PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - Rays Emerge As FRONTRUNNERS In Ketel Marte Trade, While D-backs Shop For Pitching

Episode Date: December 19, 2025

No matter how much we try, we cannot escape the Ketel Marte rumors. The Tampa Bay Rays have reportedly been making a significant push for a trade with the Diamondbacks for their All-Star second baseman, but we can’t really figure out why. We discuss the recent trades they’ve made and wonder how Marte would fit in. We also discuss Sean Newcomb possibly being a bullpen arm the D-backs could pursue if another team scoops up Pete Fairbanks. Plus, we are giving out Secret Santa gifts to D-backs players and staff members, and we got something nice for Ken Kendrick if he gifts us Alex Bregman and a closer without trading Marte.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/Aura Frames: Exclusive $35 off Carver Mat at https://on.auraframes.com/PHNX. Promo Code PHNXPhoenix 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/APS:  Find instant rebates, discounts and special offers on smart thermostats, energy-efficient appliances and more at https://marketplace.aps.com/default/heating-cooling/smart-thermostatsBranded 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=allcityShowNotesChicken N’ Pickle: Family friendly fun awaits! Visit chickennpickle.com to plan your visit today!Visit https://www.macu.com/accounts/checking/mystyle-checking?cid=ea-PHNX-AZ-mystyleAugust2025-checking to learn more about their MyStyle Checking Accounts!bet365: 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.

We are hearing reports that the Tampa Bay race are somehow becoming a frontrunner for a Cotel Marte trade. Tampa Bay, baby, what is you doing? Welcome in to another edition of the PHNX feedback podcast live from Studio K, presented by our friends at Circle K. Happy Friday to you all. It is your mayor of PHNX occasionally known as Derek Montia decked out in my finest wares. I do have a little missile tote. under my hat. So if you see me on the streets, you got a smoochman. That's the worst. Got my guy Damon Dog, aka the lechated my cult cafe on the ones and Tuesdays today.

And we have s'm more horrible, terrible, Patre rumors that probably aren't going to come true and aren't going to come fruition. But we have to talk about them because that's what we do on this show. This show is brought to you by our friends at Game Time. Make sure to go download that GameTime app right now. Log in, create an account. Use that code of PHNX when you sign up. Get yourself $20 off your first purchase on those already low ticket prices. Of course, terms and conditions do apply. The Diamondbacks have made a move this morning and one that we do not quite understand. Other than it apparently opens up a 40-man roster spot for Merrill Kelly.

The Diamondbacks made a trade today for outfielder Avery Ousu Asseidu, trading away to the Phillies left-handed pitcher Kyle Backus. And again, the Diamondbacks aren't really in a position right now to be trading away relief pitchers. So that's part of the reason why we don't understand it. And, you know, when I am in step here with Killer Rex, things might be wrong because, I mean, I do feel similar to the way you do Rex. But again, it means that the Diamondbacks might have something in the works. Obviously, like I said, the reason why this trade has happened was to make a 40-man roster. spot. But the Diamondbacks don't have very much young left-handed pitching, especially when it

comes to their bullpen. It seemed like Backus overstretches was pretty good last year for the Arizona Diamondbacks. And we've kind of been a fan of him on this show in the past. So this one stings a little bit. But again, it might mean that the Diamondbacks have more trades, more moves in the works, more free agency pickups in the works. Meanwhile, this outfielder they acquired, Avery Oosu Asseidu. His last name is going to haunt me for years because of my, how bad I am I'm pronouncing last names, but what won't haunt me is getting a big fella here in the outfield. I like this guy.

Damon, I think we took a look at some of his baseball savant here. His prospect savant, technically. This is courtesy of our friends over at Diamondbacks Prospects. And this is, there's a lot of red on here. And Jack Summers also tweeted this out as well. Okay. There's a lot. There's a lot of red on here. Got to like this. Of course, his numbers might not stand out to you as being very strong from the 2025 season. However, again, this is an outfielder that has a lot of potential here. A lot of things to like, including his plate discipline and some other factors. And also, how big is he, Damon? He's like six foot three, six foot four, two hundred and thirty five pounds, Derek. And to make matters even a lot. It's like seven inches taller than most of our outfield. Yeah, I think our average outfield is like 5-9-180, so it's a bit different.

But also one thing to point out here is the speed factor at the bottom of this. He's 86th percentile in speed. And I believe that he had 33 stolen bases this year. And I think Goldie happens put that out on Twitter. Like 33 stolen bases at 6-3-2-30. Definitely has some athleticism and had the best hitting year of his minor league career last. year in high A, so hopefully is a prospect that's trending on the up.

I think he's a decent return for a, you know, relief pitcher who is a, you know, borderline guy who might make your roster, might not. I know that Diamondbacks have a lot of guys that are probably right there around that same level as Backus, but I also think

that they are very limited when you look at their bullpen arms on left-handed pitchers. So, again, it's a move I don't love, but I do like the return, like you said. I do feel like This is a good young outfielder that the Diamondback's got. He'll be reporting to the Hillsborough hops, and I'm sure he's going to be, you know, a definite, you know,

potentially very good prospect for the Arizona Diamondbacks. However, you could argue that Kyle Backus is already Major League talent, major league ready, proven at a major league level, and that's the reason why I definitely don't love the move. I also don't understand what the Diamondbacks are doing right now in regards to their bullpen and how, you know, I don't know how depleted their bullpen is, how few of options they already have, right? In 2025, Kyle Back has had a negative 0.1 war, and he had a 4.62 ERA. So that's what I'm talking about, Rex. Not exactly killer numbers. He had a 4.24

FIP, which isn't terrible. 1.421 whip, which is pretty high. And again, just, again, not the, not the best numbers posted by him. But also you could say that about the entire bullpen. So I'm not going to single out Kyle Backus. In fact, like I said, for stretches for this team, he was very good. And I'm sure that his bullpen, I'm sure his ERA is ballooned by a few bad outings instead of it being significant. Right. So that's the reason why this probably doesn't stand out.

But I would say that like, like, you know, we have a lot of Kyle Backus is, Derek. That's, yes. We have a lot of Kyle Backus in this. guys who like maybe if things break right they could be better they could be helpful to this team but they had like a four six two er a they had a four three era they had a you know a three nine era we start we need a couple guys who are going to actually be game changers in the bullpen and that's the that's the crux of this issue like there are a lot of faces in this bullpen like guys that could make this roster but there's no one that is like the the top dog in this

bullpen and that's what the diamond backs are missing. And that's why, once again, we implore you to hurry up and sign Pete Fairbanks, which we are going to talk about here soon. But the San Diego Padres, they made some moves, Damon as well. Michael King,

staying in San Diego, a player that we talked about coveting and knowing we most likely weren't going to get. San Diego needed to do this. The Padres were kind of in a death spiral there, honestly. And They were losing so much of their talent that it was hard to imagine, you know, again, what that team would look like.

It's good for us. You love to see it when you're a Diamondbacks fan. You love to see the Padres not having options and losing star players and not being able to keep up with spending as much as other teams. But again, Michael King, quietly, one of the best starting pitchers in baseball. He stays in San Diego. They also add KBO star Sung Mun Song, who agrees to a deal with the Padres as well. and this is, like I said, very, very necessary on the heels this week that U. Darvish has announced that he most likely will retire after this last surgery.

So we might have seen the last of U. Darbish in a Padre's uniform or in any uniform. His career might be over after his third, I believe his third elbow surgery here. But again, the moves are being made around baseball. The Diamondbacks move not nearly as subsubes. substantial, but again, the trade creates a 40-man roster spot, and that's probably the main reason why that the Diamondbacks did this, why they picked Kyle Backus. That's up to them for them to explain themselves. But here we feel like we'll see the Merrill Kelly move made official soon and hope to hear from Merrill. That's going to be fun. Love to always get a chance to talk to Merrill Kelly. Glad he's back in the Diamondbacks uniform. Now, the Royals and the Phillies, they also made a trade, which was kind of surprising. The Phillies, the royals end up acquiring Matt Strom in a trade with the Phillies and send right-handed Jonathan Bolin back to Philadelphia. So Phillies continue to stay very active, but Matt Strom, just the kind of guy that you kind of always think of as a Philly.

So they're trying to do what they can do, especially to keep up with the Mets who are spending an ungodly amount of money, but really aren't, they don't seem to be doing it on the best players. I don't know what the Mets are doing, but they're going to continue to add. free agents and try to make that team better. But the big story for us here today is some interesting news, an ever-evolving, ever-changing situation. With the Tampa Bay Rays somehow emerging as a top suitor for a Cotell Marte trade. We have a number of tweets here. We've discovered mock bomb,

who apparently seems to be out reporting some of the best reporters in baseball. Damon came across this gentleman, and so far his track record seems to be pretty good. Yeah, he's legit. I mean, he was putting the Braggman stuff out before anybody did before Corabas confirmed that that was the mystery team in question

before Bob put out the interest. And then also, he's kind of been on the forefront of a lot of this Ketel stuff. So I think he's pretty trustworthy. It seems like his track record over the last couple off-season has been pretty solid. it as well. And he was first on the Shane Bass trade today as well that throws a little bit of a wrench

into this whole conversation, but we'll get into that here in a second. It started off this morning, right? 1039. He tweeted out sources, Ray's and DeBak's talks surrounding second baseman. Ketel Marte have ramped up over the past 24 hours. Ray is new last night that they were nearing a deal to move second baseman Brandon Lowe. Rays, I'm told, are the clear and obvious favorite to land Marte if he has moved and that if does a lot of heavy lifting there in this whole situation. He said debacks loves starters Baz and Pepio keep an eye on Yandy Diaz as well as part of the potential deal here. Mach bomb.

And then not too much longer later, we hear that the rays have in fact traded Shane Baz to the Orioles. So I don't know how much that changes that. I don't know how much that signals that the deal is dead. Just a short while later, he and other reporters tweeted out, Razor closing in on a deal to send Shane Baz to Orioles. So again, that was half an hour later. But again, when you take a look at the return of Yandy Diaz and Ryan Pepeyo for Cotel Marte,

you start to have to wonder if that is. a big enough return here for the Diamondbacks. That's something that Damon isn't necessarily all in on, but he was taking a look. He was pulling the baseball savant page for Yandy Diaz, and it's very alarming. He's nasty. Yeah, he's nasty.

That's all I was saying is I wasn't really, I think Yandy Diaz, and I think a lot of baseball fans know this, so I'm sorry, I apologize for not being a ball knower. I do need to, like, learn players in like the American League East a little bit better and stuff like that.

Like I'm, I wasn't super. familiar with Yandy Dias' game. He's a great player, Derek. Yeah, absolutely. He would automatically, and of course that's not ready to go, he would automatically be the, you know, second best hitter on this team probably, especially if you get rid of Ketel. He's 34.

I think that's the major concern is that you don't, you wouldn't necessarily consider having Yandy Diaz for like a long part of your future. But he is on a pretty reasonable contract and he has, he has been really. really, really good the last couple years. Well, and again, it's a great player, right? But Ketel still a better player. Correct. In all of the discussions that we had about Alex Bregman, right,

there seem to be understandably so, the question from people watching from viewers that, you know, why is Bregman a better player than Marte? He's not. We tried to make sure we said that yesterday. But when it comes to the Bregman situation, it kind of made sense in pairing it with the Marte trade. And then that entire hall is kind of what you're looking at, right? But, I mean, when you're talking about a direct trade and a direct direct return,

I will say that the Yandy Diaz, Ryan Pepeio deal does kind of give the Diamondbacks what they're seeking, what they're needing, right? it's just not still a desirable return for most Diamondbacks fans. And it also doesn't really make sense as to what the hell the, you know, the, what's the goal for the race? What's the goal for the race? What the hell are the raise doing? Like here, Cotel Marte, his annual payroll hit is about $14 million in change. This year, right? That's every year.

It works out like on an average annual basis. Oh, I thought it was like 16. Yeah, no, it's like 14. I believe Ken Rosenthal said it was like 14.7 or something like that. But basically that's what it works out to on an annual basis. So you have Ryan Pepeyong, Yandy Diaz essentially making together combined a similar amount as to what Cotell Marte would receive in one year. So you're adding a starting pitcher and an all-star first baseman for what Cotel Marte would receive. But this is not enough, in my opinion. Taking Shane Baz out of the scenario, definitely makes it not enough. I don't know if Shane Baz and Ryan Pepeio and Yandy Diaz would have all been in the package had the raise offered that up to the Diamondbacks. That seems maybe sufficient, but still... I don't think that the raise would offer that.

That's a lot, right? Yeah. That's a lot. Two starting pitchers that are currently in their starting rotation and their best hitter. That would be you'd gut your team for... Not saying Catell's not awesome, but like a second basement is a second basement still at the end of the day. I agree. And that's why I have said that if the...

Diamondbacks can somehow get quality starting pitching back for Catelle Marte. Now we're talking. Meanwhile, just like what, like an hour before all of this happened, the Rays have traded second baseman Brandon Lowe to the Pirates. And that's where we do the Brian Winhorst. What is going on in Tampa Bay? Because that's where it's like, what are they doing? Who are they clearing spots for at second base?

but then why are you trading away players in your rotation and your best hitter when you're trying to get Cotel Marte to, I assume, compete, no? Like you don't want Cotel Marte just to, is it just to sell tickets, maybe? I mean, that's, I guess, the conversation that needs to be had here. Like, what is the raise end goal? Ryan Pappio has had some pretty damn good numbers. Yeah, he's a good pitcher. Right?

I mean, in four years, his career ERA is 3.54, 3.86. last year, 3.60 in 2024, 2.14 with the Dodgers in 2020. But that was in a small sample size. And again, 3.47 in 2022 with the Dodgers in a smaller sample size. 3.60 was 26 starts. The 3.86 was 31 starts. So again, this is a guy that dealt with a lot of, I guess, bad conditions with that raised team last year. right awful home ballpark situation playing in a minor league ballpark that is owned by one of your rival teams in your same division uh and uh also kind of a little league park and he was still able to post a 3.86 era pitching half of his games in that ballpark um so i mean again i know the return uh for us as fans viewing it isn't great but there's a lot of potential there for someone like ryan

Pepio and Yandy Diaz who again his you know his baseball savon page is on fire uh I do think that the Shane Baz trade to be honest even though that this was kind of a hot rumor that started last night and kind of picked up some traction this morning may have been the signal that this trade is not happening maybe that's the case essentially yeah again like people said in the chat like I said the if in that tweet does a lot of heavy lifting. And I still think that it really comes down to the Diamondbacks not needing to trade Catelle Marte at the end of the day, not being desperate to trade them. Like there are teams that are far more desperate to trade guys that are huge assets that are in expiring contracts this year like a Freddie Peralta or Terek Scoubel. They're not doing that either.

Those teams aren't doing that most likely. I could be wrong. And I'm really just keeping my fingers crossed for it when it comes to the Dodgers getting. their grubby little hands on Terrick Scoobble. They can at least wait until after this season to do that. But overall, I feel like this is a, you know, this is a situation where the Diamondbacks, again, don't need to trade it. As John here in the chat said, I agree with John that the Diamondbacks really just need to

open up the wallet and spend. They need to add to Marte. They need to start making some moves that will allow them some more, you know, pitching assistance because that's really the thing here. It's hard to look at this starting rotation right now with the numbers from last year and think that this starting rotation is going to make you a contender. Pitching wins championships, pitching wins baseball games. And right now the Diamondbacks don't have the pitching for that.

They definitely don't have the bullpen for it. And that's what we're going to talk about on the other side of this break. Please, for the love of God, pick up the phone and call Pete Fairbanks right now, Mike Hazen. We're going to talk about this on the other side of this break. Don't you go anywhere. You're watching the PHNX Diamondback show. And that's because Pure Edibles is a full-fledged candy company. They offer more than just gummies, though they do offer gummies.

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That's AURAFrams.com promo code PHNX. The deal is exclusive to listeners and frames sell out fast. So get yours now in time for the holidays. Support the show by mentioning us at checkout. Terms and conditions do apply. Derek, no lie. I ordered an aura frame about a week ago and it came. in two days. Amazing. See? Look at that. I thought it was a pair of shoes I ordered like three weeks before that that I was still waiting on and I was like, oh, here's the shoes. And then I opened it up and I said, oh, my God, that's the aura frame I ordered two days ago.

It's wonderful. And again, it's an amazing, it's amazing thoughtful gift. And it's much better than what most of us can do. Well, I'll tell you guys, we were just taking a look at this package that the Orioles sent the raise in exchange for Shane Baz. and let's just say not only hard pass, but I have a feeling of the dive-in-backs we're not going to get him at all.

Maybe that's just, yes, they liked him. And that's what the guy said in the tweet. They liked him, but liking things. I mean, I like Lamborghinis, and that doesn't really connect me to one at all. It seems like maybe the raise were like, we'll give you Shane Baz for Cotel Martet. And the debacks were like, what?

Yeah. And was there an and on the end of that statement? And the Orioles were like, no. favorite game, Damon. Everybody's say it together. Lose this number. Yeah, that's what we say it when he offers his Shane Baz. But they got what? Like the first round pick for the for the Orioles. They got like their compensatory pick for next year. They got a bunch of stuff. Yeah, they got I'm looking at this this here. It's a pretty insane package. It's one of the more insane packages I've I've kind of really ever seen from a player of the ilk of Shane Baz who, who is,

good and has potential, I think, Derek. But, like, are we really, like, are we, are we actually being like this guy who had, I mean, let me look here at his stats. He had a 487. He had a 487. ERA. What are we doing? Derek of 487.

What are we doing? And he goes for, he goes for, uh, eight, seven. He goes for, uh, eight, two first. round picks in Slater de Brun and Caden Bodein, who was at Coastal Carolina and Arizona fans would be familiar with. And then they got a right

handed pitcher in Michael Ferret, who had a 1-58 ERA last year. They also got Austin Overn who apparently Derek has quote unquote track star speed according to Jeff Passon, which makes him a valuable player just in that he's probably going to be in the majors as a

defensive replacement and as a pinch runner. And then on top of of all of that hall, on top of the elite pitching arm, at top of the two first round pick prospects, they're sending in another compensation pick as well at the end of the first round of next year's draft. What? So that's crazy. They are, yeah, they are.

And also do a division rival, right? To a division rival. They gave up five for one for the raised starting pitcher four, hypothetically. I mean, that's pretty crazy. That's crazy, man. It's a wild haul. I mean, it makes you think that the raise were definitely valuing Shane Baz as like the headliner of a Catele trade. Right.

No? Right. Like they were like, this guy, this guy is the mantle piece of this trade. Right. And I would be, I'll be honest, I'd be pretty sick if the mantle piece of a Catell trade was a 487 ERA. It sounds like a diamond back pitcher. It does. It sounds like a perfect diamond back.

It does. Especially considering that we have five of those guys. Yeah. Not five. No disrespect to Ryan Nelson or Merrill Kelly. But we at least have three of those guys already. Right. So I just, I don't get it.

I don't, I'm glad that the Diamondbacks aren't hearing them out. And I'm sick of these teams from Florida, quite frankly. I'm sick of the Tampa Bay Reyes. I don't know what they're doing, right? They had a chance to bring Pete Fairbanks back. They don't. They trade Brandon Lowe away. But then they're bringing in prospects and they're getting rid of Shane Baz.

But now they want to go after Cotell-Marty. Pick a goddamn lane. Make a, make your mind up. I mean, like, seriously. Hey, question. Derek, Damon Farrell here. First time caller,

long time list. Yeah, Damon. What's your question about? If they're offloading pieces, can we just get Yaddi Diaz without trading Catele-Martee? Because that's where my mind's going to all of a sudden. Maybe Yandy Diaz for one Jake McCarthy. All right.

Well, now that that joke's over. What about Jordan Lawler? What about Jordan Lawler? What about Jordan Lawler? for Yandhi for Yandtis. Something along those lines. Like you're keeping Ketel.

You add to an already like great infield, stud infield, the Dominican Republic starting middle infield. I mean, I used to pray for times like this, Eric. Yeah, right. The DR starting middle infield, the Dominican Republic, the country that makes, my home. The claim for Damon is from and resides in the summers. My home island is right. The country that creates the best middle infielers on a consistent. basis, both of them are diamondbacks.

I don't know. Special. Let's not break it up. And let's add another just demon to the mix. And Yandy Diaz, I'm all in. I'm with Lando, though, here. And I think you are too. I think we all want to know, where is Pete Fairbanks? Where is Pete Fairbanks?

Yeah. Yeah. Per report, Damon, the Marlins have offered him a one-year deal. In the mid-teens, as far as millions of dollars go, meaning somewhere between 13 and 15 million dollars. Pete Fairbanks is getting expensive, and we knew he would. We knew his stock would go through the roof, considering that we had this run on closers,

and now there doesn't really seem to be many guys left. In fact, there's one guy left. There's one guy left, and he is him, and he is Pete Fairbanks. The major setback seems to be that teams don't want to offer Fairbanks a multi-year deal, which I feel like the Diamondbacks would have no problem offering them. They offered Mark Malanson two years. They can offer Pete Fairbanks two years. All right.

But the Diamondbacks cannot give a reliever $15 million. They can. I know they can. I know there's people that are going to say, why not, Derek? And I'm going to say, I don't know, just based on the rules of engagement that were established by Ken Kendrick in the front office as far as cutting payroll.

But they can throw that out the window if they go after Alex Breggman, which means they can throw it out the window and get themselves Pete Fairbanks. Because we need a closer. And my God, there are not a lot of guys. left. When I say there are not a lot of guys left. I mean, all I was going to say is, is just Arizona owner Ken Kentrick routinely extends his payroll when he believes his team has a chance to win. Goat. My uncle Ken.

Hands on the hips. We, look, we got some gifts to give out here. We're going to figure out what we would give these guys if we got them in a gift exchange, a secret Santa. And Uncle Ken is on the list. So we're going to get to him shortly for sure. But yes, he is known to extend the roster. And again, my favorite. favorite quote was that Diamondbacks have no money, we have no money, we have no money, Ken got aggressive. And I love, I love what it tends to be. It's probably my favorite quote ever. I actually like, I've never seen an honestly hand up on this one, I've never seen an owner kind of have

this like this like Renaissance of sorts like a Ken Kendrick has where the dude did almost, he sat on his on his hands for for a decade and really didn't like go very hard. And you listen to him. When the division was kind of wide open. Yeah, totally. The time when they could have been this aggressive prior to the Dodgers going all in for championship after championship. And maybe we would have had that success during that stretch.

Or maybe we have a one year where we run into a World Series or something. But I feel like he's, he, Granky aside, essentially, he kind of sat on his laurels for a long time being the D-BAC's owner. And recently, it just feels like he's turned a new leaf, man. And when he goes out and he, and he, he shit talks Otani and he's like and he's like you know well but he's a DH and then he's and then he's doing the like well we brought in Jordan Montgomery and I'm not saying that all of these moves that worked out or that you know maybe like you know given Otani bulletin board

material is even the smartest move but I just he's been firing me up recently he wants to spend he hates the Dodgers he's just like me he is just like me he's one of us one of us one of us I probably shouldn't do that. The problem, yeah, it's not great for audio. A lot of equipment. Yeah, you have a lot of stuff. You'll hit the roadcaster. It'll turn it off.

I just want to be a part of it. I, yeah, I get it. But the problem here is you and I were looking at the list of available relievers once again, the dwindling list. And they're trying to do what, you know, what good reporters do and keep condensing it and be like, here's the top 10 relievers available on the free agent market. Do you know who's on that list now? Jalen Beaks. And I don't want to discredit. on Jalen Beeks, but I just want to remind you that Jalen Beeks has now somehow moved into like

the top 10 available relievers on the free agent market. It's not great. It's not great. It's really bad, actually. I said that to you this morning. I was looking at the list and I was like, obviously Pete Fairbanks is at the top. And I'm scrolling down on the list and I'm on like name 12. And it's like, Jalen Beeks.

And I'm like, oh my God, we've never needed Fairbanks more than we need Pete Fairbanks in this exact moment. Kobe makes a great point in the chat. He says, I think the recent World Series run changed his mind because he realized that being good shows that winning is fun and having a better team in turn makes more fans spend money on the team, more revenue. It's a crazy thought, right? Who could have possibly seen this coming? It's crazy that a thought that Jerry Colangelo had to say to a group of owners who felt like people were just going to come to a ballpark to hang out with their families and have picnics, he was like, you fools! These people will only come if you make this team a winner.

But if you make this team a winner, we will pack that 45,000 seat stadium every single night. It's just so big the stadium. Oh, it's for no reason. I mean, I guess early on it was for a reason because people actually showed up to the games and were lunatics. Look, I sat nosebleed a lot in that stadium, Damon, and that was not much. I've sat, I've sat nosebleeds for the 17 wildcard game. And it was one of the most electric sporting experiences of my life. I mean, while I was in the auxiliary press box in left field.

Oh, they put you in the backup press, but they were like, yeah. This guy covers his team every day. Let's put him in the corner. Of course. Let's not even give him a seat, standing on him only for Derek. You're just happy to be there. I was just happy to be there. I mean, yeah, I think that Ken Kendrick, like, I don't know.

Obviously, we're not in his mind of what he's got going on, but it just seems like right now. And maybe this changes if Pete Fairbanks leave, it goes off the board because like that would maybe just like, completely changed the math on the entire hope that you would have circling around this deback season. Yeah. But it feels like right now, like with this Bregman stuff, with the Catelle trade, and I think that the Catell trade, as much as people don't want to hear it, I think that it is in the situation where they're like, we are getting a monster haul or we are keeping Catell

right. Right. And so that monster hall hypothetically improves this team as well. So it's like, I think that the Diamondbacks are in a position right now. where they are trying to make big upgrades to this team. And it's fun. It's why we have, you know, 70 people in this chat right now, Derek, is because people are fired up.

They want to see some transactions and hit that like button. And also it's like, okay, let's, I mean, can you imagine? I mean, can we get Alex Bregman? How many people will we have in the chat then? Well, at least have 75, Damon, at least 75 if we have 70 right now. But I'm starting to feel like maybe the root move for Pete Fairbanks hasn't happened because there is a potential. that a trade could bring in a closer, right? Like, we're just looking at Fairbanks

as the only available option as a free agent option, but there could definitely be a deal in the works that involves bringing a closer to the Dinembacks through a trade. We haven't really heard that yet. Seems like, once again, what they are trying to trade for are the things that Mike Hazen said he was seeking,

the primary thing being young controllable starting pitching. And I agree that if the deal isn't, does not include that. Damon, once again, you know, what we say around here, all together now, lose this number. Okay? Yeah. But if someone does come in and swoop up Pete Fairbanks, who are we left with?

Who is left on the scrap heap? And that is no disrespect to the guys that are there, but there's just not a tremendous amount of good options. However, one option we've taken a look at, we've talked about them just a little bit, is a pitcher that has done really well for the Oakland Athletics and now recently the Sacramento athletics. It's one, Sean Newcomb. and a.k.

This guy had himself a really decent year last year, somehow pitched better. They had a weird series of events, right? He pitched for the Oakland A's over the last few seasons in 23 and 24. Then he was picked up in the offseason by the Boston Red Sox, who then sent him back to Oakland or to the athletes. Can you imagine escaping the Oakland franchise only to be sent back against your will

less than half a season later? It's not great. but he did go back and post in six games for the athletics at 1.75 ERA. In 2025 combined, he had a 2.73 ERA. And over his career, he's had lots of ups and downs, lots of ups and downs. But recently, again, even with the Red Sox when he was traded in 12 games, he posted a 3.95 ERA with a 3.48 FIP. That is incredibly good.

And then with the athletics, he posted a 2.69 FIP. Again, FIPP just kind of shows you that his overall pitching metrics were better than, you know, the numbers because of factors, right? Factors here. And again, the stat measures of pitchers effectiveness at preventing home runs, walks, hit by pitches, and causing strikeouts. And he is very, very good at that. So, but again, some of the other numbers don't really add up to him being nearly the acquisition that one, you know, obviously. one Pete Fairbanks would be. He's also not a closer, right?

And he debuted with Atlanta in 2017. He had his best season there in 2018 with a 12 and 9 record, 3.90 ERA, 165 strikeouts and 164 innings. He is, again, a left-handed pitcher, originally a first-round pick there by the Angels back in 2014, and just was really good in his time with Atlanta, but also had some very bad seasons as well. and again he tried his best here to rebound with the Oakland Athletics and the Boston Red Sox.

He is, this is the quality of player that we have left and that's no disrespect to him at all. Yeah, he's actually a lot better than I thought. I'll be honest. When you take a look at his numbers here from last season, his numbers, you know, overall are pretty good. 92 and a third innings pitched. He had a 2.73 ERA, 3.04 whip, 2.94 strikeouts per walks and a 1.6, baseball reference war. Yeah, he was minus point one in Boston, Derek.

He was 1.7 in Sacramento when he came back in. And that's in Sacramento, Derek. Let me throw that out here for a second. I'm sorry, sorry, 36 games, not six games, 36 games. I was not getting that correctly. So 1.75 ERA in 36 games playing at, like I said earlier, a minor league ballpark. A crackerjack box for sure. And that FIP is extremely impressive as well.

It shows that it wasn't like a fluke. It was just straight up good pitching. I think that this is an option that, like, I wasn't really aware that there were guys like that still left on the market. I'm not saying that, like, it is still Pete Fairbanks or bust because he's the only like back end guy that I think that you could really, you know, have faith in at this point. But I wouldn't mind a Sean Newcomb addition to this team.

I wouldn't even. Not at all. He's going to cost you. considerably less than a Pete Fairbanks, especially like you can't help but feel like Pete Fairbanks's price is getting driven up. It's probably going to take them, it's probably going to take $26 million over two seasons to sign Fairbanks. I don't know if you want to give him that kind of money

and give him that kind of, you know, multi-year deal. Meanwhile, I mean, Newcomb is just going to cost you considerably less than quietly. It was very, very good for this athletics team. I think that's it. The athletics are a team that don't get a lot of attention. They were pretty good for stretches this year, but they were still an awful team overall for the 2025 year.

And I just think that, again, this is the kind of guy that the Diamondbacks are going to have to go out and get. Somebody that you can see a lot of potential in. It's someone that either had a bad season last year or maybe quietly had a good one, but wasn't really recognized, wasn't really given the attention based on the franchise they played for. I also really, really feel like, you know, you have to give credit where credit is due.

Playing 36 games and having most of them be in Sacramento at that ballpark is, it has to be taken into consideration here for his numbers, right? So, but again, from 2020, he would kind of bounce around from being a spot starter to a multi-inning reliever to a left-on-left matchup arm, like never really an elite high leverage arm for any team. he did spend several time on several organizations under minor league roles and depth roles and he's definitely would be viewed as a low risk reclamation project or a depth arm than a guaranteed bullpen piece he's not going to bring you the kind of consistency and dominance that a Pete Fairbanks could give you but he is a guy that you could say is a lot like michael saroka

who has a very uh very up and down career you know but now stands you know you know know, kind of looking for an opportunity with a team like the Diamondbacks. And the Diamondbacks are a team that right now need experience in their bullpen. That's something that they are lacking quite a bit. But again, his best projections are still as like a long reliever or a depth starter or a situational lefty if the command ticks up. So again, I don't know where exactly he would fit in. He's a classic stuff.

He's got great stuff over command kind of pitcher. and again, he was talented enough to at one point be a first round pick and it's still there in flashes, but consistency has definitely kept him from sticking into a permanent role with any team. At this stage, he's just a low-cost upside play. Rather than any kind of elite back-end reliever or even any kind of chance to make a starting rotation, his slurb, though, Damon is incredibly good. One of the best in Major League Baseball. In fact, they were putting together an article that,

featured who throws which available pitchers on the market throw the best version of every pitch, right? Zach Gallen was featured for his knuckle curve in that same article, but Newcomb was featured for his slurve as being one of the best of Major League Baseball, 82 mile per hour with a spin rate over 2,800 RPM and 17 inches of left to right horizontal break. 17 inches. He's got 45 of his 91 strikeouts on. the slur, which is about half and the pitch generated a 32% swing and miss rate and a 46%

strikeout rate while holding hitters to a 172 batting average. So sounds like it's a guy that at the very least could be very effective at Chase Field. And again, a guy that could help make this bullpen better considering that they don't have a ton of options right now. Yeah, I like this move. You know, there really isn't a lot of options right now. But I think as we've discussed with the Kyle Bacchus trade, you don't want to bring in another Kyle Bacchus. And no disrespect, but like, like I said, we have a lot of caliber, Kyle Bacchus caliber arms. Yeah. We need guys that are going to differentiate themselves.

I think Sean Newcomb might be one of the few arms left that you could say, like, we're going to write his name in Sharpie in our bullpen going into opening day. We know this dude is in our, is it going to be in our bullpen this season? And so, yeah, I'm all for it. I'm right now Derek I'm Formulating I'm doing the Zach Galfinacus math in my head I want we're trading for Andy Diaz We're still signing Pete Fairbanks

We're signing Sean Newcomb And uh And Catelle's still on the team Ketel still yeah He's absolutely still on the team And yeah I think that's I think that would do I think we'll we'll roll with that for now And then maybe we'll reconvene later

And we'll think if we need to add anything else in this roster I'm on board I'm on board I'm also maybe on board speaking of Zach Gowlin With him coming back still I know it's not going to happen, but it feels like Alex Bregman, who we know is inevitably going to be a diamondback, is already recruiting Zach Gallen. We saw this Instagram story. Oh, give me a second here. I actually, there's something interesting on Karab, that Karab has tweeted about Breggman as well, Derek.

I don't know if you saw it. No. Last night, he tweeted what he believes is the case, like what he thinks is happening here in this, in this whole Brighman situation. He says he thinks. So Brighman is, it's been, like, reported for a while that Brigman is seeking, I believe, six years. Right. And we know the Diamondbacks might be offering five? He said that he thinks the Diamondbacks have offered five and that he thinks that the debacks would be potentially willing to go to six with some like, maybe like, you know, adding in some deferrals or something.

But essentially just that, you know, like the, that right now, as things currently stand with this whole Brigman situation, that the, the red sox are like currently sitting in more of that three four year range and have been unwilling to get up to that that number and the debacks have been a little bit more aggressive have been offering a little bit more long-term deal with maybe some financial flexibility in the package but that i i think it does also like i do think it shows that bregman probably would prefer to be a red sock or or maybe not go to the debacks uh considering that he hasn't like taken up on that offer if that is correct report But yeah, interesting stuff.

I wonder if the debacks are going to be the team that is just the sole team standing being like, hey, we're still, we still got five years on the table, my guy. What do we think? And eventually he just takes him up on that offer, you know? It's 146 a.m. Damon. Everybody's left the bar and the Alex Brickman looks around and there's my case. And there's the debacks. Hey, buddy.

I'll give you a ride home. You know, that kind of thing. What are you drinking? What are you drinking? Let's get around over here for last call. Yeah, but like we said, Alex Bregman to Arizona, and he's also apparently recruiting Zach Gowlin to come with him, right, Damon? I don't hate this at all.

And again, we know these guys are all training. Everybody comes here to train. Terek Scoobles down the street, like literally down the street from us throwing baseballs. And Bregman tweeted this out with Lil Wayne on top of it, dialed Zach Gallen. Look at him. Look at him. No milk.

No milk in that picture. It's going to be sad to watch Zach Gowan. Yeah, that's weird. I always thought... No rocking protein. I always thought Zach Gowan worked out with the glass of cold milk right next to him. And in a high school, like a 3A high school football gym where the equipment hasn't been updated since like, you know, the 90s. Like this is way too modern from what I'm used to.

It looks amazing. But yeah, it's going to be sad seeing him in a different uniform, Derek. I know that some people, especially Killer Rex, hate Gallen for the year that he had last year. Oh, Killer X. He loves Tori Lavello and hates Zach Gallo. Blames Zach Gallen for all. No, he does hate Zach Gallen. Oh, I know. But it's like I do, I will miss the dude.

And I think he was, you know, a great diamond back. And it sucks that his end of his, like, last, you know, year and a half was so bad that we couldn't even really consider trying to resign him for the money that it's going to take to resign him. Like, it just wasn't valuable. enough for this team. So, yeah. Groundhog Mama says, are we surprised Gallin hasn't signed anywhere yet? No, the pitching market has been really slow.

Yeah, and plus, remember, there was no real offers for Zach Gallin at the trade deadline, and that kind of, I think, is telling a bit of his market. I'm sure some teams will trade. I'm sure some teams will want to pick them up simply because they miss out on the other available options

once a run on starting pitching starts. But again, Gallin still has lots of proof to a team. And I think that the likelihood of him getting a long-term deal for 200 plus million has probably gone far out the door. If it's the deal that Coggs just said, if it's the Michael King deal. Three years at 75 million? I'm going to be like, I wish we did that over the Merrill Kelly deal. I wish we did that for Michael King, brother.

I wish we did that for Michael King. I'd rather have Zach Gallen than Michael King on that contract. Really? Wow. I trust him to rebound more than I do than I do Michael King to sustain it. This like look there's never been a I don't think Damon noseball moment stronger for me than this right here

but I do appreciate. Why would they be considering getting similar deals Derek if they weren't similar caliber pitchers? I don't know. I don't know. I mean I'm looking at his stats. I mean yeah he's been pretty damn good. Michael King another another guy that flies under the radar because his name is boring.

Michael who? Fair. I don't know who that guy is. What team does he even play for? That's actually fair. Is his name John Smith? It might as well be. That's actually fair.

But that's actually not a bad deal for the Padres. It's not. And they needed to make it. They need to make it. I would be, I mean, if the Merrill deal is two for 40, but Zach was three for 75, that's $5 million per year difference. And there's opt-outs in it. I would rather take the chance on Zach than re-sign Merrill.

But ultimately, it doesn't really matter at this point. That's just a take. throughout the universe that people can get mad at me for. Well, we got some gift giving to do here. And we're going to put the hot takes to bed, but we might still bring them out here for some of our gifts. Damon, on the other side of this break, we are going to give out gifts to the Arizona Diamondbacks players via Secret Santa.

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Right now when you open a free check-in account online, you can get $200 in bonuses. get started by visiting desertfinancial.com slash 200 right now because it's the holidays and quite frankly I think we could all use a little extra money so do not miss out on this offer well again like I said it is that time of the year we don't have many episodes between now and the big uh Christmas day holiday next week big day we're off on Wednesday and Thursday just as a reminder I appreciate I think it was Jason who told us to take the whole week off I like that I bring that I appreciate that's the kind of support we need around here. But we are doing our secret Santa here at the office, and we thought, what better way to celebrate the holidays than to decide what we would buy

Arizona Diamondbacks players should we get any one of them in a Secret Santa? Now, this is, I was going to limit it to $25, like a real Secret Santa, but that made it damn near impossible to actually get stuff for these guys. These guys are very hard to shop for. So there is no limit on spending, but you can only get each person one. gift and I will say that there are some things here that make a lot of sense. I've kind of taken a look around what we could get these guys, what kind of shopping lists we could get together. And yes, Cog says getting gallon a pallet of milk. Yeah, that would be, I mean, it's going to be the rocking protein and he has to drink it when he works out. We have to watch him drink it when he

works out. But, and Groundhog Mama's right. Santa has no budget, so Santa can go crazy. Of course, Corby and Carroll would be number one on our list. Corbyn Carroll is the first house we're stopping at, the first person we're shopping for, and is the most important person. It's the first time we're going to worry about what we got him and make sure it's enough. Damon, I think I came up with the perfect gift.

Okay. Track laps at Phoenix Raceway. Wow. Corby Carroll gets to drive his own car on the racetrack for five laps. And the money goes to charity. So you know that Corbin's going to love. love that portion of it, but more importantly, he's going to love going fast on the racetrack.

Like he has to keep behind a pace car. So I think that's going to be the biggest problem, right? He's going to not do that. There's no way. Like asking Corbyn Carol to slow down and keep behind a pace car is a lot. But I would agree. Like Coggs is right. Maybe maybe Corbyn doesn't need a car. Maybe we just have Corbyn get out of his car and run the racetrack over there at Phoenix Raceway. I was thinking like maybe like some some new like headbands for Corbin. I know he likes to, he's got the long flow. This is why you're not a good gift giver.

You're trying to go over and give him a $15 headband that he already has 60 of. And I'm trying to give him something special and unique and experience here. But what if it has like snake skin on it and stuff? Okay. Now you're talking. Now you're talking. I do have a snake skin item here for Blaze Alexander. Remember Zach Gowan snake skin belt?

Yeah. I remember the guys outside of the locker room who were signing. players up to get snake skin belts. And I remember looking at the different colors you could order and everything. Oh, it was electric. It was electric. But Corbyn also changing belts, right? He was wearing the Geraldo Pardomo belt.

Maybe we get them just the Geraldo Pardomo. With the Dominican flag on it. That's me. That's literally me. Yeah. Cotel Marte. What are we getting, Marte? A luggage set?

Maybe a house in Arizona. Set up shop long term. We went in two completely different directions for that. You're buying them a house. I was sending him. mouse back in his bags for him apparently. Maybe this is why Killer Rex is saying you secretly want Casual Mardi out of town. He might be on to something.

Because my mind was literally how can we keep him here. Yeah. I don't know. A membership to some place, right? Like a year long membership like to like a golf club or country club, something like that, right? Like something that signifies that we want you to stay here in Arizona for a year. Yeah. Cog says a second Scottsdale house. Yeah. I mean, again, if money's no object, let's do it. Let's do it.

Harald O'Prodomo. I mean, I should leave this one up to you. The world? The world? A scepter? I want to give him the world. Yeah, I know. How about Earth?

Is that a big enough gift for Roldo Pardomo? Like everything that is on this planet. A star in the sky. A star in the sky. Another planet. Like, I don't even, words can't describe what that man deserves. You know? I was thinking some sort of fraud-related gifts.

How about a nice, how about a nice sea that we just so, right there on his chest, Eric. Gold? Or we tattoo it. We tattoo it right on his chest where it would be on the jersey. And we say permanent captain forever. A tattoo, a sea tattoo right here. A hundred percent.

A hundred percent. Like I said, I also thought frog-related gifts, right? So I found the most expensive frog-related thing I could find. It's a seismotode Pokemon card. It's the third most expensive Pokemon card in existence. And we could give him one of those like chain like necklaces that like Logan Paul wears, right, to keep his Charzard in it. And he could just rock the seismotode Pokemon card in like a blinged out. That'd be hard. Yeah. I'm with, I'm with, I'm with,

I'm with, I'm with, I think key to the city is a must. I think see tattoo on his chest, key to the city. Yeah. And then we get him a live frog like the one from rainforest cafe. Like the with the orange feet. Yeah. We buy him one of those. And we say this is your new, your new friend. The mask off. This is Jerry Jr. Yeah. There's some suggestions of buying him a dog, and that feels very wholesome and appropriate. It's Jesse Jr.'s favorite, favorite friend, favorite amphibian friend, Jerry Jr.

Oh, Jerry Jr. Dogmo. That's crazy. There's not enough for Jerry Perdomo. He's one of those people that no matter how many gifts you buy for him, you're going to feel like you came up short. Like, ah, I could have done better. He deserves better for me. Corbyn Burns.

I want to get him a new elbow. Yeah, bionic arm. But that's not, like that's not, couldn't find that anywhere. There's no Black Friday deal for bionic arm. So hear me out, a Nintendo switch to with Donkey Kong Bonanza. And for good reason, I think Corbyn Burns needs to just chill. Because I am worried that Corbyn Burns is going to try to go start his throwing program next week. And it's going to be like three months too early.

That man is chomping at the bit. He was talking a few days after his surgery about wanting to be out there throwing and feeling good already. And I feel like if we get him a good video game system with a nice time-consuming game like Donkey Kong Bonanza, he'll sit on the couch for a little bit. I don't understand why all of a sudden now we are playing now in the unrealistic. That's too far. The bionic arm is too far. But when we bought Ketella house, and when I said, hey, let's get quarterback. Very nice luggage.

I said, let's get Corbyn some headbands. And you were like, what are you crazy? Let's get him a speed racing car. And it's like, okay, now we're playing realistic, Derek. Yeah, okay, we'll get him Bucky Barnes's arm. I'm getting him Bucky Barnes's arm. He's got the winner soldier's arm. That's fine.

That's fine. I'm not going to argue with that because that's what I want. I really want that. Replace his arm with an actual cannon. So he's never unarmed. He's got a gun arm, right? You know what I mean? That's a mega-end line.

James McCann were getting cast iron kettlebells and a sleeveless shirt. I think he ripped out of his previous sleeveless shirts. So we got to get him a size up, but he'll rip through those. We'll get him those next Christmas. I just need that man to flex on all of us, by the way. Alec Thomas just got married. Congratulations to Alec Thomas. That just happened in Cabo.

So we're getting him a very thoughtful gift. We're going to have like one of those like maps, like a nice canvas map. framed again by our friends at aura frames it's going to frame it for us and we'll like mark with pins all of the significant places in his relationship with his new his new bride right with Kaylee I think that would be wonderful right I'm a thoughtful gift giver I'm good at this I'm telling you I'll give the gift that the wedding couple will never forget they'll be like oh we got lots of great stuff but Derek like somehow got us a framed picture of my childhood home and something like that right that would be what I would I'll tell you what my mom I'll tell you what my mom Mine goes for a guy like Alec Thomas. I want to get him one of those like hitting machine things where it keeps your elbow inside right here and it causes you where you can't roll over on the ball. So I want to get him a permanent one of those. Pretty sure he has one on.

No, but I want a permanent one that is connected to his body where he can't take it off. It's just part of who he is. And he has to go out there and he has to take MLB at bats with one of those on so that he doesn't roll it over to second base constantly. That's my gift that I'd like to give Alec. A thousand percent. A thousand percent. Speaking of Alec, we got another, it's not Alec, but it's Alex, our guy Alex Degasino.

He is doing a great job, by the way, running our PHNX newsletter. So if you have not signed up for that, do so right now. You can get the biggest news in Arizona sports in your inbox daily at 6 a.m. It's completely free. Just got to head over to go phnx.com slash newsletter to sign up for that. And you can be the smartest sports fan, you know. Alex's a good dude. Yeah.

He was taking a look at that Alex Brighman trade, and he's got plenty of questions himself about how the hell the Diamondbacks are even in on that. But once again, it all comes out to the money, comes out to the money, which we're spending plenty of with these gifts we're giving to our game. I love this game. Lordus Guriel Jr. is next. Okay. Okay.

I would get him a new knee, but it doesn't seem like he needs it. Right, because he's already on the fast track back, right? Absolutely. First thought, teal hair guy. Wow. We've done purple. Purple's so 2023. It's so 2023.

And maybe that's the problem last year, right? Didn't switch it up. We need teal hair dye, right? I did the beard teal. It looked bad, maybe okay. Best Blaze liked it. I didn't love it. But teal hair die.

Also, Lordeus Curiel Jr. We have to continue to make sure that he gets high quality matching pajamas for him and his family. That's what I was going to say, actually. That was going to be mine. I was going to say matching pajamas sets for him in his career. Yeah, because he has. the most adorable family and they take great Christmas pictures. In fact, him and I

both have the same two can Christmas theme blazer which unbelievable, unbelievable that we both have the same jacket. Also, he recently not too long ago became a U.S. citizen. I feel like there's something along the lines there that we could get him like some sort of like sick bald eagle sculpture

or something for his house. Have you seen the that like the like hype video where it's like hockey dudes fighting and then it's just like a bald eagle soaring in. Yes. I'm trying to think of whatever, like an encapsulation of that would be for a gift for Lordus Gurriel.

I mean, we can get him a machine gun is what we can get them. There's no more USA thing than that, right? We got Sean saying a sandcastle set. Yeah, I like that. Remember the sandcastle building? Yeah. That's great. We get them the good tools because he was just using the Gatorade Cup for that.

Dude, I watched a video yesterday on my Instagram of this dude. and he legit had like all the like detailing scrapers and he's putting like we'll get him like hinges and he's doing brick like little formations in the thing and I'm like oh my god we got to get him that like that nice set I don't think he's going to be back for opening day I hope he proves me wrong on that but I do feel like imagine at least he could be at the top step of the dugout even if he's not ready right just making we need his vibes we need his vibes he's a vibes guy for sure another guy plays Alexander okay right I want to get him like Scooby snacks or something. He just feels like he's like legitimately, as you've said before, like a human dog. Yeah, yeah, he's he's a human Labrador Retriever puppy. Have you ever seen how I met your mother, Derek? Yes. It's like that guy that Robbins dating at one point where he literally thinks he's a dog.

Right. That feels like Blaze Alexander to an extent. Blaze and Blaze, Blaze had a great time, I think, in Mexico with Alex's wedding. He posted some great pictures himself with his significant other. And I think Blaze Alexander, this might be too soon, but would really enjoy a pair of snake skin boots. Snake skin boots in honor of Jesse Jr. That's not me to be rude. It might be a little dark.

You're going to say that in front of Jesse Jr. You're not even going to earmuffs Jesse Jr. when you say that. You're talking about literally taking the skin off of another snake. No, not him, not him. Yeah, it's good. It doesn't feel good. It's a different snake, Damon. It's another snake.

Derek, if you walked into a room and you saw another human has been skisking. Indian is standing in the corner. Would you not be a little freaked out? Yeah. What? Yeah. You're probably right about that. Sour Patch Kids as well.

Stalking. Yeah. Stocking stuffed with Sour Patch Kids, right? They also have all sorts of Sour Patch Kids merch, right? I was in Las Vegas. They had pillows and stuff. We'll get him a giant sour power, Sarah Pitch Kid. Tori Lavallo.

This one's for Killer X because I know he wants to get him a gift so bad. My first thought, based on our relationship, is a Circle K Gith. basket. And then conversely, for you, he gets you a set up six-figure account with Trach and wealth. Yes. Let's go. I'm on board.

We were talking about how bad my finances are. I put a little something in there for you. Go crazy. Need it. Need it, Tori. Well, if that's the case, then I'm also getting him a mad dog Chris Rousseau's resignation letter framed by ORAFrams, beautifully matted. And again, like you said, just in a few days, we'll get it.

It's mad dog, Chris Rousseau, resigning as he said he would do, if the Diamondbacks beat the Phillies. And he still hasn't done that. He's still on the radio. He's still on the airwaves. He's still out here as a fraud doing his job that he said he would quit. And I'm going to get his resignation letter for Tori. Last. We got to get some Gabba Ghul for the Lovolo family as Sean puts here in the chat.

That's different because Gabagoole, that's what we're going to bring on Sunday dinner. And like, Sunday dinner is different. We're still having Sunday dinner the week of Christmas. even though we're coming over for Christmas dinner to Tori's house. Like, it's crazy. He should not host this much, but we appreciate him always including us in all of his plans. And that's the reason why Damon and I, we're going to come down and take down the Christmas lights. Wow.

We are going to come down to Tori's house. We're going to, uh, after January 15th, obviously. We're not taking them down anytime soon. But we'll go down and, uh, take down his Christmas lights any date after January 15th. Meanwhile, I think that Tori, like, enjoys taking down the Christmas lights. You know what I was thinking about that? Part of me actually thinks he does.

No, you know what he would want to do? He would want to supervise us and make sure that we put them away properly. Because I guarantee he has a system and the system is complicated, yet it makes all the sense in the world to him. A lot of moving parts doesn't always put the lights in the same place because it varies. You can't always put stuff away in the same spot. Sometimes you've got to go based on the situation. You can't have the same. Yeah.

Naturally. It's a closer joke. Mike Hayes and meanwhile, we have the perfect gift for Mike. Mike has been through a lot and Mike has been very busy. We're going to send Mike on a three-day cruise to the Bahamas where he will get no cell phone reception. We're not giving him the package. He's not getting like the cell phone, the internet package on the boat. And I can tell you from experience, even when you have that package, it does not work well because everybody on the boat also has the same package and the Wi-Fi is only so strong.

So we're going to get Mike out of here so that Mike has at least three days to himself. to recuperate from all of these phone calls, all of these times he's had to tell these losers to lose his number. So that's what we're doing, Mike. Lose this number. Great game. Great game.

Was that all the people that you had listed for different gifts? I have one more. I have Uncle Ken. I feel like we got to get Uncle Ken something, right? Uncle Ken has gotten so much for us. It doesn't work out, right? It's like he got us an Xbox 360 that got the red ring of death, right away he got us Jordan Montgomery that didn't work out he got us uh Corbyn Burns

he got us an e-scooter you got us one of those e- scooters that blew up the lithium battery exploded on it that's not his fault none of these things are his fault he was just out there trying to get us what we wanted and not only that he wasn't shopping off of the old relative list where it's like $30 or less no he was swinging for the big items so for Ken we're getting him one of these championship belts. We're going to get him one of these championship belts along with the championship ring when the Diamondbacks win the World Series in 2026. And as Cog says, I think we need some baseball cards to throw on top. And then Ken, but you can have the Pokemon card.

And then Ken has a present to us should get us Pete Fairbanks and Alex Brickman. Yeah. Yeah, bring us that and we'll hopefully get you the best. Deal? Deal? Let's work it out. We can do a trade. Well, I actually had, I had another one, Derek. What do you got? I wanted to throw in here. Jake McCarthy, a bus ticket out of town. That was what that was along the lines of what I was thinking for a president. Limo ride?

I think a Greyhound is fine. Oh, you're not even getting a plane ticket. No, I specifically said a bus ticket. Rude. That seems rude. But all right, we did have endless money to spend. I'm just saying you'd have to get him first class. You could have gotten him on like frontier.

It's the thought that counts, Derek. Is it? Yeah. I can tell what you're thinking. You're making your thoughts very loud with that laugh. What? All right. Well, by the way, if you still need gifts, I was out at Team Shop yesterday.

They had some amazing sales right now. Again, I'm not getting paid for any of this. This is no endorsement. This is free ad Friday. And Max is going to get very mad at me for it. But again, the biggest sale of the year, apparently, is going down tomorrow at the team shop. Not sure if it's online or just in store, but they already have most of their stuff at 50% off.

Hats, outerwear. They have great stuff. All of my favorite stuff that I would buy is currently 50% off. Really? Yeah. I mean. What about jerseys? Jerseys are not.

I didn't see jerseys, but I did see like, you know, like I'm a big fan of the hoodies that have like the jersey over it, but it's all one piece. Yeah. Like it says Serpientes across the front. Yeah. All that stuff is all 50% off. So again, if you need some last minute gifts, it's a great time to go. And I was told that the biggest sale of the year is going down tomorrow. So again, maybe head on to the team shop on Saturday, tell them the mayor sent you.

and I will, you'll get you nothing, but you'll, maybe Derek will get, we'll get a little bit of, you know, I don't know. Cherry on top on the, on the end of it. We'll see.

You never know. No, they wouldn't. They don't like me like that. But of course, I like you guys very much. All right. Well,

we appreciate you guys for stopping by. We love you so much. We'll see it tomorrow. Or no, we won't because it's Saturday, right? Maybe we will. Maybe Alex pregnant. Keep your eyes filled for that emergency podcast.

It's a nevertheless. but again, we will see you guys on Monday with another mailbag Monday episode. Jesse's going to be joining us next week in studio, as well as our guy, Dalton Feeley, is going to be hopping on with us next week. So we have lots of fun guests for our short week. And then again, another short week after we deserved it. We earned it. We've been talking about Catele Marte trades for entirely too long.

And you know I hate it. You know, Damon makes me do it. So, you know, here we are. But hey. Derek, we're doing another Catell headline today. That's our beat meeting at 1030 every day. Yeah. David coming in and holding a gun to my head to make sure that we talk about

Kutel Morte trades. That sounds about right. So, so Rex, if you really want to come at somebody for, I guess, peddling this and making it happen, it's me that is saying,

let's talk about it over and over again. But it's what the people want to talk about. It's what everybody wants to do. And if you listen to the words that we truly are saying on the matter, Derek and I are only accepting trading Ketel Marte, if it gets you like three different starters at different, which is a crazy trade package. Look at what they just got for chain bads.

Exactly. I want more than that. Derek, I want more than they just got for Shane B. I want MLB proven caliber players as part of a deal. And it's like, we're going to talk about what it takes, but obviously the threshold is extremely high for one of the best players in baseball.

On one of the best contracts in baseball, and we'll continue to to hold it to that standard. And we'll call out this front office if they trade him for a package that is nowhere near his value. We'll be right here on this show being like that. is yeah that is unacceptable so i mean it's it's just we're just trying to talk about what the what the big happenings in debacks land are but ultimately we hope that katell is a diamond back next year i wanted to talk about shan newcom for 30 minutes that's what i wanted to talk about but it's true it's true but anyway we love you guys we thank you so much for your time good luck getting your last minute shopping

done this weekend it is the last chance to do so check out so many of our partners because they're always great uh and of course make sure you follow us on twitter i'm at app underscore k man with the k damon is at damon dog with a d a wg and as always we're all damon's dogs bark bark our show is at p h and x underscore dbacks but as always all roads lead to at p h and x underscore sports on twitter instagram and facebook we appreciate you guys thank you so much for your time make sure to hit that like button before you get out of here and come back next week we're going to still probably be talking about coutel marty trade so until then i hope you all have a wonderful weekend we appreciate your times your time behave yourselves ryan

And remember kids, baseball is fun, but it is so much more fun when you don't trade so many assets for Shane Bass.