're getting the sense that. I mean, regardless of what's happened with Casey Close, you really get the sense that Freddie Freeman wishes he was a member of the Atlanta Braves. Yes, so do we. So do we. Yeah, exactly. We all fucking do. Yes, we wish he was too.

Starting point is 00:36:46 Are you shitting me? Absolutely. I wish Freddie Freeman was still part of the Atlanta Braves. That's why we have a direct, this affects us, Jesse. This affects us. I think there were Diamondbacks fans tearing up with alongside Freddie Freeman. Freeman in his return to the Atlanta Braves when he was playing those games and he was so emotional on the field. Yeah, there are some DeVax fans who were probably not so happy that Freddie Freeman

Starting point is 00:37:11 wound up going to the Los Angeles Dodgers when it certainly appears that he would have rather stayed in Atlanta Brave. Yeah, we really, we really, we really, we really do too. We're with you on that because Freddie Freeman against the Arizona Diamondbacks this year is hitting 372. 438, 605, that's a 605 slugging percentage with a 1.042 OPS, 12 RBI. Wow, that's a lot. Yeah, yeah, he's, he's murdering us. So he's, it's, yeah, things, things aren't great. And the funny thing is, is he has more games against us than he does against any other team this season.

Starting point is 00:38:00 Wonderful. DVax fans are so, yeah, this is, this is, this is unfortunate to see a guy. And it's just another, it's another chapter in the book of, of the Dodgers stealing franchise players away from other teams, right? Mookie Betts was like this face for the Boston Red Sox. And then he comes over in this goofy trade where the Red Sox get off of David Price's contract. He comes over, he becomes a Dodger. And, and now he figures to be one of the faces for the Dodgers for, a number of years moving forward.

Starting point is 00:38:34 And now it's Freddie Freeman, who is the face in Atlanta and now is moved over to L.A. And I mean, the Dodgers, they trade Turner. He's another guy, right? He was big in D.C. there with the Nationals. And now he's with the Dodgers. And certainly wouldn't be a shock if he stays in L.A. long term. So that's just the nature of who the Dodgers are as an organization. And you can't fault them, you can't fault them for it, right?

Starting point is 00:38:57 I mean, they're making some really brilliant decisions with their roster. but just what they've done to the rest of the league is pretty crazy. All right. Well, before we go, I have to give you our Draft King's pick of the week, because obviously it's that time. It's the weekend. It's time to bet on baseball. And that's exactly what we'll have you do.

Starting point is 00:39:18 Of course, new customers can get down on UFC 276, but I don't, I, like, my picks are questionable best when it comes to even baseball, Jesse. So I try to do my best, but it seems like, much like the Arizona Diamondbacks. I don't know what to predict at times. I am going to take the New York Yankees, though, over the Cleveland Guardians, because you just don't bet against the New York Yankees lately.

Starting point is 00:39:44 I'm taking the Yankees money line. I'm also taking the overruns at seven and a half. That'll get you a value of plus 145. There's also a few other things I would take, but they are not up on the drafting sports book yet. I'll tell you this much, the Yankees are, the Yankees are hitting the crap out of the ball, they are.

Starting point is 00:40:08 And not only that, but it's like, you can't even keep the New York Yankees down right now when you, you know, this, the series against the Astros this year has been great, by the way. That's been a lot of fun time. Yeah, I mean,

Starting point is 00:40:23 I guess we should mention that even though for the most part, they've been, it's been very hard to keep their offense down, that Houston Astros did just throw a combined no hitter. against the New York Yankees this past week. It's one of the reasons why I foresee the Yankees bouncing back against the Cleveland Guardians and not to take anything away from the Guardians because they've been very, very good this year.

Starting point is 00:40:47 But I'm definitely taking Anthony Rizzo to have at least the one and a half total bases as well on that money line. I think that's a pretty safe bet. over on the Cleveland Guardian side, by the way, I mean, I'm not, I'm not leaving them out of this either, Jesse, because some of their guys has been raking. And of course, Jose Ramirez is that guy. So that's another guy I'm taking to have over one and a half total bases as well.

Starting point is 00:41:18 So hopefully you guys get down on that. Of course, get down on the Draft King Sportsbook. If you haven't done so already, get down on that baseball game and UFC 276. You can get down everything, right? And I, you know, they have here in the notes about, you know, calf slices and Peruvian neckties, Jesse. I want to bet. I want to bet on one of those. I want to bet on a move like that being used.

Starting point is 00:41:40 And I'm sure there's some way to do so on the Draft King Sportsbook. More importantly, if you're a new customer right now, you can use our promo code of PHNX, bet $5 on any UFC 276 fighter to win, and you will get $100 in free bets no matter what. That's code PHNX this Saturday at Draft King Sportsbook, the official sportsbook, betting partner of UFC. Minimum age and eligibility restrictions apply. See show notes for details. Jesse, you're here.

Starting point is 00:42:08 You're in town now. You can get down on the UFC 276. And I strongly suggest it. I like Sean Strickland against Alex Perea, by the way. That's one that I would get in on. Okay. Well, you know, you know me, Derek. I'm a little bit under informed when it comes to UFC.

Starting point is 00:42:35 But I'm also a very faithful follower. So, you know, if you tell me to bet on that, Derek, even if I have no idea who these people are or really much about the sport that they're playing, I'll go for it. See what happens. All right. Well, then I want you to bet on Israel. And of course, I'm going to butcher this, but Adisania, I feel like that's right. Right, Adisanya. He's a Nigerian, New Zealand. Dick Jesse has a record of 22 and 1.

Starting point is 00:43:11 And I think, I think he's in the main event, I believe. So if you are looking to get down on the co-main event, go ahead, get down on that as well. Because, you know, UFC, it's always a fun time. And of course, again, if you're a new customer, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter who you bet on. You're getting those $100 in free bets. So you're already playing with house money at that point. So do so over on draft.

Starting point is 00:43:32 Half King Sportsbook. Let's get down on it. Jesse, we got to get you on there. Let's get you signed up. Get your $100 and free bets instantly. Of course, we thank you guys so much for joining us. In the meantime, you can follow us on Twitter. I'm at cap underscore caveman with a K.

Starting point is 00:43:45 Jesse is at Jesse and Friedman. Our show is at PHNX underscore D-Backs, but of course, all roads lead to at PHNX underscore sports on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. If you're listening to us right now on your favorite audio podcasting app, please make sure you're subscribed if you haven't done so already and leave us a five-star review. then go over to the PHNX Sports YouTube channel,

Starting point is 00:44:05 subscribe to that if you haven't done so as well. Sign up for notifications. That's the way you don't miss us going live all the time because that's what we're going to be doing. We're going to be going live five days a week. You're going to find us on the PHNX YouTube channel at 1230 most days, except on the last day of the series for the Arizona Diamondbacks, where you will find us 10 minutes after the final out or so.

Starting point is 00:44:26 Sometimes it takes us longer to get ready. I'll be honest. That's why you got to sign up for notifications. That way you don't miss us. whenever we start. Of course, we thank you guys so much for listening. Thank you guys so much for being here. Big shout out to all of our sponsors, especially OGs. No offense to everybody else, but they're my favorite. And on behalf of Jesse and myself, we thank you for your time. Remember kids, baseball is fun, but it's so much more fun when you have a championship parade.

PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - Parade envy

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