PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - Pete Fairbanks Slips Away on Christmas Eve, So Where Do the D-backs Turn NEXT?

Episode Date: December 27, 2025

There was no Pete Fairbanks under the Christmas tree for the Diamondbacks and their fans on Wednesday. Instead, Fairbanks has reportedly agreed to a one-year, $13 million deal with the Miami Marlins. With the last top closer off the market, where do the D-backs turn for bullpen help? We discuss how it is possible that they missed out on Fairbanks to the Marlins and if Seranthony Dominguez would fit in as a high leverage relief arm for Arizona. Plus, we give our takes on the offseason moves around MLB that we would happily return for store credit and why a trade with the Braves for Ketel Marte simply won’t work.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.

Well, we didn't get Pete Fairbanks under our Christmas tree, but is there possibly a last-minute gift on the way in the form of Alex Breggman? We're going to talk about more rumors and who the Diamondbacks could add to this bullpen to give them any kind of chance of being competitive in 2026. Don't you go anywhere we're starting in 30 seconds. Ski and happy holidays to you all. Welcome in to another edition of the PHNXDbacks podcast right here from my home. home in Glendale, Arizona. Of course, this show is brought to you by our fine friends over at GameTime. Go download the GameTime app, create an account and use code PHNX for $20 off your first purchase.

Terms do apply. Welcome in, guys. My apologies. Also, I want to apologize first to my internet connection. I've been blaming my internet connection for entirely too long for the performance of my computer. So I apologize for looking too much like a robot in this episode and hopefully we can work our way through it. Got my guy, Damon Dogg on the ones and twos today.

Damon Dogg, I might need you to help me out here with my terrible computer performance today. But I'm thrilled to have you here and thrilled to have all you guys here after a holiday. We have more Cotel Marte trade rumors to discuss. I hate that. Ken Rosenthal, though, recently might have just shut down any kind of trade rumors about Cotel Marte going to the Braves. It was discussed briefly in his article the other day over at the athletic, but Rosenthal said that a deal is unlikely for this reason.

He did include Ozzy Albies in a deal to the Diamondbacks. He said Albies could go to the Diamondbacks in any trade for Marte, but the Braves would also need to include young pitching, something we know. about the Cotel Marte trade. The Diamondbacks want young pitching, young controllable pitching in return, and so far that doesn't seem to be, that net need has not been satisfied. But according to Rosenthal, Albies could, once again,

go to the Diamondbacks after all the injuries they occurred in their starting rotation last year. The Braves do not want to part ways with Hurston Waldrop, who could be their number five starter in 26, and that is probably a name that Diamondbacks might be interested in. the Braves in theory could pursue Marte, which would be an upgrade over their own switch hitting second baseman there at Ozzy Albiz,

but Albies is only 28 years old, and he could absolutely bounce back. It's not a terrible deal for the Diamondbacks if it does include young pitching and Ozzy Albies, but I mean, again, this is another case like what we were talking about the other day with the New York Mets. The deal for the Mets doesn't make a ton of sense, but it's like the Mets just want,

to go out and get one of the hot names on the market. And Cotel Marte is definitely that. Cotel Marte is one of the hot names on the market. And that's kind of the mistake the Mets make, right? The Mets just want to go out there and grab whoever the best player is, whatever, you know, whatever hot name everybody is into. And then, again, you know, try to fit it in later. But Ray's fans apparently are very upset that Cotel Marte is not.

not a Tampa Bay Ray. That was kind of funny to me. I found plenty of tweets of Ray's fans saying that the only thing they wanted under their tree was Cotel Marte. Meanwhile, the only thing Damon and I wanted under our tree was Pete Fairbanks. And we didn't get him, Damon. We didn't get Pete Fairbanks. And you and I are left just wondering, you know, does Santa Claus even exist? And is this whole thing just a sham?

because no matter what, we wanted these guys, but Diamondbacks keep missing out on guys. One guy, apparently, that they are not missing out on, as our guy Killer Rex brings up in the chat, is Alex Breggman. According to reports, Alex Breggman to the Debacks is still very much alive. Dan Bickley just said on Bickley and Marauda today

that it's a matter of time before the debacks get Breggman. I think that's a done deal to be honest with you. So that's interesting because obviously we know the Alex Brighman deal is going to cost a whole lot of money, money that we don't know where the Diamondbacks are going to get that money. We know that reports are that the Diamondbacks didn't have any money, didn't have any money, didn't have money, and oops, Ken got aggressive. So when Ken gets aggressive and Ken wants a player,

when Ken thinks that this team is close, then here we have Brighman possibly coming to the dime, hymenbacks. San Luis in the chat says Breggman comes, Marte is gone. That seems to be the sentiment. However, I don't know if that's the case. You know, one thing that Dan Bickley brought up here is that he added Breggman wants to live in Arizona year round the same way Corbyn Burns did last offseason. In fact, I believe Dan phrased it that, you know, that when Corbyn Burns came here, that Breggman was begging to come here as well. Very interesting idea of adding Brighman, as long as, you know, the entire situation doesn't require a Catele-Marté trade.

Katie in the chat says five-year team-friendly control for lotto tickets would be so stupid. I'm so tired of the Cotel stuff. As am I, and I think we all kind of are. I think we're ready for these Cotel-Marté rumors to be put to bed. But, It's honestly strange how the Alex Breggman rumors now just, I don't want to say intensify that, but they seem to somehow go in hand in hand, that the only way the Diamondbacks add Bregman is by moving Marte. Again, Marte's contract is not suffocating. It has been a big part of the appeal of a team trading for Cotel Marte. In fact, the only parts of a Marte deal that hasn't been appealing is what is age is going to be at the end of the deal, which still isn't, you know,

ancient by Major League Baseball standards and the fact that there's this whole clubhouse nonsense tied to Marte as well. But I think most people are willing to completely, most teams, most fan bases, most everybody is willing to kind of forego all of that stuff because of Cotel Marte being an elite MVP caliber player. But my hope here, as is many of yours, is that the Diamondbacks, except Killarex, of course, who doesn't want Brighman and is somehow against cheating. I don't know.

If you win, you win, right? All right, I'm just saying. But anyway, Bringman could be a huge addition to this team if the Diamondbacks don't move Marte. And, I mean, again, this lineup looks very different, looks very intriguing. And I don't want to say that they are competition for the Dodgers, but you feel like they are much closer to being competition for the Dodgers with the addition of Brighman. However, I still don't love it. And I still would have rather the Diamondback spent much more money on starting pitching than needing to go this route of adding Brighman overall.

But again, like I said earlier, the Mets were tied to Marte briefly. Tim Boyle over at the Rising Apple.com didn't love the Cattel Marte idea, much like we didn't love it. We don't love the idea of the Mets not really needing a second baseman. and some Mets fans wanting to move Cotel Martier to the outfield if they traded for him. We say here at this podcast, good luck with that. We've seen that before and would have no interest in that. But meanwhile, Boyle suggests that Alec Thomas or Jake McCarthy might end up being a better fit for the New York Mets that cost significantly less.

As far as the Diamondbacks are concerned, the Mets are the kind of team that you probably want to be in talks with because they are most likely going to overpay, especially when it comes to a trade than other teams. So again, that makes more sense for the Mets for me. And again, it makes more sense for the Diamondbacks. Alec Thomas and Jake McCarthy have actually been the true rumored players that were going to get moved this entire time,

though the Marte rumors obviously overshadowed everything and for good reason because of Marte being who he is. But overall here, some other moves. that didn't make us so angry across Major League Baseball, but we'll get to the big one that did with Pete Fairbanks. But Soderstrom agrees to a record deal with the Oakland Athletics, seven-year, $86 million deal. You kind of love to see it out of one of the problematic teams

that Damon and I have discussed in the past, the teams that don't spend enough, the teams that go out there and add guys just so that they don't get implicated by the Major League Baseball Players Association for underspending. but more importantly, I think that this and some of the free agent rumors tied to the A's is kind of a sign about the A's future in Las Vegas. I know that that franchise has been kind of a mess, but at times they've still been surprisingly good and you still feel like that team,

you know, can absolutely get, you know, can start working towards their future, which is very positive there in the city of Las Vegas. So it feels like they are finally, you know, spending some money, making sure their stars stick around, and overall making sure that this team in the future is an actual baseball team, a real one, not just a pretend one that plays at a minor league ballpark. But that's where they're at with the raise. A is good for them.

Meanwhile, the Diamondbacks wanted to spend money and didn't. Diamondbacks swing and miss on Pete Fairbanks, and that is the, I mean, my big, my main grievance, the one I would like to take up on Festus, to air my grievances, I want to air a grievance with the Diamondbacks missing out on Pete Fairbanks. Fairbanks agreed to a one-year deal reportedly worth $13 million with the Miami Marlins coming off a season where he really did reestablish himself as not only a reliable late-inning arm, but one of the best elite late-inning relievers available on the market that wasn't going to cost you an arm and a leg. The raise still declining his club option to.

doesn't make a ton of sense to me. But yeah, once they did that, Fairbanks quickly became one of the top remaining bullpen options on the market due to his closing experience, some of his velocity and strikeout ability, even though that was down and his swing and miss stuff. For the Diamondbacks, he was everything. He was all we wanted, Damon.

Everything was. Proven closer experience, a power arm that plays in high leverage moments and has a decent amount of success there. and a guy that wasn't going to cost you a lot, wasn't going to cost you a long-term deal, as we can see. One year, $13 million, like, I know that's more money than we wanted to spend. I know that when Fairbanks had originally hit the market,

estimates were in the $9 to $10 million range. So obviously the Marlins had to outbid some teams. They didn't have to add a bunch of years onto his contract, though. And that's where I get frustrated by this. I think that this deal, even though it is a, might be a bit of an overpay for one year of Pete Fairbanks, the Diamondbacks kind of needed him. They needed him more than they needed most things this,

this offseason, and they missed out on him. Air to breathe, Derek, air to breathe. We needed them more than we needed air to breathe. And I think the part that hurts the most, and you're right, like $13 million is a lot of money for one year, but it's one year. And it feels like the Diamondbacks could have poning up a little bit extra for the financial security or I guess flexibility down the road

that we're not going to be paying this guy, you know, 10 million next year and 8 million the year after that. We would be 13 mil. That's the closer spot for a year. Hopefully J-Mart's healthy and you cut ties with them. It felt like a perfect marriage in that sense. And I just can't help it feel like if you're Pete Fairbanks,

wouldn't you rather be on the Diamondbacks than the Marlins on a one-year deal? Like the Diamondbacks feel like they're like maybe a back-in bullpen option away from being a pretty damn good baseball team. And the Marlins are, I know that they played a lot better last year, but they're still in a division with the Phillies and the Mets and the Braves. And I don't know where they fit in in that entire mess. You could make that argument about ours, our division, but really I just think that the Dodgers are the big obstacle right now. The Giants and the Padres are not really juggernauts at the moment. Yeah, no, yeah, you feel like those teams at least you can hang with and beat. And again, there's a lot of pieces on this team.

I think that are going to get better. And I don't think that they're going to regress. I think we're going to see hopefully a lot of guys take a step forward, mostly because opportunity and because they have to. They have to, right? I mean, we're going to talk here in a little while about the moves we didn't love this offseason, moves that we would return to the store for store credit. But this was a move that breaks our heart because even though, you know, the Marlins, yes, overpaid a little bit here for Fairbanks, the Marlins were not a bad team last year.

In fact, they had one of the best records over a stretch in baseball. The Marlins are a young up-and-coming team, and they are a team that the Diamondbacks technically have to contend with here for a wild card spot if you want to be realistic and immediately kind of write off the idea of the Diamondbacks contending for the. the National League West, which is fairly reasonable, fairly realistic to do that. It might be loser talk, but with the way the Dodgers are constructed, I can't think that with the way the Diamondbacks went out, did the starting rotation, that they're going to go out contend with the Dodgers for the division. I don't think that it's loser talk to say that the NL West is basically unwinnable. I think that that's just the reality of our situation.

It's loser talk, Derek. And when I push back on what you say stuff is when you're like, the Diamondbacks aren't making the playoffs next year. I think that that is loser talk. We could get one of the wild card spots. Absolutely, but this Marlins deal, this hurts us in two ways. We needed a closer and it makes the Marlins better. Absolutely.

And now it's slim pickings. I mean, you look at the reliever market now and you're like, I mean, it's just not, it's not in a good spot. And it stinks. I was just talking to my parents earlier this morning because I was kind of getting warmed up, I think, for the show topic. I was like, I was like, I got to get, let some takes fly to the rents real quick. And so I'm sitting out there and I'm like, I'm like, there's no one left.

There's no one left. And then my dad's like, when are we going to get, you know, puck back? And I was like, I mean, it remains to be seen, right? Like if AJ puck is ready to go earlier in the season, that changes everything. But I just, I feel like we have to be more cautious with those guys than then like optimistic that they're going to just come back and, firing on all cylinders. I think it's more likely to Jay Martins. I think it's more likely Jay Mart sits out the entire year than, you know,

he's probably back next season because he, I just think that they're going to, they sign him to an extension. He's a young pitcher. He throws so hard. That's a long-term investment. You don't want to rush him back at all. So I mean,

the Dianbacks are just in a tough spot reliever-wise. I don't think it's going to be a rush back to get him back at the All-Star break or shortly after that. But you're right. I mean, it's the immediate assumption when you hear a time frame for return is that, you know, that it's going to be on the earlier end of things. But this definitely could be something that comes later in the recovery time. And like you said, the Diamondbacks are more cautious with.

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, it's not like Pete Fairbanks is like the best pitcher ever. He just was the only guy that had like legit closer experience that was. left, right? And it felt like, well, we got to go, we got to go get this guy. And he's good. He's good. He's a good pitcher. Don't get me wrong. But as Jesse had outlined on our show on his appearances, like his strikeout numbers, his strikeout to walk ratio was really had taken a steep decline in the last like two years. And a lot of people think that that could be kind of the beginning of the end for for a closer like that. But yeah, I mean, it's it's just I don't,

what I what I'm going to be upset dealing with next season, Derek, and he's here in the chat. And also we have guys like Sean who also are big Tory, you know, haters. I'm going to be so upset, Derek, when we're going through the exact same thing, we went through all season this year. And Mike Hazen gets no relief pitching options in free agency. And everyone's like, Tori Lavolo's an idiot who doesn't know how to use his baseball. And I'm like, I'm like, this bullpen was 20. seventh in baseball last year.

And we made no additions to it. And I think Mike Hazen is good at his job generally. And I think he's built a pretty damn good roster. But his inability to build a bullpen is for sure his Achilles heel. And it continues in this off season. I just, I don't know when we start wondering what the extra problem is with this team, you know, with the bullpen, with guys developing, with pitching development. I mean, the hope is that the changes they made this offseason might improve that.

But, I mean, again, you're right of not blaming Tori. And maybe this is ultimately on Mike because he and his assistant general managers and his team, they are responsible for making these decisions on who to bring in and why you bring those guys in, right? Even minor league options, major league options, it doesn't matter. Last year was definitely a year where, you know, the, we saw the, you know, we saw the diamondbacks cobble together a bullpen. I think that's the biggest thing is, is that we, they added guys from the minor leagues. They added guys from castaways from other teams. They added anybody they could.

They gave guys a shot. Some guys didn't work out. Some guys did. some guys worked out for a period of time and then kind of came back to earth other guys were incredible at times nebile chrismott is a guy i think that deserves his flowers uh but with the diamondbacks continuing to look for any kind of late inning certainty pete fairbanks felt like that answer he would have immediately stepped in as the primary closer for now and who knows how that develops over time with those guys that damon mentioned returning who knows how overall uh you know

what happens with the bullpen, right? But the weird part about it is that Aaron, Arizona here reportedly kicked the tires on Pete Fairbanks. We talked about that. We had, you know, several sources bringing up that they were in talks with him. But apparently, I mean, I don't know if it was the discomfort with his injury history

or reluctance to commit that much money of $13 million to a single reliever. Or frankly, if like Jesse said, like Damon just brought up about what Jesse said, if the declining numbers in some way were a red flag to them that they didn't feel like investing this much in Fairbanks. The result is the same. Another viable bullpen option has come off the board, and this bullpen option did not go to the Arizona Diamondbacks. For a team trying to contend while walking a very tight rope, very much a financial tight rope, missing out on Fairbanks could loom large if the bullpen consistency is,

is so bad in 2026. And also if they can't go out there and add another arm. I mean, we have a good idea of an arm, but we're going to talk about it on the other side of this break. But it does make me wonder if like what Christopher says here, not signing Fairbanks reinforce the Brighman rumors. Breggman rumors are out there. And, you know, $13 million is a lot of money to spend if you're going to go out

there and try to also still add Alex Brigman. So, I mean, you know, it's weird how one move signals. something else, signals something else. I don't know if the Pete Fairbanks, missing out on Pete Fairbanks means that the Diamondbacks are in on Alex Breggman. And I don't know if going after Alex Breggman, and if they do sign him, means that the Diamondbacks are trading Cote. None of these things are necessarily connected, but they are when you start, you know, considering the financial situation the Diamondbacks are in. Mike Hay hasn't said it, and he has kind of been clear that, like, they're not in the, you know,

huge financial predicament that so many of us think that they are in. Again, these are decisions that are just simply being made. And should somebody like Bregman fall to the Diamondbacks for an amount that they feel is fair and perhaps less than what the estimates were going to be for Bregman, then maybe that's when they decide to randomly once again open up the wallet and spend on a high price free agent. I can't believe that's the case. And again, like I said earlier,

Breggman will be a great signing. We're going to be excited about it. We are going to emergency podcasts the hell out of it if it happens. I still would rather that the Diamondbacks, if they do spend that money, spent it elsewhere, specifically pitching, right? It's easy for me to say that, though. Maybe those options weren't, you know, maybe they didn't want to move here. Maybe Fairbanks felt comfortable staying in Florida, right?

Maybe that would play a part. The man is weird. the man is delightfully weird. If you ever get a chance to see Pete Fairbanks post-game interviews, especially after he did badly, oh my God, I wanted this man more for that, perhaps,

than his performance on the mound. But again, we don't get any of that. We get nothing. So I'm upset. I did get spoiled by my wife for Christmas, so I'm happy to at least report that. I got some centurse hats over there.

I got all sorts of fun stuff. But, you know, I didn't get. get Pete Fairbanks. So as much as I want to blame my wife for that, I am kind of blaming her. Like I told her that was like the number one thing I wanted on my list. And I felt like it wasn't a hard thing. She just had to get in touch with Mike and let him know how much I wanted it.

But this is why not everything goes your way at Christmas time. But we're going to take a quick break. We are going to talk about an option that the Diamondbacks might still have to add to this bullpen via free agency. We're going to do that on the other side of this short break. Don't you guys go anywhere. You're watching the PHA next time and back show. Well, I love myself some game time. You know I love this app, but I love it because basketball season is here and the

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And that is no discredit to the guys that are left. But when you start saying the relief pitching market is now essentially out of closers, all out of closers, sorry, we're all sold out. Things aren't great. Things aren't great, especially for a team that very much needs a closer. So much uncertainty about the Diamondbacks bullpen looms for 2026, but so much of that uncertainty could have been taken care of with the addition of someone like Fairbanks.

That's really what this comes down to. That's the reason why this feels like such a big miss. We knew that they weren't going to be in on some of the high dollar, you know, relievers, especially the ones like Devin Williams that come with a lot of risk coming off of a bad season and, you know, was looking for a multi-year deal. Fairbanks, again, coming off a good season, besides the strikeout numbers kind of being down. But comes off a good season still and could have been a guy that you felt like low risk as far as, you know, just signing him to a one-year deal. But there is another pitcher that Damon and I have brought up. And I love his name because every time you say it, it sounds like you are calling him like he's like a knight.

And that relief pitcher is Sir Anthony Dominguez. He's a right-handed relief pitcher who debuted with the Phillies back in 2018. And he has emerged as a high leverage bullpen arm. He's a power reliever with late inning experience. He's capable of handling setup and closer adjacent roles. so he could be that hybrid closer that takes over for the first half of the season and then possibly then becomes that setup man or, you know, at least part of the Diamondbacks, you know, seven, eighth and ninth innings

and those kind of situations, right? He's bounced around between teams in recent seasons and kind of remained irrelevant bullpen option for all of those teams, thanks to him having some great velocity on that fastball, swing and miss stuff and an ability to pitch in pressure situations. And Cool Bros. Checking in just to make sure we're live. So I have to do the live check-in, not pre-recorded Cool, Bro. I'm proud to say I'm here live.

Though, if you're just tuning in, I've been blaming my internet. And my internet has apparently wants to sue me because of the claims I've been making false claims. Apparently, it's my MacBook that is definitely suffering some problems recently. It's getting up there in age just like myself. It doesn't move as well. Parts of it definitely are sore in the morning. But hopefully this little guy keeps going to plug it along for me. But appreciate you being here.

Happy holidays to you. And happy holidays to everyone. I thank you guys so much for being here. I know that it's not under the best circumstances. I know we wanted to be here celebrating Pete Fairbanks to the Diamondbacks. But Sir Anthony Dominguez, he definitely could be an option that probably isn't going to excite the fan base as much, but could be a similar option that costs, again, more in the Diamondbacks price range, perhaps $13 million for a reliever far too much.

Maybe the Diamondbacks are looking to spend less than 10, and that's probably what Sir Anthony Dominguez is going to cost you. His fast ball is in the upper 90s. He can touch 99 miles per hour. He has an incredible slider. That's his primary put-away pitch that has a sharp break, and he kind of is a power pitcher. He is not one of these guys that we're going to come in.

in and say pitches to contact is a ground ball guy. It's power over finesse for Sir Anthony Dominguez. He challenges hitters. He hunts strikeouts. He's got swing and miss stuff. In fact, when he's right, he misses bats at a high rate and can neutralize right-handed hitters late in games. He has proven high leverage experience and he has pitched meaningful innings throughout

his career, including late inning and postseason situations. It's the type of experience that is valuable for a D-BACs team, especially a bullpen who lacks that exact type of experience at this point. You know, you got Kevin Yinkle, you have Brian Thompson, but even those guys don't have a ton of experience, you know, in postseason roles and, you know, any kind of high leverage situations where the Diamondbacks are playing, you know, again, in a lot of postseason games here, right? So Diamondbacks prior to his bullpine arms that can get swings and misses rather than relying on

contact management. that's kind of been the mold there with AJ Puck and, you know, Justin Martinez. So overall, Dominguez kind of fits that mold perfectly. He gives the Diamondbacks a reliever who can escape jams without needing balls and play, can get out with his stuff and has excellent stuff. Also a guy that's not locked into being a closer. That might have been also part of the problem with Fairbanks that perhaps the closer role is the only role that he fits in, whereas Dominguez can handle seventh inning or eighth inning setup work.

He can handle emergency fireman situations with runners on base in tight games. And he can even come in for closing and saving opportunities. So that pairs well with what the Diamondbacks need right now and how they're kind of looking at the return of the arms once they come back. But he has dealt with significant injuries earlier in his career, including a Tommy John surgery of his own. So there is that risk. And durability is always part of the concern with someone, like Dominguez.

He can struggle with walks. He can struggle with, you know, stressful innings. And, you know, it really comes down to how he's locating his fastball. It's fastball, much like Ryan Nelson is the thing that eats. And then, you know, again, that slider ends up being the primary put away pitch. But overall, again, the diamond backs just feel like, or for the diamond back, I don't know. I don't even know if they're looking at him.

I won't be, I won't lie. This is more of Damon and I doing scouting on the Diamondbacks behalf, but he does profile as a short-term contract, right? The Diamondbacks aren't going to have to sign him long-term. You could have a lot of upside, likely on a one- or two-year deal at the max. It's affordable.

He's going to be affordable compared to elite closers. Excuse me. That was terrifying. All my hats in my room just fell down. And he has a high ceiling if he regains peak form. But again, it makes sense as a power right-hander for the Diamondbacks. And he could be a guy that evolves into that late-inning closer overall. He fits what the Arizona Diamondbacks are seeking and bullpen upgrades.

And, again, it offers that flexibility without committing big money long-term to a player or to closer at all. But I don't know. I mean, overall, I think that this still feels like, Um, you, you wanted a Nintendo switch, but what we're going to get you is, um, one of those, uh, deals for 50 bucks that has 50 games on it at the store, um, that you plug in, you know, one of those deals. So, but again, he could definitely still be better, better than nothing, better than nothing for the Diamondbacks bullpen that still feels like it needs multiple arms, not just one. So that's another. So that's another. reason why Dominguez could absolutely be a fit for the diamondbacks because he would allow them to maybe go out there and get an additional reliever instead of just adding one higher price closer overall to this team. But again, so it doesn't feel great, you guys. It doesn't feel great for the diamondbacks to miss out on somebody like P. Fairbanks. And it does not feel great that the

diamondbacks kind of have to once again look to, you know, a lesser, more affordable option. But again, like I said, it does feel like maybe another move could be made, perhaps a reliever or even a closer could be acquired via a trade. And that's something that's still wide open. We don't know what's happening for the Cattel Marte situation. We also don't know what the Diamondbacks might do with Jake McCarthy or Alec Thomas, right? So Katie is forlorned at this point. She says this doesn't feel hopeful. And I'm sorry.

I'm all out of positivity at this point. I was disappointed by not having Pete Fairbanks hiding like a elf on the shelf underneath my tree. So I don't feel great about the Diamondbacks now just essentially having to go out and get someone else. Perhaps, you know, perhaps he wasn't as much a part of their plan as we thought. But it still feels like the Diamondbacks definitely missed out on what. was their best option. So interesting to see how all of this changes. And again, I don't love the idea of signing Alex Breggman

because of how it could impact the money that they have available for a reliever. Adding Breggman's great, and it does change a lot of things, right? I don't think the Diamondbacks necessarily need an outfielder anymore because they have two now in both plays Alexander and maybe Jordan Lawler based on reports of what we're hearing. They still need a first base, Maybe Brighman could transition to that.

Maybe Alex Brigman could be play first some of the year. Maybe that's in the plan. I don't know. I mean, all of this seems like the one key here is that the Diamondbacks still are missing out on guys that seem affordable. I felt like Robert Swares felt kind of affordable. I feel like Michael King, again,

felt a little affordable as far as the starting pitcher is concerned. But yeah, I mean, cool bro says the best right here. He said, adding Bregman feels like a sugar rush when in reality we need vegetables. It's so well said. It's so well said. Like, it feels like the fan base is being the parent and perhaps ownership is being the child in this one. Maybe ownership, but maybe Ken Kendrick is like the uncle that never had kids. And it's like, yeah, like, yeah, we all want cookies and realistic.

even the kids are like, can I get some chicken tenders? Maybe some vegetables. I like broccoli, believe it or not. Right. So it does feel like that. It feels like in reality, the Diamondbacks needed much more, right? Like, it's like having a house that you have to refurbish and you spent five grand on a lavish front door. If I did that, my wife would kill me.

She'd be like, what are you doing? I'm like, look, this is pretty. everybody sees it when they come to our house and she's like you idiot you know how far that could have gone to fix the problem with our air conditioning or our plumbing or maybe repaint the living room right so again the diamondbacks have far too many things in their house to fix for them to spend all of that money on Alex Bregman so um we'll see we'll see if that comes to fruition I that where there's again like the Catea rumors where there's smoke there's fire this Bregman thing seems to be picking up steam and it seems to be picking up steam like now like here in on this day right one day after

christmas like we're having dan bickley and john gambadora both talking about this definitely feels like things are our business is picking up just a little bit but we're going to take a quick break but before that i did want to remind you guys if you haven't done so already go check out our phnx newsletter our guy alex d'agastino that knows so much about this arizona diamondbacks team is writing that newsletter and he is doing a wonderful job at it. It's like having a friend call you up first thing in the morning to talk about sports. But your friend is the most knowledgeable friend you've ever met. So check out our newsletter right now. It's the biggest news in Arizona sports in your inbox daily at 6 a.m. completely free.

All you got to do is go to go phtnx.com slash newsletter and sign up for it today. Well, we have some gifts to return. And maybe none of the Diamondbacks gifts, they didn't do a bad job. but some of these other teams might have done a bad job on getting their fan bases gifts. So we're going to talk about some deals that Damon and I would return for store credit soon. And we're going to do that on the other side of this break. Don't you go anywhere? You're watching the PH&X Diamond Back Show. Well, Pure Edibles was founded in Arizona, and you know I'm in love with this company.

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They got hard candies. They got chewed. They got soft candies. They got their version of Starbursts that they call kicks and so much more. They also have this collaboration with Mother Road Brewing Company, one of my favorite breweries in the state. And that is based on, as you see here, one of the most wonderful IPAs in the entire land, Tower Station IPA.

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You're guaranteed to find a gift for yourself. I know I sound selfish when I'm saying this, but this is that time of the year, right? We bought gifts for other people. We did that. Now, if disappointment is looming for you the way it looms for Damon and I for not getting Pete Fairbanks, fret not go to rally house get yourself fitted

treat yourself as they say to some of the best local sports team gear every time you visit rally house you're guaranteed to find something new unique and that matches your game day vibe so check out their locations in tempi mesa and glendale today find your local rally house location and shop their entire product assortment online at rallyhouse dot com right now and damon you know I got myself some fire

I can't wait I wasn't even gonna wait I was on a on a show from home I wasn't going to waste some of this new hoodies and shirts that I got. I got myself some sod poodles gear. I got myself some Hillsborough hops gear. I am very satisfied with the selection of, oh, I'm so ready, Damon, I'm so ready. But what I'm also glad I don't have to do is return anything to the store. No one bought me any missized things. There's no things.

I'm so dissatisfied that they have to go back. no everybody did a good job of buying me gifts i feel like the diamondbacks have done a good job except for missing out on pete fairbanks you said that you said that i was kind of sitting there and i was like i feel like i didn't get enough from the diamond yeah i know you didn't sitting here and i and i there was like one thing in the stocking and i was like oh that's a nice michael syroca yeah and then i'm sitting and then and you just merrill pelly feels like he was already on the team so it's like not even anything new and you're sitting there and you're like you're like is that that was that was it that was the present okay well well good happy merry christmas

everybody right one one time a long time ago my wife got herself a new car radio and since mine wasn't working she as a present gave me her old one that's kind of what meryl kelly feels a little bit like like i'm not saying it's a disappointment i'm not saying we didn't need him but i'm i feel like this gift was already in the house and you just wrapped it and gave it to me is what i feel like right yeah you're right and you just have to eat it you just have to eat it damon you can't complain because now you're the bad guy all the people that didn't get you gifts they all get off the hook uh now you're the bad guy because you didn't get enough and you're trying to go to rally house and buy yourself you know a Marvin Harrison Jr. jersey or something.

And I don't think you're the bad guy, right? But the question is, Derek, would you rather spend too much money on someone spent way too much money on a gift that was just nowhere near worth it? Or would you rather show up like Mike Hazen and Coe have showed up this offseason and we're like, yeah, enjoy it. I got out you one thing in the stocking. Go reach it and grab it. Yeah.

It's fun. I mean, we've talked about this with like, Secret Santa and White Elephant Gifts, right? Why do we set a $40 limit when you're just going to spend $10? What are we doing here? And you do this every year. Can't just spend $10 year after year to expect us to continue to put up with this from you, right? But you're right.

There are teams that spent far too little. There are teams that spent too much. Some of these deals that happened, we immediately hated. And we're going to talk about a couple of deals, I think, that we would send back to the store. I know one that you hated the most. And we have talked about the Atlanta Braves doing some good things this off season, right? Again, like the Marlins, you feel like the Braves are another team in the mix that if they improve, that's going to impact the Diamondbacks's chances with that wild card and just make things a bit more of a crowded house,

gives the Diamondbacks more problems, right? But the Diamondbacks signed two players, two, or excuse me, not the Diamondbacks, the Braves. The Braves have two moves, two gifts that they got their fan base that I would return to the store immediately. The lesser one is Joel, right-handed pitcher, Joel Piams, who they signed to a one-year, $2.25 million deal, which doesn't make any sense because this is a man that at this point in his career doesn't miss bats, doesn't get ground balls, doesn't eat innings in bulk, doesn't do most things you would want to do. And they paid him what you would pay a fairly decent reliever, right? And that's one year, $2.25 million. That's the kind of deal that flies under the radar because of how small it is and how short term the deal is. But I mean, the Braves could have just carried him at the tender deadline and they could have paid him less.

Instead, they're bringing him back and it doesn't make any sense. Like you didn't like him then and you could have kept him around, but now he's an option for you. like it it definitely screams that the Braves like missed out on maybe what they were trying to do and just kind of had to once again like Diamondbacks are doing scramble to make sure that their their bullpen and everything is set for this season yeah no doubt about I did want to touch on something that's going on in the chat real quick Derek just because there's so many great supporters club members here that we have Sean Deborah Aaron folding Chable I mean everybody in here appreciate all of the supporting club members uh i we will work on that they're

wondering derrick why we don't have a frog domo i know they're wondering they're wondering where the cactus light went they're wondering why we don't have a corbin running face and sean you are right it is because it's the off season and i think that there is like some limit or something that we have there is a limit to the amount of no we try to make it more timely for the sports that are in season but go ahead derrick the more supporters club members we get, the more emojis we're allowed to have. So just saying, not to put it on you guys, but just saying, that's something that's, that's the case, right?

But yeah, no, yeah, we want to get more emojis in there for us for sure, and we'll have those by opening day. Damon, the other deal. I'll see what I can deal. The other deal I know you hated probably the most this offseason. Ha-Song Kim coming back to the Braves on a one year, 20, million dollar deal for a player who was claimed off waivers by the raise on september first and then became a free agent i really like ha san kim get i meant the braves got him off waivers from

the raise sorry i mess that up but yeah yeah but i really 20 million it's ridiculous i really like toss on him, the player. I think he's fun as hell to watch. My first, or not my first, but like, I want to say like four summers ago, I went to a Padres game or whenever it was like when he was like a rookie, five summers ago, six summers ago. And he, he hit a, I was watching Padres Dodgers. And he had a pinch hit home run against the Dodgers in the eighth inning to take the lead.

And it was like really like his first like kind of like burst onto the scene moment. and Padres fans, he was like a fan favorite from that moment on. And I was at that game. And then I got to see him leaving the stadium. We just so happened to be walking by right when he was leaving. And he was just so like, he was just like, like everybody was losing their minds because they just swept the Dodgers. And ever since that moment, I've really liked toss on Kim.

He's a fun player, awesome player. 20 million dollars, Derek? So much money. 20 million dollars. So much money. And I mean, again, that's star money. Right. Like the one year part, that is what it is, right? But the $20 million, like, I don't understand how he pulled that off. Like, heist of the century, heist of the century. Bigger heist than the Diamondback sending Merrill Kelly into the Texas Rangers organization just to bring us back three of their top pitching prospects. But this one kind of hit me weird, Damon. Again, just a player that, like what you were just describing with Hassan Kim, one of those guys that at one point I thought was going to. the league on fire and definitely has not been doing that lately.

Leodi Tavares signed a deal with the Baltimore Orals who are just throwing money around right now. Again, small term deal, one year, $2.1 million. I don't care if this man's 27 years old, Damon. He posted a 530 OPS through January, through June 7th in the majors last year before he was banished to minor leagues. And he's not even, according to reports, not a good defender even. any longer. I know the Baltimore Orioles are have no problem throwing money around right now. I know by comparison, 2.1 million is nothing, but I feel like the Orioles kind of reek of desperation. You know, not to say that they're not getting what they want because they are, but their moves

feel desperate. I don't even really love the Pete Alonzo move that much because I don't feel like Pete Alonzo is going to impact you as much as maybe a lot. other players you could have gotten once again with that money. But the Orioles are just right now trying to keep up with the rest of the American League East. And they're not doing a bad job at it. They just, again, they like this, this is one of those moves. Like nobody's going to even talk about this. Found this in an MLB article of them talking about moves they didn't like. And I couldn't have agreed with this more because, again, there are so many young players out there that you don't have to pay anywhere close to this amount of money in order for you to have a talented young

outfielder to give you depth. It's not a minor league deal. Doesn't make a lot of sense. But I'm looking right now, Derek, Josh Naylor is making $60 million less on the same amount of years as Pete Alonzo. And obviously he's not the power hitter that Pete Alonzo is, but he's a significantly better fielder. And not that he's like great, but he's okay. And Lonzo's like notoriously pretty bad and he's he's like a he's a better average hater i don't know i think that that the i know you don't like peter lonso a lot but that's that i agree that's not necessarily the the best contract i've ever seen it's just like again it's kind of what we were talking about earlier what cool bro said it's a flashy move it's a sugar rush and it's not the vegetables and nutrients that the orioles needed right

so that's why it doesn't feel like a great move and you're right it's a lot of money when they could have honestly added some other guys that I don't even know what they're going on. Like it feels like Baltimore did not need a first basement. Like I know that their first basement situation hasn't been great. But I felt like that they had plenty of guys. I guess those guys weren't the guy though, right? Like that's what it comes down to. I also don't think Dylan Cease is the guy.

That's why I did not love this move of the Blue Jays going out there and spending seven million, seven years, $210 million on Dylan Seas. I mean, it's a huge gamble on the Blue Jay's. heart. And overall, I felt like the Blue Jays didn't really need to go out and be this like reactionary. You were, you were an inning away from winning the World Series, my guys, like lock down the players you had that help you get there, bring Boba Shet back, make that more of a focus, stop going out there and just trying to spend like Dylan Sees again, I know he's punch out poppy, but it still doesn't feel like that, that's, uh, that's going to be long term success.

for them. I could be wrong. Cease could bounce back. What I'll say about Dylan Cease is he's an innings eater. The guy pitches a lot and he pitches for, you know, generally pretty decent teams. And I feel like he's, he's consistent in that he is a good pitcher. But he's not really like a upper echelon pitcher and hasn't been for a couple years now.

I think he's pretty good, though. I think that's too much money. But if you're a team that has the money to spend and you're like, we need one guy to get us over the, the top here. If you're the Blue Jays, I could see why they would like it, but I agree with you seven years at that figure,

a little bit too much money. The one guy I'm looking at here, Derek, that I'm like, now that's going to be probably a monstrosity of a contract. And, you know, I know we've floated this name a lot,

going to the Diamondbacks for obvious reasons, but I just think it's unrealistic because of he's just not valuable enough for what the money he's going to make. I think Bellinger is going to have just a, we're going to, Like if he signs a long-term deal, we're going to be looking at that in like three years and being like, yeah, yeah. Are you serious?

He's making $33 million for the next two years or something like that. Like, it's getting wild. I know we don't compare notes, but I also had a deal that hasn't happened yet as being an absolute catastrophe for whatever team it happens to. And it's the Kyle Tucker deal. Kyle Tucker is going to make $400 million? He is. No. Like, no.

I don't even believe that. I think that that's like an overestimate. I think it's a move by Boris to get a team to feel more comfortable with paying him like $300 million. But don't let me catch you paying $400 million for Kyle Tucker. That is like you- 7 war last year, Derek, 8.7. Oh, but still- That's crazy. Oh, wait, no, that's not true.

No, that's not true. What is MLB telling me? Yeah, I think it's-MLB told me, MLB.com told me 8.7 on their free agent track and then I'm like, that's ridiculous. And I look it up and it's 4.6. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, I don't know what they're doing over there. That's much more like it.

They have weird wars over there. But yeah, no, I mean, whatever team gets these guys are going to overpay for them. And like you said, I have a hard time believing unless it's, you know, like the Yankees can absorb that. They can. They can, like, whatever, you know, some of these teams can absorb it. But my God, let the Mets get Kyle Tucker or, Cody Bellinger. And then that franchise, we can all watch that franchise burn to the ground.

We can just watch it all crumble to the ground. And then they'll spend more money trying to put out the fire. But I don't like any of these deals. They can all go back. And I think we'll get plenty of credit, Damon, for us to get ourselves like the Nintendo Switch 2. I didn't get earlier that I was talking about. But we're going to take a quick break. On the other side of this break, we got to talk about Damon's favorite wholesome boy,

being the star of MLB's Twitter page for Christmas Day. We're going to talk about that in a moment. Don't you go anywhere. You're watching the pH next Diamondback show. Well, those scratchers were a hit this holiday season from our friends at Arizona Lottery. But let me tell you, right now you can feel your excitement by getting free gas for a year from Arizona Lottery.

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win gas for a year. And also, like I said, while you're there, get yourself some scratchy tickets. I know the holidays are over, but the candy cane cash still smells like candy cane. And let me tell you, it was my wife's favorite one of all of them. She loved candy cane cash because it smelled delightfully like peppermint. So again, you're not miss out on the joy that you can bring yourself and others with some scratchers while you're entering to win gas for a year. Also, if you're an Arizona sports fan, there's no better place to do your banking than Desert Financial Credit Union. It's the only place you can show off your team spirit every time you make a purchase with exclusive debit cards branded with your favorite teams, including the Arizona Cardinals, Arizona State

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Major League Baseball featured it on their Twitter page. I remember when this happened. I remember years after it happened, still enjoying in the pure joy. that was Paven Smith and what he did for his family. But in case you haven't seen it, I think we have the video, Damon, to play. This is Pavan Smith giving his parents the greatest gift any child could give their parents. Okay, just home in love. The words are small for little letters unto each,

and yet you will not find it all. The way gracious, rage of speech. Two more so tendestly complete when angels talk. to have it above. Or sure they have no words, more sweet than common love. Thank you for raising me in a great home filled with love

because of all the sacrifices you made to get me where I am. I want our family. I want our family home to be yours. So you're... Paven Smith used his signing bonus with the Diamondbacks to pay off his family's home.

And again, it's a beautiful sentiment. Gets me every time. Gets me choked up. And I just have to ask, Damon, why are you so mean to this sweet, sweet boy? This is the man you ate. This is the man that is ruining your life and your team. Explain yourself. This is a beautiful sentiment.

I was getting pretty choked up and emotional over here myself, Derek. What an absolute callback moment for the Smith family. And Pavin seems. like a phenomenal dude. Seems like a phenomenal dude. Derek, I'd love for Pavin to be the first bat off the bench for this team, the pinch hitter, if you will.

I would love that. I would love that. I just don't want him to be the everyday starting first basement. You know what I thought about with this, honestly, is that what I would truly love is to see these guys take that step forward, right? Like, let's be honest. Everybody loves Geraldo Pardomo,

and everybody has always kind of loved Geraldo Perdomo, but that changed in 2025. How dare you? How dare you? When Perdomo hit under the Mendoza line in his rookie season when he was, what, 20 years old, and everybody was like right off this scrub. And you're like, yeah,

because we had four shortstop injuries in the organization, so they had to call up the dude from AA who's 20, and he put up a 200 batting average. Like, he was no, we're near ready. I remember a lot of prodomo hate, but, hey, well, no, I mean, but see, that's, what you're ingrained up here. What you're saying is exactly right, right? Like, at any point, all it takes for everybody, including yourself, to get on board with any of these young guys is success, right? Like, figuring it out. If, if, if,

payman came out on opening day and smacked three home runs like you did in that one game, right? Like, we would be like legend. This is my first basement. This is why we didn't need anybody. We knew it, right? And we always believed in Pavin Smith on this podcast. Right. And so, I mean, and the same could very much be said, like, about Alec Thomas, about Jake McCarthy,

pitching-wise, it could be said about Brandon Fott. It could be said about young pitchers, you know, guys that struggled, Kevin Ginkle. Like, anybody can turn things around. And you feel like that's... I guess, you know, it's starting to become apparent that that's kind of what we might have to hope for here for some of these positions that we were hoping they would go out and, you know, go out and address, but we knew that they had limited funds to do so. So just, again, it's, this is the hope, the hope that this is the year that now we see two or three other guys take that step forward like Pardomo did. If they do, if they do, you never know. Yeah, and they don't need to take up Perdomo step necessarily.

but if you could just have guys like like the the alec tom as you said the alec thomas is the paven smiths the blaze alexanders the jordan wallers even hell i'd say even gabby merino i'd even throw gabby in there i think gabby is clearly the fifth best position player in this lineup but uh or fourth best position player in this lineup as it currently stands but i i also think that gabby has the ability to like put in a more consistent better offensive season than we've seen from him in thus far. So like I just think that there's opportunity for a lot of guys on this roster to maybe show us that they have a little bit slightly big higher level than we thought that they did going into this year. And that's really what's going to be the game changer for this Diamondbacks team in my opinion is how those guys fare.

Even if you want to talk about pitching, Brandon Fott falls into that category as well, I think. So just guys that you that you need to that are going to be given opportunity that are young, that this organization has put a lot of resources and belief in and that you need to take a jump. Well, it's that time, Damon, where my computer has forsaken me. So we're going to get out of here. I do want to thank AZ Katz G for gifting a PHNX sports membership. That's amazing.

Thank you so much. I appreciate you. He gifted five on the Wildcats show the other day. Oh, my God. He's the season of giving. It's the season of giving. He says, Pavin gives a house. I give a membership.

Merry Christmas. Well, Merry Christmas to you, my guy. Thank you so much for your generosity. Thank you so much for your time. And I goes to all of you guys. Thank you guys so much for being here. We appreciate you spending this afternoon day after Christmas with us. We will be back on Monday with another 12 p.m. show.

So make sure to join us for that and send us your mailbag Monday questions. We will be sure to answer those. But we love you guys. We appreciate you. We hope you all got what you wanted under your Christmas trees. You all deserve it. Even Kill a Rex. You even deserve everything you wanted, sir.

But again, you can follow. us on Twitter. I am at Kemp underscore Not everything. We all know what he really wanted for Christmas. And he's not going to get it. And he's not getting it. We do know what he wants.

But yeah, sorry. Sorry about that one. But again, thank you guys so much for barking along with us. We are all Damon's dog still cool bro. Of course, he is at Damon Dog with a DAWG. And we're all those dogs,

spark, bark. Our show is at PHNX underscore D-BACs, but as always all roads lead to at PH H&X underscore sports on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. We thank you guys. We appreciate you so much for your time. We'll see you on Monday. Until then, have a wonderful weekend.

Drink lots of eggnog and coquito for those of you that are true, geez. And remember, kids, baseball is fun, but it's so much more fun when you find yourself a closer and stop with all this Alex Breggman talk.