PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - REPORT: Devin Williams to Sign With Mets as D-backs Miss Out on Another Elite Arm

Episode Date: December 2, 2025

The Diamondbacks’ search for high-leverage bullpen arms hits another snag as the New York Mets reportedly have signed Devin Williams to a three-year deal. Does this signal the end of Edwin Diaz’s ...tenure with the Mets or will they try to bring back their All-Star closer to fortify the bullpen? Meanwhile, the D-backs still has other offseason priorities, so we take a look at PHNX Newsletter writer Alex D’Agostino’s checklist for Arizona’s top needs and explore whether Michael King could be the perfect answer to their most pressing question: finding a top-tier starting pitcher.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/ALLCITY — 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!Access Auto Insurance Agency of Arizona, LLC (Access Auto) is a renowned agency offering personal and commercial auto insurance options to Arizona residents. If you’re on the hunt for a new policy, call Access Auto today at 1-480-400-0546 or get a free insurance quote by visiting our website www.access-insurance.com.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!Monarch: Use Monarch to get control of your overall finances with 50% off your first year at https://www.monarchmoney.com/phnxWhen 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.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Another closer is now off the market for the Arizona Diamondbacks, and that just means things get more expensive. Devin Williams reportedly signs a three-year deal with the New York Mets who are getting greedy and might also still bring back Edwin Diaz. Plus, we take a look at our guy Alex Dagostino's list from our PH&X newsletter of the Diamondbacks' biggest priorities this offseason and see if Michael King might be a good fit for that. It is our day of giving. Let's give. Don't you go anywhere.
Starting point is 00:00:27 We're starting in 30 seconds. Welcome in to another edition of the PHNXVEbacks podcast. Live from Studio K, presented by our friends at Circle K. It is I, your mayor of PHNX, your mayor of giving on a day like this. Derek Montia, occasionally known as Derek Montia. Glad to have you guys with us. Happy Tuesday to you all. I am still, I got a little bit of a pro wrestling hangover from last night,
Starting point is 00:01:08 so you're going to have to excuse me today. but we might get that fixed here with our first tier of giving today. And I'm not doing that one alone. I'm not here alone. I got the jelly to my peanut butter, the one, the only. Damon Dog, Damon Farrell on the ones and twos today, holding it down. Bark, bark, bark to you, Damon, bark, bark to all of you guys out there. Of course, as you see there, we have our Day of Giving fundraiser goal, and this is benefiting
Starting point is 00:01:32 Big Brothers, Big Sisters. We are so thrilled, obviously, to be partnering together with Big Brothers, Big Sisters. We love doing anything. we can to help our community and we know how important big brothers big sisters is to our community so on a day like this where we want to give back especially after all of the giving that many of us did this past weekend and buying presents for our loved ones and our friends we are hoping to raise some money on behalf of big brothers big sisters with our day of giving the next next match starts with you guys now so give during today's show if you were going to give a super chat you're going to
Starting point is 00:02:10 to do anything like that. We appreciate it greatly, but we would love to help reach our goal. And in order to get us there and to support youth mentorship that really makes a difference, we have a list of things that these people are going to make me do when we reach these goals. Just to give you guys a little clarity over here, we have our day of giving fundraising goal tier list. Those are goals to reach on today's show. Should we raise $50 on today's show? So, Damon and I will be doing a shot live of three amigos tequila. Only the best. Only the best.
Starting point is 00:02:49 Should we reach $100, we have deemed what we call Daryoki. Is that what we're going with? Daryoki now? Yeah. Daryoki is where they're... A Danyman classic right there. A Damon class. One of the favorites.
Starting point is 00:03:01 Came up with that one. Like that one is something... All myself. Any of Damon's house parties, everybody loves Daryoki. I will sing either the Christian Walker Wopper. song or I will sing you if you would like more than that one. I'm sure you won't, but the first verse of the Animaniacs World Map song. Also there, tier three at $200.
Starting point is 00:03:23 Damon and I are going to do a movie watch-along of the classic baseball film Little Big League starring antagonist Randy Johnson. Damon has never seen Little Big League, so not only will this be a thrilling experience for all of us. I'm guessing many of you out there that were not born in the 80s, at least have not seen this film. So I need to make sure that many of us get to see this. This is more that we might do that regardless of if we reach that tier. So that's just, I mean, probably shouldn't pull the curtain back too much. But at $500, I will call Ryan Thompson on this show live and talk about pro wrestling with him. I'll put him on the speaker phone. I'll put him right up to
Starting point is 00:04:05 the microphone and I will give him no notice at all when this is going to happen or what we're going to talk about. I guarantee you though, he's going to yell and scream about the WWE's booking of John Cena's final year. He has his thoughts on it and he will definitely give them to us. Last but not least, the final tier, if we should somehow raise $1,000 on today's show, I will unfortunately join Max at the Waffle House for his inevitable Waffle House punishment at which we will go over later in the show. And I will call in live to the PHNX Cardinals show to give them a live report on the scene
Starting point is 00:04:41 as minute to minute updates. Maybe throughout their whole episode, I'll just hang out there the entire PHNX Cardinals. I think we should even take it a step further, Derek. I think you should at some point live stream from your phone at the Waffle House for like members-only content for the YouTube channel. That's easy. That's a slam dunk.
Starting point is 00:04:58 Just to get a little tripod setups, film max, and just make fun of them for about 45 minutes to an hour. I will roast Max at the Waffle House about how bad his fantasy football team was this season for 45 straight minutes. I'll dig deep too. I'm going to go into like week by week and really criticize. Just laugh at his managerial decisions. Yeah, I'm going to take a look at every single waiver wire move he made, every single pick up and drop he made. And we're going to really get in there and dig in and criticize.
Starting point is 00:05:25 You play Tess Johnson this week? Yeah, we're going to get mean about. it but it's all for a good cause and we love you guys so thank you guys so much for any donations you might be able to help us out with and of course thank you guys so much for being here this show as always is brought to you by our friends at game time go download that game time at create an account right now and use our code of phnx for $20 off your first purchase terms to apply and again those are on those already low last minute ticket deals you're gonna save yourself $20 off already all the
Starting point is 00:05:57 savings and of course like I said yesterday it was a great time most of my friends had no idea that WWE Raw was in town and they jumped on game time, got themselves some last minute ticket deals and then screamed at us from their seats from where we were at. So always a good time to get yourself last minute tickets for fun events that you forgot were going to happen. But an event that we knew was going to happen was going to be a run on the closers, on the high leverage arms on the MLB market. We didn't know it was going to happen this soon because baseball just kind of takes a while. But it once again, like the move would be. Dylan Cease signing with the Toronto Blue Jays, kind of starting the wheels in motion for the
Starting point is 00:06:35 starting pitching market. Ryan Helsley signing with the Orioles kind of has gotten things moving for the reliever market, especially the high leverage reliever market that quite frankly may be too expensive for the Arizona Diamondbacks to get in on, right? A lot of these names are guys that we have discussed already, including Ron Helsley and Devin Williams. Devin Williams is now off the market, though, because he signs a three-year deal worth $45 million with the New York Mets. The deal includes a $6 million signing bonus according to multiple sources, which brings the guarantee total to $51 million, albeit with deferrals, which every team is just going to do now in baseball because that's the only way that we can...
Starting point is 00:07:19 Because the sport's broken. The sport is broken. The Dodgers broke it, and this is where we stand. But the team has yet to confirm the move because it's not official, but it does bring Devin Williams just right across town there in New York from the Yankees to the Mets, where he spent all of last season and arguably had one of his worst seasons of his career with the New York Yankees. He still put up great numbers in his career.
Starting point is 00:07:42 He's still a guy that you feel very much could be one of the best high leverage arms that last season might just have been an outlier there with the New York Mets or with the New York Yankees. He also did not receive a qualifying offer from the Yankees. So there is no draft pick compensation. attached to him or penalty in signing him by the New York Mets. This does mean that the New York Mets here, as we already expected to see after the way that they collapsed this season, are all in on 2026 themselves.
Starting point is 00:08:13 They are going to be formidable. I know that that is something more for the NL East to deal with. But as one Jesse Friedman would say often on this show, how do the Diamondbacks get into the playoffs? right if you're starting to factor in these good teams and you start to kind of see what the Mets are doing and you deem the Mets to be a playoff team either through the NL East or through the wild card where where does that put the Phillies do the Phillies lose Kyle Schwarber and lose enough this off season that they kind of fall out of playoff contention the Reds are an obvious candidate to not be there but again if the Mets are taking a playoff spot from
Starting point is 00:08:51 the teams that are already there it's obvious that the Reds are the team that is easy to say, okay, you factor them out. So just something to think about. The Diamondbacks, of course, have to play the season. They have to figure out how to fix this team, which has a lot of things that need fixing. However, you know, again, this is just one more arm that not only comes off the market, but costs the Mets $45 million, plus potentially, you know, or plus that signing bonus, which brings the total to $51 million.
Starting point is 00:09:21 That is, you know, as we discussed there with Ryan Helsley, essentially, essentially, signing for $14 million per year, that is too much. That is too much. So again, we have, we couldn't get in the market really for Ryan Helsley if the Diamondbacks need to fill these other priorities they have. And apparently, even with the bad downseason that he had, Williams is still far too expensive. Maybe far too expensive isn't the right word, but too expensive for the debacks with their shopping list that they still have to accommodate. Also, this has to make you wonder, what does this mean for Edwin Diaz? Is this goodbye to the New York Mets?
Starting point is 00:09:59 Or does this, once again, a nightmare for the National League? Because according to multiple sources, the Mets have said they still have interest in re-signing incumbent closer Edwin Diaz even after agreeing to terms with Devin Williams. The latter, meaning Devin Williams, is, according to this article on MLB.com, is comfortable in serving in a setup role if the Mets do retain Diaz, according to one of those sources.
Starting point is 00:10:26 So Edwin Diaz can come back to the Mets. Devin Williams could be their setup man and their bullpen. If those guys are as good as they've been in the past, will be one of the best in all of baseball. And also when it comes to Edwin Diaz, don't even think about it, Diamondbacks fans. We have entertained a lot of ideas. We did an entire segment and episode about Terik Scoobal coming here. Damn well, knowing that that's not even a possible.
Starting point is 00:10:52 for this organization. However, I won't even entertain the idea of the Diamondbacks bringing in Edwin Diaz. He opted out of his deal that was already the most expensive, the biggest deal for a closer in MLB history, and he did that because he knows
Starting point is 00:11:08 he's going to get an even bigger one. Derek, I have some breaking news here. What's that? We have hit our $50 threshold, I believe. We have hit our $50 threshold. Katie May, $10, $10, Jason Armstrong, $20, Debrae, wins $20, and then yours truly, $5.
Starting point is 00:11:25 What? That makes it $55. Yours truly? So far for the Big Brothers, Big Sisters of America donation on this show alone. I will continue to monitor the chat, but it looks as though Derek and I owe you guys, the fine people, a shot of Ramona's reserve, the greatest tequila in all the land. I mean, Damon, here's the thing. I don't want to give up too much information.
Starting point is 00:11:48 I'm not sure if our audience crosses over too much. I almost dropped this beautiful lid. I would have strangled you live on air. Oh. I wouldn't have a great case because they would have a live stream going of me literally committing the act against you. Right. Now, I know that this is, well, also it's Katie's birthday. Happy birthday, Katie.
Starting point is 00:12:06 So is it, I think this is Katie Caboose perhaps. I don't know because the names are different now. But happy birthday, Katie. And this shot is for all of you. And it's for specifically for her for her birthday. Damon, I know you, again, not giving away too much information may have a similar. tier goal on the Wildcat show. I may. I may.
Starting point is 00:12:25 Things might get spicy for you. I'm going to give you the one with a little bit less just because. Yeah, there's a good chance I'm getting drunk today at BHNX Sports HQ3. But hey, you know, that's why we work at a job like this right there. That's, I mean, it's hard work. It's not hard work. It actually, it's a terrible job that really brings us down quite a, bit, but at the same time, cheers.
Starting point is 00:12:53 Sometimes the perks are pretty good. This is to you guys. You made the Circle K light go too bright. Mmm. Oh, wow, that's delicious. That's really good. What is that? That is amazing.
Starting point is 00:13:10 Ramona's Reserve. We got to. I'm just going to drink more of that later. Oh, and she had, oh, yeah. Katie Caboos, by the way, she did bear down me. on my Instagram DMs, by the way. I love it. She bare down to me twice,
Starting point is 00:13:25 and she did it on the day of the Territorial Cup. So, I love it. Good times, good times. But going back to the Mets bullpen, can you imagine if this happens? Could you imagine if it's Devin Williams and Edwin Diaz at the end of their bullpen? It didn't really work out for Devin Williams
Starting point is 00:13:38 to be a setup man last year. So there's that, but, and there's also the fact that they're the Mets. So there's no way that it works out for them, right? Like there's no way that good things happen for them and that it would have to be just an absolute disaster for them of epic proportions both guys have a plus five a r a that's what i would predict um should they try to make this happen but that's again once again only because it's the metts but we appreciate you guys so much for your donations again that's what
Starting point is 00:14:08 today is all about uh and maybe the diamondbacks could use some donations to uh help us make this closer thing happen because we're starting to see a run on closers this is like when a tight end goes in the third round, Damon of the fantasy football draft. And now everybody needs a tight end. No, you don't. But again, there are going to be some high leverage elite arms coming off of the market we already have. Two of the ones that we kind of coveted the most here gone. So I don't know when the Diamondbacks make their move, but I would not be surprised,
Starting point is 00:14:41 once again, to see them lie in wait and make a move at a later time when they see who kind of falls. to them. A lot of teams are in the market still for high leverage arms, including the Toronto Blue Jays who don't seem to have any problem with paying whatever it takes right now for them to bolster their lineup, bolster their bullpen, and make themselves, you know, once again, a World Series championship contender. I just know that the Diamondbacks, once again, probably couldn't afford some of these guys. Edwin Diaz is definitely someone they can't afford. So, you know, you got to wait to see probably where a Robert Swares lands still. That's probably a name that's out of reach for us.
Starting point is 00:15:25 And see what is available from that point going forward. They have bigger things to address, bigger priorities to address. In fact, like I said earlier, Alex Dagestino, our PHNX newsletter writer on today's newsletter put together the biggest priorities for the Diamondbacks this off season and how many of those items they've checked off. So we're going to visit in on his checklist later in the episode and see exactly what Alex still feels his team needs, but very much is in line with what Damon and I have already discussed. There is the fact that as these arms start to come off the market, it's more about who might still be looking for a high leverage arm and, you know, where the Diamondbacks want to prioritize a bullpen arm in their search for pitching that they have,
Starting point is 00:16:14 what would seem like quite a bit to get and to bring in here to make this team competitive in 2026. But we are going to talk about one name. We're not maybe talking about Robert Suarez, but we're going to talk about another guy from the San Diego Padres, Michael King, to see if he might be the best fit for the Diamondback starting rotation. And if he, in fact, could be the guy that gives this starting rotation
Starting point is 00:16:36 an actual competitive shot in 2026. We're going to do that on the other side of this break. Don't you guys go anywhere? You're watching the pH next time. back show. Shout out to branded bills. Branded bills make some excellent hats. I was out at the Territorial cup. I saw branded bills headwear everywhere in the team shop on people's heads. It didn't matter if you were a U of A fan or an ASU fan. It's so true. It's the one thing they in the ASU sphere. Yeah, it's the one thing those two groups can agree on is that branded bills
Starting point is 00:17:06 hats are awesome. And you can get both of those teams hats a wide variety. I saw so many different hats. Hats I've never even seen before. We have so many branded bills, ASU and U of A hats in here more than any other team and yet I saw hats I've never seen before so check out their website over at brandedbills.com you will find of course a wide variety of hats they have partnerships with over 40 universities including as a as part of their campus collection they also partner with the phoenix sons who are red hot right now and are proving a lot of people wrong so they're a local company from right here in mesa arizona it always feels great to shop local and we can save you some money, head on over to brandedbills.com
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Starting point is 00:18:03 apparel you need. So check out branded bills today. Also, again, if you are a hat a Fictionado or you just love sports, another wonderful place to go is our friends over at Rally House. Rally House is the go-to spot to shop. for all of your favorite local Arizona team gear with tens of thousands of products to shop from
Starting point is 00:18:19 you'll never find the same thing twice at a rally house and again when you talk about stuff I've never seen before there's always something I haven't seen before at a rally house and they only carry Arizona sports teams too so you can check out their locations they have shop locations in Tempe, Mesa and Glendale
Starting point is 00:18:35 right now and of course get yourself ready for I don't know I don't want to say maybe bowl season get you ready for self ready for bowl season I refuse to acknowledge what the Arizona the Cardinals are doing and they are not somebody I'm going to endorse right now. I'm getting merch. But
Starting point is 00:18:50 all the other teams deserve it, including the Suns. Get yourself all of the suns gear. So go find your local Rallyhouse location and shop their entire product assortment online at Rallyhouse.com today. You got to love otball, Derek. Oh man, that man is a diabolical genius,
Starting point is 00:19:07 Damon. I mean, again, this is the reason why this, I hate to say it. I hate to go there. I shouldn't go there, but I'm going to go there. It's the reason why there is a particular gentleman that comes into our chat and shouts about Tori Levello being fired all the time, right? It's because you never know what a new coach can do for a team. You never know what a new name can do or new, new man running things up there, right? I still don't know about baseball, though.
Starting point is 00:19:37 After hearing what I've heard about not only the Diamondbacks, but so many teams across baseball, it really truly feels like it might just be a thing of the past that the manager is truly the one that runs the team. And this is more of a running baseball teams by committee situation. But we love you guys. We thank you guys. We hit our first goal there of $50. So thank you guys for helping us hit that. Crossing it off the list.
Starting point is 00:20:03 Next tier there, we got Daryoki. So you got a hundred. We want 100. And then you guys get to pick the song. that I sing. I'm not leaving this open to the floor because I, but can you only gave you only gave two options. I'm only giving two options. What if we wanted like Taylor Swift or something, you know, it's like I don't have the range for that. I got to stay within my, my octave range, Damon. I can't. You know, you know how to sing it. Yeah, I know. I very much. We're sitting at $55 still. We're going to need,
Starting point is 00:20:35 you're going to need three more shots of, uh, three amigos to get me to sing Taylor Swift. I'm just, I got to be honest. Like, I know that the thousand is lofty, but. But we got to find a way to get to call Ryan Thompson randomly on the show. Oh, yeah. No, I mean, I don't know how we do that. Maybe we just, again, like, it's funny because these were all supposed to be like, oh, punishments to make Derek too. Calling Ryan Thompson talking about baseball, that's a pleasure.
Starting point is 00:20:58 Or talking about wrestling? That's a joy. I can't wait to do that. You think I don't want to have a movie watch along with Damon and watch Little Big League and just enjoy the rise of a man, a young man that gets given. the Minnesota Twins? Anyway. All right.
Starting point is 00:21:15 45 away from, from Daryoki. Let's make Daryokey happen. You guys pick the song. Candice is here. Great to see Candice. Great to see everybody here. And a person that would be great to see perhaps on the Arizona Diamondback starting rotation would be free agent starting pitcher Michael King.
Starting point is 00:21:33 This is a man that has had himself quite the season. Let's see. Derek only wants to sing songs of sad women. Okay. Look, first of all, the Christian Walker song, that's an original by me. And second of all, Yako Warner is not a woman. Yaco Warner is a Warner. He's an animaniac, and he's quite good at singing about the countries around the world.
Starting point is 00:22:00 I have memorized the first verse of that song, and I really just wanted to use this as a chance for me to show everybody how I know every word of it. But Michael Kake, meanwhile, right-handed starter that didn't used to be a starter, began his career as a relief pitcher. He began his career with the New York Yankees before being traded to the Padres as part of the Juan Soto deal. And he has now opted out of his deal there with the San Diego Padres. It's so interesting to see, Damon, because I would love to, I would love to see the Padres fall apart, as I think everybody that is a fan of this team and a fan of this show would also love to see. I want to see the Padres unravel, especially after seeing Dominic Mysterio and the WWE wear a bunch of Padre stuff this weekend.
Starting point is 00:22:46 But I would love to see other players start to leave this team. I know that they have internal turmoil. I think that they're trying to find potentially a seller to buy that team. A lot of things going on. I hope whatever the case may be, all the bad things happen to the Padres and only the Padres. But Michael King, bright spot. for the Padres. He was in fact a legitimate breakout there in 2024. He originally was drafted out of Boston College. He debuted back in 2019. And he spent his early Major League Baseball years as a
Starting point is 00:23:20 multi-inning relief weapon kind of before transitioning into a full-time starter. He posted a sub 3-R-A, 3-ERA in 2004, struck out more than 200 hitters, made 30 starts, and finished in the top 10, Sy Young voting. Meanwhile, 2025, Padres only believed in him even more. They named him their opening day starter and he carried a mid to ERA for the first couple of months of the season but he did
Starting point is 00:23:47 experience an injury. It was first shoulder nerve inflammation then later he had a knee issue and he was limited to 15 starts and roughly about 70 innings but still produced solid numbers overall. I think we have his stats here from 2025
Starting point is 00:24:03 but I mean again 73 and a third innings pitched. He still posted 3.44 ERA and this is while dealing with multiple issues injuries and not just injuries in one area multiple you know again a knee and a shoulder nerve inflammation issue and again he rejected the qualifying offer and is looking to pursue a multi-year deal he is 30 years old in coming off of injuries but still has that frontline starter stuff a projection pegum as being a probably a five-year candidate somewhere in the year of 20 in the range of 23 to 28 million dollars per year depending on medical evaluations and I guess how much really I was looking at some projections earlier and they
Starting point is 00:24:49 had a met like I saw two that said 66 million dollars per year no no not per year oh yeah yeah yeah yeah 66 million dollars would probably be a low estimate for like a three year deal right like a three year 66 million they're saying like yeah like 56 million six six million you Yeah. I think that no one trusts his health. Nobody trusts his health. Right, exactly. And that's really that that's what it was.
Starting point is 00:25:13 I mean, he has a high strikeout rate. He has shrunk, man, nasty breaking stuff. Filthy, filthy. And still relatively young for an option. I mean, at 30 years old, still relatively young for a guy that could be your ace on your staff, could be your number one, your number two pitcher. I mean, to pair Michael King with Corbyn Burns and then Ryan Nelson, that's, I mean, that's three guys right there that will very,
Starting point is 00:25:36 very quickly make you forget about the Zach Gallen Merrill Kelly years, I feel like. And again, I'm not saying the Diamondbacks would want to do this, especially if they sign him to a long-term deal, but this is a guy that does have bullpen experience. So, you know, again, I don't know if that's something that he would completely reject, but just throwing it out there, he does have the versatility and the experience of coming out of the pen. And that's something that we know we may need out of a starter, but his stuff and the way he's far too important to really be that for this team. I mean, this wouldn't be the guy that the Diamondbacks would pay this much money to
Starting point is 00:26:19 and then convert to that, you know, long reliever or high leverage reliever when Corbyn Burns returns. This guy has to stick into the rotation. I mean, he enters the free agency market as essentially one of the most upside or most intriguing upside players at least as far as yeah yeah we've talked about that a lot as well Derek where it's like we're gonna have to kind of swing for the fences here I think in in in this season it has to be something like this his numbers aren't even bad so you can't even get mad about adding a guy like this no but he could be even better like he like he was in 2024 right because in 2024 he had a sub 3 era he was a top 10 say young candidate like he was really damn good in 24 if you wouldn't mind
Starting point is 00:26:59 can you throw those numbers back up from 2025 because again I will say that these numbers still are not for a guy that experienced a nerve inflammation issue and a knee issue he still put up a 3.44 a 1.2-0-0 whip a 2.9-2 strikeout to walk ratio and a 1.2 war that's a fairly limited season pitching 73 in a third's innings yeah and he put up four war the the year before like he's a good pitcher i think that what you're looking at for with the michael king is like maybe something similar to merrill kelly but with an extra season right a lot of people are saying three years maybe four years at like $18 million per clip. But yeah, I mean, it's a little bit of a risk, but I think it could be a one that
Starting point is 00:27:40 yields good rewards as well, like you're saying. It's a total risk. He's never going to be a 180 plus inning workhorse, right? Like, that's probably out of the question for him. And durability definitely is a question. Health is a question. But the upside here is that you could get a guy that probably should be worth more in the range of $30 million per year for.
Starting point is 00:28:02 $18 million per year just because you're kind of accepting, you know, that he's, you know, again, he's injury prone and I think he's accepting that he had himself a season that makes it difficult for a team to commit to them long term, right? But he also has fewer miles on his arm than your average 30-year-old starter, right? Because a 30-year-old starter has been a 30-year-old starter his entire career. He has been a reliever, and then he missed, you know, most of next or last season or at least half of last season. You just feel like going forward he could absolutely be a guy that has his best years ahead of him.
Starting point is 00:28:44 And if he has seasons better than his 2024 season, then you won as the team that, you know, that brought him in. He's likely to draw interest from contenders, but he's a guy that the Diamondbacks absolutely need to check in on. And he is, as Damon said, it's the kind of, shortcomings that you are willing to accept. It's like, okay, I can take potentially not durable as a risk when you're talking about a guy that's still delivered on a season that he was very injury prone and missed a lot of time. I just don't know if we as a Diamondbacks fan base want this anymore. Do we really want to potentially deal with yet another guy that the Diamondback sign,
Starting point is 00:29:31 get us excited and then gets injured and misses a considerable portion of the year. That's the other thing. It's not to say it's guaranteed to happen, but we've been hurt before, and I'm not ready to love again. I'm not ready to trust again. I'm not ready to give any starting pitcher my whole heart unless they have a clean bill of health for their entire tenure as a Major League Baseball starter. Well, that's part of the reason, I'll be honest. It's part of the reason why Zach Gallen resigning him intrigues me, Derek, because he is fairly
Starting point is 00:29:58 durable and you are buying low on him in a sense. Like I think that's why I'm getting the more I talk about it. But he means more to the Diamondbacks than he means to any other team. I feel like the Diamondbacks are going to overpay for him versus what another team would. It's almost like the D-backs would have to wait
Starting point is 00:30:14 for him to receive that similar interest that they got in him at the trade deadline. Right? Where nobody was interested. People wanted to give the D-backs a ham sandwich for Zach Gowan. And then they end up not even making a deal because there was nothing. Nothing. The Diamondbacks at that point were having a fire sale.
Starting point is 00:30:32 They would have taken a few extra bats and some tires for the van that they only used during spring training. The bus they only used during spring training. And that's why he was awful in the first half of the year. But he picked it up in the second half. And that first half of the year was the worst we've ever seen Zach Gowan pitch. Like I said, he's been durable. I think you can somewhat buy low on him. I just keep seeing more and more of these free agents fly off the shelves, Derek.
Starting point is 00:30:56 And then I think to myself, man, maybe what we had at home wasn't so bad after all. Maybe, maybe, maybe sweet sweet Zach. Yeah, David's at the bar. Yeah. It's 12.30. It's getting late. My old lady really wasn't too bad.
Starting point is 00:31:10 Ombuds are dwindling. And he's thinking about texting, basically, is what's happening. Hey, you up? I miss us. I miss us. Why did we ever break up? I still don't understand that. I'm sitting here.
Starting point is 00:31:27 I'm wondering, why did we? we ever decide not to see other people? We were special together. Yeah, remember 2023? You've never been happier. Remember a milkman meme? Me and you have never been happier, Zach than in 2023.
Starting point is 00:31:42 Yeah, I know. I definitely would love to have Zach Gallen back. But I don't know why I always have to say this. I just do. It's just the fact that the idea of Zach Gallen coming back is more of like hey, we're complete, we're whole again. Oh my God.
Starting point is 00:32:00 Rather than it being something that Zach Gallen would really improve this time. Derek, I have bad news. What is the news? I just typed in Zach Gallen out of interest to see what would happen. Yeah. San Francisco Giants, 80,000 follower reporters saying that the giants and Zach Gowan are having conversations. This is like the Diamondbacks actively listening to offers on Cotell Marte.
Starting point is 00:32:24 I don't, I don't want, no. I don't want to know. I don't tell me when it's real tell me when it's real I just hate it I hate it it sounds terrible get out of my face there's a lot of people going to talk to Zach Gallen though Zadagallon is a very good pitcher and despite the fact that he did have a down first half of his season there are still people that are going to look at that 14 strikeout 13 strikeout game against the Yankees they're going to look at other you know highlights that he had plus what he was able to put together in the second half and think like man if we can get him here instead of in Arizona with their terrible pitching development and whatever
Starting point is 00:32:58 they had going on with their catcher situation, he's going to be a stud again. And I wouldn't be surprised if they're right, but it's going to cost them probably $200 million to find out on Zach Gallon. And that is something that I don't know if I want the Diamondbacks committing to or not. But there are a lot of things this team needs to fix. And our guy, once again, Alex, that writes our wonderful PHNX newsletter, added some in today's newsletter.
Starting point is 00:33:23 If you have not gotten that letter yet, you can go to phnx.com. go phnx.com slash newsletter. Sign up. It's free. You become the smartest fan in your household, in your friend group. You get updated every day from Alex. And today he addressed the Diamondback's biggest offseason needs. And we're going to talk about that.
Starting point is 00:33:42 On the other side of this break, don't you guys go anywhere you're watching the PHNX Diamondback show. I've made it no secret that I'm a huge fan of pure edibles. And that is for a very particular reason. Pure edibles make your life better. And they have for a wide range of effects. That's what's so great about pure edibles. It's clearly listed on each tin along with the delicious flavor that you can find inside.
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Starting point is 00:35:20 If you are a guest, I will tell you, one of the best places you could stay is Heila River Resorts and Casinos, because no one does it better. You can visit any one of their four locations, including their two AAA four diamond resorts and let relaxation take charge. It's chilly out. I won't lie, but there's a hot tub somewhere at these locations for you to find, and you can still bring your bathing suit because it's Arizona, and it never really is cold enough to not go check out the pool. But also, just go check out their gaming floor. It is the best time that you can have, especially with your loved ones that might be here in town. You can go all in with over 4,500 slots or live table games or catch any of the action at any one of their sports books.
Starting point is 00:36:01 You do you at Healer Resorts and Casinos. Visit play at Heela.com for more details. All right, Deborah is a new diehard. And of course, we have our biggest diehard sale of the year. Debra, we thank you so much for signing up for our diehard. We love you guys. And of course, now is the time to do so. 67% off.
Starting point is 00:36:23 Yes, teenagers, 6-7. Become a diehard for only $26 for your first year. You get your free t-shirt, get your merch discounts, and you can give the gift of sports fandom to someone you love. So this is our best deal of the year. It's never going to get any bigger, and it is a great time for you to get down, either for yourself or for someone that is also a...
Starting point is 00:36:48 Do I want to say miserable Arizona sports fan? I don't... That's probably not the best. We can be miserable together. We can all be... We can all be miserable. This is what we're here for to so misery has company right. That's what we all are in this whole sports thing together for again. We thank you Debra so much for signing up. Speaking of this family we have our guy Alex Dagestino is doing some good things with our newsletter and quite
Starting point is 00:37:15 frankly I'm kind of furious that he's not over here co-hosting this show with me right now as we speak but he has done an excellent job at giving us some great, great stuff over on his, over on the newsletter. And today he had himself a off-season checklist. We're going to have Alex join us on the show. Maybe not today because I botched that, but we're going to have Alex talk to us. I know he handles the Cardinals writing,
Starting point is 00:37:46 but I also am very well aware if you follow Alex on Twitter that he does some great stuff when it comes to Arizona Diamondbacks content as well. And again, in today's newsletter, which you can get for free. I think Katie asked how long, or, excuse me, Deborah asked how to get the newsletter. Anybody can get it. I know you're a new diehard, but you just got to go over to go phnx.com slash newsletter, sign up for it over there. Katie wants to know how long is the sale for.
Starting point is 00:38:12 It is until tonight. Is that right, Damon? We have until I believe so, yeah. Until the end of today to get down on that diehard deal. So do so now. but Alex gave us his ranking of order by priority for the Arizona Diamondbacks this off season and he wanted to make it a checklist meaning the Diamondbacks in his mind had six areas of improvement that the Diamondbacks need to make not just necessarily improvement but quite frankly
Starting point is 00:38:39 six areas that they need to address if you want to consider this team to be a competitive baseball team in 2026 and according to Alex as Damon and I have addressed his two biggest needs at number one is starting pitcher. He doesn't even have one starting pitcher and then starting pitcher later in his priority list. He says the debacks above all need quality starting pitching. We have talked about this. There are a lot of things that we can, this team can do to maneuver other pieces to fill some of these roles. And we're going to talk about all of the priorities they need. There is next to nothing they can do right now to fill the starting pitching roles
Starting point is 00:39:22 either than the only other the only other option would be to literally look at guys like Cole Drake and Mitch Brett and be like you guys are starters now welcome to the big leagues kid no you haven't even made your debut yet but which one of you wants to be the ace on opening day
Starting point is 00:39:37 right that's not the part that's not that part's not going to happen it's Ryan Nelson of course if nothing changes for this team but of course the Diamondbacks posted an 11th the 11th worst ERA 4.29 in 2025 for starting pitching and that is with Ryan Nelson and it's 3.39
Starting point is 00:39:59 ERA as part of it. But with Corbyn's expecting to be out until at least mid-July and a reunion with Zach Gallen and Merrill Kelly seeming unlikely Diamondbacks have to address starting pitching. I think it's that part that hurts the most is the more that we, I think when the trades were happening and discussions were happening, Merrill Kelly made a comment about it. We all felt like it was inevitable that Merrill Kelly was just going to come back to this team, right? Like we were like, no, we don't need, we don't need two starters. We need, we need one. Merrill's coming back. I think one of Gallin or Merrill always felt likely to me in my eyes. Yeah, 100% but one of them, not both of them, not both of them, but one of them. Derek, I do have, I do have
Starting point is 00:40:37 breaking news. We have hit, we have hit our $35 that we needed to get to Daryoki, uh, two BMC, $10 and Ryoma, $25. Appreciate both of you guys for your job. generous support. And now our sweet, sweet Derek Montia gets to sing to us. Isn't that beautiful? That's amazing. What, what do we have? Are we going to put a poll in the chat perhaps to choose a song? What are we going to do here, Damon? What do you want to do? I mean, I think most people just want to hear the Christian Walker Wopper song, don't they? Yeah, we can put a poll in the chat to see what what people say here. And maybe let's give them a couple minutes to vote. Yeah. And then, yeah, we'll roll with that. We'll go.
Starting point is 00:41:18 You think in Christian Walker's song? We'll do Christian Walker's song. We can throw animaics on there if anybody knows what the hell that is. Taylor Swift is going to be an option as well. And Taylor Swift will be. What Taylor Swift song are we singing? I don't know. We'll figure it out.
Starting point is 00:41:31 Okay. This is going to go poorly. I'm just telling you guys this now. All right. But also getting back to Alex's list, obviously we know starting pitching is a priority, but I agree. Actually, I'm going to say, go on the limb, I agree with everything on Alex's priority. offseason checklist priorities here. It's the way that the Diamondbacks need to look at things,
Starting point is 00:41:52 and I do believe that it is the most important thing. Now, there is one thing we disagree on. I'll get to that here shortly, but as far as starting pitching goes, again, his options are guys like Christian Mena and Bryce Jarvis as their starting pitcher four and starting pitcher five, and I don't think anybody wants to see that. Although I will say Christian Mena is still a name that very much intrigues me for this team and could factor in here this season either in a big bullpen role
Starting point is 00:42:16 or as a starter. But the Diamondbacks second biggest priority, closer. And as we talked about on this show, as we've discussed in the past, we know how important the Diamondbacks having a closer is to their success. We know that a closer somehow fixes things for this team. And we also know that they seem incredibly reluctant to actually name one or have one. Right. So again, as we wait for the return of guys just like waiting for Corbyn Burns to return,
Starting point is 00:42:45 the Diamondbacks need to add a proven closer, somebody that could come in on a short-term deal and just bring some needed stability to this team at the ninth inning for the first half of the season. But the one we disagree on is a setup man. Now, there are things that I believe the Diamondbacks very much need, and I do think that pitching is by far the most important thing. Bullpen pitching, starting pitching.
Starting point is 00:43:13 I think the Diamondbacks can get away with their first basement situation. I think the Diamondbacks can get away with what they currently have with the outfield. It's not great, but I do think that guys can emerge. I think there's options from the minor league system that we haven't really explored. I think there are ways that the Diamondbacks
Starting point is 00:43:31 could find somebody to take up that opportunity. But his third biggest priority is a setup man for the bullpen. And again, that's a luxury. I feel like a team that has money to, spend could maybe look into, but I feel like a setup man is the one area where things kind of you know, probably aren't a bigger priority than going after a first baseman or a right-handed outfielder. He did have his first baseman as his next priority, followed by backup catcher and then right-handed outfielder. That's his list of the six biggest needs for the diamond back.
Starting point is 00:44:09 So we got, of course, starting pitcher times two, closer, setup man, first baseman, backup catcher, right-handed outfielder. Now, backup catcher, that issue has been solved. So five, six players still to add to this team that you do feel like the diamondbacks could be a competitive team in 2026. But how do they get all of this? How do they get a first baseman? And with their situation kind of being what it is, still seems very unclear on what the, you know, direction that they want to go. Jason just brings back a great point. He says, I want Nabil back. Katie says, has anyone thought about bringing Chris Mott back? Put some respect on that man's name.
Starting point is 00:44:50 That man was a dog for this team, and I'm still kind of upset about the way that things went down at the end of the season for Nabil, Chris Matt. That man was definitely, that's the exact kind of option. That's the exact kind of guy that could be a game changer for this team. And considering that they already saw what he could do, still not sure how that went down. or if bringing him back is an option. But when it comes to first base and right-handed outfielder, Damon, what are you prioritizing higher there? I don't love the first-based situation,
Starting point is 00:45:21 but we really are right-handed outfielder is Jorge Barrosa. Yeah, right-handed outfielder, for sure. I'm not even sure it's particularly close for me. I don't think you can actually, I'm not sure you can have a competitive team, Derek, without having a decent power hitting right-handed outfielder. I really not. And if you're going to try to supplement that,
Starting point is 00:45:39 with Jake McCarthy and Alec Thomas as the guys who are going to hit against left-handed pitching, that sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. So I think we can live with Pavin and Locklear and hope that they're just like the 25th best OPS for first baseman in baseball and supplement them elsewhere. But I don't think you can go into the season with Barrosa as your one righty. Yeah, I don't love it. Or Tertawa. Yeah, I mean, I think right-handed outfielder as Mike.
Starting point is 00:46:09 Michael puts here in the chat. I think from a position player standpoint, it has to be like the number one thing that we're going in trying to trying to figure out this this off season. That in like a right handed DH. Like we just need power from the right side of the plate. We need something. Yeah. We need something. And it's not just the right side of the plate, right? I mean, as we discussed here with Alex's list, like this is comprehensive. This is a lot. We are talking about adding like just the addition of two starting pitchers through free agency is going to wipe out essentially your budget. Like none of these other options are going to be possible if the Diamondbacks plan for
Starting point is 00:46:49 starting pitching is to add two starters. And I don't even care if it's two of the worst starters available, Damon. Again, it might be $5 million contracts or something. Even that seems unlikely if you're talking about a starting pitcher, even a guy that had a bad year is most likely still going to want, you know, what, like $50? 15 million, right? I mean, I, like again, it's just, it's so hard to complete this checklist and get everything done without making trades and then perhaps creating new shortcomings elsewhere, right? So still here, though, this is, this is where the Diamondbacks sit and this is what they need to get
Starting point is 00:47:30 done. I think somebody, Michael Dixon said in the chat that he right-handed outfielders number, number one for him. And yeah, I mean, it's it's all priority based, but you can't really get to a point where you envision this team winning games without adding starting pitching. So again, something incredible. Great to see all of you guys here. Killer Rex, even you, buddy. Great to have you guys here. Today is our day of giving. Killer Rex offered up that he will do a face reveal if we hit $1,200 donated. That's pretty nice of them, actually. I love it. We have a six. We have a six. tier on our day of giving fundraising goals here but thanks for getting involved killer x we we have already done a shot of three amigos tequila and now as damon uh had broken the news to me a little while ago we have hit a hundred dollars for derioki and it looks like we have a winner here i'm just going to go and call it quits the christian walker song is what people want to i mean it's a landslide i'm sure it's a landslide yeah it was it was 55 uh 31 percent taylor swift 14 percent animaubes okay All right. Well, for all of you on your day of giving, and for those of you listening at home, here is your reward.
Starting point is 00:48:42 Walker, Walker, Walker, Walker, he hits Dingers, Christian Walker. Wait, oh, no, I screwed up the words, Damon. I got to start over. Sorry. Walker, Walker, Walker, Walker, he hits Dinger's Christian Walker. Oh, I'm screwing it up. Is this on purpose? I don't remember the words to the song. It's been so long that I've forgotten the words to the song. Walker Walker Walker Walker I'm lost I'm at a loss this is so screwed up pull it up on your this is this is I've del oh I've never let them people more I have never let the people down more I you know what's funny is I was singing it earlier I'm just completely having a block on it and like you said this might be intentional I don't know if I can sing any song right now damon I might have to owe this to the chat on tomorrow's episode because quite frankly uh there it is yes
Starting point is 00:49:37 you Kevin. Kevin knows it's single double triple Walker. He hits Dinger's Christian Walker Walker having a day. All right, got it. Appreciate it. Thank you. Everybody. Yeah, I'm with you, Nazato. Nizado. This is upsetting. All right. Walker, Walker, Walker, Walker, single double, triple Walker, he hits Dinger's Christian Walker, having a day. He's been known to hit balls further. He's also known as Kershaw's father. He hits Dinger's Christian Walker, having a day. At Chay. He smashes balls at Chasefield Walker will touch them all. Sea Walk. Sorry.
Starting point is 00:50:15 There you go. You rule. You rule. You still rule. Christian Walker. I wish you were here. All right. There's a, thank you, Kevin, for solving that embarrassing mental block that I was having
Starting point is 00:50:27 there. But in honor of Kevin, make sure you sign up for the diehard membership. If you haven't signed up for the diehard membership yet, do so right now. Of course, you can get down on that for. just $26. For this Cyber Monday deal, you have a limited time. It is till the end of today. You can join the diehard family for an unbelievable 6, 7% off.
Starting point is 00:50:50 I did it. I said the thing. My daughter's losing her mind somewhere right now. And that's for the entire year, just $26. You get the shirt, you get the fandom, you get everything as a part of that. And Killarex, you don't have to pick an Arizona Cardinals shirt. There are plenty of wonderful shirts to choose from in our locker. but here's the key. The deal is only available at the end of today. So here we go. Appreciate it to all of you that I've already signed up. And we would love, love to see so many of you guys get in on this. We are all in together now on this holiday season. So make sure to join us right now.
Starting point is 00:51:24 Damon, where are we at on our donations? Are we in danger at all of getting close to our movie watch along? I don't believe so. As things currently stand, I'm checking here. I'm checking here. here. I know Austin was wondering for an update. Oh, we got an anonymous $50 donation. So we're actually $50 away from our watch long. It seems like as a... We got to hit that. We got to hit that because we got to do a little big league watch along. But speaking of a little big league. Shout out whoever did the $50 donation. They did it anonymously, but you're the real MVP. Yeah, we love it. Biggernax Sports. Appreciate it. And I tell you it all goes to benefit big brothers, big sisters. So it is a cause near and dear to hearts. And again, we've, we've done. We love it.
Starting point is 00:52:05 We appreciate any donation. Another $50, Derek. There it is. We got it? Yep, that's the one. We got it. All right. Well, we can't do the watch-along on the episode, right?
Starting point is 00:52:14 Because that's a full-length movie. No, that'll be extra content. That'll be extra content. We'll coordinate with you. You have to get a copy of the movie to watch on your end to watch along with us. So make sure if you are interested in being part of our Little Big League watch-along, get yourself access to a copy of a little big league. I'm sure it's streaming somewhere.
Starting point is 00:52:33 We'll have to find it. maybe it'll be free for most of us that already have all the streaming services in order to watch Major League Baseball last year. So I love you guys anonymously and outward. And I'm not even going to say anonymously. I love you publicly. Like you're not my secret girlfriend. You're my public girlfriend. Thank you.
Starting point is 00:52:51 Damon, speaking of charitable acts, speaking of really cool things involving the Arizona Diamondbacks world, Corbyn Carroll visited a hospitalized high school baseball player and the Diamondbacks pledge support to helping this young man. this was a great piece over at dbacks.com from Steve Gilbert. And this article is about Corbyn Carroll paying a visit to Christopher Gerardo after a tragic accident. Impacted his life. So suddenly this guy was a young baseball player kid had his whole career ahead of him. He was a senior Trevor Brown High School in Phoenix. He was heading back to Phoenix following a baseball showcase event in Tucson where he was involved in a car accident.
Starting point is 00:53:30 And despite numerous surgeries, still does not have movement below. his chest. It's terrible and we are hoping for a full recovery. There is a GoFundMe page that we can link you guys to as well as, again, Steve's article that goes into far more detail about this visit from Corby and Carroll. But
Starting point is 00:53:47 Carroll did not stop by just for a quick hello. Corby and Carol spent more than an hour with this young man at the Barrow Neurological Institute. He was kind of alerted from his teammates and coaches about the accident and about how big of a fan
Starting point is 00:54:04 of Corby and Carroll, this young man is. And Corb spent more than an hour talking baseball with Christopher. He also a FaceTimed catcher Gabriel Moreno so that he could share some more encouragement, which is by far my favorite part of the story. I mean, Corby and Carol going out and giving his time to a young man like this that has been through so much is a tremendous part of the story. But that also just makes me smile thinking of Corby and being like, hold on, let me FaceTime Gabby. real fast. And then you know, because
Starting point is 00:54:36 their best friends, Gabby immediately answered the phone because it's Corbyn fathimbing him and he was like, yeah, no, that's my favorite thing in the world is FaceTime back and forth with Corbyn. So it was just a great show of You think Gabby's just sitting there waiting
Starting point is 00:54:52 just down in his living room, TV off? And then just first buzz he jumps at his, oh my God, Corbyn called me. You're just kind of looking at his phone earlier in the day and being like, why has he called me yet? What's going on? Like, I miss my sweet, sweet boy. But, again, it's just a way to brighten a young man's day that unfortunately has been impacted so terribly by something as random and awful as a car accident. So shout out to Corbyn Carroll for doing that.
Starting point is 00:55:20 And I'll tell you, Corbin just kind of quietly does a lot of this stuff. And he's going to probably be doing a lot of it around the valley during this holiday season and during the month of December. Because that's just what I've seen him do his entire time. in his career. This man is incredibly generous with his time and he really does, he really does seem to, you know, love to give back and love to do whatever he can
Starting point is 00:55:44 to help brighten someone's day like this young man or again, help help charities out. So shout out to Corbyn for being not only our homegrown wonder boy, but for being a true, a true ambassador for baseball and
Starting point is 00:56:00 for just being a wonderful human being. And now having said all that nice stuff, I have to switch over and now be a terrible human being because it is time to give you guys all an update on our PHNX Fantasy Football League here at the office. The reason why I have to kind of switch into like, I guess, mean mode is because there's a lot of things that go on during a fantasy football season, a lot of interest, a lot of intrigue, who's good, who's a dominant team, who's losing, but there is nothing more important in the history of our league than the person that comes in last place. It means everything to us. It actually does mean more than the person that wins it. I believe that people around here forgets who wins it all the time,
Starting point is 00:56:53 but the only thing that reminds them is that whoever wins it is cursed to come in last place the following season. In our inaugural year, Saul Bookman won. Yep. He was immediately cursed the next year to the Waffle House. Year two, I beat Anthony Totry by less than one single point in the championship game. It haunts him to this day. As it should. And I also was impacted by the curse spending the following season in last place and at the Waffle House.
Starting point is 00:57:26 Now, there is this absolute fraud that won the season in year three. Correct. You might know him as the ad man Max Simpson. We know him as a cretan around this place. Lax Limson. Lacks Limson is what we tend to call him because we want to give him all of the else. And now, quite frankly, I hit it, I did it, Glock and spiel me. Max has in fact come in last place. There is a very slim chance that somehow Max pulls off a miracle and ties Saul Bookman for last place and somehow makes up enough points to pass him in the final game of the season.
Starting point is 00:58:14 He'd have to score like 200 more points than him this week. It's over. He'd have to score, I think, 70 more points than him. Yeah. Which that's very difficult in this league. It's over. Let's take a look at the standings. Now, we got Killer Rex, again, another known instigator.
Starting point is 00:58:29 I don't know what you want to call him. Troublemaker, Rebel Rouser, if you will. troll some people say troll yeah troll is good one he says oh no eating at waffle house for a whole day woe was me send his ass to waffle house right now i want you to spend 24 hours in the waffle house eating you you think it's easy you think it's easy until you're doing it five waffles in you realize what an awful awful mistake you've made and how much you've underestimated the power of the waffle. I mean, 24 hours in a waffle house sucks. It's not the waffles part. It's the fact that you're stuck there. It is. You want to eat as many waffles as possible. It's so boring. You
Starting point is 00:59:12 think it's fun. You know what? It's fun when you first get there at 8 o'clock in the morning and it's hopping. There's people there, truckers, people, families, people that don't have jobs coming in. But it gets real at 1 o'clock at the at the Waffle House. Damon. It gets real at 1.30, 2, 3 p.m. when you're the only person in there with the afternoon crew that has no interest in your shenanigans or your fantasy football league at all, that, that is when things get real. That is when you really want to leave and realize that you are actually, in fact, imprisoned in there. And no Candace, no game boys, no Switch 2s, no Donkey Kong Bonanza, no Mario Kart World. None of that. Raw dog in it.
Starting point is 00:59:58 I'm not allowed to say that. It's pretty brutal. I'm very allowed to say that. All right. No, it's pretty brutal. I couldn't even imagine. Thank God I'm too good at fantasy football. So you didn't be in that place.
Starting point is 01:00:09 I thought. Despite the fantasy gods being against me, Derek, every year I've been in this league. I've had a playoff caliber team every year. I'm not sure I've made playoffs one time. One time I scored the second most points and I missed playoffs. So you know what? It's fine, though, because all it matters is not getting last.
Starting point is 01:00:25 That's all that matters. You know what's funny is all of these. There's no reward for place. All of these people offering up stuff. you can do in the Waffle House. I don't want to bring my comic books to the Waffle House. Do you know how sticky that place is? I don't want to do anything.
Starting point is 01:00:40 I want to say, that's why I think, like, I don't want to make prison more fun. I want people to sit in there and think about the consequences of their actions. I don't want to make Waffle House more fun for Max. I want him to count the minutes and think about his actions. And laugh at him. And laugh at him.
Starting point is 01:00:58 Let's throw the standings back up there. I just need to get that. Back up there. As you can see here. We're now in a spot where Derek and Damon are fighting for a potential playoffs. We are now in a spot where my fun joke of pulling one of my players last week just to ensure that I didn't go to Waffle House might come back to bite me based on points. That's where we're at. But you know what?
Starting point is 01:01:18 It's worth it to see Max go. That's what I'm saying. Max going to the Waffle House means more to me than me making the playoffs. 100%. It means more to me than anybody winning the league. Yeah, for sure. No doubt about that, Derek. There's no doubt about that, Derek. There's really no doubt about it.
Starting point is 01:01:36 Last week, I unfortunately put up the third most points in the league. I lost to the guy who put up the first, who's going to be the potential one seat here maybe on this season. We'll see. Probably the two seed in Anthony Tochry. But it was a tough week to lose, Derek. I feel like I should be seven and six right now. I feel like I should be basically in a playoff spot. But now it comes down to can you beat Ayrton?
Starting point is 01:01:59 can can max be johnny you know can max can max actually do something positive for can max try and can he beat johnny you know i i doubt it okay i've made it clear what do you want more damon huh what do you want more what you want max to beat johnny oh i want not go to the waffa or do you want to make the playoffs what do you want max to beat johnny and i want him to go to waffle you can't have your cake and eat it too i absolutely can because sol bookman could could put more than less than, you know, don't put up less than 50 points than max this week and you'll be fine.
Starting point is 01:02:35 Can we talk about Saul Bookman being on a 10 game losing streak? Yeah, what a collapse for Saul Buckman. What a collapse. Oh man. Arriton's out here claiming the playoffs run through him. I mean, Erriton, we'll see if you even make it, bud. I want blood this week. You better hope
Starting point is 01:02:51 Drake London doesn't play for the third straight week. That screwed my season. Brutal. It's brutal. It's been a brutal fantasy football season, but it was not a brutal episode thanks to you guys and all of your wonderful donations we can't thank you guys enough can't wait to do a watch along cannot wait to do a watch along Damon gets to watch a little big league he's never seen it he's never seen it he's never seen it Randy Johnson is the main bad guy oh I'm giving him way too much all right well we're gonna get to uh we should try to do that maybe in the next uh like like week here next week yeah yeah we got we got a little bit of a lot before your season gets very very complicated so we will do that but uh can't just says we love you guys we love you guys thank you guys so much we appreciate you guys helping us out helping us raise money for big brothers big sisters appreciate you guys so much
Starting point is 01:03:38 killer x says he doesn't believe that derrick has ryan thompson's number should i just call him right now should just call him really quick on the phone and just have him pick up and say hello and then whatever i'll hang up on him no he already knows he knows he knows no he'll get mad of me i can't do that but uh anyway you we didn't raise enough money killer x quickly donate three and I will call Ryan Thompson before we wrap this show. No? Okay. Well, we appreciate you guys so much. Oh, you hate the kids. Oh, you hate kids. You hate your community, I guess, whatever. But everyone else, thank you guys. Can't thank you enough. Thank you for being here. Thank you for your time. Your time is your most valuable
Starting point is 01:04:16 commodity. So we thank you guys so much for sharing it with us. Make sure you are careful this holiday season, who you share it with and who you give your time to. But we will be back tomorrow with another 12 p.m. show. Jesse Friedman will be joining us on that one. So make sure to pop in for that. We are going to talk more about free agency and what the hell is going on with this run on closers in Major League Baseball. But until then, have yourselves a wonderful evening. We appreciate your time. Again, so much. Be back tomorrow. Until then, behave yourselves, Killer Rex, you mostly. And remember, kids, baseball is fun, but it's so much more fun when you raise money for a great charity.

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